tonereport_93_2015

TONE REPORTW E E K L Y

P L A Y ‘ T I L Y O U R F I N G E R S B L E E D

S E P T E M B E R 1 8 T H , 2 0 1 5

Job name: SD-1W Job #: 4485 Date: 8.24.15 Magazine: Tone Report Weekly Description: Sept 2015 Designer: Faye

ANALOGFor more info visitBossUS.com/WazaCraft

SD-1W Super Over Drive

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ISSUE 93 SEPTEMBER 18TH

52 EARTHQUAKER DEVICES DUNES

56 ROLAND JC-40 JAZZ CHORUS 60 DEATH BY AUDIO WAVEFORMER DESTROYER 64 TOMKAT PEDALS BENDER FUZZ

10

20 34 44

6456 60

52

10 TONE TALK TREMOLO LABORATORIES FOR MAD TONE SCIENTISTS 20 TONE TALK VASTLY UNDERRATED (AND NOT CURRENTLY MADE) CHEAP PEDALS: REVISITED 34 TONE TALK 8 VINTAGE-STYLE PAFS TO SUPER-SIZE YOUR TONE 44 TONE TALK THE PHENOMENON OF FRFR: THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

J. R

OC

KETT

AUDIO DESIGNS

Less is more

SPRING REVERB

10 TONE TALK // Tremolo Laboratories for Mad Tone Scientists

One of the beautiful things about tremolo is that it can be as simple or as complex an effect as one wants it to be.

Many wonderful sounding trem pedals get by on two knobs or less, while the most complex models seem to require an associate’s degree in engineering (or at least some serious woodshedding with the owner’s manual) to operate competently. For being based on such a fundamental

concept as volume modulation, it can be a gloriously multifaceted effect when all possible parameters are in play and available for tweaking. Of course, many players prefer to keep things simple and easy to dial in, and for these guitarists, the basic two-knob, amp-style bias tremolo usually satisfies their needs. For the frustrated scientists among us, though, the many-knobbed, fully featured, tremolo mini-laboratory is the only way to go.

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This type of trem pedal, one which offers up every possible control parameter at the user’s feet and fingertips, is a relatively new development, with the last several years seeing the release of many such effects. Beyond advanced versions of the basic speed and depth controls that tremolos have had since the beginning, more complex units typically feature controls that provide comprehensive governance over the LFO, with several

wave shapes and the means to mangle and twist them in various ways. Expression control, tap tempo, and a dirt component are other relatively common elements of the new breed of tremolo. With such a broad and comprehensive range of controls, a pedal like that can really take one to into virgin, unexplored tremolo territory rather quickly. Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing compact tremolo laboratories available today.


Chase Bliss Audio GravitasChase Bliss Audio has a knack for taking classic effects and squeezing every last drop of tone tweaking potential from them, giving the user unprecedented control over every parameter, and putting a unique spin on sounds that would otherwise be common and familiar. That the company manages to do this while still keeping tonal purity at the forefront is a minor miracle. Chase Bliss’s Gravitas Analog Tremolo marries a pristine, completely analog signal path (based on the Analog Devices AD823 op-amp) to a powerful digital control brain, for a pedal that can sound as classic and swampy as any vintage tube amp trem, but has a control set that will boggle the mind. That being said, it’s a fairly easy pedal to just plug in—without looking at the manual—and dial up a good sound, even if it might take some old fashioned book-learnin’ to wrap one’s brain around the more advanced features. Speaking of advanced features, there are many. The bank of tiny DIP switches on top is a dead giveaway this tremolo box goes all the way and then some. I couldn’t possibly cover all the options here, but among its unique powers is the ability to mix, match, and blend sine, triangle, and square waves any which way one might desire, and then alter the blend point with the “sway” knob, which can result in some very inspiring and innovative sounds. Then there’s the ramping, tap and expression control, MIDI, momentary bypass, and innumerable other tone warping tools at one’s disposal. For the truly devious tremolo torturer, Chase Bliss Audio’s Gravitas is a must-have.

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Boss SL-20 SlicerBoss’s TR-2 Tremolo is a simple and classic stompbox, and while the company’s SL-20 Slicer isn’t nearly so simple, it’s definitely a future classic. The Slicer is a less a tremolo pedal, and more a robot samurai that draws its wakizashi upon your guitar signal and precisely cuts it into slivers before your eyes. These slivers are then fed back to you transformed and totally re-grooved into a form you could not have previously fathomed. The Slicer has fifty patterns in its repertoire of chops and stutters, as well as a “Harmonic Slice” function that not only creates a rhythmic groove from the original signal, but also generates a melodic element based on the notes played into it. Controls include Attack, Duration, and separate Effect and Direct Level knobs, Tempo (which can be controlled via knob or tap), and buttons for selecting from several luscious stereo modes. As if that wasn’t enough to keep one busy for a lifetime, the Slicer also features an onboard 40-second looper, allowing the user to create a sliced loop and then play live over the top of it, which opens up tremendous creative potential for the clever instrumentalist. The Boss SL-20 Slicer is much more than just a tremolo pedal. If given the opportunity, it will do an awful lot of the work of making music for you, but like a good robot, it always lets you take all the credit.


Z. Vex Super Seek TremThe name Z. Vex is practically synonymous with innovation at this point, so when a new Z. Vex pedal is released it’s safe to assume that it’s going to do something surprising and make sounds that have never been heard before. The Super Seek Trem isn’t exactly like that, because it’s really just a highly expanded version of Z. Vex’s groundbreaking original Seek Trem (which was totally like that). The original featured an eight-step sequencer that generated a wide range of alien tremolo tones, as well as some other, less easy-to-classify tones, such as long volume swells and echo-like sounds. The Super Seek Trem kicks this formula up a few notches, adding another eight steps to the sequencer, for 16 total. You can select any number of steps for the sequence, allowing the player to tailor the rhythm to the time signature, even if it’s a wacky one. It also adds a metric ton of control options, from expression and tap controls, to MIDI sync, a hold function, glissando control, and eight user programmable presets. The Z. Vex Super Seek Trem is a complex, multi-faceted tremolo playground for the budding trem scientist, but it also can do some surprisingly mellow, throbby, and classic sounding tremolo tones, so less adventurous knob-twisters should not be put off by its futuristic appearance and multitudinous knobs. It’s available in a Vexter Series version, or the hifalutin hand-painted model.

