Effects Bay

The following is a guest post review of the Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain by Lee Chavez. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

In the world of multi-FX processors, you have to really look high and low to find the ones that are worth buying. Electro Harmonix’s “Holy Stain” pedal is a multi-FX processor, and is a quality one at that.

When it comes to multi-FX processors, a few things probably come into the minds of several guitarist. “It’s too confusing! Too many buttons, and the manual is no help! It sounds poor, and unreliable!”.

Not the Holy Stain. Six knobs, two buttons, and runs only off of a 9V adapter (included), makes this pedal very simple, and versatile.

From left to right, the knobs are in the fallowing order: MIX – AMOUNT – VOLUME – TONE – COLOR – DIRT. Lets break them down, to explain what each one does.

MIX – is the volume of the effect.
AMOUNT - is the amount of the effect (like the feedback on a delay pedal. The amount.)
VOLUME - sets the overall volume for the pedal, when engaged.
TONE - Plain and simple. The tone of when the pedal is engaged.
COLOR - There are three types of color to give your tone. Bright, Dark, and Warm. I personally keep mine on Warm, but switch things up occasionally.
DIRT - Yes, this multi-FX has distortions in it as well! Not to add another stereo type to the multi-FX name, but this pedal has three different types of “dirt” on board. Clean, Fuzz, and Drive. Now I’m not to big on the distortions, but we’ll get to those in a little while.

Moving on to sound quality, the “Holy Stain” is a small, compact power house of great FX. No cheesy, bad, lame effects will be found here. The four effects being “Room Reverb, Hall Reverb, Pitch Shifter, Tremolo”, they are all useful, and sound great.

Focusing on the “Room Reverb” effect, I don’t really use this one too often. I prefer the big sound of the “Hall Reverb”, but for what it’s worth (and keeping in mind the settings this pedal lives in), it is a nice reverb. Natural sounding and authentic.

The “Hall Reverb” is my second favorite effect in this pedal, but I use it the most. It, mixed with my Boss DD-3, is the back bone to my rig’s tone. I won’t give away my sweet settings, but I will say this is one of the best reverbs I have heard, and I love it. I would buy this pedal, for the reverb alone (so the holy grail, from EHX!).

The “Pitch Shifter” is a cool effect, and is the reason this pedal features an out put for an expression pedal, to use as a whammy on a budget. I don’t use this effect for that, I use it to make a harmonizing sound, and make for some sick leads! This is for sure, the coolest effect in the pedal, and my personal favorite! This almost makes the pedal!

The “Tremolo” is a bit odd, but in a good way. It sounds almost like there is some kind of flange, when on the right setting. I don’t use this a whole lot, but when I do it comes in handy. From the most suddle trem, to the most intense and obvious trem, it works great personally (being an instrumental guitarist).

Now I will admit this pedal isn’t perfect. But when I started running it in the FX loop of my amp head, it was so much better. The distortion of the amp messed with the effects and drowned them out and made them sound nasty. But in the FX loop, it became a beast! I can say I found the secret to the “Holy Stain”!

After that, we have the “dirt” section to look at. In front if the amp, the distortions are unlike any other multi-FX systems. Their usable! In the FX loop, at least in my amp, forget it. It sends the signal sky high, and squeals. If I need the “dirt”, I will use it in front of the amp (I REALLY liked the fuzz more the the drive!).

(Check out the the video below, to hear this pedal in action)

With all of that being said, that wraps up this review, and is the many reasons, why the Electro Harmonix “Holy Stain” is one pedal, you not only need to check out, but need to have on your board!

I’m Lee Chavez, and thanks for reading this review, and keep visiting and spreading the word of Effects Bay (they rock!)

Thanks!

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix XO Holy Stain Guitar Multi Effects Pedal for $118.50 at  Musician’s Friend.

Please check out Lee Chavez at Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.

