Post Musical Equipment Here....

[|iR|Focalor]

Catalinbread Talisman reverb came today.

I almost expected not to be happy with this pedal after watching the previously mentioned demo video with it running through a dirty Marshall.

Eh, not really. Hearing is believing. Yes, it's a one-trick pony by design. Most reverb pedals these days have different modes that'll simulate spring (probably the most popular option on all reverb pedals), hall, plate, etc. This one just does ONE style of reverb. But it does it pretty damn good. And the knobs make it function like a huge plate reverb unit would, and most other reverb pedals don't really include these specific settings. The "time" knob once it gets to about 70% starts getting a little muddled on dirty tones, but you can set the pre-delay to make the reverb punch come after each note to kinda tweak how well you hear the original signal. The mix knob is great too. At noon, it's a strong 50/50 dry to wet sound, but past halfway, you get more of the reverb signal, and can achieve some really nice haunting droning kinda echos, which is an extra trick/gimmick hidden within the basic usage of the pedal. It's not often that within 10 minutes of having a pedal, I'm already getting such highly usable and inventive sounds out of it that it instantly inspires creativity.

This thing is THE SHIT!

But now I'm debating... maybe I want MORE textures of reverb. Catalinbread also makes a KILLER spring reverb simulator pedal called the Topanga. But it's kinda pricey, a little over 200 just like the Talisman I just bought. And at Christmas, my old lady spent about 250 on this Way Huge Supa-Puss delay I was saying I wanted... but then I found this EHX Canyon delay for 100 bucks... and I actually like the Canyon delay more. It does more things via the mode knob. So perhaps I'd do well to try the EHX Oceans 11 reverb, which is kinda like the Canyon delay because it has 11 different reverb modes/styles. I was trying to get a little "diversity" in my pedal collection, but I keep on getting drawn to these EHX pedals. They aren't overpriced, and I really haven't tried one that I didn't like.

[|iR|Focalor]

Pretty good deal on a great pedal today.

MXR custom '75 script logo Phase 45 reissue - Usually about 100 bucks, today it's on sale for $59.99.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/MXR-Custom-Shop/CSP105-Vintage-75-Phase-45-Phaser-Guitar-Effects-Pedal-1274228082564.gc

The MXR script logo 1-knob phase pedals are GREAT, I highly recommend them. I have the script logo Phase 90. It's a good bit better than the standard MXR Phase 90 as it has a much more pleasant sweep to it. The regular Phase 90 is a bit "dramatic" with it's sweep. The regular Phase 45 is the same, and the script logo versions of these pedals use special components that make them sound almost identical to the ones from the 70's.

When I bought it, I thought it would be a cheapy little just-for-fun pedal that I might use on rare occasions, but it's become one of the key pedals in my collection. Since adding an old EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress, I've mainly been using it in filter mode to freeze the flange travel and get a funky harmonic mid and treble boost kinda thing out of it, and then run either my Fulltone DejaVibe or the MXR script Phase 90 in front of it to get a little sweepy movement to make it sound a little more interesting and psychedelic. And honestly, the Phase 90 sounds better for that purpose than the DejaVibe.

Anyway, I'd jump on it and buy one myself, but I might be spending money on something bigger next week, either a new acoustic... maybe something like a Taylor Big Baby acoustic electric... or a good 2 mic recording setup, probably a Focusrite 2i2 USB interface box and a pair of Shure SM57's with some boom stands. I can't start writing and recording anything for real until I get something like that. I don't wanna do anything like go from the loop out on my Orange head into a rack effects unit and then from there into the sound card input. That would be stupid. I didn't spend 2 grand on a fucking 100 watt Orange head so that I can sound like some cheap direct-in bullshit.

[|iR|Focalor]

With my old rackmount rig (Marshall JMP1 preamp + Peavey Classic Series 120watt 6L6 tube poweramp), my old early model Fulltone DejaVibe pedal sounded really good. But since I've sold that old rig and replaced it with an Orange Rockerverb 100 mk3, for some reason the effect doesn't sound as lush and forthcoming with this amp.

