Effects Bay

This morning I’m realizing that last beer last night, was probably not a good idea… but oh well.  Today, I thought it would be cool to post this video by gearmanndude where he compares the three flavors of ProCo Rat pedals out there. On this shootout, he demos a ProCo Rat2 a ProCo Turbo Rat and a ProCo You Dirty Rat. All side by side you so you guys can hear the difference. Let me know what you think by commenting below!

You can purchase all of these pedals at good prices at Amazon.com right now:

ProCo Rat 2 Distortion – $73.45 (on sale right now)
ProCo Turbo Rat Distortion – $86.95 (on sale right now)
ProCo You Dirty Rat Distortion – $89.99

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Last week I posted about the T-Rex Luxury Drive. I’m not sure about the history of how it came from TC Jauernig to T-Rex (if you know, please comment or email me). A few of you asked if there were any differences, and some who were familiar with both had opinions (either T-Rex was better or the TC Jauernig was).

I found a video by Gearmanndude where he does a comparison between the two. I thought it was interesting so I’m posting that video below:

Which one did you think was better? If you’re looking to pick up the T-Rex Luxury Drive, it’s available for $149.00 at Amazon.com. If you’re liking the TC Jauernig Luxury Drive, you can find it via PedalNerd. You still may be able to purchase one direct from TC Jauernig’s web site as well.

Popularity: 4%

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About a year ago I converted a Dunlop GCB-95 Crybaby to be true-bypass and included a new Fasel inductor and ICAR taper pot. I really liked how it turned out. There is a large amount of talk about fasel and non-fasel out there. Some wahs have the fasel inductor stock, but a large portion do not. I get asked often.. what’s the deal.. and what’s the difference.

The fasel inductor is found in the ‘classic’ styles of wahs. Vox wahs  and the builders that want the older Vox tones (id: Fulltone Clyde, Teese, etc). I would like to note – Additionally the ICAR taper pot is another big piece of the classic puzzle. To me, the the fasel gives it a little bit more bite and sizzle than non-fasel inductors. I definitely prefer the fasel inductor wahs over the others. The others (again to me) sound a bit muddy and less aggressive, but this comes down to what you want the wah to do. I pretty much use the wah for leads only, so I really want it in your face when I’m engaging it.

I found two great comparison videos by gearmanndude where he compares a Original/Standard CryBaby vs. the Classic CryBaby. The Classic has the fasel inductor, which the Original does not. The two videos illustrate gained amp and clean (the clean video has a scratchy pot… which is super annoying to me, but you can pick up the jist of it).

Here is the video of the clean comparison:

So which one did you prefer? Why? Comment below!

You can pick up the Dunlop Crybaby Classic with Fasel Inductor at Amazon for $99.99
or
You can pick up the Dunlop Original Crybaby at Amazon for $68.26

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So I’ve been waiting for this for a while. Finally, there is a decent demo of the Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 Big Muff Pi. Not sure why it’s been hard to find a good demo, but a couple of days ago Gearmanndude came through with his 8+ minute demo, and he really shows what it’s capable of.  The Electro Harmonix Germanium 4 Big Muff is split in two. One side is Overdrive and the other is Distortion and you can have them both on.

Here is the official description:

The Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 Big Muff Pi overdrive and distortiuon pedal is a classic 1960′s overdrive based around a hand-selected germanium transistor. To get the best results from the E-H Germanium 4, just set aside some time to practice in a quiet room—just you, your amp, and the Germaium OD. The interaction of each control will reward you with many different flavors of exceptional vintage overdrive.

In addition to a Gain control, the Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 overdrive lets you control Bias for attack and the circuit volts for that sweet spot found when a battery’s voltage dips.

The Gain control adjusts the amount of input signal that is fed to the Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4. The more the knob is rotated the harder the germanium transistor and drive components are hit. The Bias control adjusts the current gain that is sent to the Germanium transistor. It works together with the Voltage control to attain the over all tone. The bias control works specifically with the Germanium transistor. The Volts knob controls the amount of voltage that is applied to the Germanium OD. Set at full, 9V is applied. When set at minimum, 3V is applied. By limiting the voltage a number of interesting saturations can be set up for variations in tone.

A footswitch turns true bypass on or off.

The Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 runs off of a 9V battery or you can connect a 9VDC adapter capable of delivering at least 100mA to the 9V power jack. The optional 9V power supply from Electro-Harmonix is 9.6DC-200BI (same as used by Boss and Ibanez) 9.6 Volts DC 200mA. The AC power adapter must have a barrel connector with center negative. The battery may be left in or taken out when using an adapter.

Here is the video by gearmanndude:

You can currently pick up the Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 Big Muff Pi at Amazon for $99.75 and has FREE super saver shipping.

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: 4%

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I was poking around Gearmanndude videos this morning, and came across a good one on the BBE Green Screamer Overdrive. I bring this up because it’s currently on sale at a great price at Musician’s Friend. The BBE Green Screamer Overdrive is currently on sale for $59.09, which it 60% below the MSRP for that pedal.

The Green Screamer is based on the vintage TS808 circuit and for the price, it’s pretty hard to beat.

Here is the video by Gearmanndude:

Speaking of Gearmanndude, I also noticed that he has updated his web page at Gearmanndude.com. It’s a nice lookin’ site where you can pick up a couple of his signature pedals (The Luther Drive and The Time Bomb). As well as get a T-Shirt (Gearmanndude.. if you’re reading, send me a shirt for Free Shirt Wednesday!) and potentially discuss Custom orders.

Also.. for the record.. I think that Jack Black sounds like Gearmanndude.

