DIY - Wiring for 3 single pickups in series / parallel V2 (Complete combinations)

Introduction

After introducing my previous DIY entry, related to a way to get most of the possible combos arranging three single pickups with just three "common" 4PDT on/on/on switches (please, see http://hermeticoguitar.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/wiring-diy-3-single-coils-in.html), I was challenged by a customer to find a solution for every possible combination.

I knew how this would end, since this is a "problem" that was always in background in my "designer" mind.
This is a clear example on how a solution that can be designed in theoretical world cannot be implemented in real world, because of the constrains of existing technology and the limited room that guitar electronics cavity have.

But, let's introduce the diagram first and then, we will comment everything related to it and, real feasibility of this project.

You will learn also how to approach a complex design, with the help of a decision table.


The Diagram

Please, click on the diagram to see it full sized.

At left hand, you can see a table. Columns correspond to the status of the three switches and the resulting combo of pickups.

To avoid conflicts when just two pickups are active and one is in parallel and the other in series mode, we always resolve this conflict by putting them both in parallel.

When two pickups are in parallel and the other in series, we link the output of the two parallel pickups to the input of the series pickup, to have combos as (N + M) & B, (N + B) & M  or (M + B) & B.

If you think on the switching possibilities you have, for neck switch 3 posibilities for each pickup wire.
Taking into account every pickup wire except bridge's negative wire, we have the following combinations:
3 * 5 = 15 combinations, in a first decission level.

Now, for each of those combinations (related to the neck switch), we can have 3 more possibilites on the middle switch. That would give us 15 * 3 = 45 new combinations, in a second decission level.

Each of those 45 combinations will branch in three new more possibilities on the bridge' switch, which would represent 45 * 3 = 135 different combinations in total.

So, imagine all this like a decission three were, for each pickup wire, we can take three decisions in a first level and, every of those first level decisions will need three more decisions at a second level and, for each of those decisions, we will still need to take three more decisions at the third and last level.
So 5 wires * 3 (first level) * 3 (second level) * 3 (third level) = 135 combinations (note: bridge's negative is always ground so, it doesn't count as a wire for decision).

For each decision we would need two poles of same switch so, this would give us the following needs:
First switch: 5 wires * 2 poles-a-wire = 10 poles, 3 throws.
Second Switch: 2 poles for each throw of the first switch: 30 x 2 = 60 poles
Third Switch 2 poles for each throw of the second switch 60 x 2 = 120 poles.

This is just crazy. Don't?.
That's why for each complex design, a decision table is the best tool you can use and, the decision table comes always BEFORE starting your wiring design.


The Decision Table

There are some wiring projects were options are so clear and standard that I don't use a decision table but, when things start to go weird, I always prepare a Decision Table BEFORE starting diagramming.
The aim of such a table is to put together repeatitive combinations so we can reduce the switching possibilities, combining together some cases.

This is the decision table I've built for this particular case (please, click it for full size):

The three first columns correspond to each of the three switches (neck, middle and bridge) and, the combination of the three possible status of each switch respect to the other two.
For each of those combinations (3 * 3 *3 = 27), the 4th column has the guidance for the wanted combo, meaning:

N = neck pickup
M = middle pickup
B = bridge pickup
& = in series with
+ = in parallel with

Then, next columns corresponds to each one of the pickup wires and, to where they would be switched on, for each combination.
You can see four possible "destinations" for a certain wire:

HOT = the signal output that will be eventually regulated with a volume pot and filtered with a tone pot.
GROUND = ground
X = this is a temporary link, where two different wires are being linked together
Y= as X, but not same link

In this table, under the columns corresponding to each wire, you can see that, for each wire, I've grouped together (in a different color) combinations of three status (which corresponds to the three status that the bridge switch can take for each combination of neck and middle switches).
I've painted in same color same combinations (please, notice that bridge's negative wire is always ground).

This different combinations are being reproduced on right hand and, I've assigned a character to each one.
That means that, whatever are the combinations in switches neck and middle, they will always land into up to 8 different combinations, that can be represented by using the bridge' switch.

But, combinations that have the 3 decisions equal (as HOT/HOT/HOT, GROUND/GROUND/GROUND. X/X/X or YYY) are just a lug, a wire that links same lugs.
Rest of combinations (with at least one different decision) need a couple of poles to represent the three options.

If you look again to the diagram, you will see on the lower switch (bridge' switch) those combined decisions that you can easily identfy with the typo in the wire that gets the first of the two poles (E, F, H, D, G).
Notice, as a difference, how the X/X/X option was implemented (follow that purple wire that links two lugs in the middle switch) or, HOT/HOT/HOT (just follow the red wire) or GROUND/GROUND/GROUND (just follow the dark blue wire) or, Y/Y/Y (just follow the pink wire in bridge switch).

Notice here that I would be able to simplify just a bit more this design by linking the neck positive always to hot and then, removing the pickup by putting the neck negative also in the hot path but, this can lead to unwanted antenna-effects and, this would save just two poles in neck' switch, which means nothing, compared to the whole thing.


Theory crashes against Reality

Notice that the diagram is showing "theoretical" existing 3-way on/on/on toggle switches.
I don't know any toggle switch that handles more than 4 poles at once and, if it exists, its size should be big enough to compromise the available room of any guitar's electronics cavity.

This is just a demostration that I can figure out very complex wiring designs, as complex as the requests of my customers but, also a demonstration that not everything that you can design in a theoretical world can be implemented in real world.

Which are the contrains related to this project?.

In first place, this switching system should be maped to real existing components.
As I said, I don't know (it doesn't mean that they don't exist) toggle switches that handle more than 4 poles in three ways and, if they exist, I don't want to even imagine the size of a 20 poles toggle switch.

One alternative is to use rotary switches but, a 10 poles, 3 positions rotary (10P3T) is ususally implemente with three waffers and, will not suit no guitar's cavity, for sure.
Imagine now that a 20 poles, 3 positions rotary (20P3T) will need 6 waffers!!!.

Ok, another alternative is to use an slide switch. I've found some 10P3T micro-switch of that kind but, no 20P3T was found on a global Internet search.
Those 10P3T I've found were appropiate to be mount in a PCB (Printed CardBoard) but, for manual soldering they would be a real mess.
I could even imagine three of those along the pickguard but, I have my concerns about if they would leave some room for a couple of pot and, I am barely possitive that some wood routing would be necessary.

Conclusion is that even that practically everything is possible in a theoretical world, we will be always limited by current technology, available components and room in our guitar's cavity. All them are our contrains, when projecting a wiring design.


Final Comment

When a customer orders me a new design project, I am always weighting utitly of combos, feasibility and real options.

I have the impression that some want to challenge me just for fun (and, it's really funny, indeed!).
As you can see in this weird example, I can handle barelly every complex switching project but, certain project have no way to be feasible in real world so, please, consider that when I am saying "this makes no sense, or is not possible", I am weighting everything together.

After seeing how hard can go to achieve the complete combinations of three pickups, I am quite sure you will appreciate the high versatility of my previous DIY post, achieved with just three "common" 4PDT on/on/on switches.

We can achieve anything but, some times, it simply makes no sense.

I hope that you, at least, understood how to handle complex requirements with a decision table (this is a very secret ingredient... well, it was... ha ha ha).

Ah!, don't doubt it!. If there were toggle switches as the ones represented in this diagram, this project should work. I've tested every single combination !!!.

Home Studio: Testing new IK Multimedia mixing and mastering plugins

Introduction

Even that I own the Sonnox plugins and those are absolutelly top-notch, I am finding those more appropiated for Mastering tasks than for Mixing tasks.
I was greatefully surprised with the quality of T.Racks plugins by IK Multimedia and, I am usually working with the Classic Compressor, the Pulteq, Fairchild 670, 1179 and LA-2A emulations with satisfactory results.

I've saw some time ago that they were delivering new stuff but, I wasn't able to buy those until now.
I've upgraded my T.Racks singles to T.Racks Grand bundle and, purchased the remaining plugins.

I've selected one of my well known sounds and, started to mix from scratch, removing all previous plugins from the project and setting everything to its initial status, to check the goodness of some of the new plugins of IK Multimedia which I was more interested on.

I wanted to check, in first instance, the British Channel, the Bus Compressor and the White Channel and, this is all about this blog. I've tried those in my song and had some conclussions.

Once more, I cannot compare the real outboard gear against the software and, this is a point that really doesn't interest to me, since I will be never able to purchase such a kind of hardware. Therefore, my interest focus on whether those new plugins can do any good for my material and, indeed, they do it and, as with rest of their plugins, in a very musical way.


Testing British Channel, White Channel and Bus Compressor

Overall, first thing I want to take your attention to is the high sensitivity of their controls. Each little change has a clear impact in the sound. I would say that the impact by movement of dial is even greater than in their previous top-notch plugins (Fairchild, Pulteq EQP-1A, 1179 and LA-2A).

