Electro-Harmonix Talking Pedal

[Hoover]

Anyone else use one of these on bass? I've had one since the early 1980's, but I stopped using it almost 10 years ago, and now I'm on the fence about re-introducing it to my pedalboard, or selling it. (I heard somewhere that used EH Talking Pedals go for $500 or $600 on eBay, so if that's true it might very strongly influence my choice!)

But there's nothing else out there that does the yowling gut-wrenching distorto scream fart like this thing. Just wondering if anyone else shares the love.

[BellBottomBlues]

Sounds like a cool but useless pedal.

[JanusZarate]

AFAIK, no one on TB has ever used one with bass. Heck, I can't even think of someone here who has used one at all...

You should try it out on bass and let us know how it goes!

[Taylor Livingston]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

AFAIK, no one on TB has ever used one with bass. Heck, I can't even think of someone here who has used one at all...

You should try it out on bass and let us know how it goes!

Jeez, use the search, n00b.

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread...ghlight=talker



edit: btw, "idiocy" is misspelled in your sig. Intentional?

[Higgie]

Originally Posted by conical johnson

Jeez, use the search, n00b.

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread...ghlight=talker



edit: btw, "idiocy" is misspelled in your sig. Intentional?

I think Mystic Boo was talking about this pedal in particular, not just any talkbox.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by Higgie

I think Mystic Boo was talking about this pedal in particular, not just any talkbox.

+1

I've seen plenty on the Heil Talkbox, Digitech Talker, Rocktron Banshee... but no one has yet said "I've used the Electro-Harmonix Talking Pedal on bass."

Originally Posted by conical johnson

edit: btw, "idiocy" is misspelled in your sig. Intentional?

Glad you noticed. But it's old news now.

Noob.

(I'm opportunistic... sorry )

[Sir Edward V]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Anyone else use one of these on bass? I've had one since the early 1980's, but I stopped using it almost 10 years ago, and now I'm on the fence about re-introducing it to my pedalboard, or selling it. (I heard somewhere that used EH Talking Pedals go for $500 or $600 on eBay, so if that's true it might very strongly influence my choice!)

But there's nothing else out there that does the yowling gut-wrenching distorto scream fart like this thing. Just wondering if anyone else shares the love.

I've heard of the Golden Throat... is that what you are talking about?

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by Sir Edward V

I've heard of the Golden Throat... is that what you are talking about?

+1

my guitar player has a golden throat. that thing sounds amazing.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by Sir Edward V

I've heard of the Golden Throat... is that what you are talking about?

The Golden Throat is a true talkbox, but the Talking Pedal is actually a vocoder, if I'm not mistaken.

[Sir Edward V]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

The Golden Throat is a true talkbox, but the Talking Pedal is actually a vocoder, if I'm not mistaken.

oh... cool

now I am interested

I've been wanting a vocoder for quite a bit

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

AFAIK, no one on TB has ever used one with bass. Heck, I can't even think of someone here who has used one at all...

You should try it out on bass and let us know how it goes!

Um...I have tried it on bass: For like 10 or 15 years I used that pedal on my bass. See original post.

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

The Golden Throat is a true talkbox, but the Talking Pedal is actually a vocoder, if I'm not mistaken.

Not a vocoder. It's like a wah-wah pedal with an extremely high-Q filter. They call it a "Talking Pedal" because you really can approximate a lot of vowel-like sounds with it. Good luck generating consonants though.

Plus it has a variable distortion circuit that compliments bass rather nicely: it's the only fuzz I've heard that doesn't obliterate your bottom end, even though it doesn't mix in any of the dry (undistorted) signal. It's just a fat fuzz. Combine that with the resonant wah and you get...

well, something I've never heard anyone else do.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Um...I have tried it on bass: For like 10 or 15 years I used that pedal on my bass. See original post.

I know you've used it. I meant the rest of us.

And you didn't really clarify whether you'd used it on bass or guitar. I know a few who have used it on guitar, but who aren't on TB.

Originally Posted by Hoover

Not a vocoder. It's like a wah-wah pedal with an extremely high-Q filter. They call it a "Talking Pedal" because you really can approximate a lot of vowel-like sounds with it. Good luck generating consonants though.

Ah... it was advertised as a vocal synthesizer... isn't that technically still a vocoder by design, even if you didn't use it on vocals?

I could be wrong, though. EHX does have a dedicated (but long discontinued) rackmount vocoder, and it's possible that the Talking Pedal is like the Bass Micro Synthesizer - simpler analog tones that are very much like a full-sized synthesizer.

Originally Posted by Hoover

Plus it has a variable distortion circuit that compliments bass rather nicely: it's the only fuzz I've heard that doesn't obliterate your bottom end, even though it doesn't mix in any of the dry (undistorted) signal. It's just a fat fuzz. Combine that with the resonant wah and you get...

well, something I've never heard anyone else do.

Sound clips, please

[Sir Edward V]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Sound clips, please

+80

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Ah... it was advertised as a vocal synthesizer... isn't that technically still a vocoder by design, even if you didn't use it on vocals?

I could be wrong, though.

By definition, a vocoder must have separate carrier signals & modulator signals. The modulator (usually a human voice, but it could be anything) gets band-split into several adjacent frequency ranges, and envelope followers (one per band) produce a control voltage corresponding to the attack/decay profile of that portion of the signal. The carrier (usually a synthesizer, but could be any harmonically rich instrument) also gets band-split into several adjacent frequency ranges (corresponding to the ones used by the modulator) and each one of these bands gets modified by an envelope generator whose control-voltage comes from those envelope followers that the modulator went through.

Still with me? Any device that does not follow this paradigm is not a "vocoder".

I confess I may have the terms Carrier & Modulator backwards, but the basic architecture still holds true.

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

EHX does have a dedicated (but long discontinued) rackmount vocoder, and it's possible that the Talking Pedal is like the Bass Micro Synthesizer - simpler analog tones that are very much like a full-sized synthesizer.

The Talking Pedal is really just a totally idiosyncratic fuzz/wah. Nothing particularly "synthesizer-y" about it except in the loosest sense of the word: I.e., bass through a Talking Pedal sounds completely unlike any "natural" musical instruments...which is what folks said about synthesizers when they fist came on the market!

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Sound clips, please

I can't confirm what excerpt they posted here, but go to http://www.musicandarts.com/CDpages/CD4927j.html
and click on the link for the tune "thalidomide", I used the Talking Pedal pretty extensively on the bass melody (sic).

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by Hoover

The Talking Pedal is really just a totally idiosyncratic fuzz/wah. Nothing particularly "synthesizer-y" about it except in the loosest sense of the word: I.e., bass through a Talking Pedal sounds completely unlike any "natural" musical instruments...which is what folks said about synthesizers when they fist came on the market!

Ah... okay, then it is like the BMS in that regard - not a true synth. Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification!

I'll check out that clip in a bit!

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by Hoover

I can't confirm what excerpt they posted here, but go to http://www.musicandarts.com/CDpages/CD4927j.html
and click on the link for the tune "thalidomide", I used the Talking Pedal pretty extensively on the bass melody (sic).

that link doesn't work.

[Sir Edward V]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

that link doesn't work.

+1

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

that link doesn't work.

Bummer. Well, that's what I get for signing my life away to a big record company: no artistic control!

I'll see if I can rip a snippet and host it somewhere else.