Popularity: 3%

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Okay, I think I’m still buzzin’ from my candy high from last night. This morning I thought I would bring up the Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive. Feels like I have brought up a Fulltone pedal in a while, and this is a overdrive that I wasn’t too familiar with, so there ya go! On top of that, I felt that I haven’t shown a Gearmanndude vid in a bit.. so I was about due there too.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

Robin Trower is known for tone, and the Robin Trower Signature Overdrive Pedal from Fulltone delivers a sonic effect truly worthy of its namesake. This pedal’s got touch-responsive, huge-sounding sustain for days—and crystal clear when the guitar’s volume knob is reduced for great live dynamics. This overdrive pedal sounds great with all of Trower’s guitars. The front end of the pedal is specially tuned for those .012-.048 tuned-down strings. Robin’s happy with the way it turned out. So give it a try. We think you’ll be impressed.

Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

* Huge sustain and crystal-clear tone depending on volume
* Hand-built to Robin Trower’s exacting tonal standards
* 3 easy knobs for easy access to tonal tweaking

Here is the pedal by Gearmanndude:

You can pick up the Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive for $199.20 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: 4%

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I was psyched to see our friend’s Source Audio having their Soundblox multi-wave distortion pedal demo’d by gearmanndude. This is a pretty awesome sounding distortion box, that incredibly versatile. Check it out:

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I came across an interesting video this morning with Gearmanndude where he compares the white Fulltone Clyde vs. the newer black Clyde standard wah. I was surprised that they sounded so similar. I’ve played a couple of different white Fulltone wahs, and between those two wahs, there was a difference in tone. I think the Clydes sound great. They have a wide sweep, plenty of travel and the tone is fantastic.

You can pick up the newer Fulltone Clyde Standard Wah for $239.00 at Musician’s Friend. If you’re looking for the white version, you can take a look at Pedalnerd.com for some older Fulltone Clydes (but they’re harder to find).

Popularity: 5%

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Last week or so, I watched “Fuzz: The Sound That Changed the World“. Really cool documentary on the fuzz pedals.. and about the people that build them. In that movie, there was a small clip of J. Mascis and his Big Muff collection, it was pretty awesome. I wish they had more footage of the collection and him talking about it, but here is a quick shot of his collection of older vintage Big Muffs.

As you can see, it’s a pretty hefty collection of older Rams Head, Triangle Muffs, etc. Pretty cool. Yesterday, someone tweeted about a Rams Head Big Muff on eBay, so I had to take a quick look. This, of course, led me to think how it stacks up with Big Muffs of today. I went to YouTube, and started my search, and what always seems the case, there is a Gearmanndude video that is exactly what I was looking for.

Here we have Gearmanndude comparing the Rams Head Big Muff vs. the Big Muff of today:

So how did you think it sounds? Definitely different.

Popularity: 9%

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Two things I haven’t done in a while… talk about Fulltone and show a gearmanndude video. Figured I’d nail both of those in one shot today. Today I wanted to talk about the Fulltone FatBoost 3 FB-3 pedal. The Fulltone is a Class-A FET boost pedal. I played the FB-2 but not FB-3 (this is where gearmanndude comes in). I have to say, I really dug the Fat Boost when I played it a few years ago.

Here is the official description:

The Fulltone FatBoost 3 effects pedal replaces previous versions 1 and 2, marrying everything that people liked about both versions while improving on them in a few key areas:

The FB-3 brings back the v1 11-position Gain control to give the ultimate in control over the FETs
The FB-3 adds one more stage of FET so that the pedal does not invert your signal
The FB-3 cures v1′s huge bass increase and dull high-end issues, but allows those sounds as well should you so desire

The Fulltone FatBoost 3 is a discrete, Class-A, FET (Field-Effect-Transistor) guitar pedal offering up to 35dB of non-distorted gain without changing your signature sound, unless you want that. You can fatten/distort your tone, brighten or mellow up the sound, add or subtract bass, and even add harmonics. The FB-3 has true-bypass switching (via the Fulltone 3PDT) and incorporates a super-bright LED without the loud popping sound thanks to Fulltone’s proprietary anti-pop circuitry.

FET’s can behave like tubes in a properly designed circuit. They can clip (distort) in a pleasing way instead of being buzzy or spiky-sounding (like a transistor) and can also add a subtle limiting to the signal which can even out the volume making your live and recorded tones more pleasing to the ear. If you’re a recording engineer, you’ll be happy to know you can use the Fulltone FatBoost 3 on everything from acoustic and electric guitar to electric bass, and even snare drums.

The FatBoost 3 pedal works great in front of non-Master Volume tube amps to goose them into submission, as well as through Master Volume amps to drive them much harder than possible with just your guitar alone. It also works very well on bass, acoustic guitars (with pickups), and is ideal at the end of a pedalboard effects chain to completely eliminate the tone loss caused by long guitar cable runs back to your amp. Doing so will allow the use of 50′ (or longer) cable lengths with no signal degradation whatsoever.

This version of the Fulltone FatBoost (FB-3) incorporates all of the things that people have loved about previous versions of these effects pedals in the past without any of the shortcomings. It brings back the 11-step FET Bias Drive knob that was missing from the FB-2. You’ll notice that this knob makes a slight scraping noise when you turn it. Fear not, as that is totally normal, and is simply the sound of the Bias changing and settling on the FET MuAmp. The FatBoost 3 gives you the feeling that your amp is cranked at living room volumes so your playing is more dynamic and notes hold on longer without being distorted. It makes up for all the tone loss that (even true-bypass) pedals impart to your sound, especially if you have a lot of pedals on your pedalboard.

Here is a great video by gearmanndude where he demos the differences between the FB-2 and FB-3. I really dig his style of A/B’ing pedals. I like that he plays the same riff between them and settings to really show a great comparison.

You can pick up the Fulltone FatBoost 3 FB-3 for $149.00 at Guitar Center.

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: 28%

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