Gear thread

[Eight Bit Alien]

Right hand side of my desktop

[Warpsmasher]

I seem to have caught the pedal bug again...though this time around I'm going in with plenty of experience and knowledge of what's good and what to avoid. It has been pretty gratifying knowing that the choices I've been making are good ones.
There is a new Chinese pedal explosion happening now in 2021 as well. Gone are the days of Danelectro, Digitech and DOD dominating the $25-$50 market. Mooer is like the new Boss, at least in China. They clone the fuck out of everything already, and then the PCBs get used by any number of new popup companies, which are coming pretty steadily. It's kind of ridiculous at this point, but there are some amazing gems to be had out of it for sure. Mosky, for example, seems to be pretty fond of the Wampler circuits, and offers handwired clones of the Pinnacle and Triple Wreck , as well as an OCD. Those are under $60 brand new. They also have a mini klon, which might as well be a tumnus, for $22. Wampler is the shit. I had a Triple Wreck once, that thing was heavy as fuck, just an amazing distortion. I might get a Dracarys just to see where the fuck he took it from there.

So I got tired of only having a Death Metal and a Grunge as spare distortions for jams at my place with friends, that's what started it this time. Well, that and I had just recently got a Digitech Freqout, which is super rad too...so anyway, I started with a Joyo Uzi, which is a $49 clone of the $200 Friedman BE-OD, in a cool enclosure with fancy lights. It was a nice strong hit of the good stuff... much better than expected...so it just got me wanting to repeat the satisfaction. I was just trying to be sensible about distortion and go with an affordable brand that sounds good...really, that's it. So next day I'm ordering a Hotone Djent...this pedal is going to be the Death Metal of its time, obviously, and for pretty much all the same reasons. I just wanted to have one, and now I do. It sounds awesome as you might expect when fed suboctaves and bassy synth signals. Also looks cool because it's SO tiny. So now it's time to check some resources on these clone wars:

Mooer clone chart (not complete but decent):


If you get familar with the knob/switch layouts and functions for each Mooer you're interested in, there are other newer brands that use the same PCBs and make the same pedals for even less, with different names/enclosures/knobs/colors etc. From that selection process I got a Sonicake Shark, which is the exact same thing as the Mooer Solo, for 16 bucks on ebay. It's ridiculous. That's a fucking Suhr Riot circuit. Of course my ass is going full junkie at this point. Onward to craigslist...where I found a Tomsline G-Fuzz, which is a very nicely repackaged Mooer Grey Faze, which is a fucking original spec Arbiter Fuzzface. Does the cool splatty fuzzfactory noise shit when you slam it with a boost. This is the kind of stuff that is saturating the $25-$50 market now, and it's way better than the old shit.

Caline/Joyo/Donner/Nux:


Behringer etc: http://www.thecavanproject.com/101-effect-pedal-clones/

More on this as it develops I guess...I got some footswitch caps, they really spice up the pedals aesthetically, so much so that some now look naked without 'em. I need a reverb, but don't really want to settle for anything less than an Eventide Space. Mooer has some new stuff that is supposedly based on Strymon algorithms so that might be worth a try.

[cxwx]

There’s so much ridiculous cheap stuff on Amazon now pedal wise. I got a looper which is basically the same thing as TC’s “ditto looper” for $36. That’s why Bezo’s owns all our asses.

[Warpsmasher]

Yeah I guess I need a looper too. I have couple in eurorack, but for that cheap I might as well start using a pedal.

[cxwx]

Yeah I guess I need a looper too. I have couple in eurorack, but for that cheap I might as well start using a pedal.

I just ordered a mini envelope filter for like $28. Fuck you Bezos; I hope Kang and Kodos shove the Hubble telescope up your ass.

[Eight Bit Alien]

HAHAHAH

[Eight Bit Alien]

I mean why not?! Gonna check out a review of that shit as soon as I get the chance today.
Id really like to know what's inside that thing and how exactly it came to be. Can we assume it's a clone of something obvious, or is that too ambitions? Could just be a rebrand of something super generic, I have no idea what the pedal scene is like even in normal cases.

I've definitely got a bit of Amazon Basics copper cable in my signal network over here... got me the same way they always get me, need another 3 bucks for free shipping or whatever, and oh look Amazon Basics sells a 2 foot guitar cable... alright fuck it.

[godofdeadlydeath]

I got a Behringer compressor/sustainer a few weeks back, haven't played too much with it but did love what it does to my clean sounds.

[cxwx]

I mean why not?! Gonna check out a review of that shit as soon as I get the chance today.
Id really like to know what's inside that thing and how exactly it came to be. Can we assume it's a clone of something obvious, or is that too ambitions? Could just be a rebrand of something super generic, I have no idea what the pedal scene is like even in normal cases.

