Revival Drive Custom: how to tune your EQ2?

lukedlb

How do other users go about ‘tuning’ the eq2 on the custom revival drive from origin effects? 
I managed to tune it to one of my amps but find myself in difficulty on my other amps, producing fizzy drive. 
The method I used is tuning the pedal to sound identical to the amp with full wet, enough volume and output without any drive to balance with the bypassed signal. Ghost off. 

However, this is where things get confusing. 

Should Lows be off?
Should More/Pres be at 12 o’clock?
Should Pre-amp be set to centre?
Should Hi-shelf be set to 12 o’clock?
Bright cut off?

And then and only then should EQ2 be tuned?

Or am I doing this all wrong?

Sassafras

lukedlb

I imagined that the Lows, More/Pres, etc., are part of the drive effect and therefore produce the different 'amp' sounds (blackface drive on a marshall amp or Marshall drive on a blackface amp, etc), hence the reason why I had them turned off.
I assume that the next step would be addressing the dry level unity gain.
Then Pre-amp choice.
Then the amount of drive (output modified for unity gain or boost).
Then the Ghost, Lows, More/Pres and Blend.
Then Hi-shelf and Bright cap Cut.

lukedlb

Sassafras said:

Sure, but done following the method I described above? And even then, the EQ2 isn't the easiest thing to tune by ear, especially as there's a part of my brain that wants to know what the pedal is doing when I select I, II, or III.

lukedlb

On a side note, I rewired the power to my pedals and may have been using a gig rig Isolator to power the RD, perhaps a little too close to comfort regarding available mA. Now that it's getting the full mA, the pedal sounds better on my other amps. Furthermore, I noticed the drop in volume when the pedal is hit with a high level signal, causing a noticeable compression.

lukedlb

Since the new single channel version has arrived, I decided to mess around with the other available tones other than the marshall I had settled with.
Why did I have to mess? Anything other than the marshall sound is awful. The fender drive is so fizzy on top. I can't even get the tweedy sound I had before.
So again, I find myself questioning the tuning of the pedal to the amp and wish there was just a simple step by step guide.

Does a step by step guide exist?

Seziertisch

https://youtu.be/wKtqgjeCb4I 

I’m sure you’ve watched this.

It might be worth investing in a pedal with a high and low pass filter. Fizziness is basically high frequencies. I have a Pettyjohn Predrive and the filters on it allow you to use pretty much any drive with any amp

lukedlb

Seziertisch said:

https://youtu.be/wKtqgjeCb4I 

I’m sure you’ve watched this.

It might be worth investing in a pedal with a high and low pass filter. Fizziness is basically high frequencies. I have a Pettyjohn Predrive and the filters on it allow you to use pretty much any drive with any amp

Fizziness fixed: bright cut to zero/full ccw. The high cut/boost at zero is 12 o’clock. The bright isn’t. Problem solved. 

lukedlb

I think I've got it down:

Begin by matching the dry gain volume to the bypass and set the blend to full CW. That way I can compare the drive channel (set to as clean as possible) with the bypass / blend override switch. The goal is to match the bypassed/dry blend signal to the clean drive channel. I chose the silicon channel as the voicing is closer to my Superlead. More/Pres set to 12 o'clock. Lows barely on. Ghost to zero. Volume and output to match the bypass level and clean.

Hi-shelf is set to 12 o'clock as a starting point.
Bright Cap set fully CCW (zero)
Preamp is 0 for a neutral GB sound.
I wonder if using the GB preamp would have radically altered the EQ tuning. EQ1 is for fender type amps, whereas EQ2 is for everything I reckon (anyone to confirm?). Anyway, mine was set to 0.


Now that the pedal has been prepared, I can begin to 'tune' the eq to match the drive to the amp:

Mode II was selected for darker amps.
I turned the ADJ to fully CW to match the darker bass response of my amp and gradually moved it CCW to better tune it. Once I was happy, I selected among the FREQ to get a closer response. Switching back and forth with the dry signal, I could detect the subtle differences of extra mid: the difference between ooooh and ahhhhh. It required slightly adjusting the ADJ as well as the FREQ until I found an almost identical wet/dry whether bypassed or blend override.

However, I felt some of the top end was missing and turned my attention to the Hi-shelf. I added just a smidgeon of boost and then used the SHELF FREQ to exactly approximate the dry signal.

Switching between dry and wet, I was finally satisfied with identical sounds.

