When the TC Electronic PolyTune came out, it blew up the tuner pedal world. The polytune ability (meaning you can strum all 6 strings and it will show you which strings are flat/sharp) was incredibly innovative. You can strike an individual string and it will go into standard tuning mode. Personally, the polytune is the nicest feature. When you’re playing and you hear something *off* and want to quickly correct the out-of-tune string, it’s a snap to activate the tuner, give it a strum and ID the culprit, vs going down every string to see if the string is out or not.

This year’s Winter NAMM, TC Electronic took the PolyTune one step further by making it smaller! They developed the TC Electronic PolyTune Mini. Ultra small enclosure with all the same features as the original PolyTune. They’ve improved the software to picking up additional tunings, and when I say this, I’m referring to the polytune mode. No matter what tuning you use, you can use the standard individual string tuning mode.

UPDATE – It has been pointed out that the polytune has issues with basses. The chromatic function works fine with basses, just the polytune mode has problems.

Currently, the TC Electronic PolyTune Mini is available for only $89.99 at Amazon.com, which is $10 cheaper than the PolyTune standard!

Here is the official product video by tcelectronic:

Again, the TC Electronic PolyTune Mini is available for $89.99 at Amazon. You know you want one.. so get one!

Today’s pedal line is from Saul Robles. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedallineeffectsbaycom. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

My name is Saul Robles and I’ve been following Effects Bay for some time now, great articles and always some very good advice on getting cheaper prices on pedal effects. Anyways, I decided to share the latest version of my pedalboard with all of you. Currently I’m a self employed musician with experience working as a guitar tech for some of the best rock bands in Puerto Rico like: Circo, Indigo and Ignacio Peña to mentioned some. I have my solo project called Costas for which I mostly work instrumental and experimental pieces in short films and commercials. I also play in a Coldplay tribute band called The Parachutes.

Guitars:
I usually rock one of my offset guitars: Jazzmasters or Jaguar! I’m a massive fan of Nels Cline, Thurston Moore, J. Mascis…the list goes on. For some reason I’ve notice these type of guitars work better for taller guys like the before mentioned…I’m 6 ’1 by the way!

Pedals:
Here is my signal path.  It is rather simple:

TC ELECTRONICS POLYTUNE – Fastest tuning available, very responsive.
RMC3 WAH WAH – I fell in love with it because of the flexibility on EQ for this specific model.
FULLTONE MDV-2 – I just need some Hendrix in my tone…Deja Vibe.
FYZZFACELESS MKI (not shown) – I had it of for this pic… but it sounds like heaven and hell married!
WAMPLER PINNACLE DISTORTION v3 – Best distortion I’ve had so far, plenty of room for loudness.
ANALOGMAN KING OF TONE v2 – The yellow side of the version is just amazing tone.
EMPRESS TREMOLO – Very versatile, I would also recommend the Semaphore Tremolo if you are looking for some crazy expressions.
STRYMON EL CAPISTAN with Favorite Switch -  My favorite delay, I won’t change it!
SKREDDY ECHO – My favorite delay, I won’t change it! v2
TC ELECTRONICS HALL OF FAME – I use a Fender Bassman Reissue 4×10 so I need an external Reverb effect, the HOF gets the job done even though my 1st choice is the Strymon BlueSky.

Power / Electric:
For power I use a CIOKS DC10 Power Supply, expensive but worth it! You will notice the change in tone.

Amp:
Fender Bassman Reissue 4X10 or Fender Vibrolux 2X10

Cables:
I’ve hand made my own cables using Canare Cables and Neutrik /  Swichcraft connectors. You can buy them at REDCO.

Thanks for your time, hope this helps in some small way.

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Yesterday, I posted the demo of the Caroline Guitar Company Olympia Fuzz by Carter Gravatt of Carbon Leaf. I mentioned in that post he had some tasty gear. I was taking a closer look at the pedal board (because that’s what I do) and thought it would be fun to break it down. There were a few pieces that I couldn’t ID, so if you know what they are, please comment below. He’s riding a couple of pedals that I’m quite fond of myself – Tim Overdrive (wow, that thing is awesome) and the T-Rex Replica Delay.

