A Juice pedal instead of a Gain or Drive pedal?

lukedlb

Seziertisch said:

lukedlb said:

Seziertisch said:

http://www.apiaudio.com/product.php?id=142 

https://youtu.be/8MkhClEMamk

In terms of “juicing” this is the ultimate for me. Just an amazingly musical bit of kit, on all the time, makes everything sound better.

I expected the compressor to be slightly limited owing to its minimal controls but by balancing the input and output gain it does everything from transparent to super squishy.

The headroom on it is amazing, hitting it with other drive pedals, it never feels like it is struggling or farting out. And it is super quiet, even with the compression jacked it adds no noise.

It’s expensive, particularly on this side of the pond and bulky, but it does so much - it could theoretically replace a compressor, eq, drive pedal and DI. Balancing the input and output gains and using the EQ makes it a boost/overdrive that can be tailored to any amp.

Impressive and fulfills my Juice demands. The price puts it above the pettyjohn although they are competing for pedalboard estate. I can’t help wondering why an fx loop was not included. The buffer might limit the compatibility of successive pedals and ideally the buffer would be last. 

I use it last and treat it as part of the amp. The Predrive is intended to be used first in the chain. I use a Mission buffered volume pedal set to the fuzz friendly setting after it, though the only picky pedal I have is a Fuzz Factory

May I ask which pedals you’re using on your board and the amp?

Seziertisch

lukedlb said:

May I ask which pedals you’re using on your board and the amp?

Amp is a Blackstar Artisan or a Helix. I have a GigRig Midi 8 with 6 Loops, each looking after a different thing - 1 fuzz, 2x drive, 1x delay, 2x modulation. 

Before the GigRig I have the PreDrive and an Effectrode Levelling Amp and after it I have the API and a GigRig Z Cable.

I haven’t tried loads of different dirt pedals because as soon as I got the Predrive I realised that good quality EQ was where it was at; the high and low pass filters on that can sort out any issues with most dirt pedals after. Most of the time when I haven’t like a drive/distortion/fuzz pedal it has had either too much low end or too much high end with whatever guitar/amp combo I was using. A quick tweak of the HPF and LPF sorts that out now. 

And then with the API EQ at the end, anything else that needs a tweak can be taken care of easily. 

And the Effectrode is in there because it is just so musical. Everything sounds bigger, again it can do super squishy or just barely kiss it so that you don’t even notice it is on until you turn it off.

tekbow

Like one of these?

http://www.machineheadpedals.com/RAW.html

LastMantra

Sassafras said:

...an Orange Squeezer...

I use a homemade squeezer into a very simple fet based boost I "borrowed" from runoffgroove. I use the volume on the compressor to push the barely distorted (fat) boost.
Although the boost works, with a battery, I might make a better version some time....

I've also got a rather cool (imo) fuzzfactory type circuit on a bread board. Need to get on to that....

Sassafras

LastMantra said:

Sassafras said:

...an Orange Squeezer...

I use a homemade squeezer into a very simple fet based boost I "borrowed" from runoffgroove. I use the volume on the compressor to push the barely distorted (fat) boost.
Although the boost works, with a battery, I might make a better version some time....

I've also got a rather cool (imo) fuzzfactory type circuit on a bread board. Need to get on to that....

I think the Fuzz Factory is terrifically versatile for recording but almost useless for gigging unless you use it as a set & forget sound because it can be a nightmare to adjust on the fly.

Seziertisch

Sassafras said:

I think the Fuzz Factory is terrifically versatile for recording but almost useless for gigging unless you use it as a set & forget sound because it can be a nightmare to adjust on the fly.

I saw an interview with Nels Cline and he talked about preferring the Fuzz Factory with a buffer in front of it. I have found the same thing, with a buffer it retains its sound more or less but is much more predictable in how it responds

Kittyfrisk

Surprised no-one has mentioned the 'Chandler Little Devil' coloured boost yet.
Still kicking myself that I hesitated on snagging a bargain a while back, lovely subtle tone colouring up to serious oomph.
Just a bit pricey for an impulse buy 

Seziertisch

Kittyfrisk said:

Surprised no-one has mentioned the 'Chandler Little Devil' coloured boost yet.
Still kicking myself that I hesitated on snagging a bargain a while back, lovely subtle tone colouring up to serious oomph.
Just a bit pricey for an impulse buy 

Yeah, I remember when they were released. The Germanium pre amp is an amazing bit of kit. Not really sure why the pedals never captured the imagination of guitarists.

