Winston Psmith
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Posts posted by Winston Psmith
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One VERY COOL trick with the Freqout is to turn off the DRY signal - the sound it produces reminds me of some of the early demos of the MOOG Guitar.
Sadly, the little Digitech JamMan Xpress XT is the one Digitech device that failed. The one big Loop Level knob froze and sheared right off in my hand when I tried to turn it. I'm pretty strong, but I'm nowhere near strong enough to tear a metal shaft in two? The cost of fixing it is about what a used replacement would cost me, so . . .
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17 hours ago, Dannyalcatraz said:
Nothing really new to report, but…I just added Chase Bliss Audio to my list of pedal brands that I’m probably buying new ONLY (joining Spaceman Effects). Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with buying them used. They’re great pedals, and they’re well made.
But the used market on them is RIDICULOUS. I had long been interested in their Spectre flanger. Hell of a stompbox. But the price tag kept me from getting one every time I looked. I could afford one , no problem, but I had other priorities.
I just looked at them on Reverb. The Spectre has been discontinued, and prices for used ones are going between $800-1100.
Sorry you missed out on that . . .
Several of my local EM buddies have strongly recommended the Chase Bliss MOOD pedal as something I'd enjoy, but at their price point, I don't expect I'll ever get one.
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On 9/20/2022 at 8:54 PM, Mark Schmieder said:
I saw an article that says that overdrive is a way of making your tube amp sound like a solid state amp, and is mostly used by country and blues players.
The same article says that distortion pedals are almost exclusively used by heavy metal guitarists, and that it's a variation on compression.
WTH?!?!?
This sounds like someone whose "knowledge" (I use the word so loosely it's falling apart) comes from a none-too-deep perusal of the Sweetwater catalog, or something? I'd also suggest that it's a VERY young person, like 8-12 years old, whose confidence in their assertions comes from blissful ignorance.
Dare I ask where you found this?
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"I don't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
Playin' with tanks"Brilliant . . .
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FWIW, I remember them, and I was very excited to hear "The Walls Came Down" on satellite radio not long ago. My poor wife was in the car, and didn't understand why I was all but jumping up and down in my seat.
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@Mark Schmieder- Looking at the specs for the Cutting Edge, it draws 95mA, so as you say, it should be fine in any of the slots on your Pedal Power.
Are you running into this problem when you're also using the Fender MTG pedals, or just when you try to power the Cutting Edge pedal, no matter what else is plugged in?
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@surfergirl - I've seen those sets in the "Sale" bin at my FLMS, but haven't tried them yet. I'm curious about them because I use the DR Pure Blues on all my solid body Electrics. Let us know how those work out.
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@Mark Schmieder- I counted 18 different versions of the Muff on the EHX website, just now. Take yer pick . . .
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16 hours ago, Scott Fraser said:
It's digital coming out of the computer into the interface part of the fuzz, analog throughout the pedal, then converted back to digital to resume it's place in the DAW. If used just as a pedal it's an all analog device.
Thanks again, Scott. That was pretty much the point I was trying to make, that the signal had to undergo D/A & A/D conversion in order to work with a DAW, not that the circuit itself was Digital.
As to the "Why?" of making the Big Muff their first hardware Plug-In; maybe Mike Matthews just got sick of hearing lame Digital "Fuzz" models in DAW's and MFX.
IME, one of the most difficult sounds to reproduce with Digital MFX is a good, convincing Fuzz tone. YEMV, of course.
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8 minutes ago, Scott Fraser said:
Digital control of analog circuitry doesn't make it a digital circuit. Analog controls (pots) are just devices for turning voltage down. A chip can also be configured to do exactly that same function, while receiving commands from a software controller. One of the favored mixing consoles of the transitional period (1990s) when digital mixers were becoming all the rage was the Euphonix, which were all analog circuits, all under digital control. People loved them.
@Scott Fraser- Thank you for the clarification on the control circuitry.
My thought, perhaps mistaken, is that at some point, the signal itself is converted to a Digital signal?
FWIW, if it's not absurdly priced, I'll probably buy one, just to run my Synths through it in stereo.
Just checked - $329US - not for me, at that price.
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Not trying to be deliberately dense, as to this being a physical object, as opposed to simply a piece of software, BUT . . .
While the essential Big Muff components (diodes & transistors) may be all Analog, in order to interface with your DAW there are likely to be multiple levels of A/D & D/A conversion involved. Any pedal that can store presets likely involves Digital Memory, as well. It seems like we're kind of stretching the concept, if not the very definition, of Analog, in a case like this.
The old Boss GT-3 & GT-5 MFX had Analog Distortion effects, but your signal still went through multiple levels of Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog conversion between the Input and Output jacks, in order to have Analog OD & Distortion effects onboard. Any MFX with a S/R Loop also involves D/A & A/D conversion at the respective ends of the S/R Loop. How "Analog" is a signal that's been converted back and forth from Analog to Digital to Analog, many times over in the course of processing?
Not to dismiss the potential for the product; people will buy this, I'm sure. I have at least one friend who plays Synths, and has long complained about Dirt boxes having only Mono I/O jacks, when most Synths are rigged for Stereo Outs. He'll be glad to see this . . .
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Somehow, the idea of a Big Muff plug-in goes against the grain. A Fuzz box, by its very nature, should be somewhat of an Anarchy Box, loud, brash, sometimes harsh and sputtering. There aren't too many other devices that are . . . let's say enhanced, if not improved, by having a dying 9-volt battery in their guts. It may be remotely possible to reduce all those random elements to a series of Ones and Zeroes, but why would you? Sometimes, you can't improve on imperfection.