As always, which plugin (or hardware) to use will always depends on your tastes and on the song itself. To be able to check between several options is always welcome to better sculpt the song to match what you had in mind. And, those three plugins are opening the possibilities in a good way.

I went first with the EQ / volume tasks for each track, to have a mix where each instrument was clearly identificable, even in mono environment. For this, I had to use some compressors to leveling the volume between tracks and some corrective EQ to help to differentiate each instrument.

What I did first is to work on the EQ of each instrument and, for this, I've used the standard 7-bands EQ that comes with Pro Tools, basically to remove high and low end frequencies from each instrument, depending on their own nature.

After that basic EQ correction was more or less ready, I went to each track to help to leveling all volumes and, for this I was trying several compressors, over each track, choosing the one that better worked for this particular song.

I've selected the British Channel for Kick, Guitar and Vocals.
This was the plugin that gave me a better result in those individual tracks.
I had to remove the EQ settings that were focusing over certain frequencies (by example, dip around 125 Hz, where the Snare has it's fundamental sound or any increase over presence frequencies) to be able to get the best results from that plugin.
That leaved the EQ plugin just with two active filters, the one that removes hi-end and the one that removes low-end, leaving an usable range of frequencies for each instrument.

Reason is that, the EQ controls of the British Channel are so smooth and musical that, I've find them more than enough to select which frequency to enhance for each instrument to help them to differentiate in the mix.
Very soft touchs on the dial produce audible changes in the material what helps you to fine tuning the sound.
The EQ section of this plugin is really responsive and musical.
As always, IK Multimedia provides some usefull pre-sets that will help you as an starting point to get your work ready in less time.

The White Channel (the modern version of that British Channel) was used just for the Snare. I didn't exhaustively tried each plug-in so, maybe because of this, the only track where I've found it doing a better job than other plugins was the Snare track.

Same overall comments as for that British Channel are valid for this White Channel.
Results are very musical but, the sound is being colored in a very different way, maybe more accurate and cold, compared to the British Channel, that delivers warmer results, in my opinion.
But, anyway, that was the sound that perfectly matched my needs for the Snare and, I've preferred the White Channel to their White 2A (LA-2A) plugin.

I am thinking that, maybe I need to go deeper to work with this plugin in the vocals track.

But, for Hi Hat, Toms and Overheads, I went to their White 2A plug-in, which I liked more there.
For Bass track, I went for their Black 79 plug-in, which I liked more.

Then, I've used the new Bus Compressor to glue tracks and, it was of great help to glue together the independent instruments of the Drum kit in the Drums bus and, I've found it very good to glue the whole mix in the Mix bus, before sending the results to the Master Fader (for overall Compression and Limiting).

While I don't like that Bus Compressor in individual tracks, I recognize it's a nice tool to put together several tracks sent to a certain bus.
As with the other new plugins, their controls are highly responsive and any little touch makes a clear difference in sound and, as usual in IK Multimedia, there are some very useful presets that you can use as a helpful starting point.

Conclussions

I didn't tested every single possibility of these new plugins so, I bet I can find a broader use for each one but, what I liked is that they all produce their own sound and, that each one, together with the rest of T.Racks plugins, can bring you the right tool for the right work.

I highly appreciate the pre-sets that each plugin comes with, since this gives you an overall idea what each one is usually used for and, this gives you a nice starting point that, for sure, you have to fine tune for your track, bus or song.

Not being able to compare hardware with software, my interest focus on if those plugins worth the money.
My opinion is that those three are very useful weapons and, of same quality as their Pulteq, Fairchild, LA-2A and 1179 emulations and, all them together deliver very musical and usefull results that help to bring some life to your mixes.

If we compare the prices of T.Racks plug-ins against the big companies (Waves, URS, Avid, etc...), we are getting top-notch plug-ins (second to none) for an "affordable" price, delivering musical results and, helping to anyone who wanted to mix ITB (In The Box).

I'm lacking the quality user's manuals that came with their first takes of mythical studio outgear (like the Pulteq or the Fairchild), that were of great help to understand how to handle each virtual hardware.
Other than this, I can just to thanks IK Multimedia for their work to leave us to come closer to real studio gear for an "affordable" (compared to real gear and other plug-ins) price.

Wiring DIY: 3 single coils in series/parallel in any combination, with 3 switches

Introduction

I am going to gift you with a real pearl of wiring designs.
For a very long time, I've tried to be able to run the three pickups of a Stratocaster in parallel or series, on demand and, the design always hited the same stone: when some of two pickups that should be in series is inactive then, the series link breaks and we get no sound.

For some years, I gave up trying it again but, thanks to a reader of this blog, that was looking for such a solution, pushed me to re-think everything again.
We crossed few mails and, he was giving me the last  key (even that he didn't realized about it) to complete the puzzle.

Since the last key was given from outside, I am glad to share this design with you all, for your use and convenience.

Even that this basis mod or module is intented to be used with the three single coils of a Strato, there is nothing that avoids you to use it with any other type of pickup (humbuckers, mini-humbuckers...) and, you can combine it with other mods (OOP, bypass, etc) with ease.

I will present first the basis diagram for this mod, including some comments that will help you to understand what's going on there and, later, I will include some sample diagrams on how to apply this tricky wiring design.
I hope you will appreciate it.


Diagram

Please, click on the diagram to see it at full size.

This design works with the help of three 4PDT on/on/on switches. Each one allows to switch off the pickup (center position) or to add the pickup to a parallel path (down position) or to a series path (up position).
Parallel path is being represented here in Orange. Series path in Pink. Ground is being represented in Dark Blue and, the path represented in Purple is the tricky part (the last key) of this design.
The Purple path allows me to delay the decision on when to ground a pickup, depending on the status of the rest of pickups.

On left hand, you can see which combos are being obtained depending on the positions of the three pickup switches.
The tricky part is always the series path. If you have a pickup assigned to the series path and one more the the parallel path, that series combination cannot happen so, you should run both pickups in parallel. To be able to put two pickups in series, both should be assigned to the series path, therefore, when just one pickup is in that series path, it will work in parallel (since there is no one more pickup to stablish the series link).

This design has two output spots, that you can see in the upper switch and, that correspond to both differentiate paths. For sure, you can jumper both outputs to have a single output or, you can send each path to a different input, if you wanted separated controls (by example, different value pots) for each path.

Even that this mod is related to three single coils in this diagram, nothing avoids you to use it with any kind of combination of humbuckers and single coils as SSS, HSS, HSH or HHH.

In principle, this three 4PDT switches substitute any blade switch used to select pickups combinations and, allows you to combine the three pickups alone, two of them or three of them in any parallel/series combination what at the ends will give you all the following possible combinations:

Neck alone
Neck in parallel with Middle
Neck in series with Middle
Neck in parallel with Bridge
Neck in series with Bridge
Middle alone
Neck in parallel with Middle in parallel with Bridge
Neck in parallel with Middle in series with Bridge
Neck in series with Middle in parallel with Bridge
Neck in series with Middle in series with Bridge (the three in series)
Middle in parallel with Bridge
Middle in series with Bridge
Bridge alone

And all this is compatible with any other mod, as coil-splitting if you have some humbucker around, by example.

This is a very powerfull mod that can be achieved by removing your blade switch and installing 3 x 4PDT on/on/on switches instead (just drilling de slot that was taking your blade switch).
But, this makes sense for guitars that doesn't need a quick on-fly switching, because to get one of the three single coils alone, you should put off the other two. Just take this into account.
If you are going to use one sound for a song or, you can take a rest between you need one or other pickup combination then, yes, this is a very versatile combo, that could work great for Studio works, by example.


Application Examples

As always, applications are so wide as our needs or willings but, here you are some few examples on how to integrate this mod in some typical situations.

Mod 1 - Single output, Master Volume and Tone

For most super-stratos alike guitars, where you only need a master tone and volume, both output paths are linked together and routed to a volume and tone controls.
For sure, any pickup layout is possible: SSS, HSS, HSH or HHH.
One possible useful mod would be to have a bridge-on switch (a pull/push) that will give you the bridge pickup alone (instantanelly), independently of which combination of pickups is actually seelected in the three switches. Pushing back that bridge-on switch will return you back to the current switch selection. I think that this can be of great use when you want to soloing for a while and return back to your basis sound.
Same bridge-on mod can be of help for rest of example mods presented here.


Mod 2 - Separate outputs, separate volume and tone controls

This is an example on how to handle with different controls each output.
For each path (parallel and series) we are using an stacked pot that allows you to control the output volume and tone for each path. In that way, we could use different pot and cap values for each path because pickups in parallel are a brighter sound than pickups in series.
The output could be even separated for an stereo jack, to run each path output in a different amp, by example. Interesting?.


Mod 3 - single output, independent volumes by pickup

In this example, we are using a dedicated volume control for each pickup that will allow us to blend the exact amount of each pickup in the mix. This would give us a wide range of nuances of parallel and series sounds.
Be carefull to not completly roll off one of the volumes when two or more pickups are in the series path, because that could lead you to no sound. Use the central positions of the switch to remove a pickup from the path, don't roll off it's corresponding volume, instead.
Well, you can use here stacked pots to have independent tones, as well.


