Black Bolt Tap Tempo

I grew up reading Silver Age Marvel comics. I'm not entirely sure why I paid for college, as there seems to be a priceless collection of vintage books in my parents' attic. In any case, I fell in love with the ham-fisted Shakespearean stylings of Stan Lee and, in particular, with the future-retro art of Jack Kirby. 

This is an acid etching I did of a Marvel character. The pedal itself is simple enough--a configurable NO/NC wiring scheme with a momentary switch. The idea is that it synchronizes up to 6(!) time-based effects. Some, of course, read the tap pulse on the "break" of the stomp, while others read the "make," but I only use pedals that do one or the other, so this works great. 

The enclosure art is what I'm most proud of. I've built a bunch of fuzz pedals and other circuits; having an artful way of presenting them is as satisfying as the sounds I make with them!

Boss DD-5

This is one of those pedals I didn't appreciate until it was gone, and now I'm looking to pick it up again. Nothing else can quite approximate the super-clean repeats this pedal puts out. This is worth picking up for the dotted-eighth setting alone. I got lost in that one pretty frequently, particularly once I built a cheap little tap tempo pedal to dictate repeat times. It works in stereo, too, which wasn't an option for me when I owned it--I've since switched to two amps, and wish I'd been able to hear this pedal.

I'll be buying this again. The problem is that I bought this one for $60, and I'm not likely to find that good a deal again, so I wait.

I traded this in to finance another delay purchase, and one that I don't regret--the EHX Deluxe Memory Boy--but, in what's become a running theme for gear purchasing, I regret selling most of the things I unload. My unofficial rule is that I can't have more pedals than can fit on my board, and running three delays feels a tad crazy. But I love them so much...

Digitech Synth Wah

Digitech seems to be pretty hit-or-miss. Every once in a while, they have a great idea (Whammy, Timebender, Space Station), but mostly--since the days when they were DOD--they seem to provide pretty respectable knock-offs of better known pedals. For pretty much every Boss pedals that sells well, you can find a Digitech pedal that's not quite as good, but a little cheaper. They seem to be turning away from this practice, but this Synth Wah does not typify that move.

For me, it's kind of a toy. As much as I like unusual effects, this pedal gives the sense of the kind of laser gun stuff that turns people off from synth effects. I like 'em big and beefy with lots of bass, maybe octave voices, and controllable filter sweeps. This pedal doesn't track well on my guitars, and the controls feel difficult enough for me to have gotten rid of this. I picked it up in a trade (in the name of science!) and never found any real use for it. When I think synth, I think Moog--big, analog monsters that are really complicated with lots of dials and a sound that shakes the walls. This pedal imagines synths as novelty settings on a keyboard. Bummer!

Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter Tremolo

The Shape Shifter gets absolutely no love. It's very difficult to find information on it, and no one seems to have them. Seems like a limited run from a pedal maker that doesn't have a reputation that attracts weirdos. If you want to make inventive pedals, start an off-brand (call it something unusual and give it some ugly graphics--no one wants to buy out-of-the-ordinary pedals from Seymour Duncan or Boss).

This is a tap-tempo tremolo pedal with a surprising amount of tweakability. A quick rundown: "depth" is self-explanatory, as I've only encountered a couple trem pedals without this parameter. The "Shape" control is great, as you can dial in an almost percussive sequencer like effect by pushing the shape toward allowing only the attack of the note. Not a subtle effect, but a very cool one.

"Wave" is, again, a pretty standard trem inclusion, but this one does go a little beyond the TR-2's use of only two waveforms (triangle and square). The Shape Shifter throws a sine form into the mix, and it approximates a more "amp-like" effect.

Lastly, there's the "Rate" control, which can be switched from either a "ratio" that responds to the tempo you tap into the pedal, or to a more standard logarithmic pot-type effect. The ratio thing is very cool, and what sets this pedal apart, as you can pretty easily tap in quarter notes, position the knob over the 4:1 ration graphic, and see your signal get chopped with a hard square-wave trem to the tempo of a live drummer.

