Tone Report Weekly Issue 155
Tone Report Weekly Issue 155
N O V E M B E R
A Y
2 5 T H ,
2 0 1 6
Y O
I N
L Y
NEXT
PHASE.
I N T R O D U C I N G
Transmisser
Resonant Reverberations
The Transmisser is a modulated reverb with extra-long decay fed to a
highly resonant filter. It is the sonic recreation of blowing your signal
to bits, shooting it through a black hole then beaming it back down on
a cloud of cosmic dust. It is a Blazar for musical instruments.
If you cant already tell, the Transmisser is not your everyday
reverberation device. It does not do subtle. It does not do spring.
It does not do a wood paneled rumpus room with 1" thick carpet. It
will not recreate the classic sounds of the 60s, 70s and 80s. The
Transmisser will create an ultimate soundscape-y backdrop to your
all-night guitar freak-out. Itll quickly turn you into a one note per
minute knob twiddler. Itll make you want to break out that dusty old
expression pedal to do slow riding filter sweeps for days. Itll get you
out of that stupid ergonomic chair, close that flaptop computer and
force you to enjoy playing music again and thats the most important
thing, am I right?
Youre gonna love what it does with your space.
www.earthquakerdevices.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ISSUE 155
NOVEMBER 25TH
14 TONE TALK
22 DIY
34 TONE TALK
14
42 TONE TALK
22
34
42
50 LOLLYGAGGER FX
CANAGLIA
54 ONE CONTROL
PURPLE HUMPER
58 GLOU-GLOU
62
RENDEZ-VOUS
62 KEELEY ELECTRONICS
DARK SIDE
50
6
ToneReport.com
54
58
DWARFCRAFT DEVICES
BRINGS BACK THE BABY
THUNDER
//
Buzzworthy Gear
PETTYJOHN ELECTRONICS
GIVES US THE BEST OF BOTH
WORLDS WITH THE FUZE
Pettyjohns new pedal, the Fuze, is an alloriginal duzz, a distortion and fuzz mix with
some new tricks up its sleeve. Gain 1 adheres
to a full-bodied distortion circuit, while Gain
2 corresponds to a rich, harmonically dense
fuzz circuit. Using the Mix control allows you
to control the ratio of each effect, along with
some pre- and post-distortion EQ options to
keep everything square.
ToneReport.com
TRANSFORMER ISOLATION
ACTIVE CIRCUITRY & DUAL BUFFERED OUTPUTS
PHASE CORRECTION | SILENT SWITCHING
COMPACT DESIGN | TRI-COLOUR LED
9V BATTERY OR DC OPERATION
FREEPEDALFRIDAY
W I N N E R
Congratulations!
Jaso n Erb
MATT HEWS, USA
CONTACT:
PI N N A C LE D E LU XE V2
by : Wam p le r
CL I CK HE RE FO R A C H AN C E TO WI N MORE GE AR!
14
TONE TALK //
15
GREENHOUSE FX
SONIC ORB
This is a phaser from the mind of Roy Zichri, of Israeli
pedal outfit Greenhouse FX. I had the pleasure of visiting
his personal sonic workshop last summer in Northern
Israel, where he gave me the Sonic Orb in promise of
me doing something cool with it.
The thing I like about this phaser is its resonance and
liquidity. This is definitely one of the most vocal sounding
phasers I have ever tried, and sounds really good running
at slow speeds, with the resonance controls notched up
a bit for a long and vocal sweep. Have a listen below:
16
TONE TALK //
J. ROCKETT
TRANQUILIZER
This pedal fell criminally under the radar after its release,
and did not really garner much of a splash in guitar circles.
I feel this is a damn shame, since this is probably one of the
best phasers I have ever heard this year (including some
of the hallowed vintage models I have tried). While only
having two stages, it manages to have the warmth and
thump of a Uni-Vibe with the width and space of a phaser.
Putting before a drive or fuzz is an absolutely religious
experience that has to be heard to be believed. For the
clip below, I focused on clean tones so you can really hear
what its doing.
