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I actually got this a few days ago, and I still haven't had as much time as I'd like to really do a "deep dive" on all the features (please excuse the corporatespeak), but I wanted to start a thread to discuss it.

Granted two things: 1) I'm still in the early honeymoon phase; and 2) this thing is outlandishly expensive. So perhaps my initial impressions are biased.

However, I *can* say that the feature set is as impressive as it is daunting. As a product, I'd put it in the same category as the Timeline and also possibly the TimeFactor, although to be honest I've not played the other two. The price is also comparable.

There's so much to it that I can scarcely provide an adequate summary, but I do want to mention a few things that I really like and thing or two I don't totally love. This is not a comparison with any other similar product

Stuff I like:
• All features/parameters are available all the time via knobs and soft-touch switches. No menus and no scrolling!
• LFO options and control are exceptional. Modulation sounds are fantastic and highly variable.
• Multi-tap delays are available, which makes emulating multi-head tape delays possible (and very accurate).
• There is a mode called "Halo" which is soft of like "shimmer". It gives one and two octave up repeats. With delay time low and feedback high, it can do nice synth sounds.
• It's absolutely the quietest delay I've ever used. There is ZERO noise in any mode or configuration.
• Any of the knobs can be assigned to expression pedal control. Through the software, I believe it is also possible to assign other parameters to expression, but I haven't even fired up the software yet. haha
• With a remote footswitch, there is a "freeze" function and also an "octave up" that is applied on the next round of repeats.
• Non-delay modulation effects can be achieved, including chorus, phaser, flanger, and vibrato.
• There is a bitcrusher built in that does wacky and unpredictable things.
• Software allows for preset management and export (you can share with other people)

Stuff I'm not nuts about (or think others won't like):
• There is no dedicated filter knob for variable filtering. Filtering is via "concept" presets (tape, etc).
• Patches can't be changed via foot without an extra, external footswitch added on.
• You can't see which preset bank you're in currently without turning the Preset knob (the indicator for bank # shares a LED cluster with the LFO waveform indicator)
• As far as I can tell, there's no way to make the delay preamp get gritty. Headroom is astronomically high. Frankly, this isn't a negative for me, but I know other people (for whatever reason) like to use delay preamps for dirt.
• That's about it!

More details to come as I explore more. Also, if anyone else has one of these, please chime in. I'm still quite the noob.

This one is a side project that Dave and Brian and I are working on (as if we didn't already have enough going on with Function f(x)). We wanted to do fun short-run builds that didn't quite fit in with Function f(x), so we created a new brand: 424 Studios, an homage to the fact that we all owned and used the Tascam 424 when we were teenagers.




This box is a Fuzz Rite clone with a few part values tweaks to make it more generally useful tonally. I did the original schematic and PCB, Dave did the next two layouts, and all three of us tested and tweaked.

I had one blue enclosure left over from the test order, so I decided to build one up with an older PCB (doesn't have the jumpers for modern/vintage caps). Production units will be gold and have chickenhead knobs. I've had these black metal ones for ages and this seemed like a good use since it's a personal build. I'll be building the 10 gold production boxes. This blue one was just a fun build for me, and the gold boxes will use different hardware and have nicer/neater wiring.

The Fuzz control is actually quite useful, and it's a combo of tone and gain on one control. Lots of textures are available. And this thing loves neck pickups! You can really get your Siamese Dream on with this bad boy.

I spent about an hour this afternoon swapping out tubes to try to remedy an "almost no volume" problem with my Randall Diavlo 20. It worked perfectly the other day when I turned it on, but today I got no sound until I maxed the master and channel volume. Swapped out the power tubes first. Then V1. Then the other preamp tubes. Then the PI.

Then I unplugged from my pedal board and tested with just the amp-to-board cable. Same thing.

Then I pulled the amp and tried a different amp. Same thing! Aha!!!

Turns out it was the amp-to-board cable. 

TL;DR - Sometimes it's the cable.

:mrgreen:

She was 10 days late and refused to come out the old fashioned way, but now she's here. She almost shared a birthday with her uncle GeekMacDaddy, but she was just a little bit too early for that.

Mom and baby are doing great.

Can't wait to teach her to play guitar and build pedals (or help her get good at whatever she wants to pursue).


