Talkbox
 

I just wanted to know if anyone here has a talkbox and could help me out in knowing which one to buy

cheers

J P Heil is the most popular brand, and I found it quite good.

Don't buy the cheap Danelectro one, it's rubbish.

thanks for that but there's one thing that's making me hesitant about buying one and that's the chance it may sound like this lol


would be such a waste of money if it did

The Heil sounds like this one ;) :

Id advise the Rocktron Banshee Talkbox, its very good and saves having to mess around with A/B routing that you get with the heil!

I own and would recommend the Heil but, as was said before, it's a complex set up and you must have a head amp and separate cab as well as a PA (mic + amp) to run it.

As for the first vid sounding naff, a lot has to do with the way you use it. The Heil can sound like that too but if you practice articulating the sound properly, it sounds infinitely better. I find that taking the sound and shaping it at the back of your throat produces the classic Sambora-esque talkbox tone as opposed to the hollow, weak-sounding effect that comes from shaping the sound at the front of the mouth.

edit:

An example of the Heil used for LOAP in our tribute band:

http://www.bad-name.com/av.html (click on the audio demo and it's the first track) ;)

Could you tell me, if you use the same amp settings for the talkbox as for the usual guitar sound? Cause your talkbox has this "metallic" sound I've always searched for with my dunlop ht1 talkbox. I tried so many sound settings but never got it.

No, I use a separate amp head for the talk-box tone to the one I use for the main guitar tone and switch between the two with an A/B box so the talkbox actually stays 'on' the whole time (i.e. I don't use the stomp switch on the Heil to switch between the guitar/talkbox). I tend to run a slightly more metallic patch for LOAP anyway (crunchier than necessary) but when you add more gain through the separate head, it adds a gutsy 'metallic' edge to it - you have to watch your treble though as it's easy to go overboard with the higher frequencies. I tend to balance out the fact that you inherently get a lot more treble from the small talkbox horn driver by adding more low end on the talkbox amp head.

If you then get the talkbox sound to the back of your throat to shape it, the sound becomes nasally metallic which is signature Richie - or as close as I can get at any rate. ;)

Hope that helps. :)

What kind of amp do you use for the talk box? maybe you can tell me the sound settings?