Frequency Central Custom Tube OD on its way!

[quadrogong]

She ships out tomorrow morning from the UK,
I shopped like crazy before deciding to go w Frequency Central, watched YouTube clips,I drove a few shop clerks crazy,and tried them all..

I found a lot of DIY builders asking Rick's advice on the forums & just decided he was "da man" as far as tubes go.

I was really impressed w Rick's super neat wiring, innovative ideas...
I had reservations about the tubes, high voltage power supply etc, but his audio clips sealed the deal for me.
pedals go.

There are two subminiature tubes, (which glow orange when she's on..)
a clean blend,
a "dirt" switch opens up new tones, (seems like fuzz)
a two band EQ,
(passive,Vintage style tone stack)
& a switch to bypass the EQ
& the eyeball has a green LED in the center!

Mostly, she does SVT/ Marshall type mild saturation, I bought her for warmth and sustain,not for hi gain stuff..
It was tuned up to his active 5 string, for low frequencies..

Rick sez he's been playing Muse basslines all day on it, and that she sounds amazing.
Should arrive in a few days, I'll post clips/reviews..

[bongomania]

interest!

[karter2000]

Just wanted to resurrect this thread. Did you receive the pedal yet, and what were your thoughts?

Thanks!

[quadrogong]

beyond my expectations.
Rick gave me EXACTLY what I asked for.

The amount of gain,The type of gain..
that tube saturation , deep, throaty low end and touch sensitive..
u get it with a vintage Les Paul and a Marshall..
This feels kinda like that!.. more like a mini tube head or something..

I've owned Muffs, DOD 250s, SFT, Russian muffs, Rats, all sorts of pedals since the mid 80's,
this is a little different,
it feels amp-y.
The way it feels and responds is definitely more tube-like.

Rick tested it with his active fiver and gave me SVT in a box, Marshall in a box.. Like I asked for.

the clean blend is great. I can keep it off or low and creep up the gain a bit..
Or turn the gain up really high and use more clean blend..for Entwistle type clarity w drive underneath.

Either way gives me a subtle, usable overdrive. I can turn up more gain and play dirty stuff too, There's a switch that adds a sort of high end fuzz..

I use the effect subtly, for sustain,
to make the amp sound cranked,when it's not..
Or to de-sterilize those solid state house rigs, or when I'm recording, for a little gain and sustain.

It's tiny and light. Way smaller that I expected,as u can see, it's not really bigger than a DOD


Rick shares schematics too, he's fairly active on the DIY forums,
a selfless, good-karma policy,
(Kind of the opposite of the Klon guy who covers his circuits in black goo)

But yes, it's hard to describe, but it's very throaty, warm and full, easy on the ears, organic and big sounding.. When it's dimed it gets a Sabbathy/buzzy-doomy thing,which is unique & badass.. But she shines at lower OD settings, which she was designed to do.

Better Clips comin' as soon as I record 'em!

[Eric!]

MUST. HAZ. CLIPZ. NAO.

[frequency Rick]

Yeah! Let's hear some soundclips!

[karter2000]

Hey Rick!! Welcome to the madhouse! Good to see ya on here.

[ZombiCrow]

As a frequenter of many DIY stompbox forums, Rick is well-known to many! And he'll be receiving at least a PM from me regarding this build very shortly! I third the call for sound clips!

I think these kinds of effects, if properly understood and properly built by makers like Frequency Central, are definitely the more interesting direction to go in for bass stomps. I had ZERO GAS until I opened this thread today...

[quadrogong]

Yes! Welcome, Sir Rick!..
I'm DYING to try your new updated BiPhaser, I want it SO badly,

If any TBers aren't familiar with Rick from Fequency Central, he's truly,"the Don" of Phasers, and THE man as far as tube effects go,

his specialty are these tiny subminiature tubes, (which were used in the guidance systems of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and older hearing aids too) they're tiny, but sound big and warm..


After going thru at least 10-20 dirt boxes, none but an old DOD 250 was of any use.. I use it in studio sessions only,
I stayed up nights listening to clips, youtubes, demoing fx..deciding what to waste my money on next..
..Trying every guy on Disco Freq's site for months.. Watching clips, visiting music shops and trying 3-4 at a time. There's a lot of stuff out there..

I spent months following the Stompbox forums, searching for custom builders,

I kept seeing the same cat answering everyone else's questions, everyone was using his schematics, his designs..
And getting pages of free advice, diagrams.. It got my attention.

