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I typically run my guitar into a planet waves tuner->ts9->old DOD distortion->chorus->analog delay->Trainwreck Rocket clone.

You've got me thinking.  When I get home tonight I'm going to play around with the order of the pedals and also the amp.  I used to run this pedal with a 65 Amps London which I dimed and ran through an attenuator.  The gain shift was barely noticeable with that amp which was compressed as hell, run in that manner.  Now I run into the Rocket whose volume I set at about 10:00 which is a nice sweet, loud, chimey, clean.  At this setting there is very little compression from the amp and I've noticed it is very sensitive to input volumes.  In other words a small change in pick attack equates to a huge change in volume from the amp, and small changes in gain or volume on one of the effects equates to a large change in volume as well.

I will also say that the perceived boost occurs primarily in the bass and treble when the chorus is kicked on.  The bass is O.K. but the treble is just way too much.   Maybe I need to ad a compressor.  I like the way compressors sound when other people play them but I hate the way they feel when I play with them.   

One more try.  I set up a web gallery.  Here is the link.  I had a bright A$$ light on but the pictures turned out a little dark.  http://gallery.me.com/boughtonfamily#100011

O.K.

I pulled it apart, and took some pics but can't post them because they are too big.  They average about 1.9 meg each.  I suppose I can set the camera for email resolution, but then you won't be able to see much detail.  Hmmmmmm.

I had it apart a month or two ago.  It's kind of a pain because all the components are hidden.  They are on the pot side of the board and the pots are PC mounted.  I'll see if I can get some decent pics of it and then get them posted.  I can't remember if it has any trimmers.  I guess we'll see.

Thanks

Hey all,

I'm hoping someone can help me understand what is up with a voodoo labs analog chorus that I have on my board.  As I understand it, the VL analog chorus is a copy of the Boss CE-2.  I like it, and would use it more but It has an interesting issue.  With some guitars it is nearly unity gain when kicked on, with others it is not. 

With my Les Paul (vintage PAF output Lollar imperial pick-ups) running behind my OD pedals on the board, it is a little hotter then unity but close enough to use.  With my Tele (a stock original 58 tele) output is lower than unity.  It's enough lower that it is really annoying.  I have a Strat with vintage SC pickups in Neck and Middle and a Seymour Duncan Hot rails in the bridge.  With that guitar, the chorus is WAY hotter then unity with all pickups.  It is such a jump that it is not usable with that guitar.  Also, when I try to use it with my accoustic with LR Baggs dual source run through an LR Baggs DI and pre-amp with the chorus in the effects loop, it drops the level significantly. 

I don't understand how, with one guitar it is dropping the level and on another it's like a 15 db boost.  Any ideas?  Is there anything I can do to fix this issue?

[loves]

Interested in an overdrive with a different voicing, would love to try the Timmy.  Have nearly enough info to build one, just debating if I want to open up that can of worms.  Friend of mine has one and loves it, wants a second so he'd be interested if I can build one.

Cloner or Thief?  I tire of that discussion.  There is nothing new under the sun.  I have nothing against Paul Cochrane, or Howard Dumble, or.............  If they could patent their product, they would (but they can't).  I respect the time, effort, and artistic ingenuity that guys put into effects and amps, but I really respect people like Ken Fisher, and the folks over Catalinbread who don't bitch and moan when someone wants to try to figure out how to build their product so they can understand why it sounds the way it sounds.  If they wanted an intellectual property right they could enforce, they should have produced a product they could patent.  Now, if someone is stealing their trademark, that's different.  I just find it a "little" hypocritical when people (who have borrowed heavily from the design of others, and they all have) treat their gadget like it is the first of its kind.

I say build it (and then tell me how you did it)   Here's hoping this site aint like TGP, cause I really like it here and don't want to get banned   After all of that, I just recently got on the waiting list for a Tim......It never hurts to support the small guys either.

Thanks for the replies.  This kind of confirms my suspicions.  I don't use a lot of effects, and the ones I use, are on much of the time.  It sounds like a good buffer would be a better investment than the looper.  Any one familiar with this one:

http://generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=26

Who here uses loopers on their board?  What do you think of them as a tool for preserving your base amp tone? 

I have been toying with the idea of buying or building one to see if I like them.  Right now, I run fairly minimal effects.  True bypass tuner into a ts9 into a Muff style distortion, into an analog chorus into an analog delay, then to the amp.  Soon, I will be adding a digital delay, a reverb, and probably a volume pedal.  Additionally I'm going to be adding 3 or 4 Madbean projects to my board to replace my current OD and distortion (but they probably won't all live there at the same time).

So, what do you think?  Is a looper worth a build?  Does anyone have a link or info they'd be willing to share on a looper build?  Many thanks in advance

I'm a neophyte, but I would suspect the switch wiring, or the switch itself.  If all the solder joints are good, and one connection is not touching another, I'd swap out the switch.  It sounds like signal may be getting shorted to ground when the pedal is switched off. 

I'd also check the in and out jacks to make sure that they are making good solid mechanical connections with the plugs.  I had an old distortion pedal that did something like you describe.  The input jack had gotten tired.  I "re-tensioned" it and the problem went away.  It sounded o.k. engaged, but there was a noticeable volume drop when it was in the chain and not engaged.  It made some other noises though when you moved the pedal or stepped on it (from the plug slopping around in the jack).

Take a look at the Faultline.  There is a link to the Catalinbread website on the projects page.  Faultline=Catalinbread SFT.  If you click on the link, there are several youtube videos of the SFT used as bass Overdrive, and also for guitar.  From the sound of it in the vids, it gets pretty heavy, and also does some cool Stones sounds with the guitar.

I don't have this pedal, and I haven't built it, but it sounds pretty cool.

Mr. G,

Thanks.  Did you buy or build your loop pedal?  I've been thinking of employing a looper myself.  Also, how do you like the Grapevine?  I'm thinking of building that one as well.

Hey,

Thanks for the replies.  The Eternity clips that I watched all had something funky going on with the high end.  I like the stock tubescreamer with single coils into a tube amp that is driven hard.  I find the mid hump really compliments the scooped single coils and the anemic low end is alright because most tube amps make up for the bass when pushed.

My rig has changed along with a change in gigs, however, and I'm needing some OD options that will give me both good rhythm and lead tones with both humbuckers and single coils.  I'm not looking for a "jack of all trades" pedal.  I'd be happy if I can find three or four pedals that sound great for the above purposes with both HB's and SC's.  The old tubescreamer is not great with a clean amp and HB's so I'm searching.

For those that have built the Neutrino or played an Eternity, what's the attraction?  I've been reading up on several of the commercial versions of the overdrive/distortion pedals offered as projects here.  After watching a bunch of videos on the Eternity, I've yet to see one that sounds decent.  I'm not trying to offend anyone with this, I'm just curious.  I know YouTube compresses the crap out sound files, so it's not the best medium for judging the nuances of an amp or a pedal, but the Eternity clips really don't sound very good to me.  They come across as a pretty generic Tubescreamer with a really nasty high end.

The Dirty Little Secret, on the other hand, sounds really good to me.  I was also really underwhelmed by what I saw of the Cornish G2. 

Anywho, I'm trying to come up with a short list of OD's I want build in the near future, and was pretty sure I'd build a Neutrino.  Now, I'm thinking maybe not.

Thanks for the links.  I'm going to check them out

Cool looking build.  It would have been awesome if the LED had gone in the center of Iron Man's chest.  Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to paint enclosures?  You do a really good job with yours.  They look professional all the way.