Alchemist question

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stratotone

stratotone

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Does the delay button on the footswitch allow you to tap the tempo or is it just an off/on switch? I checked one out at GC a month or so ago, and really liked it, but they didn't have the footswitch there.

Pete
 
stratotone":1kf1v02e said:
Does the delay button on the footswitch allow you to tap the tempo or is it just an off/on switch? I checked one out at GC a month or so ago, and really liked it, but they didn't have the footswitch there.

Pete
The footswitch does not do tap tempo
 
Wow, so the only way to tap in the tempo is on the front of the amp?
 
stratotone":u27ro2af said:
Wow, so the only way to tap in the tempo is on the front of the amp?

Correct, but if you brought a really long pole with you the tapping could be done from the front of the stage.
 
Bob Savage":19qiilyu said:
stratotone":19qiilyu said:
Wow, so the only way to tap in the tempo is on the front of the amp?

Correct, but if you brought a really long pole with you the tapping could be done from the front of the stage.

I have a picture of the prototype of the new alchemist Pole mod.

m_stick.jpg
 
Bob Savage":1lkc0aa7 said:
stratotone":1lkc0aa7 said:
Wow, so the only way to tap in the tempo is on the front of the amp?

Correct, but if you brought a really long pole with you the tapping could be done from the front of the stage.

That really sucks. Dang. I have a long pole, but Oklahoma has laws that would register me as a sex offender if I used it onstage again.
 
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
 
amiller":2ncu06t2 said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.
 
scottosan":1qr5eejv said:
amiller":1qr5eejv said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo.

Im sure it was cost issue. I bet they were trying to keep it around a certain price point and maybe that was one thing he had to give up to keep it down. That said it would have been nice to at least have a 1/4 inch jack on the back for using a momentary pedal. Again Im sure it was a cost issue. Personally I dont have a problem with it, for leads I typically leave at a certain rate anyway. For clean stuff its nice to have a tap at your foot but I have the M13 that I can tap tempo on all kinds of things.
 
scottosan":28hm4pse said:
amiller":28hm4pse said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.

I'm really not knocking the amp persay. I'm just saying, that for me, if there's a delay tap function I want it at my feet where it's needed. If I have to add an additional FXs unit to the loop to get a delay tap function what's the point of have an onboard FXs unit?
 
scottosan":3m2kaag5 said:
amiller":3m2kaag5 said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.

Well, if you have tap tempo on the face of the amp, it's not like it's a huge assumption to think it should be footswitchable. Come on, it already has circuitry to perform a tap tempo function, we're talking about the cost of wire and a 1/4" jack. Bonus feature my ass.

How many guitar amps can you name with tap tempo on the face of the amp that won't allow you to use a footswitch to tap tempo?

Pete
 
stratotone":1y9i8r8i said:
scottosan":1y9i8r8i said:
amiller":1y9i8r8i said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.

Well, if you have tap tempo on the face of the amp, it's not like it's a huge assumption to think it should be footswitchable. Come on, it already has circuitry to perform a tap tempo function, we're talking about the cost of wire and a 1/4" jack. Bonus feature my ass.

How many guitar amps can you name with tap tempo on the face of the amp that won't allow you to use a footswitch to tap tempo?

Pete

Yeah, and doesn't "tap" imply that your tapping the damn thing wit your foot.
 
amiller":3ctla3cy said:
scottosan":3ctla3cy said:
amiller":3ctla3cy said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.

I'm really not knocking the amp persay. I'm just saying, that for me, if there's a delay tap function I want it at my feet where it's needed. If I have to add an additional FXs unit to the loop to get a delay tap function what's the point of have an onboard FXs unit?
In the case of the alchemist I'm not sure that function was intended for doing it on the fly for gigging. The feature simply is there for a lack of having a delay time setting knob. You have a delay level, repeat level, and the tap tempo is the only way to change the delay time. Personally I would prefer a knob for dealy time instead of the tap tempo button. I also take the approach that Bogner took by allowing Line6 to include their effects, but kept them parallel not serial so that if there we any malfunctions with the line6 portion of the amp, you could isolate that from the rest of the amp and still have a pure tube ciruit. The same goes for the footswith. He kept it simple with 4 DPDT swithes that control independent relays. As soon as you ad tap tempom, I assume you are going to have to have to redesign the switching to be digital/midi of some sort. To me that would be overkill for the amp and add to the price point. I personally like to keep things simple.
 
stratotone":824oovma said:
scottosan":824oovma said:
amiller":824oovma said:
'Seems a little brain dead to have a delay tap function that can't be accessed by the foot switch...me thinks this is a huge design flaw. :lol: :LOL:
I don't see it that way. The fact that it even has delay and reverb and is something you do not see alot on cheaper or more expensive amps. I see at as a bonus feature. Take away the feature completely and you still have an adjustable loop on the back, so use an add on delay with tap tempo. If a tap temp feature was a deal breaker, I think the list of acceptable amps out there would be pretty small.

