Review - Electro Harmonix 16 Second Delay

Firstly, this review is looking at the pedal from a looping point of view. It is a delay pedal but the reissue was brought out with looping in mind (with 4 minutes possible recording time) and superseded by the four-track 2880. There is an external footswitch (that I don't have) but the pedal itself has three stomp switches; bypass, play and record. One input, one output and one MIDI out. The MIDI out is extremely useful as it can be used to send its MIDI clock out to a drum machine/click track that the band can use to sync up their playing to the loops created. Now to the looping...

This pedal works on the looping principle of pre-allocating the bar length of your loop-to-be. Unlike the Boss RC pedals and the DL-4 where the lengths are triggered by a loop-start stomp and loop-end stomp, the 16 Second Delay requires you to preset the number of bars you wish your loop to be. The record switch is stomped once to activate recording and will automatically end your loop after the number of bars you programmed in. The length of the bars vary from 1 to 32+. This is controlled by the COARSE slider and the tempo is controlled by the FINE slider.

There are three functional modes; single loop (S), continuous (C) and short delay. The (S) mode starts playback after one loop of pre-determined bars. To record you must hit the record switch again. (C) mode starts overdub mode after one loop. This means playback starts however record is still on so you can 'continuously' add onto the original loop. Click record again to go from overdub to playback. Short delay mode is the straight delay mode with the FEEDBACK slider controlling the... feedback.

There are two modes for the control of the FINE slider; tempo (T) and pitch (P). (T) changes the tempo of the loop in playback without affecting the pitch. (P) affects the tempo AND the pitch. This mode is useful in getting a good octave up and down sound in your loop. However you must originally play in double/half speed to be applicable to your song. One of my songs has the loop at a slow tempo and using the (T) setting I slowly increase the original loop to double speed over a few minutes as the volume and layers add on top ... pretty fkn' cool. Also, I believe the external FC has an 'OCTAVE' switch that allows you to play either up and down by hitting the switch before or after the loop is played.

Modulation can be added to the loop with the use of the SPEED and DEPTH sliders. Again, the external FC has a 'SWEEP' switch that when pressed adds either chorus/flange/vibrato to your signal. The pedal alone allows modulation to your pre-recorded loop, not your guitar signal (like the OCTAVE setting). A REV/FWD switch on the pedal allows you to flip loops in reverse and overdub on them. This is also controlled by a stompswitch on the FC.

Other sliders include FEEDBACK (controls the number of repeats of loops), CLIX level (next paragraph), EFFECT OUT, DRY OUT and INPUT GAIN. These three sliders are terrific in providing very finite control in making sure your guitar tone and level are the same when bypassed or not. If you spend some time setting this up correctly you can leave it on at all times (DSP bypass) instead of hitting the looper out all the time (BYPASS stomp switch = TRUE BYPASS). The three slider setting is then transferable no matter what volume your amp is set but differs when you change amps (obviously, but thought I'd state it). The clarity of the 16 Second Delay is the best of the few loopers I have used and I think this is attributed to the control of the last three sliders.

... and the pedal has three vents - WTF?

But the main negative of the pedal is the CLIX system. The looping is counted in with a four count and then the duration of the loop has a CLIX sound to keep you in time (as well as some blinking LEDs to indicate tempo and start bar). This is the divider amongst users. 90% of people hate this count-in and time keeper and I am one of them. The original count in can be modded out and later reissues came without it, but alas mine has it. This CLIX system makes it extremely tough to play in a live setting as your drummer needs to follow this or else it falls to shit. I like playing with a drum machine so it's not so bad for me but if you are trying to set-up some ambient loop with a metronome clicking away, everyone will be disappointed. It does go away in play-back but it's still an unattractive. This is where the two-stomp system (Boss, Line6) wins over the EHX but I have found a way to do it!

