Vox Tonelab SE

Good.

I love the sound. I prefer to use my V847 for wah-wah and my phase-90 for phaser but that's just personal preference, the tonelab does everything else very well.

I've gigged with it for about a year now and it's endured bumps and scratches, but without any effect on sound or function.

Dunno.

I prefer using single units to multi effect pedals, but the tonelab se is one, so far the only, multi pedal I trust with sound quality.

Very intuitive.

The bypass mode (and by this I mean the amp and cab modeling off) is very nice. The Wah isn't my favorite, but usable. Heavy distortion sounds really aren't very usable. But, it does excel at mediium crunch tones, like its AC30 and old Tweed. Some of the effects pedals are great.

I've gig'd this thing extensive over the past 3 years, and have but 1 comment. The microswitches in the buttons wear out. But then, they wear out on my Line6 boxes also.

Dunno.

If I lost it, I'd buy another. Period. It isn't the end all be all of devices, but easily the best effects box I've ever owned.

Ease of use is relative. Clearly, an all-in-one unit such as this would require a little bit of work to learn its features, compared to say one amp and a couple traditional effect pedals. Compared to similar products, such as pod and the latest digitech, this unit is by far the easiest to operate and learn the features. I would however suggest reading the manual through a couple of times and trying out the various features.

I love the fact that the display is easy to read when standing, ulike the pod. The footswitches are sturdy and I never miss. The are spaced at just the right difference, again unlike many of the others such as POD that require you to have a size 3 shoe size. A nice feature is that when you use the manual knobs to change settings the display will say "ORIG" when you land on the original saved setting, thus allowing you to find the starting point to tweak a bit, although you could always use the arrows instead. The manual is reasonable in length and pretty conscise. I learned how to do most of what it does with one one-hour reading. I like the built in tuner; it seems to quickly register the string I am playing, and again is easy to read from a standing position.

The downside is that this unit is long and heavy, which is of course the reason that this unit is very sturdy and rugged and gives comfortable footswitching space and two expressions pedals. However, this is a small price to pay, while the pod and digitechs are smaller, they only give you the one expression pedal and last space for switching. Which by the way, I've used one of the current digitech all-in ones and the switches are terrible. You have to press two switches down to access the tuner, go from pedal to preset, ect. It takes me 4 or 5 tries to get.

My favorite thing about the tonelab is that you don't need a lot of patchs. Each patch gives you 2 channels, green or red, allowing you to have two seperate amp and speaker cab models. Most of us would use this for a clean and dirty channel. Then you can have one type of pedal effect, mod effect, delay, and reverb effect. The best part is that you can turn them on and off within the preset. You can also elect which ones you want to be on and off when you first select that preset simply by turning them on (or off) and hitting save.

Another useful feature is the two expression pedals. I assigned one to my dirty channels gain. I can easily select the minimum and maximum gain values to suit what I find useful. This makes that preset even more useful since you can say set the minimum to the amount of gain you usually like to have, and then the max to say a little more gain than normal.
I find the tap tempo really useful, I usually use it for a delay. I use my other expression pedal for the amount of feedback in the delay.
Being able to do all of this within one preset is what sets this unit apart for gigging. this enables me to make slight adjustments to my overall sound without editing 10 different presets.

In my opinion this is the best sounding all in one unit. I play a little of everything, and a lot of some things, and find this unit suitable for all. I would say that metal is not its forte. There are other units, such as the pod that have more metalish amp models than the tonelab, But you still get enough to cover that territory.

The tonelab, more than any products like it, has the feel of playing through a tube amp. It always sounds and feels warm to me. The models react well to how you pick and your guitars volume. I've played a lot of digital stuff that does react somewhat, but this thing seems to have that "feel" that we all can't describe very well. I bought this thing to use as a direct device straight into the board with no amp. I must say that I don't miss playing with a real amp very often, beyond missing having my own control of stage volume.

