pedallabels.com has the answer: perfectly calibrated labels with an adhesive that makes them easy to remove and put back on (it works, I have tried). The full pack is only USD 7.95 + shipping. For this price, you get labels designed for all major brands (Boss, Ibanex, MXR) and 54 single knob labels as well. There is even a label for a 3 position toggle switch. You can find all the details on pedallabels.com.

Here are labels put on two of my pedals:

Here is the full line up:

The Farmer’s mill is a pedal that dirties your tone the way a broken cable, or broken components in your chain would. It is said that Dave Davies, guitarist for the Kinks, put a razor-blade through the speakers of his amp to achieve a grinding kind of distortion, so why not try to put that kind of tone in a pedal?

I know that sounds weird but here is a video from musicradar where you can hear the Farmer’s mill in action and I must say there might be something there (note that pricing information will be available in the coming weeks): click here for the video.

Dainius can be reached here: kacinskas.d AT gmail.com. Here is Dainius demoing those DIY pedals:

The guy who started it all is gone to the paradise of rock’n roll. R.I.P. Jim Marshall. Go to jimmarshall.co.uk to post your condolences.

First of all, about the demo of the BB Preamp I did way back, here is an interesting piece of info that came out following the release of the BB Preamp-comp by the Xotic custom shop: the standard BB Preamp was modified to have less compression after serial number 3643. My BB Preamp has a serial number of 526 so my demo shows the “compressed” version. Interestingly enough, the limited Andy Timmons edition of the BB Preamp featured the extra compression of the early BB Preamp. In order to please everybody, The BB Preamp-comp features a toggle switch to go from no compression at all, to a bit compressed (current BB Preamp) and to more compressed (early BB Preamp and Andy Timmons models). You can read all the details here.

Secondly, about my “Joe Satriani Tone” post, I have found this awesome interview on musicplayers.com. It answers a frequently asked question about Joe Satriani’s Boss DS-1, a distortion pedal he used for a good 20 years before collaborating with VOX to produce the Satchurator. The question is: was his boss DS-1 completely stock or altered? The answer in Satch’s own words: “Well, I would use clean channel of the JFX. I’d get a slightly altered, vintage Boss DS-1. I can’t tell you the alteration, though, that’s a secret!“. That settles it but as far as what the alteration is, the question remains.

Finally, a few months ago, I wrote a piece about the relation between pickup height and tone. This piece was missing detailed height guidelines, I have now found some for Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters and Gibson style guitars.

Fuzz pedals can be difficult to master and most of us who have tried one thinking it would sound like Hendrix on ‘Band of Gypsies’ were disappointed. I thought a bit of knowledge and a tip I have recently discovered would come in handy.

It will probably be my last “video” post for a little while as I am busy with a lot of personal and professional projects at the moment. I will of course continue to post about The Tone and will come back with video demos some time in 2012.

Fuzz or fuzz?

What is a fuzz tone? For a lot of us guitarists, Hendrix exemplifies the Fuzz tone, or rather tones: warm, rich, with lots of sustain as heard on ‘Band of Gypsies’, or edgy as heard on the famous outro of ‘Axis Bold as Love’. Subsequently, the Fuzz Face pedal, still made today by Dunlop (and made in the 60s by Dallas Arbiter) served as a basis for countless clones. It is thought of as ‘the’ fuzz pedal to get.

The Fuzz Face is still made today by Dunlop - Note it only has a Fuzz (gain) setting and a Volume setting - Picture courtesy of Dunlop USA

Let’s dispel a bit of myth here, the Fuzz Face was not the first fuzz pedal, the Maestro fuzz sold by Gibson and heard on ‘Satisfaction’ by the Rolling Stones is an example of alternative design that was also available in the 60s.

Anyway, the tips I will share here are more directed towards Fuzz Face type pedals, they might not work for other types of Fuzz.

Choosing a Fuzz Pedal: Silicon or Germanium?

I have spent hours trying to decide which to get. At the heart of Fuzz pedals lie transistors. Early Fuzz Face pedals were based on Germanium transistors before switching to Silicon transistors, mostly for reasons of stability. Germanium transistors tend to be affected by the ambient temperature.

