Discussion
I've picked up a few more pedals since I last posted in this thread.
MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive - not a Peavey 5150 in a box as some thought it would be, but a super clean, crisp OD / distortion pedal that capture's Eddie Van Halen's tones. The brown sound impression is decent, but dialing the gain up and hitting the boost button gives a fantastic early 90s EVH tone, loads of gain but super tight and clean. It has a built in Smartgate knob for controlling excess noise at high gain settings, the pedal works very well with single coil guitars which can get noisy. It's true bypass when not in action. Weighs quite a lot - reassuringly heavy.
Digitech Whammy V - Update of an old classic, this time with separate pitch shifting algorithms for chords and single note line shifting. The old Whammy 4 I used to have would get terribly confused if you tried to pitch shift chords, it would just glitch out. The new one doesn't, that's the progress of tech for you. It also has true bypass too, which the old one didn't. Does full signal pitch shifts, harmony mode (mixes a shifted signal and a non-shift) and has loads of interval settings, some of which sound horrible - I can't think of a way to make a flat 3rd harmony line sound musical but I'm sure someone can. It also has soft and heavy detune modes which are effectively a chorus effect where you control the intensity of the chorus with the foot pedal. It works on an optical sensor so the shift action is silky smooth and it's built like a tank.
Tech 21 OMG Richie Kotzen signature overdrive - Tube-esque, mid gain OD. Has some unusual settings, it's not a standard bass / mids / treble EQ but it works intuitively and the controls are very sensitive, much more so than on most pedals, as they have a very wide adjustment range on each control. It also has a switchable clean boost that can add up to 21db to the signal - this used on it's own is a great thing as it can drive the amp on it's own, or it can be used to push the pedal OD stange. Really feels like a premium product, impeccably finished, the controls feel silky smooth to use. Really gets the driven OD tone that Richie Kotzen uses so much these days, it's great.
I've been using the OMG with my Kotzen Strat through my Carvin Legacy 1 on the clean channel a lot recently, and my Strandberg Boden OS7 into the Legacy lead channel with a Maxon OD9 for the real screaming lead stuff. As such, I've loaned the MXR EVH to a friend for a while, I'll swap the Tech 21 with the EVH whenever I feel like having a change.
MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive - not a Peavey 5150 in a box as some thought it would be, but a super clean, crisp OD / distortion pedal that capture's Eddie Van Halen's tones. The brown sound impression is decent, but dialing the gain up and hitting the boost button gives a fantastic early 90s EVH tone, loads of gain but super tight and clean. It has a built in Smartgate knob for controlling excess noise at high gain settings, the pedal works very well with single coil guitars which can get noisy. It's true bypass when not in action. Weighs quite a lot - reassuringly heavy.
Digitech Whammy V - Update of an old classic, this time with separate pitch shifting algorithms for chords and single note line shifting. The old Whammy 4 I used to have would get terribly confused if you tried to pitch shift chords, it would just glitch out. The new one doesn't, that's the progress of tech for you. It also has true bypass too, which the old one didn't. Does full signal pitch shifts, harmony mode (mixes a shifted signal and a non-shift) and has loads of interval settings, some of which sound horrible - I can't think of a way to make a flat 3rd harmony line sound musical but I'm sure someone can. It also has soft and heavy detune modes which are effectively a chorus effect where you control the intensity of the chorus with the foot pedal. It works on an optical sensor so the shift action is silky smooth and it's built like a tank.
Tech 21 OMG Richie Kotzen signature overdrive - Tube-esque, mid gain OD. Has some unusual settings, it's not a standard bass / mids / treble EQ but it works intuitively and the controls are very sensitive, much more so than on most pedals, as they have a very wide adjustment range on each control. It also has a switchable clean boost that can add up to 21db to the signal - this used on it's own is a great thing as it can drive the amp on it's own, or it can be used to push the pedal OD stange. Really feels like a premium product, impeccably finished, the controls feel silky smooth to use. Really gets the driven OD tone that Richie Kotzen uses so much these days, it's great.
I've been using the OMG with my Kotzen Strat through my Carvin Legacy 1 on the clean channel a lot recently, and my Strandberg Boden OS7 into the Legacy lead channel with a Maxon OD9 for the real screaming lead stuff. As such, I've loaned the MXR EVH to a friend for a while, I'll swap the Tech 21 with the EVH whenever I feel like having a change.
Well, there are some lovely setups here with a lot of invested hard earned.
I'm an average bedroom player, but I've rediscovered my passion for learning rather than just playing the same things over and over. I'm wired up to my Yamaha THR10c which has a few effects but I wanted a loop pedal to mess about with. The problem with that was the THR only has an input and no effects loop so whatever you loop ends up being the same tone to the overdub or playing over it. I was set on a Boss RC3 before that. Last week I found a used Zoom G3x locally which doesn't have a long loop time (40s) but being an effects pedal also I can keep the THR on a flat input and emulate the amp and pedals through the G3.
Additionally, it's got a Rhythm section, and I can use the THR amp and cab sounds and use the G3 as an EQ, compressor and overdrive in front of it. I still need to use the delays and reverbs on the THR but it's great for getting a bit more drive. I think the tube screamer sounds remarkably like the real thing and the Fuzz pedals are good too. All in all, not bad for a £70 investment.
