Post subject: Gear Talk (Effects Pedals, Modulators, Sequencers, et al)
for many of you, this music obsession goes well beyond connoisseuring, and i've heard some brilli stuff from the lot of y'all, and i'm always game to hear what gear grinds your gears. what pun?
i got into a bad habit of occsnlly cluttrng my music diary with tonehead nonsnse, so I'm startng this thread instead.
any of your thoughts on anything gear-related welcome (favorite use of an effect, best tone you've ever heard out of a synth, most versatile sequencer you've ever laid your eyes on, strangest use of a theremin, OMG i want to buy this!, OMG i just bought this!, here's my review of Montreal Assembly's Count to 5 and other comments like this are totally in the belong category).
in general, discussion good. links and pictures and videos are good. you know the drill. have at it. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
to kick things off, i'm a talk 'bout this're SSD Devices Atom Smasher. from the website:
Quote:
The Atom Smasher is a digital delay pedal, reverb pedal and micro-sampler. It's supposed to be odd, noisy and as pleasant or unpleasant as the user desires. It came about simply because I wanted a number of 'exotic' or experimental guitar effects in a single pedal without having to take up much pedal space. If the patches seem a bit random, well, they're the ones I found myself using the most. Although this is a pedal I built for my own amusement, hopefully you will find something to love about it yourself!
There is a waiting list for pedals as they're built one-at-a-time, so to add yourself to the waiting list, use this link. The cost of the pedal is £180, and an extra UPLINK expansion pedal (here's a short demo of it changing sample length) can be purchased for £25 with no additional shipping cost. There's an option for plain metal or white enclosures for the UPLINK controller - I prefer plain, but it's up to you.
So what the hell is it, right? It's got 8 modes:
STUTTER :: this one makes your guitar hickup, and it's on a soft-switch, so you can use it sparingly. this works incredibly when you've got a chord ringing out. it gives the impression that your amp is breaking up. emotes well.
GLITCH :: the best part about the SDD Devices design with this effect is that there is a randomization pot. glitch needs to sound unintentional, so having the option to randomize it heavily makes it convincing, you know? the other pots control buffer size and glitch rate. in practice, using this sparingly and subtly is legs.
REVERSE RAMP DELAY :: it does exactly what you'd expect. honestly, my altered obscura does it *better*, so i'm not using this mode much (if at all), but it's nice to have.
DUAL PITCH DELAY :: this pedal is worth the money for this effect alone. i had the EarthQuaker Devices Arpanoid, which pitchshifts wildly...uncontrollably. i ditched it for an Alexander Pedals Radical Delay ][+, and the thing is really nice, but here we go - the Atom Smasher sounds way more natural (not so chimey), and the Atom Smasher does 5000 other things, so the Radical got pushed off my board. another victory for the Atom Smasher.
PITCH SHIFT :: i ditched my micropog (octave up + octave down), so i needed something that covered my bases. this one tracks well AND has a blend pot (or a mix, whatever). my BitQuest does the pitchy-shift too, so the bases are loaded. i can pitch before or after my chain.
REVERSE QUANTIZER :: honestly, i haven't played with this one too much cause it freaks me out. i have no idea what a quantizer is, so reversing it is a scary thing to try and control. every time i sweep by this effect, the world gets synthy and rhythmic - even when i'm not sending a signal through. so yeah - scary.
PITCH SHIFT REVERB :: speaking of freaky effects - i have no idea how to use this effect in a practical setting. i'm glad it exists. i'm glad i've got the option. but i've never thought, "gee, i'd like to pitch my reverb", so it's going to take more than a few good jams before i find any use for this. that said, i'm 90% certain i'll use it eventually. it's simply one of those "let me wrap my head around it first" sort of deals.
REVERSE REVERB :: see notes about the pitch shift reverb. honestly, i'm not much of a reverb guy. i have three reverb pedals, but i keep them tame, y'know? maybe a tinge of hall to add some dimension to my sound. i've not explored this effect as much as i should. i think i ought to spend some time studying ed o'brien cause that man is reverb...
*note: favorites in bold.
This pedal looks INCREDIBLE, right? Weird, versatile, unique, et cetera. After reading a lot about the pedal (including reviews and the manual) and watching several videos online, I really wanted one of these pedals. I added my name to the wait-list last year and realized this could take a long time, so I messaged the guy who makes these pedals. Sure enough.....
It turns out, there are hundreds of people on the wait list, and SSD Devices is one guy's hobby (the guy works two or three jobs and has a band he's trying to get off the ground), so... it would probably be several years before my name came up. If you want one of these pedals, good luck. I ended up grabbing one (thank you, /r/letstradepedals in return for a pedal I wasn't using).
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This is by far my favorite pedal ever, and this guy is a genius. He's mad. But he's a genius. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
I have a real shitty drum kit that I've been playing for years. My thinking is that if I can make IT sound good, then I must be a pretty damn good drummer by now. There is a hole in my 10 inch tom, my crash cymbal broke, and I never replaced it so, I only have the one ride cymbal, my kick pedal is basically broken in half (but still works) and my hi hat is all sorts of weird. I can probably do more with less than most people.
I haven't played much around with this pedal line, but really think the Hot Hand is something really cool at 2:33 (the rest is interesting, but the Hot Hand is really cool):
Also, I have yet to play through a more versatile, warm, PRESENCE GIVING, smooth bass amp/cab than the M6 Carbine and a Powerhouse Cab (I have the 6x10, but they all sound amazing).
What I love most about the amp/cab is you can really dial in the tweeter, as well as the voicing: it has a dial on it that you can control using a switch, and revoice your mids on the spot - either a huge scoop down or up, or a small scoop down or up... and anyone who plays bass knows how important those mids are to the character of what you are playing.
Why the different basses (imo) and why they are worth having (hopefully you heard the differences in the video)... and why a bassist might consider broadening their palate with these tone monsters.
Gibson SG: known for it's "mudbucker", to give really deep and boomy neck pickups sounds (absent in the video because it looks like he playing closer to the bridge pickup)... also this wiring configuration is probably the best:
1962 Fender Jazz: Jaco makes the more unique sound of this bass famous, but it's actually pretty versatile to bring in the mids (almost) from a precision bass, but then brighten it up with . The neck is a beauty to play.
StingRay: the first "modern" bass to use active pickups (also developed by Leo Fender, but sold as MusicMan).
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Rickenbacker: your mom likes this bass... just kidding. It's the sound of lemmy and the rush dude... hehe... Paul McCartney also used it... idk... it's a very versatile bass, just like the Fender Jazz, but somehow maintains the growl of the precision that (imo) is lost when you go from precision to jazz.
Danelectro: made from masonite, and hollowbody, along with a short scale and lipstick pickups makes this bass ring beautifully with a very unique tone.
This is so fascinating to me. I don't know ANYTHING about any of this stuff, so it's interesting for me to hear people talking about it. Maybe I'll learn something.
I have a real shitty drum kit that I've been playing for years. My thinking is that if I can make IT sound good, then I must be a pretty damn good drummer by now. There is a hole in my 10 inch tom, my crash cymbal broke, and I never replaced it so, I only have the one ride cymbal, my kick pedal is basically broken in half (but still works) and my hi hat is all sorts of weird. I can probably do more with less than most people.
This. I get really turned of with a load of geek talk. It sure helps if you have the cash to splash and the know how but that last sentence is what it's all about for me. I have a nice fender jazz bass but I'll play through any set up (I don't have my own amp) and still sound great. Also that's the bass I'm stuck with and I'll make it work in any situation (nearly). Of course certain gear and pedals are essential to create the exact sound in some styles.
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