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Spaceman Voyager I Analog Optical TremoloPortland, Oregon’s own Spaceman Effects has built its reputation on no-compromise build quality, sonic innovation, and small batches of handmade pedals that are expertly designed with the intent to get pedals nerds’ hearts palpitating furiously. Spaceman’s latest creation creates palpitations of a different kind as well, derived from a gorgeous optical circuit that applies all manner of delicious, artful tremulations to a guitar signal. This creation is the Voyager I Analog Optical Tremolo, and besides looking incredible and sounding superb, it is blessed with a dynamic control set that offers the compulsive knob tweaker a lot of possibilities. It has some fairly normal controls, including speed and depth, as well as gain and level knobs for generating some dirt, and a filter knob for transitioning smoothly between varying degrees of warm and mellow, or sparkling and defined. The real fun happens when the envelope control section is engaged, however, as the Voyager will then begin reacting dynamically to the input. The envelope’s Freq setting causes the LFO speed to ramp up as you play more aggressively, slowing down as you back off the windmilling and play with a more gentle touch. Switch to the Fade setting, and the effect fades out as your picking hand becomes more manic, fading back in when it begins to calm. This kind of dynamic response makes the Spaceman Voyager I tremolo more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and a top pick for tremolo addicts looking for a fresh fix.

100% analog signal path with unprecedented digital control.

This tremolo pedal features an all-analog signal path

that can do any variety or shape of standard volume

modulation, harmonic tremolo (inspired by vintage

Brownface) or both simultaneously for a truly unique

and beautiful tremolo sound. Since the control of the

effect is digital, it opens up unprecedented effects

and features that have never been heard or offered

in analog stompboxes. chaseblissaudio.com

Explore New Sound.

www.redpandalab.com

The Bitmap is a bitcrusher with fractional bit reduction. Transform melodies into video game music with aliasing and quantization noise. Add the warmth and grit of a 12-bit sampler or crush your guitar with 1-bit fuzz.

MUS I C

100% analog signal path with unprecedented digital control.

This tremolo pedal features an all-analog signal path

that can do any variety or shape of standard volume

modulation, harmonic tremolo (inspired by vintage

Brownface) or both simultaneously for a truly unique

and beautiful tremolo sound. Since the control of the

effect is digital, it opens up unprecedented effects

and features that have never been heard or offered

in analog stompboxes. chaseblissaudio.com

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VASTLY UNDERRATED (and not currently made)

Cheap Pedals:REVISITED

Discovering old albums that were released during one’s youth is an exhilarating experience. Shopping at used record stores is a great way to ignite the nostalgia engine and wonder what might have been. The same goes for guitar pedals. For all the forgotten or never-known artists begging for a listen as the industry grows larger, there are dust-covered pedals just the same, waiting to be rediscovered. These, friends, are more pedals that are more than worth the time to locate.

Words by Nicholas Kula

FENDER Starcasterchorus

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IT’S TOUGH TO forecast the placement of a pedal such as this one on the list. Fender made it, and other than a small handful of pedals, most of them stink. It also came in one of those “action-figure” type packages: a plastic mold attached to a cardboard back with a peg hole. Admittedly, most pedals sold like this aren’t even worth trying, and the fact they were sold in big-box retailers like Best Buy only drags their names further through the mud. That said, there’s a lot going against the Starcaster chorus, but none of these problems are insurmountable once one hears this gem. It’s a certifiably great chorus pedal—rich, lush and rugged. Upon viewing pictures, one might think it’s a large beast—not so. The camera adds ten pounds, as it were, and the Starcaster Chorus is actually just as wide as a Boss pedal and only a little deeper. What’s more, a simple mod can add a vibrato switch to the unit (Google it). At any rate, the Starcaster chorus is a certified steal at $10 (yes, that’s right).

DANELECTRO Cool Cat

22 TONE TALK // Vastly Underrated (and Not Currently Made) Cheap Pedals: Revisited

DANELECTRO caught some heat when the original Cool Cat line was released, as many popular boutique effects were gnashed in the gears of the Cool Cat cloning machine. Perhaps no outcry was louder than the case of the CTO-1 Transparent Overdrive. Once analyzed, forum dwellers discovered that the TOD-1 bore a striking similarity to the Paul Cochrane Timmy. Cochrane now sells pedals like everyone else, but at the time the CTO-1 was released, the only way to obtain a Timmy was to call Paul on the phone and chat with him about gear. Of course, the idea of a suit at Danelectro, Inc. phoning Paul and sweet-talking a Timmy out of him only to clone it rankled a lot of gearheads. This rankling caused quite an uproar and Danelectro quickly redesigned the circuit, and the original CTO-1 fetched ridiculous money. Now that this is no longer true, it is once again underrated. The Timmy sound is a super-versatile low-to-medium gain drive used by countless artists the world ever. Both the shape and ethics are a little unsavory, but the price is certainly right—they sell for about $50.

CTO-1 Transparent

Overdrive

Guy

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If a “transparent” compressor is the name of the game, it’s time to look elsewhere. The Guyatone ST-2 is likely my favorite compressor ever (right next to the Boss CS-1, MXR Limiter and Effectrode PC-2A). Even though it only has two knobs, the sound more than makes up for its dearth of controls. So many compressors these days feature a bevy of dials in order to minimize the “effect-ness” of the compression and leave it on the entire time. Sometimes, players may question whether or not the pedal is ever on, and if not for the LED, they may never know. In the case of the ST-2, that’s never an issue—the tone is so beautifully squashed when it’s on. Rather than a vice grip, the squish of the ST-2 is more like a high-end juicer, as it extracts the good stuff and pushes it through the amp. The slide switch on the front is a sort-of blend control, and turning it on is highly addictive. Best of all, the ST-2 sells for a paltry $50—now that’s squish on a budget.


