Effects Bay

Amazon is having a good deal on the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb pedal. Normally, this pedal lists for $158. Musician’s Friend has it for $118.50 + shipping, but Amazon has it for $83.15 + $5.50 for shipping. Not a bad deal.

Here is the basic info on the pedal:

The Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb Guitar Effects Pedal has the prized sounds of the legendary Holy Grail reverb pedal in a rugged, performance-friendly nano die-cast chassis. The small footprint stompbox fits easily into any pedal board while still delivering the amazing reverb sounds that made the original 2002 Holy Grail a legend among guitarists everywhere.

The EH Holy Grail Nano reverb pedal provides the original classic Spring reverb revered by guitarists for its authentic sound, a Hall reverb specifically designed for performing musicians, and the completely original “Flerb” a flanged reverb with unique and haunting spatial definition. The original Holy Grail was prized for re-creating quality reverb spaces and the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano pedal delivers the same definitive reverbs while saving you pedalboard space.

Found another sweet clip from gearmandude (my fav!) — no cowboy boot?? Also nice subliminal message of what he thinks of reverbs in general.

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Popularity: 15%

One of the delays that I was surprised wasn’t mentioned early on during the “Best delay pedal available today?” topic was the T-Rex Replica Delay / Echo Pedal. This pedal has been on my short list of delays to buy for a long long time. The transparency of the delay is really impressive. I also like the easy of use, simple knobs for echo (mix), level, repeat and tempo. You can also control the tempo with a switch, and a particular control I like is the ‘brown’ switch, which gives the delay sound a ‘darker’ and traditional analog vibe.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

This Guitar Player Editors’ Pick Award winner can hand you studio-quality cool digital delay or the warmth of all-tube echo with single pedal convenience. Its secret is 2 Burr Brown 24-bit converters (one A/D, one D/A) to sample at a sky-high rate of 200kHz! The circuitry is entirely analog, with the exception of the 24-bit converters and RAM. The unit features special touches like unity gain, a Brown button (repeat-only hi-cut filter), and hot-wire bypass. The Replica is capable of delay settings up to 1550ms, has a tap tempo function (which can be controlled via MIDI), and a subdivision function for triplet delay effects. Comes with an external 12 volt power supply.

T-Rex Replica Delay/Echo Pedal Features:

• Guitar Player Editors’ Pick Award winner
• 2 Burr Brown 24-bit converters
• One A/D, one D/A
• Sample rate of 200kHz
• Hybrid analog/digital circuitry
• Unity gain
• Brown button (repeat-only hi-cut filter)
• Hot-wire bypass
• Delay up to 1550ms
• Tap tempo function
• MIDI controllable
• Subdivision function
• Includes 12-volt power supply

I found another great video by ProGuitarShopDemos that shows what this pedal can do, and how it sounds.

You can pick up the T-Rex Replica Delay / Echo Pedal for $399.99 at Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 21%

So, we’ve been having some major issues with our host the last few weeks, and in a fit of rage this morning, I decided to move the site to another host. This is good AND bad. If you’re reading this message today.. this is good, since you’re hitting the correct server. Alot of people will still be hitting the old (crappy) host though until the DNS change takes affect for everyone.

The others will constantly be seeing old error messages or ‘denied’ errors until their DNS updates. I apologize for that. In the meantime, I’ll be sure to let everyone know via Twitter and Facebook about the situation. I’m sure there will be a few issues regarding this transition, but hopefully they’ll all be resolve quickly.

Oh, speaking of Facebook.. there is a EffectBay page there now, so it’s time to fan up!

