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previous: Mark Hammer QWhat did you expect? -- 12/24/1999 7:40 PM view thread

Analog Lives!

12/24/1999 9:52 PM
AMZ
Analog Lives!
How many times have you read posts on usenet by someone who drones on and on about the virtues and versatility of a pedal that we all know is just a TS clone? If you ask on alt.guitar what is the best OD pedal to buy I guarantee that you'll get a bevy people who chime in with the TS & the derivatives.  
 
That's what I mean by over-rated. Not worthless or incapable of making a cool sound, but a pedal that is often touted as being the best invention since the wheel. TS pedals make some good sounds with the right guitar and amp. A Big Muff makes a really cool heavy drive sustain sound (but that's about it). And crank up a Strat with a Fuzzface and wail away for some Jimi sounds. But none are the Holy Grail.  
 
quote:
"So, you'll note the relative absence of octave-up boxes on this list, because I suspect most users of an octaver box (unless they paid way too much for one) are happy with theirs."
 
 
I thought it was because all octave boxes suck so bad no one would admit to using one ;-)  
 
quote:
"Where you WILL get grumbling (and this thread illustrates that) is where a player expects not a function from a box, but a personality transformation"
 
 
Hmmm, not exactly. I have a few boxes that everytime I plug into them, it makes me want to play; to jam on. The TS is not one of them. Do they make me play any better? Maybe a little as a byproduct of my happiness with the sound, but they'll never transform me into Eric Johnson or Eric Clapton... maybe Eric Idle but that's another story. :)  
 
quote:
"... because someone wanted to save a couple of yen, pence, pfennigs, or rubles on knobs, pots, switches, jacks, or chassis."
 
 
Commercial pedals are designed mostly by engineers with no ear for music, and compromises are made in production for the purposes of inventory control and reduction in the cost of goods. That's what keeps the boutique guys in business.  
 
The profound revelation: I have a whole collection of boutique pedal schematics and with very few exceptions, there isn't much innovation in any of them either. Workmanship, quality components and a little tweaking are what makes them different, and yes, better sounding.  
 
There's a market for a no-compromise top quality device that does low distortion crunch and heavy singing sustain with plenty of variations in between. Or maybe something like an analog POD - that would be cool.  
 
quote:
"Would it have killed anyone to stick a dual-ganged pot or even a crummy DPDT switch in to select between 2 different low-pass cutoffs for the delay portion?"
 
 
I built a delay around an SAD4096 that had a tracking VCF so that as the HF-VCO clock frequency was changed, the output filter opened or closed as appropriate to eliminate clock feedthrough and aliasing. Unfortunately the chips used for that device are long out of production.  
 
quote:
"What would you describe as your most exasperating experience with a stock effect? That is, it came so close to delivering, but it couldn't do this, couldn't do enough of that, wouldn't let you switch or select the other. I'm talking stuff that could have retained ALL of its design characteristics, and would have been far more usable with a few extra touches. "
 
 
I think the Fuzzface is the one that fits into this category for me. It has no tone control, which IMHO is something every distortion needs, and the lack of it limits the versatility of the device. Invariably, if I am looking for a FF type sound I use my Fuxx because it has a tone control and I can take off some of the buzz if it needs it.  
 
best regards, Jack