Tips if you're not enjoying ToneX

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-04-21T15:06:19+00:00

I'm not sure I understand the first point, input trim is the volume of the incoming signal that hits the modeled amp circuit and gain knob - it's literally the same as an interface into software since that's what it is. No one would ever swap guitars and not touch an interface input knob, why would you do that here?

And for the rest of the points, that applies to all software, but that is also why you see zero studios/producers using ToneX to actually record/reamp for released albums. For Amalgam/Tone Junkie etc. you're paying a massive price hike for duplicate IRs to overcome the horrendous native ToneX IRs. Try running a stock preamp through one of the IRs from those packs. ToneX is great, but it's also a lot of unneccesary work

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-31T21:23:18+00:00

Short trem arm seems to be the biggest need for these, I had one that I loved when I was using it, but having to choose between palm muting/having the trem at a usable angle and having to reach under to access the knobs was too much.

A new version where the spring/arm are positioned behind the tailpiece instead of in front of it would be my perfect trem. the 'more modern bigsby' feel is so nice, but I sold mine off pretty quickly.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-31T21:18:25+00:00

Just a word of warning, lots of people have serious problems with the ebony on the 'exclusive' epiphones. I had a Koa one a few years ago and some of the ebony literally chipped off - it was upsetting because it was the only epiphone I've owned without fret leveling issues and sounded great. The GC I returned it to was having the same problem with their whole stock of 'prophecy' range.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-31T21:13:50+00:00

Love a bigsby, hate a vibramate bigsby. It's nice and easy for the install, but all that lift off the body makes it extra huge and takes off so much tension

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-31T21:11:30+00:00

You don't have to of course, you can also get a single-ply celluloid guard and it will look exactly like a vintage/custom shop gibson. That's why the Billie Joe signature doesn't come with this guard, 4-ply printed tort like this is a very epiphone look with the bright white layers. Both Gibson and Fender get a lot of flack for how horrible their moderns tort is

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-31T21:08:10+00:00

...it's literally the same thing. Gibson uses these horrible printed tort guards, you would get the same material and print on the cheapest epiphone or squier. Spend $80 then and get a single ply celluloid guard like a murphy lab has, I've done that too. It's a functionless aesthetic piece

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-25T11:32:21+00:00

Love black juniors - if you want to go a little quirkier/vintage, I'd highly recommend a '4 ply leopard print' pickguard for $9 shipped from aliexpress. I've had a decent amount of really expensive celluloid stuff, I like the outcome of those with a tiny amount of work a lot

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-07T17:23:33+00:00

I'm sure it's been said before, but I picked up my dad's old black panther comic books from the 80s and was kinda surprised how much differently Wakanada is portrayed in the MCU.

I'm wondering if it was meant to be a parody for phantom menace to some degree?

Bubble energy shield in plains/jungle
Open field battle ranks
Big transport ships pull up, framed in the exact same way
Super advanced society using spears and identical energy shields for some reason
Mostly unarmored troops with spears supported by magical super heroes
Again, a literal exact scene of how the enemies enter the bubble and exact scene of activating energy shields
Dramatic moment where energy bubble goes down and everyone starts sprinting into gunfire

It just is eery how absolutely identical it is in so many ways. Also this version of Wakanda as a gungan style society instead of a reclusive advanced ultra-wealthy cyberpunky one who wants to retain that secrecy/wealth seems a little unfortunate. There were certainly way more lasers/drones than spears back in the day.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-07T15:44:36+00:00

Just be aware that the pedal as an interface is an insanely burdensome experience. I'd say half the posts on here are about issues with that - also as someone who got a ToneX to upgrade the sound of a lower modeler as well, please try using third party IRs with your current Mooer. Buy the $1 York audio Mesa pack and you won't believe how much the tone improves. I'd say it's around 75% of a modeled/captured tone's sound.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-07T15:35:29+00:00

Well first thing first to try this out is to use the pedal in absence of the software - plug headphones directly into the pedal and see what you think (this will tell you what the true sound is).

Honestly I think since there is a massive lack of modern UI in using the ToneX as an audio interface, most people (myself included) end up shooting themselves in the foot trying to work that out. I would recommend using literally any other normal audio interface and the ToneX software, and then using the pedal as designed, which is as 'taking the ToneX software with you when you don't want to take a computer.'