Popularity: 11%

Today’s pedal line is from Muzik4Machines (@Muzik4Machines). If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to . Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

This is from my old rock band, Cobaye Molotov some photos can be seen here: http://muzik4machines.com/images/thumbnails.php?album=7

The full chain was:
Boss TU-2 (not seen)
Boss GE-7 to brighten up clean sounds
Boss FZ-2 Hyper fuzz on mode 2, for that over the top fuzz
Stereoscope boutique FUZZ II tonebender clone
Boss LS-2 line selector 1 (mostly used because the looped pedals have bad bypass)
loop 1: Boss DD-3 (mostly for feedback loops) and Boss PW-10 Wah
loop 2: Danelectro DJ-20C Rocky Road Leslie Simulator

Boss LS-2 line selector 2
loop 1: Kaoss pad 2 (not seen)
loop 2: Akai MFC 42 with MXR M-103 Blue Box,  Boss SYB-3 in wave shaper mode and  Pro Co Turbo Rat (not seen) and a MXR M-102 Dyna Comp

Boss FV-50L (as a clean pedal instead of lowering on the guitar)
Boss XT-2 X-Tortion (hollow dist/crunch)
Boss DS-1 (edgier distortion)
Boss PW-1 power driver (not seen) wall of distortion
Boss DD-5 with tap tempo (delay) out in stereo into 2 identical Fender Pro Junior, one of them with a MXR M-133 Micro Amp for leads and the Boss OC-3 Octaver, the other with the super shifter

Sometimes I’d add a BigMuff original in the Kaoss pad loop to add more dirt.

Popularity: 19%

Today, @silverstatic asked if I had any recommendations for attenuators. I’ve thought about picking these up in the past. Basically, for people out there that don’t know what they do, they site between your amp and speaker cab. They sucks some of the power so you can overdrive your head or crank it, but the volume from your speakers are bearable.

I’ve been playing a Rivera Knucklehead 100 watt amp forever, and they’re great amps, but the problem is that they’re crazy loud. Just to give you an idea, when I practice at my house, I pretty much have to get the master around 1.5 to 2. For live stage settings, the amp is right around 2.5 or 3 on the master. At 3 your pants are vibrating when you’re in front of it (honestly, I like that feeling.. a lot). I don’t think I’ve ever played a show without the sound guy telling me to turn down, and it sucks.. if I turn it down to where he wants it, my power tube section is barely getting the love it needs.

With a attenuator, you can crank that head to 3 or 4 to get things heated up, but you can control the level of volume coming out of the speakers to a level that sounds guys like. There have been some issues.. and these are the reasons why I’ve never bought one.

• Often known to alter your tone
• Can damage your amp

I’ve been hearing about the Dr. Z AirBrake as something that is truly ‘transparent’ as far as tone goes, and with technology improvements, amps are getting fried in the process. I initially recommend this to @silverstatic as popular answer to the question, but @worshipking14 came back with the Bad Cat “The Leash” Attenuator as the item to get.

First of all, I think Bad Cat stuff is fantastic (I also think the same as Dr. Z), but I’ve had some experience with the Bad Cat 2-tone pedal.. and it’s pretty awesome. So I wanted to look seriously at this.

Over at PremierGuitar.com they had a article about the “The Leash” and it really addressed some of those early issues I brought up. Mainly having a ‘reactive’ load feature which is safer for amps  by managing the impedence. This box also comes with a fan, since managing that power load will get things hot. That’s a nice solution as well. The article above also discusses some tone tests. They bring up a good point of not cranking your amp, and playing it at very quiet volumes expecting it to sound the same.

You can pick up the Bad Cat “The Leash” Power Attenuator for $349.00 at Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 17%

I’m not sure if others go through this, but do you feel like you’re in a ‘rut’ when it comes to your pedal line? Not necessarily being in a rut by choosing to do so, but being in a rut of not really knowing what’s out there. If you don’t know what’s out there outside of your own pedal knowledge, it’s hard to think of what to get. That’s when it’s great to interact with other musicians. See what’s on the floor for those guys. Ask them why they have ‘this’, or if ‘that’ is any good, etc.

Hell, I’m reading and watching pedal reviews everyday, and I’m in a rut as well. That’s why yesterday on Twitter I asked the question “What’s your next pedal purchases? What are you saving up for?“. I thought it would be good to hear what others are wanting right now. Maybe that will point me to a new pedal direction, point me to a new sound possibility, or point me to a better replacement of a pedal. I have to say, the tweeps on Twitter have been super cool, so I thought I’d post some of the responses.

I’ll start with me though. I’ve been eyeballing a coupe of pedals pretty hard. I’d like to see myself owning the Electro-Harmonic Memory Boy or MXR Carbon Copy and I’ve also been looking at some of those ZVex pedals -  Fuzz Factory or maybe that Mastotron Fuzz.

