My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal

[GrowlerBox]

I've been looking at the Modèle B as well. It's a nice idea. Consequent.
Plus, I do happen to own that Korg Pitchblack XS tuner that lives on only one rail of the pedalboard and these two could be a nice match.
I'll get one of these at some point, I'm fairly sure. I want to experiment with stacking dirt using the Barbershop as a very mild device to send into other OD pedals.

The Modèle B arrived this morning as hoped. First impressions are very favourable, which is just as well, ‘cause I can’t turn it off.

It’s the first thing in my “dirt loop” which has just a little clean signal blended in. The 3 knobs are highly interactive, so lots of variations available from low to medium drive via the volume and gain knobs (very interdependent) and fine to coarse “texture” via the sag knob (slightly more independent), which is fun. I’m running it at the standard 9 V, and I’m not sure I’d want any more clean headroom in my setup; running it at 18 V seems to be getting a bit of press in other threads.

I also like that the enclosure matches that of my Lightning Boy 23Fe

 

[el murdoque]

The Modèle B arrived this morning as hoped. First impressions are very favourable, which is just as well, ‘cause I can’t turn it off.

It’s the first thing in my “dirt loop” which has just a little clean signal blended in. The 3 knobs are highly interactive, so lots of variations available from low to medium drive via the volume and gain knobs (very interdependent) and fine to coarse “texture” via the sag knob (slightly more independent), which is fun. I’m running it at the standard 9 V, and I’m not sure I’d want any more clean headroom in my setup; running it at 18 V seems to be getting a bit of press in other threads.

I also like that the enclosure matches that of my Lightning Boy 23Fe

I found that the gain knob is quite sensitive and it's worth spending some time with the setting while to my ear, the sag knob had a clear sweet spot.
If memory serves, for me it was between 1 and 2 o'clock where it sounded just right.

It is quite complex for a three knob pedal, though - and lots of good stuff in there.

 

[OnlyFlats]

I found that the gain knob is quite sensitive and it's worth spending some time with the setting while to my ear, the sag knob had a clear sweet spot.
If memory serves, for me it was between 1 and 2 o'clock where it sounded just right.

It is quite complex for a three knob pedal, though - and lots of good stuff in there.

I agree. I can't describe what the Sag knob is doing but can certainly hear it. My preference is for it to be a touch back from full clockwise.
My preference for Gain setting is barely on, to the point that you forget the pedal is on but really notice when you turn it off. The Modele B version makes sense to me now, it would be fine for my use purpose.
Thanks El Murdoque for your TB comments about the Barbershop, they were the trigger for me to commit to getting one.

 

[el murdoque]

The Modele B version makes sense to me now, it would be fine for my use purpose.

I think a fair percentage of people that owned a Barbershop in the past, but parted ways, can actually see the value in the Modele B - and how much sense it actually makes.

Thanks El Murdoque for your TB comments about the Barbershop, they were the trigger for me to commit to getting one.

Glad to hear I triggered the purchase of something you really like

 

[GrowlerBox]

I found that the gain knob is quite sensitive and it's worth spending some time with the setting while to my ear, the sag knob had a clear sweet spot.
If memory serves, for me it was between 1 and 2 o'clock where it sounded just right.

It is quite complex for a three knob pedal, though - and lots of good stuff in there.

Thanks, and I agree. Spent some more time on it, and I suspect it will be a while before I find the ultimate sweet spot. The volume knob seems to do a lot more than simply adjust the overall output; different combinations of volume and gain result in outputs of more or less equal loudness and degree of overdrive, but with quite different qualities, felt as much as heard, I think. And that’s before even touching the sag knob. The “fine-coarse” dichotomy I drew earlier isn’t quite right, I think, at least not for all volume-gain combinations.

A fascinating and unusual circuit. As for @OnlyFlats, it was a thorough reading of this thread that really pushed me towards the Barbershop. If the online store still had the footswitch model, I probably would have bought that one, but I’m pleased now that they didn’t. Nothing like a forced commitment to really encourage exploration of the possibilities

 

[el murdoque]

Did I ever give a reason why the DCX Bass and me parted ways?

I'm having it around for the second time and it simply is awesome. I can't really find the reason I got rid of the first one.

 

[GrowlerBox]

Did I ever give a reason why the DCX Bass and me parted ways?

I'm having it around for the second time and it simply is awesome. I can't really find the reason I got rid of the first one.

Is that the one with the non-bypassable cabsim? If so, maybe that had something to do with it. Seems to be the only complaint I've seen (assuming I'm thinking of the right Origin pedal).

 

[el murdoque]

Well, getting my small pedalboard in order was a nice quest, and I was quite happy with the result.
Let me remind you:

I was particularly proud of myself for that fav switch/tuner combo to completely max out the space on the Pedaltrain Nano.

