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Posts Tagged ‘Effects’

New Gear: Pigtronix Keymaster

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

I’m not too sure how to actually describe this “pedal.” It’s a dual looper, but could be used as a switch box, or a DI box. You could use it to direct your signal to two different effects loops and with the crossfade knob, mix in just the right amount of signal from each loop. As an impedance matching DI box, you can use it to go directly into a board or DAW. Or you could keep things very simple and use the box to go from one guitar to two amps, or two guitars to one amp. The possibilities for using this box are immense! Very interesting.

Here’s a copy of the press release I got from Pigtronix:

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Pigtronix introduces the Keymaster – Impedance Matching Effects DI

Pigtronix Keymaster is an impedance matching, effects mixing direct box that allows musicians to do more with the gear they already own. Without loss of tone, the Keymaster routes any sound source (XLR mic, line level or instruments) into effects via two, true-bypass loops and then optimizes the mixed effects signal for your instrument amplifier, mixing console or DAW.

The Keymaster’s unique and intuitive arrangement provides musicians of all types with an elegant solution for routing their sound through effects in a creative fashion and then out into any device without losing signal integrity. The two loops can be switched between series and parallel, with a CROSSFADE function for on-board or expression pedal controlled blending of different effects. Input and Output boost controls add up to 10db of gain both before and after the loops.

The Keymaster lets musicians easily blend their instrument’s natural tone with a floor processor or even cell phone and laptop computer based effects using a standard expression pedal. Vocalists and horn players can use the Keymaster to control their effects mix from the stage. Guitar players can now mix pedals like a DJ does two turntables.

Already in use by some of the world’s top producers and FOH mix engineer’s, the Keymaster elegantly answers the unmet needs of musicians at every level, opening up endless realms of possibility for combining the effects you already own.

“I use the Keymaster to run the Piano mic through my Leslie Cabinet, drum mics into spring reverb and to get vocals into guitar amps. This pedal kills. You need it, I can’t live without it.”
Hector Castillo – Producer / Engineer for David Bowie, Bjork, Roger Waters, Brazilian Girls

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I get lots of press releases, and there are just a few that I’ll forward to my readers. The gear simply has to be interesting enough for me to publish. This is definitely something I could put to use in the studio – or even on stage. It’s definitely worth a look! In any case, check out this video describing the pedal:

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It’s FREEZE-ing!!! The New Electro-Harmonix FREEZE Pedal

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2010| 4 Comments »

When I first heard about this pedal, which EH calls a “sound retainer,” I have to admit, I was rather incredulous. I asked, “What the hell would I use THAT for?” But after seeing a demonstration of it, I seeing some real possibilities; especially for my solo acoustic gigs. But rather than bore you with a bunch of features, take a look at this video:

That dude is a great guitar player! Don’t know who he is, but I do know he’s from Mexico as that demo comes from guitargear.com.mx. No affiliation to this site, but it’s a cool name just the same! And of course, at least for me, I have to appreciate his choice of guitar. 🙂 Nice Tea Burst Les Paul!

In any case, that demo sparked off an idea in me for when I play my solo acoustic gigs. I could strum a chord, then play a short lead over it. But I can also see how it could actually be used to introduce a whole new way of approaching music. It’s wild! I’m seeing all sorts of possibilities now with this pedal, once I saw a demo. And at under $120, it’s not expensive at all.

For more information, check out the EH FREEZE site!

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Gear Review: MXR Carbon Copy Delay

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 22, 2010| 3 Comments »


MXR Carbon Copy Delay Summary: Fantastic-sounding analog delay at an affordable price.

Pros: Out of the box, this baby oozes great tone, and creates warm, silky-smooth repeats as you’d expect from an analog and importantly it doesn’t turn your tone overly dark as analog delays are apt to do. The Mod button adds a cool and super-subtle modulation similar to chorus, to smooth out the tone even more.

