Yeah, it depends.
May be it's because sitting in front of computer feels (to me) like work while turning knobs feels like fun... and time runs quickly while having fun, as we all know...
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My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal
- Thread starter el murdoque
- Start date
May be it's because sitting in front of computer feels (to me) like work while turning knobs feels like fun... and time runs quickly while having fun, as we all know...
I am with you on this, absolutely.Yeah, it depends.
May be it's because sitting in front of computer feels (to me) like work while turning knobs feels like fun... and time runs quickly while having fun, as we all know...
I just wanted to argue a bit pro digital ;-)
When we're talking about choice paralysis, I feel like it's necessary to say that for example the Headrush has (or had, last time I checked) 10 different dirt pedals. I know I did not find the right one for me and simply distorted the SVT amp model to get my ballsy sound.
So when you're thinking "I want a dirt sound" and go on with the Headrush, you try out the ten pedals in there, find nothing and distort an amp - which is, because it's digital modeling, totally possible. I doubt many people would bring a second SVT for their dirt sound in the real world. These things are heavy.
When you're going on about finding your dirt sound in the analog world, there are more than ten pedals to choose from. I would say the number is significantly larger. You will have to choose from every dirt pedal that has ever been built.
The same goes for your chorus. And your compressor. In your digital box, you pick from those that are in there. In the real world you pick from every brand that ever has existed and built a pedal in your genre.
And while these little pixels always play nicely in the world of ones and zeros, you will find that your favorite fuzz does not want to see a buffered signal, or that the two drive pedals you want to stack have phase issues and sound anemic when you activate both.
And we have not even touched powering those little buggers yet. Ground loops, 60Hz hum, faulty patch cables.
Is this a sales pitch for digital modelers?
Somewhat, or perhaps completely, off topic: who is that fellow standing on the desk between your PJB amp and your laptop? He seems rather, erm, excited about something. The pedals, presumably?
To bring things somewhat back on topic, I would say that I see the appeal of a digital workspace for certain scenarios. A friend of mine who I play with is also in a very high profile Radiohead cover band here in the city, and she has to basically be capable of re-creating all of the wacky bleep bloop noises of Jonny Greenwood (in addition to all the early records with the "90s style" heavy guitar sounds). She is currently resisting the urge to buy something like a Helix, because she is like us and doesn't want to "go digital". But she has a humungous notebook outlining all her pedal knob tweaks she has to make for every new song on the list. Whereas the rest of the band is all on Quad Cortexes and HX Stomp XL's etc. They create all their presets for every song, and then just cycle through them as needed throughout the night. I cannot tell that her rig is (mostly) analog, while her bandmates are all digital, when listening to them. I can see that she has made it, comparatively, much harder for herself. But her stubbornness is impressive LOL! And she still sounds fantastic.
When we play her original songs in our trio, there's no reason for her to have a full digital workflow. In fact, it would work against the beautiful chaos we manage to create. So, for me, this whole debate is somewhat moot, since the context of one's needs is so crucial for deciding which method to go for. But it certainly does seem most of us lurking in this particular thread are similarly-minded when it comes to analog vs. digital workflow
That guy ... is a lamp. You guessed right - to turn him on, you need to turn him on.
It was meant as a cruel joke by a family member for my birthday present. They wanted to gift me a different (serious) lamp, but could not get hold of it in time. So as a placeholder, they bought this and for some reason thought I'd find it repulsive. They imagined me unpacking it and squirming around, trying to find nice words for such a terrible present. Well, the joke's on them. I love it and told them they can keep their serious lamp.
Weirdly enough, the lurkers here seem to have nothing at all against digital, just enjoy (analog) stomp boxes more.
Kudos to your radio headed friend.
That's quite some bandwidth to cover, and it seems she made it work. You gotta have one person leaning against the grain in every band that does something modern. The drummer in my reggae band flat out refused to do in ear monitoring. He had a side fill beside his drum kit with a 18" woofer and a 12" sattelite on top, with a 19" rack housing a power amp and crossover unit. The sub needed two strapping lads to carry it and the 19" rack was a back-breaking bitch to lug around. Well the drummer is handicapped, so the joke was on him when the strapping lads declared that they will continue to transport his drum kit, but are not willing to move that side fill monstrosity, so he either get a pair of IEMs or hire two people to move his headphone alternative.
I hope your friend can carry the monstrosity of a pedalboard that's surely needed to cover all that all by herself!
Okay people. We looked at the Klon and then shifted my attention towards the Tube Screamer.
This trend will have to continue.
I certainly have my mind set which classic circuit has to follow up. What's your guess?
