FEA fan club! - Page 4

caeman · #61 10-05-2011, 06:53 PM

Growler sound test

Extended Growler FX Insert Test by C. Robert Wilson

Part 1: dry bass, no FX
Part 2: Channel 1, conservative settings
Part 3: Channel 2, with SA Flanger action
Part 4+: Channel 2 with Ekko 616 analog delay

superbassman2000 · #62 10-05-2011, 06:57 PM

i hope to be ordering a dual band distortion fairly soon, so I can join the club!

5stringwonder · #63 10-06-2011, 08:13 AM

My Opti-Comp is here

Gonna give a run out this weekend if I can find space on my board...

caeman · #64 10-06-2011, 08:17 AM

Make sure to experiment with the side-chain.

caeman · #65 10-09-2011, 04:46 PM

Another Sunday, another experiment.

This morning, I placed the Growler in the FX loop of my BK Backline 210 amp. I removed the EQ from the pedal chain, it simply wasn't needed in this config. The Growler sounded really nice being fed a signal from the Gk's pre-amp section.

caeman · #66 10-14-2011, 08:15 AM

An addendum to my test run of the Growler in the FX loop...

I had to lower my settings on the Growler a few notches across all of the knobs. The GK preamp, despite having fairly benign EQ settings, is sending a fairly hot signal.

caeman · #67 10-24-2011, 12:21 PM

I am done with my experiments on where I am running the Growler with my GK Backline 210 and the results are in: skip the preamp section and run it to the FX Return.

I really like the sound of the Growler and it has become "my" preferred sound. Running it before the GK's preamp resulted in a bit too much gain. I had cleaner results using the MXR EQ as the boost before the FX Return.

I guess this means I can start researching Power Amps and Cabs.

boomertech · #68 10-24-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caeman

I am done with my experiments on where I am running the Growler with my GK Backline 210 and the results are in: skip the preamp section and run it to the FX Return.

I really like the sound of the Growler and it has become "my" preferred sound. Running it before the GK's preamp resulted in a bit too much gain. I had cleaner results using the MXR EQ as the boost before the FX Return.

I guess this means I can start researching Power Amps and Cabs.

Thanks for posting your experiments.

Are you completely bypassing the GK preamp and only using the power amp section? Or do you have it in the GK FX loop? If you are using the Growler as the preamp, are you using a EQ with it?

-Frank

caeman · #69 10-24-2011, 05:37 PM

I tried it three ways, actually.

1. bass - gk preamp - fx loop - power amp section
2. bass - growler - gk preamp - power amp section
3. bass - growler - power amp section

The best results were achieved with option 3, bypassing the GK's preamp section, achieving the least distortion clearest tone.

To give the power amp section enough signal, I tried it two ways:
1. without EQ and using the +6 db switch, then plenty of volume on the power amp section
2. with EQ providing the boost, plus power amp section volume knob

In that church room, both results worked well because of the size of the room, but in a much larger room, the EQ boost would be needed.

Optionally, I also have a Barber Launch Pad to use as a final boost, which I am going to try, though I would be lacking an EQ. I currently don't need +20db clean boost, but this is no longer about "need".

The FX chain is currently listed in my sig.

caeman · #70 10-24-2011, 08:57 PM

I am curious now what a fuzz pedal would sound like in the channel 2 insert. It would only be fuzzing the harmonic signal, so it would kinda be like an octave up, but not really a whole octave.

Heh...let's see...run the Photon Fuzz with the Octave Up enabled? Hey, Frank, you have a Photon Fuzz I can borrow for a few days?

linken4000 · #71 10-28-2011, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

i hope to be ordering a dual band distortion fairly soon, so I can join the club!

I got my hands on one I can bring it to next GTG.

caeman · #72 10-28-2011, 09:54 AM

After church service this coming Sunday, I am going to try a bi-amp experiment with the Growler. The primary out to my GK, the dry out to the Peavey bass amp that is there. It is an old amp with a 15" cab.

caeman · #73 10-30-2011, 01:28 PM

Another experiment today with really good results.

I put the MXR EQ before the Growler to drive the sound. The mixed effect out to my GK 2x10, and the dry out to the old Peavey bass amp with a 1x15 cab. The results were nice. The added low end of the 1x15 compliments the punchiness of the 2x10's.

The Growler went into the FX Return on the GK. The +6 db switch was on.

caeman · #74 11-07-2011, 07:43 AM

Quote:

NOTE: This product is out of stock and production is suspended until further notice.

Wha-huh? Frank? Whassup with the Growler being suspended? Did one of them bite you?

Ronen · #75 11-07-2011, 08:12 AM

Opti-FET arrived here today. Going to try it out on two gigs in the next coming week.
Out of the box it works great. No noise at all, sound very clean and powerful. It sounds great with my Ken Smith 5; killer with my Jazz, maybe because the Smith is more compressed/balanced to begin with... anyway, I'm very excited.

boomertech · #76 11-07-2011, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caeman

Wha-huh? Frank? Whassup with the Growler being suspended? Did one of them bite you?

They didn’t bite me, but they were always licking themselves in front of company… it was very embarrassing.

I suspended the Growler because I am currently working on a new amplifier circuit, for another pedal, that has the ability to generate large amounts of even order harmonics. If this new circuit works as planned then a new evolution of the Growler may come back with some variation of this circuit… We are thinking the possibly of a preamp with more capabilities than the original Growler.

-Frank

caeman · #77 11-07-2011, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomertech

They didn’t bite me, but they were always licking themselves in front of company… it was very embarrassing.

That made me giggle like school boy for minutes on end.

Add in a 3 band EQ per channel and I could replace the MXR EQ that takes up space on my board.

caeman · #78 11-22-2011, 05:54 PM

I was e-mailing Frank about my pending setup with the 2 CH Mixer and answering some questions about whassup with inventories. He apparently has one Growler left, the demo unit, if anyone is interested. His advice on my setup freed up a power connector spot.

caeman · #79 12-01-2011, 07:33 AM

I discovered something very interesting in my experiments with the Growler + 2 CH Mixer: layering.

On the Growler, the DRY out is connected to the input, no processing. The WET out is the processed signal of clean+harmonic. There is a small delay introduced to the signal, it seems, such that when I have both the WET and DRY active through the mixer -- harmonics off -- I get a noticeably thicker sound to my bass. What an interesting find!

My setup has not gotten very complex if I want it to be, in the space of just two pedals, with numerous combinations of the Growler's two channels and the mixer. I can go from pristine clean that is just my MXR EQ, through various levels of layering to all-out growl.

caeman · #80 12-11-2011, 07:49 PM

I finally got to try a tremolo in the channel 2 insert. Wow! It sounds almost dub-steppy with a hard wave.