Currently, this is what I see on his board:

Boss TU-3 Tuner
Earnie Ball Volume Pedal
Demeter COMP-1 Compulator Compressor
Caroline Guitar Company Olympia Fuzz
Demeter fuzzulator
Tim Overdrive
Browntone Hoochee mama
Klon Centaur
Guyatone VTX Flip Tube Vintage Tremolo
Fulltone Deja Vibe
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
Hughes & Kettner Tube Tools Tube Rotosphere MKII
Hughes & Kettner Replex Tube-Driven Tape Delay Simulator
T-Rex Replica Delay
Dr. Scientist Radical Reverberator
GigRig HumDinger (Next to the Tuner)

As you can see, there are 3 unknown pedals there. Love to fill in those slots. What do you think they are?

UPDATE: Got all the pedals. Thanks everyone, and thanks to @carbonleaf

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Early on in EffectsBay history, I started Tee Shirt Wednesday. Basically, it’s a way for builders, dealers and bands to get some exposure on the web site. They would send me a shirt, I would wear the shirt and I would talk about what they do. It’s been a fun thing, and a great way to get the word out. If you’re interested in being featured on Free Shirt Wednesday, click here for more info.

This week’s Tee Shirt Wednesday is brought to you by Station Guitars. Charlie of Station Guitars has been a long time friend of EffectsBay, and it’s great that I get a chance to talk about Station Guitars today. Station Guitars is an online boutique shop offering quality pedals. I’m definitely talking the good stuff.  I like this line in his About page

“Station Guitars is about one thing; helping you get the sound you’re after. Lots of people are very satisfied with the results they get from “off the shelf” products but for others (like you and me) we need something a little different. We like the stuff that’s been hot-rodded, tweaked, hand built, customized, and tricked out a bit. “

I think that really sums up what products they stock.

Currently, the brands that Station Guitars carries include – Blackout Effectors, Crazy Tube Circuits, DMB, Porter Pickups, Xotic, JAM, JHS, Malekko and more. As you can see very tasty and high quality companies. Station Guitars also has great blog that I personally follow – Fuel For Tone – Station Guitars. This blog doesn’t just talk about hot deals going on, but about Charlie’s thoughts about music, bands in nice little snippets. Good stuff.

Additionally, it appears that Station Guitars will be offering Guitars and Amps in the near future, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for those. For more information on Station Guitars, check out their website, follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook!

Charlie.. thanks for the shirt and continue to offer great products to the masses!

Caroline Guitar Company has really been making some big noise in the guitar effects world. We had an opportunity to demo their Wave Cannon a while back and that was a very impressive unit. Shortly after, or very near to that point, Caroline unleashed the Olympia Fuzz, which was originally funded by Kickstarter. We haven’t hard a chance to give this guy a ride yet (hint hint Philippe!), but I came across a very nice demo featuring Carter Gravatt of the band Carbon Leaf. Carter has some pretty sweet gear and gives some nice demo love to the Caroline Guitar Olympia Fuzz.. check it out:

If you’re interested in picking up the Caroline Guitar Company Olympia Fuzz, it’s currently available for a great price of $145.95 via Amazon.com. Not a bad price for a tasty fuzz.

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Today, we’re going to talk about the Inductor Guitars MP-1 Fuzz, also known as the Mellifluous Pussy Fuzz. This is a clone of the popular and mysterious Interfax Harmonic Percolator (HP-1). The original Interfax Harmonic Percolator was made in the 1970s in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and is mainly known today because Steve Albini of Shellac uses one. You can read other posts mentioning the Interfax Harmonic Percolator here.

Erik Jarvi of Inductor Guitars has cloned the circuit and add his own twist to the MP-1 Fuzz. The pedal is very simple. One gain knob and 2 toggle switches controlling two types of clipping (Germanium diode and MOSFET). My initial thought of this pedal, was that it’s a great sounding fuzz. I like ‘wooly’ fuzzes with that low end break up. It can sound nasty, but not harsh.

