Non amp related but need advice-best amp in a box

[azatplayer]

Allright, odd Q for an amp forum, but..

I do a regular duo with a mate, and we have sofar, always used amps in our gigs.

We do an acoustic set first followed by a couple electric with tracks sets.

The other night to mix it up, i stayed on acoustic, and my mate used his tele into a vox jamplug. Well it worked really well. In fact it was the best 'in the mix' tone we have yet gotten.
Got me to thinking, i should have kept my tri ac.
So, as im looking again for a solution for this particular gig, wondering what others have found.
In researching the interwebs, ive found along with the sansamp, the Barber direct drive, and the First Act V-Stack, tweedy version.
Got to both of these via some clips ive seen before on utube.
SO, anyone have any experience with these, or some others to look at?

Cheers Don

[Structo]

Well for the ultimate plug in and go type rig the Axe FX is getting good reveiws but it is expensive.

I have used my Line 6 POD XT Live effects board before plugging straight in to the mixer.

Line 6 has some newer models like the X3 that are getting good reviews.

A bit of a learning curve to get them set up and sound good but well worth it.
They have amp and cab modeling as well.

Another setup for small gigs is the BOSE PAS set up with the tall speaker tower and bass module.
We ended up using two of those for a worship band.
I didn't care too much for it in a large band situation but I have heard small combos playing through them and they sounded great.
For two people doing an acoustic set or a single person playing acoustic and singing, they sound very good.

So unless I am missing the mark totally, what you are after is something to make the electric guitar (being the tele) sound better and like it is going through a tube amp?

[azatplayer]

Hey Tom. Actually want to ditch the amps alltogether.

Some places we play, amps are great, but other places like bistros, its hard to tame amps. What we got the other night thru this little vox toy, was control with a reasonable tone, very usable.
So, no amps, straight into desk.
Looking at the Barber direct drive or sansamp tri ac as a possibility.

Cheers man. O i have had a look at the newer pods, maybe the pocket pod express could be the go. Less is more sometimes.

Don

[Structo]

Oh Ok I misunderstood.
So you aren't even using a PA amp?
Getting a small amp to sound good at low volume can be a challenge.

But that is where these types of pedal boards excel.

[azatplayer]

We use a yamaha powered desk into our foh speakers. Its one of the newer US models with D class power, very nice sounding desk.

Typically we were using my Swart AST and Lee used his express.. heavily attenuated.. but we usually play small clubs and bars, maybe 100-120 people.

It always starts out ok.. but often ends up a bt loud. So anyways we tried this Vox amplug, and it worked really well. I will get one at only 40 bucks, but its particular about guitars.

So looking at other means to get to the same place, little more versatility, and quality.

Don

[Bob-I]

I played in as a single or Duo for about 20 years and never used a guitar amp the entire time. I found that a clean guitar tone was easy to come by with a tube preamp and eq, OD tone was harder to come by, but also less important. For OD I went through a variety of devices but the best by a long shot was an old Peavey Rockmaster preamp. It's a single space rack mount with 3 channels, clean, crunch and hi-gain. I found 2 of these in music stores years ago for under $80 each.

The key to a decent sound through the PA is attenuating anything over about 5K. You gotta keep the guitar out of the horns in the PA or it'll get very brittle. Just use a decent eq and pull down the sliders above 4K in a crooked frown, flat on the bottom end and attenuated on the highs.

For awhile I carried a 1x12 with a JBL D120 in it. I used one of the monitor sends and put guitar only in it. It added to the OD tone of the guitar, but in retrospect it added very little to the overall mix. My partner, a vocalist who didn't play an instrument at all, liked the guitar through the PA best, he said it just sounded fuller.