If you set the pedal to (C) continuous mode, (T) tempo mode, slide up the FINE to the max 32+, FEEDBACK slider to max and CLIX LEVEL to min/zero you have a two-stomp system. Hit RECORD and the count-in starts (or not if you are fortunate), then recording begins without the metronome clicking. Disregard the flashing LEDs. When you have finished your loop, hit PLAY and your loop begins playback. If you want to OVERDUB hit RECORD on/off when you feel. This way your band can play along to the recorded loop, not a hard-to-hear metronome. This loop can be up to 4 minutes long too. I have found this the best method to combine the functionality of the DL-4 with the great sound quality of the EHX 16 Second Delay.

So in a nut-shell...

PROS
- Great sound quality
- Good control to allow your guitar tone and level gain to come through
- True BP or DSP Bypass
- Octave, modulation, reverse and speed control over loops
- MAGNA storage saves the last loop even when powered down. I use this feature to save song ideas, record them on the 16 Sec, then unplug from rig, plug into my computer and save them on hard disk. - MIDI out for drum machine use - External Foot controller to provide hands-free control.

CONS
- CLIX system (IMO)
- no undo function
- vulnerable slider system for pedal
- external footswitch utilises 100% of the pedals capability but is sold separately
- now discontinued

Depending on your usage of a looper, this may or not may be the one for you. I tend to record background sound/noise layers with it (Nels Cline style) and it works brilliantly for this. If you want to lay down multiple layers with your band members, constructing whole songs based on loops (a la BATTLES) then this may not be the one. However, with the octave/reverse/modulation capabilities, this beast can provide you with a tool that can make your loops stick out from a DL-4 crowd.

Mix Tape -- September

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A Couple of Cool Websites

Now Play It is an online subscription music tuition site with a twist. Now Play It features an original band member as your tutor as they guide you through one of their songs. Tutors include Alex James (Blur), Gaz Coombes (Supergrass), KT Tunstall and many more.

There also in-house tutors that guide you through many popular songs by showing the chords on screen whilst the film clip plays in the background. Tutorials are not restricted to guitar though. Piano, bass and drums are also covered.

Click on the logo for a link to a preview movie of what the site has to offer.

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The website Vintage Pedal is an online search tool that can help all pedalphiles track down that one highly sought after score.

By tracking the Most Watched Items on eBay (a search function not found on eBay), the most popular items, therefore the more rarer pedals, are at your disposal. These are separated in categories such as Delay, Compressor etc.

So go track down that Ludwig Phase II Synthesiser now!

The ToneQuest Report

Got told about a great online subscription mag: The ToneQuest Report. In a previous issue, there is a great interview with Neil Young's guitar tech, Larry Cragg (pictured with Young's Old Black).



Here's an excerpt...

TQR: Some might wonder why go to all that trouble
instead of just turning down the guitar volume…

Are you kidding me? No! When you turn down the volume
of your guitar you’re dumping so much of the tone and high
end to ground that it’s just a terrible thing to do. A volume
pedal does the same thing. You’ve got to leave the guitar volume
on 10 and control it from the amp. Remember that both
volume controls on the tweed Deluxe are interactive, so we
have controls on both volume pots. With the volume on the
input that the guitar is plugged into cranked, you get some
something extra special from the second input being turned
up as well, in a very special way. The idea for all this was
Neil’s, and it was up to us to figure out how to make it work.

There are some sample issues available for download and subscription info can be found here.

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Best. Pants. Ever

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Circuit Bending and Electronics Workshop

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending time doing an electronics/circuit bending workshop led by Nick from Toydeath. Toydeath are a band that play songs exclusively with toys - circuit bent toys.

I have found a whole other world out there. A world that can be very addictive where you feel the need to solder and de-solder everything.

Below is a short video of what a circuit bent instrument sounds like. Gearwire have demonstration videos on circuit bending as well and they can be found here. My story (here) can be found at The Brag website.



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Two New Fender Artist Series Guitars: J Mascis Jazzmaster and Joe Strummer Telecaster

Fender are to release two new Artist Models Series guitars this season.

The Clash front man and rhythm guitarist, the late Joe Strummer, is having is DIY '66 Black Telecaster immortalised by Fender with this re-issue. Complete with sticker and stencil customisation kit, the re-issue is a faithful recreation down to the body wear marks.