This pic is right after her first bath. The nurse gave her a fun faux-hawk. 

Okay, so I'm going to be getting a Jamman Xpress looper from Sweetwater. But I figured I should get a couple more things and do the 3-payment plan and make it worth it. 

But I can't figure out anything I can remotely justify as a "need" or even a strong want. There's got to be something cool I'm missing out on, so I want to enlist your help in giving me suggestions. I'm looking for useful, handy, utilitarian, etc., in the $100 - $200 range.

To help kick things off, here are useful things I already have:

• Clip on tuner (two actually) and a pedal tuner
• eBow
• Audio interface
• Capo (several)
• Acoustic guitar hydration system
• Strings (just bought some sets recently)
• Guitar and fretboard polish / oil
• Guitar stands
• Guitar straps
• Microphones (SM57 and Sennheiser 609)
• Solid-state amp (Roland Cube 40xl)
• Cajon drum
• Cheap guitar (Agile, etc)
• Guitar / mic cables
• Music stand / Mic stand

I'm set for just about every kind of pedal, with the exception of maybe a Micro POG. But I can't justify full price on those when used ones are about $160.

About the only thing I don't have is a dedicated headphone/practice type Pod thingie. But I could easily use my iPhone for that, I suppose.

So what am I missing? Let's hear some suggestions, o' fellow brothers of the GAS order. 

Get it while the gettin is good:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid?src=3TP3DRR&src=3TP3DRR&noPopup=true

I had one of these, and the overdrive tones are insane. Doesn't really do clean all that well despite being two channels (one apparently is AstroVerb preamp and the other is the SLO preamp), but man, if you want super-saturated drive tone out of a tube amp, this is the way to go.

Firstly: my apologies if this tester has previously been reviewed here.

I sold off my Peak DCA and LCR a while back thinking I could replace them with other things. The DCA I was mostly done with because I thought I'd never be dealing with germanium transistors again, and without leakage, there's no need for a fancy transistor tester (in my opinion). Well, I found myself with a giant pile of germanium trannies, so I went out on the hunt.

Since my last search for a good tester, there have apparently been some developments. There is a great open source microcontroller based project that has been in development over the past year or two, and it has spawned a wide array of cheap but comprehensive component tester products (mostly out of China).

Testers based on this project will test just about everything a DIY pedal junkie could want, and some things you may not even know you want yet. It does BJT transistors (including leakage), FETs, caps, resistors, inductors, diodes, diacs, triacs, thyristors, and a couple other things.

Here's the one I got:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HHPVX2U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I originally ordered the one with a nice enclosure that has a separate set of test leads, but it arrived in non-working condition and I was afraid to order the same one again. So I went with the cheaper unit with no case, and that one worked just fine. There are several options on eBay that use this same code. Some have larger fancier displays, but they all do the same thing.

• For BJTs, it does most of what the Peak DCA does. It determines PNP or NPN, shows which lead is CBE, gives leakage (if any is detected), hFE, and collector-emitter voltage. It doesn't measure the base-emitter voltage drop like the Peak unit, and this is what the Peak uses to determine Germanium vs Silicon (which is a good measure, but can give false positives). But basically you can use this simple rule of thumb: if leakage is detectable, it's a germanium device.

• For FETs, it shows N or P-channel, gate resistance, and a parameter it calls simply "VG", which I hope is VGs. pickdropper and I are going to do some experiments to see how this reading matches up with his Peak DCA Pro.

•Caps are pretty straightforward. You get capacitance rating, and for caps 2u and greater it also measures ESR (equivalent series resistance). It also measures something it calls "Vloss" expressed as a percentage. I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but I will report back on that.

Resistors are very simple: resistance in ohms.

Inductors are measured for inductance and effective resistance as well.

I haven't tested anything else yet. For $29, I'm beyond thrilled with the results so far. Seems very consistent and accurate. I would recommend getting one of the models with a case as I previously bought, as I think the finished version is ultimately more usable (and the extra probes are handy).

Here's a pic of mine in action:

She's a beaut, Clark.

Never seen an actual "natural" finish in person. It's quite nice. And the back is gorgeous. I'm jealous. 