The two pedals produced by tiny-amp stalwarts Pignose are both heavily gooped inside, even though they are budget-oriented. Usually, this means the circuit under the slime is something worth the epoxy, and I’m sad to say that the Detonator is actually a Craig Anderton Tube Sound Fuzz, an often copied DIY circuit from years past. It’s relatively rare, and it’s not based on any other piece of Pignose canon, so its inclusion likely stems from the fact that this effect sounds great with Pignose amplifiers. The thing is, the Anderton TSF sounds great with any amp, be it tube or solid-state; the Way Huge Red Llama is a great sounding box, and it is built off the endoskeleton of the TSF. DIY-ers can build a TSF for relatively little money, and it may cost them around $40, but the Detonator costs just as much, and it includes a footswitchable boost, which changes the resistor value in the feedback path to make quite a difference. Plus, it probably looks cooler than any DIY pedal out there.

PIGNOSE DEtonator

DanelectroFISH AND CHIPS EQ

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“Hey guys, what if we made a bunch of pedals whose names are foods one might order at a diner,” said only one person ever. The Danelectro Fish and Chips EQ has been a very well-kept secret among more budget-oriented players since its inception and subsequent discontinuation. We know, the humble equalizer isn’t a glitzy rig component, but much like a power supply, it’s a necessity in one’s sonic arsenal. While some players might balk at the construction and footswitch, this is an EQ we’re talking about here. Players will likely set it and forget it, and sometimes may even mount it underneath a pedalboard. And because the Fish and Chips is dead-quiet, it excels in that role, and like many graphic equalizers, it can be used as an ultra-transparent clean boost if need be. The construction isn’t actually so bad, because the surface area is so small; it’s engineered to stand up to any t-rex stomps one might impart onto it. Plus, it’s cheap—around $30.

Ibanez

CyberdriveCyberdriveCyberdrive


There is a ton of pedals in this Soundtank series, and most of the cool ones are not cheap, which makes them not underrated by default. However, the Cyberdrive is probably the coolest one of them all, and it is still both cheap and underrated. The topology of the Terminator’s favorite pedal resembles an MXR Distortion+ with LED (instead of germanium) clipping and a twin filter circuit that resembles a wah (think Tychobrahe Parapedal). Usually a banal combination of fundamental building block effects is a total yawnfest, but the description of this pedal is enough to make users comb eBay in search of the Cyberdrive. Seekers of the most cyber of drives will be handsomely rewarded, but good luck finding a demo—it doesn’t exist. Just trust me on this; it’s awesome and impossible not to love. Did I mention it’s pretty cheap? Finding a Cyberdrive for around $50 is pretty commonplace.

Akai Variwah

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Four wah pedals offer users the ability to use a wah filter as an LFO-powered modulator: the Voodoo Lab Wahzoo, Korg Mr. Multi, Sonuus Wahoo and this, the Akai Variwah. On each of those pedals, the controls to drive this one sound are pretty limited, save for the Variwah. There are four expression-controllable knobs as well as a traditional wah setting for you sticklers out there. The footswitch is located on the side of the pedal rather than directly under the treadle, so this means that dialing in the “Money for Nothing” cocked-wah tone takes about 10 seconds, since players can position the wah where they like and then engage it with the footswitch. Fortunately for those traditionalists, the Variwah’s sweep is enormous and extremely expressive, and best of all it takes pedals like a champ. For some reason, it seems like some old-school Akai effect shouldn’t have a bunch of headroom, but here we are. And the thing costs like $60—a steal if enclosure size isn’t a huge dealbreaker.

Milk Box


my mother’s friend asked me if it was possible to build him a compressor that was “better than the one [he] has now.” Not knowing what he had, I scoured BYOC, Madbean and the like, and settled on a very powerful, talk-of-the-town compressor. After finishing it, I tested it and it sounded great—I knew he would be pleased, no matter what he had. Upon mailing it, he called to explain that it wasn’t better than what he already had. I was pretty blown away, and admittedly somewhat dismissive of his tastes. The pedal in question was the DOD Milk Box. I acquired one, and I have to agree—the Milk Box is just awesome. It sustains like crazy and makes the tone that much sweeter. Apart from its standard controls, there is a touch-sensitive hi-cut knob. It’s worth mentioning that, in keeping tradition with classic DOD, the older version has several knobs named dumb things. They eventually changed the knob labels to regular names, but it’s the same circuit. It’s about $50, but prices are creeping upward as we speak.

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PERHAPS NO EFFECT in history has achieved such a post-flop cult status like the DigiTech XP300 Space Station. It’s warranted though, because the unit makes sounds that newer pedals still haven’t been able to recreate. The public has clamored for a reissue, and the prices reflect this. DigiTech has been mum about a reissue of the unit, but the company covertly equipped a newer pedal—the EX-7 Epression Factory—with a number of these hallowed patches, plus many others. One of the most egregious gripes about the Space Station (other than its outlandish price, though it’s getting better) is its horrific bypass tone. Thankfully, the bypass on the Expression Factory is just fine, and doesn’t obliterate one’s tone as the original does. So yes, this is essentially all the good bits of a real Space Station without the gripes of price or spatial consumption. These aren’t the cheapest pedals (around $130) but it’s half the size and less than half the price for the greatest hits version of the almighty Space Station.

DIGITECH EX-7Expression Factory

Reverberation Machine Analog Octave UpMini-Ultimate Overdrive Dual Resonant Filter

Hand Made in Akron, Ohio | www.earthquakerdevices.com

34 TONE TALK // 8 Vintage-Style PAFs to Super-Size Your Tone

Can you hear me from the bottom of the rabbit hole? I’ve fallen and I can’t get up; my mind is a jumbled mess of alnico magnets, butyrate, 42 gauge enamel wire, and snake oil. Trying to piece together any sentence without the words “Patent Applied For” in the last few weeks has proven to be quite the task. I have subjected myself to all manner of tonal buzzword torture for the last few weeks at the bottom of this can of worms for you, dear readers. If you are in the market for new pickups (let’s be honest, who isn’t?) for your Les Paul or humbucker-equipped guitars, chances are very high you have heard of PAFs. PAF stands for Patent Applied For, and is the colloquial term of the original early Seth Lover and Les Paul designed humbucking pickups for their Gibson made guitars (the reason for this being that the patent had

not gone through until after a few years of production, hence the famous “Patent Applied For” sticker on the backs of the most sought-after PAFs). These are considered by many to be the holy grail of the humbucker design, and is sought after for it’s rich, tonally balanced, and harmonically complex tone that only comes from those two coils. The early ’57 and ’59 humbuckers found in Les Pauls made in those years are the most sought after, and the most copied. Before the internet, you had to rely on your ear, a vintage guitar, or a local pickup winder to approximate the tone of these hallowed pickups. With the advent of the internet, literally hundreds of different pickup makers from garage dwellers to factory owners have sprung up in every corner of the world, all promising the same thing; we will get you that tone.