Mod 4 - single output, independent volumes and tones

Well, this is as mod 3 but, having indpendent tones by pickup, also. Nice?.
Did you ever dreamed with such a complete control over your Strato sounds?.


Mod 5 - Single output, master volume and tone and bridge-on switch

And, here we are an example on how to integrate the bridge-on switch with a master volume and tone.
This bridge-on switch will let you to instantanely select the bridge pickup (for soloing, by example), independently on which combination of pickups do you have actually selected with the other three switches.
When switching off the bridge-on switch, whichever it was the combination of pickups in those three other switches will come back.
A trick is to change pickups combinations (in those three switches) while you are soloing if you plan to change to a new sound when switching off the bridge-on switch.

So, imagine you had selected Neck alone, you switch on the bridge-on switch and you get Bridge alone. While you are in bridge alone, you can change the other three switches (without affecting your bridge alone sound) to neck in series with bridge, by example. When you switch off the bridge-on switch you will go for neck in series with bridge instead of the neck alone sound where you came from, by example.


Final consideration

I hope you can appreciate the power of this mod and the beautiness of its tricky design.
As it can be applied to any pickup layout (SSS, HSS, HSH, HHH) and, it's compatible with any other mod, the playing ground is huge, as big as your imagination and needs.
I don't recommend it for direct situations where you need to quickly select the right pickups combinations on-the-fly but, it's a wonderful weapon for studio guitars, where you want a broader array of tones available on demand.
Imagine you have an axe with a couple of Seymour Duncan P-Rails (neck and bridge) and a single coil in the middle and, that you are using the Triple Ring Shots for those P-Rails. Everything together combined with this mod. Can you imagine the versatily of such an axe for studio work?.

Ah, I know, your head is humming now!.
ha ha ha.

Pedal Effects: Weehbo Helldrive and Weehbo Bastard

Introduction

I am still working my "definitive" pedalboard and, Weehbo pedals are what the doctor recommended me, talking about gain pedals.

Even that the Plexdrive delivers an incredible nice tone, I needed a bit more of gain while preserving the British character of the sound. I wanted also some kind of british overdrive that I could stack before other drive pedals to change their character but, without muffling them or ruining their own sound.
That's why I've thrown the dices for the Helldrive.

Also, in the hi-gain territory, I had a hole. None of my current Weehbo pedals was covering that gap. I was weightening whether to go for a typical Marshall hi-gain sound (JVM Drive), an American-like sound (Bastard, SLO) or some all purpose British hi gain pedal (Mastiff).
I thought, I could obtain some Marshall hi-gain sounds by pushing the JCM Drive harder with the Helldrive stacked before so, I've decided to go for the Bastard, since I know how a typical SLO emulation sounds and, I don't like it (love the crunch side and hate the gain side).

While I usually prefer highly dynamic and "clean" (or at least defined and with good presence) gain sounds, I am finding some lack of legato and smoothness for certain songs. This is what I was looking for in the Bastard.

This blog entry talks about my experience with those two new pedals, as well as how they sit in my pedalboard and interact with rest of pedals.
At the end, a demo video will let you hear them, in real applications.


Presentation

As any Weehbo pedal, those come in nice cardboard boxes, wrapped in buble plastic and smelling quality and attention to the detail.

Inside the box, some rubber dots (this time not glued!, thanks!) that you can use as feet for your pedal, some ads and the typical short user's manual. As always, I am missing some sample settings that can make people to have a fast impression of the different possibilities of each pedal but, to be honest, those pedals just need you to tweak controls here and there until you get THE sound.


Controls and Sound

I will not go in deep discussing about controls, because you will find detailed description anywhere else, including Weehbo's official page.
I would like to take special attention to what makes them different from other Weehbo pedals, as well as those characteristics that I find more interesting for my needs.

The Helldrive is, by far, the best crunch box I've ever tested (and, I've owned any Wampler pedal, any Mad Professor pedal, MI Audio Crunch Box, among many other more common brands).

Once more the Dynamics switch of the Helldrive is a godsend and, allows this pedal to sound and behave like a cooked tube amp, with definition, just the exactly needed touch of gain and harmonics and, its controls allow you to tweak the exact amount of everything. I know there are still some internal DIP switches that allow you to go further in sound building but, honestly, I didn't felt the need on doing it.

As with most of Weehbo pedals, the input knob is like your gain knob in your amp, allowing you to addapt the pedal to any guitar / pickup to get the wanted body for your sound.

This pedal can sound close to the Plexdrive or the JCM Drive but, has its own distinctive fingerprint and, has more versatility, compared to those first ones that are a one-trip pony (because they mime a specific sound).
The Balls knob allows you to better define basses, body and overall crunch character and gain of distortion and, just sets the sound where you wanted it.
The Tone knob allows you to easily cut the mix but, removing an excesive harsh high end, when running this pedal with a brigth rig (as in my case).

For someone like myself, that has a very inconsistent voltage mains, the internal voltage doubler that the Helldrive includes, ensures that the pedal will work will more than 9V even under low voltage situations, what makes my rig more estable (this is a big difference respect of traditional pedals, running at 9V).

The Helldrive has two sections. First one is the drive itself, while the second one (second foot switch) engages a booster section (which character can be further sculpted with some inner DIP switches).
The good and the nice is that you can choose to stack the buffer section before or after the drive section.
If you stacked it before, you are beefing the gain, increasing the distortion, body and legato while preserving your output loudness.
If you stacked it after, you are just increasing the volume of the drive section. It's a clear dip in your output loudness, that can be of use when you need that extra volume for solos.
In my case, I prefer to run it before the drive section, just to have some kind of two channels overdrive, with light and medium gain, available on demand.

The Bastard is a hi gain distortion unit, with an American tone (in the line of Mesa Boogies, SLO, etc).
I don't feel it as trying to emulate the sound of a particular amp but, it has an overall all-purpose sound that can be tweaked with high versatility.

As it happens to me every time, the American sounding pedals doesn't cut so good as the British sounding ones and, even that you can dial very interesting tones alone, once you try to fit the sound in the mix, it needs additional tweaks to make it to set in the right frequential range.

To use a rough comparison, to me is like to compare the sound of a good EL34 against the sound of a good 6V6GT. Maybe the 6V6GT has a nice sound itself and alone but, to make an amp loaded with 6V6GTs to cut the mix with authority has been a constant fight (IN MY CASE !!!).
Well, this is the feeling I have with that kind of pedals. It happened to me with: AMT Californian Sound, Wampler SLOstortion, Wampler Triple Wreck, etc.

The active tone stack of the Bastard allows a high customization of the sound and a better control for the mix but, even this, still sounds a tad veiled and dark to my taste.

I am not saying that the Bastard sounds no good !. Don't misunderstand my words. It sounds amazing and, very specially with high output pickups, where this pedal shinnes. The question is that, every time more, I am more convinced that I should stay in the British side, because is there where I feel myself comfortable. That's all.

At least, the voice switch at left hand allows me to tweak a more cutting sound and, with the help of the active tones, I can use the pedal in real applications, even that I find it as muffled when used with some pedals before (vibe or wah).
I had to run a british overdrive before (Plexdrive or Helldrive) in some songs to give some presence to the sound, otherwise, it sounded to me as if the sound was veiled with some blanket or carpet.

I find it better for works with humbuckers and, specially medium to high output ones. There this pedal makes full sense and delivers way better sound than with vintage output single coils. Maybe it's a matter of impedance, or resonance issue, I dunno, but it clearly shines with humbuckers and it's not so good with singles.

Discussed with Eike (the tone-wizard who runs Weehbo Efekte), the Bastard has no Dynamics switch because he didn't found significative difference running it a 9V or 18V, because of the complex gain structure of such a pedal.
Eike finds this pedal working better at 12V and, this is how I am running it.

I am usually working with my number 1, that loads vintage single coils so, I would probably go for Weehbo's JVM Drive for my own needs but, I've tested the Bastard with my Charvel SoCal Type 1, with Bareknuckle's Nailbombs and, IT'S DA BOMB!. Highly recommended if you are using higher output humbuckers and drop-D tunings, etc. You will have complete control of the right amount of (massive) low end, being able to achieve anything, from scooped mids to more traditional settings.


Interactions with rest of pedals

I've not tested all possible combinations, still.
When I did that with Wampler's pedals, I had some surprises and I had to forget the typical approach (from lower gain to higher gain) and arrange the pedals in the order where they sounded better stacked.

Since Weehbo Plexdrive, Dumbledore and JCM Drive are some kind of vintage-amp-in-a-box effects (as happened with Wampler's Tweed '57, Black '59, Plexidrive, Pinnacle, etc.), my first try was to put them in same order I've found as working well for Wampler pedals, that is:

overdrives -> vintage-amp-in-a-box -> distortions -> modern-amp-in-a-box

But, this order didn't delivered any good in the case of Weehbo pedals.
Discussed it with Eike and, he said me that he never stacks his pedals but, if he had to run them stacked, he would go for traditional order, from low gain to high gain and, that's what I did this time.