Whenever I get around to recording something new, the style is likely going to be very psychedelic sounding, and how I've gone about creating that kind of sound is by using different modulation pedals. I've added several to my pedal collection:

Fulltone DejaVibe
MXR Custom Shop script logo 1970's reissue Phase 90 phaser
EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger
Boss CE5 Chorus Ensemble

I've heard that Boss' more recent chorus pedals are all digital, whereas the ones from the mid 90's and earlier were mostly analog, and some people say the older analog ones sound better. I'd have to agree. One of the first pedals I ever owned was a Boss CH1 Super Chorus from the early 90's, and from what I remember, it DID sound better than this Chorus Ensemble pedal I bought a few months ago. In fact this Chorus pedal is so boring sounding that I don't even use it.

I've also been using a good bit of delay to create a trippy kind of vibe. I gotta say... I have two delay pedals. One is this EHX Canyon delay thing that I bought for 100 bucks used. The other is this 250 dollar Way Huge Supa-Puss analog delay with modulation, tempo division, and on-board separate tap tempo button. It's supposed to be a hot "top-shelf" kind of delay unit. Honestly... I'm liking this Canyon delay more. Even brand new at 150 bucks, it's still like a bargain. It emulates all the best styles of delay pedals - echoplex tape, EHX deluxe memory man, plain clean digital delay, analog degenerating tails delay, etc. And then it has EXTRA stuff too, it's just loaded with goodies. And meanwhile this Supa-Puss just does... what it does.

I'd still like to add one more good chorus pedal to my collection. And I still need a volume pedal for muting during live stuff (whenever I get a band together one day) and for volume swell stuff (I will never learn to do those volume tricks with the knobs like Jeff Beck and such, I've tried, and I don't have the patience to keep practicing it). Also need a pedal tuner. Also wanna get another tremolo pedal. The Marshall VibraTrem pedal I got boosts the signal too much when engaged. The problem there is with my new reverb pedal. That subtle boost overloads the signal coming into the reverb and creates obnoxious 50's psychobilly style distortion in the reverb pedal.

But I also wanted to have some type of rotary leslie speaker emulating pedal. And I've had my eye on one particular pedal for a good long while now. Digitech Ventura Vibe. I started to buy one of these when I was originally hunting for a UniVibe style pedal, but I couldn't find one, so I bought the Fulltone DejaVibe instead. This thing is all digital I guess, so the univibe effect should remain nice and pronounced even at slower speeds, which is the main problem with the DejaVibe unit. To get the effect to really MOVE, it's gotta be turned up past halfway. Below halfway, and the waveform of the effect goes shallow and wimpy. It does univibe AND rotary speaker sounds, and it has stereo ins and outs. Paid $79.99 for it, 98 bucks with tax and shipping. Not a killer deal, but could've done worse as they had another one for 89.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMjnSbYDw3E

[|iR|Focalor]

Fairly happy with the Digitech Ventura Vibe pedal. I'm not crazy about the univibe capabilities of it, I still prefer my Fulltone DejaVibe for that job. But the "rotary" effect is pretty cool. It nails the David Gilmour "Raise My Rent" sound 100%. I believe he used an old late 70's Yamaha 3-speaker rotary cabinet when recording that.

My pedal collection has been growing, and I've definitely run out of room to pile my pedals on top of the amp to use them easier. I've also bought a few that need AC power and don't come with an adapter. I already had a little One-Spot 9v adapter that I bought to go with my DejaVibe a couple years ago. It only takes up one spot on a power strip, which is convenient.



I saw they had OneSpot packs that came with an adapter, an 8 plug daisy chain, and a few adapters for DOD style power and for clipping to 9v battery terminals. I already had one of the power supplies, so I figured I'd save money and just buy a little 5-plug daisy chain so I can power 4 more pedals with that one adapter.

Dunno that I'd recommend these things. Maybe it depends on your individual pedals. The adapter that went with my EHX Pitchfork, I've been using with my Catalinbread Talisman reverb and leaving the pitchfork out of the chain. Well I also got some 6inch MXR and Ernie Ball patch cables, so I was able to patch the Pitchfork back into the chain and power it with the daisy chain that was powering the DejaVibe, the Phase 90, the Ventura Vibe, and the Pitchfork.

So I noticed when I clicked over to the dirty channel and cranked the gain past halfway, I got an annoying buzz tone in the background. I took the Pitchfork pedal out of the chain... it still did it. But when I unplugged the power from the pedal, then it stopped. So I suppose this pedal is going to require me to use it's own isolated power with the power adapter it came with.