I particularly like the vox models, and I really don't have any dislikes of the amp models, although as with real amps I find some more useful to me than others. To me, I'm sold on this thing simply beacuse it sounds and plays good. I don't feel like I'm playing another digital device. To me that puts this thing in a category all by itself. Before I got this thing I had my eye on a POD. I liked the sounds of the POD, but I hated playing it because of the digital feel. I plugged into this thing out of curiosity and loved how it sounded and how it plays.
The effects in this thing are pretty good. The compressor works well. I like the delays and reverb. I wouldn't say that the effects are to-die-for or boutiqish, but they do they get the job done for someone like me who uses effects sparingly. For this class and type of products, the effects are as good as any of the other modeling devices I've played.

I own a project protools le set up via digi 002. Anyhow, I've used this thing for quiet recording and it does a much better job than anything other non-speaker driven way, including all my amp sim pluggins.

I have had this thing for 2 and a half years and it has worked flawlessly. I unpack it, play it, and pack it up twice a week and it has held up well. Even the gig bag it comes with is still perfect. I would gig, and do gig without a backup. I'm not playing in front of 10,000 people each night, thus it wouldn't be the end of the world if it broke down at some point. I use this thing on my churches praise team, thus on a sunday morning this thing is on from 7:45 until 12:30 to cover all the services. I don't bother to shut it off in between. I imagine this thing will continue to work well. I've never dropped this thing or done anything bad to it so I can't say much more.

Never dealt with the company, never needed to.

I love this thing. Great amp sounds, good effects, and very easy to use and set up. Most importantly, it plays great and reacts like a real amp would, or at least closer than the competition. Unlike every other digital device I've plugged into, this thing has that inspirational feel that is hard to describe. I would recommend it to anyone that is shopping for this sort of device. It does lack a few bells and whistles that some of the other modelers have, and fewer models but I don't miss them. The bottom line is that this thing is simply useful for real live situations, regardless of style. I was always a stombox into tube amp guy for many years and countless shows (and I still am) but this thing is the only one of it's type that I would ever consider using. For someone looking to go direct, there isn't a better option out there. I do have a regular need to go direct at my church and to have a wide range of sounds available, so this device serves a need that my traditional pedal board doesn't meet.

In summary, you need to rate this unit for what it is, not what you would like it to be. These devices can't satisy someone that desires nothing more than an old tube amp and a couple effect pedals with three analog knobs. They are looking for that one sound that defines them. To such a person, these sort of devices present unneeded complexity to achieve this end. If they've found their perfect guitar-effects-and amp and desire nothing else, they would have no use for an emulated version, let alone emulated versions of effects and real amps that they didn't like the real versions of. These devices are for individuals that need a wide range of useful sounds in a convenient and compact setting, as well as the convenience of going direct and volume control (recording in a townhouse at 3 in the moring). As an all-in-one, this thing excels and leaves its competition in the dust.

Couldn't be easier. Very intuitive, and where I had questions, the manual answered them in a few seconds.

I give it a 9 only because some of the effects are a little noisy, and some of the amp models aren't perfect. Let's fact it.... a 10 would be flawless and perfect. This is an excellent sounding rig. I think it's funny when someone reviews a product like this and gives it a 1 for sound. I think they probably can't play, and are half deaf. Anyone with any skill on the guitar, and any concept of how to set up an amp to get a tone can get some great sounds out of this in very short order. I've used tons of amps and digital rigs and all of the modelling plugins, and this stands right up there with the best. If you want to lug around 100k worth of vintage and top-line amps and mics, be my guest, but for 300 bucks on ebay you can pick this up and save a lot of time. If you are doing an album with a great budget, rent the real amps, but this works excellent for most applications.

Excellent. No problems at all. Built like a tank.

Never dealt with the company yet. Website is decent.