I've stacked Weehbos like it follows:

Plexdrive -> Helldrive -> Dumbledore -> JCM Drive -> Bastard

The complete pedalboard is ordered as follows:

1. TC Electronics Polytune (Tuner)
2. Area 51 Wah
3. Wampler Decibel+ (just the Buffer section, Booster is off)
4. Wampler EGO Compressor
5. Dry Bell Vibe Machine v1
6. Weehbo Plexdrive
7. Weehbo Helldrive
8. Weehbo Dumbledore
9. Weehbo JCM Drive
10. Weehbo Bastard
11. Strymon El Capistan (Tape Echo delay)

The Plexdrive gives a nice clean tone (with some crunchy harmonics) that is just delicious and, helps to give some presence and cut to other pedals, without increasing the gain so much.
I've discovered also the Boost section of the Plexdrive, like a nice way to push other pedals stacked after, without changing their natural voice. The Boost section can be switched on, independently on the Plexdrive voice itself. I've got it at unitary volume level, currently.

The Helldrive has a crunchier tone than the Plexdrive and works better for Rock stuff. With the Plexdrive stacked before, the crunch is more potentiated and both pedals together cut the mix with authority and with a very dynamic, crunchy and interesting voice.
But the Helldrive sounds nice by itself. The booster section inserted before the gain section gives you a two-channel crunch box that delivers a nice sound alone.

I am sometimes using one or the other to help to sit in the mix other darker sounding pedals, as the Bastard or, when I find that the interaction with other pedals (Wah, Vibe) doesn't work so good with some pedal alone. Sometimes, stacking before the Plexdrive or the Helldrive, the pedal works better with Vibe or Wah.

To me, Plexdrive into Helldrive is one of the my preferred sounds of all the times!. If I had to downsize my pedalboard, I am quite sure both will remain there. Not so confident with the Dumbledore or the Bastard, by example.

While the Dumbledore allows the Plexdrive or Helldrive to be stacked before and, is able also to push the JCM Drive in a good way, I find that the Bastard usually works better alone. Any pedal stacked before, usually makes it so gainy that you get instantaneus feedback but, sometimes, I am using the Plexdrive or Helldrive (whichever that works better) to help the Bastard to fit in the mix, specially when combined with Vibe and Wah.


Demo / Test Video



In past entries I was describing the Area 51 Wah, and rest of Weehbo pedals.
Since there are videos enough that show how pedals work alone, going in depth across the controls, I don't wanted to be repeatitive and, I've prefered to make a video testing those pedals in real applications, improvising over some free downloadable backing tracks.

The video starts with an improvisation over "Happier Times" by Joe Bonamassa. This is not a cover, in any single sense and, I am using it mainly to demo the beautiful sound of the Plexdrive and, how nice the Plexdrive into the Helldrive sound (at least, to me).

After this song, a demo of the clean sound (including Wampler Decibel+ buffer and Strymon El Capistan tape echo delay) and, comparison with the Plexdrive and Helldrive alones.

Then several songs follow with variated tests, to check how pedals interact and help to my sound in the pedalboard.

In second song, I am stacking the Vibe Machine into the Bastard, to get some kind of fusion tone.

In third song, I am stacking the Wah into Helldrive into Bastard. I am feeling the Helldrive as needed to open a bit the sound of the Bastard, that I find a tad muffled when combined with the Area 51 Wah.

In four song, I am using just the Helldrive, both channels on (booster before driver), I find it enough by itself for this kind of tones.

In fifth song, I am using the Wah (from middle of song) into Vibe into Plexdrive into Bastard. Once more, I find the Plexdrive as needed here, when combining the Wah with Vibe, while the Helldrive doesn't work so good in this case.

Finally, in the sixth song, I am using the Plexdrive into the two channels of the Helldrive, for a bright, dynamic and aggresive blues tone, that delivers to me one of the best tones of all tested.

Accessories: Planning your voltage and current needs for your pedalboard

Introduction

When we want to use some pedal effect, between our guitar and amp, we usually don't put attention to voltage and current stuff. We just plug the pedal, check it and, love or hate it. But... are we hearing the pedal as its best?.

Batteries / DC Adaptor

Most of pedals are designed with a constant DC current / voltage in mind. That means that the best way to know if a pedal can deliver what you are expecting from it is to test it with batteries first.

Your mains (as in my case) can be inconsistently delivering voltage and current and, very few pedals are being made with a subsystem that helps them to internally regulate such fluctuations.
So, if you wanted to know if that pedal is for you, please, try it with batteries first.

After you've tested it with batteries, you would probably want to run this pedal with some DC Adaptor, to avoid the typical case were your can run out of battery because you leaved plugged your jack in its input. Or you would like avoid the case of running out of battery in the middle of a performance, specially if that pedal isn't a true bypass one (which can completely shut up your guitar).

But, since mains voltage and current are so variable, your DC adaptor will provide variable outputs, your pedals will receive variable inputs and will deliver variable sounds, from full bodied and musical ones to, thin, trebbly and weak ones.

There are some kind of pedals that work best with lover voltages than the nominal one. This is the case of vintage germanium fuzzes, that seem to deliver a better sound when used with old worn batteries.

There are some other pedals that can sound really enhanced with higher voltages at their inputs. Usually, boosters, overdrives and compressors can open their sound and have better dynamics and headroom at higher voltage levels.

There are other pedals that simple don't seem to be enhanced with a higher voltage than the nominal one but, since the nominal voltage is often not reached (because of fluctuations of your mains) they just don't deliver the right sound.

When moving from batteries to DC Adaptors, it is time to carefully study your needs and to plan your pedal board needs.


Planning your pedal board needs

If you are going to use some DC Adaptor, it is a must for you to carefully read the technical specifications of every pedal and, tech specs of your DC Adaptors, as well.

Every pedal needs a minimum voltage to properly operate and, have a maximum voltage they can receive to not damage the unit. Some pedals can run just at 9V, like the Strymon El Capistan or the Dry Bell Vibe Machine or, those Weehbo pedals that have the Dynamics Switch (which doubles internally the voltage).

Most pedals will allow a voltage input between 9V and 12V or, between 9V and 18V.

Every pedal drains a maximum amount of current (expressed in mA) and, that max current will depend on the voltage so, when you increase the input voltage, the drawn current increases proportionally.

Every of your DC Adaptors can deliver a maximum power, with maximum current on its output (or outputs).
You MUST be sure that every pedal is being feed with the right amount of voltage and current and, that you aren't overloading your DC Adaptor, demanding more power than it can delivers.


Practical Case example

You know, every pedal board is alive and, pedals enter and exit constantly. At a certain point of time, a single DC Adaptor wasn't enough to run my heavily loaded pedalboard so, I am currently having two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus units and, therefore, I am planning my voltage / current needs with the help of both units, which I try to balance in the best possible way.

If you read the tech stuff of that Pedal Power 2 Plus Adaptors, you will get more or less the following basic information (after a big headache trying to understand everything together).

There are three groups of outputs: 1 - 4, 5 - 6 and 7-8.
All work the same when the micro dip switch is on its "normal" position for each entry. All them will deliver 9V.
What makes them different is that groups 1-4 and 7-8 will deliver a maximum of 100 mA, while the group 5-6 will deliver a maximum of 250 mA.

So, if you have a pedal that drains more than 250 mA (as some synthesized units) you will never get a good result with this Adaptor, you will need to go for anything else (Voodoo Lab has one more unit, specifically for this, able to deliver 500 mA by output). By example, the Carl Martin Octaswitch MKII cannot be feed with any Pedal Power 2 Plus unit.

As I said, there are pedals which sound can be enhanced by running them at higher voltages.
The Area 51 wah it's recommended to be feed at 12V, as the Weehbo Bastard.
I know there is some improvement in openness, definition and dynamics in other pedal types, as the Wampler Decibel+ or the Wampler Ego Compressor, at least, because feeding them at 12V ensures that at least 9V are reaching their inputs.

But, if you plan to increase the input voltage, make your maths before and plan a proportional current drain.
If the pedal drains 30 mA @ 9V, apply a proportion rule and you will find that it could potentially drain (at least) 40 mA @ 12V and 60 mA @ 18V.

So, first step is to know each pedal specifications and see what each pedal requires for your needs and see how those needs can be covered with your DC Adaptor (or adaptors).

This is the excel sheet I was using to plan my own pedal board needs, with all those pedals I've currently having there and those foreseen in a near future.

At header, the output voltage and max current by output in each Pedal Power 2 Plus unit, when using their outputs in "normal" mode, delivering 9V.
Those values change when the DIP switch is switched on, for each particular group.
In the case of the group 1-4, the max current drops to 60 mA and voltage steps up to 12.3V by output.

