The best video showing how this pedal is set up in a live situation. Bravo. Everyone else just plays though it without ever showing how you use it during a performance.
This is an excellent review of the UA Lion. You covered a lot of ground. I think your review is more holistic than many. Rational with great tone examples. Thank you.
Amazing playing and what a great video ! Super nice to see ! I'm playing on a kemper since maybe 9 years now but I am mostly using 3/4 amps, and as it is quite a heavy rig for everyday's concerts, I am currently hesitating to switch to a pedal like this for gigs that dont require too many different amp sounds. I am verry impressed by how you make it sound real and vintage, thats truely amazing !
I used the Lion at my gig on Saturday as a pedal platform and honestly, I have never had a better sound out of a PA and everyone commented. I used the Super bass Just the high Channel at 10 O'Clock and it was big and Fat sounding and all my pedals sound great! I had the JHS AT and the BB preamp as my gain and the AT Delay and Strymon Flint and it sounded huge. If I do use an amp in the future, I will also plug the LION in to the PA. Changed my life!
Bought this pedal yesterday. It's kind of weird. It sounded great in the store with my Filtertron equipped Gretsch. Using it with my Telecaster in a rehearsal room it sounded very iffy, I would say due to the nature of the used\beaten PA system. I will say though, for home use with a good Hi/FI amp\speakers it sounds fantastic. I will probably be buying some kind of FRFR monitor for small venue use, where my Tube amps are simply too loud to be used properly.
I had similar conclusions each time I dialed in my tone with my headphones and went with the same tone on stage. Every time it is too bright and I think it comes from the fact, that when you play at home only with your headphones, the brighter tone gives you a little more edge and it generally is more fun to play. Also, "Fletcher Munson" curve is worth to mention as we tend to hear higher frequencies more the louder it gets. Thanks for the video!
Hey buddy! I recently started using the new Fender fr12 cabinet with my modeler and I really think that's the missing link you're looking for on stage. Looks, sounds, and feels like an actual cab and it'll give you back thst stage volume behind you. Worth a try my guy🤙🏼
Killer playing! This is what guitar gear reviews should be like. If I'm being brutally honest, most gear reviewers don't have the taste or musicality (or even a basic sense of rhythm!) for me to really trust their word. I appreciated the real-world demos and commentary too.
I would like to see you using it in a live and a home setting with a Fender FR-12. I think that FR-12 cabinet is the missing (not missing anymore 😊) link between digital and tube amps.
No headphones out ahhhhhh. I didn’t realize that. What an oversight. Great playing and it does sound fantastic. Thanks for pointing all of these things out.
It doesn't have a dedicated headphone out, but I plug a stereo 1/4" inch to 1/8" cable to plug into the outputs then plug my headphones into it and it works for me. I use Sony MDR headphones with it.
You could use a powered wedge behind you to get that feel / sound you're looking for (just your guitar sent to it / split) then have your studio wedge be full of whatever you like including some of your guitar. I use an NX 12-SMA monitor wedge I bring with me to all gigs so it's consistently the same sound. I do that and it works great as then you get that familiar sound you need. Great video.
Loved your taken this, and kudos for not diming the volumes ✨ Would love to see a follow-up video, also using a poweramp into your preferred speakers! Might change the perspective. Thank you!
Holy shit, you are good player man. I agree with just a few greats. I traded all my Wildwood LP’s, SG and Custom Strat for 1 Valuable LP. I don’t care I love it. I’m doing it for an amp now. I was gonna get 1 Silver Jubilee and get rid of the others. While I won’t get more traditional (large) amps but these are so small that it can’t hurt
Great video Dylan! I responded to the short you did two weeks ago of the Lion, and your video and responses actually pushed me over the edge and I bought one. Regarding your comments about only hearing through the monitor I might add some 'advice', although others might've suggested this already or maybe you even thought about this yourself. I had a hard time getting used to just playing over my monitors at home, usually I play through a tube amp behind me and on stage I prefer to hear my own cabinet rather than the monitor. I tried a few different power amp pedals and ended up with the Hotone Loudster. I have that on a small board together with just the Lion and I can run it through all my cabs with the cab sim off. I actually played with my band like this last week through my Marshall 4x12" with my plexi on top, and it took 'till the end of our set that my band members noticed the amp was off. It felt and sounded great! And if I want to do this and still want to send a cabsim signal to the FOH, I run the other output to my Two Notes CAB-M+. Would be great if UAFX would do an update where you can set both outputs differently. I've done a video on the Lion as well which is on my channel, comparing it to a Marshall 1987. I'm about to shoot a video with the Lion and Loudster through an actual cab aswell, but I can really recommend it.