Elcharroyyo @effectsbay my next pedal is a hardwire chorus… is awesome!
nickwilk @effectsbay RC-50 Loopstation
GuitarGear @effectsbay Keeley Compressor, Some of Death by Audio or a Soldano Super Charger
ziguratt @effectsbay my savings are for a Boss DD7.
El_Kmaron @effectsbay Boss Loop Station =) Or maybe a Line 6 DL4 “Green box” haha! Or maybe a Dunlop Octave Fuzz!
VergeofBliss @effectsbay Have a Skreddy Pig Mine Fuzz ordered, should arrive around November http://bit.ly/zjFs
AethWolf @effectsbay I want to get a delay pedal (maybe 2 of them and a stereo chorus pedal), but I’m not sure which delay would be best for me.
davefalconer @effectsbay a Barker ASSMASTER from Malekko Heavy Industry
fuzmeister @effectsbay EHX Micro Synth most likely!
adamkobylarz @effectsbay Zvex Ringtone and thinking about getting a AB switch to run two heads/two cabs. Not sure which one to get.
GreggSantee @effectsbay Echo Baby http://tinyurl.com/yfpsdvj OCD http://tinyurl.com/yfhxl59 maybe Replica http://tinyurl.com/yhxhkdw
shaundurkan @effectsbay Hardwire Digital Reverb and Deucetone Rat.
elegiaccycle @effectsbay i am saving for an eventide pitchfactor and a homebrew electronics paradrive… this is going to hurt.
RichieAquino @effectsbay Eventide timefactor. $400.00
andrewsnotatwit @effectsbay vox time machine
AntonOortmann @effectsbay I think that the EHX Memory Boy would be my next pedal to purchase!
inmemoryofthom @effectsbay I’m hoping to get a Fender Blender for christmas.
AndrewElmore @effectsbay i really want to buy the EHX Knockout and LPB-1 pedals like you wouldn’t believe!
silverfilter @effectsbay I want a foxrox octron!
sean_pierceCEO @effectsbay something from Pigtronix. Maybe
underwoodblog @effectsbay Eventide Modfactor and Eventide Pitchfactor would be my next purchase.

As you can see the response was quite diverse. Lots of things to explore. I would really like to continue the discussion here as well, if you didn’t see it on Twitter, etc. Please feel free to comment below about what pedal you’ve been eye-balling lately

Popularity: 15%

I was looking to do a write up on a bass pedal this afternoon, and stumble on something that bass players and guitarists might find very cool. This is the ZVex Mastotron Fuzz pedal. I saw some mention that the Mastotron Fuzz was being used by a few bass players, so I wanted to take a look, oddly all the clips were with guitars, and I was impressed. If you’re looking for a HEAVY fuzz tone, this could be the box you need. I was impressed with the solid low end and options for dialing in that fuzz. Good to get some wool in there.. or to go total stoner heavy. I’m liking it!

I’m definitely liking the ZVex stuff (recently did a post on the ZVex Fuzz Factory), so it was nice to look at another pedal in their line.

Here is the official description:

The Zvex Vextron Mastotron Effect Pedal is a new, heavy silicon fuzz effect pedal design that includes a couple of unusual features- source impedance control, subs control, and pulse width control. It works equally well with bass and guitar, and can easily be interfaced with digital devices like recorders as well as keyboards. The controls: * Relax/Push: This knob introduces source inpedance to the signal going into the Mastotron. When fully up, the signal goes in raw…when turned down, source inpedance is added as needed to soften the input for active pickups. * Fuzz: This wide-range knob lets you set just how fuzzy your Mastotron gets. * PW: Pulse Width control. You can swing this from square wave on the left to narrow pulses on the right. * Tone: This shapes the treble without sacrificing the heavy subs. * Vol: Output volume. * Subs Switch: 2-1-3, Lets you set how much sub content is in your fuzz. It’s pretty dramatic…3 is huge, 2 is medium, and 1 is absolutely none left. Totally twinky. Try 1 with the tone turned down.

