cool new effects

[Caevan O’Shite]

59 minutes ago, hurricane hugo said:

I think this came out late last year, but I just heard of it today, so here it is. A bass boost, mid boost, and treble boost all in one pedal. Each part lets you choose between 3 different center freqs. My primary guitar is an acoustic with a Fishman Rare Earth pickup, and this should be great at letting me set one EQ curve for flatpicking and another one (or two) for fingerpicking.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKgq2L71Xxc

I like that! I wouldn't have even thought of using that with an electro-acoustic guitar; hmmh...  I bet I'd like this Ground Control Audio Noodles pedal; I've recently been delving into hitting a tube-amp's or my Iridium's input with midrange-affecting and boosting stomp-boxes like:

• A vintage-y germanium Treble Booster one with six settings, from full-range boost on up through increasingly higher and higher high-pass cutoff points including that of the two original vintage Dallas Rangemaster models, and one even higher than those...
   
• A Tube-Screamer based pedal, that has several clipping-modes, and that famous, classic TS "mid-hump"
   
• A Keeley 'Retro Germanium Super Phat Mod', which has a Phat Switch for a clobbering low, low-mids and mids boost
   

    

  18 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

  ...those 3 footwitches are very close together.

  
  Indeed!   

   
  You might need a pair of these:
  
  
    

[hurricane hugo]

I just wish it had an option - even if only via internal switch - to make at least the bass section capable of bass cut. All 3 sections are boost only, and I'd love to be able to cut out the boom/mating rhino freqs you always have to worry about with acoustics.

[KuruPrionz]

34 minutes ago, hurricane hugo said:

I just wish it had an option - even if only via internal switch - to make at least the bass section capable of bass cut. All 3 sections are boost only, and I'd love to be able to cut out the boom/mating rhino freqs you always have to worry about with acoustics.

Ahh, I diidn't notice that either. Boost can be very useful but so can cutting. 

I have a Tech 21 Q strip, it only has one footswitch and one setting (for a total of 2 different sounds, one with and one without). But it does have 4 bands of EQ - Bass, Low Mid, Hi Mid and Treble. The two mid bands are quasi parametric, you can adjust the frequency and cut or boost but you can't adjust the Q, or width of the tone being cut or boosted. The Bass and Treble controls boost and cut, they are low pass and high pass filters, preset. 

I LOVE it for bass, I pull down the low mids centered around 350hz and suddenly the bass sounds perfect. Ive used it for acoustic guitar live with a friend who also plays acoustic guitar. I boost some mids and the overall level and just switch it in when I solo, then it still sounds acoustic but powers it's way to the front of the mix. Done soloing, I can sneak back down underneath the vocals again. I also love that you can plug it into an XLR cable, send it phantom power like a condenser mic and it runs without a battery or power supply. Simple, smart and useful, I'd buy another one if this one went away. 

https://www.tech21nyc.com/products/effects/q-strip/

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

I like that! I wouldn't have even thought of using that with an electro-acoustic guitar; hmmh...  I bet I'd like this Ground Control Audio Noodles pedal; I've recently been delving into hitting a tube-amp's or my Iridium's input with midrange-affecting and boosting stomp-boxes like:

• A vintage-y germanium Treble Booster one with six settings, from full-range boost on up through increasingly higher and higher high-pass cutoff points including that of the two original vintage Dallas Rangemaster models, and one even higher than those...
   
• A Tube-Screamer based pedal, that has several clipping-modes, and that famous, classic TS "mid-hump"
   
• A Keeley 'Retro Germanium Super Phat Mod', which has a Phat Switch for a clobbering low, low-mids and mids boost
   

    

  
  Indeed!   

   
  You might need a pair of these:
  
  
    

A pair of those in 15 EEE will set you back a fair chunk, I'm guessing around $2k or so. 

I'll just ignore pedals that have the switches too close, it's easier and cheaper. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

4 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Ahh, I diidn't notice that either. Boost can be very useful but so can cutting. 

I have a Tech 21 Q strip, it only has one footswitch and one setting (for a total of 2 different sounds, one with and one without). But it does have 4 bands of EQ - Bass, Low Mid, Hi Mid and Treble. The two mid bands are quasi parametric, you can adjust the frequency and cut or boost but you can't adjust the Q, or width of the tone being cut or boosted. The Bass and Treble controls boost and cut, they are low pass and high pass filters, preset. 

