Effects Bay

I see that there are plenty of people hitting this page in regards to Black Friday deals at Guitar Center. This original post was for 2009, but I just posted an entry today (11/23/2011)  about various Black Friday and Cyber Monday coupon codes for Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend and Music 123. You can visit the post here for the latest coupon codes for 2011! Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sales and Coupon Codes

THIS POST IS OLD

Just got word on some good GuitarCenter.com Black Friday coupon codes. Seems like a great time to acquire some gear! I’ll be sure to post any more that I come across.

15% Off Any Single Item up to $500 Discount Only on Black Friday at Guitar Center (coupon: BLACKFRIDAY)
Click here for more details

10% off Fender Brands at Guitar Center (coupon: FAN, 11/27-11/30)
Click here for more details

10% Off Any Single Item Up to $500 Discount at Guitar Center (coupon: WEEKENDER, 11/28-11/29)
Click here for more details

$50 Off purchases of $349+ (coupon: Holiday, 11/30-12/6)
Click here for more details

Popularity: 23%

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Looks like Musician’s Friend is getting all set for Black Friday, Cyber Monday or whatever the new shopping day of the shopping season is.  They have created a special ‘deal center’ page, and you can access it here. I took a quick look and there were a few pedals in there:

DigiTech Whammy Pedal with MIDI Control
Coffin Case BDFX-1 Blood Drive Distortion Pedal
DigiTech Artist Series Brian May Red Special Pedal
BBE AM-64 American Metal Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal

Popularity: 34%

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Last week or a bit longer ago, I posted a photo of J. Masis’ pedal board. I noticed the Analog  Man Sun Lion pedal in there (which is pretty much impossible to get other than through eBay), but it got me thinking about Analog Man stuff again. Analog Man is definitely synonymous with quality and high-end boutique pedals, also when I think Analog Man, I think mods and customization. The Sun Lion was a combination of Analog Man’s Sun Face and Beano Boost in one pedal, so I wanted to take a closer look at the Sun Face (with Sundial).

I’ve been on a pretty major fuzz kick lately searching for something in particular.. which I’m still not sure what that is. But the Analog Man NKT Sun Face seemed to be getting me closer to the direction I want to go to. It’s using the NKT-25 transistor, and I have to say the NKT type fuzzes, I’m a fan of (ie: Fulltone ’69 which Fulltone no longer makes).

Here is the official pedal description:

They are built in small gold boxes, with our own SUNFACE circuit board which was made small enough to fit in almost any enclosure. As you can see in the picture down below a bit, this is a VERY high quality board of the same type used on our other pedals. It is better quality than almost any other fuzzface clone you will find, with shielding, plated through-holes, etc to meet military specs. It also has an internal CLEAN trim pot (white knob). This trim pot acts just like turning down the VOLUME knob on your guitar, to clean up the fuzz. It can be used to preset the sound as with the volume knob rolled back a bit. It also allows easier control of the volume knob on your guitar when the white CLEAN trim pot is turned a bit. It can also be used to kill Radio Frequency Interference, which may be a problem on high gain pedals in some areas, by turning it down a hair. like all our handmade pedals, the Sunface has true bypass, so when off they do not alter your sound at all. The CLEAN trimpot will also allow the sunface to work better after a vintage style wah pedal, without having to use a foxrox wah retrofit.

Of course, I could count on gearmandude to give me the skinny on this pedal.

You can pick up the Analog Man NKT Sun Face with Sundial Pedal at Fat Tone Guitars for $260.00

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

Popularity: 3%

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Yesterday I mentioned that I’ve been interested in the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker and found a  great shootout video. Today I’m about to pull the trigger on this box. I’m really liking the wicker switch and the ability to pull the tone complete out. I also like that you can dial it in for convential Big Muff tones as well. I found you can this pedal for a great price at Amazon, only $73.98 plus $4.50 for shipping. It’s normally $89.25 at Musician’s Friend plus shipping.