Cons: The only nit I have with it is if I hit it hard with a lot of input gain. There’s almost a bit too much “flutter.” However, this is a small nit because this pedal sits on my acoustic board, and the input gain is low, so that flutter will never happen.

Features:

  • Bucket-brigade technology
  • 600ms delay time
  • Modulation switch to add subtle chorus-like modulation
  • Regen (repeats), Mix, and Delay knobs
  • Two internal trim pots to adjust width and rate (doubt that I’ll ever open up the box to adjust these. Factory settings are just fine)
  • True hardwire bypass

Price: $105 -149 Street

Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~I was really blown away by this delay. I was seriously considering getting another Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay – well, the PCB version, at least – to put on my acoustic board. But a friend showed me his Carbon Copy, and I was immediately sold. I’ll admit that if I’d gotten the Carbon Copy first, I probably wouldn’t have even considered the Deep Blue Delay, which is over double the price.

No, I’m not kicking myself… And yes, I paid over $300 for my hand-wired Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay. But that particular delay is seriously in a class all by itself. In my mind, there’s the Deep Blue Delay then all the rest of the analog delays. But near the top of that “other” list sits the MXR Carbon Copy. It never crossed my mind to even evaluate this pedal after I got my Deep Blue Delay, but when I wanted to get another analog delay for my acoustic rig, fortune had it that a good friend happened to get the Carbon Copy. I originally turned him on to the Deep Blue Delay, and instead of that (he couldn’t justify the price), he got the Carbon Copy for use on his acoustic board. Of course, I had to try it out, and fell in love with it immediately! Plus, at less than $150, this pedal would be a steal! So I got it a couple of Fridays ago to use at my weekly solo acoustic gig, and have been a happy camper.

Built like a tank

I still have an 80’s MXR Distortion pedal that I used for many years. One of the reasons I dug it was that it was super-durable. I gigged with a lot, and it got knocked around and stepped on, but I never had to change a knob or switch in all the time I’ve had it. Though MXR is now owned by Jim Dunlop, I have to give kudos to the new ownership for maintaining the solid feel of the MXR line.

It ain’t cheap…

Make no mistake, though MXR has been traditionally known for affordable pedals, don’t equate that with them being “cheap.” They’re affordable, yes, but they’ve also made their mark on Rock and Roll (can you say Phase 90?). The Carbon Copy is yet another example of an affordable pedal that produces killer tone.

How it sounds…

I was very surprised by the quality of the sound that this pedal produces, and the range of delay tones you can get. For instance, here’s a clip that cops a bit of “Edge” delay:

In this next clip, I combine two modulation effects – heavy chorus and delay. The Carbon Copy is set to a long delay time with Regen set to noon. To keep the delay effect subtle and ambient, Mix is at about 10am.

Finally, here’s a video from Guitar World that really demonstrates the Carbon Copy’s capabilities:

Overall impression

I totally dig this pedal! Once I got it dialed in for my acoustic gig a couple of Fridays ago, it stayed on almost the entire gig! I only switched it off when I needed a more “in your face” tone. This is just a super pedal, and I highly recommend it!

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Gear Review: Pedaltrain NANO Pedal Board

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Click on each picture to see larger views

 Pedaltrain NANO Pedal Board

Summary: Super-convenient and super-portable, the NANO is a great board for those that only need to use a few pedals.

Pros: Included gig bag has straps that make it easy to attach to a guitar gig bag or case. Includes enough fuzz to cover both rails. Nice.

Cons: None.

Features:

  • Durable metal frame with rubber feet on bottom
  • Light weight at 2lbs including gig bag

Price: $49.95 Street

Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~I recently decided to just use time-based effects (chorus, delay, and reverb) for my acoustic rig, and wanted a mini board that I could easily lug. The NANO totally comes through in this regard!

I’ve got lots of pedals. Truthfully, I’ve got a LOT of gear. 🙂 And for a long time, I used just a single board and swapped out pedals depending upon the type of gig I was performing. But then there were times when I played both electric AND acoustic during the same gig, and so I’d have to compromise on what pedals to put on my board. Then I got one of those Wicked Woody pedal boards which supplanted my old Gator board, and that meant I could put my acoustic pedals on the Gator board.

