Product Review – Analog.Man Chorus

I’ve had a Boss CE-2 on my main board for a while now. I picked up a used made in Japan 1980 model a couple of years ago with the black label, silver screw and long dash. Supposedly these are the best sounding of the many versions available.

I liked this chorus pedal a lot. Its sound was thick and rich and not surprisingly, it excels at the ‘80s chorus tones. But over time, one thing really started to bug me: the rate control. This control dictates the speed of the chorus “sweep” and pedals like the CE-2 are often used to replicate a rotating Leslie speaker. The problem is the rate/speed never went high enough for my liking. Just as you were starting to get into Leslie territory the control maxed out, which was frustrating and sent me searching for another unit (although Robert Keeley does have a mod to fix this issue).

After trying a few different options at different price points, I chose the Analogman Chorus. If the Boss CE-2 was the go to chorus of the ‘80s, Analog Man could claim to be the same for the current decade. It’s on the boards of many quality players including Guthrie Govan and Kenny Wayne Sheppard. I picked up a used 2006 version for $150, which is expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Build quality is exceptional and the work under the hood is very clean. Like the CE-2 it has depth and speed controls, but unlike the CE-2 it is true bypass. According to the Analogman web site, the pedal uses “the highest quality USA made circuit boards, double-sided to isolate the signal from any noise, and professionally soldered for perfect, reliable circuitry. These also have more shielding, less jumpers, and no volume drop when the pedal is switched ON.”

All of these technicalities translate into superb chorus tones. This is a rich, transparent chorus with many more sounds available than the CE-2 due to the wider ranges of the speed and depth controls. You can easily find many sweet spots and it does the rotating Leslie simulation very well. As my unit was built in 2006, it does not have the “deep switch” option, but I like a subtle chorus so this is not something that’s critical for me.

So after a long run on my board I’ve decided to let the CE-2 go. I also have the DOD FX65 Stereo Chorus and this is a very, very close imitation of the Boss unit so I am going to keep that for my bargain basement board while the Analogman is the king of chorus on my main board.

Product Review: Area 51 Wah [The Dunlop JH-1 Cry Baby Saga – Part Two]

Last year posted about the horrible (to my ears) Dunlop JH-1 Cry Baby pedal [http://tonewarrior.blogspot.com/2009/06/dunlop-jh-1-crybaby-saga-part-one.html]. After researching a lot of pedals I decided to purchase the Italian Drop In Kit from Area 51 Tube Audio Designs.

What a difference!

Now I have a very sweet sounding wah with a nice wide sweep. The tone is superb: not shrill or nasal at all, rich without being muddy, and usable tones all across the sweep.

In addition to the Italian Drop In Kit ($139.95) I also ordered the pre-wired Buffer ($40) as I have a fuzz pedal in my chain and this enables the wah to be placed before fuzz and sound more natural. I also ordered the pre-wired DC jack ($15) so I can run the pedal off of a 9V power supply and can leave my cable permanently plugged in as there’s no battery to run down.

The kit arrived within a week and was easy to install. As the name suggests, it does indeed “drop in” as it comes pre-wired. All you have to do is remove your old wah circuit board and jacks then screw in the new jacks that come pre-wired with the drop in kit. If you order the buffer, owner Dan Albrecht will solder that for you as part of your “kit” so you can be up and wahing in 30 minutes. Because he had to build the kit especially for me (he did not have any already built with the pre-wired buffer) he also kindly offered to wire up the DC jack as well at no charge. GREAT customer service!

I thought about buying a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe from Michael Fuller or a Picture Wah or Wizard Wah from Geoffrey Teese – all excellent choices. But those work out to be a little bit more expensive and in the end, the tone of this wah convinced me to give it a try. I am really glad I did and think I’ll be happy with it for a while. It’s great for spicing up solos with gain and also works well with clean tones. As a nice little surprise, it also records exceptionally well.

