King of Tone - Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is one of my favorite guitar players. Not only does he have great tone, he also has great taste.

Here is an excellent video of Eric in the studio going through his set up and gear. Check it out at:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=102063&autop=1&pgvar=interviews&wv=EricJohnson-03-effects_1&vname=Eric%20Johnson%20-%20Effects

If you don't have any Eric Johnson CDs in your collection - shame on you!!! - I recommend his 1990 release "Ah Via Musicom." The sound quality and engineering are first class and the songs are extremely diverse in style so you really get a good feel for the many different dimensions of EJs playing.

Product Review: Danelectro CV-1 Vibe

I was quite impressed by the Danelectro CF-1 Fuzz so I decided to check out the Cool Cat Vibe, which at $69 MSRP is the most expensive pedal in the range. I happened to find a mint condition CV-1 on eBay for only $33 and could not resist. But really, how good could it be at this price? The surprising answer is very good indeed.

As with all pedals in this range, the controls are on the back face of the unit making them a little challenging to access. And like its brothers and sisters, this pedal is true bypass and comes in a strong metal casing – a vast improvement over the previous plastic encased “deli” range of pedals. This particular unit sports a cool ‘50s sea foam green color, which I quite like.

Despite the placement of the controls – Mix, Intensity and Speed – they are fairly straightforward to use and offer up a wide range of tones. The mix control is particularly useful as you can mix your dry signal and the effected signal to taste. One big plus is the variety of different sounds you can get out of this pedal – regular vibrato, phaser-like swooshes and swirly chorus – so it is very versatile. It will definitely put you into Hendrix, Trower and Gilmour territory if desired.

As you would expect at this price point nothing is perfect and it does have some issues. First, it takes a second or so for the effect to engage after you have stepped on the pedal - not a big deal to me. Second, there is a significant volume increase when the effect is on when typically modulation pedals are a little quieter than your normal signal. And while the CV-1 is true bypass and quiet when not being used, it does affect your tone a little when engaged. You'll notice it takes off some high end giving a more compressed and richer tone. That I can live with, but the volume boost is so large it makes the pedal all but unusable unless you are recording and have your levels all set. As a result, the CV-1 did not make it onto my main board even though I liked its versatility and the sounds I could get out of it.

I did an A/B test to compare this with what I consider to be the best vibe on the market: the KR Products Mega Vibe, which costs around $300 if you can even get hold of one. The Mega Vibe was certainly more transparent and authentic – you can replicate Hendrix almost exactly. However, the CV-1 was certainly in the ballpark and could get you perhaps 75% there. So considering the $60 price tag I do think this represents great value for money. For a more affordable vibe that doesn't break the bank I think the Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe is the best value for money at around $130.

In conclusion, the CV-1 Vibe is not going on my main board, but it is a lot of fun to play around with so I am keeping it as a back up and for recording situations.

LYT Pedalboards – Good Value for Money

I thought about making my own pedalboard, but I don’t have a workshop, the tools I’d need or very good woodworking skills. I also don’t have the time so I went in search of low cost alternatives.

I ended up buying a LYT Pedalboard that I purchased via eBay for about $70. I use less than 10 pedals so I didn’t need a huge board so I went with the LYT 24 without the carry case. It arrived within two days and it was, as the name suggests, quite light. It is made from a pressed composite that is quite strong and painted in a flat gray color. The first step was to cut the enclosed Velcro to length and cover the board. My only complaint is the minimal amount of Velcro included – not enough to account for any errors or cover underneath the riser or the sides. I wanted everything covered in black Velcro so I went to Home Depot and purchased some more.

That minor gripe aside, I am very happy with the board. The riser is a nice touch (although it is fixed) and it is a great organizer – all my effects loop pedals are grouped on the riser. The board looks good and is quite strong. For bedroom use and playing out a couple of times a week it is a solid choice. If you are playing out a lot or touring I think any of the Pedaltrain models would be the way to go, but for what I need and the price, I give this two thumbs up.

King of Tone - Chris Duarte

Many people write Chris Duarte off as a Stevie Ray Vaughan clone – just like when Robin Trower was seen as a Hendrix clone early in his career. Wrong on both counts.

Duarte is really maturing as a guitar player and singer and I really like some of his more recent CDs. His tone is excellent – driven by a nice selection of analog effects pedals.

