Robben Ford Discussion

[JackD]

Daved or anyone else who can comment:

Is the TC 2290 really worth the money? I've been been struggling for years to break down and buy one, but the thing is so damned expensive. It was like $3,000 ten years ago, but now you can buy one new for $1,600 -$1,700 or used for around a grand.

I know Robben's rig with the TC 2290 sounds great. But frankly, Robben could use a $70 Boss delay and it would still sound great. I currently have a TC D-Two (the poor man's 2290) and only use one or two delay setting--much like RF. I know the 2290 can also do a lot of other stuff, but I'd probably still only use it for a few delay settings.

Is the 2290 really so far ahead of every other delay? Is it worth getting?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

[kirk95]

Yes...buy one ASAP! It is the most overlooked piece of the Robben tone.
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[juspasinby2003]

[kirk95]

I have owned and tried a lot of delay units...including some of the newer TC units (an M-One I think).

Get the 2290! It's one of the few digital units that doesn't sound digital. It's nice and warm sounding!!
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[juspasinby2003]

[kirk95]

Really??
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[juspasinby2003]

[iamthewalrus]

Hi all - I have a TC M1 XL and a Line 6 DL4 stompbox. If all you want is delay the DL4 is the most bang for the buck box I have ever owned; it's awesome. I use it primarily for slap and slighty longer delays (using the tap tempo feature). It has four preset banks you can program and is a deep, deep unit. Get one on eBay with power supply for about $200.

Cheers
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[kirk95]

[JackD]

The D-Two I mentioned earlier is being used with a few amps I have: an Egnater TOL 100 combo (pre-Rocktron) and an Eganter 50 head through a Bogner 2 X12 Shiva cabinet. I'm also in the process of having a Guytron GT 100 made. In other words, all my amps are pretty high-end and sound fantastic without effects. The D-two sounds great, I just don't know how much greater the 2290 will sound.

I would love to try one out, but I have not found a music store in Michigan over the last 10 years who has one in stock. If anyone knows of a store in Michigan or Ohio (I'd be willing to drive) who stocks the 2290, let me know.

[marinblues]

[jconstant]

[kirk95]

[Aeolian]

Are you guys running these in series or parallel? I always run delays in the loop as parallel, full wet and just let as much back in as I want to hear of the slap return. Can't imagine running my carefully designed tube front end through a bunch of op amps and A/D-D/A converters. The 2290 has an analog pass through of the primary signal, as do the Rocktron's and the lowly Alesis (see Garth's current rig). Most effects run everything through an A/D conversion, process everything, then pump it back out through a D/A. All that finely crafted tone gets homogized like if was run through a sampler, because it has been. One easy way to tell if the effect is sampling the main signal is to find one of those Mesa's like the Rectoverb that has a knob on the back that blends between series and parallel loops. Hook the effect box up with no effects turned on, the levels up on the effect and the send and returns on the amp. Slowly turn the knob from series to parallel. The slight delay in the units that digitize everything will cause a phase shift as you go towards parallel.
The only problem with my Intellifex is that it goes in 5ms increments. There isn't any 116, I had to settle for 115
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[Daved]

Here are 2 related stories:

1) When Robben was rehearsing with Phil Lesh a couple of years ago, Phil's FOH sound engineer, John, approached me about something that was bothering him with Robben's rig. I directed him to Robben personally.

Seems he was bothered that Robben had all this wonderful analog Dumble gear with just the tiniest hint of "edge" being generated by the digital TC 2290. He asked Robben why he accepted that. Robben responded that had indeed, years ago, tried many, many different processors for his delay and, altho, yes, he does hear that slight edge, he has never found anything as good as the TC, so he sticks with it.

John suggested several other units, including more recent ones from TC and Robben said he'd be glad to check them out. So John had half a dozen other units (including more recent TC's) brought in and we went thru them one by one during a dinner break.

When we were done John sat back with a wide eyed look and said, "Well, I'll be damned. You are absolutely right, Robben. NONE of these others sound quite as good!"

2) I was, a few months later, at the TC factory in southern Cal, having Robben's 2290 serviced, when I related this story to one of the head honcho's there who sat with a knowing smile the whole time I told my tale.

When I was done, he told me that there was a reason for this. He explained that "Out of all the processing units in the world, even the more recent TC models, the 2290 is the ONLY one that processes it's info, not in the thousands, but in the millions giving it the truest and warmest of all the processors available out there." And that that was why, after allll these years, they still make the 2290 and it still outsells even their newer models.


So, that is why Robben sticks with the TC-2290. Again, as with the Dumble amps, the advantages may be subtle, maybe even beyond the senses of most players, BUT they are very important for artists like Robben who CAN hear the difference and so..... you get what you pay for.
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