If you have an old wah casing lying around gathering dust, you could do a lot worse than bringing it back to life with the Italian Drop In Kit.

Product Review: Maxon Phase Tone PT-999

Even though phase is one of my favorite effects, I was not 100% happy with the two units I had: the DOD FX20 from the early ‘80s and a version 2 Small Stone from 1977. The DOD is an excellent low priced unit, but lacks the fidelity and clarity of higher priced, boutique units. The Small Stone delivers a classic phase sound heard on countless ‘70s songs, but it is a huge tone sucker. One of these days I will send it to Analogman for a true bypass mod, but before I invested any more money into it I wanted to see what else was out there.

In addition to the Dunlop MXR Phase 90 reissues at around $120, I also looked closely at the Mojo Hand Nebula, the Retro-Sonic Phaser and the Maxon Phase Tone PT-999 – all around $150-$175. All of these seem like excellent units and any would be a good purchase, but because of the volume control and true-bypass feature, I think the Retro-Sonic would be my first choice. I missed out on a couple of used Retro-Sonic pedals on eBay, but by chance I managed to snag a used Maxon Phase Tone PT-999 in mint condition for only $55 including shipping. A pretty good price for a $150+shipping pedal when purchased new.

This is a super simple unit with one speed knob. It comes in a strong metal case and the unit is very light – lighter than similar Boss pedals for example. The switch is easy to engage and there is no audible sound when turning it on and off. It beats the MXR reissues in the feature department as it has a handy on/off LED and takes a Boss-type 9V power supply. It’s an attractive looking pedal in a matte blue color and the unit is made in Japan, which is always a bonus these days when a lot of manufacturers are moving production to China.

Sound wise this is a very sweet four-stage phaser. It is quite transparent and extremely smooth. Unlike the Retro-Sonic it is not true bypass, but to my ears it does not adversely affect your tone although it does take off a little high end – almost like it adds some compression to your signal. There is a slight volume drop when engaged, common to many phasers, but it is nothing serious and I can live with it. The speed control has a wide range and you can get usable sounds at either end of the dial and at all points in between.

What I really like about this pedal is it does not add distortion to your signal – a classic feature of the MXRs. Some people like this and can live with it; I do not, so this pedal gets bonus points from me. According to the marketing guys at Maxon, “The PT999's FETs (Toshiba #2SK246) are carefully sorted and matched by hand to produce the smoothest phasing sweep possible with low noise. Unlike other phasers, the PT999 runs negative feedback of the signal to each phase-shifting FET for less distortion.” I would agree with that.

Compared to the DOD FX20 and Electro-Harmonix Small Stone it is much clearer, more subtle and more refined. It works equally well with clean or gain channels which is another big plus - to my ears many phasers sound great clean, but struggle with gain. The DOD FX20 does provide more depth and complexity, in part because it has Speed and Regeneration controls, but the sound is darker and muddier compared to the Maxon. The Small Stone can also get much more extreme, but that’s not an effect I use.

Overall, I really like the Phase Tone. So much so that it has found a place on my main board. This is my first Maxon pedal and I am very impressed. One of these days I may still try out the Retro-Sonic if I can find a deal on a used unit, but for now the Maxon PT-999 deserves its position as My Main Phase. I really like playing with this unit and often have to convince myself to turn it off. But you don’t have to take my word for it as the PT-999 has also received a Guitar Player Editor’s Pick Award.

