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Topic: Profex II - What is is used for? |
Hans Penner
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 3:46 pm |
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I saw a Profex II listed as being used by a pedal steel player.
What is a thing like this used for?
What are the benefits of using one?
_________________
At long last, July 14, 2011 and I have a musical instrument I CAN play.
Stage One, Nashville 112, Hilton pedal, Black Box |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 4:12 pm
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It is a pre-amp and multi-effects unit. You can drive a rack mount system with it and have all the effects you want pre-programmed.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting. |
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Hans Penner
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 5:13 pm
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Richard, you are talking to a guy who needs a much broader but simple explanation.
I am totally green re this topic.
All I know are the effects pedals my son used when he was in his heavy metal faze.
(He's heavy into his 'I'm a dad" phase now) (' ')
So, please, if you could .....
_________________
At long last, July 14, 2011 and I have a musical instrument I CAN play.
Stage One, Nashville 112, Hilton pedal, Black Box |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 5:19 pm
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Benefits are having all the effects you're likely to use in one little box.
Downside (my own admittedly highly biased opinion): You have to write a patch for each combination of effects you'll use together, and it's not easy to adjust a single parameter on the fly, so if you want more reverb on "He Stopped Loving Her Today" than "I Never Go Around Mirrors," it's easier to give each song its own patch than scroll thru parameters and then press buttons.
I'd rather have a reverb knob, a chorus box, a phase shifter and a delay (that I'd never use).
Every multieffects box I've tried has been an exercise in frustration.
Other people's mileage may, and judging by popularity does, vary.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 6:11 pm
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Sorry Hans. Lane pretty much nailed the effects part of it. I used to have one and didn't like it for the very reasons Lane listed. I like to be able to adjust things "on the fly" also.
Many use it as a pre-amp in a rack system. In a combo amp, you have a pre-amp and power-amp stage. The pre-amp will take you guitar signal, add any tone modifications (by way of tone controls), and boost the signal if necessary to feed the power amp section where your volume comes from. In a rack system, you use a separate pre-amp and a separate power-amp. You plug into the preamp and the preamp plugs into the power amp. Some preamps don't have any effects like reverb, delay, etc. They will usually have an effects loop setup so you can plug in a rack mount effects unit (or maybe even stomp boxes).
Hope this helps a little.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting. |
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Hans Penner
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 4 Feb 2013 7:35 pm
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Thank you very much, Richard.
I now understand and probably do not need one.
_________________
At long last, July 14, 2011 and I have a musical instrument I CAN play.
Stage One, Nashville 112, Hilton pedal, Black Box |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 5 Feb 2013 2:09 pm
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Hans, while Richard and I would congratulate you on your judgment, remember who you're following: we'll be the first to tell you we're half a bubble off the beam.
While I believe I've laid out the case why they're annoying, but a LOT of folks find them useful.
If you look at Jack Stoner's pdf file of settings for them, at http://www.gulfcoaststeelguitar.com/profexii.pdf you'll see what they do: 3B and 4B are EQs; CF means chorus; RV, Reverb; DL, Delay; OD, Overdrive; SM, SP, P1, P2 I couldn't figure out; CM, Compressor.
It can do a lot, but unless P1 and P2 are phase shifters, it doesn't do that. But nearly everything else. But if you want to alter just one parameter (say, turn the bass up a bit in the Lloyd Green patch) in the middle of a song, good luck. I'll assume you'll need 34 switchpresses. And if you navigate away from that patch, it won't get saved...
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 5 Feb 2013 2:58 pm
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When I used a rack system, I started with an Evans preamp into a Digitech S200 effects unit (for reverb basically), into a QSC power amp. I got a good deal on the Profex 2, and tried that for a while. It even had all the Newman presets. For some reason, I kept going back to the Evans. I will say the Profex 2 is a good unit as long as you have the presets you want dialed in and never need to change setting on the fly. I even tried the Evans with the Profex just as an effects unit. Still preferred the Evans/Digitech combo.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 5 Feb 2013 5:35 pm
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Hans, There are number of all-in-one preamp/effects units on the market, all originally designed for guitar or bass players, several of which (Peavey ProFex and ProFex II, Peavey Transtube Fex, Peavey Bass Fex, Roland Gp100, various models of Line Six PODs, Digitech Genesis and others) have been used by a number of steel players. While some like the PODs are more easily adjustable on the fly, most of them offer deep editing capabilities and patch saving, for instance, a clean tone with short room reverb next to a darker tone with Hall reverb and long delay, then a phase shifter, Leslie simulator, chorus, etc. etc.
In my opinion, most of these kinds of preamps are suited for those who really like to tweak their settings, use numerous "effects" with their sound, and have quite a few different "sounds" on tap. I've used many of these live and in the studio, and most provide very good sounds with some editing.
As for the ProFexII, I think a lot of it's popularity derives from it's usage by quite a few well known steelers over the years. I've just recently seen several Nashville stalwarts using them on sessions.
I used a ProFexII live and in the studio for quite a few years, and when I was in bands where a wide variety of sounds were helpful or required, it was a reliable and central part of my sound.
For those who want one or two "main" tones or only to alter the amount of reverb and delay from song to song, it might be much easier to obtain from a straight-ahead amp or preamp and a couple of pedal effects. Some also use the multieffects units for only delay and reverb, and deal with the programming requirements.
In particular for the Peavey units it's imperative that the old internal batteries be replaced, preferably with a new "battery-less" chip mod, as they are prone to leakage that can damage or ruin the units completely. With that mod, though, they seem to just go on and on.
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Hans Penner
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 5 Feb 2013 6:46 pm
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Thanx,Mark, Lane and Richard for your help.
_________________
At long last, July 14, 2011 and I have a musical instrument I CAN play.
Stage One, Nashville 112, Hilton pedal, Black Box |
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