Effects Bay

I came across this older video by Dennis of Pro Tone Pedals. It’s video explaining noise from distortion pedals – on the causes and some of the solutions to remedy these problems. I thought this was a very informative video and is definitely worth posting here, since I know a lot of you have dirtboxes.

There were a few points there were great, especially the emphasis on purchasing quality cables for your rig. I’ve been stating that for years. Instrument cables should be lasting you FOREVER. If not, they’re probably crap cables. One point that I didn’t agree on so much was pedal order, but that is definitely subjective and is dependent on what you like/hear. I’m sure a few of you will match this order, but a lot of you won’t. I really think it depends on the application. Let me know what you think.

This article was originally posted here.

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I’m up bright and early today (you know.. gotta get the bird in the oven, yo). Anyway, I stumbled across an interesting deal this morning. It’s for the oldie but goodie… Marshall Guv’nor Distortion Pedal. I’ve known a few guys to play this pedal.. the older black model. As far as I know, I think this pedal is no longer in production and you can only find these used. Please correct me if this is not true. Anyway, it appears that SamAsh (via Amazon) found a few in the backroom and want to dump them.

The Marshall Guv’nor GV-2 Distortion pedal lists at $119.00, and you usually can find it used in the $30/$40 range, but is currently on sale for only $19.97! 20 bucks for a Guv’nor? Come on, right?!

Here is the official description of the Marshall Guv’nor Distortion:

This versatile distortion pedal features gain, treble and bass controls along with mid and volume controls. Deep knob adds a deep, tightly focused resonant bass boost. Powered by 9-volt battery or optional adapter.

I found a video showing how this pedal sounds with rhythm and lead by MrBeams1

Again, the Marshall Guv’nor GV-2 Distortion pedal is available at Amazon for $19.97.

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A few days ago I saw SourceAudio tweet a link about a video they posted. This video was a interview with Aidan Mullen who is the bass tech for Rick Savage of Def Leppard. I love these videos to see some the gear the big guys are using and hearing input from their techs. This video focuses on the Source Audio Bass Distortion Pedal, but there was s glimpse of Rick’s pedal tray:

The set up is pretty simple (I’m sure there is some serious stuff in regards to rack gear). Items on the pedal tray: Source Audio Bass Distortion Pro, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler and SansAmp Bass Drive DI.

Below is the video by sourceaudioeffects:

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CONTEST IS CLOSED

Today is a special day for EffectsBay.com. This very post you’re reading is the 1000th published post for the site. Crazy! I never thought I’d get to that number and I really have to thank all of you to help drive them on. Your interest in effects and music is what keeps me posting! In honor of this 1000th post, I thought it would be cool to do a give away. I feel like I’ve been giving pedals away like crazy lately, and I love doing it!

This time I’m going to give away a cool one. It’s the Coopersonic Dirtbox (Coopersonic Engineering). We did a demo of it a few weeks ago and it’s a very tasty drive pedal. You can watch/listen to the demo here – “Demo of the Coopersonic Dirtbox“. Be sure to check out Coopersonic Engineering for their other pedals too. Chris Olley is making some good stuff from Nottingham, England!

So how do you enter to win the Coopersonic Dirtbox?  I’m going to select one random entry. I will email that random entry asking for the answer to the question listed below. They will have 24 hours to respond with the answer. If the 24 hours passes, I will select a new random entry and repeat the process until I receive confirmation from the winner.  This is open to everyone. Yes, that means international! Also, one entry per person. Please read that last sentence again… “one” “entry” “per” “person”.

The submission form will be open until August 31st (Wednesday) 12PM MST.

First, this is not a requirement, but you should ‘like’ EffectsBay on Facebook. It’s good way to keep in touch with new give aways and posts. Also, please consider joining the official EffectsBay.com mailing list.