That Gator board has served me well for years, but I found myself using only three time-based effects for my acoustic rig, and that board, which can fit 8 full-size pedals, was way too big, and actually kind of heavy. But it’s what I used this past summer during my outdoor gigs, mainly because by the time I’d think about replacing it with something smaller, I was setting up for my gig. 🙂

So last week when I purchased my Homebrew Electronics THC chorus pedal, I asked my trusty sales rep, Jordan, over at Gelb Music in Redwood City, CA if he had a small board in stock. He first directed me to the Pedaltrain Mini. That was a cool board, but I remarked that I didn’t need all that space. Then he remembered that he had just gotten a NANO in stock. I picked up the box, looked at the picture and said, “Sold. This is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for since I’m only using three pedals for my acoustic rig.” So that’s how I ended up with the NANO.

After having taken it to couple of gigs, I have to say that I just dig the convenience of this board! As you can see in the picture above, you can attach it to your guitar gig bag. The straps are actually long enough to wrap around the entire bag. This makes it so easy to lug around!

Now for some particulars…

  • There’s plenty of space underneath the board to run wires and do a neat job of it, as you can see in the picture I took of my board this morning.
  • The rubber feet are a god-send! This board will not slip, which is yet another convenient feature.
  • With the board itself weighing only 1 lb. it’s easy to lug.
  • I recommend using a 1-spot with this board – this is what I use, and it keeps things neat while giving you plenty of cord to run to an outlet.

Overall Impression

At $49.95, you just can’t go wrong with this board. I love it! Now a real cool thing would be to have a powered version of this, but I’m not complaining at all. Besides that would just add some weight, and it’s great that this is nice, lean board. So if you only use a few pedals at most, this is definitely a board you should consider!

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Gear Review: Homebrew Electronics Three Hound Chorus (THC)

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2010| 3 Comments »


Homebrew Electronics Three Hound Chorus

Summary: All-analog, thick and rich chorus capable of produce subtle to dripping wet chorus to organ-like leslie tones.

Pros: Warm, rich chorus tones – never gets bright, so it might not be for everyone, but I LOVE IT! Width knob is the “secret sauce” of the pedal that physically alters the width between the wave forms.

Cons: None.

Features:

  • Depth – Controls the depth or wetness of the signal
  • Speed – Connected to the LED indicator light which flashes with the rate of the chorus – very helpful.
  • Width – As mentioned above, controls the width between the wave forms. The effect is subtle, but provides another dimension for tweaking.
  • All Homebrew pedals feature true-bypass switching, heavy duty metal enclosures, chassis-mounted switches and pots.
  • All pedals are hand-built. Even the enclosures are drilled by an actual person, not a machine.
  • Lifetime warranty

Price: ~$189 – $200 Street

Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~ I’m blown away by this chorus! It has such a beautiful tone! I was looking for a chorus to use with my acoustic rig, but this pedal has so much versatility, that I will be using it for a variety of settings (though it’ll mainly be used for my acoustic rig).

I Love Surprises…

Actually, saying I was surprised by the THC is actually an understatement. I needed a chorus pedal to go with my acoustic rig yesterday, because I was tired of using my BOSS CE-2 on both my electric and acoustic boards. Plus, the CE-2, at least for me, has always sounded better with electric because of the gain boost which I dig with my electric rig. But for acoustic, I just want something that turns on, doesn’t give me a jump in volume, and doesn’t add any brightness. So when I auditioned a couple of chorus pedals yesterday – the other was an MXR Micro Chorus – I could not believe how absolutely SWEET the THC sounded!

