Thursday, January 15, 2009

Boost Pedal experiments

so....tonight, I was re-learning tunes for a band that I'm a for-hire-sideman in, which is a great position to occupy...but that's another story....anyhoo...I was tweaking my pedalboard...a severe disease when you have TOO MANY to choose from...and was just not finding the right LOUD pedal for solos and crazy boosts of my signal.  

The board consists of, from right to left, guitar to amp, a Barber LTD SR, a Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso, Fulltone 69 pedal, Fulltone Supa Trem, Guyatone MD3 Delay, and a Fender Pedal Tuner...all powered with a Trex Fuel Tank Jr, going into my Dr Z MAZ 18 2x10 combo.

The pedal I was having trouble with was the 69...it's my freakout pedal for this particular group.  Unfortunately, it's just not giving me the boost I need.  Naturally, I'd use one of my Time Bomb Boost pedals, but they're constantly sold-out, and I don't keep one to myself yet...YET...before they started selling so well, I used it in place of the Catalinbread Boost...but now, I'd rather sell all available pedals to get them out there in the world, than to save one for myself.  Anyhoo...back to the 69 pedal.  It just kept disappearing in the mix, to my ear.  So...I started trying different pedals...I tried the Exotic Effects RC Booster, The TIM, the Timmy, the Plum Crazy Effects FUZZY LADY, Fulltone OCD, Octafuzz, and Fulldrive, Barber Trifecta Fuzz, and finally went for my Analogman Beano Boost, which would have been the ONE..but I broke the input jack by forcing a cable into it...so...instead of doing the quick fix, I went back to the shelves, and pulled out my Plum Crazy SQUAWK BOX...it completely SLAYED all that I had previously tried on this board.  It got the velcro, and a solid position on the board.  If you get a chance to check one out...DO IT.  I'm glad and sad that I broke my Beano Boost, but will do the fix-a-roo and have her back in action in no time...just didn't want to fool with heating up the soldering iron tonight...my tech comes to pick up my gear in the morning, and I wanted to have it all ready to rock tonight.

Granted...all the pedals I tried to use for this particular situation, are FABULOUS pedals, and I do use them for other scenarios...I think it's time I put aside both a Luther Drive, and a Time Bomb Boost for myself...but honestly, everytime I get an order, I just ship what's ready to go, which constantly leaves me without a toy of my own!

Just thought I'd share the experience...

ROCK ON!

GMD

4 comments:

  1. I've never heard of the Squawk Box, I use a Zvex SHO but i'm not too happy with it, might check that Squawk.

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  2. GMD - Why didn't you try the CMATMODS Signa Drive?

    madml

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  3. Just didn't get to the CMAT signa in the pile....wasn't looking for an OD....the Barber takes care of that role for this particular band....needed a freakout box....the SQUAWK did it!

    ROCK!

    GMD

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  4. Dude!

    I am a fan of your videos from Budapest - Hungary (Europe). There is a Plum crazy Fuzzy Lady on sale in town. Only one in town I guess... Shall I go for it? I wanna solve my fuzz question once and for all and not looking for another one again... i have tried so far at least 20 different boutique stuff, but most of them don't sound like they way they are advertised... This one I dig, but hope it is usable in live conditions as well... What do ya think?

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