I'm an average bedroom player, but I've rediscovered my passion for learning rather than just playing the same things over and over. I'm wired up to my Yamaha THR10c which has a few effects but I wanted a loop pedal to mess about with. The problem with that was the THR only has an input and no effects loop so whatever you loop ends up being the same tone to the overdub or playing over it. I was set on a Boss RC3 before that. Last week I found a used Zoom G3x locally which doesn't have a long loop time (40s) but being an effects pedal also I can keep the THR on a flat input and emulate the amp and pedals through the G3.
Additionally, it's got a Rhythm section, and I can use the THR amp and cab sounds and use the G3 as an EQ, compressor and overdrive in front of it. I still need to use the delays and reverbs on the THR but it's great for getting a bit more drive. I think the tube screamer sounds remarkably like the real thing and the Fuzz pedals are good too. All in all, not bad for a £70 investment.
I recently sold my JCM800 head and 4x12 
to make way for a nursery and am just using my JCM900 2x12 combo now. As such, I wanted to try some drive pedals to try to emulate the JCM800 sound a little more. I also wanted something that would give my solos a boost too, so I ended up with one of these:
There are two level and gain controls, so it's like working with a three channel amp, which really worked well in a live setting. It seems to give a little compression too, more so than any other pedal I've tried. So far, so good, but it still doesn't quite hit that JCM800 tone as well as I'd like.
For home practice, I'm now using a Digitech RP360XP and some Sony MDXR200 headphones (bought years ago for another purpose) and what with the 40s looper pedal in the Digi, I'm finding myself getting carried away and doing 20 minute solos.
The array of tones packed into the thing is awesome through the headphones and ideal for practice. The myriad choices of amps, cabs and effects is like being let loose in a well stocked music shop. The only flaw is that it never quite sounds as good when played at gigging/live volumes.
to make way for a nursery and am just using my JCM900 2x12 combo now. As such, I wanted to try some drive pedals to try to emulate the JCM800 sound a little more. I also wanted something that would give my solos a boost too, so I ended up with one of these:There are two level and gain controls, so it's like working with a three channel amp, which really worked well in a live setting. It seems to give a little compression too, more so than any other pedal I've tried. So far, so good, but it still doesn't quite hit that JCM800 tone as well as I'd like.
For home practice, I'm now using a Digitech RP360XP and some Sony MDXR200 headphones (bought years ago for another purpose) and what with the 40s looper pedal in the Digi, I'm finding myself getting carried away and doing 20 minute solos.
The array of tones packed into the thing is awesome through the headphones and ideal for practice. The myriad choices of amps, cabs and effects is like being let loose in a well stocked music shop. The only flaw is that it never quite sounds as good when played at gigging/live volumes.
This is my original TS-808, purchased by chance from Chandlers in Kew a few years ago.
The early TS-808's have the Ibanez (R) "trademark" logo. This one has the Japanese JRC4558 chip and the nut holding the power adaptor jack on. Later ones have no nut and a flush adaptor jack.
A keeper.
I've got the companion pedal to this, the PT909 phase pedal. I bought in the 1980s when it was current, though kind of a 'one hit wonder' as it's not the sort of pedal you can use on every song unlike the TS808. I bought a reissue TS808 two years ago as I'd always wanted one to go with my 909. Even though it's not the original version, it didn't disappoint.
Our house is upside down at the moment due to some renovation work, but I'll add a photo of the PT909 if I can dig it out.
Our house is upside down at the moment due to some renovation work, but I'll add a photo of the PT909 if I can dig it out.
I had an Arion DDS-1 in my rig back when I was in a band.
Here's a video to give an idea of what it could be used for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYS3k45AvQ
But what I actually did with it was whack the level knob up all the way which was enough to cause a feedback loop. For one particular song I'd let it feedback until it had degenerated into a screaming wall of noise, and then twiddle the delay time knob forward and backwards to change the pitch about an octave either way.
We were once voted the most pretentious band in Hereford, one of my proudest achievements.
Here's a video to give an idea of what it could be used for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYS3k45AvQ
But what I actually did with it was whack the level knob up all the way which was enough to cause a feedback loop. For one particular song I'd let it feedback until it had degenerated into a screaming wall of noise, and then twiddle the delay time knob forward and backwards to change the pitch about an octave either way.
We were once voted the most pretentious band in Hereford, one of my proudest achievements.
Didn't think it worth starting a new thread, so bumping this one up - I work for Boss, and today we're launching a new synth pedal, but the eagle-eyed might spot a Porsche Speedster in the background for the 80's vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
daddy cool said:
Didn't think it worth starting a new thread, so bumping this one up - I work for Boss, and today we're launching a new synth pedal, but the eagle-eyed might spot a Porsche Speedster in the background for the 80's vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
That's a name from the past! I wondered what had happened to Thomas McLaughlin.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
daddy cool said:
Didn't think it worth starting a new thread, so bumping this one up - I work for Boss, and today we're launching a new synth pedal, but the eagle-eyed might spot a Porsche Speedster in the background for the 80's vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
No CV/MIDI Out? No thanks.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZrsRr4bqM
It is amazing what DSPs can do in near-real-time to mangle incoming polyphonic data, but it's not really synthesis. (IMHO, YMMV, etc)
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