VINTAGE-STYLE

PAFSTO SUPER-SIZE YOUR TONETO SUPER-SIZE YOUR TONE

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Unfortunately, there is a lot of snake oil, smokescreens, and “mojo” out there, from pickup winders trying to sell you their products at a higher price point, and without any real facts or science to back it up. In this feature, we will not discuss whether aged nickel baseplates or maple spacers add to the “vintage tone”, because we would be here for a week (and the tonal differences are so very minute and hard to measure). Instead, I have stuck to talking about tried and true specs of PAFs that are proven make a difference in the tone and response, and I have stayed away from “vintage correct” specs, because in my opinion, at the end of the day it’s your fingers that make the tone, not the Alnico magnets that were hand massaged and read bed time stories for a year.

VINTAGE-STYLE

PAFSTO SUPER-SIZE YOUR TONETO SUPER-SIZE YOUR TONE

For the feature, we are only going to focus on the two main types of PAF, the ’57 and ’59 styles. The ’57 styles usually use Alnico II magnets, while the ’59 styles usually use Alnico IV magnets. There is a lot of information out there about the differences between Alnico magnets, and some can be inaccurate. Speaking to different pickup winders, and doing lots of research, has gotten me this list. Please remember to take it with a grain of salt, because everyone’s tone will sound different in their own respective situations.

WORDSBYYOELKREISLER

LET’S DIVE RIGHT IN:

LET’S DIVE RIGHT IN:


Alnico II: Lower output. Smoother, warmer sound. Looser bottom end, more “vintage”. Used commonly in ’57 style pickups.

Alnico III: Lower output. A bit dryer and airier in the mids. Close to Alnico II but not as rounded and soft.

Alnico IV: Moderate output. Mids are a little more scooped then in Alnico IIs, but have the same tonal characteristics, with a bit more bottom end control.

Alnico V: High output: Mid scooped, very clear and accentuated in the high and low end.

D. ALLEN ALLEY CAT(NECK 7.28K, BRIDGE 8.6K)Designed by successful and well-loved San Franciso-based pickup winder David Allen, the Alley Cat is a wonderful take on the ’57 style PAF. It has warmth, clarity, and a very balanced tonal spectrum for cleans, as well as a nice grunt for dirt. Inspired by: ’57 Style PAFMagnets: Alnico IIBobbins: ButyrateMismatched coils?: Upon requestWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Not specified

The other specs you need to look for are mismatched coils (gives it a more 3D, open sound), wax or non-wax potted (helps protect against squealing and microphonics), 42 gauge plain enamel wire (vintage PAFs are almost exclusively wound with this), and butyrate (special plastic) bobbins. Another important spec is resistance (measured in k), the higher the number, the more output it will have. The other specs are more or less trivial, and are non-essential when comparing PAFs in terms of straight tone.

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ZHANGBUCKER ORIGINAL SLUGBUCKER BRIDGE/WOODBUCKER NECK (NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE (8.3K)David Plummer of Zhangbucker pickups says he got into winding because most humbuckers he tried were either to muddy or too bright. His mission is to provide a no-nonsense solution to the PAF, with a balanced and 3D sounding pickup. He offers Alnico II magnets as standard, but he can put Alnico IVs in as well. The tone from these are almost tube hi-fi, and offer detail and clarity for cleans, as well as a whole new dimension of harmonic complexity for dirt.Inspired by: Pickups being too muddy or too bright. Seemingly ’57 inspiredMagnets: Alnico II or Alnico IVBobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: YesWire: Not specifiedWax potted?: Not specified

PORTERCUSTOM SERIES ANTHEM PAF (7-8K RANGE FOR NECK AND BRIDGE)A very interesting take on the PAF, using vintage specs and more modern sounding Alnico V magnets, you get a very interesting mix of complexity and detail from the Alnico Vs in the highs for cleans, and a nice body for dirtier tones. They can also be underwound or overwound for higher or lower output. These pickups are totally customizable, which makes building them and playing them so much more pleasing.Inspired by: Not clear, more of a custom creationMagnets: Alnico V standard, II, III, or IV also available Bobbins: Butyrate plastic Mismatched coils?: Not specifiedWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Yes, but can also be non-potted upon request


THROBAK SLE-101 MXV (NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8.1K)This PAF from Throbak Electronics is the fascinating result of years of painstaking PAF research by the Michigan-based guitar company. Throbak is famous for being sticklers about having everything vintage-correct, down to the coating process for the 42 gauge enamel wire. The thing that sets these pickups apart, is the vintage machinery and techniques the utilize to create their pickups. The coils are wound on a vintage USA-made Leesona 102, and the slugs are wound on an actual Kalamazoo Gibson 101 Slug Winder. The slugs are cut with a vintage automatic screw machine, and the alnico magnets are custom cast. There was no stone left unturned with this one, and what you get is one of the most accurate, vintage-correct PAFs on the market.Inspired by: ’57 Style PAFMagnets: Long, rough cast (by hand) Alnico II magnetsBobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: UnspecifiedWire: 42 gauge plain enamel (custom coating process)Wax potted?: No

D’URBANO MAGNETICS LIX ’59 PAF (NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8K)This charming little Australian company came up during my search about 3 pages into my results (basically the bottom of the internet) when typing in “3D sounding PAFs”. I was impressed by their specs, and their boutique approach to winding pickups, without the boutique price. The sound is (unsurprinsingly) very 3D, with open and articulate mids and beautiful note bloom.Inspired by: ’59 Style PAFMagnets: Available with Alnico II, III, or V Bobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: YesWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Un-potted standard, but can be potted on request

