|
Post by nicholas on Feb 27, 2015 15:19:39 GMT -7
Well...I'll tell myself it's finished for a while anyways . Since Christmas I've been putting together some pedals, some new, some old and coming up with my "big board". It's a Pedaltrain 2 board. This board is for all my amps. A whopping three. The JAZ, the Therapy, and a Mesa 5:50+ (ducking). There are a few interesting features I haven't seen discussed. I'm using a tube buffered external effects loop with send and return levels, and a series/parallel option. In that loop is a Nuenaber Slate and it's EXP controller, as well as the Fuax Tape Delay. These pedals go in the effects loop of my amps. The Slate is a cool pedal. It can be programmed with any four of the pedals he offers and tweaked with a free download. I can then select between the four programs with the EXP and also select between two settings for each. So 8 possible sounds. I have it loaded with two different variations of the WET reverb, also a chorus and a delay setting. It's pretty useful and I like it alot. The pedals going in front of the amp are run in a loop through the Empress buffer+. This buffer is great and has a lot of options. It is worth the price and real estate on a board IMO. All the pedals seem to operate better with each other and any tone loss is gone. It makes a noticable difference. The boost is a nice touch. It occurs after all the pedals. I'm using a mini TC tuner in the tuner out of the Empress. A Crybaby 535Q that I've bad for years, into the Bearfoot Mini Vibe which is a great pedal, then into the HoneyBee- Model G- SecreFreq. The Secret Freq is great All the pedals are powered my a Voodoo Labs MONDO power supply which is mounted under the board. Cables are a mix of George L's and pancake plugs. Al the wiring is neatly tucked under the board. I'm super happy with it and don't think I'll be messing with it anytime soon. I really like all the pedals.
|
|
|
Post by doctorice on Feb 27, 2015 15:44:19 GMT -7
Didn't you have a fourth Bearfoot pedal, Nick? Didn't make the cut for the board?
|
|
|
Post by simpleton on Feb 27, 2015 15:50:22 GMT -7
OOOOO...nice. The tube buffered external effects loop is pretty cool sounding; I've only used the regular effects loops (external). I don't think that Dr Z amps and buffers all play nice together...seems like they try to add 'clarity' with more highs and Z's have plenty of high end in them. Does the buffer in the efx loop effect to tone at all?
|
|
|
Post by nicholas on Feb 27, 2015 16:08:40 GMT -7
Didn't you have a fourth Bearfoot pedal, Nick? Didn't make the cut for the board? Hey Mike. You are correct! I have a Emerald Green Distortion Machine also. I'm also working on a small board, my Pedaltraim Mini. The EGDM will go there! I have buckets full of pedals ha ha. I've been on a Tom Scholz kick lately. The Secret Freq nails that tone, so its in the "hot" spot right now. Somebody stop me. I can't stop playing "more than a feeling"!.
|
|
|
Post by nicholas on Feb 27, 2015 16:53:36 GMT -7
OOOOO...nice. The tube buffered external effects loop is pretty cool sounding; I've only used the regular effects loops (external). I don't think that Dr Z amps and buffers all play nice together...seems like they try to add 'clarity' with more highs and Z's have plenty of high end in them. Does the buffer in the efx loop effect to tone at all? Well, I have two buffers so I'm not exactly sure the question. The tube buffered effects loop plugs into the effects loop of the amp. It is simply a means to reduce the send level to the first pedal so it doesn't overload and to boost the signal back to what the power amp expects to see. It works well and I hear no difference in tone. I went with it because I added an effects loop to my Therapy. It works with my other amps as well with a little knob twist. Sounds exactly the same to me. The Empress+ creates a loop for the pedals going in front of the amp. It buffers the signal going to the first pedal, and also from the last pedal to the amp. This one does make the amp brighter. But it sounds the same, as far as I can tell, to the guitar plugged straight in. Which was brighter than when I had 4-5 TB pedals in front with no buffer. One cool feature of the Buffer + is it has a "pup loading feature". Well... That's what its called. It is a little mini knob on the side. Turning it down lessens the buffering and darkens the tone. I leave it full up. But it is there if you found it too bright.
|
|
|
Post by simpleton on Feb 27, 2015 17:37:35 GMT -7
OOOOOOOO....thanks for the great description. I get it now on the Tube effects loop-cool to have the loop for the Therapy- and the buffer is needed on that end of the amp to keep the signal up. Cool feature on the Empress+ and if I find myself need a buffer in the future I'm gonna start there as it just makes sense to me to have the option to tailor the buffer to my ear a little more.
|
|
|
Post by walt on Feb 27, 2015 19:40:00 GMT -7
please ignore above post.Pedal board looks good,like a lot of time and effort went into it.
|
|
|
Post by jammergreg on Feb 28, 2015 2:59:56 GMT -7
Walt; Welcome and... you can delete or edit any of your post. Just hit the tool wheel upper right then select ''delete'' or hit ''edit'' to fix something. It took me a year to find that.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2015 4:51:38 GMT -7
Good golly Miss Molly! Wow! Sweet looking board!
|
|
|
Post by strat59 on Feb 28, 2015 5:48:18 GMT -7
Very nice/clean looking board Nicholas. Mine looks like two 3-year olds had a spaghetti party.
|
|
|
Post by nicholas on Feb 28, 2015 9:34:18 GMT -7
Very nice/clean looking board Nicholas. Mine looks like two 3-year olds had a spaghetti party. Ha ha! My looks like an OCD guy made it lol. I still have some more to do. Right now the Send,Return, and Amp input are all hard wired. I'm going to add a small effects pedal enclosure underneath drilled out for 3 jacks so I can easily unplug the long cables. It's just to cold to even think about trying warm up the garage and do some fab work and drilling. My wife already busted me drilling to mount the tube buffer on the kitchen table. I got a slipper thrown in my general direction. I'm familiar with what comes next, so I'll wait for warmer weather. I'll update when I do it. Here's the guts:
|
|
|
Post by LT on Feb 28, 2015 16:01:10 GMT -7
^^^ Nice wiring Nick! Bet that board sounds great…..
|
|
|
Post by nicholas on Mar 6, 2015 14:02:40 GMT -7
Well... We all know how this goes. I started thinking that the lack of trails from my Wample Faux Tape Echo was really bugging me. That created a little bubble. The little bubble got bigger over the last few weeks until it turned into a full fledged gas attack. Enter Strymon. I'm really loving the El Capistan! I have at least a dozen delays, and have tried many more. This is the best one (for me) yet. It is pretty darn unbelievable. I can't wait to try the favorite switch. It was spendy. But I am so glad I tried it.
|
|
|
Post by doctorice on Mar 6, 2015 14:22:35 GMT -7
The Strymon gear is top notch.
|
|