For this demo I again enlisted the help of my good friend, Jimmy Rolle. He is playing his Gibson Custom Shop Elegant Les Paul into a Germino Lead 55 (plexi style amp) through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. There is nothing between the guitar and amp besides the Inductor Guitars MP-1 Fuzz.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

As you can see, this is a great sounding fuzz. You can pick up your own for only $157 dollars on their website. You can pick from white or black enclosures. I would say this is an excellent value for this fuzz!! Also, be sure to follow them on Twitter and ‘like’ them on Facebook!

For this demo, I also had an opportunity to ask Erik Jarvi of Inductor Guitars a few questions.

- How did Inductor Guitars begin?

I’ve always wanted to work for myself. But after an all to common 2008 layoff I really focused on what I wanted to do. I started Inductor Guitars. I’m going back to what I love doing – building things that are musical in nature. As a sound engineer I always loved doing the on-site guerrilla repairs. Gotta make it work or the whole show could go down in flames type stuff. During that time in my life, I was designing a tube differential mic preamp that I was never able to get right. I always wanted to come back to it.

- What inspired you to work on guitar, pedals and amps?

I’ve always been into audio – I was in a band which you can hear my terrible playing on my site which lead me into sound engineering. I was a live sound engineer for 10 years and before that an Intern after college at Electrical Audio while recording was still done in the basement. I’m a tinkerer and jack of all trades at heart with a shortish attention span, I don’t think I’d be able to make just guitars or pedals or amps without being bored. I don’t plan to be a big business with lots of employees, I like to get my hands dirty so to speak rather than just running a business from an ivory tower.

- Where are you located?

In beautiful Warrenville, IL. a suburb of Chicago.

- What inspired you to clone the Interfax Harmonic Percolator and add some improvements for the MP-1?

Heh. Well to be honest I built a few different pedals for my first product and my version of the HP-1 sounded the best. Second place was a clone of the Axis Fuzz which it still on the drawing board.

- What were the changes/improvements you added to the MP-1? And why did you want to add these changes?

I added a separate clipping stage using IRF520 MOSFETs that can be combined with the germanium diode clipping stage or used separately. The MOSFETs add a tubey crunch whereas the 1n695 germanium diode have a harsher clip. I also changed the the feedback resistors to both stages to add more fuzz and added a 1n5 capacitor to ground ala Mr. Bill’s Pussy Fuzz. My whole philosophy is to make products that are familiar but different that anything in the market.

- Curious why you didn’t included a LED for the MP-1

The second version of the MP-1 will have an LED, I felt it was better to release it without than try to shoehorn it in.

- Who would be interested in the MP-1?

Firstly anyone who is into the particular sound of Steve Albini who brought the HP-1 to prominence. I think my version is extremely versatile – for instance I know that it was used on the bass for the next Surfer Blood album as a separate fuzz channel and the guitar player Drew Long from a local metal band called Bury the Kings has said he’s has plans on using it.

- How can people order the MP-1? And how much?

You can order one on my website while it’s on sale for $157 here: http://www.inductorguitars.com/?product=mellifluous-pussy-mp-1-black

- Are you working on any new pedal designs?

I’ve got 4 different designs that I’m working on. The closest one to be finished is an all germanium  (transistors and diodes) fuzz that is tentatively called the Ge Juice Box named from Buster’s (on Arrested Development) addiction to juice boxes. It’s an original design and should really cut through the mix. I’ve also got an 30 watt amp that is close too, but needs a great tone stack, it’s based an the AX84 project. Other ideas are an all opamp fuzz distortion with a parametric eq, an overdrive that ventures into fuzz territory and maybe a tremolo based on the Vox Repeat Percussion effect**.

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Been thinking about getting a little creative with the guitar. I’ve thought about and played with a few looping devices – namely the Line 6 DL4 and Boss RC-3, but I always had issues with the control and useability, and wanted to look for something that might have some more loop horsepower. I stumbled on the Boss RC-50 and was pretty impressed (and intimidated) with the option. I wanted more control, and that always comes with the price of additional complexity.

During my little Boss RC-50 research, I came across this pretty amazing artist from Singapore – Randolf Arriola that literally dominates the Boss RC-50. It was the type of performance I was looking for. A series of delays and miscellaneous pedals in front of the looper to craft the textures for each of his songs. I think the Boss RC-50 is no longer in production and the Boss RC-300 is the new guy on the block, so I’ll be looking at that next.