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D’URBANO MAGNETICS LIX ’59 PAF (NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8K)This charming little Australian company came up during my search about 3 pages into my results (basically the bottom of the internet) when typing in “3D sounding PAFs”. I was impressed by their specs, and their boutique approach to winding pickups, without the boutique price. The sound is (unsurprinsingly) very 3D, with open and articulate mids and beautiful note bloom.Inspired by: ’59 Style PAFMagnets: Available with Alnico II, III, or V Bobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: YesWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Un-potted standard, but can be potted on request

SEYMOUR DUNCAN SETH LOVER SH-55 (NECK 7.2K, BRIDGE 8.1K)While world-famous pickup winder Seymour Duncan’s Antiquity line of PAF pickups gets a lot of the love, I’ve decided to focus on the SH-55, Seymour Duncan’s tribute to Seth Lover, one of the original inventors of the PAF pickup. This model was designed by Lover together with Duncan to create a pickup worthy of the name. This pickup sports vintage-correct specs, and a vintage-correct sound and character to match.Inspired by: ’57 Style PAFMagnets: Alnico IIBobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: YesWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: No

LOLLAR IMPERIAL (NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8.4K)Jason Lollar is one of guitardom’s most well-respected and well-loved pickup winders, up there with Seymour Duncan and TV Jones. His pickups are known for having a very “hi-fi” quality about them, and can be found in many guitars of the stars throughout many genres. His PAF is no exception to his well-known quality work, and is a worthy contender to far more expensive options. There is also a wide range of colors and styles to choose from, a few of which are very unique and brash compared to the boring old aged nickel covers of many other winders.Inspired by: Custom creationMagnets: Alnico II in neck and Alnico V in bridge, specially degaussed for each position.Bobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: YesWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Not specified


MANLIUS LANDMARK PAF (NECK 7.5K, BRIDGE 8K)Manlius Pickups are a very well-kept secret, with only a few souls outside of deep bowels of the Les Paul forums knowing about their pickups. Thankfully, for you I have dragged them out into the light. Based in Syracuse, NY, their pickups are very warm, full, and clear; a product of combining the best of each PAF to create this “new” invention. For your convenience, they can also be slightly overwound or underwound for different responses.Inspired by: Combination of vintage PAFsMagnets: Alnico IIBobbins: Butyrate plasticMismatched coils?: UnspecifiedWire: 42 gauge plain enamelWax potted?: Lightly potted

WHEW. Now that wasn’t so bad was it? The world of PAFs is deep, confusing, and hard to navigate, even with the right tools. With so many builders touting “vintage correct” specs that basically amount to the tonal equivalent of snake oil, it can be hard to separate the fact from the fiction. I hope today I have helped you understand this complex and confusing world just a little better. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you next week at the bottom of another rabbit hole.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:Lindy Fralin Pure PAF (Neck 7.5-7.8k, Bridge 8-8.4k)Skatterbrane Earthbrane PAF (Neck 7.6k, Bridge 8.4k)D. Allen Tru-59 PAF (Neck 7.6, Bridge 8.4k)

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Very few people are unaware of the rise in popularity of modelling preamps at the moment. To some, they are the digital panacea for all our amp and effects needs, but to others they are

nothing but mere upstarts, simply the new kids on the block. What can’t be ignored, though: The technology is finally here and at a level that, to many people, makes it a serious and viable alternative to the valve amplifier.

Along with this technology has risen a cottage industry of people building accessories and products designed to take these systems from the home studio to the stage, from expression pedals to MIDI controllers to solid-state amplifiers and in particular, a new kind of speaker system called “FRFR” speakers.

So, what is FRFR? The term started surfacing on the modelling forums a few years ago and stands for “Full Range, Flat Response.” Put simply: if players wanted to use their modelling systems in all their glory—including the speaker simulations—they would need a speaker that can deliver a full range of 40 Hz to at least 18 kHz and be as flat and neutral as possible without adding any peaks or troughs in this range. A flat line if you will. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

A look at the pro audio and pro-sumer market of full-range speakers presented a wealth of products but many are geared towards DJs or as pure vocal monitors, hyping either the bass for DJ use or the midrange to allow the vocals to cut through on stage. Add to this the fact that most of the stuff was in a wedge format, something most guitarists use only as a foot rest! While many took to the wedge format, many others wanted the comfort and familiar feeling of a cabinet behind them and preferably something that looked like a traditional guitar cab.

46 TONE TALK // The Phenomenon of FRFR: The Wave of the Future

If something existed that hit all the above points, it would be easy right? Well, no it’s not that simple. You see, the problem lies within the technology of capturing the cabinet simulation. This is called an IR or Impulse Response and it’s basically a frequency snapshot of the cabinet you choose. When played through an FRFR system, the given IR should sound like the original cabinet, but it doesn’t—at best, it sounds like a recording of the cab you’ve just used. It’s this lack of the “amp in the room” feel that is the current biggest stumbling block to FRFR domination.

When taking an IR of a cab, it’s generally done with just one microphone. When the human ear hears a signal going through a cab, it hears all of the cone; it hears the interaction inside the cab, the resonance of the cab and reflections with walls, floors and general room interaction more or less at once. With one microphone or even lots of them, there isn’t a way to capture all of that information from everywhere, so the reproduction of the IR is not as lifelike as the real thing.

This isn’t a reflection of the FRFR technology however, it merely points out that the weak links are the cab sims within modelling systems. As soon as a traditional guitar cab is used without cab sims, then the feeling is back and everything sounds great. However, for many, the feeling of using only a small part of the modeller’s capability is not enough.

There are some other drawbacks to the FRFR systems but they are surmountable. We’ll look at those shortly but let’s look at some of the benefits of FRFR.FRFR allows players to use many different modelled amps with either the cabs they are most suited with or go crazy and mix and match many different kinds of combinations to get many different tones. Special effects like shimmering harmonizers or guitar synths

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can also be used due to the extended range of frequencies FRFR allow. Sonically matching a tone from a sampled guitar part on a record is also possible allowing in theory the tone of our favourite guitar gods to us mortals without being coloured by a normal guitar cab.