Admittedly, nearly every MFX ever made has included some effect intended to model or mimic the Muff Fuzz sound, so this isn't an altogether new idea, but IME, they generally fall short. VEMY, of course . . .
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Cataracts tend to blur and dull vision, like smoky lenses, so one of the things you're running up against is that more light is getting through. After a while, you may not have to depend on sunglasses to go out.
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Just now, Dannyalcatraz said:
I would not be surprised to find out that his has been modified in some way.No mention of it in the article, and it didn't appear so from the photo.
The only modification it really needs is the App, which allowed you to program phrases into it, via your iPhone. Of course, the App was only available through Japan's iTunes site . . .
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Peaveys are the unsung workhorse Amps of the last century. I think it was Tom Morello who once said that every garage band he knew had a Peavey Amp, but most of them took the Peavey logo off the front, so people couldn't see right away what it was.
Haven't hit the local thrift stores nor pawn shops in a long time. You really have to make a habit of scavenging your local thrift stores, because anything of real value is likely to get grabbed up quickly.
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Here I am, trying to use the MIKU Stomp as a serious Electronic Instrument voice . . .
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6 hours ago, Dannyalcatraz said:
And of course, if I win the lottery anytime soon, I’ll get one to send to Winston so he could demo it with the Korg Miku. 🤪 Yeah, I know it probably wouldn’t sound good or even particularly amusing, but…I’d want to KNOW!
Thanks for the thought!
Funny thing, Jack White has a MIKU Stomp among his Third Man pedals! I saw it in a recent issue of GP.
Late edit - Most of the demo videos you see featuring the MIKU treat it as a novelty pedal at best, or an expensive joke at worst. It's not easy to use it in a Musical context, but I keep trying. I've posted a link in the "Post Your Music" thead, to give you an idea of how tend to use it.
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3 minutes ago, surfergirl said:
They have been calling me ever since I purchased from them. I finally blocked them, now are filling up my voice mail and email inbox.
Sweetwater assigns you a salesperson when you order from them, and that person will call or email every few months, but not so much that it becomes invasive.
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5 hours ago, CEB said:
The old DOD in Utah gave great support. They would stand behind and fix anything. I miss those guys. They were great.
Same goes for the Digitech team, whenever I had to contact them.
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I was talking with one of my buddies at my FLMS, and they've just started getting in some new Digitech gear. He specifically mentioned the Freqout, which is a personal favorite.
Not sure if this is the last of some NOS items being shipped, of the first batch of Digitech gear coming from Cort, but it's a hopeful sign, either way. I'll be back up there this coming week, so I'll find out more.
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The Heliotrope takes a lot of knob-twisting to find a sound, but I really like it.
I had a Bad Comrade, and after having it for a while, I lost interest in it. It just wasn't versatile enough for my purposes. Same thing with the Civilian Version of the Geiger Counter, although the full version seems MUCH more interesting.
I think the Malekko Scrutator or the EHX Mainframe would give you more variety of sounds, and more control. The Syntax Error is a lot of fun, capable of some very pleasing sounds, and others that'll strip the paint of an old truck.
Red Panda's Tensor is very high on my list, as it emulates some of the more interesting Tape Forward/Stop/Reverse effects of the Digitech Space Station. (I have a Space Station, but it never leaves my Music room.)
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The Air Trash reminds me of Catalinbread's discontinued Heliotrope, one of my favorite Crapulators. Part Ring Mod, part Fuzz, part "BOB"-knows-what?
Catalinbread coyly described the Heliotrope as an "Analog Bit Crusher" - there is no such thing, of course - because they weren't sure how else to describe what they'd come up with. This sounds like a close cousin.
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I don't own any Fuller pedals, but at this point, I'd be reluctant to buy a new Fuller pedal as an orphan product, unless I were buying it for its investment potential. If something breaks, if it fails, if it's just plain wrong, there's no company to back up warranty claims, much like buying Vintage gear from defunct makers.
Honestly, if I were a major retailer/distributor like MF, or Sweetwater, I'd have to look very hard at any remaining Fuller stock, for that same reason. What do they do with returned Fuller gear that should still, in theory, be under warranty, once Fuller shuts down, and who pays for the return, or the refund?
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My favorite visuals tend to come from my gardening. I have a BIG back yard, that I've planted with enough Perennials, Biennials, and Flowering Shrubs that the color palette is constantly changing, from Spring through late Fall. When I get home from my work day, after I take a shower and put on clean clothes, I go sit out in my yard with my dogs.
We also get a family regular run of rainbows outside my front door, no joke. If we get a mid-afternoon shower, that's breaking up or moving out around early evening, the angle of the Sun is such that we can usually spot a rainbow by looking Southeast.
As far as mass media, Science-Fiction and Horror fan here, so . . .
Lately, I've been enjoying Netflix' "Sandman" - only took 30+ years for someone to get around to it, but WTH?
I do watch the local news every evening, partly to see how the next day's weather is going to impact my work day.
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Digitech returns?
in Guitar Forum
Posted
@Caevan O’Shite- Thanks for that. Not a big loss, I have Loopers & Delays to spare, but it was very compact and convenient.
The Controlled Feedback effect is one of my favorites, which is why I love the Freqout. Add a Volume Pedal and a good Delay, especially one with a Reverse Delay, and you might lose a whole weekend.