Click on the pic for a link to the Strummer Tele and specs.

J Mascis, singer/guitarist of alt/indie 90's band Dinosaur Jr., has also had his purple-sparkled Jazzmaster re-issued in the Artist Models Series having the privelege of the first Jazzmaster re-issue.

Click on the pic for a link to the Jazzmaster guitar and specs.

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Reverse Flying V??

Gibson's Guitar of the Week.
Click on the pic for the details.

Click here for a link to the previous Gibson's Guitar of the Week.

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Shin-ei Companion FY-2 Fuzz

I recently picked up a pedal I have wanted for awhile now - the Shin-ei Companion FY-2 Fuzz. The FY-2 was sold under a number of brand names, such as Jax, Apollo and Kimbara but was designed by the same company that made the Univox Super-Fuzz.



This fuzz pedal is not for the tone enthusiasts. It manages to create a sound more similar to a construction site than a musical instrument. It can definitely be categorised at the opposite end of the spectrum of the many, many boutique overdrives in the market. The fuzz can be described as a violent splutter rather than a long, sustained overdrive output.

This pedal currently populates the board of Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood and can be heard on bass lines from tracks such as "Exit Music (For A Film)" and "Myxomatosis". The pedal has also been an instrumental sound on The Jesus and Mary Chain's Psychocandy.

These Japanese fuzz pedals were discontinued in the '60s and have become a highly sought after dirt box, in part for its NPN Silicon 2SC536F transistors, and for the passive mid-scoop between the fuzz-generating circuitry and output level control. These features fuse together to give the notorious "chainsaw cutting a beehive" sound.

Here's a quick demo of the FY-2.
Clip Details: Fender Jazzmaster > FY-2 > Line 6 TonePort (1953 Small Tweed model - clean)> Ableton Live 6.
Guitar Settings: Rhythm played with volume knob turned down. Lead with volume knob maxed.
Pedal Settings: Volume set to Max, Fuzz to 2:00.



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UPDATE #2 - Electro Harmonix Pedals and Rumours

Here is a video demo of the previously posted Electro Harmonix Soul Preacher Compressor pedal. The clip has been linked from Gearwire and was recorded at the recent Summer NAMM at Austin, Texas.



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Mix Tape -- August

Here's a selection of songs for August. I'll be seeing most of these bands in a two week period. Especially can't wait for The Cure.



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UPDATE - Electro Harmonix Pedals and Rumours

One of my previous posts spoke of some rumoured EHX pedals that were circulating the guitar forums. Some of these rumours were actual fact with photos being released from last weekend's Summer NAMM in Austin, Texas. More info will become available as they are released but the biggest buzz has been generated by the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai.
It will only be a matter of weeks until some sound clips surface. I will post them as soon as they become available.

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Blonde Redhead Gig Review

Here is a review I did of the Blonde Redhead show in Sydney last Tuesday. It can be found in this week's issue of the Sydney street press, The Brag.

Blonde Redhead
The Red Sun Band
Leader Cheetah

The Metro, Sydney
24th July, 2007

It has been a long three year wait for fans after the New York trio cancelled their last maiden tour of Australia. Many of the anxious crowd were here to bask in their new tracks (of the seventh studio release, 23) and the old that fill their impressive back catalogue live for the first time.

Adelaidians Leader Cheetah and locals The Red Sun Band opened the evening. At the tail end of their Hopetoun residency, The Red Sun Band played a predominantly slow tempo set. It would have been great to hear the Sydney three-piece contrast their breathy, drone-rock with more throatier and sharper segments as they failed to hit the back wall for most of their set.

Tonight would reveal Blonde Redhead’s unique sound – a combination of spacious, ambient layers and a sharp, rhythmic, NY underground edge by fusing both their recorded and live sound through a sampler packed with backing tracks.

