Conference napalm::guitar

    Seems to me that the "Fender just starting to break up" tone is
    the worlds HARDEST tone to dial-in without using a twin on ten.
    I've yet to see a box (regardless of cost) that'll do it...  Not
    even my beloved Marshall rig will...  You either end up with too
    much distortion, or a thin sound.  :-(
    
    Another one thats TOUGH to get is the "Clean Marshall" - which isn't
    quite clean...  Ya know?  The edge of disaster is ALWAYS a bear to 
    get (fender or marshall).
    
    Sometimes, ya just gotta have a toob amp to do it.  Trick is, can you
    LIVE without that one sound?
    
    

    So....can you DI this thing?
    I need something that sounds like a fender twin and Marshall stack
    (with someone who knows what they're doin twiddlin the knobs)
    and plugs straight into the desk.
    
    
    P.K.

    
    	I picked up the tri-o.d. about a month ago and had similar
    	first impressions.  I can't remember the wording but the
    	treble and bass controls aren't what you think (active maybe?).
    
    	Like the warp control, to my ears anything over 12 doesn't
    	sound right.  I was ready to take it back.  Then I put the
    	bass on 9 o'clock and treble on 11 or so and it was a whole
    	new deal.
    
    	The 3 modes are tweed, british and california.  
    
    	I didn't try the warp pedal since I wanted a few sounds.
    
    	But if you'd like to bring it over and hear it thru my
    	Blues DeVille, Rick...
    
    	Tom
    

    re .2
    
    I don't think you want to go direct with the XXL, that's not what it's
    designed for.  It seems to work best as the front end for some other
    processing and/or an amp.  For direct work, you'd probably want to
    check out one of the SansAmp boxes; these usually have some circuitry
    for speaker emulation.
    
    re Tom
    
    I'll be right over, fire up the hibachi :-)
    
    /rick
    

    
    
      You might want to check out the new RFX (Rolls) Soundwave pedal. 
    In addition to the regular controls it has a toggle speaker selection
    for 10", 12", and 15" speakers. I think it lists for ~$150. 
      The other cool thing this thing has is two switches (set one for
    crunch and one for lead probably). Try one if you can find one!

    
    	Rick stopped by last night and we a/b'd the pedals.  The XXL is
    	definitely fatter but can't quite get the bite of the tri-o.d.
    	I'll let Rick describe what the XXL does to a note though.  It's
    	very expressive!!
    
    	Then we put the XXL in front of the tri-o.d. and I was in heaven
    	playing over Black Magic Woman and Cause We Ended as Lovers.  Both
    	tunes change volume throughout and it was great to hear them
    	when the guitar volume cranked.
    
    	Great choice, Rick - it's on my list!
    
    	Tom
    
    
    	

    I was listening to Tom play "Cause We've Ended..." and was struck by
    how he was able to make the guitar "talk".  It was Tom that was doing it,
    but the XXL seemed to enhance the guitar's response to that kind of
    touch.  He'd hang onto a long sustained bend, and that one note would
    tell a whole story.
    
    Interestingly, the settings on the XXL that seemed to work best for
    Tom's rig were quite different from the ones that work best on mine.
    It reinforces the idea that the unit is very interactive with it's
    surroundings and needs to be tuned for different setups.  It's like
    another instrument.
    
    Trying the XXL with and next to the Tri-O.D. also cleared something up
    for me.  I had wondered if the XXL was just a SansAmp with different
    packaging/controls; that's clearly not the case.  Each unit has it's
    own unique sound and could do things the other couldn't.  Also, the
    Tri-O.D. didn't have the touch-responsiveness the XXL had.  They worked
    very well together, with the XXL fronting the other.  Tom has a British
    stack sound in the Tri he really likes; with the XXL kicked in and at
    minimum drive, we could get it slightly fatter and with all that cool
    talkiness.
    
    /rick
    

I ran out and bought one of these after reading the earlier notes.
So far I like it a lot.   I already had two other distortion devices,
the distorted channel built into my Randall amp and a Chandler Tube 
Driver (12ax7 deal).

The Chandler breaks up my sound.  It sounds cool, but with a band I
was getting totally lost in the mix.  The only way to moderate the
amount of distortion is with the volume knob on my guitar (reducing
the overdrive), or play very lightly.

The Randall amp has ok distortion but adds to much amp hum.  Actually,
it sounds very harsh.

The XXL sounds better than my other two alternatives.  The best thing
about it is that it doesn't decimate my tone when I turn it on.  
I play mostly rythm guitar - we're trying to get a Sonic Youth type
sound -- which is a dirty mess with lots of atmosphere. 

I *guess* the Warp knob changes the character of the sound.  I'm
still not sure if it's really doing something or if it's a 
placebo effect.

Oh, I've also started producing distortion by
overdriving the pre-amp on my (transistor) Randall (clean channel).
It's a warm and gurgling sort of distortion. 

With all these choices I find I prefer my new XXL in almost 
all cases.

    
    	Well, I broke down and got one on Saturday.  Like Rick has said,
    	it can be very subtle.  But what hit me the most was that it
    	made my playing more musical and vocal-like than ever before.  
    
    	It makes you hold onto notes forever!!
    
    	It's weird that something on first listen ain't a big deal but
    	makes that much of a difference musically.
    
    	I'm struggling for words here - but I'm keepin' it!
    
    	Tom