Below, the detail of each pedal, with its max drain value at the voltage I would run it, expressed in the last column (9V or 12V). The middle two columns (Unit A, Unit B) are the assignment of each pedal to each particular output of a particular unit. The two following columns are assigning the max current load for each unit, which total "load" can be seen as totals on the summarizing line at bottom.

You can see that one of the Pedal Power 2 units is using all their outputs and, that the second unit is feeding just three pedals but, even this, the "load" of that second unit is still higher than in the first one (390 mA against 377 mA).

In my planning, I am first allocating the big stones and, the bigger stone here is the Strymon El Capistan, which needs 250 mA, just the maximum current a Pedal Power 2 Plus can deliver in a single output. This level of current can be achieved in outputs 5 or 6, only.  I've assigned output 5 of the second unit (physically closer to the pedal) for this.

There are four pedals I wanted to run at 12V. Any Wampler pedal will deliver a good sound if you can at least feed them with 9V and, all them allow voltage levels up to 18V.
To feed them at 18V means that two outputs of the Pedal Power 2 Plus unit should be allocated for each single pedal but, switching on the DIP switch of each required output for group 1 to 4 will deliver me 12.3V with a single cord and a single output.

Therefore, I've switched on DIPs for outputs 3 and 4 in each unit, to run my pedals at 12.3V.
You can see that the Area 51 Wah was assigned to output 3 of Unit A,  Wampler Decibel+ was assigned to output 4 of same unit, Ego Compressor was assigned to output 3 of Unit B and, Weehbo Bastard (to come) was assigned to output 4 of same unit.

Then, I've started to assign each pedal, beginning with the "weighter" ones (more current drain) and, ending with the "ligther" ones, until I've got an acceptable current drain balance for both units.

The total maximum current is 767 mA (0.767 A) so, I should be sure also that the extension sockets rule has a cord that can support such a current and that the output of the Phonic PC9000E power conditioner can deliver such an amount of current.

Sure, if you use just batteries, you can completely forget all this but, if you need DC Adaptors, be sure you are planning the marriage of each pedal with the right Adaptor output, to get the best from your pedalboard.

Pedal Effects: Area 51 Wah - First contact

Introduction

The Wah is one of those few effects that allows your personality to shine in the sound. Most of effects, once set up, modify your sound in a single way but, wahs allow you to modify the effect in real time and, therefore, you are expressing yourself in real time.

Two people, playing same riff can dramatically change the intention when applying a wah. Sweep range, voice and rest of variables make one wah different from the other but, what makes them really different is the player.

We already discussed about the differences between wahs, in this past entry: Pedal effects: the Wah Effect.
You've guess it. I love wahs!.

But I am in the search of the right wah for a very very long time, since my old 80's wah was stolen, I've never had a wah that nailed the voice, the sweep range and the overall characteristics of that wah.

There are lot of people that just buys a cheap unit and, they are able to tweak it until they've got what they wanted. And, sure, maybe this is the way to go, if you are so skilled.
For those that aren't, to be in the market for a new wah to test is the common way.

Very satisfied overall with the sound of the Real McCoy RMC4 Picture wah, my complains where more related to its floor noise. Compared to a Vox 847A or a Roger Mayer Vision Wah, the RMC4 is noisy as hell and, tends to introduce lot of feedback when used with gain enough.

So, one more time, I was in the market again for a wah with all the good of the RMC4 and none of the bad. That search addressed me to the Area 51 Wah and, this entry is all about it.


Waiting...

This is a make-to-order boutique wah so, there is no available wah for you. Dan will build it to your particular specifications. The 'standard' waiting time is about 4 - 6 weeks but, unfortunately, mine took 8 weeks (two months), what was a bit frustrating.

Even that Dan is very friendly, he had some kind of personal issues during that period and, didn't answered my mails. When he answered back, he did it very correctly and was a pleasure to deal with him.

Once the wah is ready, shipping time is short, just 3 days from US to Spain.

But then, Customs enter in the game and you are sold. It took me one more month to clear customs duties and have the wah at home. So, overall, 3 months waiting for this Wah.

I was so upset that thought "I really hope this wah worths the waiting time, otherwise, I will burn it!".

If you are in the US, you are lucky and, your waiting time will be probably 4 to 6 weeks and, you will never have to fight against Custom's employees.


Wah Customizing

Dan is possibly the only boutique maker that allows you to choose every feature of the wah and, he build it to your specifications.

You can add a led, a buffer, a growl control, a quack control and a range selector. You can even order it as a lefy unit, for left-handed people. You can also select the color (5 different available).

After hearing lot of youtube videos, I was convinced that this probably was the wah I was after.
When I was filling in my order, I recognize that I firstly marked every option, very excited with the possibility to get the exact wah effect I was looking for.

But price, easily goes up and up, when you are adding options so, I've quiet myself and tought: "Let see. This wah should be designed to sound good with no additional tweaks so, what do I really need from all those options, if the sound is already there?".

In my honest opinion, there are just two options that were a must for me: the led and the buffer.

If you leave your wah switched on, usually you realize about it but, a led lets you to know if it is on or off at a glance.

The buffer is a must if you think to run a wah with a vintage fuzz. This is the only way you will get from your fuzz the right sound., since fuzz and wah compete to be the very first pedal in your pedal board.
Fortunately, Area 51 buffer is internally switchable on and off (with a microswitch inside). So, if you order it with a buffer, you can switch it on or off at any time.

To be honest, I don't like this "Martelle" paint finish. Even that some colors could be attractive, that Martelle make them to look odd. A plain (or metalized) color paint could have a more attractive look, IMHO.
In my case, since Dan had issues with his paint provider, he sent me a "custom grey" color:  metalized grey!!!.

Martelle paint was fashion during the 80's but, not nowadays. I hate the look of my Hudson Electronics Stroll On fuzz, because it has same kind of finish and, looks ugly compared to rest of the pedalboard.

But seriously, color or look didn't matter to me. The only I really wanted was the sound and sweep.
Has it those?.


The Sound - First contact

Voltage again, my son

As any other pedal I buy, the fire test is to try it inserted in my pedal chain. If it reacts accordingly with rest of the pedal board, the new one is very well welcome. Otherwise, even if it is an outstanding unit, I must remove it from the pedal board, to not compromise my sound.

As every time a new pedal comes, I've read maker' specifications and, had to review again the DC output assignations for each pedal, to balance the drain in both Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus units.

One of the techs notes that called my attention, when reading the short explanation that comes with the pedal, is that this pedal will provide a nice sound if AT LEAST 9V are being provided.
If you are following my blog entries, you will remember how inconsistent is my mains voltage and, how hard it affects to the whole rig and, that's one of the main reasons why I've decided to go for Weehbo effects.

To be sure I am delivering at least 9V to this unit, I've toggled the micro dip switch of the Pedal Power 2 Plus unit to feed this wah at 12.3V (any of the outputs between 1 and 4).

This 12V recommended value took my attention. When I was discussing with Eike (Weehbo Effekte) if, his Bastard distortion pedal will sound better at 18V (as the Dumbledore, JCM Drive and PlexDrive do), he told me that not really but, that he personally likes the Bastard at 12V.

Well, at 12V is how I am currently running Wampler Ego Compressor, Wampler Decibel+ Buffer/Booster and how I've planned to run the Weehbo Bastard Distortion (in a near future). And, after reading the tech note from Dan, I've decided to run the Area 51 at 12V, as well.

All that discussion about voltage is to let you know that I am not sure if this is what made it to sound so good. I don't know if I was running the RMC4 at same voltage if I would get same results. Honestly, not tested by now. I don't know if it was a key decision or, if it just was one more drop in the cup of the tone.
Anything I am describing below is related to how it worked at 12V.


How it compares to...

Let me clearly state this: this is a plug & play wah. I didn't feel in the need of tweaking anything else to make it better. It works awesomely stock and, totally suits my needs, in every single sense.

Basses are guttural and deep but, without messing and masking the sound as in other units. Very vocal sounding. You can tweak the shape of basses with the option "Growl control" but, as it comes standard, I absolutely love it.

Trebles are well represented but doesn't go piercing and thin, as in the case of the Vox 847A or (in less measure) the RMC4. Just the right amount of trebles, just the right amount of basses.

Sweep range is just perfect for my foot. The three "main areas" of the sweep, basses, resonance mids and trebles cover a nice range and, doesn't go so extreme that you can hate any of those areas in particular. All them have the right amount, nothing less, nothing more.

The "transition knee". That borders between the three "main areas" are, sometimes, very distinctive in some wah units (as the Vox 847A), what produces a dramatically change when crossing every border. In the case of the Area 51, that "transition knee" is soft and smooth, no "chask".

Respect of the voice, I would say this is an "enhanced" version of the RMC4. Bottom line is very similar but, in my opinion, every frequency range is better represented, avoiding extremes and, making it softer or even EQ'd.