Specifications

Input Impedance: 500K Ohms
Input Jack: 1/4 inch standard phone jack
Output Impedance: 10K Ohms
Output Jack: 1/4 inch standard phone jack
Output: 1
Controls: Rate
Switch: Normal/Effect
Max Input Level: 0 dBu Noise (IHF-A) -80 dBu
Speed Frequency: 0.2 Hz 14 Hz
Power Supply: 9V Manganese dry cell battery (S-006P) or special AC adaptor
Power Voltage: DC9 V (Battery) / DC10 V (AC-adaptor)
Current Consumption: 12 mA (9V) / 14 mA (10 V) AC Adaptor AC210N (option)
Input: AC120V Output DC9V/200 mA Center - / Sleeve +)
Dimensions: (whole) 70 mm (W) x 112 mm (D) x 55 mm (H)

Review: V-Picks – Small Price, Big Tone

Look in the popular guitar magazines these days and you’ll see ads for all kinds of exotic picks – some costing $20 or more. Even though I’ve been quite happily using a Jim Dunlop Jazz III pick for years, I decided to find out if any of these high-end picks would improve my tone.

One manufacturer that promises a lot for a reasonable price (about $5 per pick) is V-Picks, based in Modesto, CA. They claim to be “the world’s #1 guitar pick” and that their picks will help you play better and sound better. So do they live up to the hype? I ordered a Small Pointed Lite and a Ruby Red Small Pointed from the web site at http://www.v-picks.com/ to find out.

The picks arrived within 2 days, which is great customer service. Another nice surprise was the company included a free pick with my order – a Medium Rounded. All picks are considerably thicker than typical picks, even compared to the Jazz III. However, they are made from a super slick material that glides over the strings very easily. They also react to the heat from your skin and lightly stick to your fingers, which is a nice bonus as I am often dropping or reorienting my picks. The picks I ordered are more pointed at the tip which I think helps you play faster and more accurately so that’s an advantage. Another plus is that the picks wear slowly and have 3 pointed edges, all of which can be used so one pick will last quite a while.

Because of their thickness and the material used, all the picks deliver a fuller, louder and smoother sound than the Jazz III. The difference in tone is surprisingly significant – but in a good way. These picks seem to take off some harshness while still retaining the high frequencies and also boost the lower frequencies. To my ears, it’s almost like putting a compressor in your chain – but a decent compressor will cost you $100+ and these picks are only $5. Of the three I have tried, I liked the Small Pointed Lite the best as it retained more of the treble frequencies but also delivered a fuller, smoother sound. I never would have picked (no pun intended) the Medium Rounded because it is so thick, but I like this a lot as well, especially for beefing up solos.

Considering the minimal $5 price tag, which is about the price of a set of strings, it's a no brainer to check out a couple of V-Picks. You never know, they might be a decent tone upgrade for you. They were for me.

Michael Landau - Gear Inventory

Michael Landau has just revised his web site and the good news is he has provided the inside scoop to all the gear he uses. I know tone is "all in the hands" but this is still very helpful for those of us wondering "How did he get that tone?" According to the "Gear" section on his site, here's what he has in his arsenal:

Live pedal board setup (all pedals are before the amp in this order)
Maxon SD-9
Lovepedal COT 50
Real Mccoy Wizard Wah
Arion Stereo Chorus (in mono, true bypass mod)
Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe
Boss Volume Pedal FV500H
Line 6 DL4

I sometimes use a Lexicon MPX-1 in the effects loop of the amp with a Suhr Mini Mix for reverb and delay, or I take a speaker line out of the amp into a Palmer PGA-4 Speaker Simulator into the Lexicon MPX-1 into a Marshall Valvestate 8008 power amp into 2 Custom Audio 2x10 cabs with Celestion Vintage 10 speakers. These 2 cabinets have the wet sound only.

Amps I use live:
Custom Audio OD100 Classic Plus
Dumble Slide Winder head
Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 with Eminence Tonespotter speakers
'64 Pro Reverb with Eminence Tonespotter speakers
'64 Super Reverb with Dumble Ultra Phonix mod
Kerry Wright 4x12 open back slant cabinet with Celestion Heritage Series G12-65's
Kerry Wright 2x12 open back cabinet with Celestion Heritage Series G12-65's

Studio setup:
I mic the cabinet with a Shure SM57 through a Chandler LTD-1 mic pre, that signal is fed to the line in on the Custom Audio Interface. The rig was designed by Bob Bradshaw @ CAE.

