Dunlop Heil Talkbox

The setup takes some time, but it's easy to get a kickass sound from it, then it's up to the engineer to get loud enough out from tha PA.
I know a few guys who has managed to blow up the thing,(it's not too hard),So don't play it too loud.

I use a 30w state amp, w/ dist. to it. and an a/b box.
The sound is good, I have no favourite artist playing the box, I just began doing it myself,and it worked out pretty well.

I keep the volume down as much as possible on it, so it wont brake it, but i rely on it .

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I play stonerrock, and the box gives a good vibe to the psychedelic parts.
Been playing for 15years, and I play a custom buildt guitar with .12 strings and I use fenders solid tube amps.
I chose the heil sound 'couse it's the only to bring up on the stage if u really believe in rock'n'roll.
I'd kill tha fucker who'd steal my bloody box, it's fuckin' sacred.

If u don't know how to use the box, or how to becool enough to do it, don't get into it, u have to be worthy that fuckin' sound.

The Heil talkbox is very easy to use. It's a very simple device - it must be, even your speaker cabinets are simple devices. It's a unique effect and with the right settings of your amp you can get a very good sound out of it.

I play an Ibanez UV777P through a MesaBoogie Triaxis Preamp, a TC G-Major Effects Unit and a MesaBoogie Simul-Class 2:90 Power Amp into two Marshall 1960 Cabinets. I connect the talkbox to the output of the A Channel of the 2:90 and to one of the speaker cabinets. There may be a little bit of signal loss due to the long signal way from amp to talkbox and back to the cabinets (depending on your stage setup), but that shouldn't bother us now. I feed the talkbox with a moderately distorted lead 2 channel sound plus the modern voicing on the 2:90, turned the dynamic voice up to 9.0 and presence to 5.0. The talkbox loves high presence settings. Forget about the basses and use some mids so the sound gets a litte fatter. The talkbox sound should be quite loud until you can hear some whistling or buzzing while playing. That's enough. Now it's up to the technician to turn up the overall volume f.o.h. Listen to some live recordings of Bon Jovi. They have found really good solutions. Talkbox and lead vocals should be equally loud, it's important that the talking effect comes through.

It's a solid device.

The talkbox is an interesting effect. But you should spend some time practicing articulation. It seems so easy to play the livin'-on-a-prayer line, but it isn't. I have heard many other guys trying to play it live. If you want it to sound really cool, be patient. It takes time.

Well, it's easy to actually "use", but you will need a seperate amp & microphone. The manual explains how to hook it up to an amp. IF you're using a 1/2 stack of any kind, make SURE you set the 4/8/16 OHMS SWITCH to 8 OHMS! This is an 8 Ohms pedal, and damage to the pedal AND AMP can occur if this step is not taken.

Anyway, the pedal is just a horn driver, with a plastic tube running up to your mouth. Play your guitar, the sound comes out of the horn driver and into your mouth, you move your mouth to make vocal shapes, and your guitar...TALKS!

It's a TALK BOX! Who doesn't like the sounds out of this pedal? Everyone uses this little device... Frampton, Bon Jovi, Alice In Chains, Aerosmith, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, and many more.....

Coolest thing since sliced bread!

Dependable? Sure!
Gig without backup? Sure!

Never dealt with the company.

I play everything from the heaviest of metal, and everything in between. 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's rock/metal, blues..etc Been playing for 20+ years.

No, it's not a pedal you can use all the time, but, when needed, there's no substitute!

Ever stolen from me, I'd go on a warpath.

Very easy to use. I like the sound. I use it with a separate amp, a Laney AOR 3012 combo. this works very well. I prefer to use the amp at a comfortable volume level so I dont rattle my teeth out. I dont think you have to push it that hard to get tone, if you mess wiht the knobs on the amp you can get tone, at least I can wiht the Laney. I use a ABY switch with my main rig, this makes it easy and you dont have to worry about speaker levels. I like it. The tone is terrific. you have to work on the technique a little, but its well worth it. My advice is to spend some time with the talk box and experiment with sounds and techniques and develop your own style.

absolutley terrific. the tone is great. I have only tried it with my laney though. maybe its the amp helping out.

This thing is built like a fucking tank. very heavy and built like a brick shit house. steel box. nice to see workmanship like this these days.

dont know

WOrks great for the Frampton, walsh, sambora stuff. essential tool for classic rock guitarists.

Set-up is a little bit of a pain in the @$$ but is well worth it. After-market tube is a must as the one included is not very long (I'm 6'4").

Excellent. Overdrive does help to pronounce the effect. I use it on fretless bass and it's nice to use while running with a parallel clean signal.

Nice tough casing. Never had any problems.

N/A

I play whatever comes up. To power the talkbox I use a Vox pathfinder 15 guitar amp. with that I use a whirlwind selector a/b box to switch between the talkbox and an ampeg svt400t head running a peavey 115bxbw and a peavey 410tx. It's a great effect but as with any effects, I like to use it as little as possible so the bass can do it's job.

One romp button, Can't get any easier than that.

Vintage tonal clarity. I bought my Talkbox in 1976 and it still sounds perfect! Over the years I have used it with a variety of amps and of course a Les Paul Custom. Sound quality depends on who's using it.

I have to change the tube out every once in awhile. I can't seem to find tubing in the original purple color though :(

Except for a few trips to the hardware store for tubing, it has never given me trouble

You can't play Frampton, Slash, Rufus, or Stillwater without it!