Here's the video I mentioned earlier a month ago, using the Lion with a power amp through a guitar cabinet. Maybe this might be useful to you, if you haven't considered or tried it. I gigged like this with a Greenback M loaded 1x12" and it worked great. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r_tef3xOojg.htmlsi=c6MH2x_VJlPMgA2t
Thanks Dylan, I’ve just picked up this pedal and have been very pleased on how accurate these tones are in comparison to a real Plexi. I’m also considering using this as a backup at gigs in case my amp goes down. Your video showed how that could be done and thought your guitar sounds in a live setting to be just like using a real amp. I would like to see you do another video with your pedal running through a powered speaker cabinet.
Great thorough review Dylan, I really enjoyed it. I am a new Lion owner and I appreciate you sharing the full detail on your settings for the tone you were using. inspired by your right-hand technique as well, great playing!
I fixed that 'missing amp speaker sound' by using the Line 6 power cab. It is essentially a monitor with a guitar speaker. I use the helix. I hated it through the monitor only. The powercab was the missing link to getting a 100 percent realistic guitar sound through my amp modelers. I can still send one signal to the house and use the power cab as my own personal monitor. Very important when you have sound guys that don't know how to mix modelers.
Wow great demo and playing. Your band rocks! My band goes all direct with in-ears so I’ve been wondering about this pedal for a while, I might give it a try now.
I really dig your style even though I could never approach that level of skill/play. I'll just watch, listen, and enjoy! I've been curious out this UA Lion and this review is helpful.
Amazing.This the best video I 've ever seen off a modeler ( live on stage..."amp in the room " sound.) Great man. What a sound !!! I 'm in for a drem 65
Great demo! Great playing,u really put some quality work into this video! This pedal sounds amazing, the market is certainly saturated with digital options for amplifying your guitar or bass, it’s crazy as a player from the 70’s/80’s era of buying and carrying around amplifiers I always tried to stick with combos of some sort, the digital stuff is really a game changer. But as soon as you feel like you have something figured out for gigs and recording they come out with something new and interesting. It can certainly get your head spinning & your bank account.,..😵💫
Absolutely fantastic review! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I'm a tube amp player and I'll definitely be looking into picking up the lion for myself. Thanks again ✌👍
Great demo. I've owned a JTM45, 68 Superlead clone that Kurt Granger setup for me, a custom Silver Jubilee and a Friedman Runt 50 and the superlead was my favorite amp on stage but only was able to be used at a couple larger venue shows just because of how loud it has to be to sound good. Even with a master volume added, you still had to get the power section cooking before "that" tone happened. I'm considering the Lion as an alternate DI rig vs my BluGuitar Iridium but right now, I'm running that into the OX Stomp cab sim and I am REALLY liking that pedal. It's not as flexible for live playing as my Boss tube amp expander but it's a fraction the size. FRFR's Iv'e found, are just inherently brighter than studio monitors so I usually have separate cab sim settings for home vs stage. As for your stage sound, I always have run the FRFR behind me (I use IEM's so I mostly just do it for stage sound for the crowd) but if you want more of an authentic feeling thing, consider something like the duncan power stage 200 into a 1x12 or 2x12 cab. I've run that with my Fractal FM3 and it sounds really great and more authentic than an FRFR. If the lion can send cab simulation out one of the outputs and DI signal out another output, that would be my suggestion... or you could run the DI signal out of the lion into the FX loop return of your PRS amp. If the lion can't do DI signal out one output, consider the OX Stomp. You'd get a lot more flexibility with your cab/speakers/mic and output. Also you would get that wonderful reverb, compressor, delay, etc.
Great review and points. I use a 28 pound, 2000 watt QSC-K10 monitor behind me with the UA pedal running through it as well as the PA. It sounds and feels great.
Have you tried the bluguitar amp1 mercury edition its very spot on Plexi-style/ jmp especially with the new 1control and it has 100-150 watts its really unbelievable but the lion is unreal also
Very thorough helpful review thank you very much! …. Would be interested to hear you try it out with a power amp through a cab …. I recently heard this pedal through a Mesa stereo tube power amp and a stereo delay into two 4 x 12 cabinets. Sounded amazing - but that still wasn’t a “gig test.”
