Well......
There's two schools of thought here. One is the traditional approach, I'll address that in a moment. The other is the road taken by what newey suggested above, the Danelectro Free Speech box.
That thing has one thing going for it, the "all-in-one" approach. Simply plug it up like any other effects pedal, and you're off to the races. However, the resultant sound comes out of your guitar amp's speaker(s). This as opposed to the traditional sound source being one's PA speakers.
So, the more traditional methodology of the two schools is that you normally hear your vocals out of a PA, which is often in stereo, and you normally hear your axe out of only one source, the amp itself. This new way, the Free Speech way, is that you are modding your guitar's signal, so it should remain at the guitar's output, the speaker(s).
You're now faced with looking at the effect as "are you modding your axe", or "are you modding your vocals"? In the latter case, you're simply replacing your own vocal cords with a different sound source, i.e. the guitar. (Or a keyboard, as is getting popular among some of the younger set.) In this scenario, a modded vocal is properly regarded as "should come out of the PA", whereas a modded guitar signal should come out of the guitar's amp.
Here's how I see it all breaking down:
Pro's of a Free Speech:
- All-in-one approach (no additional gear needed, such as a PA setup)
- Easy operation
- Well built
- Actually works.... it's usable
- Cheap!
Con's of a Free Speech:
- Mic-and-tube unit need to be replaced every so often (Not too expensive, but a PITA nonetheless.)
- Not very loud (or so some reviewers claim)
- Might feedback or howl (again, according to some reviewers)
Pro's of a traditional setup:
- Places the output where listeners expect it, at the PA speakers
- Nearly bullet-proof components
- Replacable tubing is cheap and easy to do
Con's of a traditional setup:
- Consists of several pieces, not a quick setup and tear-down
- Has a limited tonal pallette (you might call it a one-trick pony)
- Can get pretty expensive
Now, there is a third way to do this, where the output can be sent in either direction. I personally use it in the traditional manner, but now that I think about it, I'm not locked in to that.
I use a vocoder, particularly one made by Electrix, called a Warp Factory. (Still not cheap by any means, even on eBay.) For all intents and purposes, it's indestructible, it has a very rich and robust tonal pallette, it's MIDI controllable (a must for me), and thanks to that, it works exactly the same way I expect every time I use it, no "strange" expected noises suddenly blurting out, seemingly from outta the clear blue. Not to mention, since there's no tube involved, there's nothing to replace. (Unless you abuse your standard issue PA mic, but that's not something you'd do only because you're using a vocoder, now is it?
)
Summary:For a fast, easy and cheap "get up to speed" device, the Free Speech unit is hard to beat.
Once you're up to speed, that unit might still be OK, or you might upgrade to a standard horn driver-and-tube approach.
Or if you're floundering in cash, you might consider a vocoder.
HTH
sumgai
)