Drummer Amadeo Pace created a brilliant rhythm that cut through the very thick mix with his acute, sharp attack and drum pad triggers. Brother Simone Pace, constructing each of his guitar pieces, reversing and looping his many guitar lines to weave each song together before laying his many rhythmic chops over the top; and Kizu Makino screeching and wisping her sweet-nothing vocals to complete the sound that has evolved over their fourteen year career.

The set included songs "23", "Spring and by Summer Fall", "Falling Man" and set highlight "In Particular". The abrasiveness of the distorted guitars and fast tempo of this song juxtaposed 90% of the sound heard that night with a friend best describing Makino and Simone Pace as having “sinewy guitar sex”. The encore (as requested by the crowd) included "Equus" and "Melody".

This ambitious task seemed to polarise a lot of the gig-goers. Some were put off by the backing vocal recordings and the partial loss of a live experience. Others were impressed on how those same songs were transfigured in a live setting with subtle changes in between. Fortunately I was part of the latter: Blonde Redhead produce and record their songs much like 90’s band Lush and My Bloody Valentine and to see a fusion of the two disparate worlds made me forget what was in the background and appreciate the complex dimensionality of each song.

Here's a clip of Blonde Redhead playing "In Particular" off their 2000 release Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons



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Design Your Own Guitar

I stumbled across this great Japanese web site that allows you to design your own custom Fender Tele or Strat, Gibson Les Paul or SG, Jackson, Ibanez and many others.

The site is called Kisekae Virtual Guitar Modelling System. Kisekai is a Japanese word for a girl's game where they play, by mixing and exchanging doll's clothing. This site allows the control in wood, grain, colours, all hardware, pickups and much more.

Click here to be directed to the Kisekae Virtual Guitar Modelling Site.

To save your guitar, you will have to Print Screen (or F12) and paste it into Paint, Photoshop or similar software and save.

Here is how my current project '69 Thinline Tele will look like:


... and the next guitar on my wishlist - '72 Tele Deluxe.
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The New Age of Delay Effects Pedals

This month will see the launch of two new pedals that will raise the standard of stompboxes in the marketplace. As technology advances, so do the metal effects boxes that litter all music stages, rehearsal rooms and bedrooms. These new pedals are the Eventide Timefactor and TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay.

These two pedals will be the first of many new effects that aim to bring "studio-quality" sound to the live mix. Both of these units have taken off from the ever popular Line 6 DL4 and Boss DD-20 and have brought the idea into the 21st century.

_______________________________________________Eventide has established a great reputation thanks to their impressive rack units. They aim to bring that same quality to their stompboxes. Introduced at this year's Winter NAMM, the Eventide Timefactor is now available in stores in the US. Features include:

• Two independent 3-second Delays
• Studio quality sound
• Instant Program change
• Real-time control with 10 knobs, MIDI or expression pedal
• Tap Tempo and MIDI Clocksync
• 27 User Presets, unimited through MIDI
• True Analog Bypass
• Rugged cast metal construction
• 12-second Looper
• Metal footswitches for Instant Preset access
• Mono or Stereo operation
• Gutter or Line Level Inputs and Outputs

10 Stereo or Dual Mono Delay effects include; Digital Delay, Band Delay, Vintage DDL, Filter Pong, Tape Echo, MultiTap Delay, Modulated Delay, Reverse Delay, Ducked Delay and Looper.

Here is a video demo from GearWire showing some features from WNAMM:



As seen in the demo, Eventide will also be releasing the Modfactor after the launch of the delay pedal.
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TC Electronic have established their reputation in the effects realm with their many releases over the years (including the TC 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay). They too have brought the technology forward with the release of the ND-1 Nova Delay. The Nova Delay was previewed at the expo Musikmesse Frankfurt, Germany in March this year.

