cool new effects

[KuruPrionz]

32 minutes ago, Winston Psmith said:

 

These are words with a "D", this time . . .

 

In all seriousness, what you're describing is very much the sort of thing the Korg Kaoss Pads do . . . and it's not exactly the ideal control interface for Guitar effects. I have both the original KO-1 Kaossilator (compact Touch Screen Synth), and the 1st Gen Mini-KP Kaoss Pad (Touch Screen Effects). Matt Bellamy of Muse had one or the other mounted into at least one Guitar.

 

I've also tried the Source Audio "Hot Hand" Controller, which is essentially a Ring/Sensor that you wear, so you can, in theory, move your hand in the air to change FX Parameters.

 

The main problem with both approaches is that you really need a 3rd hand, in order to play the Guitar AND manipulate the effects IRT; with two hands, you can either play the Guitar or tweak the effects.

I'm not looking for a perfect solution, we don't have the tech for that yet. Sometimes I use the term "least worst", a board covered with little boxes with footswitches and knobs down on the floor, all connected with many short cables, just seems to me like it's way less "gooder" than something close to hand, where I don't have to move my hands down to the floor to tweak something and I don't need a dozen or more cables, jacks etc. - to say nothing of power supply and related cords. So many failure points!

I haven't seen any of the Korg stuff but it's possible a simpler re-design of the layout specifically targeting guitarists might be much more functional since that was not the original purpose of the units you've mentioned. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, surfergirl said:

Not new, but new to me. Arcane Analog, Just fuzz pedals and a rangemaster. 

 

https://youtu.be/3_9jcCOKWng

Nice... Sounds like fuzzy-edged overdrive, with the Tone Bender side tightened-up and boostered by the Rangemaster side. Cool and versatile.   
 

 

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

And not just e-ffects, what about de-fects? D does come before E, right? 😇

It does, and it did, figuratively and literally- some of the original effects, like overdrive, distortion, fuzz first turned up as defects and happy accidents!
 

[Larryz]

Thanks for sharing your opinion on the Roller Bender P90 and for correcting the intonation adjustment info.  I was hoping to hear from someone like you that actually has the unit installed and if the moving the palm back was really an issue or if it was not really a problem at all.  From the demo vid I posted above, I could tell the guitar was set on the bridge pup and the country vibe was there with the players palm back almost behind the saddles.  I was also looking forward to your comments on how the light 8's would work without any string breaks (knock on wood and hope they don't happen in the future).

 

I'm not all that familiar with the string pull set up that I've seen so far. I don't think running the string up through the original unused string hole would be a good idea as there is a lot of hardware that would be resting on top and could maybe bind it?  

 

Anyway, I'll break away from the bender topic after hearing from you and Caevan.  I know there are a lot of pedal designers that would like to capture the sound of this simple little piece of hardware that I think is one of the very coolest effects (with an "E") for country twangers who love getting that steel guitar vibe! 😎👍  

[Winston Psmith]

Back, more or less, to the pedal realm, one of the cleanest Pitch-Shift/Pitch-Bending effects I've heard is the Pedal Bend effect on the Boss MFX. I know it has to be running off the same DSP as the other Pitch effects, but it just sounds better. Well worth trying, if you get a chance.

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, Winston Psmith said:

Back, more or less, to the pedal realm, one of the cleanest Pitch-Shift/Pitch-Bending effects I've heard is the Pedal Bend effect on the Boss MFX. I know it has to be running off the same DSP as the other Pitch effects, but it just sounds better. Well worth trying, if you get a chance.

Your thoughts, my friend, on the very cleanest, most natural sounding pedal for shifting two-octaves down, aka sub-octave?

I have an original piece, an instrumental with Standard-Tuned slide (even 'slanted-slide' for minor) and fretted notes combined, that I once recorded and added a sub-octave doubling to, via the effects available within the software that was on that computer.

I originally did that as a sort of a joke, thinking "THIS'LL sound like a club-footed flamingo... !"

Instead, it sounded beautiful and magnificent, and I'd LOVE to be able to get that live in real-time. But it has to be CLEAN and NATURAL two-octaves down, and not the octave-down-fuzz I more typically love.

Waddya think?
   
 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I just discovered Wren & Cuff has made the BM-20- seemingly A.K.A both as the De La Riva and the Forest For The Trees. It’s a pedal they claim is essentially a customizable Big Muff with controls yielding over a million variations on that venerable circuit.  
 

To some, a pedal like this is a dream come true.  So many muffs at your disposal means you can dial in a host of classic rock tones without having a big-ass pedalboard.

