You musicians can claim to be original all they want- the truth is, they're fashion victims as much as the next guy ( or girl) . You've got your Stevie Ray Vaughan followers, buying stratocasters, winding the bridge pick up hot, stringing the guitar with telephone cables, and playing through a Tube Screamer ( or better yet, a boutique Tube Screamer clone) into an under 10 watt tube amp. You've got your Noise Rock nerds playing Aluminum guitars into Traynor Amps, set on "crackle". You've got your Shoegazers, and 1990's indie Rockers playing Jaguars and Mustangs, with a big Muff and a fender Amp, with the reverb all the way up, and so on.
My fashion set, as a guitar player is closest to the Youth Pastor at a Church "Praise" band- I go for stuff that's inexpensive, yet can approximate the Tone Lawyers. ( The Tone Lawyers are the guys buying "investment grade" guitars and Amps- all very tasteful, but not necessarily "gig ready" )
In my fashion circles, then, there was a big wave of dudes who totally lost their minds on the Biyang Tri Reverb. It's not quite a clone of the TC Electronics "Hall of Fame" reverb pedal- it's a different design in most of the key factors- but the reason for its popularity is that it can approximate some of the HOF's best tones. I'll admit- the trendiness is what hooked my attention, but I got it for this reason- while I've got a great sounding Spring reverb on an Amp, and my Digiverb can handle the shoegazer special effects- this Biyang is the shortest and simplest route to a shimmery "Post punk' reverb- you know that "big" guitar sound from about 1985, that went from The Edge to Geordie to Simple Minds, to heck I think Culture Club even had it a bit. I set the switch to "Hall", the "A/B" to "A" and keep the "Blend" and "Time" dials somewhere between 11 and 2 o'clock, and I'm on it. No real tweaking required, and I've got that big wet reverb. Combined with the Digiverb, and I'll give the Catherine Wheel a run for their shoelaces. Combined with my Fender Amp, and the JAMC have competition, but on its own, I've got everything from Dan Ash to Geordie to Reg Smithies. That's a lot of my tastes, right there. So, yes, I'll follow fashion, if I look good in it....
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Two more Guitar Pedals
I'm no snob. I don't need a brand name, but what I do need and want is utility. I want stuff that meets my expectations. So, if I bargain hunt, I don't want to compromise. I happen to know that several things I like have a large amount of "inflation" on the price ( nicest way of saying they're gouging) . For example, I know that stomp boxes aren't expensive to make. Assuming the boutique guys are paying what I'm paying, and I know I'm over-paying, The average distortion pedal is about 20 bucks in parts. So, let's be generous, and pay them 50 bucks an hour in building the thing- which is about how long it took me- then, 70 bucks really is the most, reasonably, they should charge. Go Here and find a seventy dollar dirtbox. There's about 10% of their total. So, is it bargain hunting to expect a lower cost? I don't think so.
I've got friends who basically believe in magic, and I don't blame them. I understand. If you put an Earthquaker Devices pedal up against a similar Boss product, of course it destroys the Boss. But, rather than think of Boss as substandard, it makes most folks think of Earthquaker as superior. I have been pretty relentless, and while Earthquaker are probably the best of the high dollar "Boutique" guys, they are overcharging- in some instances less than what they could, so bravo to them for that, but still, it's a little bit of magical thinking to say that , for example, the Monarch overdrive is five times the pedal of the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive. I think the Joyo stuff is a little "underpriced" in the Wal Mart sense of the word ( How Wal Mart gets such low prices is by bullying overseas manufacturers, who generally comply by screwing their workers) but that in no way negates how much Earthquaker ( and others, who are far, far worse) are over-pricing. I'm willing to bet they could shave off 30% of their price and still make a profit, just fine- and while they'd still be too rich for my blood, I wouldn't think of it as quite such a game.
But, the problem of leaving the brand name behind is that you are on your own. See, it's a hype machine- the magazines and blogs, and so on are all built in- you'll find reviews and demo videos aplenty for the hyped brands, but apart from Joyo, who caught fire on a couple of pedals, there are precious little resources out towards informing folks of all the manufacturers.
So, I bought this Nady Tremolo on Ebay for a ridiculously low price, and had no information going in. Zero. It turns out that it sounds about as good as a Boss ( meaning on the lower end of mediocre. Not terrible, but nothing special) and is as ugly as a Danelectro ( meaning hideous beyond words. It looks like one of those "Hang loose" feet, in orange, and is huge) . It's worth what I paid, but I wouldn't suggest paying a realistic price for it ( generally it sells for about the same as the Boss- so, then, just get the freakin' Boss).