Popularity: 4%

I’ve been liking these new delays that EHX has been putting out (Memory Toy, Memory Boy, etc), and they just recently released the Deluxe Memory Boy Delay. This pedal is quite powerful and versatile, and really takes the Memory Boy to the next level.  So what’s different in the Deluxe Memory Boy? First off, you have additional controls. There is Gain, Rate and Delay that are not found in the vanilla boy. You also have tap tempo ability, with tap division settings. Both pedals have the expression pedal input, but the deluxe has expression mode, allowing you to apply the expression pedal to Rate, Depth, Feedback or Delay. The Deluxe also has a built in effects loop.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

The Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy is a smooth analog delay that takes its heritage from the 1970s Memory Man and the legendary Deluxe Memory Man. The Memory Boy uses the Deluxe Memory Man as a base, expanding upon it with additional modulation features and an optional expression pedal input for external control over delay time or modulation rate.

Memory Boy features a 550ms delay time, allowing you to explore limitless textures. A three-way toggle switch lets you add in vibrato or chorus, or control the delay time with an external expression pedal.

Since the early 1970’s, Electro-Harmonix has been designing analog delays featured on some of the greatest recordings and used by iconic musicians throughout the world. From the original Memory Man guitar pedal to the Deluxe Memory Man, still available today, EHX delay pedals are desired instruments for the organic tones that deliver textures that define quality.

Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy Delay Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* All analog delay with Feedback
* Up to 550ms delay time
* Selectable Chorus or Vibrato modulations rates
* Choose between triangle or square modulation waveforms
* Expression pedal control of delay time or modulation rate (expression pedal extends the range of modulation rate)
* True Bypass

I found this great video by EHX demoing this pedal:

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy Delay for $179.25 at Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 5%

A couple of days ago, I posted the Electro-Harmonix’s Black Finger Compressor, they also have the Electro-Harmonix White Finger compressor. The White Finger is different than the Black Finger which uses 12ax7 tube circuitry by using FET solid state circuitry.

Here are the details:

An advanced multi FET compressor with uniquely varied sounds that stand out from the crowd. Controls include post gain, pre gain, compress, compression level, and sensitivity.

Here is another video by EHX (by Peter Stroud) demoing the pedal.

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Classics White Finger Compressor for $148.50 at Musician’s Friend. Currently, this item is a Musician’s Friend ‘Clearance Item’, so quantity is limited to stock-on-hand.

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Popularity: 7%

Last week I asked what position #1 on your wish list was. Lots of great pedals mentioned there, but one person mentioned the Electro-Harmonix Black Finger Compressor. I wasn’t too familiar with this, just heard the name, and wanted to take a closer look. Wow, this pedal seems pretty great.

Here is the official description:

The only optoisolator photocell/dual vacuum tube compressor pedal on the market!

What does that mean? The Electro-Harmonix Black Finger Compressor Pedal uses the same professional-grade techniques that the most revered, vintage and mega-thousand dollar, high-end studio compressors use, except that it’s in the form of an affordable, compact foot pedal! 2 different light sources (LED and lamp) provide distinctly different readings and offer uniquely varied compressions. One tube handles the compression stage while the other manages the gain stage. And unlike other “tube” hyped products on the market, which use 9 to 50 volts, the Black Finger’s design allows a full 300 volts of swing to be utilized. This makes it a true tube compressor in every sense.

Whether used as part of an effects loop or with direct guitar, bass or voice, the Black Finger will give music the type of treatment that simply cannot be achieved via plug-in emulation or with any other analog or digital product that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars.

The Black Finger effects pedal breathes life and warmth into any musical instrument or recording and makes it sound magical.

I also found this great demo by EHX (by Peter Stroud) on the Black Finger:

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Classics Black Finger Compressor at Musician’s Friend for $192.00.

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Popularity: 7%

Last week I posted some info on the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb pedal, and noticed that some places carry the big version and other places only carry the nano. I’m assuming that EHX is probably going to be phasing out of the larger pedals since the nanos seem to be quite popular these days. So my question is… do they sound the same?

Well, with questions like this, it seems like Gearmanndude usually has the answer. I took a quick trip to YouTube, and I found a great Gearmanndude video comparing the nano and mr. big. Seems like Gearmanndude isn’t too into reverb. I can relate. I think it’s been about 20 years since I played with reverb, but not because I hate it.. it just isn’t required in the stuff I play.

