NOPD - New Old Pedal Day

[KuruPrionz]

I wanted a wah pedal and started poking around. I have a Tech 21 Killer Wail that needs to be serviced/repaired, I was very happy with it until it sort of stopped working. Service and/or replacement take time and cost $$$

 

So I started poking around and found a Digitech Element XP at a reasonable price. It looks almost new, the plastic is still on the control panel. XP stands for Expression Pedal, depending on the program it can be a Wah, Volume, Whammy (pitch shift), adjust a parameter of another effect, etc. It's small, light, has 2 up/down foot switches, 100 presets and room for 100 user presets.

 

All the crazy is stuffed in there, running at 24bit - 44.1 Khz. I surfed the presets, some beautiful stereo (with headphones on) clean and cleanish tones. Many of the distortion tones are over the top for what I usually play but I had fun with them anyway. There is a drum pattern section with 44 beats, I haven't tried that yet but it might be fun.

 

The manual is still online - also downloaded to my rig. There is a bit of a learning curve but there aren't many controls so it doesn't look too bad. If I had 4 of my own sounds set up next to each other I could play a gig with that and a direct box, just go into the PA. That would fit in the pouch on my guitar bag, carry in one item and done. I'll try recording it soon.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Cool. My experience with DigiTech Multi-Effects/Digital Modeling units was great overall; the I/O and compensated/cab-simulated Direct Outputs were particularly excellent.

[Larryz]

I could play a gig with that and a direct box, just go into the PA. That would fit in the pouch on my guitar bag, carry in one item and done. I'll try recording it soon.

 

I used to carry a direct-in that I could use to go to the PA, just in case I had an amp malfunction...glad you found a replacement for your malfunctioning pedal that will work for you!

[Winston Psmith]

Much as I love my pedalboards, a compact MFX is a great "grab-&-go" live rig, and a great portable back-up system, too.

[KuruPrionz]

Much as I love my pedalboards, a compact MFX is a great "grab-&-go" live rig, and a great portable back-up system, too.

 

Exactly. If an amp failed I could still get the job done. Yesterday I found a Sterling Audio PHP1, it is a small one channel phantom power throughput.

I have one each of the entire Tech 21 DI line and they all will run on phantom power. One of the places we used to play pre-Covid has a full sound system and the mixer is so far back from the stage that phantom power is not reliable. Small multi EFX into DI powered by widget is still small enough to fit in the guitar bag.

 

Someday I'll get one of the Fly Rigs, that is a great all in one solution (no wah pedal though, which is what started this in the first place!).

[Winston Psmith]

Someday I'll get one of the Fly Rigs, that is a great all in one solution (no wah pedal though, which is what started this in the first place!).

 

I'd looked at the Fly rigs, and they seemed too stripped-down for my needs?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Someday I'll get one of the Fly Rigs, that is a great all in one solution (no wah pedal though, which is what started this in the first place!).

 

I'd looked at the Fly rigs, and they seemed too stripped-down for my needs?

 

Now, why does that not surprise me, my green-thumbed, adventurously-eared Frost Giant friend?

 

Not to knock those Fly Rig units, not at all- it's just that I know you, and your sonic tastes, wants needs...

 

Still, one of those, and a few of your favorite pedals fore and aft, and you'd have a means in case other devices failed to be present or functioning...

[Winston Psmith]

Someday I'll get one of the Fly Rigs, that is a great all in one solution (no wah pedal though, which is what started this in the first place!).

 

I'd looked at the Fly rigs, and they seemed too stripped-down for my needs?

 

Now, why does that not surprise me, my green-thumbed, adventurously-eared Frost Giant friend?

 

Not to knock those Fly Rig units, not at all- it's just that I know you, and your sonic tastes, wants needs...

 

Still, one of those, and a few of your favorite pedals fore and aft, and you'd have a means in case other devices failed to be present or functioning...

 

I like the way the design is meant to be pedalboard-friendly, and the newest version even has a simple Mono S/R Loop. Put the Fly on the lowest rail of your 'board, patch in whatever else you want or need, and you're good. Still, the Boss MS-3 is much more in line with my needs, if not my wallet, at present.

 

And, FWIW, I still don't own a Wah-Wah Pedal . . .

[KuruPrionz]

I play a lot of "bar band rock" and country, blues - shit-kickers, buckle shiners and all that. We are pretty much 4 on the floor with maybe a 3/4 time tune once in a while.

A Fly Rig into the PA would be an excellent "just in case" device for what I do out there in public. I prefer simple, basic and reliable.

 

At home I have every possible plugin and can do whatever I feel like doing to a guitar sound, from normal to not-so-much. I use my Fishman Triple Play too. Here's a track, all me. Acoustic guitars, electric guitars and Triple Play guitars. Bass and WaveDrum, that's it. https://metapop.com/opossum-apocalypse/tracks/opossum-apocalypse-long-mix/180793

 

I'm picky about Wah pedals, some of them just sort of go "wah" like a half-hearted poet in a noisy room quietly reciting their latest ode to the "azure sky."

 

Too "nicey-nice", I need a wah that sounds like somebody accidentally stepped on a big cat, an abrupt, profoundly evil tone. It's been my experience that most of the Wah pedals that sound good also pick up the radio when you back them off. I hate that.

 

The Tech 21 Killer Wail has a noise cancelling inductor in parallel with the one that makes the sound. It gets that snarly vicious tone that I love without picking up the radio at all. I haven't messed with the wah on the Digitech yet but it also has a volume pedal and a Whammy feature plus you can assign it to change the speed of your chorus or other things. And the overall package size is pretty grab and go. So I figured I'd risk it. If the wah is pure and innocent then I can at least use the pedal for other chaos.