Winston Psmith

I really think for a fair comparison, at least when demoing Guitars and Effects, I'd like to hear them start out through a FRFR system, then something like a clean JC-120 or a Polytone, and then move on to an overdriven or cranked Amp. If someone wanted to give an even fuller picture, they might run it into a DAW, or straight to a Mixing Board, so we could hear all or most of the potential uses, and tones. Amps, and Amp Modelers, should be demoed with a variety of Guitars, within reason - SC's, HB's & P90's, Solid, Hollow & Semi-Hollow, some different maybe a 12-string or ERG in the mix - and again, I'd want to hear a true clean tone, a mild Overdrive tone, and a fully cranked tone. Of course, not everyone has access to all of that gear, or all of those options, but then, we're not all fronting Product Demonstration videos, either.

Kim Simmonds' Waiting In The Bamboo Grove was an early inspiration for me, so back in the Summer of 1970, I went to see Savoy Brown at The Fillmore East, with Fleetwood Mac and Fairport Convention opening for them! Still glad I went!

A silver Klon recently sold for around $3,000 at my FLUMS, and I have no idea of the current prices of Dumble gear - at somewhere around $300US, the Unobtanium is a steal. I will offer my usual objection, which is that the "nearly clean" tone in the demo still had some hair on it. Just once, I'd like to see a demo video with a true clean, almost hi-fi tone, just to start with.

Many thanks, everyone! That Baker adapter @timwatsuggested might also help with some other old, oddball gear I have lying around. I'll definitely check those out. Otherwise, I think I'll go with AnalogMan's 12-volt adapter for my OD-2.

My bandmate recently gave me a MIT Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive - nice pedal, classic Boss OD sound, but it needs a 12-volt ACA adapter, if I want to run it independently. I'm looking for recommendations for a 12-volt adapter that won't fry out my pedal, or set fire to my house. I see a lot of cheap-ass adapters on Amazon and other sites, but nothing that I have any confidence in. In one listing, the manufacturer's name and country of origin were greyed out on the product photo?!? The ACA-series pedals will run off of a 9-volt battery, or in a daisy-chain with other 9-volt pedals, but as a stand-alone pedal, they've gotta have their 12 volts. I have 12-volt Outs on my Voodoo Lab 4X4 PS, but no 12-volt adapters. Thoughts, suggestions, humorous asides gladly welcomed . . . Thanks, all!

My first, almost reflexive thought is Violin as well, but if we're talking genies granting wishes, I'd love to go completely nuts and master the Sitar.

Much the same . . . My EM sound is largely built around a Guitar with a Hex PU, driving a Roland Guitar Synth, so I have two different Guitars with different Hex PU Systems, and four different model Roland Guitar Synths. (Each model has features that make it useful.) My Rock sound, for lack of a better description, is built around a Gibson SG, so I have 2 SG Specials, that I've retro-fitted with Schaller parts. I have a 30-watt Laney Tube Amp as my main Amp, and a SS Peavey as a back-up. I have tried to gather different types of Synthesis, Wavetable, FM, Analog Subtractive, Phase Distortion, Semi-Modular, and I think the "tool" analogy is a good one. They're not exactly interchangeable; each has its own features and functions. SFX, OTOH, are another story . . . it seems like there's always a spot for another Delay, or Ring Mod, or Distortion pedal.

@Scott Fraser- Coming from your that is high praise indeed! Thank you!

I almost envy the players who get everything they want from a minimalist, mainstream rig, with two, or three, or even zero pedals . . . almost.

Much agreed - it might also be a boon to someone looking to free up even one pedal's worth of space to have a double-duty Boost/Drive box.

@IMMusicRulz- Thank you for my morning dose of Metal! Much appreciated!

I can almost see it as a novelty Instrument, but I have to agree with the general run of criticisms. One Scale Length does not fit all, to start with. I really have to wonder about the intonation on some of those Bass strings? The resonance & sustain on that thing would be monstrous, as you accidentally triggered open strings and harmonics. OTOH, it would be a great Feedback Machine. Maybe play it with a Bow from a Bass Viol, or sit it in your lap and drive individual strings with an E-Bow? The only way to approach that fretboard as a whole is as a Tapping Instrument, unless you're consigning entire sections to Drone Strings, or Sitar-like Open Sympathetic Tunings, which are still just enharmonic Drones. If someone gave me one, of course I'd try to figure out how to play it, but I'm not sure how grateful I'd be . . .

Definite "retro" vibe to that design! I could easily imagine it as a semi-hollow Surf/Psycho-Billy Guitar.

