The Steel Guitar Forum

What appears to be the most well used and accepted piece of side equipment....Peavey Profex or what is next best or best ? Make and Model?

I use a POD XT, but there are many units that will do the job. This is one of those questions where there is no single right answer. It's a matter of what you prefer.

I've enjoyed the flexibility of my ProFexII and the wonderful blends of sound it provides me.

Simple to use, adjust and play.

I have had my profex II since it was new in the early 90's. Over the years I have had many other players come up to me and tell me that I should get rid of that thing because their "bla, bla, bla" is the new latest and greatest and that everyone is getting rid of whatever they are using to get one. The next time I see these same people, the "bla, bla, bla" is gone for a new improved "whatchamacallit" because it is the next greatest thing. Meanwhile, I still have my profex. Maybe (hopefully) my playing is improving over the years, but I think that my sound is improving over the years because the profex offers so many choices that I have changed the way that I run it. You seem to kind of learn the dos and don'ts to the thing, and the levels in and out to run for the optimum sound. I also would recommend Ken Fox's mods, as I did all of them and that made it better yet. I am in no way saying that these are the only answer, but it is funny how after all of these years they are still as popular as they are.

DD 3 with a Behringer tube preamp, $49.00, Vegas 400, very good sound, good enougth for me. I just sold my Profex 2, for the second time, just had to try one again.


ernie

Studio engineers never liked me to use the Profex, but I've gotten nothing but compliments on the PodXT...either direct or through an amp.

The Alesis Quadraverb GT is a nice unit.

Tony

I second Tony's idea - Quadraverb GT. It's quiet, has some great reverberation and delay sounds. It has an overdrive that sounds pretty good, cabinet simulator too.

Check out youtube "The Stone Cold Roosters" "Born on the Bayou" Toward the end of the tune I used the Lesley Simulator effect.

Jim P.

roland GP100

JJ

I'm in the minority, I hated the Profex II, the successors to the Profex II, the Transtube Fex and TubeFex were what the Profex II should have been.

I've been using a POD XT (for effects only) for several years, and it works well. It will work like a Profex II for a preamp and effects processor and I just used it as the preamp/effects directly to the board on a recent recording session for the first time.

I like the ProFex II for its easy-to-use interface, but it's very noisy for me, even with the Burr Brown chips. (Of course, I rode it hard for a number of years.) For sound quality, I like the TC Electronics G Major, but the user interface is a pain. Tradeoffs.

I've also got a Roland GP 100 that I use in the studio when I go direct.

Tony

Jack Stoner...

I'm in the minority, I hated the Profex II, the successors to the Profex II, the Transtube Fex and TubeFex were what the Profex II should have been.

I agree with Jack. They gave me a profex to use while my tubefex was sent off to Peavey for a battery replacement and upgrade. The profex didn't come close to matching the sound of a tubefex.

I had a profex II and loved it.
Should have never sold it.
Now at home I use a TC Electronics G Major and it is very clean with no hum.
When I'm out playing I use my Boss DD-5 and NV112 with a small amout of reverb.
I do at times use my Pod XT for recording and it does a nice job but I dont like the sound of it live with my NV112.

I'm saving my pennies to get myself a Lexicon MPX-1. I've been pushing the TC M300 and M350 as they are very affordable, easy to operate, and sound real nice. But the Lexicon MPX-1 continues to be a favorite among some of the best ears I know and respect.


Brad

Bill Maynard wrote:What appears to be the most well used and accepted piece of side equipment....Peavey Profex or what is next best or best ? Make and Model?

Well, it seems as if you are asking about delays/effects, but the best piece of side gear I use, and I won't leave home without it, is the Steel Guitar Black Box. In fact I use it to frontend my Eden rig when playing bass and my Line 6 when playing guitar.

The best damn piece of hardware I've ever owned.
(at least until I get a Revelation, and then the Black Box goes into the Bass rack permanently).

SS

Thanks Stephen!


Brad

I'm with Brad, the MPX-1 is all I use, I almost give it away untill I found out the combination to using it with a combo amp, I'm saving my pennies to get one of Brads Rev preamps to go with my MPX-1 gary

I agree 100% with Brad issendofts message on the Profex also Ken Fox is the man to upgrade your unit for a improved sound. Yes I believe the profex is the reason I believe I play better now and the sound is what I am looking for out of my amp. nashville 1000 emmons goodrich george L!s Jagwire strings. True tone pick ups Frank Harris

Played out Tuesday nite with the Emmons LGII SD-10, Profex II set to C29 (with card in), NV400, and everybody loved it.
Finally learned from Jeff's video to patch the ProfexII into the amp at the Effects Return jack, not the instrument input. Much better performance.

I used a Profex for years. It sounded good. I was made aware of the POD a couple of years ago and really like it. I have a leg mount so it's right at my finger tips. really clean. Does any one know of patches that can be e-mailed like the old Newman patches for the Profex ?

A number of years ago, I owned a Profex II. My opinion is, the Profex, Profex II, TransTubefex, and the Tubefex are among the most comprehensive if not THE most comprehensive of programmable effects units. I like the fact that there are (were) something like 28 digitally-based effects, each with it's own user-adjustable parameters. Any combination of up to eight of those effects are capable of being "chained" in parallel, series, or series/parallel configurations. This allows for some pretty amazing effects creations. Then to top it off, these can be saved and stored to 128 addresses, plus 128 addresses to each RAM card used. I'm not well versed on programmable effects units, but as I wrote earlier, I don't believe there's very many contenders that are as comprehensive. Especially in the price range of these Peavey units.

The only reasons I didn't keep mine are: 1. I decided to stop using alot of effects and pare down my sound to just instrument and amp. 2. As others have said, the Profex II has a tendency to have a high threshold of noise. Especially in certain configurations. I didn't want to be bothered with that any longer.

Currently, I own a Lexicon MXP-100 and keep it in a rack system with an Evans ESPA preamp. The Lexicon is used, primarily, to provide a reverb source, which isn't inherent to my Evans prepamp.

BTW: I patched the Profex II into the "Power Amp In" and "Preamp Out" jacks on the back of my NV400 amp.

Keep on Pickin'!
Glenn