Took out the EMG actives (yuck) that were in there and put in Duncans (JB and Jazz). I also put back in the original pots and shielding cup and left as much original wiring as possible.

Apparently it's 4x DPDT actuated by a single push-button.

Maybe now we can finally make a super-multi-version Muff without compromising?

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G20041

BULLSHIT

Just got out of a meeting with somebody from the Budgeting/Forecasting group. Apparently, I've been tapped to handle budget forecasting for my department (the person who did it previously has left the company). Should be a real interesting process, especially considering that I have never even seen my department's budget before today.

Now to wrestle with  Longview...whatever that is. 

First "for-fun" build for me in a while. I whipped up the circuit in March, but just now got around to boxing it up. Here's the dev thread with full details:
http://byocelectronics.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=48664

Here's a clip of the final circuit after a few mods:
[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/effdub/wahscillator-with-ldr-led[/soundcloud]


The stamping didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. I think my white ink is going bad. Also I just realized I think I stamped the control labels backward. I guess I'll be redoing that tomorrow.   

I used one of 1776 Effects' opto bypass boards. Pretty nifty. I also used some shielded cable for a few of the runs. It was a pain in the ass to work with, but it makes for a neater build.

Every time I got to buy acoustic strings, I can never recall what gauge I just had on my guitar.

I'm thinking 11-52 or 12-53 is the ticket. What about yous guys?

Mixing boards are something I've mostly ignored or avoided my entire life. 

As a consequence, I don't know much about them. What I do know comes primarily from using my old Tascam 424's in-built mixing functionality. It seems like a lot has changed over the past 10 years or so in the world of small and inexpensive mixers.

I will be getting a mixer in the very near term. I want to do better pedal demo recordings, and maybe some fun silly song projects. For mics, I have a SM57 and Sennheiser e609, so I feel like I've got that covered. I will be outputing to either Garageband on iPad or Reaper on a laptop. I also have an iRig Pro. I will not be using the mixer for any live performances.

So what would you guys recommend for a mixer? My budget is "as low as possible that will adequately get the job done", although I'd be willing to kick in a bit more for something that makes the overall process easier/faster/more convenient.

Saw this in the local bottle shop and just had to take a pic. 

 

Better photos and full details to follow.

I've been putting it off for weeks (nay, months), but tonight is the night I get right with the Component Gods. Tonight I will go through the half a dozen parts orders that I have as yet neglected to fully unpack and sort into the appropriate storage receptacles. I've got Tayda, Electronics Goldmine, Mouser, and Smallbear orders still in the original shipping packages.

There's no telling what all I'll find!    Although I can almost guarantee that plenty of stuff I sort through will be a mystery to me as to why I ordered it. Another goodly share will have been unwittingly duplicated.

Anybody else behind on unpacking orders?

This guy makes me mad. 

And if you want to see him use all that technique (and then some) in a tune:

Just read through a TGP thread and just about everybody agreed (gasp!) that JJ's standard 12AX7 / ECC83 has a noticeably darkening tone vs Russian and Chinese tubes.

Have you guys noticed this in your experiments?

I've generally regarding Sovtek (and all their sub brands) and Sino stuff to be sometimes harsh and usually very high gain.

Man, what a trainwreck:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1387224

The first 12-13 pages were a couple months ago, and then day before yesterday it exploded with new drama.

TL;DR -- Some guy from England started up a "pie and mash" shop and allegedly ripped a bunch of people off, then went to Australia and started a "custom" guitar company (TMG Guitars). Got popular with the P&W scene and sold a lot of $5000+ tele/strat clones. Started selling $300 pedals. Took 3x the amount of time quoted to deliver most stuff (allegedly). Moved to California. Continued with not delivering on time (if at all), allegedly. Turns out a string of people on three continents claim to have been ripped off by this guy (paid, but did not get anything; or got sub-quality product). Then it comes out the that the fully custom guitars are actually partscasters, and they don't really do anything but assemble from cheap C&C bodies/necks and Chinese no-name pickups. And all under the guise of being a friend of Jesus.

Makes the Freekish Blues incident seem pretty small-scale. Allegedly. 

https://reverb.com/item/116574-abominable-hail-satan

Hard to argue with his holy goatness.