Clean to Mean Rack Tones 12/27/25

[GuitarVacation]

Chris is a ripper and very cool!

i ran sound and simultaneously videotaped (camera mic) the first concert at Tone Merchants a scant 17 or so yrs ago!



He was using a CAE rig with a Fish for this show. I regret not filming a quick rig rundown with him but it was a hectic afternoon because at the time the room was just a box with an elevated stage and the lighting was funky so i had a friend bring some curtains/frames to help diffuse echoes a bit, tried to gel the lights (which Chris helped with) and tried to put a drum shield around Kofi but he wasn’t having it

i miced everything and flew by the seat of my pants! There were these fluorescent light panels on the ceiling which was crushing their vibe at first. Rob the bassist walked up to the mic after the first song and said “Cleanup on Aisle 9..” teasing how overly bright the room was, so i made the executive decision to kill them! they were way happier but the video suffered in the dark curtains v white walls background contrast!

side note was when Landau and Fletcher played there the same thing happened with the lights. i could tell Mike wasn’t feeling it and then i popped the fluorescents off and he said “Ah..” into the mic and relaxed his shoulders

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Dude! Running sound a setup for LEGENDS. It's no wonder you can dial in tones so well, you've heard them live and up close, straight from the source.

Referring Chris using a CAE and a Fish: I think I could roll with that set up LOL

 

[Little B]

i think for me Preset B would be more useful if i had an H8000 or fractal and wanted to control the on/off state of specific effects in a chain within a preset without switching to another preset and deal with loading time glitches.

i did dabble with attempting to make my PCM 80 a looper and reassign Preset B IA switched into CC controllers, but failed

however i did get some of that functionality i wanted using boss footswitches inserted in the PCM 1/4” footswitch jacks.



but to do it properly the PCM needs to be at the end of the line so all the other fxs are entering the PCM versus running parallel.

one of the H8000 engines would be great to do that with too.
it’s why my braddah Zach had Bob route the H8000 the way he did:


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the H8k converters being clean enough to run 2 ins/outs at the end of the line in series, to loop or affect the whole wet mix,
or use at the Mix 1 position to feed H8k fx into other fx. the power of H8k routing and 4 analog ins/outs!

Definitely. I have used the 8000 that very way before.stay in a Preset and switch blocks on and off with cc#s.

 

[Shask]

Honestly, the 2290 is one of my top pieces of gear. The way it throws audio around the stereo spectrum and really messes with your ears is something I can't recreate on anything else. It's just such a unique unit and honestly one of the few that was really truly meeting the hype of the legendary rack gear when I started really pursuing it.

I have never tried the real rack, but I love the 2290p pedal!

 

[Exo-metal]

I just got back into rack gear after a hiatus. The PCM 70, PCM 42 and TSC were the only pieces I really sought out as well and honestly, it’s plenty. I have the FM3 in the mixer where I can use it in series or parallel and honestly, I use that as much as anything. I use it for a bit of everything. Micropitch when using the dedicated pieces for the other stuff. It doesn’t have the depth of the dedicated pieces (same for using amp models vs real amps through the react ir) but unless I’m going for the full 80’s swell/wash thing, it’s super convenient for getting sounds fast.

Those 42s!!!!

 

[PhilC]

Those 42s!!!!

Analog dry. They’re great in an amps loop.

 

[Exo-metal]

Just give me one and all my delay dreams will come true

 

[mentoneman]

I have never tried the real rack, but I love the 2290p pedal!

every demo i’ve heard of that thing sounds proper.
i gave my buddy the 1210 desktop version for his protools rig and he digs it.
instead of goofing around with cheezy units, tc/behringer needs to make a 1U hardware i/o box incorporating their tc icon series 2290, 1210, 8010 / DVR250 reverbs, which all sounds great. utilize the existing dock/controllers and put the whole system on a sliding rack tray:

 

[mentoneman]

Those 42s!!!!

right?!