So the question is…. “What musician epitomizes perfect overdrive/distortion tone?“

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I came across this relatively new distortion pedal by TC Electronic called the TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion. It’s a classic type of distortion pedal with gain, level controls, but also has controls to shape the bass and treble response, which is nice to be able to control the mid-range depending on gain level. Additionally there is a ‘voice’ toggle that allows you to go with a hi-mid or lo-mid (vintage) style distortion.

I came across their official video, and I was impressed with how much attention they put on how the pedal responds to pickups, volume and maintaining clarification throughout the various gain levels.

Here is the official description of the TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion:

The TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal aims to give you that powerful, super-musical roar of an early Plexi – a sound that will satisfy even the pickiest players out there.

From cleans with an attitude and warm bluesy tones to a crunch with grit for days and fully saturated lead sounds full of harmonics and overtones, it’s all here and instantly available by riding your guitar’s volume knob. Dark Matter distortion is built from the highest-grade components, features an easy-access battery hatch and has a conveniently small footprint.

Dark Matter Distortion defines instant gratification and will become the go-to pedal on your board for distortion. Initially, you simply plug it in and start rocking, but its many great sounds will have you playing with it for years to come. From bluesy crunch to full-on vintage cranked, but always very musical distortion sounds, this pedal was designed for the guitarists that like things a bit (or very) dirty. Featuring an all-analog circuit, dual-band tone controls, level and drive knobs and a voicing switch to tweak the bass response, you are set from creamy leads over riff-heavy stadium rock to modern, angst-ridden grunge.

By ramping up the voltage to more than 3-4 times the amount of your typical drive pedals, a dramatic increase is achieved in terms of headroom and dynamics. There is plenty of gain to suit any kind of musical style, but the sound always stays very open and clear and it will never get muddy or cover up your playing.

Instead, Dark Matter Distortion has a very open character, no matter if you use it as a slight ‘AC/DC-ish’ crunch or as a full-blown, fire-breathing dragon, this pedal will always let your playing shine through. All Dark Matter Distortion will do to your sound is add degrees of distortion and leave your precious tone alone.

* True Bypass – zero loss of tone
* Gain, Level, Bass and Treble controls – total control of your distortion sounds
* Voicing switch – for an awesome shift in bass response
* Easy battery access – makes changing batteries fun! (well, almost)
* Small footprint – save precious pedal board space
* High-quality components – only the best will do when it comes to tone
* Road-ready design – ready to follow you wherever your playing takes you

Here is a very thorough video by tcelectronic:

Right now there is a sweet ‘bundle’ deal on the TC Electronic Dark Matter Distortion. You can pick it up and get 2 patch cables, 2 10′ instrument cables and a pick card all for $129.00 at Amazon.com. $129.00 is the going price for the pedal alone everywhere else!

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A while back Chris Olley of Coopersonic Engineering sent over the Dirtbox for a review, and I’m glad he did. For those of you not familiar with Coopersonic Engineering, they are out of Nottingham, England and are making some great pedals including the Dirtbox, Germaniac, Tubecleaner and the ValveSlapper. They have a very nice site which includes a cool blog and a store to purchase Coopersonic products.

The Coopersonic Dirtbox is great sounding overdrive/distortion pedal! It is a classic sounding overdrive, which they mention “sounds like something between a coloursound overdrive and the lovetone big cheese”.

Below are the features related with the Dirtbox:

* Die Cast Aluminium Housing
* Scratch Proof Powder Coated Paint
* Profesionally Screen Printed Colours
* Neutric Jacks not soldered to board
* True bypass high quality footswitch
* Super Bright LED
* Hand Wired & Assembled
* Awesome Sound
* Manual and Box Included
* 120mm X 70mm and is 50mm high
* It runs on a 9V battery and can also be powered by a 9 volt DC power supply
* Also available in white

Here is a break down of controls.