So I guess it's best to not be a cheap bastard doing the daisy chain bullshit. Looks like I'm gonna have to get one of those power supply blocks to power my shit whenever I get around to hooking it all to a pedalboard. I dunno though. I certainly want to include my Deluxe Electric Mistress on a board, and it requires 24v. Most of the power blocks only have 9v and 18v. Dunno how the fuck I'm gonna power the Mistress without having to keep the wallwart adapter on a powerstrip under the board along with whatever power block I get as well.

[|iR|Focalor]

For fun, I did up a guitar magazine style diagram of my current pedal and amp setup.

(Click for full size - 1280x1024)

[|iR|Focalor]

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Dean-Markley/Pro-Mag-SC-1-Acoustic-Guitar-Pickup-1273887996143.gc

Pretty good deal on a Dean Markley single-coil acoustic soundhole pickup. Usually $40, but posted as todays Daily Pick on GuitarCenter.com for only $20. Hell, $40 is a good price on it, and $20 is a steal. Never had one before, never played with one myself, but I've seen them in action and they do a fine job. I'm not sure what the differences are between electric guitar amps and acoustic-electric amps, but I've seen one of these played on an old Yamaha acoustic through an old 1990's solid state Fender Princeton Chorus 2x10 combo and it sounded okay.

Gonna order me one, and probably stock up on some picks too. Been playing on fucking nubbed up Guitar Center demo picks I stole for the last few months. All my normal Fender Mediums are used up and gone, so I've been playing on these things like a poor fucker riding around on 3 bald donut tires and one dry rotted regular tire with the steel belts showing through.

I hope they get a fucking vaccine out soon, I'm so tired of this shit. I need to get 2-input USB recording interface and a couple of suitable condenser mics, and since I know NOTHING about microphones, I'd like to be able to GO to a store have someone help me out with a decent 2-mic setup. Don't like the idea of paying a couple hundred bucks per microphone and getting it mailed to me only to have it arrive damaged or it doesn't sound or work like I thought it would, etc.

[|iR|Focalor]

A NINE STRING GUITAR? Are you shitting me?

https://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/hellraiser-c-9-detail

That is the most retarded and pretentious thing I've ever seen.

[|iR|Focalor]

LOL!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2dFXldOPTU

[haunted]

 

He's got a nice setup. Sounds like a really good phaser and not wah

[|iR|Focalor]

He's using a Kemper Profiler head, which has sort of become popular and trendy these days. It's completely digital, it has NO TUBES at all, and supposedly can accurately mimic the sound of ANY tube amplifier, from old 50's and 60's Fender amps, to late 60's Marshall plexi heads, all the way to any modern fire-breather like a Fryette or Engl. Apparently you can plug any amplifier or multi-piece rig to it, play for a bit, and it will analyze it and copy the sound. The people who spend all that money on them claim they sound perfect, but I've also heard other people say they're yet again just another "emulating" amp which gets close to the sound of a tube amp, but still lacks that little something.

They go for about $1800 for the non-powered version, which means you'll also need a separate poweramp to run it into next in order to power and drive the speaker cabinet. The powered version looks exactly the same, is a class D poweramp, 600w @ 8ohm, 300w @ 16ohm. So it has more than enough power to drive just about anything. I'm sure it weighs SIGNIFICANTLY less than something like my Orange Rockerverb 100 head too. Mine weighs about 60 pounds. According to Google, the Kemper weighs 11 pounds.

[|iR|Focalor]

SIGN THE FUCKING PETITION.

https://www.change.org/p/boss-have-boss-make-a-waza-hm-2

Make Boss re-issue the old HM-2 pedal. SIGN IT, god dammit. I don't care if you don't fucking play guitar. Sign it anyway, or I'll kick you in the balls. The world needs this pedal.

[|iR|Focalor]

So I've kinda had a "shopping list" of pedals I've been looking to buy. I've pretty much got every major type of pedal on that list - wah, flanger, delay, etc. And at this point I've got almost everything covered now.

I think it was back in March a week or two before the Chinese plague hit. I was looking for a tremolo pedal. And I figured, "How different can tremolo pedals really be? They turn the volume up and down, big deal." Turns out, it kinda IS a big deal. I saw my local Music-Go-Round had this Marshall VibtraTrem pedal for about 45 bucks, and since Guitar Center didn't have any of the cheaper little 35 dollar Danelectro tremolo pedals, I got the used Marshall one instead. Tried it out in the store, it seemed fine. Got it home and noticed that when you turn the pedal on, the peak volume is a tad higher than the normal bypassed volume. I don't want any boost at all. So after doing a little more homework, I discovered that MOST tremolo pedals do the same thing where they actually boost the signal slightly, so what I needed was one with a volume knob that you can turn down to keep the output level at unity gain.