I LOVE it for bass, I pull down the low mids centered around 350hz and suddenly the bass sounds perfect. Ive used it for acoustic guitar live with a friend who also plays acoustic guitar. I boost some mids and the overall level and just switch it in when I solo, then it still sounds acoustic but powers it's way to the front of the mix. Done soloing, I can sneak back down underneath the vocals again. I also love that you can plug it into an XLR cable, send it phantom power like a condenser mic and it runs without a battery or power supply. Simple, smart and useful, I'd buy another one if this one went away. 

https://www.tech21nyc.com/products/effects/q-strip/

That looks pretty excellent! And possibly, quite very possibly, even better suited to electro-acoustic instruments.

I think that the Ground Control Audio Noodles is aimed at those seeking to dirty things up, if even almost cleanly. Though I'm all for using the wrong tool for the wrong job to get cool new wrong, ehr, right sounds!     

Hugo, in the spirit of that, you just might get what you want there from the Fulltone CS Ranger- especially if you power it with 18v ('standard' pin-negative, 50ma minimum). It's a particularly high-quality germanium 'Treble Booster' based initially on the vintage Dallas Rangemaster; it can do clean and chimey and cut-off the lows...


 

3 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

A pair of those in 15 EEE will set you back a fair chunk, I'm guessing around $2k or so. 

I'll just ignore pedals that have the switches too close, it's easier and cheaper. 

  😄 I was just kiddin' about that, and those exceedingly pointy toes; though they are pretty stylin'...   
    
 

[Dannyalcatraz]

7 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

 
You might need a pair of these:


  

NIIIICE!

 

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, I was shopping at a Justin Boot outlet store, and I spotted a pair of alligator skin boots like none I’d ever seen.  Most that you would see had the slightly raised scales, but THIS pair had the tall scales that look like a row of fins from the gator’s tail and back, ranging from .5”-.75” in height running down the center line of each boot.  $800.

 

It’s a good thing I didn’t have that kind of cash to blow back then, because I don’t think I really had the swagger to pull off that look.

[Caevan O’Shite]

5 minutes ago, Dannyalcatraz said:

NIIIICE!

 

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, I was shopping at a Justin Boot outlet store, and I spotted a pair of alligator skin boots like none I’d ever seen.  Most that you would see had the slightly raised scales, but THIS pair had the tall scales that look like a row of fins from the gator’s tail and back, ranging from .5”-.75” in height running down the center line of each boot.  $800.

 

It’s a good thing I didn’t have that kind of cash to blow back then, because I don’t think I really had the swagger to pull off that look.

😄😆  
  
Sounds like those might've scared Gene Simmons, or attracted GWAR lovin' bikers...
    
 

[Winston Psmith]

Tall, black, square-toed Frye boots for me, thanks, with the extra thick sole for rough terrain.

 

I LOVE the look of the Noodles, although I'm not sure I'd use it to its full potential? Might be worth trying with my Taylor. Somehow, the Taylor system really needs a boost, when it's plugged in.

[wraub]

Currently in rotation-

Tone City Flexo Drive, Tone City Model M, Tone City Comp Engine, MXR Distortion +, Boss TU-2, Boss RC-1, Boss CE-3, Kmise Vintage Drive, and an old bass OD I use for clean boost sometimes.

[Caevan O’Shite]

46 minutes ago, Winston Psmith said:

Somehow, the Taylor system really needs a boost, when it's plugged in.

You could use a Real Deal solution for that, eh... ?  

Note that he's using a Taylor with a built-in piezo pickup here...
 

 

[KuruPrionz]

7 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

That looks pretty excellent! And possibly, quite very possibly, even better suited to electro-acoustic instruments.

I think that the Ground Control Audio Noodles is aimed at those seeking to dirty things up, if even almost cleanly. Though I'm all for using the wrong tool for the wrong job to get cool new wrong, ehr, right sounds!     

Hugo, in the spirit of that, you just might get what you want there from the Fulltone CS Ranger- especially if you power it with 18v ('standard' pin-negative, 50ma minimum). It's a particularly high-quality germanium 'Treble Booster' based initially on the vintage Dallas Rangemaster; it can do clean and chimey and cut-off the lows...


 

  😄 I was just kiddin' about that, and those exceedingly pointy toes; though they are pretty stylin'...   
    