Then I took it to rehearse with the heavy metal band I joined and while it did work, I was not 100% happy with how it performed.
Well, the solution, it seems, was quite easy! All I had to do was swap out ... EVERY SINGLE PEDAL INCLUDING THE TUNER.
Here's where I'm at now:

 

[el murdoque]

Is that the one with the non-bypassable cabsim? If so, maybe that had something to do with it. Seems to be the only complaint I've seen (assuming I'm thinking of the right Origin pedal).

No, that was the Bassrig '64. The DCX Bass is their much simpler preamp/OD pedal pictured above.

Let me get back to it. A quick rundown:
Volume and Gain are obvious.
HF and LF are bass and treble, but I want to say that they do add a subtle richness to the sound that makes your rig sound literally more expensive.
It does not really feel like you scoop mids by pushing both. LF adds more foundation and a bit of heft - but not the beefy kind. HF opens up the top end in a very pleasing way and with little to no harshness.
Then there's the switches. The top switch toggles EQ and OD mode. In EQ it feels more like an amp and is the most touch sensitive drive pedal I ever played.
In OD it's more acting like an overdrive. When you play a note hard and let it fade, in EQ you will get your attack with lots of breakup, but on decay the note clears up smoothly. In OD it feels like there is a certain amount of compression going on and the grit sticks to the note for much longer, refusing to let go.
Also the gain is much higher. In EQ and my setup, audible breakup is happening around noon on the gain knob, while in OD it's pretty much dirty from 9 onwards.

And then there's the 'Party Trick' switch. It's called Voice.
Set it to flat and it does nothing. The other two options will cut top end with increasing saturation. The more it breaks up, the mellower it gets.
I want to withdraw my earlier opinions on this and want to say this:
Even with flatwound strings, this can have its use. I usually gravitate towards drive pedals that have an active treble eq, so I can bump it up five notches.
However, this dynamic low pass thing can be used to get a mellow drive sound, on flats you can partially counter it by boosting the treble knob more and reach a happy place where you get some raspy drive that lacks all harshness. I will experiment more with this.
The Lehle RMI Sonic Spark and Super Vintage are a cool combo when you set up the SV to be slightly dirty and then hit it with the Sonic Spark to get the rocks rolling. However, I also like the Origin Fanboy vibe of that board, and of course do the Cali, Bassrig and DCX play nicely together.

 

[el murdoque]

You can't see it, but the signal in the pic above was routed Tuner - Cali - DCX - Julia - Bassrig.

Yesterday I re-cabled the board so the DCX sits at the beginning of the signal chain. I feel like this pedal really needs to see an uncompressed signal to show off its impressive dynamic range.
I did have the issues with the Sonic Spark not being loud enough when playing it into the comp, so I reversed the order. I do have high hopes that the DCX works a lot better in that regard, but my band is not rehearsing this week.

 

[el murdoque]

Band troubles (I'm working later hours right now, the others have booked their holidays seemingly to create the biggest possible time frame where we can't rehearse) postpone the next practice again and again, so I can't really find out how the DCX sits in the mix in the way I'm planning to use it.

But at least I received something else entirely:

This TimTam was in the mail.
In the same box, I received a PastFX PX-101.
Which is a clone/copy/new version of the venerable Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter.

Here are a few fun facts about this pedal:
1. It's available. The Moog MF-101 is out of production and has been for a while, so these are somewhat hard to find. The only other copy I know of is the Barbanera, which has a preorder list with waiting periods that rival those of Jack from Noble.

2. It's cheap. You look at it, then look at the price and see that it includes free shipping from Australia, and you think "well, that's a good price!" And then you realize that when they ship from down under, they also charge from down under. What felt affordable in US $ is a steal in aussiedollars.

3. It's a friggin' MF-101 clone. That is one of the sweetest Low pass envelopes out there.

I've had a Moog for a while. I loved it even though it was huge, noisy and required 12V center positive.
However, comparing it to other envelope filters like the Meatbox, the Mu-Tron or the Agent 00Funk, it is incredibly easy to set.
The four pole filter makes it sound fatter and juicier than most others and I feel like it lends itself more to bass frequencies.

My impression on many envelope filters is that it's either too little you can tweak or that it's way too hard.
Take the MXR Envelope filter against the Meatball. The MXR is easy to set, but very limited in what it can do. It's okay for some quack in a funky context, provided you have fresh roundwounds installed - and for use in a synth chain it's not really a first pick.
The Meatball can range from "Is this thing on?" to complete mayhem. In the middle between those, there is a plateau, the comfortable size of a razor's edge, where you need to balance your sound. You have to hand it to the Meatball - balancing on that edge, you get a fat sound, both for funk and for synth.


However, setting the PX-101 is a breeze:
Just ballpark each knob. Turn up the resonance until it feeds back on itself and then back off some. There is considerable interplay between drive and frequency. There are sweeter spots than others, but you get a pedal that sounds like it should and behaves like one would expect it.

