Product Review – Digitech Synth Wah/Envelope Filter

Sometimes you need to add some unique textures to a song or surprise people with an unexpected tone. When I’m in those situations I grab my Digitech Synth Wah/Envelope Filter.

As the name suggests, you essentially get two pedals for the price of one in a compact package – a traditional envelope filter and some interesting synth-like tones that are triggered and controlled by your guitar.

The biggest plus point for this pedal is its variety. There are four controls: Sensitivity [which controls the trigger sensitivity of the envelope, synth, and filter effects], Control [which controls the attack, wet/dry mix or sweep, depending on the effect selected], Range [which controls the parameters of the effect], and finally a selector for the seven different effects, which include:

1. Envelope Up – Decent wah-like envelope filter, which is good for funk chording
2. Envelope Down – Sounds like an open “cocked” wah, but it sounds wimpy; this patch is good for reggae chords though
3. Synth 1 - Monophonic synth tone generator with opening filter envelope; a good basic bass synth
4. Synth 2 - Monophonic synth tone generator with closing filter envelope; this is one of the best sounds, great for ‘70s progressive rock synth sounds
5. Filter 1 – Powerful bass synth sound that is good for single lines
6. Filter 2 – Another bass synth option
7. AutoWah – Continuous wah sweep, but it’s a tone killer and a poor autowah IMO

While there are seven different effect options, many of them sound quite similar – basically wah variants or bass synth tones. Some of these effects sounds better than others. I like the Envelope Up tone, but compared to my Tone Factor Analogue Filter it is not as transparent, clean or organic and it does cut some high end from your tone. The Synth 2 and Filter 1 tones are both very cool sounding synths, which can really add some bottom end. The pedal tracks single notes surprisingly well, but it gets lost with chords on many settings. The biggest disappointment for me is the autowah. I found that all settings worked better being driven by the stronger signals from humbucker pickups.

This pedal lists for $90 and I would not pay that for it because I just don’t use these effects that often. I picked mine up used for $50 and for that price it’s a fun novelty pedal that you can play around with to get some really weird, but very cool synth like sounds from your guitar. The pedal eats batteries so you’ll need to run it of off a power supply and it is made in China, so it is doubtful it will last like the 1980s Boss pedals. I use it on my second mini bargain basement board mainly because it sucks some tone and sounds, not surprisingly, very digital. However, if you are into electronica, drone tones, ‘70s progressive rock and shoegazing, this pedal could be a nice addition to your collection.

Telecaster Modification – 4-Way Switching

I love the sound of a Telecaster. It’s a great workhorse to have in your arsenal because you can use it for so many styles of music – country, of course, but also, blues [Albert Collins], rock [Jeff Beck], fusion [Mike Stern], Jazz [Ed Bickert], and the list goes on. I believe you can never have too much of a good thing and I wondered if I could work the horse even more to get additional tones out of those two pickups.

I picked up a very nice USA Peavey Reactor [Telecaster copy] and wanted to upgrade the pickups and electronics. That seemed like a perfect time to try out a common modification – adding a four-way switch.

Here’s the wiring diagram I used



I replaced the stock 250k pots with 500k pots because I wanted a really bright sound and added a Sprague Orange Drop 047µF Capacitor. I love this mod because you get the three classic Tele tones, plus the more powerful, Humbucker-like sound of the pickups in series. If you’re playing rock or blues, it’s nice to have the option of a more beefy tone at the flick of a switch – something most Tele players don’t have.

This is one mod that’s definitely worth doing. Highly recommended.

Peavey Foundation Bass - Craigslist Pickup

I've been using a Korean Ibanez Soundgear SR300 bass for home recording since 2007. It's a nice playing bass, but the pickups are really weak sounding. I looked at some import basses for around $400, but they didn't impress me. That's also more than I wanted to spend as I am just laying down some bass lines occasionally so I turned to Craigslist and picked up a made in USA Peavey Foundation bass for only $125.

It's a great bass and I am really happy with it. The neck is thin and fast and the super ferrite pickups are excellent - powerful, deep and with a nice growl. It's really improved the sound of my loops and backing tracks. Build quality is superb - rock solid maple neck and a solid ash body. IMO the quality of this bass beats out the imports and you'd be looking at $600+ to get something better. Definitely worth checking out if you see one.

Here's an interesting thread on how great these basses are:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/1980s-peavey-foundation-appreciation-thread-520164/

I'm building up quite a collection of Peavey guitars as I also have a USA Reactor (Tele) and USA Predator (Strat) - both heavily customized. All great value for money guitars that can be had cheaply.

Electro-Harmonix Small Stone - Analog.Man Mods

I am a phase junky and I always have a phaser on my board. Always. After a lot of research I decided to upgrade to an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone version 2 - one of the classic '70s phasers.

If you include the new Nano series I think there are five versions of the Small Stone and #2 is supposed to have the warmest circuit. I found one on eBay for $75 in very good condition. As advertised, it had a very lush and warm tone - unlike any other phaser. But it was a H-U-G-E tone sucker. It really cuts the higher frequencies and even at low volumes you can hear it sweeping - even when it is not engaged. If ever there was a poster child for true bypass this pedal is it. But the tone was so good I didn't want to give up on it - even though there was a noticeable volume drop when engaged.

So I sent it along to Analogman for his true bypass, volume and feedback mods. It's guys like Mike that enable you to have your tone and crank it. An adjustable trim pot is added to the circuit so you can easily set the engaged volume to taste. The Feedback mod tones down the squeal and feedback with another trim pot when the "color" switch is up. On reflection, the volume mod is essential, but the feedback mod didn't do much for me so I would suggest not bothering with that and saving yourself some money. I also had a red LED added so you know when the pedal is engaged - a huge oversight by the EH designers.

All in all, these mods bring an already great sounding vintage pedal up to modern day specs and usability levels. Customer service from Analogman was also excellent - I had the pedal back within a week. It now reigns supreme as my go to phaser on my main board with it's deep, rich and chewy tones. Love it.

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)