N(O)PD - TC Sustain + Parametric EQ

Power_Freak

Saw this guy on ebay for a (very) good price - it just arrived, working perfectly.

Absolute classic pedal, nothing made since does the thing it does. Only played for 20mins or so - but already obsessed.

Time to rearrange the entire pedalboard again... Not my favourite task ever

Jonathanthomas83

Nice, congrats. I’d love to try one. When you say “nothing made since does the same thing”, can you give further detail?

Power_Freak

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Nice, congrats. I’d love to try one. When you say “nothing made since does the same thing”, can you give further detail?

It's kind of hard to describe until you here it. Basically it's a compressor with a very very high threshold with a parametric EQ added that lets you boost back some of the perceived loss of high end. It kind of slows down the attack and really pancakes your sound so every note hits at once, I guess they were trying to get something like a sustain pedal on a piano. It does a breathy synthy compression that (of all the comps I've tried) nothing can copy.

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

AntonHunter

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Power_Freak

AntonHunter said:

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Word of warning:

- They're expensive
- Fragile
- Can't be repaired most of the time
- Very difficult to dial in
- Big volume drop
- Finnicky power requirement
- Requires you to completely change your playing style to fit the pedal
...
- After playing one you might not want to go back

I'd kill for somebody to remake these properly with the original circuit, in a bullet proof modern enclosure, pedalboard friendly size, etc. The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones. It's the opposite of a "neutral always on compressor" that people want now, but it's a shame you can't easily get this sound without one.

Playing around with the settings a bit more I managed to get a Holdsworth style lead tone out of it too, I don't think he used one of these (an Allan expert might correct me) but it definitely gets you there.

guitarmangler

Power_Freak said:

AntonHunter said:

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Word of warning:

- They're expensive
- Fragile
- Can't be repaired most of the time
- Very difficult to dial in
- Big volume drop
- Finnicky power requirement
- Requires you to completely change your playing style to fit the pedal
...
- After playing one you might not want to go back

I'd kill for somebody to remake these properly with the original circuit, in a bullet proof modern enclosure, pedalboard friendly size, etc. The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones. It's the opposite of a "neutral always on compressor" that people want now, but it's a shame you can't easily get this sound without one.

Playing around with the settings a bit more I managed to get a Holdsworth style lead tone out of it too, I don't think he used one of these (an Allan expert might correct me) but it definitely gets you there.

Holdsworth swore by them and used them for out pretty much exclusively. The holdsworth signature boost by rocket pedals is, pretty much, a tc pedal copy. 

Power_Freak

guitarmangler said:

Power_Freak said:

AntonHunter said:

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Word of warning:

- They're expensive
- Fragile
- Can't be repaired most of the time
- Very difficult to dial in
- Big volume drop
- Finnicky power requirement
- Requires you to completely change your playing style to fit the pedal
...
- After playing one you might not want to go back

I'd kill for somebody to remake these properly with the original circuit, in a bullet proof modern enclosure, pedalboard friendly size, etc. The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones. It's the opposite of a "neutral always on compressor" that people want now, but it's a shame you can't easily get this sound without one.

Playing around with the settings a bit more I managed to get a Holdsworth style lead tone out of it too, I don't think he used one of these (an Allan expert might correct me) but it definitely gets you there.

Holdsworth swore by them and used them for out pretty much exclusively. The holdsworth signature boost by rocket pedals is, pretty much, a tc pedal copy. 

That's the tc line driver is it not? Don't think the J Rockett shares any DNA with this pedal

Funkfingers

Power_Freak said:

The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones.

The Classic Series re-issued model lacks the distortion and bandwidth switches.

guitarmangler

Power_Freak said:

guitarmangler said:

Power_Freak said:

AntonHunter said:

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Word of warning:

- They're expensive
- Fragile
- Can't be repaired most of the time
- Very difficult to dial in
- Big volume drop
- Finnicky power requirement
- Requires you to completely change your playing style to fit the pedal
...
- After playing one you might not want to go back

I'd kill for somebody to remake these properly with the original circuit, in a bullet proof modern enclosure, pedalboard friendly size, etc. The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones. It's the opposite of a "neutral always on compressor" that people want now, but it's a shame you can't easily get this sound without one.

Playing around with the settings a bit more I managed to get a Holdsworth style lead tone out of it too, I don't think he used one of these (an Allan expert might correct me) but it definitely gets you there.

Holdsworth swore by them and used them for out pretty much exclusively. The holdsworth signature boost by rocket pedals is, pretty much, a tc pedal copy. 

That's the tc line driver is it not? Don't think the J Rockett shares any DNA with this pedal

Ah. Yes. You’re completely correct! My sleep deprived brain saw that as a booster line driver, which is the holdsworth one. That’s the one he used, not the sustain +. Whoops! Sorry! 

Power_Freak

guitarmangler said:

Power_Freak said:

guitarmangler said:

Power_Freak said:

AntonHunter said:

Power_Freak said:

...

It appears all over the early ECM Bill Frisell records, if you're familiar with those you'll know the sound

Oh man, now I want one!

Word of warning:

- They're expensive
- Fragile
- Can't be repaired most of the time
- Very difficult to dial in
- Big volume drop
- Finnicky power requirement
- Requires you to completely change your playing style to fit the pedal
...
- After playing one you might not want to go back

I'd kill for somebody to remake these properly with the original circuit, in a bullet proof modern enclosure, pedalboard friendly size, etc. The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones. It's the opposite of a "neutral always on compressor" that people want now, but it's a shame you can't easily get this sound without one.

Playing around with the settings a bit more I managed to get a Holdsworth style lead tone out of it too, I don't think he used one of these (an Allan expert might correct me) but it definitely gets you there.

Holdsworth swore by them and used them for out pretty much exclusively. The holdsworth signature boost by rocket pedals is, pretty much, a tc pedal copy. 

That's the tc line driver is it not? Don't think the J Rockett shares any DNA with this pedal

Ah. Yes. You’re completely correct! My sleep deprived brain saw that as a booster line driver, which is the holdsworth one. That’s the one he used, not the sustain +. Whoops! Sorry! 

Glad I'm not going mad... Would kick myself if there were an obvious clone on the market!

Funkfingers said:

Power_Freak said:

The TC reissued ones they did (think they were called "classic series") doesn't do anything like these ones.

The Classic Series re-issued model lacks the distortion and bandwidth switches.

As I understand the classic re-issue circuit is quite different from the original. Users of the original didn't take to them because they do a different thing, instead buying "back ups" of the original units which causes some of the scarcity and price of these units.