Any reports on the Tonic Preamp?

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

I would ge interested to hear what anyone has to say about this unit.
I have seen the post by Randy Beavers,and would like to see a report from a "non pro"
Thanks
Billy

Danny Sherbon · From: San Angelo, TX

I would kind of like to hear from anybody who has been using the Tonic. Sounds like a great unit.

Al Moss · From: Kent,OH,USA

I have ordered one, should be here in a couple of weeks.

J. Dean Mooney · From: Malvern, Ar

I have one on the way and as soon as iI get it I will give my opinn on it

Larry Behm · From: Mt Angel, Or 97362

I went to Doug Jones house two weeks ago and we ran it up the flag pole. Lots of options in tonal adjustments. Since everyone likes to hear something a little different this unit should work for all most everyone. It is smaller and lighter than the Rev.

Doug and I were not disappointed.

Doug, Doug, are you out there? Very Happy

Larry Behm

Joe Clymer · From: Indiana, USA

I've had a Tonic about a week now. I've been trying to use it in front of a "custom Vibrosonic" and may be finally getting the settings right. Brad has been very helpful to guide me through the mod of the Fender but unfortunately there's a grounding issue or something going on so at his advice I'm using the balanced out. That's much better but I don't have the 12AU7 tube yet that Brad recommended using so I'm still in experimenting period with it. I did use it with my digital recorder and it worked great, lots of eq variation and warm sounding. I will say that Brad really trys to help the customer with getting things right. I know this is not much help but will post future opinions.

Danny Sherbon · From: San Angelo, TX

Bump for any reviews of the Tonic.

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Bump Again

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

I know I was disqualified at the start of this thread. (Although by definition of what a "pro" is, I'm about as far from that as anyone can get.) Confused

I've used the Tonic live four times in the last few weeks and I thought it sounded absolutely killer. If you like the tone of the Revelation you're going to love this just as well.

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Thanks Randy,
I know from experience that You would sound good with wooden picks and a gut strung steel guitar,that is why I precluded You earlier.
I guess that if a player of Your standing speaks well of the "tonic"it must be good.
I look forward to seeing You again at the Dallas Show.
Best regards
Billy

Danny Sherbon · From: San Angelo, TX

Randy,
Thanks for the review of the Tonic.

I was wondering if you were using the unit with the reverb built in and if so how do you like the reverb.

I would still like to have anybody else who has tried the unit to chime in.

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Im kinda a day late on this pre-amp Sad

Where does one go to see this pre-amp ?
_________________
steelguitarguy.com

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Richard it is a new offering from Brad Sarno, builder of the Black Box and the Revelation Preamp, although he hasn't got it up on his website yet !

http://www.sarnomusicsolutions.com/index.html

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

Richard,
Try here http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=118519&highlight=tonic+pre+amp+first+glimpse

Joe Clymer · From: Indiana, USA

I've had the Tonic for about 3 Weeks now and I must say I'm impressed. I don't know if I should be writing a review on it, I used the same ole gear for years and was too close to a crash cymbal for 25 years of weekends but my take is it's very warm and versital. I ordered the reverb card with it and it sounds good to me. The Tonic is small and compact and does exactly what it's supposed to. The eq is so flexible it takes time to get used to it, SOOo many variations. Brad will be the fist to tell you, if your looking for the large lush effects that stereo will allow, you probably want the Rev, which I considered but most of the places I play anymore, the stage area has limited space so I chose the Tonic and have no regrets about it. Try it, you'll like it! Hope this helps a little.

Al Moss · From: Kent,OH,USA

I've received a Tonic and also a Split powered cabinet. -now in the process of getting used to the new gear and doing that little back and forth dance between the steel and the amp to try to find some sweet tones. Randy, if you happen to see this post, maybe you can help me out here and give me an idea of where your're dialing things in. Also, maybe a comment or two regarding the behavior of the Spilt cab, break in time of the speaker, response of lows, highs, placement of cab --is it placed on the floor or on a chair, and how the Tonic and Split behave together?

