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FEA fan club!
- Thread starter bongomania
- Start date
I believe I planned this DB-CL build cycle to cover all of the list until Jan of this year at least. So you should hear from Glen soon.
-Frank
D'oh! January 25th here. Time to hawk the classifieds!
Yes, I have been thinking about a future preamp pedal with DI. I posted a transformer based DIY DI project in another thread recently that I want to try out. If that project works as planned, then all it would need is some decent preamp circuitry added. But there are several other designs that I need to release before I can do a preamp pedal.
-Frank
If you do a preamp with DI, I really hope you'll include a clean boost activated by a second footswitch. Having a clean boost at the end of the chain for raising volume or just pushing a tube amp is great to have all in the same DI/final pedal on a board.
I think this DB-CL build should be a lot like the last Opti-FET build. On the last Opti-FET build, the list size was similar and we were able to clear the list and have some stock for the website. The DE-CL build that was done after the Opti-FET build surprised me... for every DE-CL shipped, we received another request or two to be placed on that list, so the DE-CL list never got any smaller.
-Frank
-Frank
Once you are done with that, remember to build that DB-CL upgraded with a transformer and a saturation knob
Hi Frank,
I got on the DB-CL list March 9th, should I start hoping...?
When will the notification e-mails be sent out approximately?Cheers,
Kalle
Hi Kalle,
If the response to the notification emails is similar to the last Opti-FET build, then there is a good chance that you will receive a notification email. We really can not predict the response to the notification emails, especially so with lists that are over a year old. When I sized this DB-CL build cycle, I was looking at the last Opti-FET build data and was fairly sure that we could a least cover the list up to Jan 2015.
Glen only sends out the email when there is product ready to be shipped and we are final testing the first batch of this build cycle now. So there will be some notification emails sent out within the next few days. But this build cycle will have a total of 5 batches, so we have many weeks to go before this build cycle is complete.
-Frank
If the response to the notification emails is similar to the last Opti-FET build, then there is a good chance that you will receive a notification email. We really can not predict the response to the notification emails, especially so with lists that are over a year old. When I sized this DB-CL build cycle, I was looking at the last Opti-FET build data and was fairly sure that we could a least cover the list up to Jan 2015.
Glen only sends out the email when there is product ready to be shipped and we are final testing the first batch of this build cycle now. So there will be some notification emails sent out within the next few days. But this build cycle will have a total of 5 batches, so we have many weeks to go before this build cycle is complete.
-Frank
So, a couple of TBers and I are getting a custom DI made by SFX. So, if you are going to actually go for that as a product, I figured I'd put a wish list here beyond the boost idea. Please take this with the appropriate grain of salt, you would know much more than me what musicians are looking in such a box.
Here is what we have in the upcoming DI:
3 Band EQ, foot switch for clean boost, pre/post, ground lift, DI, integrated micro thumpinator (high pass filter).
So, what would be cool for your ultimate FEA preamp/DI:
1- 3 band eq (sure, more could be better, but 3 would be ok, maybe a Q knob for the mids)
2- Foot switchable clean boost with enough headroom to make a tube pre really sing
3- the usual pre/post, ground lift
4- high pass filter (kind of like the micro thumpinator or fdeck) with a switch to turn it on or off. The ultimate would be a knob to select the minimum frequency and the ability to roll more off
5- low pass filter with a switch to turn on and off (the ultimate would be the same as the high pass, a knob to control the max frequency) [sfx made something like this once and it was called the screaminator]
Aux in and headphone out would be cool but not a necessity for something of this caliber.
Now, the high pass filter is great to help your amp and speakers with subsonics. The low pass though, well, I guess it could have two functions. If you had the knob to adjust the cutoff frequency, it could be used to roll off highs and kind of act as a speaker sim. If it was used on a milder setting where very very high frequencies are what is filtered out, you could use it to just tame extreme dirt when recording from the DI or feeding it to a PA.
Now, if you could add a limiter on top of that, like a 1 knob limiter (one knob to adjust the limiting and one switch to turn it on and off), not something that would compete with the rest of your range of compressors, you could have the ultimate box to put at the end of your board. I'd pay a pretty penny for a box like this since it would probably eliminate a bunch of boxes and let me put more pedals on my board, like more FEA compressors
P.S.: A killer feature would also be to use the upcoming Source Audio neuro modules and have the EQ settings be switchable via midi (maybe even the boost, even the lowpass and highpass). Imagine being able to choose from like 128 EQ settings and have them react to other MIDI scenes in your setup, you could have the final preamp change as you switch effects, that would be killer.
