pedal board de/reconstruction

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dots
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pedal board de/reconstruction

Post by dots »

mentioned this in another thread and decided it deserves its own.

when my son offered to build me a fender blender clone, i ran into the high class problem of too many pedals for not enough room on my board. since my pedaltrain fly is exactly the size i want, i figured i'd take a pass at restructuring my whole live fx setup (old config below).
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the most underutilized effect on there is the flashback x4 which also takes up the most space. even better, because its power draw is too much for my mxr power brick, it has to have its own power supply, requiring me to have the ugly splitter. when i got it about 6 years ago, i had visions of programming cool loops and skirting the need for another guitar player live. lol no. fuck that shit. great features, but its gotta go. (classifieds lank)

another situation i'm finally dealing with is my beloved OCD overdrive. love this pedal. yes, it is a fact that it and the glove overdrive next to it are basically the same circuit, but i use them differently and have been just fine with it. that said, the dpdt switch on the OCD broke several years back. if it was busted and stayed in the modded position, i wouldn't care, but it will randomly switch back and forth now which isn't cool. fulltone lifetime warranties their gear, so ima get it fixed. i got a used keeler luna overdrive off reverb this week. it arrived yesterday, and its tonal options are suiting me fine. plan there is to get the OCD fixed and then sell the glove when i have it back in favor of using the luna for crunch.

lastly, there's the overall layout. i think i made decent and mostly clean use of the space on the pedaltrain with the given boxes to work with, but i've never been happy with the power supplies up top (they were too bulky to mount underneath), and the x4 is just a spacehog for what i need.

for delay, i picked up a used flashback 2. i almost went with the mini version, but it lacks the storage of its bigger brother.

i needed something to add that seemed FUN, so thom's thread also inspired me to get a recovery effects shortwave which i figure must be really good since he likes his and i couldn't find any used on reverb.

the bulkiest thing i got is an ernie ball vp jr, but i believe it will work out fine to mount on the far right with the dirt pedals after it.

oh yeah, with what will end up a net gain of at least two pedals, i needed to add more power, so i got a truetone 1spot pro as the mxr dc brick was maxed out at 8.

my question as of now is, with a fuzz pedal currently in production, do i need the JHS mini foot fuzz? i'm not a fuzz aficionado, but i do use it occasionally. the complaint i have is sometimes you can get mexican radio in san diego when it's engaged. the blender is just going to give me more options. is it worth keeping two to stack them or dial in differing tones?
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

Wellllll, the Blender is an octave fuzz, so sounds pretty different to the JHS/Fuzz Face.

As an aside: unless you're running the Strobostomp in true bypass mode, its buffer is likely making your current or future fuzzes very nasty. Impedance, science, blah. It might even improve the radio situation?

Obviously this is totally valid if you like the sound, but you might find it more pleasant and 'reactive' before your buffered tuner (and I personally would use that mode given the amount of true bypass pedals on your board).
Last edited by Doog on Fri Aug 27, 2021 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by dots »

as i was trying to ground whether it was in true bypass mode or not, i think i may have stupidly fried the strobostomp by accidentally connecting an 18v source to it. *facepalm* gonna open it up and see if it is salvageable, but for now, it won't even power on with a battery. i've had it for around 15 years or more, so it's not like my ROI is in the balance here. i just feel like an idiot.

good call out on the different fuzz types -- i am n00bish enough on it to not have made the connection between the octave aspect (though i know damn well the blender does that), so i'll hang onto the JHS for a minute to see whether there's value for me in keeping both.
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Post by Thom »

I’d keep the JhS, and also do what Doog says :lol: My fuzz face picks up Polish radio sometimes! Does seem to depend on the direction it’s facing.
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Post by plopswagon »

If you point it more northeast do you get Finnish radio?
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ekwatts wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:53 pm The word "moisty" has made me irrationally angry.
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Post by Thom »

Probably!
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Post by dots »

sigh. i'm having matt run a voltmeter on it when he gets home, but i'm pretty sure the strobostomp is fucked.


it's actually a blessing in disguise as it's kinda oversized, and the new versions are more conforming. just feel like a moron for carelessly killing the one i had and liked.
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Post by Thom »