 

To others, this is a nightmare.  With so many variables, it’s easy to get lost (probably the inspiration for one of its names), wasting time fiddling with the controls or getting frustrated searching for that setting you found 3 hours ago.

 

Me?  I’m probably in the first category.  I’ve already got a phalanx of fuzzes, including [I]many[/I] variations on the different kinds of Bug Muffs.  If nothing else, I see the BM-20 is a tool that could help me sort through WHICH fuzz I want to use without swapping out pedal after pedal. 

[Dannyalcatraz]

4 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Your thoughts, my friend, on the very cleanest, most natural sounding pedal for shifting two-octaves down, aka sub-octave?

I’ll volunteer my perspective.  I have only a few pedals that can pitch shift down.  
 

One is the Epitome, a pedal that combines 3 of EHX’s best selling pedals in one housing, including the MicroPOG.  But I don’t know that it can deliver sub-octaves.

 

The Catalinbread Perseus is dedicated to delivering octave and double octave down goodness.  It’s good at it, and its controls

are straightforward.

 

The Morpheus Bomber is the wild card.  It can be set from 2 octaves up to 2 octaves down, with several intermediate shift presets in between.  You engage the effect with a wah-style control system.  It was discontinued a while back, but it’s one I’d definitely try to replace if I ever broke the one I own.  (Supposedly, the Digitech Whammy DT does some similar tricks, too.)

[Caevan O’Shite]

6 hours ago, Dannyalcatraz said:

I just discovered Wren & Cuff has made the BM-20- seemingly A.K.A both as the De La Riva and the Forest For The Trees. It’s a pedal they claim is essentially a customizable Big Muff with controls yielding over a million variations on that venerable circuit.  
 

To some, a pedal like this is a dream come true.  So many muffs at your disposal means you can dial in a host of classic rock tones without having a big-ass pedalboard.

 

To others, this is a nightmare.  With so many variables, it’s easy to get lost (probably the inspiration for one of its names), wasting time fiddling with the controls or getting frustrated searching for that setting you found 3 hours ago.

 

Me?  I’m probably in the first category.  I’ve already got a phalanx of fuzzes, including [I]many[/I] variations on the different kinds of Bug Muffs.  If nothing else, I see the BM-20 is a tool that could help me sort through WHICH fuzz I want to use without swapping out pedal after pedal. 

Does it literally, actually yield over a million variations? Or just a very, very large number?

Either way, I hope W&C ('Western, AND Country'?  ) provides a good chart of suggested control-settings starting points; and I'd imagine that many, many, MANY variations on the theme sound and feel very similar... 

While not Muffcentric, I bet you'd really, really like the (sadly out of production) Amptweaker TightFuzz Pro; I really, really want one, myself- and I already have it's li'l Brother, the TightFuzz Jr, which I've recently come to like quite a bit! (If the Jr had the Octave mode switch, I'd really be liking it quite a bit even more!) These can be placed virtually ANYWHERE in a pedal-chain, unlike many a vintage-style fuzz, so they stack incredibly well before and/or after other pedals. I hit my Strymon Iridium's "Punch"/Marshall mode with the TF Jr, its Volume and Fuzz maxed. It features an auto-biasing design that readjusts along with control changes and whatever guitar and pickups and other pedals you hit it with. Brilliant, incredibly versatile design, though I'm afraid that its visual style kept vintage fuzz enthusiasts at arms-length...
 

 

5 hours ago, Dannyalcatraz said:

The Catalinbread Perseus is dedicated to delivering octave and double octave down goodness.  It’s good at it, and its controls

are straightforward.

I bet I'd LOVE the Perseus! As an upgrade from my MXR Blue Box. However, it is completely impossible for the Perseus to even slightly approach anything remotely 'clean'- it's a 'phase locked loop' circuit design that can ONLY yield thick, synthy fuzz like hot, undercooked dark chocolate brownie batter. I'm sure that I'd love it- EXCEPT for the particular application for which I want a clean, natural sub-octave. (Oh, and I might not have mentioned that I want this clean natural sub-octave to be doubling in parallel with my 'straight'/'clean tone' signal, both at the same time. Therein lies the magic path.)

 

5 hours ago, Dannyalcatraz said:

The Morpheus Bomber is the wild card.  It can be set from 2 octaves up to 2 octaves down, with several intermediate shift presets in between.  You engage the effect with a wah-style control system.  It was discontinued a while back, but it’s one I’d definitely try to replace if I ever broke the one I own.  (Supposedly, the Digitech Whammy DT does some similar tricks, too.)

That sounds pretty good in demos... though I'd apparently have to connect it with some manner of parallel-blending device to get what I want.