Some benefits are less obvious.

One such benefit is that we get to hear what the audience is hearing, for the most part. While this can be done with standard monitors, the EQ is limited and often vocal-biased in smaller venues. Another benefit—and one for all members of the band— is that FRFR systems and the speakers used in them have much better dispersion characteristics. By nature, guitar speakers are very “beamy” with the guitarist getting the best sound. Audiences standing in front of the guitarist have it worst though, usually with a full-on top-end assault. FRFR systems disperse the sound to a much wider area, so more often than not, other band mates will hear the guitarist playing better. This, in turn, may allow on-stage volume to come down a little as guitarists are no longer battling to be heard. The audience also gets the benefit of the guitar sound being much more pleasing. That wider dispersion also allows guitarists to move around a little more as they’re not tied to the “cone of sound” that emanates from a normal cab. There’s also the benefit of being able to dial patches in at home (either on the FRFR system or studio monitors) and get the same tones on stage (with minimal tweaking due to volume differences when dialling in). That can often save precious rehearsal time for playing songs instead of “getting the sound right.”

Perhaps the biggest drawback lies within the presumption that by using a 4x12 cab simulation, we’ll get the sound of a 4x12 cab through our 1x12 FRFR

48 TONE TALK // The Phenomenon of FRFR: The Wave of the Future

speaker setup. From a physical standpoint, it’s simply impossible to get the same sound mass of multiple speakers through just one. Yes, speaker design helps them sound bigger than their physical size and porting (and other factors) may lend a helping hand but the information contained in an IR cannot reproduce that to that extent. So why don’t we just build FRFR cabs with more speakers in them?

Whilst FRFR systems generally have a wider dispersion over guitar cabs, this can be a double edged sword. At the moment, 1x12 FRFR systems seem to be the norm but there is a want for bigger 2x12 and even 4x12 cabs. When putting two speakers with a wide

dispersion next to each other in a cabinet, those cones of dispersed sound overlap each other. This isn’t much of a problem in a guitar cab where the beams are narrow, but in a FRFR cab it can sometimes lead to phasing problems. Adding

speakers creates more of the same as the beams overlap. Granted, the average guitarist may not sound terrible compared to the sound from a normal cab, but the chaps that design FRFR systems tend to be PA types and not guitar types—to them it’s a bit sacrilegious. A similar problem arises with stereo setups. Most of the sonic spectrum from a guitar is carried in the upper registers and this means providing multiple HF units. When the setup is pure stereo, things are fine, but

when things move back to mono, there are two closely-spaced units delivering the same

signal at a different time if the player is not equidistant

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between the two sources. This arrangement can result in comb filtering where phasing issues become very apparent.

From a pro-audio standpoint, there’s no use designing an ultra-flat system and then ruining it in this way. Perhaps some compromises need to come from both sides, with designers lowering the standard regarding multiple speakers for guitar use and guitarists realising that stereo really needs more than one cabinet to work properly. On the modelling side of things, we’ve already started to see a shift in the way cab sims (IRs) are made from their original single-microphone-single-position captures to IRs built up from a number of different mics trying to capture as much information as possible. Many companies are offering software to blend these IRs together to get even better sounds. There may come a time when an accurate enough cab sim is available, one that captures more than just a small portion of the speaker and also gives the 3-D quality many guitarists mention when discussing “amp in the room” sounds.

In conclusion, FRFR is still relatively nascent as far as guitar applications go but it’s certainly something that warrants more research and consideration. There are great benefits to be had by using such a versatile technology but there are still some drawbacks. With a bit of compromise on both playing and manufacturing sides and with the boffins adding new discoveries, the guitarist may well get a one cab does all solution...and it may even be lightweight! Personally, I like the sound of these modellers paired with a good FRFR cabinet and the versatility and the advantages I have mentioned earlier outweigh the disadvantages. I would recommend that you look into this and decide for yourself—you may be pleasantly surprised.

You know the old adage—sometimes less is more, and it is true again with the Dunes overdrive from EarthQuaker Devices. Based on the bigger and more complex Palisades overdrive that had more features than a Mercedes S-Class, the Dunes takes the key ingredients from that pedal, and scales them down to what matters most to guitarists—great tone and simplicity. Plus, without the additional footswitches and knobs, and the input and outputs on top of the pedal, the Dunes is very pedalboard friendly.

The Dunes, like the Palisades, is a Tube Screamer variant. Yet it goes a step further from the original, adding a few extra features that go a long way to matching your guitar and pickups, to your amp. The knobs are familiar—Tone, Gain and Volume. In addition, there are three toggle switches that really make things interesting. Let’s dig deeper. VOICE: Gives you three tonal differences; MOSFET, Silicon and Normal. These options give you different levels of compression when adding gain, and really

change the overall character a lot. The Normal setting has little to no compression if that is desired. NORMAL/BRIGHT: Works great when using either darker humbuckers—switch to Bright, or if using single coils, keep it normal. Using the master tone control in conjunction with this switch gives you a lot of useful variation. BANDWIDTH: What a traditional Tube Screamer lacks—here, the Dunes gives you the option of adding a lot of deep low end—great for single coils, or switch

52 GEAR REVIEW // EarthQuaker Devices Dunes

EARTHQUAKER DEVICES DUNES REVIEW BY IAN GARRETTSTREET PRICE $185.00

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enough to be extremely useful, the Dunes is sure to make almost every finicky overdrive owner happy. CONCERNS None. While I thought it worked great for home and live settings, it really does shine best when you can turn up your amp loudly, and then hit it again with the Dunes. With a clean amp the gain structure was still really good—but it just begs to be matched up with an overdriven amp.