Respect of signal strength, the signal is full bodied, as the Vision Wah (with the booster in the right position) and, doesn't sound weak (as in the case of the Vox 847 and, in less measure of the RMC4).

Well, probably "crazy tweakers" will be very happy with all the available options but, I just prefer simple operating pedals that deliver an outstanding sound and, that's what I am getting with the standard Area 51, as it was designed.

One of the thing I was discussing with Dan is the quietness of the wah, when switched on. I've let him know that, even that I loved the voice of my RMC4, the main issue I had and, why I was in the market again for a wah was the floor noise of the RMC4 and, I've asked him how the floor noise was in the Area 51.
He answered: "I took lot of attention to this. My wah is quiet enough but, take into account that as per design any wah will introduce some floor noise".

So, what about its floor noise?. Awesome!. It's so quiet as the Vox 847A or the Roger Mayer Vision Wah and, way quieter than the RMC4.

I've tested it with some backing tracks, alone and before some overdrives (Weehbo JCM Drive, Plextortion and Dumbledore) and before a vibe effect (Dry Bell Vibe Machine V1.0) and, results were fully satisfactory.

I need to test it deeper for several weeks until I have the final decision but, I am having same sensations I had with my good scores, as the Vox Night Train, the Marshall 1923C, VHT Special 6 Ultra, Strymon El Capistan, Dry Bell Vibe Machine or my Weehbo effects.
It seems like this time I really have THE WAH.


Video / Demo ?

Not right now. There are videos enough available in youtube that demo the sound of this unit alone.
You will probably hear it in my future videos, since it's now in my pedalboard to be a keeper (I hope, my last wah).

Pedal Effects: Weehbo Dumbledore

Introduction

I think this trend of D-sound pedals was started by Hermida Audio and his Zendrive. Hermida was in love with the sound of Robert Ford's Dumble amp and, he wanted to capture the soul of such an amp in a guitar pedal.

And it did it really nice. The Zendrive is an awesome sounding pedal and, I loved it, except for the excessive compression that was taming down my attack (which I love to have). It could be a fair and accurate modeling of Ford's amp but, not my cup of tee.

I liked the voice and body character of that D-unit but, wasn't satisfied with the excessive compression so, I went to market searching for some alternatives. I was just weighting the Dumkudo, with a waiting list, importation stuff, etc. when I've seen that Wampler had the Euphoria Overdrive, that included a D-sound voice mode (smooth).

The attack in Wampler's unit is less compressed than in the case of Hermida's one, what I liked. The voice of the Euphoria isn't so creamy and sweet as the voice of the Zendrive and, I find that the "distortion grain" goes really fatter in Euphoria (like big balls), as soon as you start to roll on basses, what makes the sound a bit blurry.

Due to my own issues with my mains voltage, the Euphoria lacks body when my voltage drops, delivering a thin, weak and lifeless sound. Since I already own a couple of Weehbo pedals, that internally double the input 9V to 18V, giving more headroom and dynamics to the sound, I wanted to check their Dumbledore, their own take on the D-Sound.

Who has the truth?.
All them and none of them.
Take into account that Dumble amps were made-to-order amps and, every amp was tweaked for its particular owner. There are not two Dumble sounding the same so, each pedal maker can get the "core" sound behind Dumbles and fine-tuning that sound to their own particular taste.

Sound any of those exactly like the amp they are modeling?.
Honestly, I have no idea. I've never played a Dumble and, I've never played those Dumbles that each maker used as a reference for their own pedal.

Does it really matter?.
In my opinion, it doesn't.
What I like of the D-Sound is that sweet, warm and creamy soft distortion and, what I don't like is an excessive compression of the sound, due to a tube rectifier sagging.
Each maker (with a D-pedal) has its own take of that D-Sound so, check them all and just choose the one that better works for you.

This entry is all around my tests with Weehbo Effekte Dumbledore pedal and, how I can compare it to Zendrive and Euphoria pedals.


Presentation

Pedal comes in a classy black cardboard box, with just the right "Marketing" stuff.
Inside, the box is foamed to protect the pedal.
With the pedal itself, you can find the complete Weehbo Effekte catalog, one Weehbo sticker and four adhesive rubber dots for the bottom plate of the pedal.

As usually in Weehbo pedals, the user's manual is just a short description along two pages that, basically describe the function of each particular control and, that focus in the particular functions of each model.
I am missing here some guide settings, to get a quick taste of pedals possibilities (something that always comes with any Wampler pedal).

This pedals has a new-brand look, as the PlexDrive and, differently to the JCM Drive (that looks as worn by the age). I love pedals to look like new-brand if I buy them new-brand so, thank you, Weehbo.


Controls

Gain
This one is quite similar to the INPUT control you will find in other Weehbo pedals. It helps to get the right input impedance level and to cook a light overdrive sound for the Standard mode.

More
Well, this one corresponds to the GAIN control you will find in other Weehbo pedals but, the difference is that this one boosts the drive for the More mod, providing a thicker and creamier distortion level.

Complete Tone Stack
Differently from other makers, the Dumbledore has a complete active tone stack, that allows you to tweak the sound to your needs. Bass, Treble and Mids are there to help you to easily get your wanted tone. Mids are highly dependent on the setting of the Mids selector.

Mids Freq selector
A three way toggle switch that fixes the central frequency for mids in three different spots, from lower to higher frequencies and, that helps a lot to make this pedal to cut the mix.

Level
This control sets the overall output loudness of the effect.

Two hidden trim-pots
Inside this pedal, there are a couple of trim-pots that help you to fine-tuning the sound of this pedal to your taste. One is being named Tone and sets up the overall tone of the pedal and, the other one is called Presence and sets up the overall presence of the pedal.
I've still didn't played with such a controls but, they seem very interesting.

Dynamics switch
As in any of Weehbo's big boxes (with a couple of pedal switches), the Dumbledore includes the Dynamics switch that, when toggled to left side, duplicates the 9V input to 18V internally, what gives to the sound a nice headroom and awesome dynamics.


Operation

Firstly, you better select the right Gain for the Standard mode. That will adapt the impedance to get the best from your pickups.

Then, with the help of the active tone stack and the Mids Freq selector, you can make the sound to cut the mix, to your taste.
This is one of the things that was a tad complicated with Euphoria. To have a full bodied sound that cut the mix was a hard work, while the operation in the Dumbledore is so straight forward than in the Zendrive.

Once the sound is ok, you better roll the Level up to unitary gain, to better stack it with other pedals.

And, it's time to go for the More Channel. Switch it on and just roll that More control until you get a "second channel" with higher gain and creamier and thick distortion.
This double-channel approach sets up this pedal apart of any other Dumble-like pedal and, it's incredible useful. Thanks Weehbo for this feature!.


Sound

As we discussed above, there is no way to say: "Ok, that sounds has the Dumble amp of X", neither the contrary. So, I just can establish a comparison with other two well known D-sound pedals: Wampler Euphoria (smooth mode) and Hermida Audio Zendrive.
Also, take into account that sound is very personal so, any comment here is very related to my own taste / needs.

Respect of compression, I would say that the compression level of the sound (taming attacks) is somewhat between the lighter compression of the Euphoria and the harder compression of the Zendrive, what's fine for me.

Respect of the sound fingerprint, I would say that the sound is also between both but, closer to the Zendrive than to the Euphoria.
With Euphoria, as you roll in basses, to give some body to the sound, the distortion gain fattens and the sound goes blurry and not clearly distinguishable.
This is not the case of the Zendrive and, also not the case of the Dumbledore, which can get thicker and creamier without fattening the distortion grain.

The optional More channel is a very distinctive feature of this unit. While in Hermida Audio we should go for the Tiki Drive to get similar (but not equal results), in Euphoria we have not such a possibility. If memory doesn't fails, Dumkudo has that possibility also.
This is like to have a two-channels Dumble and helps a lot to be playing with a soft, sweet, warm and bluesy overdrive and, to step over to get a creamy bluesy overdrive.

As happens with the JCM Drive or the Plexdrive, the Dynamics switch its highly recommended for you to leave it in its 18V position. That's how the pedal's voice really shines and sounds like a real amp.

What I've noticed with all D-sounding pedals is that they tend to sound a bit dark and distant. Fortunately, the Dumbledore, with the help of the Mids Freq switch  and a full active Tone Stack, allow you to tweak the sound until you can easily make it to cut the mix.
But, the attack taming is a bit too much for me, still.
I need to tweak the inner trimmer pots and see if this kind of behavior can be softened in any way.

Probably, the best take of the original Ford' sound is the Zendrive. If this is your cup, go ahead.
But the Dumbledore is second to none and, its wide tone possibilities allows you to tweak any kind of D-Sound and, remember it, it's a TWO CHANNEL unit, with outstanding dynamics!.


Video

Well, there are around there lot of Youtube demos that go in detail with the features of this pedal so, I avoided to leave there just one more demo.
What I was really interested on is to check how this pedal could be integrated with the rest of the pedalboard (still under building) and, to check how well it stacks with other Weehbo pedals (JCM Drive and PlexDrive) and my new brand Strymon El Capistan.

