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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
just needs duct taping down a bit
The Chase Tone, "Secret Preamp" is a gem. It's one of those pedals which remains always on for me. Kyle is an amazing guy to deal with and it's evident he really cares a great deal about his creations. As an overly zealous, tone-chasing nutcase, I really wanted to hear what all the fuss was about regarding the revered Echoplex Tape Echo (EP3) preamp.
There's so many options out there, but it became apparent, Kyle's Secret Preamp is the most accurate component-for-component replica of an actual EP3 preamp available. Hype aside, he's gone to great efforts to accumulate all the actual NOS parts which go into creating an EP3 preamp. I just had to try it out and own one !!
Well worth it. But, don't tell anyone.. It's a secret;)
I was demonstrating what it did to my drummer and bass player. What I did was play some guitar without this pedal on and then, turn it on and play some guitar. Immediately, my band-mates were like, "YEAH man"!! Sweeeeet:)
I don't want to use a bunch of buzz words and a-d-j's to describe what this pedal does. It's very subtle.. But, once you turn it on and dial it in, you're thinking DANG !! This thang be da goodz.. lol
Don't mean to be too verbose - whiskey's gone to my head. Hey, I'm on holidays!
The Chase Tone Secret Preamp is for guitarists who are extremely serious about shaping killer tone. Nuff said..
It's worth mentioning, I had hoped this pedal would replace my EP booster, and it can. However, I've found the EP Booster to be such a great little pedal too and combining both is audio bliss. I've wanted to get an Effectrode, "Fire Bottle" to really go to town with boost preamp style pedals, but have decide not to bother with the Fire Bottle given she runs on 12V needs a helluva lot of mA juice (350mA (?)), is sizable and well.. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Long story shot. Chase Tone Secret Preamp = highly recommended
Sláinte.....
After smugly posting last week that nothing had really changed for 6 months and how happy i was, why have I just gone and designed this board!
It has 3 pedals I don't even own (yet), I'd need to upgrade to the QMX8, and I'd need a new power supply, as well as building a new board. Which would all cost the best part of an FX8.
But I want to do it. Badly.
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/image_zpslqc33edg.jpeg
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/tomaustin87/IMG_20160803_212640_zps5lbdzgyr.jpg
It's not the prettiest board layout, but it's functional; I prefer not to tie everything down, because I'm never sure it's going to be final
The main addition is the Peak FCB4X, courtesy of @Gassage. That controls the Digitech GSP1101 in the rack, along with the NUX PMS-2 MIDI switcher (for controlling the Kraken's channel switching). I was trying to use the Digitech's phaser, but honestly...it doesn't come even close to the Mooer Ninety Orange, so that stays on the board.
Just peeking out under the shelf is a Warwick Rockboard LT power supply - one of the battery-style ones (similar to the Pedaltrain Volto). Unfortunately, it has to be that way round because all of its sockets (the USB charger input and the two outlets) are at one end, as is the "on" switch. The cables wouldn't allow me to sit it at the left edge, so...in the middle it goes.
The only annoyance with this board is that the MIDI socket on the Peak is on the back near the top, so I have to lift the shelf to plug it in. I've got a MIDI THRU box somewhere, which could also act as a patch box so I can relocate it on the shelf; that's a job for another day.
Naturally, the board itself is a Smorg
http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u585/BradGuitar/A11C3AB7-11D2-4E0C-A6F0-50DB41B610BB_zpsaspqwtaa.jpg
And currently under construction...
http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u585/BradGuitar/84A93B70-384A-4875-B623-5247053F971D_zpszblwhm9n.jpg
http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag251/DesVegas/board again_zps2qw5uepx.jpg
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb102/flanging_fred/d5b5dd7b-ccdb-4d3e-a429-8e2a8c537e6f_zpsujthx939.jpg
Just like a great tube amp I reckon things really need to be cooking to get the best out of them. Don't get me wrong, they sound great at bedroom levels but they become something else at gig volume.
New wah - it's seriously heavy, and seriously wide.
Sounds mega though!
OK, so it doesn't look like much has changed. In fact, quite a bit's different, just not in the pedals and nothing you can see.
I discovered a problem with the Peak controller - it pushes a sine wave back through the power supply to all the pedals. Did lots of testing, and it happens with any pedal attached to the same power supply; now, the whole point of this board is that it's battery-powered, so getting another power supply is counter-productive, and putting another battery in there significantly increases the cost.
So...alternate solution - I ordered a Diago Isolator from Amazon, which turned up today. Now, while it doesn't completely solve the problem (the tone is still there), it's inaudible except when I switch to the lead channel and put a load of compression on it. I can live without the compression, so what's left after that is a faint tone; in the context of a full band mix, it won't be even close to noticeable.
The second change is also under the shelf, in order to solve the problem of the awkwardly-placed MIDI socket on the Peak controller. I found an old MIDI THRU box I'd bought for an entirely different project, along with a MIDI patch cable (for the same project, which failed). Fortunately, it fits exactly underneath the shelf in the space next to the battery pack - happy days! I now have two MIDI outputs, coming out on the left hand side of the shelf.
I also have space for a boost next to the phaser, but I'm not sure whether I'll bother with that yet.
All told, it's just more convenient. This thing can run while it's charging anyway, lasts about 10 hours with the pedals I've got on my board, and I don't have to worry about ground loops or other issues. Oh, and it was £59 - a reasonable price for a "normal" power supply.
Dunlop GCB95 Wah (JH1 & true bypass mod)
Boost n Buff
Barber Gain Changer
Hermida Unimos
Zoom MS100 (via true bypass loop)
Cornish Buffer Clone
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.