 

The Q\Strip has sounded splendid for me on bass, acoustic/elecctric guitars of all sorts, in the send/return loop of a mic pre on vocals and straight into an amp with an eletric guitar. Noise floor is extremely low and pushing all 4 EQs is quite a boost. In other words, in my experience it's good on everything. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on keyboards, if I played those. The input has plenty of headroom and the circuit has plenty of gain (in the studio sense, guitaritst say gain and mean distortion pretty often). It's an all-rounder, if you had one you'd find more than one use for it. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

59 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

The input has plenty of headroom and the circuit has plenty of gain (in the studio sense, guitaritst say gain and mean distortion pretty often).

I knew what you meant! 
 

 

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

The Q\Strip... It's an all-rounder, if you had one you'd find more than one use for it. 

I'm sure I would!
 
 

[Winston Psmith]

@Caevan O’Shite- Prices are still pretty high on that Real Deal pedal, especially considering that it's already been discontinued. IDK what it is with Pigtronix, but they seem to shed product lines almost as quickly as they release new gear?!?

[p90jr]

On 7/3/2022 at 11:52 AM, Winston Psmith said:

@Caevan O’Shite- Prices are still pretty high on that Real Deal pedal, especially considering that it's already been discontinued. IDK what it is with Pigtronix, but they seem to shed product lines almost as quickly as they release new gear?!?

I almost bought one a couple of times as the stupid deal of the day for $99, I think...

[p90jr]

Working on an original song with one of the bands I play in, I had a part/sound come to me ... a staccato trem/reverb/delay thing... I could fake it with my picking (the way I learned to play U2 songs as a kid who didn't have a delay pedal...) but I couldn't get the Boss Trem pedal or EHX Deluxe Memory Box that I had on the board I was using to do it... it dawned on me that I had just watched a rig rundown with Adam from The War On Drugs and he did something similar with a Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper pedal, the problem is those are rare and pricey, but a search uncovered the Malekko Goatkeeper, a smaller, somewhat simplified (two channels of tremolo as opposed to four) licensed to Malekko to manufacture, so I ordered one (had I also seen one of you talk about it here in this thread?) Just got it in, it sits with the Boss Space Echo I finally got in waiting for me to have the time to play it...
 

right after I hit buy on the Goatkeeper I noticed the DOD Rubberneck delay pedal I bought as a deal of the day for $99 that I maybe played once on a shelf, hooked it up and played with it and got the exact slightly modulated "percolating" repeating delay I was looking for in that song, of course... so i bought a new pedal unnecessarily... but I ain't sorry!!!

[p90jr]

On 9/30/2021 at 8:59 PM, Larryz said:

P90, Looks like you have a Tele and it sounds like you like B-Benders. Check out the B-bender gizmo for a Tele in Caevan's "Ash the World Turns" thread. Looks like an easy addition to the Tele sans any modifications. It can be taken back off easily and transferred to another Tele if you ever decide to sell yours. Pretty positive comments on it. The only negative I heard was you have to slide your hand back past the bridge to engage it. I like playing with my palm over the bridge pups so this wouldn't be an issue for me. It sure beats the other B-bender Tele complex stock systems that come on B-bender Teles for an easy mod...

 

 

 

I forgot to respond to this before, but - to my embarrassment - you posting this reminded me that I already had one of these in the "guitar project drawer" that had been there for months and I'd forgotten about it... I'd been put off by a comment I saw that said "They're right, it takes 5 minutes to install... and 5 hours to get your intonation right again."

I woke up too early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so for some reason decided to put it on (anything to not think about the work project that will eat up next week that I'm in a waiting pattern on...), and it took 5 minutes to put on, then trying to intonate it (and my Tele is an AM Std with the 6 bridge pieces, so it only had to work about that one string) seemed to be taking forever with careful slight adjustments, until I just got frustrated and cranked the piece as far as back as it could go... and that was right on! I did that with the existing set of strings, then playing around with it instantly broke the high E, so I decided to just change the entire set... and I've been meaning to go from a set of 10s on that guitar to 8s like my other Strats and Teles... so I finally did that...

Rick Beato has the same Tele, I think it's from around '98 - '00... in a video thing focusing on his guitars his tech guy mentions that he's only had to set that guitar up ONCE... when Rick first brought it to him straight from Guitar Center, and since then no matter if he changes string gauges when he checks everything is still right...

