I didn’t know quite to expect on this give away. It was a short run (about half as long as normal) to get an extra give away in December. I was super surprised by the amount of entries for the TONEbUTCHeR WeeWah. People were definitely into this pedal. But I only had one to give away. For those that are bummed that you didn’t get the email, but still want this pedal, you need to check out the Micro section of TONEbUTCHeR’s site – they’re available for only $139. I *think* that the incentive sale is still going on – click here for full details.
Anyways, I’m happy to announce the winner is Randall B. of Knoxville, TN! Congrats Randall! For the give away, I forgot to announce that TONEbUTCHeR threw in a shirt with the give away, so you’ll be receiving that as well. I also threw in some EffectsBay stickers!
Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:
mellowtone schematic
compressor pedal board country
unique fuzz pedals
tonebutcher schematic
tonebutcher - wee wah
t rex dark matter schematic
smallest size compressor pedals
smallest effects pedals
shapes of guitar
schematic t-rex bloody mary distortion guitar pedal
Ah… it’s getting to the “Best of 2011″ time of year. I’m always interested what items stood out for the year that is about to end. Always seems to create some good discussions, etc. I came across the Guitar World staff pick (by Paul Riario) Top 10 Effect Pedals of 2011. You can read the full article here.
The Cantrell wah has been brought up multiple times as being a great wah. I’ve seen it on a few Pedal Line Friday boards and I thought that was a solid pick.
I was slightly surprised to see the MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion. I’ve never played that pedal, but I often see mix reviews here. Some people love it while others.. not so much. Let me know your opinion of the ’78 distortion if you have it by commenting below.
I think Strymon is going to be showing up a lot on these lists to come. I have the Strymon BlueSky, and basically everything they put out is golden. I’ve never seen a complaint about Strymon.
A couple of pedals that I want to look into is the Keeley Luna Overdrive and the Wampler Hot Wired. Both of those pedals I’m not too familiar with.
The Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar is another one that people are interested, but I don’t see many people actually owning this pedal. I know it’s new, but may have limited applications for the masses. Again, let me know what you think.
The Visual Sound Dual Tap Delay is a pedal I want to check out re-al bad. All the demos of this are great. A very simple delay with complex ability.
Please let me know your thoughts about that list…. good, bad and the ugly
This is your friendly reminder to be sure to get your entry in for the TONEbUTCHeR WeeWah Give Away. I will stop accepting submissions today at 12PM MST, so be sure to get your entry in. For full details on the TONEbUTCHeR WeeWah Give Away click here. I thought I would include our demo of the Wee Wah as well. It’s a great sounding pedal in the tiniest enclosure possible. The guys at TONEbUTCHeR design some great stuff, so be sure to check out their site as well!
A few weeks ago, Brandon from Elevation Boutiques contacted me letting me know of a new company called GOD BOX and wanted to get a pedal over here for a demo. Of course that’s always a great idea. Next thing you know the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz arrived. First thing that struck me was the Wardenclyffe Tower (aka Tesla Tower) on the face. Very cool graphic and I have to admit, I’m a big Tesla fan.
Okay, back to the pedal. GOD BOX refers to this as the Tesla Edition God Complex Fuzz Series. I’m not sure if they’re planning to issue different versions of this pedal, I’ll let you know once I get more details. The GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz is a hybrid germanium and silicon circuit (inside there is a vintage NOS germanium transistor paired with a high quality silicon transistor).
There are 5 basic controls for the Tesla Fuzz:
INPUT – Input controls the input signal, but it also stabilizes the circuit. “Offering subtle shades of fuzz” TONE – The tone knob is a 6 way rotary switch (I like this) which gives you set tonal options from a bump in the midrange and almost no lows to full range thunder. The #6 position is an “homage to the classic FF” DRIVE – Controls the drive level OUTPUT – Controls the output signal level NPD – Toggle switch to control the NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). This drops in distortion diodes which slightly compresses the signal.
For this demo, I again asked my good friend Jimmy Rolle to see what the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz was all about. This time, he’s not using his Les Paul and went with the Standard American Fender Stratocaster. Guitar is still going into a Germino Lead 55 through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. Everything was mic’d up with a Shure SM57 and a Fathead Ribbon Mic. Nothing between the guitar and amp besides the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz.
This first video goes through the various tone settings with Tone, Drive, Input and Output
You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud
We included a second video to focus on the NPD tonal changes.
You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud
As you can see and hear, this is a great sounding fuzz with a lot of tonal variety. If you’re interested in picking up a GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz, you should contact Brandon at Elevation Boutiques (the exclusive dealer of GOD BOX) and he’ll hook you up (Looks like it’s available for $219). If you want to learn more about GOD BOX, please check out their Facebook page. Their website is currently being developed, but the GOD BOX Facebook page is a great way to see what they’re working on!
I have an interesting winner post today.The 10th of this month I announced the winner of the Perfect Square Electronics Hyperslicer, and the winner was Gary Vogel. He was kind enough to send this photo!
He had this to say about the Perfect Square Electronics Hyperslicer:
“This is an incredibly useful musical effect. Easy to incorporate as a foundation of a rhythm or as a one-time spurt of choppy goodness. The tone quality of the effect is stellar, and the construction is top-notch. Boffo slicer effect!!”