The whole concept of sharing schematics, helping others to build your designs, struck me as very nobel, it just
enriches the scene in general.
intrigued me even more.

when I saw his wiring, the quality of his work.. His clips,
it was a no-brainer.
http://circuitworkshop.com/forum/index.php?topic=37.0

I recently ordered a custom OD from him that literally keeps me up all night playing till dawn,
I bombarded him with emails at every hour of the day & night, describing what I wanted, and he really listened and adjusted it exactly like I described,
I'll work on some quality clips.

His modified Biphase is gonna be next, after seeing this post, I'm sure there will be a few people ordering it,

[quadrogong]

YouTube - Frequency Central "Moon Unit" Submini Tube Overdrive ?
REALLLY QUICK VIDEO I made today

MOON UNIT BASS OD
BY FREQUENCY CENTRAL
( essentially a bass modified version of Frequency Central's "Promiscuous Girlfriend" OD)

As options:
2 band EQ,
(Vox vintage style passive tone stack)
clean blend,
EQ bypass switch,
custom graphics.

Try using heaphones if u have a set..

I typically use very low gain settings, where it barely distorts.. I like the fullness and sustain.
I didn't think those subtle tones would translate to video, so I cranked the gain a bit here..
this was shot in a flash, I didn't think it really was a great clip, the bass was set a bit clanky, and I didn't get to mess w the clean blend much..

Throughout most of the video, I had some clean signal blended in, and higher gain, ..the result is closer to fuzz with a clear, clean fundamental behind It.
I use this setting for more Sabbathy, fuzz or distorted bass

[Tendollarcat]

That's a great sounding pedal! Thanks for the clip. I'm adding Frequency Central to the list of builders to check out.

[quadrogong]

Thanx, I think so.. I noticed these OD's and fuzzes seem to respond very differently to different basses, this bass has an active Sadowsky PJ system in it,
.. it definitely mixes w different basses differently, my passive Ibanez feel or responds differently.

It's set to my favorite setting at the very start of the video, u can hear it for a second or two before I turn up the gain.

I get carried away and start rocking out, playing along w Sabbath sings for hours, plugging in my guutar and playing Clapton and Page licks,

But it's great as an "on all the time" thing, to thicken, de-sterilize and add sustain for recording,or when an amp isn't cranked.

It's touch sensitive, and the gain pot has a long, gradual taper,lots of gradients between
Clean Boost-
low gain OD-
med gain OD.. Which is the area I love.
And the Dirt switch brings out the fuzzyness, so that stuff is accessible too.

It's hard to describe or convey in a video, but the "feel" is different from other pedals, it feels Amp-y, which makes little sense,
but yeah, the feel/attack is
more like easing up the gain on a Marshall than like a TS, muff or Rat.. Very touch sensitive and controllable,

[jock]

Great review! This gave me severe GAS. I have an e-mail off to Frequency central...
Can anyone explain to me the sound of the VOX tone stack as used in this creation? How does it compare to other tone stacks?

[quadrogong]

Ask Rick,, he would know

[Kreken]

Great, thanks!! Sounds amazing!! I just ordered mine. Based on yours, but with a three knob Marshall tonestack instead, so it also has a mid control.

[quadrogong]

Ha! That's fantastic!.. I'm glad my incessant bragging paid off!
I'm happy to see bassists taking advantage of newer fx options, out there is a sea of modified TS'ers & big muffs,

..take a risk, try something different, I say!

I'll tell u, I'm always wanting a tone stack in my overdrives because they alll suck a bit of bass, I like it to compensate for that.

Rick kept telling me it wasn't necessary.
Which is why I had the EQ bypass installed, (to hear the effect the way Rick intended it sound, since the tonestack affects tone)

and u know what?
I never touch it.
it's totally transparent.

It's good to match up the dry/ wet tones though, if u wanna click it in and off during a gig.

[markkoelsch]

That is a really nice sounding pedal. Something I might have to look into. May I ask...what did it cost?

[quadrogong]

(I PM'ed ya!)
had a few options,which brought the price up:

1.Clean Blend
2.Two band Vox style tone stack
3.EQ bypass switch
4.Custom graphics (which took many emails to perfect)

w the amount of quality & customization I received, I felt it was priced ok..

He sanded down every corner and edge on the enclosure really nicely,it's surprisingly small, with a gloss finish, chrome rollbars, very clean & polished.
I chose positions/type of knobs,switches.. LED color, I got to name it, create artwork..

[quadrogong]

http://effectswire.blogspot.com/2011...hind.html#more
Very informative interview
w the "Don of Diodes"
the "Godfather of Solder"..
Rick Holt @ Frequency Central

[FunkMetalBass]

I'm building this same pedal right now, although I'm building the stock model that is intended for guitar. I am considering buying a larger housing so that I can shove a parametric EQ in there as well.

It sounds so amazing on bass. I'm even more excited to finish building it, now.