I've tested this pedal, among all the rest, with some backing tracks, to be sure all them are doing the right work and can cut the mix with attitude. Here you have the results:

Pedal Effects: TC Electronics Flashback

Introduction

Note: this entry was already published in my old Spanish version of this blog, around August / 2011. I am just revisiting it here.

Delays are time effects, where the input signal is being split in two paths. In one of them, the signal remains pure (with some remarks here!), while in the other the original signal is cloned one or more times with a certain delay (from some miliseconds to some seconds) respect of the original signal. Additinonaly, the delayed signal can be mixed again at lower volumes with new echoes, in a feedback loop of a certain length.

Some units have also some kind of modulation module (vibrato, tremolo, chorus) to modify (modulate) the delayed signal,

Early delay units where tape delays. They were recording the signal on a magnetic tape and, read again with a certain delay. Then, tape units went more sophisticated, including several heads that allowed them to runaway from sterile simple echoes and to produce a complexer ambient.
Probably, the most famous unit was the Echoplex and, you can still see those in some Studios and, even in some stage (Brian May uses a couple in his performances).

Roland (lately Boss) started also its own steps with the Space Echo, also a tape delay.

As the electronics evoluted, one more delay type was included: the analog delay. Instead of using a magnetic tape, a network of filters was used to delay the wet signal. The rise of solid state components, as certain integrated circuits, allowed to increase the available delay times, that were very short in the beginning.

One of the early analog units was the Boss DM-2 but, some of the first ones still have place in some pedalboards, as Electro-Harmonix' Memory Man (used by David Gilmour, by example) or some delays from Ibanez (and lately, Maxon).

With more evoluted designs, practically every pedal maker has some analog delay pedal in its catalog.

With the evolution of digital electronics, more Integrated Digital Signal Processors were available and, Digital Delays started to flood the market. The first digital delay was the Boss DD-2.

In digital delays, the analog signal is being sampled and converted to binary values. That set of zeros and ones is being internally processed, generating new sets of zeros and ones that would be converted again to an analog signal on its output.

Therefore, the quality of a digital delay will depend on the quality of its Analog/Digital and Digital/Analog  converters and, about the resolution and precision of the Digital Audio Processors, inside the unit. The best the components, the more close to an analog unit it will sound.

Analog delays are more organic, warm, natural and musicals. However, because of technical reasons, they are very limited in the range of delay they can offer and, they have just one "voice", independently of speed and repetition controls.

Digital Delays tend to sound cooler, accurate and clear. But, quality of components is key to avoid "digititis" (digital artifacts). Delay times are often way longer than in analog units and, additionally, Digital Delays often include several different algorithms that bring several "voices" (delay types) and, usually one of those emulations is just an analog delay emulation.

Digital Delays, in rack format, are often seen in Recording Studios, because of their versatility. TC Electronics has very famous delay and reverberation algorithms, specially in their System 6000.

TC Electronics already delivered a set of excellent quality pedals, in their series Nova. Price, complexity and size of such a series of pedals is what made me to discard them.
One more modern delay with good press is the T.Rex Alberta but, its price is even higher than the TC unit.

Sure, Boss delays (as the DD-3) are always a reference but, I particularly like more the sounds of the T.Rex or TC.

Since I've already got an analog delay (Maxon AD-999 Analog Delay), I wanted to try a digital delay and, fill the gap of certain features I am missing, as the tap temp, subdivisions of the primary delay time, etc.
Luckily, TC Electronics is delivering now a series of pedals named Toneprint, with a pedalboard friendly size and, with an operation way more easy than in their series Nova and, with an attractive price, less options but still a bunch.

The TC Electronics Flashback seemed to me a good compromise between price / function / quality / versatility / easy to use. So, that's all about this blog entry; to share with you my experience with this pedal.


TC Electronic Flashback Delay and Looper

Presentation

The pedal comes inside a cardboard box of small dimensions, very "marketed". Inside, the pedal, the user's manual (a paper sheet type DIN A2, in several languages), a triptych with information about rest of TC Electronics offer, a sticker of TC Electronics and, an USB cable.

Inside the pedal there is a battery (unconnected), therefore, if you want to use it, you should open the pedal. To open the pedal is darn easy, just a big screw where you can insert a coin.

You cannot see the guts. Just the battery is visible and, a couple of micro-switches. Rest of circuitry is being hidden with a metallic tap, fixed with 4 screws.

Controls

On left and right sides, a couple of input and output jacks. That is, it works in true stereo.
In the upper side, we have an USB port that will allow us to update the user bank with some downloaded Toneprint and, a jack for a 9V adaptor.

Rest of controls are in the front side of the unit and, are as follows:

Fx level

This is the volume of the wet signal in the mix.

Delay

Determines the delay time, rolling it on clockwise increases the delay time.
Every delay type can work with a delay range between 20 ms and 7000 ms (7 seconds), just the Slapback is an exception, allowing a maximum of 300 ms.

Feedback

Controls the number of repetitions that are being summed to the original input signal.

Delay Type Selector

It allows you to choose between 10 different delay algorithms (we will describe them below) and a Looper function.

Subdivision

A three positions microswitch allows you to choose 3 different divisions of the primary time. The primary time is being established with the Delay pot or, with the Tap Delay pedal switch (to be explained below).
The switch up corresponds to a subdivision of 1/4. On Middle position to 1/8. And, on down position corresponds to 1/4 AND 1/8.

Pedal Switch

Apart of being the switch that activates / deactivates the effect, is the switch used to enter and exit from Tap Delay and Looper modes.


Operation


Delay Types

This unit comes with 10 different delay types and, an additional Looper mode. Following the order of the delay type selector, these are the available algorithms.

2290

Digital Delay based on the legendary TC 2290. There is no processing of repetitions. A very pure and crystalline delay effect.

ANA

Emulates a typical Analog Delay, where there is a certain roll back in high frequencies and, where repetitions sound smoother and more natural blend with original signal, even if they are lots of repetitions at a high volume.

TAPE

Emulates a Tape Echo unit. Tends to deteriorate a bit the recorded material, with some flute effect and, all this combined with a significative roll out of high frequencies and, even part of low frequencies. But, this kind of imperfection and rawness is what makes this type of delay more musical than others.

LOFI

Digital delay with less precision bits that creates "teeth" in repetitions. You can notice very clear the attack and release of the sound.

DYN

An emulation of the legendary Dynamic Delay, that was introduced initially in the TC 2290. The delay loudness is actively altered with the dynamics of the input level. While we are playing, the delay level is being attenuated and, between riffs, the delay level increases. This allows to play long riffs without masking the sound.

MOD

Repetitions are being modulated with a vibrato effect.

P.PONG

The delay is being panoramized alternatively to left and rigth side, while the input remains in the original stereo position. Of course, it makes sense to use this one just in stereo.

SLAP

A very short delay, with one or very few repetitions. Is usually applied to "doubling" the guitar, making the sound bigger. Short slap delays are usual in Funky and, a bit longer in Rockabilly.

RVS

Reverse delay. The signal is being sampled and then reproduced in a reverse way. Nice to give some mystery atmosphere to the sound.

LOOP

Looper function. It allows you to record a loop of 40 seconds (mono) or 20 seconds (stereo).
The recording is continuous so, we are overwriting the previously recorded material.
To start recording, we step over the pedal switch (light blinks).
To stop recording, we step over the pedal switch once more and, the pedal begins to reproduce the recorded loop.
To erase the loop, we should step twice in a row the switch.

TONE PRINT

This is an user bank. You can use a downloadable software, available in TC Electronics site, and the USB cable delivered with the pedal to change the parameters of the algorithm of this bank. Therefore, you can create from scratch your own delay type.
In TC Electronics site you can download also some Toneprint files already prepared by well known guitarists.

Time selection

Once you've selected the delay type, you can choose to select the time (half, 1/4 note) and set up the main time with the Delay pot or, you can select the main time with pedal' switch (tap).
If we leave the switch pushed down, we can define the time just strumming (strong and dry) our guitar' strings, around 2 seconds. When we released the switch, the average time is being calculated and selected.
This way of do the tap delay sets this pedal apart other delay pedals.
Once the main time was established, you can subdivide it, with the micro-switch Subdivision, to add more repetitions.

Bypass and Kill-Dry modes

As we've mentioned, by opening the rear cover you will access to a little microswitch, with two slide switches.
First one controls if this pedal should work in True Bypass mode or in Buffered Bypass mode.

When Buffered Bypass mode is being selected, we can remove the original input (dry) signal in the output. This is useful if the pedal is being inserted in a Parallel FX Loop of your amp.


My impressions

My interest for delays is just to give some ambient and to push back the guitar a bit in the right mix depth.
I am not a delay enthusiast so, I am not used to creative uses of the delay effect itself. Because of this reason and, since there are good demos available in Youtube I am not going to do some video for this pedal.
I went just checking every delay type to finally leave there the one it worked the best for my needs.