ELECTRO HARMONIX
SMALL STONE (BLACK RUSSIAN)
Ok, so this is not a strictly underground pedal, but its
going for stupid cheap on eBay and nobody seems to be
buying them up. The Black Russian series of EHX effects
are criminally underrated, and were made at the tail end
of the Sovtek era. There are a lot of great deals to be had
with the Sovtek Small Stones, as there value isnt as high
as the Sovtek Big Muffs. Its got all the character of an old
Small Stone without the annoying volume drop, which is
more than enough for the price of entry. In this clip, I run
through clean, phased, and then I switch on the wacky and
awesome signature Small Stone Color switch.
ToneReport.com
17
GLOU-GLOU
RENDEZVOUS
This pedal was released in the beginning
of October of this year, and in my opinion
is one of the runaway sleeper hits of the
year. This pedal is a dual phaser-filter, with
a smorgasbord of options to control every
facet of the sound. The phase sounds on here
are unlike any I have tried, and really brings
this effect into new and uncharted territory
with the level of control it provides. Here, I
am triggering the phaser with my guitar, each
small nuance in attack opening up another
facet of the phase.
Well folks, thats all Ive got. I hope you
enjoyed this little excursion into the world of
phase, and perhaps added a few pedals to
your eBay watch lists. Until next time, friends!
BY NICHOLAS KULA
22
DIY //
THE MYSTERIES OF
TONE HAVE LARGELY
BEEN SOLVED. The gear
ToneReport.com
23
PARTS NEEDED:
RESISTORS
1x 100 ohm
1x 1k
1x 2.2k
1x 5.1k
1x 47k
1x 100k
1x 640k
2x 1m
1x 2.2m
1x LED resistor, the value of
which controls the brightness. If
youre working with a clear LED,
I like to make this 1522k, and
2.2k for a diffused LED.
24
DIY //
CAPACITORS
1x 10pF (ceramic)
1x 47pF (ceramic)
1x 51pF (ceramic)
1x 100pF (ceramic)
1x 39nF (0.039uF, film)
1x 47nF (0.047uF, film)
1x 100nF (0.1uF, film)
2x 220nF (0.22uF, film)
1x 100uF electrolytic
SEMICONDUCTORS
2x 2n7000 (see notes above)
transistors
1x J201 transistor
1x 1n4001 diode
2x germanium diodes, I used
Raytheon ones from Smallbear
POTENTIOMETERS
1x 50kB
1x 100kB
1x 1mB
1x 100k trimpot
MISCELLANEOUS
1x piece of Veroboard
STEP 1:
ToneReport.com
25
STEP 2:
STEP 3:
STEP 4:
26
DIY //
STEP 5:
STEP 6:
27
1
x enclosure, drilled to accept
three pots, one LED, input and
output jacks, footswitch and DC
jack
1x LED
STEP 1:
28
DIY //
STEP 2:
STEP 3:
STEP 4:
ToneReport.com
29
STEP 5:
STEP 6:
STEP 7:
30
DIY //
ToneReport.com
31
TONE TALK //
35
eventide harpeggiator
from pitchfactor and h9
It is time to tip the hat to the pioneers
of guitar transformation: Eventide. The
HarPeggiator is an insane algorithm that
employs two pitch shifters, two rhythm
generators and two special effects units.
The special effects include five filters, five
fuzzes and five glitch effects. As if that
wasnt mind bending enough, the two
arpeggio sequencers allow 16 steps of
insane rhythmic and tonal possibilities. I
could write a feature on the spec of this
algorithm alone, but personally, I like to
just chaotically turn knobs until something
pulses me into a musical-mechanical,
transcendental state.
any other pedals. Because of the synthlike nature of this effect, I am reticent to
add any extraneous effects that could
potentially obscure the rhythmic pulses
this thing generates, but when I do, it is
all about the Malekko B:Assmaster with its
extreme gating and blatty octave squidge.