Mind you, the Micro Chorus sounded killer to me, but it was much closer in character to the CE-2 as it is a fairly bright chorus. For acoustic, I needed a much thicker tone, and I found that in the THC. I will mention that I was going to also audition the Red Witch Empress Chorus, which is hailed as just about the best chorus on the market today. But at $400, there was absolutely no way I was going to get it, so I didn’t bother auditioning it. Also, the Red Witch has 4 knobs and two toggles. I didn’t need that kind of tweak-ability. I know, it’s also a Vibrato, but I just wanted a chorus.

Fit and Finish

All Homebrew Electronics (HBE) pedals are hand-built: And this means all the components, drilling and even the painting are done at the Homebrew shop. But the cool thing is that HBE. My experience with them has been that they’re built like tanks, and the THC is no exception. The pedal feels solid. There’s nothing loose. I also absolutely dig the bright green paint job. Reminds me of a Granny Smith apple! 🙂

Ease of Use (read: How easy is it to dial in great tone)

This is where the THC really shines. What’s very helpful in this regard is the LED, which flashes with the according to how the Rate knob is set. I found myself setting this knob first, then setting the Depth knob for the wetness, then setting the width, which I mentioned is a very subtle feature, but it changes the character of the chorus, which is really cool. Note that it’s not something that I can’t really explain because at least to me, the change is more felt than heard.

How It Sounds

As with all gear that I give 5 Tone Bones, the THC sounds AMAZING! With a high rating like this, the tone really has to move me emotionally. Other gear that gets a lower rating, even gear with a 4.75 sounds great, but there’s something that “bugs” me. Not so with the THC. It’s one of those pedals where I can close my eyes, put a smile on my face, and just let my fingers do the talking. It’s that good!

I recorded a few clips of the pedal to demonstrate how it sounds. All clips were recorded with my trusty Squier CV Tele 50’s (middle pickup position) into my Aracom VRX22 and a 1 X 12 with a Jensen Jet Falcon:

All controls dead-center

Subtle: Depth at about 10am, Rate at 12pm, Width at 10am (added a touch of reverb)

Leslie: Depth at 2pm, Rate cranked, Width about 2pm

Heavy: Depth at 4pm, Rate at 1pm, Width 11am

With this clip I wanted to see how well it played with both delay and reverb, and it plays quite nicely. 🙂

Overall Impression

This is one of those pedals that I actually had never seen before. I’d heard of it, but went into the audition completely cold. If you have a dealer near you that carries these pedals, I encourage you to check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

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Gotta Love Spring Fever!

Posted in clean boost, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitar pedals, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, reverb, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

No, not the sexual kind – though we do like that – but the spring reverb kind. 🙂 Specifically, I’m talking about the Tone Candy Spring Fever. I reviewed the Spring Fever back in May, and gave it a 4.5 Tone Bones. But now that I’ve got it and after spending a few hours with it last night, I’m now giving it 5.0 Tone Bones! Here’s why:

  1. As I said in my original review, the Spring Fever is just about the best spring reverb pedal I’ve ever played. It sounds incredibly realistic, and unlike many of the digital varieties I’ve played, while it’s jangly with some top-end, it also doesn’t lose bottom end, so your tone stays nice and rich. That’s a little disconcerting to some folks because they’re used to a brighter tone, but for me, the retention of the bottom end is really what sold me on its tone, plus with the Spring Fever, you can go from subtle spring ‘verb, to rich, spacious, swirling surf tones, so there’s lots of variety on tap.
  2. What I didn’t get to test out in my original audition of the Spring Fever was its Volume knob which also acts as a clean boost if you turn the Reverb and Mix knobs all the way down. I’m not sure how much boost the pedal adds, but there’s enough boost on tap to slam the front end of your amp with loads of gain.

I particularly like the Volume knob because it solves a real problem for me when I play my acoustic gigs at venues where I have to plug directly into a PA board. My acoustics’ pickups don’t have much gain, and I usually have to crank up the volume faders on the board, which can be problematic as it makes it difficult to balance out the guitars’ volume with my vocals. I’ve solved this in the past by lugging my Presonus TUBEPre preamp with me, but that’s a bit of a pain to lug (read: extra gear, not because it’s heavy), and requires a separate 12V power supply. The Volume knob on the Spring Fever eliminates the need for me to bring a preamp with me. Nice.

