Post by grayn on Aug 4, 2023 19:39:27 GMT
I came across a video of TC Helicon's V100 acoustic combo, a couple of weeks ago. I was particularly impressed by the vocal harmony section, in which you can get 2-part harmonies to your voice, that are arranged to go with whatever chords your guitar plays. Nothing new, I know but it seemed very nicely done, with simple controls. Then I read that the combo didn't sound that great in general, compared to ohers on the market. So I thought about just getting the TCH Harmony Singer pedal, that does the same thing, but these were harder to find than a public toilet. So I read up on all that is available and found that one of my regular shops (Promenade Music) had the Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer unit in.
Now this looked the business, as it is basically a pre-amp for both vocals and acoustic guitar, with separate controls for each, plus just about anything you might need to enhance your vocal and guitar signal. Including reverbs, choruses, acoustic resonance and anti-feedback phasing, for guitar and reverbs, enhancements and most importantly, 1 or 2 part harmony, for your vocal.
So I went over this morning and got the pedal but I also needed a new amp for it to do it's magic. I wasn't sure whether to go for combos, like Roland's AC33 and Cube Street EX or just an active powered cab. I was leaning toward a combo but the guys at Prom said what was the point, with the VE-8, I had all the controls I needed already, I just needed a power amp/cab. And fortunately for me, they had a a virtually unused, preowned Yamaha DXR12, active cab in. Now this is a serious peice of kit. 3 input channels, covering all types of connections, in and out. And most importantly, the clarity and quality of the sound is truly superb.
Without reading any manuals, well I am a bloke, I connected everything up and was immediately impressed by how awesome the guitar (Taylor GTE) sounded. Crystal clear and very full. So I knew the Yamaha was doing it's job. This set up sounded so much bigger and better than any acoustic guitar combo I had heard and that even includes Acus, who in my book are by far the best combos.
So now it was onto the VE-8. I kept it simple, with a tad of reverb on the guitar and turned the vocal harmony knob to the one above and one below setting. Impressive? Yes. I soon learnt from my rookie mistakes too. Don't have the harmonies too loud and don't listen to them overly or your voice starts to follow them and that can lead to disaster. Also, as I heard/saw in a video for another harmony pedal, sing confidently, for if you don't, the VE-8 loses it's confidence and again, it turns out badly. So yes, like anything worthwhile, you have to learn how to do it properly. Do so and you may impress yourself and others. The DRX12 and VE-8 are an awesome combination and I look forward to using all they have to offer.
Now this looked the business, as it is basically a pre-amp for both vocals and acoustic guitar, with separate controls for each, plus just about anything you might need to enhance your vocal and guitar signal. Including reverbs, choruses, acoustic resonance and anti-feedback phasing, for guitar and reverbs, enhancements and most importantly, 1 or 2 part harmony, for your vocal.
So I went over this morning and got the pedal but I also needed a new amp for it to do it's magic. I wasn't sure whether to go for combos, like Roland's AC33 and Cube Street EX or just an active powered cab. I was leaning toward a combo but the guys at Prom said what was the point, with the VE-8, I had all the controls I needed already, I just needed a power amp/cab. And fortunately for me, they had a a virtually unused, preowned Yamaha DXR12, active cab in. Now this is a serious peice of kit. 3 input channels, covering all types of connections, in and out. And most importantly, the clarity and quality of the sound is truly superb.
Without reading any manuals, well I am a bloke, I connected everything up and was immediately impressed by how awesome the guitar (Taylor GTE) sounded. Crystal clear and very full. So I knew the Yamaha was doing it's job. This set up sounded so much bigger and better than any acoustic guitar combo I had heard and that even includes Acus, who in my book are by far the best combos.
So now it was onto the VE-8. I kept it simple, with a tad of reverb on the guitar and turned the vocal harmony knob to the one above and one below setting. Impressive? Yes. I soon learnt from my rookie mistakes too. Don't have the harmonies too loud and don't listen to them overly or your voice starts to follow them and that can lead to disaster. Also, as I heard/saw in a video for another harmony pedal, sing confidently, for if you don't, the VE-8 loses it's confidence and again, it turns out badly. So yes, like anything worthwhile, you have to learn how to do it properly. Do so and you may impress yourself and others. The DRX12 and VE-8 are an awesome combination and I look forward to using all they have to offer.
Jo whoever he is.