Today I wanted to talk about the MXR Custom Badass Modified Overdrive. It’s not just another OD, but the folks at Dunlop/MXR added some nice features in there. Basically a *bump* switch and a 100hz cut/boost control which allows for some great tone shaping. The Bump switch adds a low and mid frequency output boost, while the 100hz filter really dials in the low end.
Here is the official description of the MXR Custom Badass Modified Overdrive:
Next up in the MXR Custom Badass line is the Modified Overdrive-a classic overdrive circuit with modern modifications for improved performance and versatility. For added flexibility, we’ve added a 100Hz cut and boost control that allows for a more focused EQ when cut, or a beefier tone when boosted. The Bump switch engages an alternate EQ voicing that boosts the lows and mids. Put it in front of the ’78 Custom Badass Distortion for a slew of amp-like gain structures that won’t mask your tone.
* Classic overdrive circuit modded for improved performance and versatility.
* 100HZ cut and boost control allows tonal fine-tuning.
* BUMP switch engages alternate voicing for a low and mid-range boost.
I also found a nice *bundle* deal on this pedal. You can pick up the MXR Custom Badass Modified Overdrive with 4 free cables (2 FREE Strukture 6″ Patch Cables and 2 FREE Strukture 18.6′ Instrument Cables). The MXR Custom Badass Modified Overdrive bundle is available for only $99 at Amazon.com
This morning I found another great deal! This time it’s for the Radial Tonebone Loopbone. In a nutshell it’s a true bypass effects loop (dual channel) with boost control. This can give you the ability to have a ‘lead’ effects loop with a hotter signal. The Radial Tonebone Loopbone lists for $350, and you usually see it in the $220 to $260 range, but is currently on sale for an excellent price of $104.49 at Amazon. This also includes FREE super saver shipping. At the time of this post, there were only 3 in stock. I’m sure when it gets down to 1, the price will increase, so you’ll need to jump on it if you’re interested.
Here is the official description of the Radial Tonebone Loopbone:
The Radial Loopbone Dual Effects Loop is a powerful effects loop controller for pedal boards that allows the guitar player to insert 2 separate pedal effects chains and remove them when not in use. This is particularly advantageous when using older effects pedals that tend to add noise and cause loading problems in the signal chain. The Radial Loopbone incorporates a superb post-effects variable-gain power booster that allows straight signal boosting or post loop-1 or loop-2 boost for soloing.To ensure that the natural tone of the instrument is maintained, the Loopbone features Radial’s unique Drag Control pickup load correction circuit that allows the guitarist to properly match the impedance load of any pedal board configuration with any guitar for optimum performance. Furthermore, there are no signal degrading op-amps or chips in the signal path, only 100% discrete components and Radial’s highly acclaimed Class-A circuit for natural tone and exceptional dynamics.Besides FX-loop switching, load matching, and signal boost, the Loopbone brings even more to your pedal board: a separate “always-on” tuner-out circuit allows on-the-fly tuning without adding noise or load to your instrument signal and, perhaps the most innovative feature of all, Slingshot. Slingshot is Radial’s unique remote switching system that allows the Loopbone to simultaneously switch amplifier channels, other amp features, or even another Slingshot-equipped device.
Today’s pedal line is from Devin Ozel. 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.
Hi Effects Bay,
I’m Devin and I play bass in Le Panique. I wanted to make my bass sound like a guitar, and thus I use a Rickenbacker 4001, a vintage Marshall half-stack, an SWR Redhead, and the following pedals:
I just stumbled across this interesting art installation by David Byrne (I first discovered this on Walrus Audio’s Facebook page). It’s an interesting art installation of 96 Boss pedals in a grid and all wired in series, with a RC-3 loopstation as the first pedal to provide a simple loop signal to the rest. Participants can walk on the pedals creating their own sonic result.
For more information, check out David Byrne’s page. The photo above and below are from Tokyo VACANT gallery, December 2010.
Here is a great shot of the pedal grid in action. Looks fun, my kids would go nuts on this.
Today, I found another great deal on a Carl Martin pedal. This time it’s for the Carl Martin Boost Kick pedal. This pedal lists for $231 and is on sale for a scorching low price of $70.09. I’m not sure if this pedal is out of production, I do not see at Musician’s Friend. Either way, $70 for a booster of this caliber is not bad at all. The pedal also ships with FREE super saver shipping. At the time of this posting, there were 4 available. Normally, when the stock gets down to 1 (sometimes 2), the price will jump up, so if this sounds interesting, you best jump on it.
Here is the official description of the Carl Martin Boost Kick:
The Carl Martin Boost Kick is a 9V-battery-powered pedal designed to provide up to 12dB of boost to give that extra “kick” required for a great solo. The level control determines the boost level. The 3 band EQ section is comprised of Punch (bass), Attack (mid) and Edge (treble). This allows a virtually unlimited range of solo sounds without compromising sonic quality. Getting your solos to cut through the cacophony of the band can be a handful. With up to 12dB boost and the 3 band EQ at your feet, hitting the right sound at the right level is a breeze. The Carl Martin Boost Kick is true bypass and features an AC adapter jack.
I didn’t know quite to expect on this give away. It was a short run (about half as long as normal) to get an extra give away in December. I was super surprised by the amount of entries for the TONEbUTCHeR WeeWah. People were definitely into this pedal. But I only had one to give away. For those that are bummed that you didn’t get the email, but still want this pedal, you need to check out the Micro section of TONEbUTCHeR’s site – they’re available for only $139. I *think* that the incentive sale is still going on – click here for full details.