The consensus on the sound difference between the two is that Silicon transistors are brighter than their Germanium counterparts. As a matter of reference, it is thought that Hendrix used Germanium fuzz pedals on his first three studio records but switched to Silicon later on, which means that the fuzz pedal heard on ‘Band of Gypsies’ is probably Silicon based.

As always with a true master, the sound is mainly in the fingers and less in the equipment chain: wether using Germanium or Silicon, Hendrix has produced some of the best Fuzz tones ever.

So I would say don’t focus too much on the transistor type if it is your first fuzz. I chose to go for a Germanium based Z.Vex Fuzz Factory as it can do “normal Fuzz tones” as well as completely whacky ones, thanks to some extra settings.

Not so easy

So here you are with your brand new Fuzz Face, or Fuzz Face clone, you plug it into your amp set clean, at a reasonable volume and… it does not sound like Hendrix at all. It might sound thin, aggressive, not at all full like it does on Jimi’s live and studio recordings.

The main reason for the difference in tone resides in the fact that Hendrix often plugged his Fuzz Face into a somewhat really loud and cranked to the max overdriven Marshall amp. These amps can be quite dark to start with, especially the old ones. This”darkness” made up for the aggressiveness of the Fuzz which, by the way, did not come with any tone or eq settings, just gain and volume.

It is hard to emulate this sound at bedroom or practice level with a clean amp. There is a way though…

Using an overdrive placed after a Fuzz to alleviate the Fizziness of the Tone

Without further ado, here is a little trick you can use if your fuzz is too, well, fuzzy or rather fizzy/aggressive. This might happen with bright amps such as my 74 Fender Champ. Just place an overdrive pedal after the fuzz in your effect chain. For this video, I have used a Digitech Bad Monkey, it is rather cheap and has a bass and treble control. I have used the least amount of gain I could on the Bad Monkey and rolled off the “Treble” knob a bit (the same trick can be achieved by rolling off the tone knob found on other overdrive pedals):

I will feature a selection of fuzz pedals in one of my very next posts. Until then, have fun fuzzing away!

This video should help you understand:

I can’t wait to try it with my Flashback Delay (read my review of this pedal here). I have briefly tried the app and it features lots of toneprint profiles with descriptions and interviews of the artists who have helped developing them, very cool!

In terms of Tone, it seems that Daniel Piquê favors a rather “pure” amp tone, featuring effects in a subtle manner compared to his eighties virtuoso predecessors. It is interesting to see that a lot of guitarists have been going down this road recently.

Not only do they bear the legendary TC sound quality but they also have a USB input to load ‘artist profiles’ that will change the caracter of the pedal. Before you ask, you cannot create your own tone print profiles (yet), they are made in the TC factory and can be downloaded for free.

I was in the market for a modern delay pedal that featured analog simulations as well as dotted eighth rhythmical delays with on the fly tempo adjustments. So I went to a store and tried the TC Electronic Flashback Delay. Let me say I was instantly taken away by the wealth of possibilities as well as the sheer tone quality. It had been a long time since I had come across such an inspirational piece of gear! I deliberately did not try the other pedals in the Toneprint series in order to avoid burning my credit card but the temptation was strong.

The TC Electronic Flashback Delay

Here is a review of the Flashback Delay featuring the obligatory video demo.

Presentation

The Flashback delay comes in a compact format (think MXR compact) and is a true stereo pedal featuring two inputs and two outputs. It can of course be used in mono as well.

There are 4 rotating knobs: the classical level,delay time, fx level found on most delay pedals (see my post about the delay basics) and a 4th knob used to select the mode. The delay time goes from 20ms to 7s (yes 7000ms!).

The modes go as follows:

• 2290: based on the legendary TC rack mounted delay used by the likes of the Edge or Robben Ford. It is a very crisp but powerful digital delay
• Analog: simulation of an analog delay where each repetition is darker than the previous one
• Tape: simulation of a tape delay, not as dark as the analog delay but still ‘warmer’ than the 2290 mode. It is definitely one of my favorite modes
• Lofi: in this mode the repetitions get really dirty, I don’t find it really effective with distorted tones as it sounds like ‘dirt on more dirt’.
• Dyn: this mode is clearly digital sounding with the special ability for the effect to be less present when you are playing and more present once you stop
• Mod: another favorite of mine, a lush chorus effect is added to the delayed repetitions
• Ping Pong: this a digital sounding mode especially designed for stereo operation. Repetitions are alternatively played on the right and left side of the stereo field (see my video demo below)
• Reverse: for those psychedelic moments, the repetitions are played in reverse
• Slap: in this mode, the maximum delay time is reduced to 300ms in order to emulate the slap echos of the 50s. Having it as a dedicated mode means you can switch from a long delay to a slapback echo just by turning the Mode knob
• Loop: in this mode, the Flashback delay becomes a looper with overdubs. Note that it won’t be as sophisticated as a dedicated looper (no undo, no presets) but it is definitely a bonus to have this in such a small package
• Toneprint: the tone print mode will activate whatever artist profile you have downloaded from the TC website and copied using your computer and the included USB cable. There is a growing collection of toneprints designed by guitar greats such as Steve Vai, Steve Stevens, Paul Gilbert or Ron Thal

Audio Tap

The Flashback Delay also features a little three way switch that affects the rhythmical tap tempo based delays. You can switch from quarter note to eighth to dotted eighth (the famous U2 delay).

This 3 way switch is particularly effective when paired with the “Audio Tap” functionality of the Flashback Delay. To activate it, just leave the pedal switch pressed until the pedal goes silent and strum your guitar to the desired “speed”. Release the switch and here you go, the delay time between repetitions is set to the “rhythm” of your strumming. Some of you might prefer the foot based Tap tempo feature that most other delay pedals feature but as I read once in a forum, TC has got a point in a sense that most guitarists are more precise with their hands than with their feet.

I did encounter a bit of an issue with the Audio Tap feature of the Flashback Delay when placed in the loop of my Marshall JMP-1 preamp. It seems than on the distorted channels, the loop lets some sound sip through even when the Flashback delay goes into Audio Tap mode and ‘blocks’ the sound. This is apparent in my video below. Note that this is a flaw in the JMP-1 and not in the TC pedal which goes completely silent when placed in a “normal” pedal chain.

Stereo Video Demo

Anyway, enough of my yakkin, here is a video demo. I have placed the flashback delay in the stereo loop of my JMP-1, the stereo ping pong or modulated delays are absolutely stunning (well, I think so) :

Hidden Switches

Note that the Flashback Delay harbors two switches inside the pedal. The first one allows you to choose between True Bypass or Buffered (nice!) and the second one suppresses the dry signal in buffered mode to optimize the use of the pedal in effect loops.

• the FB-2 feedbacker/booster puts on a twist to the classical treble booster by facilitating feedback. That reminds me of the now defunct DF-2, a Boss distortion pedal that would feedback by pressing on it.
• the BC-2 combo overdrive seems to be a Vox AC-30 version if the more metal oriented ST-2 released last year. A character knob changes the amount of gain as well as the voicing of the overdrive/distorted tone
• the RC-300 is a looper that fills the gap between the compact RC-3/RC-30 and the flagship RC-50

And now straight out of Japan, here is a video demo of the BC-2 and the FB-2:

Well, this is actually not true, we can see here that Billy Gibbons gets his tone from Marshall JMP-1 preamps (I own one, they are killer) with a digitech EQ in the loop. This goes to power amps and then into a demeter ISO cab which means that no microphone is used! We can see a Boss SE-70 multi-effect unit at some stage but that is all. Maybe some effects are added at the main mixing console? Not super vintage but this goes to show you that it is the hands of the guitarists most of the time…

The rig is shown at around 8 minutes and there are even JMP-1 settings shown at 10:50. The first half of the video is dedicated to Billy gibbons’s guitars and they have some serious attitude. Enjoy.

Housed in the same red twin pedal case at its predecessor the RC-20, the RC-30 improves in most areas:

• Longer recording time, 3h in total (it was apparently about 15 min on the RC-20)
• USB port to copy loops in as well as out of the RC-30 (in 16 bit, 44.1 kHz Wave format)
• 99 memory presets to store your loops and recall them at will
• Two independent recording tracks boasting each its own volume slider
• Effects: those are not “traditional” effects such as reverb and delays but are more “crazy DJ” types of effects such as step phaser, lo-fi or tempo delay. My favorite is “Bend Down” which is a bit of a mad whammy all the way down effect. It is featured in several of the videos accompanying this post

Footwork

The most basic use of the RC-30 is as follows:

1. Place it at the end of your effect chain or in the loop of your amp. You could of course place it in the middle of your effect chain but the effects placed after will then not be part of the recordings.
2. Hit the left pedal once to start recording
3. Hit the left pedal again to stop recording

At this stage the RC-30 plays your recording in a loop and is placed in overdub mode which means anything you play will be recorded on top on that first recording. The number of layers is only limited by the memory (3h total!).

To get out of overdub mode, you have to press the left pedal again. What you have recorded so far will keep on looping so that you can play on top of it but nothing will be recorded anymore.

If you want to go past this basic ‘looper’ use, you’ll have to know that each footswitch has three functions depending on wether you press it once, twice rapidly or hold it for 2 seconds. The RC-30 can be complimented by an external FS-5U or FS-6U footswitch. In the latter case, the two extra switches give you another 6 functions. So that’s a total of twelve!

The built-in footswitches cover the basics: recording, overdubbing, activation of effects, playing, stopping. The FS-6U facilitates some of those but its purchase is in my opinion justified by its ability to go up or down the 99 memory phrases. You can store say a verse and a chorus in two of the 99 memory phrases and go from one to the other by holding each of the footswitches of the FS-6U. I was a bit disappointed this functionnality was not available on the RC-30 itself.

Here is a video where I try to show a bit of the RC-30 “footwork” (I had not owned the machine for long at this stage and you can see I get a bit confused by all those switches towards the end):

Tempo and built-in rythm guide

When you use the “basic” looping mode, the beginning and the end of your first loop are determined by when you press the recording switch. In this case, the “tempo” is defined by the length of the loop.

You can decide instead to use one of the integrated “rhythm guides” which are basic drum patterns. There are only 10 to choose from so it is definitely not a full fledge drum machine, think of it more as a metronome. When the rythm guide is activated, the looping will follow its tempo. The right pedal of the RC-30 can be used to “tap” the tempo as I show in my first video.

Heaps of fun

If you don’t already have a looper, let me tell you, it is a lot of fun. It is a great tool for practicing your timing and improvisation, just record a bunch of chords and play over them. It is also a great songwriting tool as you don’t always need to fire up your super duper complicated recording software to work on some ideas. Finally, it can be a great gigging partner.

It’s hard to fault the RC-30, the audio quality is definitely top notch and it is very responsive. It is more complicated to use than a 3 knob distortion pedal but it is also a lot more sophisticated. The footwork does take some time to get used to but it is worth it in the end. Last piece of advice, don’t hesitate to read the manual, it will get you up to speed quicker than by just experimenting.

To conclude, here are another two videos, the first one is a grungy improv on a famous set of chords…

…and the second one is more atmospheric:

(UPDATED: this is a new version of this video with a less muffled overall sound)

The chain used for the videos was: 1978 Telecaster (stock pickups) -> Morley Pro Wah -> Analogman TS9 -> Pro Co RAT 2 -> Boss LS-2 used as clean boost -> Boss CH-1 -> TC Electronic Flashback Delay -> Marshall JMP-1 set very clean with a Monte Allum modded Boss CS-3 compressor in the FX loop -> straight into a Boss Micro-BR recorder. I have used some of the recorder’s reverb.

It is not really a secret: the Digitech Bad Monkey is an excellent overdrive used by a number of pros, check out Phil X’s videos and you will hear it in action quite often.

As always, I have recorded two videos showing the Bad Monkey in action (see below). They will show how you the beast fares with Single Coil pickups as well as Humbuckers, acting as main overdrive against a clean amp, or as a boost against a distortion pedal.

Introduction

But before watching the videos, let’s introduce the Bad Monkey. It is a green pedal featuring one input and two outputs. It is not stereo though: one output features the unfiltered sound of the overdrive while the second one features an emulated speaker cabinet output so that you can plug the pedal directly into a mixing desk or a sound interface. It is actually a common feature on Digitech pedals and you can hear a quick demo of the MIXER output after the videos, at the end of this post.

Clearly inspired by the Ibanez Tube Screamer in terms of overall tone, the Bad Monkey features a Gain and a Level setting. But it also features something that most overdrive or distortion pedals desperately need: a 2-band EQ. Instead of the measly Tone control often found on other pedals, the Bad Monkey allows you to tune the Bass and the Treble frequency of your tone. This is a big plus and the only overdrive pedals to feature an effective EQ (that I know of) are the Xotic models such as the BB Preamp.

Videos

For this first video, I have used my Stratocaster. This shows how the Bad Monkey sounds against my reference overdrive, an Analogman modded TS9. After comparing the two pedals, I show how the 2-Band EQ can give some “body” to the tone. I found the bass control surprisingly effective with my little Fender Champ which only has an 8″ speaker. At the end of the video, I show how the Bad Monkey can be effectively used to boost a distortion pedal, a good old Pro Co RAT 2:

In this second video, I have used my Gibson SG 61 Reissue, equipped with the stock Classic 57 Pickups. Again, the Analogman TS9 was used as a reference:

Note that for these two videos, I had a Boss RV-3 plugged after the overdrive pedals. It was set on a short Room Reverb (mode Room 2). The amp was my trusty 74 Fender Champ miked by a RODE NT-4.

I could not resist and tried the Bad Monkey directly plugged into my Boss Micro-BR.

Here is the reference tone of Strat plugged directly into the “line” input (not the guitar input):

And now, here is the Bad Monkey with its normal output plugged into the line input of the Micro-BR:

Pretty bad!! That is what you get when you plug a distortion/overdrive directly into a board.

And now, here is how the MIXER output of the Bad Monkey sounds like (the settings were Gain on Full, Bass and Treble at 2, Level at 1o’clock):

It is actually not bad at all, I was pretty surprised in a sense that it is usable although a bit dark sounding, but it is definitely not just a gadget. It sounds quite good with the gain on minimum as well, it gets you a usable Jazz/Blues type of tone.

Conclusion

The Digitech Bad Monkey is a great alternative to a Tube Screamer. Actually, more than an alternative, I think it can complement a Tube Screamer really well. I don’t think it sounds quite as smooth as my Analogman TS9 but the 2-Band EQ and the Mixer output makes it really versatile. It is also excellent used as a booster. The best thing is its price, just check it out!

They have just launched their blog and the first post is about… Guitar Tone Overload. Thank you guys!

Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb / Delay - Photo Pia Jane Bijkerk

At some stage, you could spot the Boss RV-3 in the pedalboards of acts such as Mike Eizinger (Incubus) or Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead). Made between 1994 and 2002, the RV-3 is quite unique as it combines a digital delay unit and a digital reverb unit. I have included the detailed specs at the end of this post for more information on the different modes.

But before diving into the details, let’s hear it in action. I have recorded this video which shows my favorite settings followed by a demo of each of the 11 modes of the RV-3:

My thoughts on the RV-3

The Boss RV-3 is a product of the mid 90s. It doesn’t feature any analog delay or spring reverb simulations, this is a pure digital beast. Delays are crystal clear and reverbs are precise (some would say “metallic”).

That said, I find that its unique capability (for a compact pedal) to combine delays and reverb provides big “studio quality” guitar tones which can be reminiscent of Jeff Beck’s studio sound on his recent albums. It can also go into total spacious ambient territory and can be used with two amps for a stereo setup as it features one input and two outputs.

For all this, the RV-3 is quite underrated and is a great catch on the second hand market, watch out for one. The RV-5, which replaces the RV-3 in the Boss line up, features a spring reverb simulation on top of the digital kinds but does not have the delays of the RV-3. As such, I find hard to compare the two.

Detailed specs

The RV-3 has no less than 11 selectable modes. One knob selects the mode and the other 3 knobs have different functions depending on the chosen mode. In reverb mode, they affect the parameters of the Reverb: tone, time and level. In delay and delay+reverb mode, they affect the feedback (number of repetitions), delay time (time between the repetitions) and the effect level. Note that in delay+reverb mode, you cannot choose the amount of delay and reverb separately, the unique level knob will allow you to blend more or less delay and reverb, put together.

The modes are as follows:

4 Reverbs:

• Plate reverb simulation: Hendrix and other late 60s acts were fond of plate reverbs to magnify their tones in the studio. This is quite a big sounding reverb
• Hall: big digital reverb simulating the space of a rather large enclosed space
• Room 2: a medium-short room reverb which can be used a bit like a spring reverb, knowing that the RV-3 has no spring reverb simulation
• Room 1: a short reverb to add just that little bit of ambiance

4 Delay + Reverb modes:

• Delay + Plate Reverb
• Delay + Hall reverb
• Delay + Room 2
• Delay + Room 1

3 “pure” delay modes:

• Short: 32ms – 125ms (great for slapback echo)
• Medium: 125ms – 500ms
• Long: 32ms – 1000ms

I have demonstrated all these modes in the video above, enjoy!

But did you know that the distance between a pickup and the strings, also known as pickup height, can be setup easily on most guitars and can alleviate a lot of these problems?

As a general rule, when you move a pickup closer to the strings, you will get more output but also more high frequencies which can become ear piercing. At some extreme settings you might loose some sustain as the magnet(s) contained in your pickup(s) will “slow down” the vibrations of the string.

On the other hand, when you move a pickup further away from the strings, you will loose some of those ear piercing frequencies but get a lower output volume.

Sound Example

Here is an example featuring the bridge pickup of my 1978 Telecaster:

Bridge Pickup of a Telecaster - Left: High Pickup Height, Right: Lower Pickup Height

I have kept the exact same amp settings and have recorded similar clean licks with my Telecaster bridge pickup set very high:

and then lower:

Notice the difference in output volume and high end frequencies.

How to Change the Pickup Height on your Guitar

I will detail here how to change the height of the pickups on Telecasters, Stratocasters and Gibson style guitars. Note that it might be different for other brands, models or eras! Usually, manufacturers will issue precise guidelines as to what the optimal pickup height should be for a particular model. Personally, I prefer to do it by ear as I need to hear the changes through my effect/amp setup.

A last word of advice: in general, when you start turning screws to set up anything on a guitar (truss rod, tremolo system, pickup height, etc.), start by quarter turns, not full turns. Be gentle! In the case of pickup height, a quarter turn might be enough to reach the sweet spot you are looking for. To give you an example, with the bridge pickup of my Telecaster, I almost cover the full spectrum in about two full turns.

Adjusting Pickup Height on a Telecaster

On my 1978 Telecaster, I cannot find any visible screws to adjust the neck pickup height but the bridge pickup offers no less than three screws (see image below). No wonder as this pickup can be too bright and often needs a bit of adjustment. By loosening (anti clock wise) the screws, the pickup goes down while tightening them (clock wise) brings it closer to the strings. By playing with these three screws, you can have the pickup higher for the lower strings but lower for the higher strings. You can also have it at an angle. Remember the general rule, the closer to the strings the more volume and high end. Mine had to be lowered a bit as I found it a tad too bright for clean work and a bit too rich in “ear piercing” harmonics. Update Feb 2012: refer to the  Telecaster setup guide for official guidelines.

Fender Telecaster - Position of the Pickup Height Adjustment Screws

Adjusting Pickup Height on a Stratocaster

My 1997 Fender American Classics Custom Shop Stratocaster is fitted with Kinman noiseless pickups. Chris Kinman has a great pickup height adjustment guide on his website, make sure to check it out.

Anyway, these pickups produce very different results depending on their height so getting it right for your taste and gear is paramount. Luckily, it is really easy on a Strat as each pickup has two screws (see image below). Loosen them to lower the pickup or tighten them to bring it closer to the strings. Update Feb 2012: refer to the Stratocaster setup guide for official guidelines.

Fender Stratocaster - Position of the Pickup Height Adjustment Screws

Adjusting Pickup Height on a Gibson Style Guitar (here, a 61 Reissue SG)

Gibson guitars are much like Strats with two screws per pickup (see image below): loosening the screws lowers the pickup while tightening them brings it closer to the strings. Update Feb 2012: refer to this Gibson.com post for official guidelines.

Gibson SG - Position of the Pickup Height Adjustment Screws