 

[Stubb]

I'm a confirmed Meatball lover, but someday I'll grab the PX101 for a smaller board.

 

[NickyBass]

Did I ever give a reason why the DCX Bass and me parted ways?

I'm having it around for the second time and it simply is awesome. I can't really find the reason I got rid of the first one.

Same. I didn't bond with it at first. Now it seems very promising. I will get to try it out on Sunday.
The Gladio SC and DCX are battling for the spot.

 

[sloppy_phil]

Band troubles (I'm working later hours right now, the others have booked their holidays seemingly to create the biggest possible time frame where we can't rehearse) postpone the next practice again and again, so I can't really find out how the DCX sits in the mix in the way I'm planning to use it.

But at least I received something else entirely:
View attachment 6989876


This TimTam was in the mail.
In the same box, I received a PastFX PX-101.
Which is a clone/copy/new version of the venerable Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter.

Here are a few fun facts about this pedal:
1. It's available. The Moog MF-101 is out of production and has been for a while, so these are somewhat hard to find. The only other copy I know of is the Barbanera, which has a preorder list with waiting periods that rival those of Jack from Noble.

2. It's cheap. You look at it, then look at the price and see that it includes free shipping from Australia, and you think "well, that's a good price!" And then you realize that when they ship from down under, they also charge from down under. What felt affordable in US $ is a steal in aussiedollars.

3. It's a friggin' MF-101 clone. That is one of the sweetest Low pass envelopes out there.

I've had a Moog for a while. I loved it even though it was huge, noisy and required 12V center positive.
However, comparing it to other envelope filters like the Meatbox, the Mu-Tron or the Agent 00Funk, it is incredibly easy to set.
The four pole filter makes it sound fatter and juicier than most others and I feel like it lends itself more to bass frequencies.

My impression on many envelope filters is that it's either too little you can tweak or that it's way too hard.
Take the MXR Envelope filter against the Meatball. The MXR is easy to set, but very limited in what it can do. It's okay for some quack in a funky context, provided you have fresh roundwounds installed - and for use in a synth chain it's not really a first pick.
The Meatball can range from "Is this thing on?" to complete mayhem. In the middle between those, there is a plateau, the comfortable size of a razor's edge, where you need to balance your sound. You have to hand it to the Meatball - balancing on that edge, you get a fat sound, both for funk and for synth.


However, setting the PX-101 is a breeze:
Just ballpark each knob. Turn up the resonance until it feeds back on itself and then back off some. There is considerable interplay between drive and frequency. There are sweeter spots than others, but you get a pedal that sounds like it should and behaves like one would expect it.

I know you're (mostly) against using digital stuff, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't try out a Xerograph Deluxe at some point. I have a very hard time believing it's a digital pedal, since it's so fat, warm, and juicy. Especially in 4-pole mode. Perfect for synth, and for funk. And, despite what some people say, I've found it quite breezy to dial in.

Definitely not as cheap as the PX-101, but it's also coming down in price on the used market since new batches have been released every couple months; it's not the eye-watering sums of some of the older, discontinued IE pedals.

 

[el murdoque]

I know you're (mostly) against using digital stuff, but I think you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't try out a Xerograph Deluxe at some point. I have a very hard time believing it's a digital pedal, since it's so fat, warm, and juicy. Especially in 4-pole mode. Perfect for synth, and for funk. And, despite what some people say, I've found it quite breezy to dial in.

Definitely not as cheap as the PX-101, but it's also coming down in price on the used market since new batches have been released every couple months; it's not the eye-watering sums of some of the older, discontinued IE pedals.

I guess I will grab one of these at some point, just to try it out.
In my current situation I do wager to replace the Mobius and the C4 on my big board,
They take up the real estate of four pedals (Mobius is that big, C4 requires the Neuro thing for MIDI control), and I would like to
replace them with a very capable chorus, the Fake Plastic Trees and the PX-101, provided I get a good synth sound out of that.

 

[Maxi Funkl]

Anyone here ever tried Jam Pedals Red Muck Bass Fuzz? If so what was your experience?

 

[Parzival]

What is a TimTam?

 

[el murdoque]

What is a TimTam?

Well, I experienced it like this:
Imagine the black stuff from an Oreo, only a LOT more crunchy. Basically crunchy AF.
About 2mm thick. Then cover the whole thing in chocolate.

 

[Parzival]

Well, I experienced it like this:
Imagine the black stuff from an Oreo, only a LOT more crunchy. Basically crunchy AF.
About 2mm thick. Then cover the whole thing in chocolate.

Sounds interesting. Where does it come from? I can check at my Publix as they do have a small section with some Euro brand foods.

 

[sloppy_phil]

Sounds interesting. Where does it come from? I can check at my Publix as they do have a small section with some Euro brand foods.

Unsurprisingly, given the origins of the PX-101, Tim Tams are an Aussie snack.