Here is the official description of the pedal and the wicker switch:

The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker is a guitar effects pedal that taps into the sonic power of the legendary Big Muff Pi, and creates new tonal possibilities at the flick of a switch—or two. Use the Wicker switch to open up 3 high-frequency filters for raspy, sustaining distortion with top-end bite, or flick on the Tone switch to bypass the tone control for unabated tonal slam. Want the original Big Muff sound? Just switch off the Wicker and turn on the Tone. The ability to create your own personal Big Muff sound is what truly makes this guitar pedal the Wicked Wicker.

Electro-Harmonix XO Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

• True bypass
• The Wicker switch opens up 3 high frequency filters providing a sustain that is raspy and defined
• The Tone switch completely removes the tone control, providing a devastating broadband Big Muff slam
• With the Wicker switch off and the Tone switch on, you have the original Big Muff Pi
• 9V battery included
• Optional power supply available (not included)

I also found a nice video by EHXCentral showing how the wicker and tone switches alter the tone of the Big Muff.

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

Popularity: 5%

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The following is a guest post by Matt Cheezem (@CheeseBlocks). If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Velcro seems to be the standard, unchallenged way to mount pedals. With the exception of custom made/mounted boards (that can often carry quite a price tag, or involve a LOT of time for you DIY’ers) there hasn’t really been a more effective method around to do it. I’ll admit, Velcro is convenient, fast, easy, and in most cases, get the job done OK… but if you’re around pedals a lot, you’ve probably experienced at least one case of a pedal that just won’t stick, one that lost grip when you stepped on it, or a precious vintage pedal that had its age identifying label or serial number ripped off by the overzealous sticky side.  Then there are always the pedalboard bandits, that are barely slowed down by velcro!

I offer, for your consideration… an alternative. If you’re still reading, and you’re with me so far, here’s what you’ll need:

Materials:

-Pedal Board (I’ll be using my new “Trailer Trash” brand board)
-Pedal (I’ll be using a Ernie Ball VP Jr. Volume Pedal)
-Screwdriver
-Electric drill
-5/32 drill bit (or metric equivalent)
-Chain cracker
-Small length of extra bike chain (I used #40 size)
-4 nut/bolt/washer combos (6-32 X 1″ used here) OR
-4 wood screws or self tapping machine screws

Step One:

Grab the chain cracker and bike chain and…. Get crackin!

What you’re looking to end up with are the flat links that look like this:

I like to use 4 per pedal (one on each corner) but 2 will do the trick. It will be less secure though.

Step Two:

Remove the 4 screws from the bottom of your pedal, and rubber feet if applicable:

Run the screws through one of the eyelets on your bike chain links, and replace them. You may need to use a couple of washers if your pedal has rubber feet, as the screws may be too long

Step Three:

Since I’ll be using the nut/bolt/washer combos, I’ll be drilling all the way through the board (I don’t recommend doing this on your carpet OR hardwood floors)

If your board sits flush to the ground, you may want to use a short wood screw or self tapping machine head screw. Either way, I would drill a small pilot hole first to prevent splitting/cracking

Step Four:

With all of your holes drilled, insert the hardware through the top of the board, place a washer on each bolt underneath the board, and tighten the nut. If you’re particularly worried about security, you can use a larger fender washer.

That’s It!

Easy as that! Mind you, if you are a player that constantly buys, sells, trades, and moves pedals, this may not be the method for you. Even if you are though, if you have a few key pedals that never move (in my case, the volume pedal will ALWAYS be right where it is here) then maybe a mix of bike chain and velcro is right for you.  Either way, with the right tools, it won’t take more than a minute or two to remove a pedal, and with the small holes drilled, damage is minimal (and will probably be covered up with whatever pedal you replace it with, right?)

If you love the idea, but don’t want to go to the trouble of buying/borrowing a chain cracker, finding a length of chain, rounding up the hardware, etc., I have pedal kits available. Each kit contains 4 chain tabs, and 4 each of either the nut/bolt/washer combo, or self tapping screws (you specify based on your needs!)