Even though it cost me a bit more- the Hotone Octa is another matter altogether. This is what I'd call a bargain. Generally, you can pick one up for 70 bucks- and it does virtually everything I would do with the 215 dollar EHX Micro POG. No, it doesn't sound quite as natural on the Octave up- but it's a matter of taste not genuine quality- The Hotone has more warble, the Micro POG has more distortion. So, you have to ask what you're looking to do- I'm looking to double up a few melodic lines- basically play some dyads that sound more like harmonies- Which is what the Micro POG is usually used for, as I hear it. So long as I keep it to whole notes, not more than a bar of sustain, the warble doesn't really come into play. In every other way, the Octa just trounces the Micro POG- first off, this is the smallest pedal I own- it's even smaller than my EBow. That's a feature, to me. It way too small for a battery, but seriously, if it's not a dying battery thing for a fuzz pedal, is there any reason for a battery? I can tell you a big reason against Batteries- throwing toxic heavy metals away every few months. As I was saying, sonically, it's as good as the Electro Harmonix, but that's in standard mode- in the "dirty" mode, which is not polyphonic ( able to handle chords) it keeps up with virtually all the analog "sub-Octave" stuff out there- from the DOD Octoplus, to- get this- the MXR Blue Box- It doesn't have its own fuzz, but I swear it does the single note blend thing as good as the MXR- and when I add my own Fuzz, I've got a Stoner/Sludge monster. In the polyphonic mode, adding a dark overdrive, like the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive produces that "organ tone' beautifully.
Now, I got it on Ebay for 50 bucks, postage paid. Getting it for that might be challenging, but still possible. So- consider that. I could spend 150 and get the Earthquaker Devices Organizer, I could spend 215 , and get the EHX Micro POG- and each would give me slightly different options to arrive at the same place this 50 dollars got me. That's bargain hunting, to me. It wouldn't be if it didn't get me there, any more than if it cost more.
I've got friends who basically believe in magic, and I don't blame them. I understand. If you put an Earthquaker Devices pedal up against a similar Boss product, of course it destroys the Boss. But, rather than think of Boss as substandard, it makes most folks think of Earthquaker as superior. I have been pretty relentless, and while Earthquaker are probably the best of the high dollar "Boutique" guys, they are overcharging- in some instances less than what they could, so bravo to them for that, but still, it's a little bit of magical thinking to say that , for example, the Monarch overdrive is five times the pedal of the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive. I think the Joyo stuff is a little "underpriced" in the Wal Mart sense of the word ( How Wal Mart gets such low prices is by bullying overseas manufacturers, who generally comply by screwing their workers) but that in no way negates how much Earthquaker ( and others, who are far, far worse) are over-pricing. I'm willing to bet they could shave off 30% of their price and still make a profit, just fine- and while they'd still be too rich for my blood, I wouldn't think of it as quite such a game.
But, the problem of leaving the brand name behind is that you are on your own. See, it's a hype machine- the magazines and blogs, and so on are all built in- you'll find reviews and demo videos aplenty for the hyped brands, but apart from Joyo, who caught fire on a couple of pedals, there are precious little resources out towards informing folks of all the manufacturers.
So, I bought this Nady Tremolo on Ebay for a ridiculously low price, and had no information going in. Zero. It turns out that it sounds about as good as a Boss ( meaning on the lower end of mediocre. Not terrible, but nothing special) and is as ugly as a Danelectro ( meaning hideous beyond words. It looks like one of those "Hang loose" feet, in orange, and is huge) . It's worth what I paid, but I wouldn't suggest paying a realistic price for it ( generally it sells for about the same as the Boss- so, then, just get the freakin' Boss).
Even though it cost me a bit more- the Hotone Octa is another matter altogether. This is what I'd call a bargain. Generally, you can pick one up for 70 bucks- and it does virtually everything I would do with the 215 dollar EHX Micro POG. No, it doesn't sound quite as natural on the Octave up- but it's a matter of taste not genuine quality- The Hotone has more warble, the Micro POG has more distortion. So, you have to ask what you're looking to do- I'm looking to double up a few melodic lines- basically play some dyads that sound more like harmonies- Which is what the Micro POG is usually used for, as I hear it. So long as I keep it to whole notes, not more than a bar of sustain, the warble doesn't really come into play. In every other way, the Octa just trounces the Micro POG- first off, this is the smallest pedal I own- it's even smaller than my EBow. That's a feature, to me. It way too small for a battery, but seriously, if it's not a dying battery thing for a fuzz pedal, is there any reason for a battery? I can tell you a big reason against Batteries- throwing toxic heavy metals away every few months. As I was saying, sonically, it's as good as the Electro Harmonix, but that's in standard mode- in the "dirty" mode, which is not polyphonic ( able to handle chords) it keeps up with virtually all the analog "sub-Octave" stuff out there- from the DOD Octoplus, to- get this- the MXR Blue Box- It doesn't have its own fuzz, but I swear it does the single note blend thing as good as the MXR- and when I add my own Fuzz, I've got a Stoner/Sludge monster. In the polyphonic mode, adding a dark overdrive, like the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive produces that "organ tone' beautifully.
Now, I got it on Ebay for 50 bucks, postage paid. Getting it for that might be challenging, but still possible. So- consider that. I could spend 150 and get the Earthquaker Devices Organizer, I could spend 215 , and get the EHX Micro POG- and each would give me slightly different options to arrive at the same place this 50 dollars got me. That's bargain hunting, to me. It wouldn't be if it didn't get me there, any more than if it cost more.
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