As for the EHX offerings, I severely loath their POG and HOG pitch-shifting sounds and with very few exceptions avoid permutations thereof like the plague. But thank~you.
 
 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1 hour ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Does it literally, actually yield over a million variations? Or just a very, very large number?

Once upon a time, I could do the calculations.  Not these days!

 

But with selectable silicon AND germanium circuit paths plus double digits of dip switches to manipulate, you’re talking as close to 1M as makes no difference.

[Dannyalcatraz]

1 hour ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

That sounds pretty good in demos... though I'd apparently have to connect it with some manner of parallel-blending device to get what I want.

Are you trying to add a discrete sub octave alongside your main signal?  Then yes.

 

The niftiest way I’ve seen this done recently was by the lead vocalist/bass player for the duet, Royal Blood.  He split his signal, sending one side into a tuner and a pitch shifter set for an octave up.  The tuner acts like a killswitch- when it’s on, that signal is silenced.  When it’s off, his playing is mirrored by a “phantom guitarist”.

[Caevan O’Shite]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:16 AM, Dannyalcatraz said:

Welp…it looks like I was right about ME.  Apparently, the dude hisself is moving from England to Japan, and whatever you can find on the market is all there is, at least for now.  I went looking for a Zig Zag and a Lonely Robot (souped-up RAT), and found…a single used Zig Zag on Reverb.  It’s currently on its way to my house.
 

The stores that sell new (listed on ME’s Stockist menu) have a lot of “Sold Out”/“Out of stock”/“Backordered “ tags.

THIS recently turned up on Facebook:



            
 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dang.

[Winston Psmith]

@Caevan O’Shite - I'll try to dig into the Pedal Bend later today, give you my opinion. FWIW, the Pedal Bend effect has a 4 Octave Range, -24/+24 semi-tones. Serious dive-bombing . . .

 

 

 

 

[Larryz]

Here is the Bigsby pedal bender that has been discussed many times on this thread with demos. It's finally out and on the market available at SW at $379.

 

Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Polyphonic Pitch-shifting Pedal | Sweetwater

 

Check out the overview videos for that B-bender using a pedal instead of hardware and so much more! 😎👍

 

 

 

[hurricane hugo]

no video, but here's a review of a new compressor:  https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/reviews/api-tranzformer-cmp

[Caevan O’Shite]

6 hours ago, hurricane hugo said:

no video, but here's a review of a new compressor:  https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/reviews/api-tranzformer-cmp

Wow, API studio stuff in a stomp box- calibrated for guitars and/or basses! Practically guaranteed to be nothing short of stellar. This very likely to be particularly excellent for guitars with humbuckers, especially with its Blend and Input controls. Good to see that it can be run on up to 18v.

I see that it's a VCA type compressor-circuit (Voltage Controlled Amplifier), as opposed to, say, OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier).


Think of VCA as being more 'studio', subtle and smooth, and like the Boss CS-3, Maxon CP9Pro+, Alesis 3630 (yes, I copied and pasted these).

Think of OTA as being more stomp-box and guitar-specific, and 'squishy'; think, vintage Ross, MXR Dyna Comp... HomeBrew Electronics, Keeley, Wampler, most of the compressor-pedals aimed at guitar players. If you're looking for classic squish and pop- ESPECIALLY with a Telecaster- START HERE (OTA types).
      
 

[Scott Fraser]

API (the "American Neve") has been a big part of my recording history. API consoles & preamps have been the input stage of all the Kronos albums I've recorded, & a pair of API mic preamps are an important part of my home studio arsenal. API EQs are what I learned on in the 70s. The API comps I'm not so familiar with, but every aspect of their circuit design is full pro, high end, no compromise, top drawer stuff. I'll be looking into this pedal for sure. Looks like it will do everything I need done, which is to say, studio level compression in a pedal format.

[Caevan O’Shite]

3 hours ago, Scott Fraser said:

API (the "American Neve") has been a big part of my recording history. API consoles & preamps have been the input stage of all the Kronos albums I've recorded, & a pair of API mic preamps are an important part of my home studio arsenal. API EQs are what I learned on in the 70s. The API comps I'm not so familiar with, but every aspect of their circuit design is full pro, high end, no compromise, top drawer stuff. I'll be looking into this pedal for sure. Looks like it will do everything I need done, which is to say, studio level compression in a pedal format.

Scott- note that, on the API site, along with the API Select TranZformer® CMP, there are also the API Select TranZformer® GTR Guitar Pedal and the API Select TranZformer® LLX Bass Pedal preamp/DI units. These look to be very good!