The one person I know who tried them wasn’t crazy about them, and he is from a studio background so he knew what he was doing

lukedlb

Seziertisch said:

lukedlb said:

May I ask which pedals you’re using on your board and the amp?

Amp is a Blackstar Artisan or a Helix. I have a GigRig Midi 8 with 6 Loops, each looking after a different thing - 1 fuzz, 2x drive, 1x delay, 2x modulation. 

Before the GigRig I have the PreDrive and an Effectrode Levelling Amp and after it I have the API and a GigRig Z Cable.

I haven’t tried loads of different dirt pedals because as soon as I got the Predrive I realised that good quality EQ was where it was at; the high and low pass filters on that can sort out any issues with most dirt pedals after. Most of the time when I haven’t like a drive/distortion/fuzz pedal it has had either too much low end or too much high end with whatever guitar/amp combo I was using. A quick tweak of the HPF and LPF sorts that out now. 

And then with the API EQ at the end, anything else that needs a tweak can be taken care of easily. 

And the Effectrode is in there because it is just so musical. Everything sounds bigger, again it can do super squishy or just barely kiss it so that you don’t even notice it is on until you turn it off.

Is yours a pedalboard or a floorboard?!!! It must be huge, what with just the midi8, pre drive, effected and API. Is this for gigging/recording/home use?
Of the two, the API and the petty john, which could you not eliminate? I wish the Pettyjohn had a compression circuit, or even the wet/dry compressor onboard the Drybell 67.

lukedlb

Contenders for Juice:
A good germanium fuzz with excellent clean-up; the fuzz factory
Pettyjohn Predrive
API Tranzformer GT
Drybell Unit 67
Durham Electronics Sexdrive
JLS Clover
Chase Bliss Condor

Effectrode Firebottle
Chase Tone Secret Preamp
Thorpy Peacemaker
Thorpy Team Medic and Fat General
Strymon deco
Cornish NB-3

Seziertisch

lukedlb said:

Seziertisch said:

lukedlb said:

May I ask which pedals you’re using on your board and the amp?

Amp is a Blackstar Artisan or a Helix. I have a GigRig Midi 8 with 6 Loops, each looking after a different thing - 1 fuzz, 2x drive, 1x delay, 2x modulation. 

Before the GigRig I have the PreDrive and an Effectrode Levelling Amp and after it I have the API and a GigRig Z Cable.

I haven’t tried loads of different dirt pedals because as soon as I got the Predrive I realised that good quality EQ was where it was at; the high and low pass filters on that can sort out any issues with most dirt pedals after. Most of the time when I haven’t like a drive/distortion/fuzz pedal it has had either too much low end or too much high end with whatever guitar/amp combo I was using. A quick tweak of the HPF and LPF sorts that out now. 

And then with the API EQ at the end, anything else that needs a tweak can be taken care of easily. 

And the Effectrode is in there because it is just so musical. Everything sounds bigger, again it can do super squishy or just barely kiss it so that you don’t even notice it is on until you turn it off.

Is yours a pedalboard or a floorboard?!!! It must be huge, what with just the midi8, pre drive, effected and API. Is this for gigging/recording/home use?
Of the two, the API and the petty john, which could you not eliminate? I wish the Pettyjohn had a compression circuit, or even the wet/dry compressor onboard the Drybell 67.

The board is a stay at home/studio beast. Live I just use the Helix, covers everything I need to do. The board is all wired up to basically allow pedals to be hooked up easily. It’s wired up with the GigRig power supply stuff, but I have a number of extra power points located around the board which allow me to hook up any extra off board pedals easily. I also have a break out box on a couple of the loops allowing me to add in extra pedals to the signal path.

 Nothing kills the creative juices in the studio like trying to find power supplies and patch cables for some pedal that you want to use. Having them wired up and ready to go is sometimes the difference between them getting used and not getting used

Otherwise, between the Pettyjohn and the API, if I had to go with one, it would be the API. The API is expensive, but seeing as it is practically 2x 500 series modules in a pedal it is actually pretty good value. It can also probably replace a bunch of other pedals you own.

lukedlb

Another predrive could be the Mad Professor Simble Pre Drive. A shame that it lacks eq. However, there is the twimble, combining the predrive with the simble overdrive. 

lukedlb

Seziertisch said:

lukedlb said:

Seziertisch said:

lukedlb said:

May I ask which pedals you’re using on your board and the amp?