And which pedals should I look at?
I'm thinking once again to try out the original (which was a bit hard on the Klon), and maybe find a super cheap version on Amazon, followed up by something serious.
This trend will have to continue.
I certainly have my mind set which classic circuit has to follow up. What's your guess?
And which pedals should I look at?
I'm thinking once again to try out the original (which was a bit hard on the Klon), and maybe find a super cheap version on Amazon, followed up by something serious.
I'm thinking about a dive into low-gain fuzz options. I have a nice 2-transistor fuzz-face style pedal with an internal transformer-based passive pickup emulator to obviate the buffering/impedance issues (The Orbita 1974 by Analogworm, a Russian builder) which my piezo semihollow fretless seems to like, but I'd like to see some others.
Choice paralysis is real - I think that’s why I moved from HX stomp to individual pedals. Ironically now I’ve don’t that journey and know what I want I’m half thinking of picking up another stomp for preamp duties- need to test it though!
Never thought I would like a Rat on bass, but supposedly the JHS Punchline drive channel is based somewhat on a Rat, or Rat predecessor circuit, and I really like it more than I thought I would.
This!
And as for dirt cheap ass representative you should chose a Mosky Black Rat, which is just amazing for bass, and not just for the price.
My first thought was Muff when I read @el murdoque's post, but then I saw this right after, and have a feeling yours is the better guess!
Dod 250 / mxr distortion+ showdown? Then can try and source the latest Spiral FX version
Apologies if that terrain has been covered already, I'm relatively new to the thread
Apologies if that terrain has been covered already, I'm relatively new to the thread
And for the cork-sniffer version, might I recommend the Lusithand Ground & Pound, a cheeky little pedal from Merrie Olde Englande.
I completely understand and periodically go back and forth between digital and analog myself. I like the directness of analog much better, but I was having a hard time finding a dirt pedal that would cover all the bases (no pun intended). Went through a bunch of them. That’s why I went with the AS, because it feels more like a Swiss Army knife for dirt. Wish me luck because I don’t want to keep buying pedals
I had the HXStomp twice (apparently I often get pedals I don't get along with twice and then kick them for good), exactly for this reason.
In the end I got a Boss GT1000Core for strictly FX sounds and doing my dirt with individual analog pedals.
I hear you on the tape delay, and I went backwards and forwards on the Volante and the RE202 (I think that’s the right model number). They’re great emulations, but they’re not the same as real tape, with all its awkward, quirky impracticality. The DM-101 has the 4 “tape head” type delay, which also doesn’t sound like tape, or pretend to, but it does provide the syncopated repeats with the beautiful (to me) bucket brigade decay. One day, I’m going to get a proper Echo Fix tape delay, but it’ll take some justifying.
Ah that’s interesting - the gt1000 core is often less secondhand in the U.K. different usecase though, I’ll keep my analogue clone of a bs/ss mini but do Amp like preamp drive with it, if it can kick the aion/lab series L4 preamp off my board!
Why? Buying pedals is fun!Wish me luck because I don’t want to keep buying pedals
At least for me...Anyways: good luck!
I admittedly haven't tried neither the El Cap, Volante, RE202, or a genuine analog tape delay machine for that matter, but I do love the delay I get from my lowly NUX Tape Core Deluxe pedal, which seeks to emulate a Roland RE-201 Space Echo Tape Delay.
Using the software editor the NUX actually got all the functionalities of the original unit, plus a control to set tape saturation and individual controls for both tape wow and flutter, though I use it in the stock setting of these secondary software editable parameters, and this way it has a beautiful unique subtle modulation to the repeats, that just adds a certain unique 3D depth, beyond that of a regular delay, or even a regular chorus/vibrato modulated analog BBD delay (I haven't tried the newer slightly bigger version, where all these controls, plus more, are available directly on the pedal it self, but I have read it sounds somewhat different, less subtle, abeit still great).
I have actually tried and owned several different genuine analog BBD based delays, including an original big box EHX Deluxe Memory Man, and while it does sound beautiful, and just about any form of delay has it's place, including pristine sounding basic digital delay, the digitally emulated tape delay I get from that NUX is my absolute personal favorite.
There's just something very special to the character of it, also beyond the unique subtle emulated tape wow and flutter modulation.
From what I gathered from various reviews and audio gear forums on the internet, the consensus does also seem to be that it is an amazing digital tape delay pedal, and not just for the price.
Though I'd still like to try out Boss's own take on it, the RE-2 or RE-202, and would love to try out an original Roland RE-201 Space Echo genuine tape delay machine.
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