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb for $118.50 at Musician’s Friend
I’m unable to find the ‘classic’ EHX Holy Grail anywhere now, so it looks like your best option is to pick it up on eBay. Here are some Holy Grail pedals found using PedalNerd.com

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Popularity: 9%

I was having a few twitter conversations about reverbs, and I threw out the Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb. This is a pretty classic reverb pedal for many guitarists out there. It looks like they don’t make the original big version any more, and going with the nano only.

Here is the official description on the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb:

A true space-saver with classic Holy Grail sounds.

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.

The nano is the same as the big version, just smaller foot print.

I found this great video by ProGuitarShopDemos on the EHX Holy Grail:

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Reverb for $118.50 at Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 9%

Yesterday @fadyperdana asked for compressor / sustainer suggestion. Coincidentally, I was just looking at the Electro-Harmonix Nano Soul Preacher the other day on YouTube. This appears to be a nice little compressor / sustainer with some nice options.

Here is the official pedal description:

The Electro-Harmonix Nano Soul Preacher is an effect pedal that offers you 3 selectable attacks coupled with silky, long sustains that blend in perfect harmony to create one of the finest compressors ever built for guitar and bass. The variable attacks offer super articulate compression. Lets your guitar step forward without squeezing the life out of your tone.

Electro-Harmonix Nano Soul Preacher Compressor / Sustainer Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* Sustain Control adjusts the amount of sustain.
* Volume Control sets the output level.
* Attack Toggle Switch provides 3 settings of attack: fast, medium and slow.
* Footswitch Selects whether the Soul Preacher is engaged or bypassed. The LED will be lit when the pedal is engaged, and dark when bypassed.
* 1/4″ input and output jacks.
* When in Bypass mode, the output jack is connected to the input jack through a buffer.
* The barrel connector is for a 9-volt battery eliminator capable of delivering 100 mA of current. The inner ring of the 9-volt battery eliminator must be negative, the outer ring positive. The unit’s battery may be left in or taken out when the eliminator is in use.

Here is the video I was watching by EHX

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Nano Soul Preacher Compressor / Sustainer pedal for $103.35 at Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 9%

Today I got an email from Matt at CheeseBlock Effects (@CheeseBlocks) and he let me know of a great deal going on at Amazon for the Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man. Please, if any of you run across any great gear deals, let me know and I’ll be happy to spread the word out there.

Normally, the EHX Deluxe Memory Man lists for $418.00.  Musician’s Friend currently has it in stock for $313.50, but Amazon has a killer price of $249.00! That’s 40% off of list price. Awesome deal! Apparently, at the time of this post, there were only 3 units left in stock so you’ll need to jump on it.

Here is the official product description:

The most in-demand analog delay ever built. Musicians love it and collectors cherish it. Experience the analog edge. Nothing can compare to the organic sound of analog delay, and no one does analog like the Deluxe Memory Man! Up to 550 mS of vibrant echo that rivals tape delay; lush, spatial chorus and haunting vibrato are just a few of the treats in the Memory Man’s sonic smorgasbord!

Again, the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man Pedal XO is on sale at Amazon for $249.00!

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Popularity: 10%

Today, I wanted to give another shout out to the bass players out there. So today we’re talking about the Electro-Harmonix Nano Bassballs Envelope Filter for bass.  This is another pedal in the new Nano configuration, and it has a pretty cool effected tone. Basically a envelope filter with a little fuzz (maybe not fuzz.. but harmonic distortion) mixed in. I could see this used for some great bass tones and craziness. I’m sure this would be quite crazy on guitar as well.

Here is the official product description:

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.

I found the official product demo video by EHX.

You can pick up the Electro Harmonix Nano Bassballs Envelop Filter for $82.50 on Musician’s Friend.

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Popularity: 6%

So after my post about the Screaming Bird Treble booster and video associated with it, I was intrigued by the ‘normalcy’ of the ‘clutter’ by the engineer. I guess, I had super preconceived notion of a NASA like environment where engineers had to wear environmental control suits, etc. This video, I got the impression the Electro Harmonix was a normal ‘factory’ with normal people and with normal clutter, so I wanted to dig into this further.

Sure enough, I found a great video by boingboingvideo with a Electro Harmonix Factory Tour! I’m sure you guys will find it as interesting as I did. I would love to meet these people and check out the shop.

I thought it was interesting that they bought NOS tube. Curious if they re-sell them or planning to use them for something else??

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Popularity: 7%