Amp is a Blackstar Artisan or a Helix. I have a GigRig Midi 8 with 6 Loops, each looking after a different thing - 1 fuzz, 2x drive, 1x delay, 2x modulation. 

Before the GigRig I have the PreDrive and an Effectrode Levelling Amp and after it I have the API and a GigRig Z Cable.

I haven’t tried loads of different dirt pedals because as soon as I got the Predrive I realised that good quality EQ was where it was at; the high and low pass filters on that can sort out any issues with most dirt pedals after. Most of the time when I haven’t like a drive/distortion/fuzz pedal it has had either too much low end or too much high end with whatever guitar/amp combo I was using. A quick tweak of the HPF and LPF sorts that out now. 

And then with the API EQ at the end, anything else that needs a tweak can be taken care of easily. 

And the Effectrode is in there because it is just so musical. Everything sounds bigger, again it can do super squishy or just barely kiss it so that you don’t even notice it is on until you turn it off.

Is yours a pedalboard or a floorboard?!!! It must be huge, what with just the midi8, pre drive, effected and API. Is this for gigging/recording/home use?
Of the two, the API and the petty john, which could you not eliminate? I wish the Pettyjohn had a compression circuit, or even the wet/dry compressor onboard the Drybell 67.

The board is a stay at home/studio beast. Live I just use the Helix, covers everything I need to do. The board is all wired up to basically allow pedals to be hooked up easily. It’s wired up with the GigRig power supply stuff, but I have a number of extra power points located around the board which allow me to hook up any extra off board pedals easily. I also have a break out box on a couple of the loops allowing me to add in extra pedals to the signal path.

 Nothing kills the creative juices in the studio like trying to find power supplies and patch cables for some pedal that you want to use. Having them wired up and ready to go is sometimes the difference between them getting used and not getting used

Otherwise, between the Pettyjohn and the API, if I had to go with one, it would be the API. The API is expensive, but seeing as it is practically 2x 500 series modules in a pedal it is actually pretty good value. It can also probably replace a bunch of other pedals you own.

It makes a lot of sense to have the extra fx option not only as a loop but also have the correct power supply already present. As I dropped the loop combination element from my rig and went for a simple two loop switcher to avoid tone loss, I found that high quality cabling at every step meant that I kept tone loss to zero whether by capacitance or tone sucking pedals. 
I was really hoping you would push for the pettyjohn. I’ve got a amp repair bill incoming that would cover the price of the api. 
Anyway, thanks; you’ve been a big help in identifying my Juice question. 

Seziertisch

The thing that sets both those pedals apart from a lot of other stuff is the headroom. They feel great to play through, so dynamic and responsive.

The original Predrive can take up to 32 v, I found a cordless vacuum cleaner charging unit that offers 30. Otherwise, I had been combining 3 isolated 9v supplies from GigRig. The later version takes 9-18v and operates on a dual rail to essentially it is 36 v, same with the API. 

You might have to save up to get it, but it is totally worth it. Also, people talk about the build quality of this pedal or that pedal and they mean it’s a tidy soldering/wiring job. I can’t imagine there are many other pedal manufacturers doing the stress testing that API do on their products 
https://youtu.be/bKWQCBdDXZQ

LastMantra

Sassafras said:

LastMantra said:

Sassafras said:

...an Orange Squeezer...

I use a homemade squeezer into a very simple fet based boost I "borrowed" from runoffgroove. I use the volume on the compressor to push the barely distorted (fat) boost.
Although the boost works, with a battery, I might make a better version some time....

I've also got a rather cool (imo) fuzzfactory type circuit on a bread board. Need to get on to that....

I think the Fuzz Factory is terrifically versatile for recording but almost useless for gigging unless you use it as a set & forget sound because it can be a nightmare to adjust on the fly.

I love messing around and basically using it as an instrument. I don't mind if I can't remember exactly what I was doing. Give me a FF and a DMM and I'm happy for hours. 

Wazmeister

What were your findings thus far then Luke ?

lukedlb

Wazmeister said:

What were your findings thus far then Luke ?

Well, I just sold my mxr EQ 6 band, the original one. Until an API comes up for a good price, I have put the search on pause. Fixing the Artiste amps has absorbed all my will to live. Don't get me wrong; the Artistes sound incredible, but finding the source of the rattle is driving me nuts. As a consequence all guitar related purchases are on hold until Neo instruments release the new micro Vent. Until then, I'm crossing my fingers as I return to Hammond organ territory.