dialed back a bit. My favorite voicing position was MOSFET, with Silicon a close second; I like some added compression with my gain. With my amp turned up past breakup but not too over the top, the Dunes just took it to a whole other level. Heavy hitting, yet notes still had good definition—my tone really came alive with rich harmonics flying off the fretboard—the very definition of rock ‘n’ roll. WHAT WE LIKE The Tube Screamer overdrive has been a classic ever since it came out decades ago, and for good reason. With the right amp in the right situation, it just works. But for some users, there have been limitations in how it can be used. Not anymore. The Dunes takes the Screamer platform, and gives just enough flexibility without being overly complex, allowing players to tailor it to their amps and guitars. It’s simple to use like the original, yet flexible

it back to the more traditional screamer mode, accentuating the midrange, with less emphasis on the bottom end. I found I could quickly change settings for either a Stratocaster or a Les Paul with just a few adjustments. Doing so enabled a perfect fit with my amp. With a Strat, I kept the tone toggle on normal so it wouldn’t get too bright, and set the bandwidth for lower-end presence. Although surprisingly, because I do like a lot of low end in my tone especially with single coils, I often found I would go back to more of a midrange bump, with less bass. It’s nice to have the option though! With a Les Paul or humbucker-equipped guitar I found what I liked best was a bit less gain overall, the bandwidth almost always set for more midrange instead of a bass boost, and the tone toggle set on Bright, but with the Tone knob

THE SOLID STATE OF STEREO LUSCIOUSNESS To celebrate forty years of Roland’s pioneering, panoramic, stereo-chorused classic, the Japanese gear gods bestow upon us the Jazz Chorus experience in a lighter, more manageable format. In my own perception, Roland’s JC-120 has always been a bit of a cult phenomenon—an industry insider’s secret sonic weapon. Let’s take a peek into the varied past of the Jazz Chorus. Bob Mould of Husker Du obscured his vision of hardcore by patching his MXR Distortion+ into Roland

JC-120s for a menacing modulated fever-dream. The Cult’s Billy Duffy has been garnishing his Marshall grind with the swirling top end slew of the classic combo since the early ‘80s. Remember The Talking Heads in its prime—with Byrne and Belew using JCs as blank canvases for their pallets of effects? What would those early Cure albums sound like without the glassy grey and silver solid-state sting? The solemn intro to Metallica’s “One” rings a big black bell as well. It’s curious. For such an iconic amp, the JC series is seldom seen onstage these days, but I thing that is all about to change…

For one, there is simply no better tone tool for creating a wide, airy stereo image without the aid of pedals, messy cable routing and two amps. The JC-40 maintains that room-filling spread without the bulk, expense and volume pokiness of its older bigger brother. When I first got a chance to unbox, my kid was asleep, so I was delighted to see a headphone jack on the rear panel. I jacked in—killing the two ten-inch speakers—and immediately switched on the fixed chorus. I think an hour went by before I was able to find my way out of that classic Roland Dimensional Space Chorus. It was as if

56 GEAR REVIEW // Roland JC-40 Jazz Chorus

ROLAND JC-40 JAZZ CHORUS REVIEW BY FLETCHER STEWARTSTREET PRICE $599.00

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better home practice piece for stereo effects junkies who gig with two amps and want to maintain the spread without the cable spaghetti dread in more intimate scenarios. The revamped onboard distortion is way more usable than the brittle ceramic plate grating grit of the older models and the chorus is as deep and lush as it ever was. It is digital this time around, but the effect is in the spatial dry-wet interplay—not the technology creating the pitch deviation. Plus, I can’t stop playing Seventeen Seconds-era Cure songs through this thing. The Jazz Chorus is the amp for that sound. CONCERNS I must admit, that I was initially disappointed to see the cabinet made of composite material instead of hardwood or pine. However, I talked to Roland and the cab materials weren’t selected to hit a price-point at all. They are part of the technical and tonal overall design. It feels solid and sounds huge, so I am happy with that.

raspy fuzz pedals, but those in the know will tweak the responsive tone-stack and bright switch to flatter the input source perfectly. The wide, flat frequency response reveals all kinds of crazy frequencies in fuzz pedals and keeps them from flubbing out like they can in tube amps. In fact, the two custom-designed 10-inch silver-capped speakers sound uncharacteristically huge and detailed. They seem to be more like a hi-fi system—unlike many bandwidth limited, nasally guitar speakers. I plugged in my Moog synthesizer to test the depth of sonic range and was delighted with the results—especially with a touch of the digital plate emulating reverb and some true stereo pitch vibrato. Keeping the same settings, I plugged the guitar back in and enjoyed the dreamy ripples of sound. WHAT WE LIKE The JC-40 is lightweight, huge sounding, plenty loud enough for gigging and a great vessel for complex effects chains and mess-less stereo routing. There isn’t a

each of the separate onboard power amps had hooked their barbs into the left and right hemispheres of my brain. It was a private world of pure stereo lusciousness that only got more vast and limitless when I added my Eventide H9 Max to the stereo effects loop. My hopes were confirmed. The stereo imaging from those complex spatial micro-pitch algorithms and ping-pong delays became holographic—as if my mind’s eyes were wearing 3D glasses. OPEN-ENDED EFFECTS ROUTING—AN AMP FOR ALL OCCASIONS I don’t know if there is another lightweight portable combo that sports a continual stereo signal path from inputs, to effects loop and speaker outputs. The JC-40 certainly has the market cornered with these specs. As ever, this JC makes for a great pedal platform. Of course—being a solid state amp—there is no forgiving voltage sag or squidgy warm breakup to cushion the blow of harder distortions and

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The Waveformer Destroyer is the latest deceptively simple offering from Brooklyn-based mad scientists Death by Audio. With Oliver Ackermann at its helm, since the beginning of the boutique boom, Death by Audio has been at the forefront of providing strange, new and interesting offerings by way of thinking outside the box and not being afraid to get a little messy. The Waveformer Destroyer is the latest in their line of sonic weirdness—it’s a combination fuzz, filter, boost, and “blast” pedal, with one master volume knob to control it all. Let’s

get fuzzy. The Waveformer Destroyer is quite a unique pedal with a unique sound, look, and operation. It has four switches on the front, and one Master volume knob. The graphics are reminiscent of DBA’s other pedals; and utilize a scientific/technical sort of look, with an image of a clipped sound wave at the bottom. The pedal has four circuits, which are not independent, meaning you can’t use the filter or boost on your clean tone, which is a shame because could have sounded lovely. Engaging the pedal by itself gave me a basic distortion tone, with a nice low-mid

growl. Stomping on the Boost opens up the tone, and instead of having a low-mid emphasis it gave it a lift in all the frequencies, making it sound more full-range. The Filter scooped out all of the mids, turning the tone into a fuzz-faced war hammer. The Blast sent the distortion smashing through my signal with reckless abandon. It utterly destroyed everything and sent the pedal into clipping; so much so my speakers and amp couldn’t handle it. Admittedly, I am playing mostly at bedroom levels, and I imagine you are going to need a very high headroom amp to