So I swapped the strings, stretched them, tuned them up, checked everything on the Peterson StroboClip Pro or whatever it is... and no need for any tweaking. That's nice considering going from 10s to 9s on my Gibsons/Gibson-style guitars has involved a day or so of careful truss rod adjustments because they instantly fretted out in spots and the neck tension was thrown off... I know Leo wasn't using the "classic" concept of string and neck tension in his design... and I thank him for that!!!

[Larryz]

P90, Keep us posted on how that B-bender works with that light of gauge (i.e., 8's)...and how you like working it.  The only comment that bugged me was one where you had to move your palm way back when using the bender.  But, I think it's a lot easier than buying a new B-Bender Tele. Haven't heard anything from Caevan on the Ash the World Turns project in quite some time?  Hope the bender works for you! 🤠👍

[Caevan O’Shite]

3 hours ago, Larryz said:

The only comment that bugged me was one where you had to move your palm way back when using the bender.  But, I think it's a lot easier than buying a new B-Bender Tele. 

That's only if you don't install a "pull string" to actuate it. That's why it has that little loop on the end of the lever.
  
Here's a version of the Rolling Bender saddle and pull-string system installed on a Strat:

  

[Larryz]

Yeah, it was quite awhile back that I saw the B-Bender that would fit Strat & Tele 6 saddle bridges.  The one I saw didn't have the pull string and worked just off of tension against the B string and could easily be put back to stock.   Here's the video on installation:

 

 

Your version is probably newer than this one and may work even better...🤠👍

 

[Larryz]

Here's a cool demo on the sounds you can get:

 

🤠👍

[Caevan O’Shite]

26 minutes ago, Larryz said:

Yeah, it was quite awhile back that I saw the B-Bender that would fit Strat & Tele 6 saddle bridges.  The one I saw didn't have the pull string and worked just off of tension against the B string and could easily be put back to stock.

It's basically the same Rolling Bender, it's just that the example I found photos of with the string-through option happen to be the Strat and six-saddle version.

The Rolling Bender saddle that I have, and that you mentioned a couple of times as being "one where you had to move your palm way back when using the bender", are the same- it can ALSO be actuated by a pull-string system, not just the palm, if the rest of the parts are installed with a hole drilled through the body, as shown in the photos I posted.
      
All of the Rolling Benders work "just off of tension against the B string". Whether the string-pull is installed or not.
          
 

[Larryz]

Caevan, I don't think I would want to drill for the pull-string system as the guy in the vid looks like he can get all the sounds I would want with the simplified version, and I rest my palm on the bridge when I play anyway. I remember reading comments about having to move the palm further back without the pull-string system on the 6 saddle Tele (which I like better than the 3 barrels saddles).   Sounds like P90 has some experience he shared with us now as well on the intonation problem comments.  I mentioned your thread as IIRC, you were going to install a Bender on that Tele project you are/were building, and if you experienced these 2 issues? 😎

[Caevan O’Shite]

17 hours ago, Larryz said:

Caevan, I don't think I would want to drill for the pull-string system as the guy in the vid looks like he can get all the sounds I would want with the simplified version, and I rest my palm on the bridge when I play anyway. I remember reading comments about having to move the palm further back without the pull-string system on the 6 saddle Tele (which I like better than the 3 barrels saddles).   Sounds like P90 has some experience he shared with us now as well on the intonation problem comments.  I mentioned your thread as IIRC, you were going to install a Bender on that Tele project you are/were building, and if you experienced these 2 issues? 😎

Well, I'm glad that p90jr was able to get the intonation squared away with his Rolling Bender saddle; although I think it's not the best scenario if it took moving the saddle as far back as it will go to get it to intonate, it's always best if there's still a little travel-room left either forward or backward. (I've been through that with some Les Paul Tune-o-Matic-based ABR-1 bridges and saddles, flipping saddles around to reach, etc.)

I only briefly did a hasty check of the mechanical smoothness, fit and compatibility of mine- which all seemed very good- so I really don't have a solid final answer on its intonation. I'll be using 10's, unless I decide later still to go to 11's.