Kits are $1.50 each, plus $2.50 shipping per order, and you will need one kit per pedal that you wish to mount. To order, email me at cheeseblockseffectsmecom

Keep on rockin’ in the free world!

Matt
www.cheeseblockseffects.com

About the author:
Matt Cheezem is the owner of CheeseBlocks Effects, who are makers of fine stomp boxes including the CheeseBlocks sCream Cheese overdrive! CheeseBlocks also do pedal mods and custom pedal designs. Please visit them at their website or follow them on Twitter (@CheeseBlocks)

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

Popularity: 23%

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I’ve personally been really interested in the Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker, and of course my favorite reviewer on YouTube, gearmandude, had a sweet shoot out between the Big Muff Pi w/Tone Wicker, Little Big Muff and NYC Big Muff Pi. I really wish the Russian Big Muff was in the mix, since that’s the one I’m the most familiar with, but I was liking the sound of the Big Muff Pi w/Tone Wicker!

You can pick up the following pedals at Musician’s Friend:

Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker for $89.25
Little Big Muff Pi for $66.75
Or find some used/new Big Muffs on eBay at PedalNerd.com

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

Popularity: 3%

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Today, I asked the question “Question: Distortion before Wah or Distortion after Wah. Let the discussion begin!”. This was sparked by reading the ProGuitarShop.com blog entry titled “A Guide to Guitar Effects Placement“. This was a pretty interesting read and further down the article you see mention of Jimi Hendrix that went against popular convention by putting his wah infront of his distortion. It’s classically said to put the wah after the distortion, so I was curious what others do.

Twitter Responses:

DMFNoah @effectsbay Distortion before Wah for me anyway
The_Original_1 @effectsbay Distortion b4 wah. Nothin like pinch harmonics through a wah wah.
Petroguy @effectsbay Wah first, fo sho.
mouzik @effectsbay after…of course
PaulGrahamRaven @effectsbay Distortion BEFORE wah, no question. Worked for Swervedriver, works for me. YMMV.
dhyaltoan @effectsbay guitar into wah into amp
markgrundhoefer @effectsbay I second that! Distortion before Wah even though the Great One would say otherwise.
innerlightmusic @effectsbay I haven’t tried before in a while, remember i didn’t like it too much. But I’m sure it has it’s place somehwere
SourceAudioFX @effectsbay im going to have to go with before Wah for $500
CorydooM @effectsbay I was always told overdrive first! Boost the signal before it is sent to any effect…
Muzik4Machines @effectsbay really depends on the tone you look for, i put my FZ2 before wha and my ds1 after for example
The_Riz @effectsbay: Completely different sound profiles – Do you want an all-encompassing EW Sweep? then it goes after. I tend to put mine before..
tbjanis @effectsbay distortion after wah. I find it less harsh & easier to find that honky, nasal tone in the ‘middle’
GarethDEdwards @effectsbay distortion before wah. The distortion creates a good wide frequency spread and gives the wah something to filter
PeterBerki @effectsbay Distortion Before Wah. If it’s noticeable with echo effects, chances are it’s going to be noticeable with any effects.
patodruida @effectsbay What’s there to discuss? Just bring 2 Wah pedals!
Custompbox Depends. If distortion is too “hot” might be hard to control. RT @effectsbay: Question: Distortion before Wah or Distortion after Wah.
dogonaut @effectsbay distortion BEFORE. Distortion is part of the guitar sound – the wah is a bit sensualness to get the rhythm a-pumping!
El_Kmaron @effectsbay AFTER. For me at least.
jomarwarble @effectsbay AFTER. if you add the distortion before wah it just sounds… crappy.

Facebook Responses:

Trey Bliss Before Wah for me
Mario Di Sandro i stopped using Wah, but i had it before Distortion, but i believe Hendrix put it after Distortion, so…
Brandon Bishop two totally different sounds, both are totally useful. I’d always go back and forth and could never really decide which i liked best
Greg Cooper after wah for me, right now.

Please feel free to continue the discussion by commenting below!

Popularity: 8%

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The following is a guest post review of the Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler by Jake (@jarjarjakes) . If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Over the years I’ve played through and experimented with numerous multi effects units, and all of them had left me with a same dull tones and the feeling of hitting a “tonal block”. That is, whereby I felt I was simply recycling sounds – making use of the same old tones over and over, and finding it increasingly hard to develop new ideas and sounds. The Line 6 M13 is, so far, the only unit I have used that offers only what I need – no gimmicks. The fantastically simple interface of this unit what I believe makes it great onstage and in your bedroom.

The unit is well built and feels very sturdy, however as with most equipment; if you are gigging, I’d recommend a pedalboard for protection. The unit is supplied with a transformer (thankfully not one of the ghastly on plug/take up two spaces type!) and an effects manual. The manual goes through the different effects units that each of the models on the M13 have been styled on. Connections on this unit are easy, but also very flexible.

We have a number of routing options with this unit. We can feed it a stereo or mono signal, it will happily output mono signals to a stereo amp setup. There is also the option to connect two expression pedals, which can be used for controlling any factor on any of the effects units (e.g. gain, mix, decay time, pitch etc.). Perhaps my favourite routing option with this device is the ability to use other effects devices. I own a number of pedals I am very fond of, and can easily integrate these into my M13 setup. The FX loop allows you to insert pedals into the M13s signal path. Selection of where this signal path sits within the M13s unit can be varied using the setup menu.

The best thing about the M13? It does not use numbered presets – instead it acts like a virtual pedalboard. You can save upto 12 “pedalboards” in the unit, each scene can save 12 “pedals”, 4 of which can be used at the same time – confused? In simple terms, you can use upto 4 devices at the same time, and switch others in and out as you wish. Its like having 12 different pedalboards, each with 12 pedals on – but only 4 can be used at the same time.

Check out this video by mick3b1g – A fantastic demo of the looper function and the tonal qualities of this unit!

All of the effects units in the M13 have been modelled on real units – as the user guide shows. The quality of these effects is next to none. Anyone who has used the DL4, MM4, DM4, and FM4 will know. The M13 contains all of these effects units, and more (over 100 effects infact!) Particularly outstanding are the delay and reverb models, which model a variety of famous classical sounds, and some lesser known sounds. Overall, the quality is fantastic – but don’t just take my word for it; check out the samples on the Line 6 website at http://line6.com/m13/sounds02.html.

Also worth a look is this video from jasongellis.

Aside from a great selection of effects units, the M13 gives you a fantastic looper pedal – with up to 28 seconds of looping, perfect for creating rhythms and samples for you to jam along with. Also included in the setup is a tuner, which, thanks to the bright displays, is easy to use onstage, and provides dependable, silent tuning.

So, how does the M13 sound? To me, great. I really cannot fault the quality of the sounds – nor the flexibility that it offers. Every time I use this unit I find myself discovering new sounds, creating new tones and most importantly, enjoying playing : JW09

About the author:
Jake, Student, Live Sound Engineer, Runner, Guitarist etc. – Feel free to follow me on twitter @jarjarjakes.

You can purchase the Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler Guitar Multi Effects Pedal for $499.99 at Musician’s Friend.

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

Popularity: 6%

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Today’s pedal line is from Jurgen aka underwood (@underwoodblog). 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 pedallineeffectsbaycom . Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

Hello, first I have to write that I’m from Germany and my English isn’t very good.

I like your page and the idea to write something about my board. I have my own blog (underwoodblog.blogspot.com) but it’s in german language and features pedals like your page does.

My pedal board is still a work in progress. When finished all pedals are powered by a well filtered power supply. At the moment only the pedals on the right and a few on the left side are powered by the first version of the power supply.

