Fractal FM3 vs Valeton GP-200T

[Frankencat]

So I have done some shake-ups over the years and since the FM3 knocked my trusty Kemper off the throne it's been king of the modelers for me. I have some other ones that I enjoy like the Boss GX-100 that I have gigged and used in church a ton with great results. Now comes the Valeton GP-200LT, great form factor, decent effects, NAM capture player, feels and sounds pretty good too. I like it better than the Tonex which I spent a ton of time learning and tweaking but unfortunately, it left me scratching my noggin. 10 minutes with this device and I was getting some very usable sounds.

So, will it knock the king off his throne?.....

Well I think you already know that that is a big negatory good buddy . But as a light version for a scaled down rig for rehearsals and such, I think this is going to be great. Having the built in drum machine and looper is a great practice tool as well and it's so easy to use.

I'm telling you guys, we are living in the golden age of guitardom.

 

[Cactusprick]

have no Valeton but FM3.

would be interested to hear your feedback although that may upset few on this forum lol

 

[Frankencat]

It sounds great actually. Before you even get to the NAM stuff, the built in amps and cabs sound really good. I especially like the Matchless. The effects are good too with a good selection of pedals etc. The only thing missing is a Klon and a CE-2 chorus, but plenty of other choices not to miss them. The mod effects are the weakest part for me but I haven't really spent a lot of time tweaking yet so we'll see. The editor software works fine and the firmware update process went smoothly if you follow the instructions. Mine had FW 1.50 and I updated it to 1.7. I need to spend some more time with it but first impressions are good.

 

[Frankencat]

BTW Sorry Tonex dudes but I like this waaaay more than the Tonex One.

 

[Byrdman]

It sounds great actually. Before you even get to the NAM stuff, the built in amps and cabs sound really good. I especially like the Matchless. The effects are good too with a good selection of pedals etc. The only thing missing is a Klon and a CE-2 chorus, but plenty of other choices not to miss them. The mod effects are the weakest part for me but I haven't really spent a lot of time tweaking yet so we'll see. The editor software works fine and the firmware update process went smoothly if you follow the instructions. Mine had FW 1.50 and I updated it to 1.7. I need to spend some more time with it but first impressions are good.

I have been on the fence on this one too. I would like to get a decent NAM player with added bonus of the other features that wont break the bank.

Do they have a Klon and CE-2 captures with NAM you can use?

 

[paisleywookiee]

Valeton is a sister brand to Hoe-Tone, right?

 

[Lysander]

Valeton is a sister brand to Hoe-Tone, right?

Indeed. I have no doubt their stuff sounds good - so does Hotone's Ampero line.

 

[deepskyone]

Hoe-Tone

The only correct way to pronounce this brand name +

 

[paisleywookiee]

The only correct way to pronounce this brand name +

One might feel differently, if their name is Tony.

 

[norminal]

Valeton is a sister brand to Hoe-Tone, right?

 

[paisleywookiee]

I didn't even think of that.

 

[KingsXJJ]

One might feel differently, if their name is Tony.

Gary Hoey-Tone when he played lead for The Sopranos Band?

 

[KingsXJJ]

I’m going to stick with checking out these tones and tech on the GLP-5.

But I love hearing your impressions. Christopher Walken is a favorite of mine.

 

[Frankencat]

I have been on the fence on this one too. I would like to get a decent NAM player with added bonus of the other features that wont break the bank.

Do they have a Klon and CE-2 captures with NAM you can use?

Yes there are a few Klon captures. The unit has a CE-2 style chorus but it doesn't sound that great in my opinion. It also does the Boss Dimension pedal which is ok if you like that style of modulation. It's got some other stuff too. To be honest I am not a big mod user anyway so it's not a problem.

One thing that is cool is that the foot switches have several ways to set them up including a Stomp mode that can be assigned however you like with functions each, Tap and Hold.

 

[MadMaxG79]

Do they have a Klon and CE-2 captures with NAM you can use?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure current cloning/capturing capabilities only handle things like tone (frequencies), gain and dynamics. No cloning of delay or modulation. Or reverberation, for that matter, but that could be handled through convolution reverb.

 

[DLC86]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure current cloning/capturing capabilities only handle things like tone (frequencies), gain and dynamics. No cloning of delay or modulation. Or reverberation, for that matter, but that could be handled through convolution reverb.

Correct. Time based effects can't be captured by nam... at least currently. Compressors and tremolo can be captured but with some tweaks to the architecture (I don't how though).

 

[Sascha Franck]

Compressors and tremolo can be captured but with some tweaks to the architecture (I don't how though).

Compressors should be easy. They should pretty much "just work" - but I'd have my doubts with anything modulating, tremolo included.

 

[DLC86]

Compressors should be easy. They should pretty much "just work"

Nope, the "time constants" (sorry but I don't recall the correct term atm) are too short in the standard architecture to properly capture typical attack and release times of a compressor

but I'd have my doubts with anything modulating, tremolo included.

 

[Frankencat]

So overall I am digging this.

Pros:
Sounds decent right out of the box, can get some really good to great sounds with some tweaking. Amps and cabs sound very good and you can add eq and tweak away. Cabs have built in high/low cuts. NAM captures are cool, not sure it is necessary. No issues with IR's, they work like they are supposed to. Effects are decent and useable. Software is very good.

Cons:
Effects are good but not great. Granted I am spoiled by Fractal and Boss when it comes to this . The things that seem elusive that I would like on the unit are...

Comp - although the standard comps are decent, I want a standard Ross style comp with a blend. Just add a blend to any of the ones that are there. The S-Comp is not it.

Delay - again, the delays are decent but where is the simple analog or tape delay with just a touch of modulation? Perhaps a EH MM block? The delays with modulation either have way too much in the mix and are stereo which I don't really need for my use case. Maybe it's in there but I have yet to find it.

Modulation - this is the weakest part of the unit. Where is the subtle classic CE-2 chorus that everyone in the world wants? How about adding a mix knob to the existing choruses? Same with the flangers, not really doing it for me, I want subtle.

If they made the above improvements to the effects part of the unit this could be a standalone go to unit. As it is, it's very useable and tweakable and I plan to use it for rehearsals and home jamming stuff.

Drum machine and looper are a bonus. I am not much of a looper so I don't want to comment on that too much but it seems very straightforward and simple to use. The drum machine is a hoot and provides and instant jam/practice session at the touch of a button. Very cool indeed! Nicely done Valeton.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Nope, the "time constants" (sorry but I don't recall the correct term atm) are too short in the standard architecture to properly capture typical attack and release times of a compressor

That's weird, because more or less each guitar amp pretty much serves as a compressor all the time, too (a very coloring one, if you will).

The tremolo video had me wondering, though. I thought that was absolutely impossible so far.