Have to agree on the ambiguity of that particular phrasing, but it does seem to suggest the possibility of using it as a two-stage Boost/OD device, by wiring it into two different, possibly successive I/O's on a Loop Switcher? Several thoughts on that - One is that adding the Loop Switcher itself essentially offsets any savings on pedalboard space you get by using one Heavy Water in place of two other pedals; there's also the cost of the Loop Switcher to consider, relative to the cost of another Boost/OD pedal. Another is that using a Loop Switcher, much like using a Patchbay, essentially doubles the number of cables you need to wire your pedalboard. That's more $$$ for cables, and more potential for signal loading.

The DRY knob puts me in mind of the SparkleDrive, another take on the TS, but the Adaptive Circuitry? Boss had a short-lived Distortion pedal, the DA-2 Adaptive Distortion, using their MDP/Multi-Dimension Processing, which all of their "X"-series pedals use. The description of the Adaptive Circuitry within the Halcyon sounds very similar? It would be interesting to compare the Halcyon with the Boss OD-1X.

Lots of pedals in the $300+/- range, in that roundup . . . You're looking at Modular Synth $$$ to assemble a Guitar pedalboard, at that rate.

For me, it's Little Feat's "Willin'" . . . not the original, but the many singalong versions I've heard at too many house jams. That ". . . We-e-ed, Whites, and Wine" line can be nails-on-a-blackboard painful, rendered in half a dozen off-key and out-of-sync voices. Spare us, please . . . OTOH, if you truly hate "I'm A Believer", you should go look for Robert Wyatt's (Soft Machine, Matching Mole) version. Just in case . . .

Love the idea, trying to think about how I would incorporate it into my current FX rig. I'd really have to work on making the most of it, particularly in a live setting? From my perspective, it's almost like using a Patchbay or a Sub-Mixer, with 8 I/O or S/R jacks on that thing, plus the AC adapter input. A demo showing how you might want to connect it to your pedal chain would be very helpful.

I've long been interested in Modular, but the cost of assembling a Modular rig always held me back. The Neutron was more than affordable, by comparison, and the Proton, if it ever materializes, seems like it would be an excellent companion piece. Not complaining, but not holding my breath, either . . .

Much the same as the posts immediately above - I buy a lot of used gear, and my FLMS carries pretty much any new product I might be looking for. The only hold-up on my very short GAS list is the Behringer Proton. (Yeah, I know . . .) I already have the Neutron, and thought it would be fun to pair them for an affordable, if not stellar, Modular rig. IDK if there's any kind of "hierarchy of need" for chip distribution: does a manufacturer of medical equipment get first pick, over a company making music gear or gaming systems, if they both need the same kind of chips? If so, I can wait . . .

My sense is that Future Music doesn't really want to be in the business of publishing a print magazine, and their long-term business plan was to eliminate print editions, altogether. I was a long-time subscriber to both Guitar Player and Electronic Musician. Not long after I'd last renewed my subscription to Electronic Musician, a notice came informing me that I was holding what would be my last physical copy of Electronic Musician magazine, as they were going entirely digital. If I'd had some warning of the forthcoming change, I wouldn't have signed on for a 2-year subscription renewal. I called to cancel the remainder of my EM subscription the day I got my last copy.

The best reason to have a Digital MFX, or programmable Delay, for Slapback Echo effects is so that you can quickly and easily switch tempos for different tunes when playing live, but again, Tap Tempo will allow you to do much the same thing.

Thank you, brothers! I was pleasantly surprised when it was done. FWIW, that's just three Stereo tracks of Guitar+Guitar Synth, no other overdubbing, no looping, no sequencing, no post-processing through other FX. @Larryz- If you're curious, all of those sounds came from my Boss GT-3 Guitar MFX, blended with my Roland GR-33 Guitar Synth. FWIW, I design all of my own Patches, for Synths and MFX, but I'm heavily influenced by classic Synth tones, so it's not surprising that some sounds remind you of the Juno. @Dannyalcatraz- Fair warning - once you start scoring the things you encounter in your subconscious, they take on a life of their own. I'm working on a whole album full of them . . .

It's 2:42 AM, which is now 1:42, yes, I'm awake, and yes, I have a completed track ready. Going to load it into SoundCloud after I move it over to the computer. Late edit: Here it is - Waking Dream

Thank you, brother, that's high praise, indeed! Already a long morning. Let the dogs out to chase something(?) at 4 this morning, already burned through one pot of coffee, loading gear shortly. 2 AM is looking pretty far off from here, but "One never knows, do one?" (Fats Waller)