At this point, phase 2: getting a superlead drive response, my main guitar amp and drive tone. I set the preamp to GB. I prefer not to use the bright cap and set the VOLUME to 12 o'clock and adjusted the OUTPUT accordingly. I added a little LOWS and a little PRES and set blend to half way and GHOST to 2 o'clock.

And there it was: a light plexi drive. With a fuzz face guided by the guitar volume I acheived Hendrix glory. Importantly, the LOWS are set low as the fuzz will choke the pedal.

Feeling more confident, I turned my attention to the valve rectifier aiming for a tweed drive: Preamp to US, Brightcap to 0, More at 9 o'clock. Lows at 12 o'clock, Ghost fully CW with Gain at 10 o'clock and output matched accordingly. Importantly, I didn't have to mess with anything else. 

I quickly tried out the MID ENGAGE and it hinted at a SRV voicing for soloing. I'll have a proper look at that later.

In the future, as I get used to the drives and increase them, I will probably have to adjust the Bright cap cut and the CUT FREQ accordingly. Furthermore, using the 50/50 Blend, I can retain the amp's interaction with my fuzz as well as the driven. I will probably increase the drive and use the blend to provide my core sound. Then switch on the OVERRIDE to go full out overdrive.

A big help in understanding the RD was how the SHELF FREQ provides 3 options for the HI-SHELF setting so you can better tune it. Similarly, the FREQ provides 3 options for the ADJ, and likewise for the CUT FREQ's 3 options for the BRIGHT CAP and BRIGHT CUT.

Now, my Superlead isn't my only amp. I will apply the same method to the other amps, which have very different voices, and let the forum know if following the simple procedure produces similar results.

BYW, Origin Effects provide a blank template of the pedal on their website, so I've been writing down my settings nice and clearly.

lukedlb

Tuning the RD to a '72 Marshall Artiste:
The interaction between these two was extremely different to the SuperLead. The front panel selections on the EQ2 have noticeably differences, including both the SHELF and CUT. 
Tuning to the Superlead was a long learning process, down to the very subtle differences on each setting. With the Artiste, the 1,2,3 settings produce distinct differences. It quite threw me at first. There was a horrible fizzy top end to eliminate. It wasn't down to simply playing with the SHELF and CUT; I had to re-check the ADJ and FREQ. This time, I went back and forth between the two channels to further eliminate the fizz and work on achieving 2 distinct amp tones from the dry. 
I wonder if the Bright Cap inside the Artiste is making the tuning harder than the Superlead clone (it is probably closer to a Hiwatt).

breezytele

@lukedlb ;;

   “A big help in understanding the RD was how the SHELF FREQ provides 3 options for the HI-SHELF setting so you can better tune it. Similarly, the FREQ provides 3 options for the ADJ, and likewise for the CUT FREQ's 3 options for the BRIGHT CAP and BRIGHT CUT”

I think that’s  important advice.

Also, If you google an image search  ‘Revivaldrive controls ‘ there is that helpful image with the coloured inks superimposed, that is so useful 

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/origin-effects-revivaldrive-first-impressions

lukedlb

Ok, the RD on the artiste sounds amazing. I’ve been playing And your bird can sing on it with a Framus semi-body and it’s great. I can get Hooker licks from the valve side perfectly. 

lukedlb

Seziertisch said:

https://youtu.be/wKtqgjeCb4I 

I’m sure you’ve watched this.

It might be worth investing in a pedal with a high and low pass filter. Fizziness is basically high frequencies. I have a Pettyjohn Predrive and the filters on it allow you to use pretty much any drive with any amp

I fixed the fizz with the pedals own high pass. I wondered how you are using the pettyjohn. Other than tuning a drive to an amp, what other possibilities does it provide for transforming an amp or pedal’s drive? 

lukedlb

lukedlb said:

Seziertisch said:

https://youtu.be/wKtqgjeCb4I 

I’m sure you’ve watched this.

It might be worth investing in a pedal with a high and low pass filter. Fizziness is basically high frequencies. I have a Pettyjohn Predrive and the filters on it allow you to use pretty much any drive with any amp

I fixed the fizz with the pedals own high pass. I wondered how you are using the pettyjohn. Other than tuning a drive to an amp, what other possibilities does it provide for transforming an amp or pedal’s drive? 

Perhaps my question is best answered in another thread, connected to this one:
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/163324/a-juice-pedal-instead-of-a-gain-or-drive-pedal#latest