I've definitely got a bit of Amazon Basics copper cable in my signal network over here... got me the same way they always get me, need another 3 bucks for free shipping or whatever, and oh look Amazon Basics sells a 2 foot guitar cable... alright fuck it.

It’s not just “Amazon basics” there’s dozens of these no name brands that I assume are all sourced from the same warehouse in these mini pedal housings.

This guy opened the Amazon basics over drive and it it had a NUX circuit board inside skip to around 14:45

[Warpsmasher]

hah, this one has a link to a shirt

I have no idea what the pedal scene is like even in normal cases.

There are a few docs you could watch that might learn you up on some history and interesting tidbits, but I don't think any of them really can capture the experience. It can be just like comics, sports, or any other thing that has a fanboy following; keeping up on most talented creators/players, hunting shit down, the waiting and fiending, sudden lucky scores, flipping on ebay and reverb, all that. And then there's what you actually do with them, which is a whole disneyland/orgy unto itself. You're into synths and stuff so you already know, basically. It's toys toys toys. It can be your new crack rock if you're looking for one, so beware. I'm taking advantage of these clone wars right now to pad my collection with some old classics. I just ordered two more, a Mosky D250X (aka Dod 250) and a Tomsline Black Teeth (Rat). Most of the Rat clones out now only have a two way switch to go from vintage to turbo:

$19.80

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174847395129?s ... 1438.l2649

$32.00

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303643959401?s ... 1438.l2649

I'm pretty pleased with both brands so far. I went with option B because it's got the 3 way switch vs. 2 way on the Mosky. Big fucking spender down here in the cheapo bin, haha.

I do want some more expensive and crazy pedals again at some point. I miss having the eventide boxes, they are absolutely next level, like little supersynths, all of them.

Also this thing...

[cxwx]

Showed up today. “EX” or “Eno music company” whoever the fuck that is. It comes with a nice embroidered cloth bag that is probably worth more than the pedal itself. They even throw in two big adhesive pads for a pedal board. It works well enough, you really need the sensitivity and peak all the way up. I think I would have preferred more controls like the Donner one has. It’s interesting that it actually has a rising up or down switch so you can start in the treble position, although that usually just causes a lot of harsh sounds and feed back, cool for a noise freak out. Combined with a fast delay setting you can get the sound of Andreas Kisser’s more fucked up noisy leads. I got some evil sounding stuff combined with my $5 plastic Dan electro flanger.

[godofdeadlydeath]

I wish I had kept my DOD Corrosion pedal from back in the day. The construction was garbage and the jacks all came loose and I junked it in 2000 probably, but now I have seen that they're incredibly rare and sought-after, probably because to my knowledge they were limited release and only available in certain retailers (Daddy's Junky Music had them exclusively around here). That thing took my Peavey Rage 158 15 watt practice amp and made it sound fucking massive. I ended up getting a DOD Grunge to replace it before getting my first Crate 100 w half stack with built-in effects, and that was basically the last time I used any pedals except my Crybaby.

Getting rid of the Crate half stack late last year and downsizing to a more direct setup made me really focus in on my playing and my tone, and I realize how much I missed out on for about 15 years of playing through a subpar half stack just to get volume and because it had basic shit built in. This place has really reignited my love for experimenting with sounds and finding tones I love.

I have a Hondo acoustic that's a Martin copy, inherited it from my wife's grandfather when he passed about 10 years ago. Thing is in great condition but the action was always unbearably high beyond the 7th or 8th fret. Yesterday I adjusted the truss rod a little and I can already feel and see some difference. I'm going to give it another day or so to let the wood settle before I try to adjust again but the last year has been eye-opening in terms of DIY adjustments to guitars and I'm really enjoying it.

I also installed a Hot Rails in the bridge of my strat about a month ago, first time ever replacing a pickup, and I can't wait to do that to some of my other guitars. I'm looking at some Duncan JBs for my Tele and Epiphone Gothic Les Paul.

[Warpsmasher]

Someone on my local craigslist is selling a Corrosion for $400. There's also a Klon going for $5500.

So I accidentally

a few days ago. I have a thing for octaves. The screams...

Today was a pretty great craigs day. Made two super smooth purchases in one trip. Phoenix traffic is a fucking breeze, even with construction bringing it down to one lane. People who complain about it have probably never driven around in another big city.
First I got an EHX Cock Fight Plus, then drove on a bit further to get this Peavey Rockmaster for one of my jammin buddies:


Found it last night, scored this morning. $75, a fucking steal. It's his first guitar, great little lightweight jammer. I love the single pickup and the statements it silently makes.

Cock Fight destroys the Crybaby, as expected. The sweet spots for cocking it in talk mode are cool. Good fuzz circuit too, pretty damn versatile. It gets so gatey and choked out with the bias off, I love it.

