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New Iron Ether Pedal: QF2 analog multi-band distortion

#62
Hi everybody!
When Taylor first posted on his site early this year about the QF2 I inquired about it as I had already ordered a Xerograph Deluxe and an Oxide. Well I got those and was completely blown away!:eek:
The XD is my favorite modulation pedal of all time hands down.
About a month ago Taylor emailed me and said he just finished up some QF2s if I was interested. I was just based on how incredibly musically life changing the other 2 were.

These are my initial impressions of the QF2.....................

Although this is pretty new to me and I haven't spent tons of time with this, I can honestly say this is the be all-end all OD/dist/fuzz pedal for me hands down.
I'm in a new 3-piece roots rock band and this pedal is the foundation of my sound. We have had 1 practice with it and we were all completely floored at the sound/tone I had. I am at a loss for words at how amazing this pedal is and how versatile it is.:eek:
I honestly believe Taylor has created the perfect distortion pedal. It seems complex at first, but it is actually quite intuitive and the options are practically limitless.
Your signal is split into 4 channels of equalization...low, low mid, hi mid and high. You have individual control over those 4 frequencies in numerous ways. Each one has its own tone control and also a 3 way frequency (Q) switch. This can boost whichever frequencies you want boosted in 3 levels of intensity.
There is also a frequency knob that pitchshifts all 4 freqs over a span 3 octaves. For bass all the way down (low) is the way to go.
There is a highpass/bandpass switch in case you want the brighter harmonics of highpass.
There is a mix knob which just kills with bass, and a drive knob that gives you as much beautiful distortion as you need.
One of my favorite things on this, and what is just pure genius on Taylors' part, is the boost stomp switch. There is a boost toggle switch that you can set to 3 x's boost that just beautifully fattens your tone for when your guitar player is soloing, and a 10 x's boost for parts where you are playing alone. So much awesome!!!!!:cool:
You can also hook up an expression pedal to sweep frequencies to get a wah-like effect! At this point, it's not even fair.;)

So basically, you can set your dirt for any frequency you want, and then dial yourself perfectly into ANY band setting. I mean EXACTLY...it's insanity I tell you!!
Aaaannnddd...it works wonderfully with other dirt!:hyper: Just absolutely rules with my Grey/Pink Stash, TAFM, and Oxide.
It can breathe new life and tones into any pedal.

As you all know I have had about every dirt pedal known to man and this has simply cured my GAS period.
Thank you Taylor for that!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to help.
Again Thanks, Peace and Cheers!
 
#69
It's pretty awesome, for whatever reason it's made some tones of my bass a lot more useable in the mix then they were before. I haven't been able to use the neck pickup (kinda mudbuckerish) soloed on my Big Al before as it just would get baried in the mix. Using a light drive from the QF2 really brings out the goodness from that pickup selection.

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#70
Smallequestrian said:
It's pretty awesome, for whatever reason it's made some tones of my bass a lot more useable in the mix then they were before. I haven't been able to use the neck pickup (kinda mudbuckerish) soloed on my Big Al before as it just would get baried in the mix. Using a light drive from the QF2 really brings out the goodness from that pickup selection.
Click to expand...

No doubt! In rehearsal I was playing my Pbass with dead strings and I dialed in the most sizzling cut-thru-the-mix tone. I can't even imagine this with some fresh strings! :cool:
 
#72
I'd be happy to record some sound clips, problem is, where do you start with this thing. I just got mine today and spent 45 minutes alone just playing with knobs and switches, the thing is amazing. Look on youtube for a demo and you'll see a guitar through the QF2 Gold and get an idea of the versatility.

I would love to see pics of peoples favorite settings on this bad boy just to see what people are digging as far as settings.I'll get my pics up here in a few minutes. Granted I've only played with this thing for a very short time.

My favorite setting so far, this could easily change when I plug back into it.
IMG_1879.gif
 
#74
I see you have a source audio multiwave and the QF2... how do these pedals sound if you compared the two? Is the SA a simpler to use 'digital sounding' version? Or..?

I ask because I like the synthy tones I get from the source audio... but like most effects-o-philes I'm always on the look out.
 
#76
thanks for demo. this pedal is very tempting.

to Gopher Bob. i owned SA MBD pro and i think QF2 is better as usual distortion/fuzz, but i pretty much doubt it's capable of synthy sounds like SA. despite both of them are multiband bass distortions they are very different pedals.
 
#77
Gopher Bob said:
I see you have a source audio multiwave and the QF2... how do these pedals sound if you compared the two? Is the SA a simpler to use 'digital sounding' version? Or..?

I ask because I like the synthy tones I get from the source audio... but like most effects-o-philes I'm always on the look out.
Click to expand...

Two completely different pedals with two very different goals. The SA pedal is a distortion more in a synth mode, whereas the QF2 is more of a straight up traditional distortion/overdrive.

I can get some synthy tones from the QF2 by playing with the Q's and sweeping through the frequency, but those are just added bonus to the core functionality.

As for the SA pedal, I can and often do use the Normal mode single band distortion for a light overdrive, and have had a ton of success using it that as a core component of my sound, but the fun in that pedal is using the Foldback and Octave modes for more synth like tones. It gives you enough control though where you can even use the crazier tones in traditional settings as well.
 
#78
Wow, I can't believe more people are not raving about this sweet pedal! I just got mine and am quite impressed. I watched the guitar version of QF2 videos on Youtube to get a good understanding of this pedal. I was able to dial in some killer distortion with NO loss of bottom end. I was playing my Corvette Standard (with an ACG/East EQ-02 preamp and EMG JX pickups) through my Eden WT-400 and Ashdown Mag 4-10 and 1-15. I also had my MXR 288 BOD, and IE Xero Deluxe...I was floored by the sounds I was getting out of this set-up. Tomorrow, Band Practice, I will report on how it cuts through the mix. I will be playing same pedals and Bass through an Ampeg SVT-3Pro and Avatar 2-12. I thought this pedal was just going to be on my way to a B3K but who knows, I may stop here on my OD hunt or have both...
 

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