Damn that sucks, sorry man. But on the plus side, replace it with a PolyTune Mini, more pedalboard space, more pedals = profit??? **happy**
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Post by dots »

i should have come back the thread before my trip to guitar center as the polytune is less expensive and smaller, but i have the HD in hand now. it's pretty nice (and in true bypass mode!!), so i will roll with that for a bit and see how i like.

a BUNCH of the shit i ordered also arrived today, not the least of which being the 1Spot pro which, as it turns out, is designed to mount in my pedaltrain and even comes with the brackets to mount it underneath. i had no idea and am stoked that i stumbled into the right decision. kismet? anyway, the only suggestion i can make is they should have included an angled power cable so it can sit flush against the top of the board, but meh. i can pick up one of those easily.

gonna start putting things together as all i am waiting on now is the pedal that started me down this path: the fender blender clone
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Post by Thom »

Awesome, looking forward to seeing it together.
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Post by robroe »

I've been using a regular 1spot for years and it's been great. If it ever failed I would buy 2 more
dots wrote:incesticide
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Post by dots »

Got it all put together just before I had to leave for ushering a show (intermission now). Will take some photos tomorrow.
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Post by dots »

success.

it's all in now, and i'm looking forward to playing with tones a bit more this coming weekend. ended up having to remount the MXR brick again since two of the 12 ports are 18v, and i now have 11 9v stomp boxes to power. as you can see there is real estate for a few more options, so i may end up snagging that compressor, EQ, and something else soon enough.
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one question: on a couple of the pedals, the rubber bottom does not every want to grip the velcro tape. for now, i'm holding down those two (phaser and tuner) with zip ties. is there a way to get those to grip without removing that rubber?
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Post by Doog »

Lookin' good, Dot!


Re: velcro, try sanding the base a lil', and wipe it down with isopropyl alcohol; the adhesive should adhere
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Post by Bacchus »

Is it pedals with a rubber base, or with rubber feet? Rubber base do what doog says. Rubber feet, I've found it useful to build up the space in between the feet with some other material (I use some weird, plasticy backing board type material my wife always has lying around). Adhere this (super glue, spray on adhesive, whatever you're comfortable with) to the pedal, then velcro that.
Image
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Post by dots »

referring to the ones with all rubber bases as the ones with the feet, i just yank 'em off and store them for when i want to sell those boxes (and then proceed to lose said feet over the ensuing years).

okay, i'll try the sanding technique. i'd read it about (online!), but saw mixed reviews. it will look better than the ties for sure.
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Post by Thom »

Looking good! How are you liking the shortwave?
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Post by dots »

liked it a lot! spent about 30 minutes noodling before i had to head out, powered everything down, and when i came back to play with it again, it would only produce a nasally whining sound when engaged. having the vendor swap with a new one as there's no way it was my power or anything janky like that. none of my other pedals have so much as sneezed since i got it all connected. but yeah, really enjoyed what i heard and hope to incorporate it as some fun textures for live work... maybe even tracking?

while i wait for that, i'm looking to add a few more elements:

EQ
compression
distortion / crazy overdrive

i'm thinking the boss GE-7 should do the trick on EQ, but i'm not sure about the compressor at all. i know i want something to add that smoother bite to the attack when engaged.

as for the dirt pedal, it turns out that lunar overdrive i got is essentially a modified RAT. so i've got dark, clippy, od/fuzz combinations for days, and i mostly use it for first stage gain with a snarl. once i get the OCD back, that will be my usual heavy tone. but i need something even heavier/thicker but with enough separation that i can also be expressive with full chord voicings (which disqualifies the two fuzz pedals). so i'm thinking something along the lines of a metal zone might to the trick, but i'd like to be more creative than that. also wanting to keep it standard or mini sized. any suggestions?
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Post by Thom »

Shame it died but glad you liked it and hopefully you get the replacement soon. The JB-2 Angry Driver is one of my favourite drive pedals, the Angry Charlie does the hot rodded Marshall in a box tones in spades, plenty of gain, but you can run it with the Blues Driver side in parallel or series either way round which is where it really shines. I think it’s really versatile - check out some demos. Not sure whether it’s what you’re looking for but it’s a great pedal. The Mooer Yellow comp is great, small and cheap. Diamond comp clone I believe. Never had an EQ pedal so can’t help you there!
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Post by dots »

bitchin advice, i'm checking out all of that after work.

thanks, thom!