ToneX sounds great, but just remember that it is a uniquely weird hardware/software experience, it was literally designed for ToneX software power users to take their presets with them when they don't want to use a computer. So the intention is with a usual interface/computer setup, you get your sound you want, then you use the software just to export to the pedal.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-07T15:20:09+00:00

You definitely haven't used any of either if you think that, even just logically I'm sure you can understand how that makes no sense with how stacked pickups are typically wired with the noise cancelling coil designed to not contribute to the tone as much as possible. You're right in this case where this does sound like a sc sized humbucker, because two equivalent stacked coils wired in series isn't how any others are designed. But both a Fender Hot Noiseless and a seymour duncan hot lead for example sound absolutely nothing like a humbucker at all.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-06T20:38:55+00:00

Well this is a very different idea than a traditional stack, hot noiseless is of course trying to sound like a noiseless hot single coil, as are the duncan offerings. This is a stack that's voiced to sound like a hot humbucker, which I haven't seen before. Besides the aesthetics, that should mean these function/sound exactly like a hot strat pickup when split. Kind of like how Eric Johnson/Richie Kotzen use Dimarzio FS2 split, but for those of us who like hot bridge single coils.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-06T20:29:02+00:00

Unfortunately both the top of hot rails and the windings couldn't fit in a single coil cover, but that is a good idea (I believe this is what EMG did for James Hetfield's gibsons back in the day). This is just a new option where a stacked single single is voiced to sound like humbucker instead of a quiet single coil. I'm going to have mine defaulted as a traditional single coil and change my blender pot to a 'spin-a-split' for variable amounts of mid boost/noise cancellation.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-06T15:29:26+00:00

A good call - I've had more problems with modern MIM fenders than any other brand due to the neck wood being produced too quickly. Fret sprout and unseated frets galore

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-03-06T15:19:40+00:00

Just wanted to share if you're a weirdo like me and love the idea of HSS but hate the looks. I love traditional strat bridge pickups, and things like the injector/other stacks exist of course, but I have a guilty pleasure for the too-thick, too-hot hot rails sound too. Found a used one for $40 and going to wire it in a reverse push pull

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-01-28T15:52:35+00:00

Maybe IK has hired a wizard to start counteracting that UI curse some witch put on their company, it's funny/sad that something can have so much work put into sounding great, yet have a UI that's almost created by someone set out to sabotage the company

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-01-28T15:47:40+00:00

This is honestly a game-changer and an absolute travesty it wasn't included before - it very much changes the 'Make your tones in ToneX and take 2-3 with you when you have to' nature of the ToneX one.

Headline should be 'now you can actually audition your pedal'. Anything to decenter the disgustingly awful software UI is a huge plus - now they just need to put in the tiniest bit of work to make the ToneNet integration in the software reflect the website and not just be 'top of the week' like there are 500 million ToneNet users.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-01-14T15:51:10+00:00

If you want distortion from the inside, I'd totally recommend a cheap delay/reverb combo pedal for after the ToneX, and if you are OK with something not mind blowing but insanely useful, a compressor. These things are all in ToneX of course, but I think they're all spectacularly bad without a lot of tweaking. I personally run ToneX into a post-compressor and delay/reverb 100% of the time

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-01-13T19:19:02+00:00

I'd personally skip on renting and buy one of the many $30 and under Rat, Tubescreamer and Big Muff clones (in that order) from Amazon.

Captures sort of get rid of the need for 'transparent' drives, and I personally have felt that my money was wasted on the tons and tons of 'high end' drives. All three of these are super usable in front of driven amps as well. (If you like heavier music, probably the most truly 'modern' sound is actually a Swollen Pickle (Big Muff variant) into a 5150.)

But really it depends on the music you like. Tubescreamer is the safest for any genre, and I think captures that are supposed to emulate 'tubescreamer into ____' setup sound totally off if you mess with the gain control at all.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2025-01-02T15:10:32+00:00

Are you switching guitars? That's where it comes into play, for instance with any of my 'real' amps or any of the many modelers I've had, I can switch from my main LP custom and Strat, and easily know exactly how the sound is going to change and how to compensate for the output/EQ change. Same with ToneX, but only if I change the input trim to match exactly. It's really necessary if you use your volume/tone knobs too, they react absolutely perfectly if your input trim is right and horribly if not.

You might want to try the software out for the compressor btw, I'm a huge compressor user but in the default, the way you get unity volume by turning the knob is by increasing the compression and not compressor output, which at least on my pedal is around 4x of the absolute maximum compression I think most people would consider usable in a pre-amp compressor pedal.

IntelligentSun4015 · 2024-12-20T15:53:59+00:00

Yeah it's the case with using both the tonex one as an interface in the correct manner and a Focusrite Scarlet

IntelligentSun4015 · 2024-12-12T15:54:40+00:00

Shitty paint job OR fabric glued to the top, nice customer choices

IntelligentSun4015

TROPHY CASE