ilovefuzz.com

the MAX works for me because the pedals on either end--the tuner and Ghost Echo reverb--are only switched occasionally. the actual distance from switch to switch of the other boxes is only 18.5" which is barely even a stretch.

the power supply is being a bit problematic...i wanted to swap in the Voodoo Labs 3 that's on the FEB, but it barely doesn't fit between the rails. i have a Truetone 11 coming that looks like it should work. it's a bit shallower width-wise than the VL3. i still need more outlets for the FEB, so i'm going to get one of the VL X-Link expanders which adds four 9V outlets. i'm trying to arrange things so there's extra 9V ports on the boards so i can patch off-board gear into the power supplies. i'm thinking about the Pigtronix Gloamer as a replacement for the Attack Decay, which is too noisy and squirrely to work well. i can't tell you how many times i've had to factory reset that thing because it memory-dumped or redo the expression pedal settings because it forgot them. it's a shame because when it works it's great, but it's too unreliable. kind of put a damper on the EHX enthusiasm i was experiencing with the AD and the Canyon delay (which is still great).

coupleonapkins wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2024 8:01 am

01010111 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2024 7:09 pm I found an RE-201 on a bidding sight for about $550. I'm betting with shipping I could get it for about $700-ish total.

It's a japanese bidding website, and it sounds like the person has no idea how to test it. The translated description said it turned on, everything moved, but they couldn't "rewind" the tape. I tried a couple translation services, and none of them made much sense of the "rewind" thing. So, I'm betting this thing hasn't been used in 30 years, and needs thorough servicing (at least).

The bottom line is, do you folks think it would be worth it? I honestly can't tell. I do love delays, and I can't tell if this is just me having fun shopping or if I actually want it. The replicator I have is nice, but it is really annoying to use because it's so hard to get it to make a decent sound. I worry the RE-201 would be the same problem but BIGGER and MORE EXPENSIVE. If that's the case, then I'll pass on it (and post the info here for anyone who's interested).


edit: nvm, on top of considering the potential repair and maintenance, it'd be a pain for me to get it to my current place. So, it's not for me today. Somebody else should snag this, though:
https://sendico.com/shop/ayahoo/catalog/n1157971963

Good for you! You dodged a bullet, honestly. In those kinda cases, the best-solution option is always better if the unit was DOA and/or free (not $500 free, but maybe a couple hundred?), considering the repairs (both to bring it up to speed, as well as to keep it maintained on a regular basis). Your time is probably worth more than all of that is probably worth, but it can always be an adventure if you're into that kind of thing. But even in the best case of it being brought back from the dead, you'd be better off selling it immediately afterward to recoup your losses, let alone actually spend any time playing it. Dwyer from Ohsees I think finally relented and uses a few Mile End pedals (maybe a custom job, from what I can remember), after years of constantly babying his RE-201 on the road, I believe, but he's pretty stubborn (in the greatest way). Commit 2 the bit! Or go also insane doing so

Yeah, based on what I could find for replacement parts, it seemed a little steep. I've picked the adventurous route too often and I've learned I'm too lazy to follow through with it and get it working properly. For that kind of money I could just pick up the RE-202 and call it a day, it just wouldn't be as "cool" as the genuine article.

01010111 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2024 3:22 pm I could just pick up the RE-202 and call it a day, it just wouldn't be as "cool" as the genuine article.

I don't know. I think the Boss RE-202 looks pretty cool and seems pretty cool.

And it has some quirks just so the road isn't too smooth. Like, why have a button on the front for changing from "Line" to "Guitar" input? Why not use that button and space to switch between the Reverb types?

Perhaps that wonkiness isn't as exquisitely idiosyncratic as tape heads wearing out, but if you want to get shafted by capstans, you can always listen to this and then play a Boss RE-202:
http://youtu.be/8svD-CTzRWM?si=qQ2d2-ThUJsVB5aN

http://youtu.be/9T_lJpC0If4?si=ZQrA31h20bZ66264

Warpsmasher wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2024 11:37 am

univalve wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2024 5:19 am EarthQuaker Devices Time Shadows II DBA MultiDelay incoming. Curious about that one.

It rules. There's no blend control but it just sounds right on any setting. Great filter and saturated sound, one of my favorite scores this year.

Thanks for the info! Will arrive today. Stoked

i did a dive on auto-swell pedals and concluded that the Pigtronix Gloamer on 1/3 off at Sweetwater is the best solution for my FEB woes. that's going to require additional outlets so i also ordered the Voodoo Labs 4-port expander module and some short DC patch cables. i figured that i'd better move while i can...when the new administration's tariffs kick in the price of gear is going to go through the roof. insh'allah this should be a stopping point for board fuckery. it probably wouldn't kill me to have another tuner for the FEB, but it's not that likely i'm going to use it by itself. or so he said. i've found some sounds i really like using the Shallow Water with the So High So Low filter pedal (hereafter, "SHSL") and one or more of the fidelity reducers. the combo of SW, SHSL, the Ibanez Lo Fi, and a grainy OD setting on the Virus is not to be underestimated. it sounds more like a cassette Walkman underwater than the T-120 VHS sound, which is cool because i'll have that in addition to the Wardenclyffe stuff.