60 GEAR REVIEW // Death By Audio Waveformer Destroyer

DEATH BY AUDIO WAVEFORMER DESTROYER REVIEW BY YOEL KREISLERSTREET PRICE $270.00

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giving you some insight into the design and the philosophy behind these pedals. WHAT WE LIKE Dead-simple operation with many different tones on tap. Untamed and wild, while maintaining musicality. Internal DIP switches add a ton of options for many different tastes. CONCERNS Other parts of circuit not independent from main distortion. More extreme settings need very high headroom amps to sound good.

The Blast section can either be adjusted to use clipping diodes and correct biasing, or full gain and “crazy intense.” You can mix and match all of these settings as much as you want, and the handy guide Death by Audio provides with the pedal goes into further detail, and even provides some presets for you to try. They went the extra mile as well by providing “analog preset save,” or empty templates you can color in to save your own favorite settings. This pedal is the definition of set-it-and-forget-it, for easy stage operation, and can offer a cornucopia of different settings and responses available for more experimental sessions. By the way, if you are a Death by Audio fan, I highly recommend reading the interview Tape Op did a few months ago with its CEO, Oliver Ackermann. It gives you a very interesting look into the origins of this very DIY, hands-on sort of company that is almost the template for the boutique market today, as well as

make this setting sound good. Experimenting with different combinations of the switches yielded some interesting results. I found my favorite to be the combination of Boost and Filter, so much so that I nicknamed this tone “The Great Wall,” reminiscent of a certain expansive wall in Asia. Adding some digital delay, this tone can seemingly go on for miles, and it sounds positively colossal. Under the surface of the pedal is a myriad of DIP switches, two for each circuit, which makes this a tweaker’s heaven. The Engage circuit can be adjusted to clip clean and reduce gain, or make the pedal have an “extreme sound,” in DBA’s own words. The Boost can either let only high frequencies enter and no transistor limiting, or do a full frequency boost with an additional bass booster. The filter can be adjusted to a twin-T notch EQ setting, or an even deeper notch (the deep notch can sound thin at some settings). It can also shift the center frequency or keep it normal.

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BENDING THE RULES Having worked on Denmark Street in London’s legendary Tin Pan Alley—where The Rolling Stones, Bowie, The Small Faces, Black Sabbath and The Sex Pistols all recorded, squatted and germinated—I am no stranger to the legendary Tone Bender Professional MKII. The Professional MKII was popularized by Jeff Beck and immortalized by Mick Ronson and Jimmy Page. This tri-transistorized tone titan has been cloned to death by every boutique tweaker under the sun and I have played a few variants in my time. Being the irreverent

modernist bloke that I am, I never could see the logic in shelling out my hard earned brass for a vintage-correct MKII—complete with the unnecessarily huge enclosure—supposedly handmade by the offspring of the original builder. I don’t want to put it in a display case, mate. I want to slap it on the board and let rip. Enter 2015 and we have what is in my opinion, the most searing fat and brash MKII variant to date. Tomkat Pedals has undermined the original and it’s clones, while giving us all a ticket to a sonic splatterhouse of germanium madness. Being the clever cat that he

is, Tom Kogut has brought this fabled fuzz booster into the 21st century with a few minor, yet profoundly effective circuit tweaks. WHITE LIGHT, WHITE HEAT, WHITE NOISE I knew within seconds of clicking the true bypass switch with all the controls set at midnight that this was not grandpa’s Tone Bender fuzz box. This Bender Fuzz has way more output and tonal thickness than any of the variations on the MKII theme that I have owned in the past. Everything we love about the MKII is here—the creamy endless sustaining notes and that

64 GEAR REVIEW // TomKat Pedals Bender Fuzz

TOMKAT PEDALS BENDER FUZZ REVIEW BY FLETCHER STEWARTSTREET PRICE $150.00

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of the most addictive fuzz pedals in my collection. This is incredible value for money when you look at the uninspired overpriced MKII clones out there. I can’t stop playing that opening riff for “TV Eye”from The Stooges’s Fun House through it. This is a blinder of a Bender. CONCERNS None.

Muffer with germanium napalm Bender blasts. The Muffer’s tone control interacted beautifully with the Bender’s texture knob and all sorts of microcosmic gain structures appeared on the searing soundscape. Also, the slightly gated nature of this Bender kept extraneous noise to a shockingly low minimum—something unheard of in the fuzz-stacking realm. Speaking of stacking, there is a voltage inverter built in, so the Bender will integrate with other pedals, unlike stodgy vintage-correct versions. WHAT WE LIKE Again, I am going to gush over the awesome artwork by Liam Sparkes. I can wholly identify with the two pint-wielding blokes on the face of this great white unit. And again, the guts are a bloody work of art. This might be my favorite circuit depiction yet—the lads’ arms extended with capacitor pints raised. Genius. This is the best MKII variant I have ever heard and one

unruly, slightly chaotic harmonic intermodulation that sits atop the brew like a creamy head on a perfect pint. However, the Texture knob is one of Tomkat’s own special ingredients. It is an external bias knob for the last transistor in the circuit. As it is turned clockwise, the sound widens as low midrange frequency currents deluge into the circuit tributaries, taking the tone from picture-perfect purring to pornographically panoramic percolations.With three seemingly simple control knobs, the Bender Fuzz can be dialed in to be a creamy fuzz overdrive, stinging fuzz frequency focuser, ratty splatty dirt splurter, or full-on fuzz oscillation sensation at max gain settings. At minimum fuzz settings, the Bender yields an interesting crackly overdrive that is a great alternative to the more pedestrian “transparent” boost boxes. This flexibility ensures a role for the Bender Fuzz in all sonic scenes. It is worth a mention that I had great success slamming the Tomkat Violet

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