There is a great video up on YouTube where Duarte talks about his gear. Check it out at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmXUSfBIIsM&feature=PlayList&p=07ED3F6DA67A5E99&index=10


If you’d like to hear Chris is action check out these CDs:

• Chris Duarte Group – Texas Sugar Strat Magic
• Chris Duarte Group – Blue Velocity

You can also stream or download some live shows from here:

http://www.archive.org/details/ChrisDuarteGroup

Product Review - Boss FT-2 Dynamic Filter

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Boss decided to discontinue a number of esoteric pedals like the Dimension C, Xtortion, Slow Gear and Dynamic Filter because they were not big sellers. Fast forward 20+ years and due to their relatively low initial sales, these pedals are quite collectible among analog pedal enthusiasts with a price to match. The Boss Slow Gear for example regularly sells for over $200 on eBay. When I saw a Dynamic Filter come up for auction a couple of months I was very interested mainly because the guitar player Alex Gunia from Matalex (a killer German fusion band - check out the "Jazz Grunge" CD) had one on his pedalboard and I really liked his guitar sound. $75 later and the Boss FT-2 was mine.

According to the promotional verbiage the Boss FT-2 is an auto wah pedal that fits into the company’s line of auto wahs between the TW-1 and the AW-2. I think this is a little misleading because in essence the Boss FT-2 is an envelope filter and produces quite a different effect than an auto wah.

There are four controls on the pedal: Sensitivity, Cut Off Frequency (high – low), Q, and Up/Down/Manual modes. You also have an “Exp In” jack, which provides the option of plugging in an external expression pedal so you can control it like a traditional wah, although I did not bother to do this.

The keys to this pedal are the Cut Off Frequency the and Q, which controls the peak bandwidth. By finding the right setting you can get some decent “quack” from this pedal, especially with single coil pickups, but try as I might I never really found “the sound” to make it a keeper. The pedal is an obvious choice for funk guitar, but it is more subtle and less usable to my ears than the Electro-Harmonix Dr Q or its Micro Q-Tron, which I think are much better sounding effects pedals in this genre.

When engaged the Boss FT-2 also destroys your tone – not really surprising because it is a fairly aggressive filter effect. My favorite setting was using full on distortion from the amp – it produced a very subtle wah effect, which could spice up solos and with the distortion cranked tone loss was less noticeable. I did try this pedal with my Ibanez bass and I think this may be where it shines best. Despite being a rare and somewhat collectible effects pedal, it didn’t make it on to my pedalboard so back to eBay it goes.

The Dunlop JH-1 CryBaby Saga – Part One

I admit it. I made one big mistake with this CryBaby pedal – buying without trying.

When I plugged in, the first red flag to go up was the narrow sweep of the pedal. I like a nice wide sweep (like the ‘70s Morley units) for a more vocal-like quality, but on this JH-1 the sweep was so narrow it was barely useable. After thinking about this for a while it occurred to me that I could adjust the sweep by rotating the potentiometer. After some trial and error I did manage to make the sweep much wider, but still not anywhere near as wide as I’d like.

As for the tone, let’s say it was mediocre at best. This particular pedal was voiced in the upper midrange so it wasn’t too shrill, but it did not have any body or depth to it at all. It is also a dramatic tone sucker (particularly the high end) whether on or off. When playing with fuzz or distortion I have even picked up the occasional local radio station – reminiscent of the infamous Nigel Tufnell scene toward the end of the Spinal Tap movie.

I think these faults are a reflection of the cheap components used – no DPDT switch to make it true bypass and no fasel inductor anywhere to be found. To be fair, since this model was released, Dunlop has made some significant quality improvements to their line and brought out a number of more expensive models with higher end components that are endorsed by star players like Zak Wylde, Dimebag Darrell and Slash.

So what do I do? Do I sell it on eBay and lay out $200+ for a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe from Michael Fuller or a Picture Wah or Wizard Wah from Geoffrey Teese – probably two of the best boutique Wah builders around at the moment? Or do I try and salvage this sonic train wreck of a pedal with one of the many mod kits that are available?

My soldering skills are very limited so I don’t feel comfortable adding and removing components on the circuit board. After some fairly extensive research on the different options available I think I am going to remove the entire circuit board and replace it with a pre-soldered Vintage Italian Wah Kit from Area 51. At least I can salvage the metal casing of this Dunlop pedal (which I will probably spray bright red). There are cheaper options, but the mod kit from Area 51 seems the best solution and best sounding Wah to my ears.

Once I get this ordered and installed, look for a review of the “new” pedal in Part 2 of this gripping saga.

More info at:

http://www.area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/index.htm
http://www.fulltone.com/index.htm
http://www.realmccoycustom.com/index.htm