Al Moss · From: Kent,OH,USA

FWIW:
I have just gotten a Tonic preamp and a TC Furlong Split powered cabinet to try to use in my own palette of Steel tools and am wondering if anybody could chirp in to report on a direction that you've found to be useful for your own work with them.
Just to get started, let me say that thus far, it seems to me that the Tonic is very "Fendery" in it's personality. The "Expand" voicing begins to go toward a bit bigger bottom comparable to what I can get with my Deville 2-12. The Classic mode seems to be more of an un-colored Twin type of tone. Highs are nice and smooth. Mids seem to be a bit overly present in the basic structure of the tone stack but can be dipped fairly well to get rid of mud. The built in Black Box and the digital reverb work really nicely too.
Maybe somebody's settled into some settings that you consistently dial into your preamp, and , if so, maybe you could give me some ideas as to the shape of those tone settings. I'm sure that our steels are different models and so forth, I'm running humbckers in both of my Mullens, Tonealigners, in one, and George L 10-1's in the other.
I do have a big question about the basic tone of Split cab. I've only had this cab for a week and a half and have used it for practice just about every day since then. I do have a complaint regarding it's tightness and lack of big/open, bottom tones. It's a not very flattering comparison to the Split to site that my Nashville 1-12 has way more bottom in it than the Split. Has anyone found that the Split requires a long breakin period to begin to really start shaping the bass tones? I've run the Tonic into the "power amp in" on the Peavey and the tone tends to breathe really easy and the bottom is there without any major tweaking of the Tonic's eq controls. At this point, I'm pretty happy with the tone of the Tonic, but, really scratching my head about the Split cab.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
Thanks.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Hi Al,

I am surprised to read that your SPLIT cab is having you scratching your head about the tightness of the bottom end. There is more available bass than in an open back cab design like a N112. I own two N112's and the SPLIT is definitely not in any way lacking in the lows when compared. There may be a couple of things going on. Have you tried moving your SPLIT to a different position in the room? It may be that the lows are coupling with a wall or corner when using the SPLIT and the open back is more forgiving because of the lack of "low lows". Also, have you taken both to a stage to compare? All reports so far is that's where the SPLIT really opens up and shines...at typical stage volumes.

Another thing that might be going on is the fact that the same settings with a Nashville 112 will not necessarily be the best settings with a SPLIT and vise versa. Try dialing in a pleasing setting to your ear with the Tonic and SPLIT and then move it to the N112 power amp/speaker. That way you will know if it's a vise versa thing. I have heard from some people that moving from an open back to a closed back sometimes requires an adjustment period for the player.

Regarding the break-in period...the SPLIT sounds great out-of-the-box and all feedback from users has supported that . The speaker cone will warm up very slightly and gradually over time. That is generally the case with all speakers.

One last thought...it might be that something weird happened during shipping. It's never happened but if you think it's not right, I'll send you another SPLIT to compare it to.

All SPLITs are carefully measured and played through to verify uniformity and consistency.

Please feel free to email me with any thoughts, concerns, questions, observations etc.

TC

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Al,

From what you describe, I am suspicious that maybe something happened to the SPLIT. Although the tone of the thing may warm up a bit as the speaker breaks in, the bass response is huge right out of the box. So really, maybe something is wrong electronically. Hard to tell from here, but I can say from personal experience that a SPLIT delivers far more bass than a NV112. Partly from the power, and mainly from the sealed/ported design. I'm sure TC will gladly work thru this with you. But from what you've described, something definitely ain't right. I think you'll enjoy the heck out of it when it all gets straightened out.