The only problem (and a well documented one) with tap-tempo trem pedals is that they have one inherent difference from tap-tempo delays. A delay lets a note echo, but the note decays. A trem--while the note decays naturally, as we don't usually have infinite sustain--is locked into a pattern. In other words, a trem has a consistently graphable pattern of modulation. It works like a click track; delays will respond to your playing. For this reason, I tend to use it as a hard square-wave chop, as, when the effect is more obvious, it is easier for live drummers to play with. Sort of like playing to a sequencer.

All in all, a cool pedal, and one that I don't use a ton live. It has its moments...but I don't deploy it with subtlety, so I use it sparingly. A couple cool tricks--putting this before the Microsynth can trigger it so that it does really fast filter sweeps. I can play one note, let it ring, and have the trem chop my signal as it goes into the synth like a whole bunch of staccato notes. Also, after slow filter sweeps is a great place for a hard chopped signal, as it really does the whole "electronica/percussive sampled sound" thing.

MXR Dyna Comp

What's to say here? If you're reading this, you've probably owned this pedal, and you've certainly heard it in action. I tend to use it with one of the two knobs (output or sensitivity) pretty much dimed. Sensitivity gives you that clicky, percussive "Nashville sound" that comes in handy every now and again. Mostly, though, I use it as a kind of line driver for leads. This pedal is also indispensable for live and recorded bass playing, particularly with low-output J Bass pickups. Not the most exciting piece of gear, but one that sees a lot of use.

Refinished (stained) Drum Kit

 Pulled the Jack Kirby art off of my kit--here are some photos:

 To do this:
1) Sanded down shells.
2) Mixed wood stains; applied with rags.
3) Let dry for a couple hours.
4) Clear coat 4-5 times.
5) Reassemble.

Telecasters...

 I've owned teles before, and never really bonded with any of them. I realized that I'd traded one with a maple neck years ago to pay for groceries or some stupid thing and always wanted it back. So I loaded up the car with stuff to trade and headed to the local shop. They had this maple-necked beauty. I was looking for a classic tele, or maybe a thinline, but they didn't have anything like that, so I sprung for this Modern Player version. Wasn't crazy about the humbucker at the bridge (humbuckers on a tele? Come on), but it was in my price range. Then I got home, set it up, and enjoyed myself.

Later that day, this tele comes up on CL--from the same shop, no less:

I traded the Modern player in for this Nashville tele. Very close to a traditional setup, but the middle strat pickup gives me some options. Also, this came in used, so I got more bang for my buck. I think the Modern player was $400, this was $369. The shop also posted a DD-5, so I traded my guitar for a better guitar and a delay pedal. It was a good day.

As for this lovely creature--plays great, sounds excellent, and looks magnificent. Matches my bass, too. I really like the brightness of the maple neck, and the tones that are possible with the 5-way selector make this a lot of fun to play. The big issue is noise, as the bridge is insanely microphonic. Need to get some shielding in there.

Pedalboard Mk. II

So I sold my hockey gear and bought a Pedal Train  PT-3. I picked up a used Voodoo Labs PP2+ off of CL, and here I am. This is so much cleaner, better looking, and easy to use than my homemade board. That was a good learning experience; now I'm playing a lot more and needed something a little more cohesive.

I have (or will) review the pedals individually, but, as for the board, let me say a little about how it is routed.

The signal chain: Fuzz Factory>>>Rainbow Machine>>>Morley Dual Bass wah>>>true bypass looper (which loops through the Dyna Comp>>>rehoused Big Muff>>>Micro Synth) >>>POG2>>>TU-2>>>Holy Grail>>>TS9>>>Shape Shifter>>>Memory Boy Deluxe>>>Memory Man.

I tried to keep my "pitch" pedals as early in the chain as I could, but, between the POG, synth and Rainbow Machine there's a lot of work to do there. Also, I like having my wah with some dirt both before and after it, which is why it's situation kind of strangely.

The Big Muff is susceptible to volume drops, and, though it is true bypass, I like to be able to use it with a line driver for leads. That's why it is in a loop with the Dyna Comp--I can crank the compressor (while keeping the sensitivity pretty low) and run them in sequence with only one stomp. The Micro Synth finishes up that loop because it is one of the worst-bypassed pedals of all time. I kind of like what it does to my tele, frankly, but now that I'm running in stereo, the tone loss is simply too much to bear.