Looked at a few, and I kinda liked the Voodoo Labs 4-knob ones, but couldn't find any through Guitar Center. The one I really wanted was this tube driven EHX Wiggler pedal that does great amp style tremolo sounds as well as Wurlitzer kinda sounds. But Guitar Center NEVER has the fucking things in stock, and they're also fairly HUGE. Whenever I get around to sticking all these pedals on a board, the board is gonna be MASSIVE, so I need to start trying to think about SIZE considerations. Plus, the EHX Wiggler being tube driven also makes it a bit noisy, and will all the pedals I'm gonna have in a chain, I can't be having noisy shit in the line. It still sounds great though. Maybe one day I'll get one anyway.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE4VZgYmsKo

So I finally came across a used TC Electronic Pipeline Tremolo for about 70 bucks, and it's decent I guess. Does what you'd expect it to. Has a volume knob to eliminate the signal boost, or add as much as you need. It also does the TC Electronic TonePrint mode where you can hook it to a PC and use a program to add specific presets or create your own by modifying parameters not accessible by the knobs on the face of the unit. Don't really have any idea what I'm doing with it yet, so I haven't changed anything. Whoever owned it before me has the toneprint mode set to ramp the volume on the ups and square it off quickly on the downs, which almost has a Purple Haze backwards tracked kinda sound to it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x2LOjDeIS8

Ugh. Every damn tremolo demo video has to do the Dick Dale surf shit.

Only have 2 pedals left on my list now, a volume pedal and a tuner pedal. I figured an optical pot-less pedal like a Morley would be the most reliable option, but I've seen lots of people saying that they sound like shit when used for volume swells, which is the ENTIRE POINT of getting it. And people also seem to be saying these Ernie Ball volume pedals have problems with the control string breaking, but I seem to see more people saying they do the best job of volume swells, so...

Probably gonna get the more expensive 40th Anniversary version in black with the logo on the tread. Rob Chapman has a video where he's using one much like I plan to.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InKIa_BqwyI

They also make a neato new one with a tuner built in... but I don't like the idea of stomping on the display of my tuner. If normal Ernie Ball pedals aren't known for bullet-proof longevity, then I see no reason to buy a tuner that I think won't last.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HreNBmlBVpU

Think I'm gonna get one of these though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aabstK6NabM

 

[|iR|Focalor]

Nerd video.

These old JCM2000 amps actually sounded pretty good. Much better than the JCM900's that preceded them, and a little better than the Made in Vietnam DSL series amps they're making these days.

But as you can see... the insides are a clusterfuck of cheap components, sometimes poorly made and conductive PC boards, and plastic wiring harnesses going all over the place. Marshall was apparently kinda flying by the seat of their pants when they made these things as they apparently revised the schematic MANY times, sometimes not labeling things properly.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx60xHZFerE

[|iR|Focalor]

Think I'm gonna get one of these though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aabstK6NabM

Bought one of these last week. Brand new they retail for about 140. I paid 85 for a used one, 100 with tax and shipping. Things in almost brand new condition, so it looks like I got a good deal. It's a little bigger than the pictures make it look though. I've kinda got an idea for how I want to place it on my board whenever I put one together. Gonna run into an Ernie Ball volume pedal first, then into my Fulltone DejaVibe beside that, then into my Real McCoy Custom wah.... then into the rest of the chain. From the "tuner out" on the Ernie Ball volume pedal, I'll have the Peterson tuner sitting above the DejaVibe. I'm thinking about just making my own pedalboard out of plywood and 2x4's since I've got access to all my old mans woodworking tools that he never touches. Won't know how big the board will need to be until I get the volume pedal in the next couple of weeks and can lay everything out and get some rough estimates on the measurements and size it'll need to be.

Pedals really cool though. It apparently has a plethora of different highly accurate tuning modes adjusted to compensate for string sizes, instrument types, etc. The screen can change to about 8 or 10 different colors and lights up to be visible in the dark OR in direct sunlight.

[|iR|Focalor]

GOIN' DOWN! DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!

The Walmart of guitar stores, which devoured all the best local mom and pop guitar stores from my childhood in the Atlanta metro area, might be crashing and burning... for REAL this time.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbTqM0nMx8