I usually keep the G Sharp at 12 and adjust it up if I start getting covered by the instruments, which seems to happen as the night goes on. I notice a loss of tone below 12.
Now I've not really had chance to try this out at rehearsal/gig yet. I not losing any tone at all set as it is and I will try lowering it, but the red input lights only come on very rarely set at 3:00 . If you're not using a Klein or similar you will lose tone due to the volume loss caused by the G#. I tried it previously before I built the Klein and it sucked tone badly. When I coupled it with a BBE Max X2 (a crossover from my PA, outputs recombined) using the gain of the MaxX2 helped a lot, but it still lost something.
Is the K'lator last in the chain?
I've been on the fence about this kleinulator. I don't want a box sitting top of my amp. Your rack version seems to be the ticket, if I was going to have one. Can you describe what it does, say in comparison to the BBE which I am familiar with.
Bottom line: do you think it is a worthwhile addition to one's rig? and why? Thanks
The Klein is the first in the 'chain', though its not really a chain as the Klein provides a sub-loop to the amps loop. I suppose you could put it in the line with other effects but thats not the way it was intended. Imagine the Klein as a replacement for a 12at7 plus send and return controls on a more modern amp.
The effect of the Klein is very subtle, transparent, and it might be less so if I crank it, I'm not sure yet, but it certainly does the tone no harm and I have tried it with nothing at all in the Kleins FX loop. The BBe is much less subtle, you can hear it immediately you push the bypass button, and with the settings I have I get a clearer enhanced bass and a little more in the top end, but like you if I take it over 10:00 the highs get to be too much.
In as much as it makes the G# work as it should, yes the Klein does its job well. At the moment I'm not sure whether the BBE will stay, we'll see after I've gigged it. The G# I am struggling with, the lack of feedback from the display to tell you what each patch has applied is the biggest negative for me, I'm going to need a laminated card with my presets printed on!!!. Just not good enough in this day and age I'm afraid. I can see me having to u/g to another unit or only use 2 or 3 presets. The FX are good though its just deficient in the usability stakes,
The main reason I wanted the rack unit was simplicity of operation, tidyness and I wanted to be able to hardbypass to get back to raw amp tone if needed. I also didn't want a box on top of the amp, along with the G# balanced precariously somewhere, plus a 9v supply, and 4 cables, etc etc. Having since tried the TC Nova reverb as demoed by John Edmonds I think if I had tried this first I might not have bothered with the rack unit, but now I've got it I'm going to use it, plus I can have a whole range of good delays and reverbs and a decent chorus.
As soon as I get the layout drawing modded I'll post it here so if you want to build one its pretty straight forward. Indeed the most difficult bit was cutting out for the IEC sockets, I really need a nibbler of some sort. Also when i finish building the 2x12 to match the OTS I'll get a pic of the whole rig aswell.