 

[Shask]

every demo i’ve heard of that thing sounds proper.
i gave my buddy the 1210 desktop version for his protools rig and he digs it.
instead of goofing around with cheezy units, tc/behringer needs to make a 1U hardware i/o box incorporating their tc icon series 2290, 1210, 8010 / DVR250 reverbs, which all sounds great. utilize the existing dock/controllers and put the whole system on a sliding rack tray:

The only thing I dont like about the 2290p is that it is not analog dry through. However, I can say it is one of the only units that is not ADT where I dont detect any sort of tone or dynamic change running through it.

I like the 2290 mode on the Toneprint pedals also, like the Flashback 2.

 

[mentoneman]

The only thing I dont like about the 2290p is that it is not analog dry through. However, I can say it is one of the only units that is not ADT where I dont detect any sort of tone or dynamic change running through it.

I like the 2290 mode on the Toneprint pedals also, like the Flashback 2.

i had the original flashback and then switched to the X4 so i could have better live functionality with 3 presets (analog slap, dotted 8th, ethereal tape delay)

i wasn’t a fan of that pedal’s 2290 preset but i LOVED the PSG EP-3 tape echo toneprint.

and i swear the og flashback sounded better than the X4. i also briefly had the triple delay.

 

[Shask]

i has the original flashback and then switched to the X4 so i could have better live functionality with 3 presets (analog slap, dotted 8th, ethereal tape delay)

i wasn’t a fan of that pedal’s 2290 preset but i LOVED the PSG EP-3 tape echo toneprint.

and i swear the og flashback sounded better than the X4. i also briefly had the triple delay.

I have the Flashback 2, Hall of Fame 2, Corona, and 2 of the Plethora X1s.

I love the X1s. I have been using them daily. They are analog dry through and can basically be any Toneprint pedal. I have a nice HoF Hall Reverb, Flashback 2 2290 delay, Corona Trichorus, and Brainwaves dual pitch detune. The only bad thing is I can only use 1 a a time. The Mimic is cool also.

 

[mentoneman]

Dude! Running sound a setup for LEGENDS. It's no wonder you can dial in tones so well, you've heard them live and up close, straight from the source.

Referring Chris using a CAE and a Fish: I think I could roll with that set up LOL

to answer the IE4 v BE-DLX question,

i use the IE4 for:
Ch 1 glassy modern clean for my TSC sound
Ch 2 for alternative fendery vintage clean
Ch 3 old warm vintage marshall sound
Ch 4 smoother fusion lead

i feel that the IE4 adds some extra dimension particularly in Ch 1 and 4 that syn modules can’t achieve.

the DS (JTM clean to breakup) and BE-DLX (modded modern marshall) modules in the Syn-2 focus on the tones the IE4 can’t cover as well.

 

[GuitarVacation]

to answer the IE4 v BE-DLX question,

i use the IE4 for:
Ch 1 glassy modern clean for my TSC sound
Ch 2 for alternative fendery vintage clean
Ch 3 old warm vintage marshall sound
Ch 4 smoother fusion lead

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i feel that the IE4 adds some extra dimension particularly in Ch 1 and 4 that syn modules can’t achieve.

the DS (JTM clean to breakup) and BE-DLX (modded modern marshall) modules in the Syn-2 focus on the tones the IE4 can’t cover as well.

Man, hell of a set up. Yeah, the IE4 thick fusion tone is the one that keeps me after an IE4. Thick liquid fusion tone gets me every time.

I’ve even considered getting one of the Eg 3/4 modules for my Synergy, but the originals are hard to come by and the modder that does that model (can’t remember if it’s Salvation or Jaided Faith) requires a donor module.

With all that, if I was to pull the trigger, probably wouldn’t be that much more expensive to get an IE4, or least a couple channels of it custom built into a standalone preamp.

I’ve thought about this way too much LOL

 

[Exo-metal]

These are killer preamps. Poland has a red one!!