Anyway, just thinking out loud here...
These are great ideas shuman. Let's assume for a moment that the eq is designed for tone shaping rather than fixing issues. I would look a the Fromel Shape Eq for a great example of an eq tool. The lows and highs are shelving. The mid is interesting. In one mode, it is your normal semi-parametric mids. In another mode, it is a low pass filter with a mild but noticeable bump at the knee. It works in conjunction with the bass shelving control to give a nice smooth rise to the mids with no band-filtering peakiness.
I would also suggest an input pad. Make it work with vintage passive guitars and keyboards.
I would also suggest an input pad. Make it work with vintage passive guitars and keyboards.
That sounds like it is going to be a very nice pedal. Max does outstanding work, so I'm sure it will be a winner!
Nearly all of you guys have more exotic ideas than I ever did for pedals, so I love reading what people are looking for in different effects and gear. Please keep them coming! Some ideas may find their way into a future design of ours, or another builder will read them and develop a pedal from them. The only way us small shop builders will survive is with products that people find interesting and useful.
So, what would be cool for your ultimate FEA preamp/DI:
1- 3 band eq (sure, more could be better, but 3 would be ok, maybe a Q knob for the mids)
2- Foot switchable clean boost with enough headroom to make a tube pre really sing
3- the usual pre/post, ground lift
4- high pass filter (kind of like the micro thumpinator or fdeck) with a switch to turn it on or off. The ultimate would be a knob to select the minimum frequency and the ability to roll more off
5- low pass filter with a switch to turn on and off (the ultimate would be the same as the high pass, a knob to control the max frequency) [sfx made something like this once and it was called the screaminator]
Aux in and headphone out would be cool but not a necessity for something of this caliber.
Now, the high pass filter is great to help your amp and speakers with subsonics. The low pass though, well, I guess it could have two functions. If you had the knob to adjust the cutoff frequency, it could be used to roll off highs and kind of act as a speaker sim. If it was used on a milder setting where very very high frequencies are what is filtered out, you could use it to just tame extreme dirt when recording from the DI or feeding it to a PA.
Now, if you could add a limiter on top of that, like a 1 knob limiter (one knob to adjust the limiting and one switch to turn it on and off), not something that would compete with the rest of your range of compressors, you could have the ultimate box to put at the end of your board. I'd pay a pretty penny for a box like this since it would probably eliminate a bunch of boxes and let me put more pedals on my board, like more FEA compressors
P.S.: A killer feature would also be to use the upcoming Source Audio neuro modules and have the EQ settings be switchable via midi (maybe even the boost, even the lowpass and highpass). Imagine being able to choose from like 128 EQ settings and have them react to other MIDI scenes in your setup, you could have the final preamp change as you switch effects, that would be killer.
You forgot the boobie hologram projector and the talent booster
, but this sounds really nice! Thanks!
-Frank
That sounds like it is going to be a very nice pedal. Max does outstanding work, so I'm sure it will be a winner!
Nearly all of you guys have more exotic ideas than I ever did for pedals, so I love reading what people are looking for in different effects and gear. Please keep them coming! Some ideas may find their way into a future design of ours, or another builder will read them and develop a pedal from them. The only way us small shop builders will survive is with products that people find interesting and useful.
You forgot the boobie hologram projector and the talent booster
Thanks!
-Frank
Guys, guys! He said boobie!
Hey Frank
@nshuman, @DirtyDuke and I have been discussing the ultimate DI/preamp/boost project for a while and ordered the sfx units together.
The one thing that i would add to really make the project perfect would be a limiter.
So:
- preamp/di
- footswitchable boost
- 3 band Eq on a footswitch
- lPF thumpinator
- limiter
That to me would be an absolute cream dream and would allow me to take off a number of pedals.
@nshuman, @DirtyDuke and I have been discussing the ultimate DI/preamp/boost project for a while and ordered the sfx units together.
The one thing that i would add to really make the project perfect would be a limiter.
So:
- preamp/di
- footswitchable boost
- 3 band Eq on a footswitch
- lPF thumpinator
- limiter
That to me would be an absolute cream dream and would allow me to take off a number of pedals.