And while I've got you on here, Scott, I really want to highly recommend the Strymon Iridium triple amp-modeler with stellar speaker/cab/mic/room IR's to you. I love mine! The IR's that come stock are great, but there are also many third-party IR's that can be loaded, which Iridium owners are raving about and recommending, as well.
             
 

[hurricane hugo]

not sure if trolling or not...

 

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, hurricane hugo said:

not sure if trolling or not...

 

 

Apparently, it's a legit, genuine product- and damn if it doesn't seem very useful and practical, too. If- WHEN I'm gigging again, I will definitely buy one, if even just for its usefulness in planning sets and performances. I'd use it to time songs and any time in-between them, and keep track of all that and plan set-lists accordingly. And then at a gig, I'd use it to stay on top of things.

Time Box by VVCO Pedals

[Caevan O’Shite]

Hmm, I kinda like this- and more than I expected to...
 

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

Forgive the 'double-post', but I think I kinda like this, too, and also more than Iexpected to...

Kinda-sorta evokes ring-mod in some modes, but I'm not sure if it IS ring-mod... ?
 

 

[hurricane hugo]

If the email that notified me of this company's reissue of this beast had had a video, I would've re-animated the Crapulator thread for it. Until then, be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

 

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

16 minutes ago, hurricane hugo said:

If the email that notified me of this company's reissue of this beast had had a video, I would've re-animated the Crapulator thread for it. Until then, be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

 

 

Here ya go, hurricane hugo (though it's the OG, and not the RI):
 

         
 

[hurricane hugo]

One of those little things it's easy to forget about. The knob is for matching up with your pickups.

 

 

[hurricane hugo]

Ok, not an effect, but a very interesting idea, especially at that price point. Very intrigued. I could only find 3 sorta-demo videos, and they were all worse than useless, so not linking to them. Anyway, the Humbucker Control Pot:   https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/potentiometer-pmt-humbucker-control-coil-filters

[Caevan O’Shite]

8 hours ago, hurricane hugo said:

Ok, not an effect, but a very interesting idea, especially at that price point. Very intrigued. I could only find 3 sorta-demo videos, and they were all worse than useless, so not linking to them. Anyway, the Humbucker Control Pot:   https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/potentiometer-pmt-humbucker-control-coil-filters

That is interesting! And for cheap, too!

The PMT HCP's Coil Tap/Fader Mode Coil would be pretty cool! There was something similar going on under the hood on some Peavey guitars in the late '70's/early '80s; and that was pretty cool.


I have found that I like the sound of a humbucker at the neck-position when the inner-coil (nearest the middle) is either not as strong as the outer coil (nearest the fretboard), or actually, physically lower away from the strings than the outer coil; a chiming, almost quasi Strat single-coil bell-tone...

And to some degree, the same but reverse for a bridge humbucker- stronger emphasis on the outer coil, closer to the bridge, than on the inner coil. I understand that one way or another, Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein had a bridge-humbucker like that.

Perhaps the PMT HCP's Coil Filter Mode would provide a similar enough effect; I might really like that!
        
 

[hurricane hugo]

9 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

That is interesting! And for cheap, too!

The PMT HCP's Coil Tap/Fader Mode Coil would be pretty cool! There was something similar going on under the hood on some Peavey guitars in the late '70's/early '80s; and that was pretty cool.


I have found that I like the sound of a humbucker at the neck-position when the inner-coil (nearest the middle) is either not as strong as the outer coil (nearest the fretboard), or actually, physically lower away from the strings than the outer coil; a chiming, almost quasi Strat single-coil bell-tone...

And to some degree, the same but reverse for a bridge humbucker- stronger emphasis on the outer coil, closer to the bridge, than on the inner coil. I understand that one way or another, Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein had a bridge-humbucker like that.

Perhaps the PMT HCP's Coil Filter Mode would provide a similar enough effect; I might really like that!
        
 

For what it's worth, Amplified Parts sells top-notch products. I got all the patch cables for my baby modular synth from them. I will probably be purchasing this HCP pretty soon.

[Caevan O’Shite]

50 minutes ago, hurricane hugo said:

For what it's worth, Amplified Parts sells top-notch products. I got all the patch cables for my baby modular synth from them. I will probably be purchasing this HCP pretty soon.

Since it sounds like you'll be doing some guitar wiring or rewiring, I'll ask you- have you seen the Free-Way 3-Way/6-Position blade and toggle switches? And their 5-Way/10-Position blade switches? I think you'd really, really like them... The first one was a  3-Way/6-Position toggle made for no less than Jimmy Page...
  
 

[hurricane hugo]

yeah, I love those things. first saw one here: