Following my new-found appreciation for compression placed post-dirt, I decided to redo my mini rig. I also swapped out the TU-2 for the Polytune I had sitting around. To my surprise/delight, the rearrangement even allowed me to cram in one more pedal (added Hall of Fame reverb). For some funny reason Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the 5000 came to mind… Here’s the signal chain: TC Electronic Polytune MXR Analog Chorus Lovepedal Amp11 Boss CS-2 Boss DD-5 (w/ Monte Allums mod) TC Electronic Hall of Fame
Walrus Audio Deep Six (Compressor)
Here’s my new compressor pedal. I really like it. Previously, I had a Boss CS-2 on the board, which is regarded by most as a pretty great compressor. I agree. Before that, I had a MXR DynaComp. I even had it modified by JHS. But it just wasn’t doing what I wanted. As great as the CS-2 was, I was really intrigued by the idea of having a blend knob on a compressor, which the Deep Six has. So I’ve finally gotten my hands on one for a good price.
JHS Pedal Mods – Sloppy (complaint)
JHS Pedals are one of my favorite guitar effects companies. They make some of the most sought-after pedals and offer some of the most unique and innovative pedal modifications. I don’t have any experience with their original products, but I have had a few of my own pedals modified by them – Boss TR-2, DD-5 and MXR Dyna Comp. Now, with that said, I do have one complaint…and it’s about the quality of their workmanship. It. Is. Sloppy…
Walrus Audio Voyager
This is the Voyager from Walrus Audio, and it is quite the awesome overdrive pedal. If you love the sound of your amp and are trying to find an overdrive pedal that’ll preserve that tone, this transparent overdrive is what you’re looking for. I think my personal rule of thumb for choosing a good overdrive pedal is that it is transparent. It was actually pretty tough for me to compare the Voyager with other drive boxes that I currently own because I think all of them are actually quite good at doing this (Lovepedal Amp11, Boss OD-3, Maxon ROD 881). I spent a good […]
Easy Mod
bought a pack of LEDs of varying colors off of amazon (3mm & 5mm) and decided to swap the LEDs on a couple pedals. for the Maxon chorus I had to do this because under the stage lights — with the stock diffused red LED — it would sometimes appear that the pedal was on when it was not. for the DD-5, I just did it for fun. coming soon: most recent pedalboard arrangement and new Pedaltrain case from Brady Cases.
Lava Cable’s Solder-free Patch Cables
My current set-up. But what I wanna highlight are the new patch cables. Previously, I had George L cables installed. I had been using them for about 8 years, I think. They were great, but there were a few occasions when the connections became insecure, causing me to spend anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes to figure out where the kink was. A couple of times the issue occurred right before a live set. THE WORST. Anyway, I was drawn to the Lava cables because of a couple things: 1) They had the smallest plug of any patch cable I […]
New Knobs
found these beautifully machined knobs at Mar Vac Electronics. the original ones were flimsy plastic – i had already kicked one off. Maxon made some pretty nice pedals back in the day (i think their pedals are still nice, but i haven’t tried them) but used unusually weak parts for some components. to make it worse, these parts are impossible to find. i already had to have special 1/4″ jacks sent from Maxon in Japan (!) to replace one that had cracked. replacing these knobs weren’t easy either. the shaft wasn’t a full 1/4″ cylinder. it was a freakin’ 1/4″ […]
New Zune?
so it seems like this is Microsoft’s next offering for their Zune players (confirmed by a small handful of reliable sources). honestly, i think it looks pretty nice. no word on specs yet, but from the looks of it, it’s gotta be a touch-screen device. and the skinny thing that looks like a button might be similar to the ipod touch/iphone’s home button. i have the first-gen zune and i actually think it’s still a nice solid music player with a very nice UI. i wonder what this new Zune can do…
Micro Heli’s
man has been fascinated by flight for as long as history can tell. i am a man. if you’re into R/C’s and helicopters, you gotta get yourself one of these bad boys. just search ebay for “syma s010” and you’ll find the one i have in the picture. 30 bucks a pop! this is the best one in the $30 range. lots of fun but at the same time very therapeutic.