Need some advice on effects and rotary speakers

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 17 Jan 2001 7:58 pm

Need you guys to weigh in on rock/blues effects for slide guitar work. And rotary speakers and such for Leslie simulations. Whats hot whats not whats cheap whats a heap?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 17 Jan 2001 8:25 pm

For rotary speaker sound I'm using a Digitech RPM-1 because it's rack mounted. I'm still not happy with the sound and still fiddling with it. The best I've ever heard and had is the Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere. I let it go when I went rack mount and am still trying to duplicate that sound.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 17 Jan 2001 8:59 pm

I've got to preface my remarks with the statement that I hate rotary speaker simulators. I have tried most of them, and they sound, well, just too 'effect like'. I have used real leslie speakers (the real tube jobs) but only a couple times in the studio. Amd to be honest, I wasn't that thrilled with them. Yeah it was a cool effect, but nothing I would want to break my back to get. I've also got to admit that I was a serious 'chorusaholic' in my earlier career. My best chorus sound was that killer Yamaha efx unit that JayDee uses to this day (the Yamaha 1005 analog delay unit), which has a great, very subtle chorus/doubling sound.

Well with all of that said, I have become somewhat addicted to a unit put out by the Motion Sound folks. Here's the URL to the page: http://motion-sound.com/sr_112.htm

This got a killer review in Guitar Player, so I checked it out. It sounds great, a very subtle sound if desired (e.g with a very slow rotation speed and/or with a mix of direct and rotated sound). But it also gets that killer SRV fender rotational sound as well. It doesn't sound exactly like an organ (good!), but it does add an interesting 'organic' sound to the steel.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Bill Fulbright · Post by **Bill Fulbright** » 18 Jan 2001 4:05 am

Thanks for the tip, Dan! It looks like a great add on, and small enough to be manageable!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 18 Jan 2001 8:24 am

I used the Digitech RPM for a while. It is tricky to set up and to adjust, but once you get it right it sounds great. My real proble with it was that it wasn't easy to switch back to a standard "country" steel guitar sound.

I'm real happy with the rotating speaker effect in the Lexicon MX 100. It goes over real well when I play with rock groups.

I'm moving this topic to the Electronics forum.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra 8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, A6)

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 21 Jan 2001 8:45 am

I use a DOD Phase 100 once in awhile. It's a stomp box that has some nice chorus effects, and a single 9 volt battery lasts about a year. (I hate "wall warts") It really does awesome rock effects when combined with a Bosstone, too!

Ad Kersten · Post by **Ad Kersten** » 21 Jan 2001 2:33 pm

Is there any way you can achieve the rotary sound with the Peavey Tubefex?
Ad

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 Jan 2001 3:25 pm

Ad, go to my web site and access the Profex II and Transtube Fex programs. My Transtube Fex programs have a leslie simulator program for the Transtube Fex/Tube Fex. You can use that and then adjust it to whatever you like.
http://tampabaydsl.com/~jestoner

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 25 Jan 2001 4:52 am

Guys, thanks for the inputs. Check it out! I found a company in Dallas that takes old Leslies and makes them work for any application. They are pretty pricey, but the guy assures me that I can get that sound only from a real Leslie. I'm going over next week to plug my rig into one. Regards and thanks.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 26 Jan 2001 9:08 pm

Bill,

IMHO (as always) I think the motion-sound guitar leslie speaker sounds better than a 'real' leslie for pedal steel. I would try to check out one before I sunk some big bucks in a leslie setup.

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www.tyacktunes.com

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 27 Jan 2001 6:59 am

Dan, Thanks for the advice. I intend to try and find an sr112 to try. Been searching for a music store near Dallas,Ft. Worth who has one I can demo. Haven't found one yet. Guitar Center says they can order it, but you know that story. Order from them and you just bought it. I did find a store in Austin who has the pro3 in stock, but he wanted me to drive the 3 hours drive to Austin, put down a credit card, take the unit home, then if I don't like it bring it back. Too much trouble. thanks again.