Friday, November 16, 2007

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 It is a delay pedal but the reissue was brought out with looping in mind (with 4 minutes possible recording time) and superseded by the four-track 2880.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.


Friday, September 14, 2007

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!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

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.

C.

Best. Pants. Ever


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Friday, August 24, 2007

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.



C.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

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.




C.

Friday, August 10, 2007

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.

C.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

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.



C.

Friday, August 3, 2007

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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