Most other stuff is pretty straightforward, with a couple exceptions: I like my tuner late in the chain (after dirt) because I can use it as a kill switch. When things get ugly with fuzz pedals, I like to have a mute switch. This happens before reverb and delay so that I can still get trails, however. And what people say about your tuner needing a "pure" signal to tune--I've never had any trouble with this arrangement.

I have the Holy Grail feeding a TS9 (which will probably be gone soon) because I like overdriven reverb. Most people put 'verb last in the chain; I say there's a lot of fun to be had putting it earlier. I can also chop up a reverberated signal with the Shape Shifter, which is pretty durn fun.

Finally, the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai is stereo I/O, so I run that to two amps. Ping-ponged delays=very tasty.

This board is a beast to put together. I've rebuilt it a couple times, but everything just barely fits in the case. I'm sure I'll change some stuff next week, so it won't matter. I'm pretty happy with this for right now.

EHX Ring Thing

What a strange piece of equipment. Found a cheap one used, and, with my propensity for EHX gear, thought I'd try out one of their newer offerings.

The Ring Thing has some cool sounds hiding inside of it--it is essentially a 'roided out modulation pedal that pushes things further than most mod pedals. This can run the gamut from tremolo effects that have a super slow Leslie vibe to a more rhythmic, pulsating throb. The use of the fine/coarse knobs lets you dial it a lot of these different textures.

Of course, the heart of the pedal is its ring modulator function, which does some things that I haven't seen done elsewhere. The tuning function is an attentuator that senses the pitch of the input signal when the left footswitch is held down; you'll hear the LFO "tune" itself to the note you're playing. Pretty cool! I still couldn't figure out a way to make this musical, sadly. Since ring mods use a kind of algorithm to determine which secondary pitch is played against the note you're playing, the "tuned" ring mod effect really only sounds good against the original note you've tuned to or very specific intervals of that note. In other words--this is a very cool effect, but, even with my love of noise making, not one I could see myself using regularly enough to keep. Ultimately, I was hoping for more of a bit-crusher effect that would have some interesting harmonic overtones. I think I could have gotten it to where I wanted it, but I ran out of patience. This is the most "difficult" pedal I have ever owned, and I wish I'd spent more time on it.

The last thing that intrigued me about this pedal were the pitch-shifting capabilities. It can do just about everything a Whammy pedal can do, though the interface for it is a little more difficult to use (again, the coarse/fine knobs dial in intervals from--I believe--2 octaves down to 2 octaves up). I have an expression pedal that I plugged in; sounded pretty solid, though I detected a hint of latency. Could just be my rig. I love whammy-type effects, but, ultimately, I was looking for things to trade in for a new guitar, and I sold this pedal. Kind of regret it a little...I wish I had every piece of gear I'd ever sold back! Even the crappy ones. They're all beautiful children, and I miss them. Hope they're doing well.

Ibanez TS9

I'm a little frustrated by the cork-sniffery that takes because of the Tubescreamer line. This one sounds good; I like it. I'm aware that the TS-808s have a kind of holy grail mysticism associated with them, but I don't understand how musicians--people who pride themselves on running against the grain, free-spiritedness, &c--all subscribe to the same set of rules and opinions about this. The Klon, the Tim, Dumble--maybe it is better. Maybe I'm missing something.

In any case, this is a necessary piece of the electric guitar puzzle. I play a telecaster, and I have this on pretty frequently to get a little more meat on its bones. Does get a tad noisy, as my guitar's giant ashtray bridge is pretty microphonic, especially when I'm not phase-cancelling the pickups.

I really like all the things that it is supposed to do--midrange "bump," light drive, even a clean boost for leads. If I trusted the crappy black plastic-enclosed beetle-looking tubescreamers more, I'd have gotten one of them for cheap. As it stands, this is a primary color when putting together guitar tones. Inventive? No. Practical? Heck yes.