I've been using a Quilter Superblock UK direct for a couple of years & monitoring with a pair of Headrush FRFR108 (one in front & one behind me). I also have the QSC 12" speakers & to me the Headrush sound & respond more like a guitar cabinet. I also like being able to control my volume independently on one channel of the Headrush & run the main mix into the other. Now I have the Lion 68 & plan to use it 4CM in the effects loop of the Superblock. So far at home it sounds great. Also in my experience going ampless on stage, the DI sound is always different on stage compared to headphones or studio monitors. The sound guy, EQ on the console, etc... also factor in. Great video, nice playing, the Lion sounds amazing live!
Awesome demo, and chops Dylan, I really enjoyed the fact that you put it through the live onstage test, I really hope you follow up with a powered frfr or cab I will be watching for it.
i am sold! i think this would be way more practical to use at the home studio - i always feel bad burning tube life recording. I could see that being pretty cool to use for live shows but must be weird getting your sound from in front of you instead of behind you.
Great demo, nice to hear the Lion in a live setting sitting alongside other amps etc. For me the UA pedal line fills the gaps in my amp collection nicely. I’ve got a few Marshall’s and Orange that are my main sounds but I often like to try something different. No room for more amps and wouldn’t want to spend lots for occasional use. That’s why I grabbed a Ruby, fills my Vox needs, feels and sounds like an amp. Having said that the Marshall that I haven’t got is covered by the Lion …….
I actually heard that Dickey tone from the Allman Bros. live at S.U.N.Y. recording. That beautiful driven Marshall tone that dreams are made of. Almost exact feedback that he got on “One Way Out”. Thanks so much for including the fact that you have to have a powered amp/interface to use it. That was my senior question when considering.
As usual beautiful playing brother. I’ll have to send you some good pictures of Gregg from when worked/hung with him. Anyway I’d love to hear this pedal through an actual poweramp as a preamp
a review just like this for the UAD ruby would be awesome with some thoughts about how the feel compares to the Lion. UAD should send you one! best review of their amp pedals on youtube
Thanks for the video! There is a fix to the stage experience issue. If you get a Fryette power Amp and a 12 a speaker cabinet and take a through line from your DI box, you’ll have what you’re looking. 👍
Beautiful playing and a very thorough and interesting review... Lion is amazing at dekivering rexorded tone, which is a big feat, but ofc only a part of the real amp magic, and its super usefu, either as a backuo, practice, recording... Yet, due to often unpredictable venues stage monitoring and sound guy, bringing your own monitor, either active stage monitor or frfr powered cab of any sorts, its still almost a must, if the stage is loud, and i hope it is...1x12 tube combo is not much far from that setup.. Although less reliable in theory for sure,. Ah.. Pros and cons.. But sure we have great choices today..
Your post gig points on the pedal feeling like a real amp... the yes and no is literally exactly as how I felt when I tried mine at a gig recently... and my real amp is a 1959hw I run through a Fyrette Powerstation into a 1960hw cab with the GH30 55 speakers. There is a lack of depth/weight without the real speaker on stage behind you. In terms of how it feels compared to the amp miced in another room. its brilliant. In terms of the indistinguishable bit... if you knew the sound of the real one and the sound of the pedal before you'd be able to tell them apart... but if you did a blind test between two different real plexi amps they would sound different as well. What the pedal does is sound pretty much spot on like A plexi. Mostly the 3 specific amps used to model the different amps on this pedal. Easily the best plexi pedal going.
Just plug the lion into a power amp and Cab! And turn off the Cab sim and it will sound great for live. I use the Lion, Freedman IRX, and IRD depending on my mood, though a power amp (Seymour Duncan Power stage 170 ) and a cab with 30 watt Celestions & with The Line6 HX Effects & it sounds amazing! This way you can mic the Cab if you want so it's behind you like a traditional amp so you can get the real amp sensation & If I want to go direct to the board I use the Two Notes Torpedo cab, Now you have the best of both worlds and more cabs to choose from!
I have the ruby and the lion. I purchased a fender fr12 and im so impressed with those ua pedals in that fr cab. Cant wait to gig with it. Dont think ill miss my friedman amps on stage as this does some great things
thank you, thank you and thank you again. the best lion review on the tube. if you want a kick in the back, try the Red Sound speakers. greetings from Italy