Starting from right to left I’ll write a short description of all pedals and add some links to detailed pictures if possible, that you can post too. I’ve also added some new photos.

First in line is my DIY unity-gain-high-z-buffer-and-splitter that has a very high impedance input to reduce any signal lost from guitar to amp. This buffer is followed by a customized Dunlop CryBaby. It’s totally rebuilt with low noise transistors, high quality parts like red fasel coil, hot-potz, q-pot and true-bypass. The Digitech Whammy 4 is controlled by a self built midi-controller that adds preset switching and modulation effects to the whammy. It has also a true-bypass-mod and a modified power filter to reduce noise.

The EHX Tube Zipper and Barber Tone Press are totally stock, both are powered with the board integrated supply. The MXR 10-Band EQ has new, low-noise burr-brown OPs to reduce noise with followed high gain pedals. Next is the Ernie Ball Volume Pedal that is the best passive volume pedal I know. From there the signal goes into a self build Z.Vex Super Hard On Clone and then in a Catalina Bread Hyper Pack Clone, that is my favorite self-built distortion/fuzz at the moment. Followed by a Box of Rock Clone that goes into an Ampeg Scrambler Clone. The Expandora has a modified clipping section for more headroom, brighter led and low-noise op. The Marshall Shredmaster is heavily modified with true-bypass-mod, some tone mods, selected op and brighter led.

The proel distortion has a fixed jFET post-boost to get more volume, true-bypass-mod, blue-led, modified clipping section and low-noise OP. The Muff is my first completly self built pedal. It based on some old Big Muff schematics but with lots of modifications and no tone stage.

The Cusack Tap-A-Phase is totally stock and the MXR Flanger, Eventide TimeFactor, Line 6 Verbzilla and Boss RC-2 too. Last in Line is a passive solo-switch (volume-control), The box above is a switch box for the RC-2 Looper.

You could hear our CDs made with this board and lots of other gear here:
http://alonetone.com/underwood

Thanks
Jurgen aka underwood

underwoodblog.blogspot.com
http://alonetone.com/underwood
underwooddevugooglemailcom

Popularity: 6%

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I was over at Harmony-Central’s Forum yesterday, and there was a post about the Akai E2 Headrush. About a year ago, I was really focused on buying this pedal, and for whatever reason it got pushed of the list. The looping feature in there and the ability to send loops to different amps is a very cool concept to me. And now it’s back on my list for sure. Currently there is a good deal at Musician’s Friend on it!

Here is the official product description:

The Akai E2 Headrush Delay/Looper Pedal picks up where the award-winning E1 left off. This stompbox brings together 16-bit digital delay with times from 0.5ms to an astonishing 35 seconds, tape echo simulations with 4 separate heads, and a looping recorder in one convenient effects pedal.

In addition to offering digital and analog-type delay sounds, user-selectable delay options allow for maximum control of signal output. There are several realtime interval and level adjustment selections as well as feedback level for repeats.

Headrush can also simulate a 4-head analog tape echo machine and it is possible to set the spacing between the virtual heads to create complex multiple delays and repeats. The outputs of each of the virtual heads appear on individual outputs for ultimate flexibility when used with an external mixing console.

The looping mode allows you to record and overdub layer after layer of sound in real time making Headrush an unbelievable live performance tool.

Depending upon which mode is selected, the left switch controls the on/off and play/stop functions while the right switch sets the tap delay time or recording and overdub options. The LED display indicates which effect is in use and blinks in time showing the delay time selected.

I found this good video demonstrating some of the looping/delay features in a very interesting way by isiroibb.

I also wanted to show another video of one my favorite bands, Arma Secreta. Chris Wark uses the Akai E2 Headrush with his guitar and they go to a clean and dirty amp. I really love this concept and wanted to show you a real-world example of this pedal:

You can currently pickup the Akai E2 Headrush Delay/Looper for $199.00 at Musician’s Friend.

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

Popularity: 6%

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