The ND-1 also boasts "uncompromised studio quality digital effects in a compact floor-based design". Although not as large as the Timefactor, the pedal contains many features for every delay enthusiast. These include:

• 6 studio quality digital delay types
• Two switchable settings: manual and preset
• 9 user programmable presets
• Up to 2290 ms delay time
• Audio Tapping™ – audio-generated tap tempo
• Modulated delay
• Delay spillover

The 6 different delay types are; Delay line, Dynamic, Reverse, Ping-pong, Pan, Slap-back, with an option of modulation (light, medium and heavy) able to be applied to all settings. Also, each of these types can be modified with a delay style – a unique feature of ND-1 Nova Delay that allows you to mix and match your delay type and style infinitely.

Click here for a link to a video demo of the ND-1 from Musikmesse:

The NR-1 Nova Reverb is also highly anticipated as it is an effect pedal whose quality and innovation has been neglected by many of the big pedal designers.

Updates will follow once some sound clips and reviews become available.

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... kicking, squealing Gucci little piggy...

It has been ten years since OK Computer by Radiohead was released worldwide. I can't believe it was ten years ago. I remember I was 16 when my cousin played this to me for the first time.

Stereogum have celebrated the anniversary by compiling OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer. This song-by-song cover collection features a number of current indie artists including The Decemberists, Cold War Kids, Doveman and others. It sounded like quite an interesting project with each band offering their own view on the song and why they chose to cover it.

Rival music blog Pitchfork even gave it a thumbs-up.

A lot of these songs hold something special to kids of my generation but this compilation doesn't aim to better the originals. These songs are a tribute to the influence and importance this record had to these artists. If you (as the listener) can accept that point, the collection is very enjoyable.

The MP3s are available for download here (free).

Here is one of the songs. The Twilight Sad doing "Climbing Up The Walls".


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Speaking of which, the Oxford quintet have been spotted in NYC where it is said they are mixing the highly anticipated LP7. On popular site Radiohead At Ease, a recent thread details the poster's night in New York, hanging with Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood and them divulging their reason for being in the Big Apple. The seventh full length may EVENTUALLY be released this year.

Dead Air Space is the band's blog of studio proceedings including a cryptic message from Thom Yorke earlier this month:

"things are quiet here right now.

we are unable to explain.

nothing can be revealed.

we have not disappeared.

merely become invisible.

for a short time. we may be hiding in the woods".

Plank's blog may be of interest to guitar geeks. Plank is the guitar tech to Radiohead and an infamous character. His blog also contains handy guitar tech tips.


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New Electro Harmonix Pedals and Rumours

Electro Harmonix have released three new pedals in the XO and Nano line. This line has seen old designs revisited with some of their negatives addressed; the addition of a 2.1mm DC input rendering the EHX adapter obsolete, and drastically reducing the footprint of the pedal's chassis. Gone are the huge Pulsars and Big Muffs. These pedals bring the same quality designs (with true-bypass) for a fraction of the size.

NANO SOUL PREACHER
"Three selectable attacks coupled with silky, long sustains blend in perfect harmony..."

The newcomer on the Nano line is the reissued Soul Preacher - a compressor originally released in the 70s. The original pedal had a Gain and Threshold knob with a Treble switch useful for boosts. The new Nano Soul Preacher has one knob to control the Volume and one for Sustain. The treble switch has been replaced with a three-way switch to control the Attack of the compression - either fast, medium or slow.

XO GERMANIUM OD
"Classic 60's Germanium transistor overdrive and more"

A fuzz pedal fueled by the popular Germanium transistors from the early 'Rock and Roll' era. A nod to the vintage fuzz stompboxes of the 60s with an EHX unique twist. Three knobs on the pedal control the Gain, Bias (fine tonal adjustment) and Volts. The Volts knob will aim to replicate the sound of a dying battery or to find that sweet spot found when a battery's voltage dips. All this control to achieve the famous "torn speaker" sound. Think of the Stones', Satisfaction.

XO #1 ECHO
"...analog flavoured decay"

A lot of the pedal modifiers, like Keeley and Analogman, offer mods to the current digital delay pedals to provide an analog-like tone to the repeats. Even multi-preset delays like the Boss DD-20 and Line 6 DL4 offer this desired sound as a setting. Here's a new digital delay that boasts two seconds of decay. A knob to control wet/dry signal Blend, Delay Time and Feedback (number of repeats). If this pedal can give a warm self-oscillation, it will intrigue many of the 'bucket brigade' fans and delay lovers alike.

