tone is in the gadget...

by 44ofjuly

Now what! The beginning of 2006 and all the madness begins all over again...and again...and again. If you had a bad 2005, all I can say is - It's a brand new year and if you haven't gotten past a bad 2005, you will have a long way to go in 2006. And if it still is bad, at least try to get used to it. No matter how bad it's getting, it's already bad enough, so get over it!!! Get it?

Oh well, life in Gadget Land is still a struggle, despite it being 2005, 2006 or 2010. Trying to strike a balance between "wanting" and "needing" is hard. As the search goes on for THE GEAR to get, there will eventually be a point where you’ll want more than needing it. So how, you ask? I can only say, who the hell cares if it’s a WANT! As long as you are happy and have no problems getting it, no one, and I stress this with emphasis, NO ONE SHALL STOP YOU! Go get the gear, rush home, and lock yourself in the room the whole day and play with it until you fall asleep! Wake up, play with it again, forget about brushing your teeth, eat, or work. Make it totally worth what you spent for it! (Ed.: What separates the men from the boys is the price of their toys...)

A little over the top, I suppose, but whatever it is, fulfil your lust for gear and let it serve you well; in return, the music will follow. With a brand new start to the year, I shall look back at 2005 and compile a top 10 list of stuff that has:

1) Given me plenty hours of fun
2) Given me inspiration in all sorts of ways
3) Allowed me to communicate with my inner self through tweaking and combining effects

Some of the effects have been reviewed in detail in past issues of Gear Gawk. If anyone is interested, you can check those articles out at the Archive section.

Although this is my top 10 list, the effects are neither ordered nor ranked in priority. The numbers are purely for the count. Oh, although some of the stuff might not purely be a "product of 2005", since I have gotten them in 2005 and had great fun with it, I have decided to include them in the list as well.

I have also included some sound clips which I have recorded using the effects pedals. The sound clips were created using the effects in the list with other pedals and accompanied by other overdubbed instruments. If it sucks, it's just the person using the effects, not the effects themselves!

1) "The one. Not just, the one, but THE ONE"

The Electro Harmonix Holiest Grail. For reverbs, I am not particular about how authentic sounding it is, as compared to the old school amp style reverb or real spring reverb. All I need is something that can give me something from basic reverb, to those over-the-top, infinite decay types. Together with the swell delay (Line6 DL4), reverse reverb (Digitech Digiverb) and the Holiest Grail, guitar playing has never been this ethereal and blissful. Ambient guitar, anyone? Here's a clip that makes use of the three effects mentioned, plus other gear, like the Redwitch Mooon Phaser and the Fender Bottom Master Fuzz.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=2442327&q=hi

2) "The next better player"

Line6 Verbzilla. This is an ugly thing that looks like the chopped-off foot from a robot. It weighs enough to cause death if used in the wrong way. The different types of reverb in there pretty much have their own characteristics and most importantly, it sounds good! The octal and cave settings are 2 of my favourite at the moment. One thing that I like about this pedal is the stereo input/output. Try it through two amps and get drowned in Heavenly Reverb Land.

3) "The new pop"

Redwitch Moon Phaser Deluxe. Among all the couple of phasers that I had the chance to play with, none of them actually had the "shimmering" feel of the Redwitch.

While this pedal does give me occasional headaches with the "popping" when engaged, its beautiful phasing makes up for it. If anyone out there is irritated by the popping sound, try engaging the Redwitch with a reverb pedal set to a 100% wet signal long decay time. The popping will turn into something else entirely...

4) "This is not a joke"

Electro Harmonix Flanger Hoax. No, it's really not what the name suggests. Far from being a hoax, this thing will probably make the average guitar player go crazy while trying to get a typical flanger tone out of it. Anyone wanting to read a review about this can check out www.modezero.com. The review in that site probably is the best one around.

This pedal not only has some nice modulation tones, it works wonders for noisemaking too. In fact, it's easier to make noise/weird sounds than the flanging. Not a bad thing at all, for me that is. Here's a sound clip of what noises this thing can make.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=2938796&q=hi

5) "1st half of the missing link"

Rolls MX41. This is not an effects pedal, but a mini 4-channel mixer. Without this, my board will never be completed. Combining a Yamaha RY20 drum machine, my guitar and feeding the signal from both into the rest of the effects on my pedal board, I have gotten a couple of wonderful mixtures beyond the usual effected guitar signal. Playing the drum machine in real time and looping the sound from it and further modulating / distorting it has given me loads of fun as well. As for the 2nd half of the missing link, soon...soon...

6) "Re-education"

Toneczar Echoczar/Angelbaby. All the "analogue-ness" of delay will never be the same again after the Echoczar. 'Nuff said... Check this out.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=2521082&q=hi

7) "Dreams do come true"

Moog Moogerfooger MF104Z/104SD. Exactly one-year ago, who would have expected that Moog would have the 104 delay reissued? With the original MF104 delay going for insane prices on ebay, the return of this series of delay in 2005 brought joy and excitement to delay fans all over the world. Other than the fact that it had a longer delay time than the original MF104 (104Z with 1000ms and 104SD stretching to 1400ms), if you combined all the Moogerfoogers with the CP251 Control Processor, you'll get a "more analogue than analogue" rig anyone ever played with! Oh, and the amount of sound / functions from the combination is beyond what you can get from most stomp boxes out there! Feels like heaven, I say.

For this clip, it's a combination of the Moog Ring Mod, Delay and Phaser with LFO controls, all into the Verbzilla. Nothing musical, but plenty of fun...

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3200567&q=hi

8) "Are you screwing with my brain?"

Zebranalogic Zero G. This effect came all the way from Peru and I still can't say exactly what type of effect this is. Straight out from the box, happily feeding it with a 9V battery, with all knobs turned to minimum; a high pitch squeal greeted me even without engaging the stomp switch! And I thought there was some problem with it. But no! This pedal is weird. The squealing is normal and you can dial it out with certain settings of the knobs. It's almost like a chorus without the "chime", a flanger that don't do the swooshing jet plane and a spoilt tape player that detunes / slows down whatever you are playing and speeds it up according to the rate setting. Weird it is, and definitely mind-boggling. Check out the clips.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3226437&q=hi

9) "Domo-arigato-gozaimashita"

Fender Bottom Master! Also known as the Japanese version of the Jaguar Baritone. While there's another version of this, these Japanese made one that contains a unique fuzz circuit. The quality of the fuzz tone ranges from rich-mid sounding to a "mid-less" sounding fuzz that is reminiscent of the Roland Bee Baa Fuzz. Combine this with the tone of the Baritone; the thunderous roar of this fuzz is TERROR! Have a listen. Extra bits and pieces in the clip came from Line 6's DL4 and FM4.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=2444639&q=hi

10) "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"

LAL Restive Filter. Life is not always beautiful, and why should making music be always about inspirations, hope and beautiful tone? I love the restive filter for what it is, ugly, farty and bad sounding. It's a "f**k you" pedal of some sort and the antithesis to seeking the perfect tone! Noise and all forms of sound (be it ugly, hurtful to ear etc) can be therapeutic too, and it's not limited to music, words and voices...


All in all, it's really been a great 2005 of effects for me. Hopefully this new year brings more funlaughtermoneyandgadgetsmusicandharmony all across. The new GAS list is rolling by itself, as you are reading this...

Remember, tone is not always in the fingers; it can be from the gadgets too!

And to quote a saying from a particular forum (my favourite forum as well):

Insane!!! Buy it!!