Well, I just can't beleive only one person has submitted a review on the Heil Talkbox since my own. Perhaps talkbox interest is waning. Or everybody is buying Rocktron Banshees. Wait a minute. . . I just bought one. Yes folks, I just couldn't handle not knowing first hand how they sound, and I happened upon a super deal on one. So why am I here again. Why indeed. I'm compelled to further elaborate on my questions and personal findings,since no one else has,and back up my previous rant on the Heil. To make it short(don't make a promise) the Heil is still where it's at for me soundwise. My suspicion on how the Banshee, despite it's superior convenience, wouldn't quite be the same animal was definately well founded. Some of you might be saying, no kidding, Ya Ahole! How could it be the same?! Exactly. But wishful thinking combined with glowing reviews can be quite motivating when deciding on a purchase. So I got the thing, took it home, hooked it up and basically experienced the proverbial 'oh shit'. So any of you who might wonder which squalkbox suits you may benefit from checking out my Banshee submission over at HC Rocktron effectsland for more of my hopefully helpful ranting on the thing. I really do not wish to dis the Banshee, it has it's own sound that I hope some talented wiz picks up on and gets famous for. Even me. But certainly, unless I'm very possibly deaf from more than 5 measly watts being crammed down my throat every week, the Heil is the Tone we all have known and loved. Oh yeah, convenience shmeanience.

Need I say more. Check my other review for my take on the real deal.

I've gone against better judgement and tried some other amps recently. As in more wattage. Mainly to take advantage of it's normal mode properties. A Vibrolux. A THD 4x10 Bassman knockoff. A Super Rev.(ouch) Now I am using the Black Deluxe Reverb again. For what I 'm doing, it is perfect for the Heil squalker. I'm probably just too used to it. The Heil has held up great, about 4 years now. One time I strapped it to my Black piggyback Bassman head and it sounded like it was going to blow the driver. I just don't know how some bad boys use 50 watt Marshalls and such on these things.

Aren't those new MXR pedals just not right? What's with the textured paint jobs? Jeez. I hear the Phase 90 sounds good.

I sure would like to hear more tales from all of you tube players out there. That reminds me, time to head back over to EH effectsland and scour the Golden Throat reviews. Anybody out there hear anything on the Framptone yet? Squalk on.

It takes a while to figure out how to set it up, but after you figured that out its easy.

Guitar: Ibanez S-470, Westone
Amps: Beckemer 90 watt valvestate, Marshall JCM-2000 DSL
Pedals: Crybaby, Boss Harmonist, Boss MT-2, Maxon OD-1,DOD FX-747, Danelectro Delay

Incredible! It is so unique. Nothing compares.

The box itself is very dependable (although you have to be careful because of the speaker inside of it) , but the fucking decals just flake off if you breathe on them. It doesn't degrade the fucking sound, but its damn annoying!

An incredibly unique effect that will make your band the coolest. The shitty decal work is very dissapointing and disturbing.

I use when miking my drums & use it in my solos .......it kicks ass!
The Oxford files / Connecticut

This is how I would assume most of the classic sounds are achieved. What I mean is that the Heil "style" is nothing more than a speaker driver in a box with a tube. You then hook it up to a cranked tube amp. From what I've heard and read, Frampton, Walsh, Rufus(Tell Me Something Good),Steely Dan(Haitian Divorce)the 70's classic "Mindbender",Eagles(Those Shoes),etc. are done this way. The other design has a built in amplifier.(Rocktron Banshee,EH Golden Throat). Those are easier to use(can be put in line with effects), but I wonder at the difference in sound. The old style uses tube power amp distortion when you think about it, the ones with built in amps have to have some sort of instument level fuzz or distortion circuit which is different to me. No one ever talks about this. Perhaps it's an undetectable thing after being squeezed through a tube, swirled through your face and then blasted through the PA(I've not been able to try a Rocktron or EH)but I will say this: when I set the talkbox amp clean(instead of cranked) and then use a pedal for the distortion, it does not seem as expressive, talky or classic(inject your own stupid,personal,ultimately unconveyable adjectives here). Hey, it's just not as good.(to me) So as usual, the real deal is old tech,harder to acheive, and verges on blowing something up, but it's better sounding. My disclaimer for all of this BS is many reviewers have said the Rocktron sounds great and I have to respect that. I'm sure both ways are valid sounds. But being the Frampton and Walsh freak that I am, I'll stick with the Heil.

Like terrrible Ted says: "Sometimes I have to ask myself, Do I have the right to sound this good?" So tell me fellow tube players out there in product land, has anyone seriously compared head to head the simple design vs. the built in buzz design and detected major differences?

It has held up really well. I read where Frampton and many others use 50watt or even higher amps to run these things. Jesus from Nazereth, what men! I get plenty of brain and tooth resonance from my BF Fender Deluxe Reverb.(20watts) I can't see using anything bigger. Plus, I have a way of being able to also use the amp regularly rather than just dedicating it to the talkbox. No extra A/B switch required either. The signal chain is as follows: Guitar, cranked amp, speaker out to Talkbox, 8 ohm THD Hotpalte power attenuator, speaker. That's it. Talkbox mode is typically loud and proud, amp speaker mode volume is controllable by the attenuator. Without the attenuator, it's lethal. Unless you're a blues player in Ft. Worth, then it's just normal. I personally like my ears. Also, I have NEVER,NEVER experienced any amp trouble when switching these impedences. I surmise it's instantaneous enough to not cause a problem. It even worked fine with my Vibrolux, Super or Bassman(different impedances) before my dentist decided I shouldn't use them anymore. What's your skull's resonant frequency? Mine is 1.6Khz.

I called them one time when I thought it was time for a new capacitor or driver(it was time for new tubes) and the guy was very knowledgable and helpful on the heil design. Very cool indeed.

I love the crazy thing. I'd have to get another if anything happened to this one because people always want to hear it. Getting past the logistics of rigging one of these is worth the trouble for the classic sound. Frampton is actually in the works of producing his own hopefully commercially available "Framptone" talkbox. Can't wait to see what that's all about. Rock on.