Well, if you have tap tempo on the face of the amp, it's not like it's a huge assumption to think it should be footswitchable. Come on, it already has circuitry to perform a tap tempo function, we're talking about the cost of wire and a 1/4" jack. Bonus feature my ass.

How many guitar amps can you name with tap tempo on the face of the amp that won't allow you to use a footswitch to tap tempo?

Pete
Good question, but I can turn that around and ask for a list of amps that do? As I just posted in my last response, I am not technical enough to know if it would be possible to do tap tempo without going midi or something
 
scottosan":2nu44mx4 said:
As soon as you ad tap tempom, I assume you are going to have to have to redesign the switching to be digital/midi of some sort. To me that would be overkill for the amp and add to the price point. I personally like to keep things simple.

It already has tap tempo though - it has a momentary switch for it. The tap tempo circuitry isn't in the switch, it's in the amp and the switch is connected to it. Same as tap tempo on a Boss DD6 pedal where you can hook up an external footswitch. IF there was enough room, it would be easy to add, but it would have been really cheap/easy to add during the design stage. That's my beef, it's not like it would be adding a new function to the amp, and wouldn't have cost them more than the price of a jack and two wires. We're looking at a feature that would have cost them less than a dollar to add!

Pete
 
scottosan":2phymusl said:
Good question, but I can turn that around and ask for a list of amps that do? As I just posted in my last response, I am not technical enough to know if it would be possible to do tap tempo without going midi or something

I can't think of any. It's possible to do tap tempo because they already are doing it with the momentary switch on the face of the amp. Again, the tap tempo isn't something built into a switch, it's in the amp. The switch doesn't have the signal going to it, so you wouldn't need a relay either.

Pete
 
stratotone":2u0a7egh said:
scottosan":2u0a7egh said:
Good question, but I can turn that around and ask for a list of amps that do? As I just posted in my last response, I am not technical enough to know if it would be possible to do tap tempo without going midi or something

I can't think of any. It's possible to do tap tempo because they already are doing it with the momentary switch on the face of the amp. Again, the tap tempo isn't something built into a switch, it's in the amp. The switch doesn't have the signal going to it, so you wouldn't need a relay either.

Pete
I'm with you and agree it's a valid gripe, but for me it wan't a deal breaker. I still would have preferred a knob to adjust the delay time.
 
You know, I have the Alchemist 1x12 combo, and I wondered the same thing with the tap tempo for the delay. I've only had the amp for about a week (and get to gig with it tomorrow - yeehaw!) so I'm waiting until I get super comfortable with it, and the amp also seems resilient - in that it doesn't break down within the first few months of use. But, I'm definitely a tinkerer at heart, so...

If you think about it, that switch on the front is just a momentary switch of some sort. I've worked on a few amps / rack preamps in the past, and I would bet that if there was room for a 1/4" jack to be mounted on the back panel, one could accomodate a footswitch tap tempo. It won't have fancy LED pulsing showing you the tempo, but it should do the job just fine. I'm not condoning anyone do this with their amp though - modify at your own risk!

All that said, if the amp gets through the honeymoon period and performs well on a few months gigs, and I'm finding I'd like a tap tempo - I plan on cracking it open for that purpose. :D

I'm new here too... so, hello!
 
Welcome Jeff! Your videos of the Alchemist were great and your playing was very very good too. Hope you hang around. We have a gret little community here.

JeffMN":843qw3b2 said:
You know, I have the Alchemist 1x12 combo, and I wondered the same thing with the tap tempo for the delay. I've only had the amp for about a week (and get to gig with it tomorrow - yeehaw!) so I'm waiting until I get super comfortable with it, and the amp also seems resilient - in that it doesn't break down within the first few months of use. But, I'm definitely a tinkerer at heart, so...

If you think about it, that switch on the front is just a momentary switch of some sort. I've worked on a few amps / rack preamps in the past, and I would bet that if there was room for a 1/4" jack to be mounted on the back panel, one could accomodate a footswitch tap tempo. It won't have fancy LED pulsing showing you the tempo, but it should do the job just fine. I'm not condoning anyone do this with their amp though - modify at your own risk!

All that said, if the amp gets through the honeymoon period and performs well on a few months gigs, and I'm finding I'd like a tap tempo - I plan on cracking it open for that purpose. :D

I'm new here too... so, hello!
 
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