DIRT – Adds more or less distortion or drive
LEVEL – Overall volume control
BITE – Tone control

For the demo, I again asked Jimmy Rolle to do the honors. He is playing his Les Paul Custom Shop Elegant into a Rivera Knucklehead 100w head through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. Nothing between the guitar and the amp except for the pedal. The audio was recorded using a Shure SM57 and and a Fathead Ribbon mic.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

The Coopersonic Dirtbox is available for 89 pounds or roughly $145USD and is available through their store. To learn more about Coopersonic Engineering check out their website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!

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I just received an email from T-Rex Effects announcing a new pedal that will be exclusively available at Guitar Center on August 1st, 2011 called the Yellow Drive. Below is the official press release:

August 1st, 2011 – T-Rex Engineering, the Danish guitar effects pedal manufacturer, in partnership with Guitar Center’s Director of Merchandise, Barry Mitchell, has developed a new line of pedals which will be available exclusively at Guitar Center stores and online at www.guitarcenter.com. The four exclusive pedals will be introduced in Q3 2011, beginning with the Yellow Drive distortion pedal in August.

“This partnership with Guitar Center is a very exciting opportunity for T-Rex and reinforces our position as a key brand in the global pedal market,” says John Kelley, GM of Musiquip (the brand’s American distributor). “We’re thrilled that GC has identified the demand that exists for T-Rex effects in the USA, and has in turn made the brand a key component of their pedal mix. Barry’s visit to T-Rex headquarters in Denmark was an instrumental part of the product development process. We are confident that the association of these two best-in-class brands will be a success for both Guitar Center and T-Rex.”

Yellow Drive
Yellow Drive (Retail: $159) will be featured in Guitar Center’s August buyer’s guide.  The Yellow Drive features two channels of killer vintage gain. You can seamlessly switch between a clean rhythm sound from your amp, a smooth and subtle overdrive from channel A for epic ballads, and a thick warm distortion from channel B for killer leads. The player can fine-tune the sound of each channel with independent GAIN, TONE, and LEVEL controls. One pedal, two channels…endless possibilities.

Below is a demo of the T-Rex Yellow Drive by TRexEffects

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Today, I saw that Electro-Harmonix posted a video review by jazzlavchannel of the Electro-Harmonix Bassballs. I thought it would be cool to spread the word out as well. Nice video showing what this pedal can do from a music demo point of view. I also liked that there are four bass tracks demonstrating various aspects of bass playing with the Bassballs (lead, rhythm, etc).

First, here is the official description of the Electro-Harmonix BassBalls:

The Electro Harmonix Nano Bassballs Twin Envelope Filter effects pedal has everything you loved about the original Bassballs in a pocket size. The human vocal-like sound of its two sweeping filters gives bass a strong presence under leads, or a commanding quality when out front. The resonant frequencies are engineered solidly into the full range of the bass guitar’s strongest harmonics. Bassballs will respond to every bass note. The sweep is widely variable, and harmonic enrichment is available with the distortion switch.

The Nano Bassballs comes in a small, die-cast case with rounded corners, saving valuable pedalboard space. The footswitch selects your original signal or the filtered signal as the Bassballs output. The range of the filters‚ upward sweep in pitch is set by the interaction of instrument volume and the sensitivity control. Both stronger attacks and higher (clockwise) control settings increase the sweep range. Low volume and low sensitivity settings will create little or no sweep, and Bassballs will only provide a small boost in its lowest frequencies. In its upward position, the fuzz switch introduces additional harmonic enrichment that accentuates the filters‚ action. The sensitivity pot also serves as a volume control for the fuzz, also increasing in the clockwise direction.

Here is the video by jazzlavchannel

Right now, the Electro-Harmonix Bassballs is available for only $82.50 at Amazon.com. This is eligible for FREE super saver shipping as well!

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CONTEST IS CLOSED

The Caroline Guitar Company Wave Cannon is starting to make some noise in the effects world. It was just recently named a “Buzz Bin” product and awarded the Platinum Award for Excellence in Guitar World magazine! We recently did a demo of the pedal, and have seen a few others reviews happening out there. The response has been great, and it’s obvious that this is a *hot* pedal right now!