I found two videos related to this. I thought they both showed what it can do in different ways. Also, showing some of the limitations, etc.

and

You can pick up the ZVex Vextron Mastotron Fuzz pedal for $149.00 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 18%

Again, continuing the discussion from the “Best delay pedal available today?” I wanted to look further into the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler. I personally own this pedal, and do like it. It’s delay modeler which has 16 delay ’sounds’ (LO Res Delay, Analog w/Mod, Digital w/Mod, Reverse, Ping Pong, etc). Each setting has optional ‘Tweak’ and ‘Tweez’ settings with are additional and optional settings to control the effect. You of course of delay and repeats.

Let me explain the tweak and tweez setting some more. Let’s say you set the delay to use Tube Echo, Tweak controls ‘wow & flutter’ while the Tweez controls the ‘drive’. If change it to Ping Pong, Tweak controls ‘delay time offset’ and Tweez controls ‘Stereo Spread’.

With these settings, you can then model popular delay pedals by adjusting settings to recommend values in the manual. You can model  Maestro EP-1, Maestro EP-3 , Roland RE-101 Space Echo, Boss DM-2 and Deluxe Memoryman.

The pedal allows you to have 3 stored presets (that you programmed) and the 4th stwitch is for tap/tempo. You can also attach a expression pedal to control some of the settings (I have not played with this).

The Good – The pedal sounds great and works great. It’s well built and the options are very diverse. The modeling is very accurate to my opinion.
The Bad – I’m not too psyched on the programming side of it. Maybe it’s my brain, but it seems slightly awkward to me, and you need to make sure you keep the manual with you (in my case any way).

With that said, I would buy this pedal all over again if I had to. No questions asked there.

Here is the official factory description:

Line 6 DL4 Delay Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

• 16 vintage delay and echo effects including Tube Echoplex, Space Echo, Deluxe Memory Man, and more
• Provides for 3 programmable presets
• Tap tempo control
• 14 seconds of sample-loop memory
• True bypass switching
• Expression pedal input
• Stereo inputs and outputs

The Line 6 DL4 Delay Stompbox Modeler is the first stompbox to give you digitally modeled effects. Includes 16 vintage delay and echo effects including Tube Echoplex, Space Echo, Deluxe Memory Man, Analog Delay, Reverse, and many more. It also provides for 3 programmable presets and an onboard Tap Tempo control, 14 seconds of sample-loop memory, true bypass switching, an expression-pedal input for realtime control of all effects settings, and stereo inputs and outputs.

Here is a good video demo of the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler:

You can purchase the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler for $249.99 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 32%

Again, continuing the discussion from the “Best delay pedal available today?” I wanted to look further into the Boss RE-20 Space Echo and see what it’s all about. I see it’s the rebirth of the Roland RE-201 Space Echo, including the modeling of the “tape flutter” and “magnetic head sound saturation”. I love the sound of that. Has tap control and expression pedal.

Here is Boss’ description:

One of the most beloved echo effects ever made, the Roland RE-201 Space Echo, has been reborn as the BOSS RE-20 Twin Pedal! Experience the legendary tape-echo sound of the RE-201, and get “lost in space” with this retro-modern marvel.

Amazing simulation of the famous Roland RE-201 guitar pedal, with the spacious, analog tone of the original Space Echo
Faithful modeling of the RE-201’s tape flutter and magnetic head sound saturation
Tap input pedal allows delay time to be set by foot
Longer delay time than the original RE-201
Control parameters such as REPEAT RATE, INTENSITY, and more via Expression pedal.
MODE SELECTOR knob with 12 placements just like the original Space Echo

I found a nice video BOSSChannel that shows it’s features quite nicely

The Boss RE-20 Space Echo delay pedal is available at Musician’s Friend for $249.00.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 29%

Just got notified of a promotion going on at Music123. Offer expires 10/31/2009.

Building Your Holiday Wish List? Want dollars?
Order by October 31st and get 15% back in digital dollars to spend during the holidays!

Enter code DOLLARS on your order before October 31, 2009 and receive 15% back in digital dollars to spend during December 2009. Digital dollars will arrive in your e-mail within one week of original purchase.

For more information, click here.

Popularity: 11%