XO OCTAVE MULTIPLEXER
"create effects ranging from a clear double note in harmony sound to subtle heavily undertoned notes"

The Octave Multiplexer works by generating deep, phat bass tones one octave below the notes you play into it. However this reissue two separate smoothing filters (high and bass), and a sub-octave on/off switch, enable you to tailor your sub-octave signal to the exact bass sound you desire.

...AND RUMOURS

There are a number of rumours around as to what classic EHX pedal is next in line to be offered the Nano/XO reissue. Here are a few that are circulating the forums. Please take these with a grain of salt as a few of these have been around for awhile, but exciting if just one of these comes to fruition...

XO Micro POG
A trim down of the popular POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator). Three Knobs said to control Dry Volume, Octave Up Volume and Sub-Octave Volume.

Holy Stain
A multi-effect pedal that will do reverb, tremolo, pitch shift and distortion in any combination.

Knockout
Pick-up emulator. Converts Gibson to Strat, or Strat to Telecaster.

Stereo Memory Man
A digital emulation to provide reverse echo, 30 sec looping with ability to overdub different delay settings or reverse(loop can play back the last 7 seconds reverse), tap tempo delay and tape echo filter (3 seconds, high and low pass filter).

Holy Grail Plus
The popular reverb pedal to be downsized. Three-way switch to select reverb settings. Now with Room reverb.

Stereo Electric Mistress
A reissue of the popular flange/chorus pedal.

If any of these rumours become fact, I will create a similar update. Hopefully with some sound clips too.

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imeem

Came across a cool media sharing website called imeem (Thanks J!).

It allows free upload of photos, music and video to be shared amongst friends or the online community.

I'm using it to host any mp3's on the blog and will also keep an updated Mix Tape playlist of some tracks that I have been listening to of late. imeem is a great way to find new music by searching through the thousands of playlists on offer.

Here's a Mix Tape for you.



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I'm Getting a RAT Today!

Picked up a Vodka Mods RAT off The Gear Page.

I wanted a versatile distortion that I could stack on others to give a big "wall of sound" - shoegaze style.

Vintage '80s RATs go for a bit on eBay and their sound is highly sought after, due in part to the LM308 Op Amp chip. The Vodka Mod RAT has a socketed NE5534AP chip which is "supposedly" the same tone with no noise issues. I'll have to wait to play it to judge that. But even if it fails to impress, the socketed chip can be replaced by an NOS LM308 chip easily found on eBay for under $10. But with all of the positive reviews I think it will be a keeper.

The mod consists of the usual cap and resistor changes to improve the bass response and the reactiveness of the Filter knob. But the reason I chose this mod over the Keeley or MohoMods RAT was the presence of two clipping control switches.

One switch selects between "heavy full-on distortion" and "distinct warm overdrive". The second switch is a three-way switch involving Ge/Si/Vodka Mod exclusive clipping diode. The diverse sounds that this pedal can get was the deciding factor for me. I like a box (especially a dirt one) that is not a one-trick pony.

All of this PLUS true bypass and a white LED.

Below is an mp3 of the Vodka Mods RAT and its many distortion and overdrive faces.



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First Post

I enjoy spending hours a day reading about all things new in Guitarland. If it's a new pedal, six-stringer, amp or even a guitar strap I end up reading many links, forums and pages - but no blog. So this is a collection of news and pictures about things that I have, I want or have seen that would interest other geeks out there.

I also have the privilege of seeing a lot of live music and listening to a lot of new music. So this will double as a secondary music blog and I'm sure other things will creep on here as well.

To kick things off, here is one of my favourite YouTube's of Tom Waits singing "Make It Rain" on Letterman a while back. The conviction in Wait's delivery and the vibrato on Judah Bauer's Fender Tweed makes this one of the best performances on Letterman.



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