I didn’t put this in the “Other Gear” category because a) this post is guitar pedal related and it would likely generate a bunch of questions regarding WHY I would put a guitar pedal discussion into a synth forum, and b) aside from describing what the Tank-G is all about, this is discussing the Analog Drive as a dirt pedal into the Tank-G.
So …
On impulse, I recently picked up the M-VAVE Tank-G, a muti-fx unit with amp modeling, cabinet simulation (IR), a decent verb/delay/mod fx chain and a lot of other goodies. For instance, you can load your own amp, fx or cabinet IRs into the unit for a ton of customization options. Comes with a really good editing app as well (desktop/Android/iOS).
I say on impulse because it lists at $79 US and with a discount, it ended up costing me a total of about $65 US with free shipping from Amazon. On sites like Temu or AliExpress, if you’re patient, you might find one for as low as $40 with discounts.
I’m glad I didn’t judge this unit based on its presets. Out of the box, so many of them were WAY too high-gain and fizzy, seeming like they were made by a kid who had just discovered distortion and wanted gain cranked to a nasty 11 on almost everything. Blegh!
But by taking the time to create one’s own presets, you can get a variety of great sounds out of this thing.
So back to the Analog Drive: basically, I’ve been trying the AD as a front-end dirt pedal going into the Tank-G. Since both units have MIDI I/O, I might even sync them so that I can auto-switch and coordinate presets between the two.
After creating some good custom Tank-G presets that match amps/cabs properly with better EQ AND pulling back MASSIVELY on the gain settings, the sounds become very suitable for using the Analog Drive to drive the Tank-G modeler as if it’s a real amp.
Another thing I’m going to try is getting some captures of a few favorite Analog Drive circuits and then loading them into the Tank-G.
It’s kind of like having a baby Kemper.
I don’t look at the Tank-G and the Analog Drive as being in competition. I like the real analog circuitry and that real analog sound coming from the AD, and it has basically made my old dirt pedal collection mostly obsolete. Even with some captures of the AD, the Tank-G isn’t going to give me that variety and mojo coming from the real thing. But I think a simplified “AD into Tank-G” setup that I can run direct as a minimalist setup might be ideal for certain kinds of gigs or jams.
Not shown in the photo: an XLR output on the side for going directly into FOH mixer or other full range balanced inputs.