I can hear a certain level of digititis, more notable where you play the guitar alone. Some settings, where the effect level is high and there are a lot of repetitions, show more clearly those digital artifacts, which are more evident in the attack and release phases.
As we discussed above, those artifacts depend on the quality of the converters and digital processors of any digital delay.

The sound, once blend in the mix, is excellent. I've tested it with several backing tracks and, the sensation of digititis disappears (to reduce the effect level or number of repetitions helps also) and, the sound is, overall, very satisfactory.

Of all those available delay types, I specially liked:

The 2290, because it sounds very clean, crystalline and pure, not masking the sound.
The ANA, that goes close to the sound I get with my Maxon AD-999.
The TAPE, who in the hell has money to buy a Tape Echo Unit? and, who wants to transport and integrate in his pedalboard such a big monster?. This one sounds very musical and, very decent.
Another interesting delay is the MOD, where the added vibrato gives a very special touch to the delay.


Mads for Delays will enjoy of a very user-friendly delay unit, versatile and with a set of emulations variate and distinctive. Each delay type sounds very differently from the rest so, it's very difficult to don't find an useful one for each situation. Maybe, one of the most rares is the DYN one, because tails increase their loudness when we stop playing and, the most exotic is the REV one.

I've easily integrated this pedal with rest of pedal board, achieving a nice sound and, it works very nicely together with the TC Electronics Hall of Fame reverb effect (which will be described in a next blog entry).

For my own needs, I've found more interesting the delay type TAPE, because it sounds more musical to my ears.

Pedal effects: TC Electronics Polytune

Introduction

Note: this entry was already published in my old Spanish version of this blog, around August/2011. I am just revisiting it here.

You will find tuner pedals at any price. Practically, every brand has at least some model and, sometimes more than just one model. But there are some parameters that distinguish one from the other.

Precision is one of the most distinctive parameters. One Octave, in a tempered scale, is being divided in 12 semi-tones of 100 cents each one. Tuner's precision is being determined with their ability to represent the exact note with a deviation expressed in cents.

It seems that 25 cents is the deviation practically heard by anyone, while more fine ears can distinguish differences between 5 to 6 cents. Let see some typical tuners.

King of tuners, Peterson, has a tuner in a pedal format (Strobo Stomp II), which precision is of 0.1cent (a decim of cent!).
The Boss TU-3, very often seen in pedalboards, has a precision of 1 cent, as the Korg Pitchblack, among many others.

Most of tuners have a precision between 1 and 0.1 cent, which is more than enough for every ear.

One more characteristic to take into account is the response time of tuners. Each tuner reacts with a very different speed recognizing the note. Slow tuners, taking more time recognizing the note, make us to go from one side to other, while trying to tune the string. Speed tuners are even able to recognize notes as they are being triggered in a speed riff.
Tune speed isn't so critical when we are trying to intonate our guitar and, for that case, the great precision of a Peterson weights more than its response time (that's already good enough). But, a good speed is the best when we are trying to tune between songs.

One more interesting characteristic is the display. Most of tuners have several modes, that allow you to choose the way that better works for you. Peterson introduced a stroboscopic way to show the tuning process and, most of modern tuners have such a mode in a partial way.

Briefing it, most of tuner pedals have a precision more than enough to let you to tune your guitar so accurately that nobody could hear the deviation of the exact note and, therefore, what can differentiate tuners is the rest of their characteristics.


TC Electronics Polytune

Presentation

The tuner comes in a small cardboard box, with lot of "marketing". Inside, the tuner pedal, a free subscription ticket (3 months) to Sound On Sound, a sticker of TC Electronics, a couple of velcro straps and the user manual, with instructions in several languages.
The unit includes a sealed battery (of short duration). You have to open the unit, to remove or install the battery. And, this is a darn easy operation.The unit has just a single big screw, in the center of the backside, with an slot as wide as a coin so, you can open and close it in an instant, without recurring to some screwdriver.

Once opened, you can access the battery but, rest of circuitry is hidden behind an internal cover, fixed with 4 more screws.

Product seems to be made of good materials, with good finishing and, it seems sturdy enough.


Controls and connexions

In front side, just the visor and the switch that activates the pedal.
In lateral sides, the input and output jacks.
Most of control are in the lateral upper side and, are as follow:

Display

A very small button at left hand, that changes the mode between Needle and Stream (pseudo-stroboscopic).
9V Output

This output allows you to use the tuner to feed up other pedals, with a multi barrel-plug cable (not included).

Service Port

This mysterious USB plug would probably be of use for technical service repair and, maybe to update the software or firmware of this tuner. Service cable not included, neither.

9V Input

This is the input for the 9V AC Adapter, if you aren't going to use the internal battery. When you plug something there, the battery remains unconnected.

Tuning

Every time you push this button, the reference tuning goes down in a semi-tone. You can drop your reference tuning up to 5 semi-tones.

Functions

This tuner allows two visualization modes, Needle and Stream. In the Needle mode you have the typical arrow, similar to analogic units, that allow you to know when the note is in tune. In Stream mode, there is some kind of stroboscopic display, where a set of lights move in semi-circle; when they stop, the string is in tune (this is my own preferred display).
With button Display, we are changing the mode in the following sequence: G Needle, G Stream, B Needle, B Stream. G means Guitar and, B means Bass Guitar.

Independently of the two display modes, the tuner works in two different working modes: Poly and Mono. But, you don't have to push any button to go from one to the other mode. As soon as the tuner detects more than just one string ringing at once, the mode Poly is triggered and, if we just play a single string, Mono it automatically enters in mode Mono.
In mode Mono, the display will depend on the election we already discussed related to button Display but, in mode Poly, the view is fixed and, independent of Display.
Each string is being represented by a group of 2 leds, having 6 groups of leds for a guitar and, up to 5 for a bass guitar. When each string is in tune, their corresponding leds light in green. When some string is out-of-tune, this will be shown with the help of a couple of red leds up or down the green in-tune group.

Mode Poly is just what differentiates this tuner from the rest. It was the first tuner to incorporate a multi-strings tuning system, where you can check and modify the status of all strings at once.

According to the maker, you achieve the best results working with the bridge (rear) pickup and, softly strumming strings with your thumb finger. If you try that, the display will automatically change to mode Poly and, you will see at a glance the tuning status of all your strings. This is really good for live performance, to re-tune any string between songs. After strumming strings and, while they are still ringing, you can act over the tuning keys of each out-of-tune string and see how they come back to tuning. You can strum more times until you got everything in tune.

But, you have to take note that the mode Poly hasn't the same accuracy or precision than the mode Mono. While mode Mono has a precision of 0.5 cents, mode Poly is less accurate but, equally useful.

Also, you should take into account that mode Poly WORKS ONLY with TRADITIONAL tuning and dropped tunings (up to 5 semi-tones below traditional tuning). Poly mode doesn't recognize any other kind of alternative tunings so, be sure to use mode Mono for those cases.

Finally, if you press simultaneously Display and Tuning buttons, you access to Calibration mode.
The calibration mode can establish a reference frequency for A (La) different of the default one (440 Hz).
You can change reference frequency between 435 and 445 Hz, with an interval of 1 Hz.

The Tuner works in True Bypass (according to the maker but, I seriously have my suspects that this isn't true because as soon as you feed it with power, even if the pedal is switched off, there is some internal checks that you can see in the display). When you switch it on, the sound is being muted, allowing you just to tune.

My impressions, after my tests

I've restricted my tests to check modes Poly and Mono, tuning guitars with different bridge systems: a fixed bridge (LP like), a deluxe floating bridge (strato deluxe), a vintage floating bridge (PRS 513) and a Floyd Rose bridge (Charvel SoCal Type 1).
The Poly display allows you to see the instability of all strings when you are tuning just one of them, in a guitar with a floating bridge, where you see the red lights going up and down in the meanwhile.

The Poly tests were very interesting. In every case, it was a very quick way to check the tuning status of each guitar but, I think it works way better for fixed bridge guitars and, I prefer to go string by string (mode Mono) in the case of floating bridges (you achieve quicker and accurate results like this).

Comparing it to my previous tuner, the Korg Pitchblack, it's clear to me that the Polytune reacts way quicker than the Korg unit, in a closer real-time to your changes in the peghead so, it results quicker to tune your strings.

I also think that it works better in Stream mode than in Needle. To my ear, I think the tuning I achieve  is more accurate in Stream mode.
The Korg Pitchblack has more visualization modes than the Polytune and, some are mixing Needle and Stroboscopic views.

I've also made some speed to detect notes tests while playing some riff. To clearly detect the note, it needs that you give that note with total clarity and not so speed. It doesn't seem to be the speeder tuner in the World; there are some other units that work with more speed and accuracy but, without any doubt, is quicker than the Pitchblack.

I am not going to do any demo video, because I've seen videos enough in Youtube and, I don't feel myself as adding something extra to those.