Talking to Philippe when he sent the pedal for a review, he mentioned it would be great for me to give it away to a lucky EffectsBay.com reader. I’m sooo down with this, and I know that this pedal will end up on a happy pedal board some where, unleashing Wave Cannon fury to the masses.

First off, if you’re not familiar with this pedal, you will need to read/watch/listen to the demo – “Review of Caroline Guitar Company’s Wave Cannon“.

If you’re curious about the guy/company who builds these.. you need to read a little mini-interview we had with Philippe Herndon – “Introducing Caroline Guitar Company”

Okay, back to the give away. Right now, sitting on my desk, I have one of the original Custom Wave Cannon. Here is the official description of the pedal:

Caroline Guitar Company’s flagship product is the Wave Cannon™. Based on your favorite op-amp fuzzes and distortions of the 1970s & ’80s, it may be the finest pedal of its kind. In distortion mode, it is a veritable Swiss army knife of overdrive sounds, capable of going from a “clean” boost all the way to amber waves of gain. In Havoc™ mode, chaos reigns.

The Wave Cannon is not for the novice who expects their gain pedal to do most of the work for them. Nor did they nanny-state this pedal to protect you from yourself; if you crank the drive controls and use a really bright guitar and amp, things may get weird, squeal, and whistle at you. However, a serious player will find plenty of great sounds with the Wave Cannon that respond to how they play; changing your technique, pick attack, dynamics, guitar and amp controls, pickup selections, and so on will yield a variety of great sounds.  And they haven’t even talked about the kinds of sonic mayhem that the Wave Cannon is capable of when you flip the Havoc™ switch!

Custom model includes Havoc switch. Standard does not.

Please check out Caroline Guitar Company on the web, Facebook and Twitter when you get a chance! I would like to say a special thanks to Philippe for sponsoring this give away! It’s very much appreciated!

So how do you win this bad boy? For this give away, I’m going to do something different than past give aways. I’m going to do away with the 3 finalist emails, etc. I’m going to select one random entry. I will email that random entry asking for the answer to the question listed below. They will have 24 hours to respond with the answer. If the 24 hours passes, I will select a new random entry and repeat the process until I receive confirmation from the winner.  Pretty dang simple. Oh.. and this is open to everyone. Yes, that means international! Also, one entry per person. Please read that last sentence again… “one” “entry” “per” “person”.

The submission form will be open until June 13th 12PM MST.

First, this is not a requirement, but you should ‘like’ EffectsBay on Facebook. It’s good way to keep in touch with new give aways and posts. Also, please consider joining the official EffectsBay.com mailing list.

Okay.. here’s the question. If you could meet any musician (live or dead) who would it be? Side question (not required – just having fun).. what would be your first question to that person?

CONTEST IS CLOSED

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Here is a new pedal that some of you might really dig. I just came across this on Dunlop’s site and wanted to share. It’s the MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion pedal.  Based on the video demo below.. it’s a tasty sounding pedal with some sweet amp-like characteristics. First, here is the official description from Dunlop:

The first in a line from the MXR Custom Badass design team, the MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion is a factory-modded pedal that roars with huge amp stack tones and old school tube amp-like distortion.

We took a classic distortion circuit and hot-rodded it to the next level for over-the-top soaring leads and rich, saturated rhythms. With only three knobs, dialing in Badass tone is a cinch. The CRUNCH button allows you to choose between two different modes of diode and LED clipping, boosting the harmonic content of the distortion.

The ’78 Distortion’s wide open amp-like sound sounds great whether it’s in front of a clean amp, a slightly dirty amp, or a full on overdriven amp. Under the hood, this high performance machine features top notch circuitry and hardware meant for a lifetime of use.

Here is a great video by jimdunlopusa:

You can pick up the MXR M78 Custom Badass ’78 Distortion (available again on 6/6/11) at Musician’s Friend for $79.99. There is one currently available at Amazon.com though.

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