WTB - A pedal that makes my electric sound like a sitar!

Trude

lento said:

Trude said:

lento said:

As has been said, Ravish is the one.

I tried one in a shop for an hour or so, but couldn't get anything anywhere near as authentic sounding as my Variax.  I found it always had this artificial-sounding pitch shift sound, a bit like a steel drum.  It's something I hear in most of the wackier EHX pedals 

Agreed this sound is the definitive but not on the basis of the sample set I heard when I tried a goldtop variax I was thinking of buying.
To my ears the quality varied dramatically from string to string and made me think the particular guitar that had been chosen was not the best - either that or the sample editing should have been better ... imho.

My Variax is a Tele-transplant based on the 500 model.  I've not tried the later Tyler version.  

You can see me using it in this vid, from 3:00 onwards if you're interested:

Panama_Jack666

Trude said:

lento said:

Trude said:

lento said:

As has been said, Ravish is the one.

I tried one in a shop for an hour or so, but couldn't get anything anywhere near as authentic sounding as my Variax.  I found it always had this artificial-sounding pitch shift sound, a bit like a steel drum.  It's something I hear in most of the wackier EHX pedals 

Agreed this sound is the definitive but not on the basis of the sample set I heard when I tried a goldtop variax I was thinking of buying.
To my ears the quality varied dramatically from string to string and made me think the particular guitar that had been chosen was not the best - either that or the sample editing should have been better ... imho.

My Variax is a Tele-transplant based on the 500 model.  I've not tried the later Tyler version.  

You can see me using it in this vid, from 3:00 onwards if you're interested:

That sounds great man! Looks like a good gig too!

I did consider a Variax at one point. 

I'll report back on the Ravish as I've bought it now!

FelineGuitars

Panama_Jack666 said:

FelineGuitars said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

wayneirie said:

its band of gold

Winner winner chicken dinner!

as in Freda Payne - band of Gold
Don't recall any sitar on that

It's 90%* sitar! 

*Maybe not 90% but the main riff is sitar and some bits behind the verses are.

I kind of see it but it's quite hard to hear and I never previously identified it as a sitar (love the song though)

Panama_Jack666

FelineGuitars said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

FelineGuitars said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

wayneirie said:

its band of gold

Winner winner chicken dinner!

as in Freda Payne - band of Gold
Don't recall any sitar on that

It's 90%* sitar! 

*Maybe not 90% but the main riff is sitar and some bits behind the verses are.

I kind of see it but it's quite hard to hear and I never previously identified it as a sitar (love the song though)

It best be a sitar! I've just blown 140 notes on the pedal! Ha ha! 

FelineGuitars

The "guitar/sitar" has a notched kind of phase sound and it could well be a Coral Sitar on the track - esp as in 1970 they would still be quite in vogue.

On a strat putting one pickup out of phase may have been enough to fake it - some stats with an S1 switch have a setting a bit like that.

robinbowes

FelineGuitars said:

The "guitar/sitar" has a notched kind of phase sound and it could well be a Coral Sitar on the track - esp as in 1970 they would still be quite in vogue.

On a strat putting one pickup out of phase may have been enough to fake it - some stats with an S1 switch have a setting a bit like that.

I've got a Tele with a 5-way switch that has a great out-of-phase sound that would be great for this..

EricTheWeary

There is a thing Aziz Ibrahim does to make his guitar sound like a sitar with his fingers, I think he demoes it on the interview he did with Andertons...

...tum te tum...

...the little sequence from 4:50 where he does faux delay, wah and sitar:

Panama_Jack666

FelineGuitars said:

The "guitar/sitar" has a notched kind of phase sound and it could well be a Coral Sitar on the track - esp as in 1970 they would still be quite in vogue.

On a strat putting one pickup out of phase may have been enough to fake it - some stats with an S1 switch have a setting a bit like that.

I have a strat with an S1 switch. I'll have to experiment and report back! Thanks for the tip!

Panama_Jack666

I've moved this thread from classifieds so it's not sitting at the top!

Which tele is this @robinbowes?

Panama_Jack666

EricTheWeary said:

There is a thing Aziz Ibrahim does to make his guitar sound like a sitar with his fingers, I think he demoes it on the interview he did with Andertons...

...tum te tum...

...the little sequence from 4:50 where he does faux delay, wah and sitar:

I forgot about that video! It's great!

I may have to work on my technique to get the manual sitar sound down! Not sure if I'll be able to pull it off on a gig just yet!

koss59

FelineGuitars said:

The "guitar/sitar" has a notched kind of phase sound and it could well be a Coral Sitar on the track - esp as in 1970 they would still be quite in vogue.

On a strat putting one pickup out of phase may have been enough to fake it - some stats with an S1 switch have a setting a bit like that.

You are correct sir, I was lucky enough to tour with Freda and was shitting myself about getting the sound right for this song, She told me in rehearsals it was a Coral Sitar and even told me Vinnie Bell played it.
As far as I can see the Reefer pedal is meant to get the Coral sound whereas the EHX one is to sound like an actual Sitar.

Trude

I think the Variax is modelled on a Coral Sitar too.  

I had a quick attempt at the manual sitar thing last night on my acoustic.  It does sound good when you get it right, but yeah - it'd take a lot of practice to nail that reliably on stage, especially whilst pulling the obligatory Keef moves!

robinbowes

Panama_Jack666 said:

Which tele is this @robinbowes?

This one:





It's this wiring:

Panama_Jack666

robinbowes said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

Which tele is this @robinbowes?

This one:





It's this wiring:

I thought it would be that one! Cheers for the wiring diagram - I love that stuff!