I play all kinds of music, and this is a very versatile unit that covers many bases. Been playing for 25 years. Have everything from a $60,000 Schimmel grand piano to guitars by Taylor, Musicman, Gibson, Steinberger, etc.... I would replace it if it went away. Great build, very solid and dependable. In my opinion, it sounds significantly more like a real amp than any of the other competing products, and I tried them all. I do wish they would reduce the noise a little more and improve some of the effects such as the acoustic pedal. If you are considering this or its new little brother, the LE, don't hesitate. It's a great buy and will not dissapoint. (unless you are deaf)

Even a 5 year old can figure this out

Plinky attack not the good kind.
Too trebly
No bass and if you want bass it gets muddy
Harsh

It is the worst I have ever heard

As to tube responds... I have Super Reverb a Bassman and I know what tube respons is. No where near vox guys.

It is useless in recording situations without lots of afterboard eq. Pods do a much better job (NOT PERFECT either)

I bought this thing to get good sounds for recording and for playing late at night when my 8 month old baby is asleep.

I just can't stand the noise as I can't call it sound that comes out of this thing. Uninspiring.

Too expensive for a Korg PX4D sounding aparatus.

I even tried changing the valve to a NOS Phil AT7 and that made it somewhat better.

I fiddled with it for about 14 days and Its going back to the store.

Looks good enough built.

Have had this unit since they first came out...easy to learn, easy to tweak live,I like knobs rather than scrollong thru an LCD panel...some limitations in combinations and a little difficult to pass quickly from patch set to FX set for the current patch.

overall pretty good, but I do have some issues in keeping the clean very clean while still maintaining volume levels with other patches,

I use this with a Boss LS2...thru a Marshall TSL & 4x10....so I can choose to use the amp by itself...

Ive always been a digitech fan so the shift was major for me and apart from the reliability issues its great.

Fater a few months the footswitches started to fail...intermittently unswitchable...so I would end up with some patches unavailable on a night...

back to the shop, they replaced the switches...after a year they are starting to become unreliable again...out of warranty...so I'm faced with a bill to repair..

even though this is high use piece of equipment that sort of unreliability is unacceptable to me...Vox should have done the mileage testing more thoroughly...

I have tried on several occasions to get some support from Vox. Repairs under warranty no issue, but thats local support. They need to be more accessible. Backup makes or breaks a product for me.

We play stones hendrix motorhead elvis acdc blues and anything else that people like. This is a great versatile pedal that in my view beats the competition hands down. Being able to assign control and manually tweak every parameter makes live gigging so much easier. I know some people just bypass the the amp/speaker stages to use FX with their amp..but I prefer the LS2.

Maybe if it had just one amp/speaker bypass control that truly bypassed and just left the FX.

I will buy another vox pedal when they can guarantee that my switches wont slowly fail.

ive used the tonelab se for about 2 years on the road, playing 6 NIGHTS A WEEK, non-stop. ive found the unit good, but unfortunatly had a few problems with it.
firstly, the contacts on the effects have worn and i have trouble switching patches, or in effects mode turning on or off things like delay, occasionally switching between clean sound and drive, i have to repeatdly hit the foot button..
secondly, ive had problems with zero return on the volume, it wont go to zero, so even when the expression pedal is down i still get a signal thru, also the contact on the wah when depressed doesnt always activate.
unfortunatly these things started happening just after the warranty expired. ive learnt to work around it, and im looking at replacing the unit. Ive enjoyed the sounds alot, and the ease of use is great. I was expecting to get a few more years out of it thou..

Had em all,digitech boss etc. Very easy i needed no manual, but have been playin with these all in wonders for years, since the first, ADA MP-1.
I keep tryin em and keep em around for recording and fun.
this and the boss are esiest to use but tonelab wins eas of use for floor processors.