Here is what I’m talking about (be sure to check out his other vids – randolfarriola):

What pedals can you make out in his line? I got a few, but a few are a mystery to me. This is what I see from right to left:

TC Helicon of some sort. Looks like XLR. He does sing at times. Could be vocal effect of some type.
Volume Pedal – Not sure about the brand Boss FV-50L Stereo Volume Pedal maybe?
Fender footswitch?
Boss RC-50 Loop Station
Boss Digital Giga Delay
Line 6 DL4 Delay
Some type of modulation
Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer?

If you have some suggestions, please comment below!

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Today’s pedal line is from Ian Pritchard. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedallineeffectsbaycom. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

Hi, my name is Ian Pritchard and I play guitar in a two-piece post-rock band, Poison Oak.  Our goal is to make the biggest sound with our minimal guitar/drums instrumentation, so obviously a good deal of effects are involved.

Signal Path:
Behringer Chromatic Tuner
Ibanez TS808
EHX Dual Muff
EHX Memory Toy
Rouge Analog Chorus
Rouge Analog Delay
Digitech Digital Reverb
Line 6 DL4
Digitech Digital Delay
EHX Freeze

I have it all sitting on a Diago Showman pedalboard.  I play a Gibson SG Special Faded (hoping to get a Jaguar soon to leave in an open tuning), and my amp is a Traynor TS-25.

www.psnoak.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/psnoak

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I just came across a rockin’ demo of the Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe Distortion. Definitely on my list of pedals to try. Wampler has definitely carved itself a nice niche in the world of quality pedals and the Pinnacle is no exception. This pedal will give you the mild/warm overdrive to over the top high gain fury and is also known for it’s “Brown Sound”. Controls include Modern/Vintage toggle, Tone, Volume, Contour and Gain. Additionally there is a Boost switch on the pedal as well.

The demo by nickjohnstonguitar has him playing his favorite settings with a Les Paul and a Strat. My only complaint with the demo is there are no references to his sound before the pedal. I’d like to hear what his amp sounded prior to the demo. This guy definitely has some skillz to pay the billz.

If you’re thinking about picking up the Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe Distortion, they are available for $229.97 on Amazon. Also, the Wampler Pinnacle 2 “Brown Sound” Distortion is available for only $199.00.

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Early on in EffectsBay history, I started Free Shirt Wednesday. Basically, it’s a way for builders, dealers and bands to get some exposure on the web site. They would send me a shirt, I would wear the shirt and I would talk about what they do. It’s been a fun thing, and a great way to get the word out. If you’re interested in being featured on Free Shirt Wednesday, click here for more info.

To the players out there that use picks with their instruments, know how important it is to get the ‘right’ pick. Right hand picking technique is very important and one of things that you don’t want to fight is pick movement and pick hand fatigue. I’ve gone through a few phases in my time. I changed sizes, changed gauges. I use to like the Dunlop Nylon picks for the raised writing for grip. I remember scratching picks for grip, etc. I’ve gone extra smooth and tried different materials. Picks are a very personal piece of equipment to the guitarist/bassists that use them and finding that perfect match can sometimes be a quest.

Here is where Pete from Swiss Picks comes in. Pete has been working hard to create a pick that addresses these issues with guitarist, specifically focusing on the grip. His Swiss Picks have various holes though the picks with raised outer edges. He was kind enough to send me a shirt and a pack of picks to try out. They definitely work as expected. You definitely get additional grip and I noticed no slippage while giving them a test drive.

I thought it would be cool to send Pete some questions and post them on this post.

- What inspired the Swiss Pick?

I was always looking for a pick with a better grip. My pick would turn in my hand during play, which drove me nuts, so I started by experimenting with different sized holes and locations for texture. It didn’t take long to see the Swiss Cheese image, and with a few side holes added, I knew I had something unique looking. However, it wasn’t until a year later that I figured out how to get raised edges, and ‘BOOM’, it was everything I’d dreamed of.

- How long did it take you to go from idea to product?

A couple of years in that department. I’ve been teaching guitar for 17 years, and the picks look gained interest from my students and fellow musicians to want to try them, and once they did, they begged to keep it. They loved it and wanted more. It was then that I knew that the public would totally dig these.