Brad

Doug Jones · From: Oregon & Florida

I picked up my Tonic at Brad's house last December. What a great guy and great to deal with. I have it mounted on a rack tray and presently use it with a TC Electronic M300. The output goes to the Effects In (power section) of my Evans FET-500. The tonic has more than ample gain and great versatility in tonal combinations. I'm still in the experimental stage, but must say the highs are killer and having the Vari-Z on board makes life great. I'm particulary pleased with it's application in the recording studio when going direct. It has allowed me to send ample levels to the engineer with beautifully warm lows (ye olde tube and Vari-Z, I reckon). The only suggestion I would make to everyone is use 90 degree jacks on the front panel so knob access is easier, especially with your picks on. I've used it on stage twice and plan to use it more. In the interim, the Walker is still my stage rig. More info to follow as time, testing and venues permit. Respectfully submitted, -DJ-

Al Moss · From: Kent,OH,USA

Thanks guys. I'm still messin with everything. Trying to be the scientist and isolate variables to get a good feel for what's what. Lots of A-B'ing, lots of re-patching, routing of the signal path through various pieces of other gear, etc.,,, I'm not ready to say that anything's wrong with anything -- I'm prone to say that it's probably just me. The repositioning of the Split cab to the floor did give a bigger voice to the bottom end. And, I'm sure he is correct when TC suggests that open back cabinet guys, like me, have trouble getting happy with closed back cabs like the Split. I'll keep workin and report back. Many thanks specifically to both TC and Brad for their comments and advice.

Pete Smith · From: Tucson, AZ, USA

Hi,
My experience with the SPLIT has been that it sounds different in the club than in my house, if I use the same settings. It is no problem to get a very similar sound, but it takes very different settings on my RTP.
To me the combination of these two components gives a wonderful result.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Al,

If you have any concern that your SPLIT is not working perfectly, I will send you another brand new fully tested SPLIT to use to compare. Regarding the open vs. closed back...it should not take long to get comfortable with the closed back sound. The thing about the difference in sound from home practice to stage is in the low frequency. When you have good strong lows, it can benefit from some tailoring to the environment. With an open back, the lows don't need quite as much tailoring because there is not as much available.
TC

Al Moss · From: Kent,OH,USA

Here's a followup to my post from above and a bit more on my own little experiments with the SPLIT.

Over this past weekend, I've tried a couple of different preamps (in addition to the Tonic) into the Split powered cabinet and tried out different angles and heights in which the Split is positioned in relation to my playing position. Seems to my ears now, more so than before, that the Split is really responsive, runs quietly but gets really loud if it is asked to, and has a nice smooth spread on it's tonalities. It does not, as I had questioned in an earlier post, appear the least bit to be deficient in any areas of it's tonal response due to it's position.

Incidenatlly, I'm still lookin around for my own personal tonal paradise from the Tonic. Again, it's probably my own chemistry and specific gear and room acoustics and other mitigating imponderable factors that are making things elusive.

And also, incidentally, Brad has pointed me in some useful directions in the shaping and behavior of the tone controls, but nobody else really has as this topic's thread has progressed. If anybody that has a Tonic would care to report their settings, it'd much appreciated.

The setting that I've been falling into with some consistency so far is as follows:
d-10 Mullen RP, Goodrich passive volume pedal, BB circuit in the Tonic at full on= 6:00 on it's dial::: input gain at 10:00::: bass sesnitivity in the center/normal position::: treble at 11:00 or 12:00::: mids at 9:00 or less::: color at around 12:00::: bass at around 1:00-2:00:::classic mode::: :::master output at about 1:00:: Reverb is about at 10:00. XLR out of the Tonic to a 1/4" in to the Split which is set at about 12 - 1:00, or, volume about halfway up. Split resides about 10 inches off of the floor and about 3 - 4 feet behind me as I sit at the steel.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Al, here's what I would try, just for experimentation:

Vari-Z - noon, straight up
Gain - noon to 2 o'clock
Treble - 10 o'clock
Mid - 8 to 9 o'clock
Color - 10 o'clock
Bass - noon
classic position
Master - 1 to 2 o'clock

Maybe adjust the SPLIT's volume control to compensate for the hotter Tonic gain.

And definitely try all this with the SPLIT flat on the floor, not raised up at all.

Please let us know what you find with that.

Brad

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