The Telebastard project has been put on hold for a while, since things I couldn't have foreseen when I started have made it impractical for me to spend any more money on tools and materials for now. I have a good 90% or maybe even 100% of the parts to build it! I just REALLY, REALLY want it to be as perfect as possible, I want no regrets there. But income and employment have had a couple of weird turns. It'll pass, and I'll get back to getting that axe finished and then

>¡¡KerrRRRÄÄÄNGG!!<   
  
 

[Larryz]

Thanks for the info Caevan, hope you get that baby up and running one of these days.  They make the Rolling Bender for the 3 barrels bridge saddles and hopefully have the intonation set up on the 1st and 2nd string combo working well.  I think I would have a hard time trying to set intonation on the 3 barrels type of bridge setup.  I like the tune-o-matic Gibson style saddles but +1 on sometimes the saddle is as far back as it will go.  Thanks for the tip on flipping it around.  😎

[Caevan O’Shite]

I think we'll soon get back to the pedal-centric Original Topic of this thread...  

 

2 hours ago, Larryz said:

They make the Rolling Bender for the 3 barrels bridge saddles

That's what I've got, and it's a piece of really impressively well executed machining design and work!
 

 

2 hours ago, Larryz said:

Thanks for the tip on flipping it around.

You're welcome! The little ramp-like saddles on those can get a little further front or rear travel if flipped-around. I had to have that on the 5th/A saddle on my ABR-1 T-o-M, with a new notch cut and filed smooth; I'll eventually replace it with a whole new saddle- and quite likely, a whole new bridge and tailpiece. Probably with nickel-plated brass saddles for the first three plain-trebles, and titanium for the three wound-basses.
         
 

[KuruPrionz]

38 minutes ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

I think we'll soon get back to the pedal-centric Original Topic of this thread...  

Wait..., what?

Pedals would make more sense to me if we didn't wear shoes and had fingers on our feet. 🤔

Touch screen behind the bridge with every possible effect in a menu, select that and the effect comes up with sliders (not "knobs"") on the screen so you can change settings in real time. 

Simultaneously adjust pitch and modulation speed for that moment of sea-sick glory moving into a rotary speaker tone, then slide the extortion up a bit to add growl. Etc., ad infinitum...

 

And stuff. That's a future I would love to see happen!!!!

 

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

[surfergirl]

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

 

https://youtu.be/3_9jcCOKWng

[Winston Psmith]

10 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

Touch screen behind the bridge with every possible effect in a menu, select that and the effect comes up with sliders (not "knobs"") on the screen so you can change settings in real time. 

Simultaneously adjust pitch and modulation speed for that moment of sea-sick glory moving into a rotary speaker tone, then slide the extortion up a bit to add growl. Etc., ad infinitum...

 

And stuff. That's a future I would love to see happen!!!!

 

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

 

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.

[p90jr]

On the Rolling Bender...

my thought on the string pull thing... why don't they come up with a way for you to do that using the hole already through the bridge that the string originally went through? Know what I mean?

I misspoke/typed... "all the way back" should've been "all the way forward," towards the neck (the other right hand?)... then after playing it for a few hours and the string really getting stretched and settling, beyond my usual yanking it up and down the neck to stretch it out, it was a wee bit sharp in the upper register of the neck so I had to tweak it back just a bit and it's perfect. The point where the string actually crosses over the saddle is just a bit behind the high E string saddle, where the original saddle was... I started to just mark that position with tape and use it as a starting point but then thought that was silly... I guess it wasn't, and it's a good reference if you aren't changing string gauge or anything. I only watched one short installation vid so others might have suggested that... I also tweaked the "raised pitch" to bring it down a few cents to be exactly one whole step... and playing it I keep finding the half-step point fairly consistently, though that's based on hearing it so I'll see if that's possible with a band.

My hand usually rests on the bridge when I play and fingerpick... and I have big hands, I'm finding it natural and intuitive to rock back a bit to use the bender, or use my pinky to push it down. The real plus for the bender is bending notes within a chord voicing, so that's a slower more dramatic thing bathed in compression, reverb and delay... for the Clarence White-style licks that I've faked for so long by bending with the JangleBox adding treble-boosted sustain, for now I'm faster doing it the way I have for decades.

No problem with 8s... they stay in tune for me, my tough lightens to fit them, and the Bender isn't causing problems with them. 

[p90jr]

33 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.

A friend of mine was working for a company in Austin that was making a replacement pickguard that put a touch screen and midi stuff right below the pickups, and might've included a sustainiac pickup or something... but I haven't heard anything else about it so I guess it didn't work out