If I have one complaint of the pedal, it has to be its finicky nature with power supplies, and will add some noise to the signal. Mike Marino explains this on the Spring Fever product page, and recommends some power supplies to use, such as the 1-Spot. I used the 1-Spot in my clips, and when the Spring Fever was activated, there was a slight, but noticeable hiss. This has to do with the power supply, and not the pedal. This also happens when I use my MXR Carbon Copy with the 1-Spot. When I hook it up to a regulated power supply like a Dunlop DC Brick, the pedal is as quiet as can be. So despite Mike’s recommendation about the 1-Spot, don’t use it. Get a regulated power supply like the DC Brick. Luckily, I have an extra DC Brick, so that will be powering my mini board.

How It Sounds

As I said, the Spring Fever is about the best spring reverb pedal I’ve ever played! Capable of producing a wide range of reverb, this pedal will be a permanent fixture on my board! I’ve still got to play around with it some more, but I recorded a few clips to give you an idea of what it can do. The clips below were all recorded using my 1958 Fender Champ output to a Jensen Jet Falcon 1 X 12. I start out each clip with a dry signal, then play it again with some “grease.” What that pedal adds with respect to spaciousness is amazing! All the clean clips were recorded at unity volume, while the dirty clips were played with the amp turned up to about 2pm, and the boost at 1pm with Mix and Reverb completely off. I wanted to demonstrate the clean boost and its effect on an overdriven amp.

Les Paul, Middle Pickup, Fingerstyle. Reverb: 11am, Mix:10 am

Left Channel: Les Paul Middle Pickup, Reverb and Mix same settings as above
Right Channel: Les Paul Neck Pickup, Reverb: Dimed, Mix: 8pm

I love the right channel track on this clip. Turned up all the way, you get this cavernous room sound, but with the Mix set real low, it becomes a much more subtle effect, providing almost a delay-like ambience without the echos.

Squier CV Tele Middle Pickup. Reverb: 10am, Mix 10am
MXR Carbon Copy with long delay time, Mix at about 10am

Les Paul Middle Pickup (biased toward bridge), Volume: 2pm, Mix/Reverb Off

Squier CV Tele Bridge Pickup (biased toward bridge), Volume: 2pm, Mix/Reverb Off

Overall Impression

Yeah, it’s pricey at $275, though you can find it at a lower price if you look. But I haven’t heard as a good a spring reverb pedal like this – ever. And the fact that it has a booster in it just rocks! For me, and especially for my acoustic gigs, this is a game changer!

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Pedals That Have Changed My Life

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2010| 3 Comments »

I wrote an article called “Gear That Has Changed My Life” last year where I talked about various types of gear that have had a huge impact on who I am as a guitarist. But today, I realize that there have been several pedals that completely changed my approach to playing, and I thought that I’d focus on them here.

BOSS CE-2 Chorus – This was the very first pedal I ever purchased, and I also sold it after a few years because I didn’t know any better. Kicked myself frequently until I finally got another one earlier this year. To me, this pedal produces the chorus sound that means “chorus” to me. There are some great ones out there, but this to me is the original and definitive chorus sound. And despite its little quirks, like adding a slight gain boost when activated, I can’t think of a chorus pedal that does it better.

Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay – I’ve had a love/hate relationship with delay pedals over the years. Digital delays always seemed so “processed” and analog delays were always way too dark-sounding to me. I got close to what I wanted with the VOX Time Machine, and I actually still use that pedal for some specific songs. But then I auditioned the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay, and my prayers to find a delay that I could love all the time were answered! From adding just a touch of ambience to drowning in heavy, pulsating, analog echo, the Deep Blue Delay delivers, all without turning mushy or going dark in character. I got mine before the PCB version came out, so I paid a premium for the hand-wired version at $325. The PCB version is a more reasonable $199 and apparently sounds great (though a touch different according to a well-trusted source). But hand-wired or PCB, there’s nothing like this delay.

Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23 – I mentioned this pedal in my previous article, but it truly has had a HUGE impact on me as I use it a lot in place of an overdrive pedal to push my amp into distortion. When I want to retain the natural overdrive tone of my amp, the Mk.4.23 is where it’s at for me.

Fulltone OCD – Though I sold this pedal long ago, it was my first “boutique” pedal. Up to then, I’d stuck with the mainstream. It really demonstrated to me that there were sounds beyond the mainstream. Unfortunately – or fortunately depending upon how you look at it – it also was responsible for me to go on a quest to test out other boutique gear. Now I have a lot of it. 🙂

DigiTech Bad Monkey – This pedal reinforced the notion that great tone can come cheap. A Tube Screamer clone for sure, the one thing that this has got over the the TS is adjustable bass and treble knobs. It sounds great to boot! I no longer have this pedal as I gave it to a kid in my church band, but whenever I get the inking to spend big bucks on gear, I look back to the Bad Monkey and tell myself that there is great gear out there that doesn’t have to come at a premium in price.

Dunlop Original Cry Baby – This was my very first wah pedal, and up to that point, I had NEVER even considered playing wah. But curiosity got the best of me, and I got a second-hand one at a used gear shop. I still love playing with it now and then, though my main wah is a VOX Big Bad Wah. But the Cry Baby opened a whole new realm of expression; and even though I’m not playing it much, I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it.

I’ve gone through so many pedals in my lifetime, and something tells me I’ve missed something. But these are the pedals that come to mind. Care to share and pedals that have changed your life?

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Poll: Overdrive or Booster Pedal?

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2010| 4 Comments »

Before I got my Aracom PRX150-Pro, to get grind, I used a variety of overdrive pedals. But now that I have a great attenuator that allows me to get my amps in their sweet spots without stepping all over my band, I’ve been making lots of use of clean boost – namely, the Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23 – to push my amp into overdrive, plus get a bit of a volume boost. I use overdrive pedals far less now, but I do use them when I want a different color to my overdrive tone. But I’m curious – especially after seeing Peter Frampton’s small board – what people prefer. So here’s a poll…

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Just Ordered a Paul Cochrane Timmy Overdrive

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2010| 10 Comments »

I’m not one to buy into hype; especially all the hype that you hear in the forums. There’s A LOT of hype associated with Paul Cochrane’s Tim and Timmy pedals. But after reading tons of posts over the last couple of years on how much people love these, and also after hearing one live in action, I decided to get on the waiting list.

As Paul puts it, the pedal was designed for a Strat played through a Plexi or Vox; in other words, amps with lots of midrange. He says his pedals don’t sound so good with “Black Face” amps. But since I don’t have any amps like that, well, it’s all good.

As for the waiting list, my position doesn’t come up until February. But that’s cool. I’m willing to wait. From what I’ve heard, this is a pedal that should fit right into my style of playing!

BTW, if you’ve got one, I’d love to hear about your experience with it!

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Peter Frampton’s Pedal Board and the Mk.4.23 Clean Boost

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2010| 4 Comments »

Peter Frampton's BoardI was perusing The Gear Page this morning, and came across a post about Peter Frampton’s pedal board. Cool stuff on the board! But the pedal that really caught my eye was the pedal in the top-right corner: A Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23 Clean Boost. Ever since I got one, it has never left my board. In fact, it’s one of the only pedals I have besides my trusty Boss TU-2 that hasn’t been rotated. Here’s my original review of the pedal.

Circling back, of course, this is probably not his touring board. Further in the post he is quoted as saying that this is a board that he could “grab and go jam at your house.” Wouldn’t that be cool to have a buddy like Peter Frampton call up and say, “Hey mate, wanna jam? I’ll come over.”

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