[cxwx]

I think the corrosion is the same circuit as the “metal X” and a third DOD box I forget the name of. It’s ridiculous how much those Jason Lamb designed boxes go for on the collector scum market, like the buzz box and meatbox. They were considered stupid junk at the time.

[cxwx]

https://web.archive.org/web/20191025052 ... xlist.html

[Warpsmasher]

Gave my old Digitech Grunge pedal to my friend I got the guitar for, along with an old dano wallwart, some cables and picks. Finished my crazy distortion replenishment run with a real Triple Wreck, and also got a Hotone nano amp for half off on ebay ("Vulcan Five-O", a 5150 type).
Triple Wreck is my second regreted selling/replaced pedal, after my beloved Soundblox Pro Multiwave. Next up on that list are some Eventides.

I already have a Foxx Tone Machine/Fulltone Ultimate Octave clone (HBE UFO), so I don't need this, but it's probably my favorite mini I've seen so far:

[cxwx]

I already have a Foxx Tone Machine/Fulltone Ultimate Octave clone (HBE UFO), so I don't need this, but it's probably my favorite mini I've seen so far:

This is allegedly a FTM clone as well. They used to be dirt cheap but appear to be getting more expensive.

[Warpsmasher]

The guy who started Foxx pedals owns Danelectro, so I guess those were the sort of official version for a while...this is the current official FTM: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... fuzz-pedal

[cxwx]

These are great cheap fuzz IMO. They are on the nasty Fuzz Face side of things, not at all a big muff. I got a used one under $40.

[Warpsmasher]

Nice, I like the chorus pedals from that new TC line a lot too, and the Eyemaster (dimed HM-2 into Peavey Bandit, haha). All basically one trick ponies, but they do it just right, which is the point of a lot of pedals anyway.

[cxwx]

[Warpsmasher]

Hah, leave it to this guy to make Metal Zones cool...

Apparently the (totally obvious) secret is to put it in the loop with a gate, so basically it was always meant to be a preamp only.
Front of the amp=noobmistake=internet reputation gone awry.
Maybe now people will lay off the Metal Muff too? I don't know, recently I've come to the conclusion that any dirt pedal sounding like shit is user error, and all it takes is putting it through the right cab, the right way.


Steampunky pedals are hipster as fuck, but this is the only can of bees I'm interested in right now:



More cheap thrillz I've acquired recently:
Hotone Freeze B nano amp, to compliment the Vulcan Five-O. Together the pair of them make a nice apartment stereo micro rig.
No cabs for 'em yet, and no hurry for that really. I got a second cab sim pedal (Tom'sline Shaper, a Tech 21/AMT style thingy) to compliment the Mooer Radar, which is IMO the best bang for the buck in IR loader pedals/devices.
Now I'm using my Digitech (RP360) multi-fx as an aby/splitter with built in everything, and trying some cool new tricks. The EVH dual amp/stereo sound is all the rage right now (as evidenced by that new Eventide Micropitch delay), and I've been finding lots of cool variations and tweaks for that, using the digitech's ridiculously thick stereo multichorus, pingpong delay, vibropan, etc, all in front of the two micro rigs.
An extra cab sim between two drive stages is turning out to be some pretty special shiot too, kind of like a cocked wah type of filter/boost, but with lots of different notch ranges, affecting pick attack, dynamics, headroom and everything. If you have a way to try it, it's fucking rad.
Of course these little faux rigs are not going to be complete without their own reverb tanks, so I also got a Mosky Spring Reverb, which is quite obviously a Malekko Omicron rip, fuck it man it was 18 bucks. I'm not buying shit that cheap for resell value, it is for keeps/til it breaks. For the other one, well, I was once an Eventide Space owner, so I am gonna be needing something a little on the fancy side. Don't look Jame.

[godofdeadlydeath]

I'm going to upgrade the pickups in my Fender Blacktop HH Telecaster. I think I'm gonna go with the Duncan JB/Jazz set for the Bridge/Neck. I was originally going to just do the nickel-cover JB in the bridge, but now I think I'm gonna just go with the black set for both (because it's $50 cheaper than the nickel-covered set), and move the nickel-covered Fender pickups into my Epiphone Les Paul, whose stock pickups are worse than the Tele stock PUs which are pretty solid. And I've added some chrome-style metallic cosmetic updates to the Epiphone Gothic LP so those pickups will look nice in it. My birthday is a month from today so that Duncan set is probably what I'll get myself as a gift.

I was eyeing a Behringer Noise Suppressor pedal because my Compressor was giving me a lot of extra static, then I realized it was my shitty cable causing the noise so that saved me $30 on a pedal I don't really need. I might get a delay or chorus of some kind instead. Or that Auto Wah someone posted above, that looks pretty sweet.

[cxwx]

[godofdeadlydeath]

Oh, believe me. I know it's a horrible company and that's why their shit is so cheap.