These are the perfect pair of pedals for
otherworldly mechanoid menacehighly
recommended for those in a riff writing rut.
TONE TALK //
boss sy-300
This big blue beasty is perhaps the most
comprehensive and overt attempt at
turning the guitar or bass into a full-blown
synthesizer. Roland pretty much pioneered
the concept of the guitar synth in the
80s, but gone are the days when a highly
modified instrument, mess of cables and
surfboard-sized controller are required
to tap into it. The SY-300 is the plug-andplay synth stomp we have been waiting for
and perhaps one of the most powerful and
ambitious stompboxes of all time next to
the Eventide H9.
37
TONE TALK //
Spend more time playing and less time tweaking with the DigiTech RP360XPs fast and intuitive
graphical user interface. The RP360XP has a built-in looper, a huge array of stompbox-style effects,
amp and cab models, and real-time treadle control of any parameter. The RP360XP has the right
sounds, the right features, the right size, and the right price. Try it at a DigiTech Dealer right now!
42
TONE TALK //
ToneReport.com
43
Hagstrom Swede:
44
TONE TALK //
ToneReport.com
45
Agile AL-3200MCC:
46
TONE TALK //
ToneReport.com
47
Some of the finest Les Paul copies ever made are the Japanese-built instruments from
what is commonly referred to now as the lawsuit era, which was from about 1970
through 1977, the year when the lawsuit itself (pitting the Norlin-Gibson camp against
the Hoshino-Ibanez group) was settled. These guitars are cool because they are
genuine vintage pieces, they are of remarkable quality (better than many American
guitars of the same era), and they are still very affordable for the most part. The true
lawsuit era guitars are easy to identify because they typically copied Gibson specs
and headstock designs to the letter. These instruments were sold under a number of
different names, but Ibanez, Tokai, Burny, Edwards, Fernandes, and Greco are some
of the common ones. Many of these have become fairly valuable vintage pieces in
their own right, with Tokais Love Rock model being especially coveted. Fine lawsuit
era Pauls can be had for anywhere from 400 bucks or so on up to 1000 or more, but
600 to 700 is about average.
48
TONE TALK //
LOLLYGAGGER FX
CANAGLIA
GEAR REVIEW
//
A SCOUNDREL OF
DIRTY AND CLEAN
CHOPPING WOOD
WHAT WE LIKE
CONCERNS
ToneReport.com
51
ONE CONTROL
PURPLE HUMPER
REVIEW BY ERIC DODD
STREET PRICE $124.00
THIS IS SERIOUS.
LETS TALK.
54
GEAR REVIEW
//
unexpected versatility
that promotes it from
accessory to necessity
for your pedalboard .
With great potential as
a potent always on
pedal, the Purple Humper
is a miniature mid-boost
that surgically extracts
quintessential rock tones
from your amp.
DIAL IN YOUR
SOUND
transparency, when
you can still hear your dry
sound peeking through the
effect. There is definitely
nothing worse than dialing
in a great sound from just
your guitar and amp, only
to find out that stomping
on your favorite pedal
makes everything sound
as dead as a doornail. The
Humper takes this all a
step further by genuinely
enhancing your sound with
additional mid-tones while
still responding naturally to
picking dynamics with the
same, beautiful overtones
you can coax from your dry
signal. Want even more
options? Experiment with
where you place the Purple
Humper in your pedal chain
and consider stacking it with
other dirt pedals to tease
out more tone.
GET MORE
WITH LESS
WHAT WE LIKE
CONCERNS
None.