The effects rack has the following:

Tri Stereo Chorus 618
Eventide H3000 D/SE Harmonizer
Lexicon MPX-1
Two Line 6 Echo Pro's (1 in line, 1 in the Custom Audio mixer)
TC G-Force processor
Two Lexicon PCM 42's (left and right)
Boss SE-70
Custom Audio Super Tremolo

I use this setup only for recording because the line level processing is after the dry cabinet (in other words, I insert the rack effects between the dry cabinet and the recording console)

Amps I use for recording:
Dumble Slide Winder head
Custom Audio OD100 Classic Plus
Suhr Badger 18 watt
'64 Deluxe Reverb with Dumble Ultra Phonix mod
'67 Plexy Marshall 100 watt Super Bass head
Phil Jameson custom 30 watt head
Kerry Wright 4x12 open back slant cabinet with Celestion Heritage Series G12-65's
Kerry Wright 2x12 open back cabinet with Celestion Heritage Series G12-65's
Bogner 4x12 straight cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30's

These are the guitars I use live and in the studio:

'63 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster.
'68 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster with Suhr SSV in bridge.
'69 Black Fender Stratocaster with Suhr FL's neck and middle, Suhr SSV in bridge,
Suhr Silent Single Coil System.
'63 Gibson SG.
'68 Gold Top Les Paul with Seymore Duncan Antiquity Humbuckers
'52 Telecaster
Suhr Stratocaster with Suhr FL's neck and middle, Suhr SSV in bridge,
Suhr Silent Single Coil System.
'97 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster with Suhr FL's neck and middle,
Suhr SSV in bridge, Suhr Silent Single Coil System.
Suhr Telecaster with Suhr S-90 in neck, Suhr Classic Tele in bridge.
Tyler Stratocaster with EMG pickups

D'Addario strings (10-46 or 11-49)
Dunlop Nylon 1mm picks
Belden 9778 cable

Learn more at www.mikelandau.com

Mike Stern – Regattabar, Cambridge, MA 04/09/10

Caught the Mike Stern early show on Friday night. He played a great set and seemed to be really enjoying himself and joking a lot with the band: Dennis Chambers on drums, Bob Malach on sax and Tom Kennedy on bass. Kennedy was very impressive, but Chambers was just stunning. It’s easy to see why he is so much in demand and so respected.

Stern has a good thing going. He gets to play with some of the best musicians around and do a lot of improvising in true jazz fashion. Once the band plays the “normal” intro there’s no telling where the song will go. And there was even improv on some intros to keep it interesting.

Stern’s tone was no surprise – he’s had it for years and it is instantly recognizable. After the show I got a close look at his gear. His amp is a beaten up solid state Yamaha G-100 combo. This was a popular amp for clean jazz tones in the 70s and 80s and it sounded great. His effects board was very simple: two Boss DS-3 Digital Delays and two Boss DS-1 Distortions. The DD-3s were set for short delay (for solos) and multiple repeats (for some solo song intros). The DS-1s were set for light and heavier distortion. Very simple, but very effective. I guess there is a lesson to be learned for all of us struggling with massive pedalboards.

News: Mod Amp Effect Kits

There are a number of effects pedal kits on the market that enable you to build your own pedals. All you need is a soldering iron, some skill and a little patience. One of the most popular is Build Your Own Clone (B.Y.O.C.). Another vendor in this market is Mod Amp Kits and this week the company announced four effects pedal kits.

• The Rattler Pedal Kit – A 60s/70s fuzz.
• The Piledriver Pedal Kit – A clean boost that provides up to 38dB of gain “that can push your preamp into overdrive or as a line driver if you are experiencing signal degradation from your effects chain.”
• The Verb Pedal Kit - A reverb based on the Belton Digi-Log module.
• The Persuader Pedal Kit – A tube pre-amp pedal built around a real 12AX7 tube

For more information, visit their web site at http://www.modampkits.com.