Then after countless prototypes, I figured out where the perfect hole placement would have to be. There’s a theory to this way beyond just putting holes in a pick. I experienced my proud Dr. Frankenstein moment of “It’s Alive!”

- Did you experience many challenges during that process?

Too many to list. Y’know, I’m just a guy who plays guitar and then I’m looking into manufacturing, and the only way to make these is by injection molding. They can’t be stamped. So, then I’m having meetings with mold makers and everyone I know is pushing me to outsource this to China because it’ll be a fraction of the price. Well, that wasn’t going to happen, and then I found the right guy here in Los Angeles to make it. Then it was all about using the best Delrin/Acytyl for the best possible pick tone. You won’t get that in a Chinese made pick. I promise.

Then there’s all the other costly issues, like Patenting, Trademarking, Artwork, Promo Materials, Price Sheets, Website Design, and Business Registration… Hell, I’m getting dizzy just typing this.

On top of that, I gambled by taking a loan on my ’59 Fender Strat.

- How did, and how do, guitarists/bassists respond to your picks?

I have people that absolutely freak out over them, but then again, some of the old school guitar players keep with their standard Fender Mediums and will not try anything else. But, the people who wanted something more in a pick have been diehard supporters and continue to spread the word.

- Is there a type of musician that the Swiss Pick appeals to? And why?

This is a great question, and here’s why… Different styles create different needs. For myself, I’m into Blues, Jazz Fusion, Classic Rock, to Shred and Metal, so I needed one pick that could cover all that ground. I knew it worked for me, but being in Los Angeles gave me a variety of very worthy test pilots.

First up, was Fusion/Jazz ace Julian Coryell, who was floored by it. This guy just glides over the strings, using a sweep/economy picking style like Frank Gambale. Julian put in his Swiss Picks order right there. He was sold.

Second in line was Terry Kilgore (ex David Lee Roth) who is THE definitive rock guitarist. How many guys could follow up Van Halen, Vai, and Jason Becker. What makes Terry so unique is that he’s not a gain nut. He plays with a cleaner tone and he needs his pick to ‘sound’ great. It has to ping off the strings. Terry’s review was that “It sounds great, especially for harmonics. It’s an easy pick to adjust to, and you sure as hell ain’t gonna drop it.”

Last, I knew I needed a really different player, so I chose Josh Landau from The Shrine. Picture power of The MC5 and Black Flag, mixed with high octane classic rock riffs. Their new record ‘Primitive Blast’ will surely blow your minds. Now, Josh really digs in live, riffing like a madman, soloing like Hendrix, sweating heavily, and beating the shit out of his guitar. After his 45 minute set Josh said, “Man, the grip is like super glue”.

Ted from More Music in Santa Cruz, CA is also a guitar teacher of 25 years and said “Finally, somebody got it perfect” and refers it to all his students. That really meant alot to me.

So, I think it’ll cover most styles. Hey, do you play any Country, Hank? (Yeah, I live in Montana and my name is Hank… but I don’t play country music. I respect those musicians though.. they’re damn good.)

- Where are you located?

Swiss Picks is located in West Los Angeles.

- How do I buy?

Please check your local music store. If they do not carry the line yet, ask them to carry it, as we are open to non-corporate dealer inquires, or order direct from our website, www.swisspicks.com

- How much are they?

A bag of 6 should be no more than $3.99

- Do you offer different gauges and shapes?

At the moment we have a Regular, .80, but in the near future I will have a Thick, 1.10, and last a Thin, at .60. As the company progresses, there will be different smaller jazz style shapes available.

- How does the future look for Swiss Picks?

I think it looks great. Though some of the store owners are skeptical, as they always are when a new product is released, the guitarists and musicians have really gotten behind the pick, and I’m grateful to them all. My current dealers are amazed at how fast they’re moving off the shelves, most notably Guitar Asylum in New York.

In closing, I just want to keep the company growing and keep playing guitar as much I can. After all, that’s what it’s all about, right?

So, if you’re looking for a change in your pick department or looking to fix your slipping pick issues, definitely check out Swiss Picks!

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