ToneReport.com
55
FREEPEDALFRIDAY
SUPER BADASS VARIAC FUZZ
PRESENTED BY
EATURE S
ENTER TO WIN
GLOU-GLOU
RENDEZ-VOUS
GEAR REVIEW
//
WHAT WE LIKE
CONCERNS
ToneReport.com
59
Holeyboard Dragonfly
Church Gig
Bar Gig
Studio Time
www.chemistrydesignwerks.com
KEELEY
ELECTRONICS
DARK SIDE
REVIEW BY
JAMIE WOLFERT
STREET PRICE
$299.00
Few factions of the tone
chasing community are
as rabid and obsessive as
that which devotes itself
to the finer points of David
Gilmours signature guitar
sound. As evidenced by
the numerous websites and
online communities (such
as Gilmourish) that cater to
Gilmour tone chasers, the Pink
Floyd guitarist and frontman
seems to have easily eclipsed
Clapton, Hendrix, and even
Eddie Van Halen as the guitar
worlds reigning king of tone.
Specifically, the velvety liquid
ambience of his Strat-powered
leads are what so many
guitar players and gear nerds
lust after, as exemplified on
classic Floyd records like Dark
62
GEAR REVIEW
//
they are based on. The twoway selection switch lets you
choose between either the
Flange/Rotary setting or the
Phase/U-Vibe setting, using
In use I found the Dark Side
the Blend knob to get just
quite intuitive and steadfastly
one of these effects at a time,
musical. The fuzz section
or mix them together when
is basically an idealized Big
the blend control is in the
Muff. The Gain and Filter
middle of its range. This is a
controls are smooth and
useable throughout the entire really cool feature, and it was
fun exploring the in-between
range, unlike many vintage
modulation tones available. I
Muffs. The Mids toggle is
also appreciated the ability to
also super helpful, and lets
swap the order of modulation
you easily mimic Muff tones
and fuzz. Mr. Gilmour himself
from different eras. The Dark
Sides output is plentiful as well reportedly puts modulation
before fuzz, which tends to
and can provide a substantial
result in a warmer overall tone
boost to the amps front end,
with less of that swishy treble
should one so desire. I was
really impressed by the overall thing going on.
clarity; this Muff just never
The delay mode of the Dark
gets loose, flabby or muddy,
Side is just about worth the
no matter what pickups youre price of entry on its own.
using or how hard you hit it.
The Binson Echorec, with
its spinning magnetic drum
The Dark Sides modulation
and multi-head echoes, is
section is packed with lush
flavors. I imagine most Gilmour a very unique animal even
among vintage tape delays,
nuts will be particularly
stoked on the Rotary settings, and Keeley does a bangup job of squeezing that
which are warm and thick,
tone and functionality into a
becoming pleasantly watery
compact and intuitively laidas the speed is turned up,
out stompbox. The sound is
but the sounds are excellent
clear, yet warm, and its easy to
overall and accurate enough
in regards to the vintage units conjure up a fusillade of echoes
or some warped spaceship
landing oscillations.
WHAT WE LIKE
CONCERNS
ToneReport.com
63
TONE REPORT
EDITORIAL
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Eric Dodd, Phillip Dodge, David A. Evans,
Ian Garrett, Sam Hill, Yoel Kreisler, Nicholas Kula,
Nick Leners, John McBride, David Pakula,
Nick Rambo, Fletcher Stewart, Eric Tischler, Jamie Wolfert
1 7 T H ,
A Y
Y O
F I N
G E
2 0 1 5
SALES / MARKETING
MEDIA DIRECTOR Tom Keithly
[email protected]
CONTACT
SALES 971-400-6430
Gen. Inquiries [email protected]
15717 SW 74th St. Suite 400
Tigard, OR 97224
2 0 1 5
L Y
J U L Y
2 4 T H ,
A Y
2 0 1 5
I L
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
VIDEO
LEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Andy Martin
VIDEOGRAPHER Mike Hermans
1 0 T H ,
A Y
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
J U N E
1 9 T H ,
A Y
2 0 1 5
I L
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
GET OUR
BACK
ISSUES
TONE REPORT TONE REPORT
J U N E
2 6 T H ,
A Y
2 0 1 5
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
J U L Y
3 1 S T ,
A Y
2 0 1 5
I L
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
A Y
2 1 S T ,
2 0 1 5
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y
J U L Y
3 R D ,
A Y
2 0 1 5
I L
Y O
F I N
G E
L Y