i think i'll try putting the Gloamer down towards the end of the chain rather than at the beginning...folks generally say swell pedals should be at/near the front, but i think it's better for the dirt and filters to see 100% signal throughout rather than being faded into. so probably just before the reverbs. the fact that the lower left quadrant of the FEB is empty may bear on this decision LOL. i feel like i need a delay, but if i'm not using it with the big board i can patch one in at the end running off the extra PS ports.

i also tried out the MIME reverb with an expression pedal, and i really like how that works. though the functions are different on the knobs depending on whether you're in Red or Blue mode, the EP controls depth/time in both. i love rolling in deepening clouds of reverb that get bigger/more distant until the verb starts feeding back on itself. this is going to become a useful ambient tool.

i'm really irked at the slowness of my deliveries. i ordered the Wardenclyffe Mini last weekend, but it's taking its sweet time getting here from Bend, Oregon and isn't supposed to be here till next Tuesday. the power supply for the Normie Board should arrive Saturday, just in time for me to not be able to do anything because i'll be at Becky's. fuck only knows when the Gloamer and VL module will show up.

while i'm waiting i need to audit the main board...one of the PS modules came loose and i have to re-attach it, and i should also do a general check for problematic noisy boys. the looping board is set now, and i don't see anything changing unless something breaks. assuming the big board doesn't require anything major the boards should be set by the middle of next week. famous last words.

i had better get the bi-amp stack set back up and get back to looping before i get any more expensive ideas LOL.

update: the main board is so quiet i can hardly believe it. so i really may be getting close to the end of the tunnel. seriously, the Princeton is noisier than the board. it's not perfectly clean, but it'll fucking do.

All I play currently is my Moog Grandmother and Brad Paisley Telecaster. Not the place I expected to be, but here I am.

the Truetone power supply i ordered for the Normie Board was too tall to fit under the Nano MAX, which only has 1.26" of clearance. so i have to send that back. ordered a replacement Cioks DC7 because i'm so impressed with how quiet the Superpower Bundle from Sweetwater is on the big board. happily it won't have any immediate effect because i ordered via Affirm and there wasn't anything due till next month on the PS that's going back. i've become impatient enough about the pace of my deliveries that i sprung for overnight shipping on the Cioks. i want to be done with this shit.

my imagination has been captured by the Squier Paranormal Esquire Deluxe that is currently being remaindered all over the place. i know the non-CuNiFe "Wide Range Humbucker" is probably just a garden-variety 'bucker in a big shell, but the coil-split and controls-bypass options sound promising. also, it's blue and sparkly (also comes in "mocha" for the non-fabulous). i'm wondering if you can coil-split CuNiFe WRHBs. i would assume if that's not possible with Fender WRHBs, then certainly one of the aftermarket suppliers would work. not bad for $343.99. if you set up a new account on fender.com they'll knock off 10%.

I got to agree, that Tele captures the imagination. (Well, that and the Jazzmaster XII.) This one is kind of bait for subsequently waiting for Fender's CuNiFe WRHBs to get a deep discount, as they periodically do, but those are dual conductor. You could do surgery on a pretty pricey pickup. Or you could go fine one of the many makers of WRHB, whether CuNiFe or not, that either has a four-conductor option or will do it for you.

I seem to remember looking into these and finding out they are also routed for a neck pickup, but don't hold me to that. So that's another way to go for mod'ing.

that's what the review i watched on YouTube said. the 3 switch positions are strikingly different...the control bypass position is downright gnarly in a very good way.

i was very tempted by the 12-string Jazzmaster, but realistically i couldn't justify buying an electric 12 when i barely ever play the acoustic 12. that's why i installed the Duncan Acoustic Tube, because it was way cheaper than buying an electric 12. i still need to figure out what to do to get a better electric sound, though. perhaps a Rangemaster or Janglebox.

Particularly for electric 12, flatwounds. With roundwounds the harmonics clash with the octave string. (Similarly this is why people should mess with their guitar’s tone control when they use octave-up fuzz, shimmer, Crystals, and the like.)

i find that octave fuzz works much better on the bass pickup. i think the contrast in tone color stands out more. lately i've been doing stuff with the 3699 Fuzz where the fuzz and octave go well into ring modulator territory when you play more than one note at a time.

all the stuff i'm waiting on--Wardenclyffe Mini, Gloamer, power supply for the normie board, and ancillary shit i got with the Gloamer--is supposed to arrive today, which means a pretty busy night. i'll be rearranging the FEB as needed, installing the NB PS, and probably dicking around with my Strat. when i put it together over 20 years ago i got the bolts a bit crooked mounting the tremolo and it's bugged the shit out of me ever since. i tried drilling/filling once, but wound up with the same problem. i have a Dremel now which should allow me to be more precise. i've also been generally adjusting the pickups...when i got it out for the company picnic in May the action was too low and the sound was weak, and i never really got it right in the post-event adjustments. at one time it worked really well for me, and i want that back. so i have to get strings on the way home.

soon my current acquisitions phase is going to run out...other than that Esquire the only immediate stuff on the list is more speakers for the bi-amped rig--i want 2 12"s and 2 15"s--and a rotating low stool i can spin around on for the looping setup. the piano bench doesn't work that well, but fortuitously i have a Casio keyboard it suits well. after that i guess it's back to guitar project work.