I own a les paul with duncans,ibanez neckthru ,handmade custom strat with ash body and fender neck. A carvin mts head i love so much it keeps amazing me after 6 yrs with it.None of my gear is stock all aftermarket pickups top of the line.
I list all my gear and you will have a book.If i sold half og it i might have a bed to sleep on.kidin
I keep tryin to go simple compact and have it all in 1 unit.Since my first all tube amp i have never looked back at a solid state hence tryin this unit.The tube.
I have been playin for 25 yrs and have a damn good ear.I run sound for local bands and do many other music related things ,nuff said.
Change the peice of shit tube in this unit and it will be top of the heap in budget all in wonders.Like a different amp tone controls have much more affect on the sound.Great tones.What u want to hear u will get damn close.F/X are excelent too better than boss or digiwreck in the 20 bit processing class.
I tried any way you can possibly run it.P.A. solid state stereo and tube heads.If you try runnin this through the front end of and amp it plain sucks no matter how u set anything.Run it straight to a power amp in only and pretty nice.Tube power is the way to go,brings life and breath to this unit with cab sim off unless using pa cabs.But i have a 412 with 2 v30's and 2 g12t75's.and a vertical 212 with carvin brits that are real close to a v30.
I am happy with it for an all in one but it will not reaplace an all tube head and pedals for me!! period
Best used for home recording.
i have a vox ad30vt and i run it through my 212 cab and i believe it sounds better. VOX!!!!!! make a power amp for this unit taylord for it.And i may sell every thing else.well maybe not.

dependable but i always use backups

havn't needed it but like others said the footswitch issue.but i repair my own gear anyway

I play country to blues nemetal and shre and classic rock

i just got it 2 days ago and already built myself 3 outrageous patches.
getting a good sound out of it isn't that hard
but sometimes tweaking it to make it perfect takes some time and sweat , so patience is the key.
the manual is exquisite , it is very helpful , informative and long.

about sound quality , i kinda got one of my favorire sounds of my favorite artists overall , and they are john petrucci and guthrie govan , you cant expect this unit to perfect this sound though , but it could sound close , very close , mostly it depends on you , not on the instruments.
overall all of the effects are perfect for me at least
it could be noisy sometimes if you have no expirience with editing , after getting used to it and understand the unit , you can make it dissapear .
I dont use that much gear
I use a Ibanez Prestige 1570 guitar
and a vox Valvetronix ad50vt
no special tricks and racks

This unit as said before , IS BUILT LIKE A TANK, just today i had to carry it around and it is heavy like a freakin' bazooka!!
it is strong and i think it is bulleproof , it might even have its own gravity systems , i dunno.
i would defenitly use it in a gig without backup.

haven't been dealin' with em'

OK....
im basically an all genere player , most of it is on progressive and stuff , just experimenting stuff trying to make something new.
This thing is an WICKED match to anything if you're good to it yourself , it will be good to you.
as far as i remember , i play around 4 years.
If it were stolen , i will DEFENATLY put some tracking systems on the tonelab before that happend , find it , Murder the guy who took it , and take it back.
i love everything about it , my favorite feature is being able to do anything.
the only products i've been comparing it to is single pedals and the BOSS GT8 , it simply is better than the BOSS for me and kinda suits my fun and needs more then the single pedals
if there is something i wish it has is more tubes, but it is impossible to get nowadays.
This thing inspired me so much that it is unbelivable
it does help me make music alot...
anyway , the last thing I have to say is....
DONT BUY THIS UNIT :)
good day

Just got the latest version SE. Manual is very well written. Its the most user friendly modeling floor unit available. C'mon guys get a stupid bypass switch that you can hit with your foot.

I use the SE through Ampegs. 1976 vt22 and a 72 VT40 .These have the active mid controls and are the best clean tube sound ever. Ive had them all . At age 50 I mean all. The clean tone is where the money is at for me. Theres a zillion great boxes for the od and distortions. I cant find fault with any of the SE amp models . The key is the VR at the back end.The VR is a 12ax7 running as a class ab and a tube output stage complete with ouput tranny load and speaker damping.The wah was a bit to wide ranging but easily changed to a much narrower sweep.I use the Vox in a cover band that does everything from the 50's to the 00's and the tones have to be convincing and feel good.Best unit ever. Most of these in the past I couldnt use at all.

Its brand new. I would never do a gig without a backup. Would you take off on a 3 hr cruise without a spare tire.

Been playing 40 years. Use all types of guitars 50's and 60s strats ( cant take those out anymore. 1990 G&L ASAT is main guitar. Got a 1978 Ibanez Randy Scruggs . Love that one but the pickups have mid quality that can be nasally. Worked great through the Vox.