Pretty Years settings/notes/hax

[Tall Walls]

Three years with no shared settings is long enough. I'm kind of crazy about this one, a trombone with lots of spit. The most trombone-ish tones are in the middle range of the guitar--go lower and the spit takes over, go too high and it loses that brass flavor.



Here's a little demonstration, where I don't always stick to believable trombone phrasing, but it still gets the point across I think:

https://soundcloud.com/charles-b-gillett/pretty-years-trombone/s-aHiqDQnGFyh

(Edit: updated Soundcloud link)

[goroth]

track not found

I do like me some trombone tones.

[Tall Walls]

track not found

I do like me some trombone tones.

Yeah, it looks like I neglected the little code at the end that makes private tracks accessible. I've updated the link in my original post, but here it is again:

https://soundcloud.com/charles-b-gillett/pretty-years-trombone/s-aHiqDQnGFyh

Plus a direct mp3 link for good measure:

http://brownrainbow.com/other/prettyyears-trombone.mp3

I did some experiments, tweaking this and that knob, and it's easy to lose the tromboniness. The key element is the FM knob, where there's a very narrow range where it gets that spitty sound. And bringing up either gain knob brought out too much guitarishness. And I thought playing with fingers instead of a pick might work, but it seems like it needs the attack from a pick.

I have a fairly high amount of possession-anxiety about the Pretty Years, since it does so many things that no other pedal does and getting another one would be prohibitively expensive.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Normally when people describe fuzzes as sounding like brass I'm like yeah right. But in that clip there are times when it really works!

You're making me miss mine a bit haha

[Tall Walls]

Thanks! I've been trying out different guitars with this setting, with mixed results. It doesn't help that my guitars are all cheap/oddball. The guitar in the clip is a Peavey Generation EXP two-humbucker tele-style with a bridge piezo (using the bridge pickup and a tiny touch of piezo, picking near the pickup). I tried it with my Peavey T-25 and couldn't really get the trombone vibe--close, sometimes, but never really there. I tried my Squier Bass VI and the situation seemed dire, but finally I got there by using just the middle pickup, with the tone rolled almost all the way back, fretting around the 12th fret on the 3rd and 4th strings, and playing with my fingers--with a pick it just sounded like any other fuzz. The FM knob had to be turned down a little as well.

[goroth]

That was amazingly brass like! Well done!

[Schlatte]

Or you could... you know... just play trombone?

[coldbrightsunlight]

play trombone.... through the trombone fuzz?!

[Tall Walls]

I have a trumpet and a baritone, but they sound less like a trombone than this setting. Really, I only focused on this sound because it's one of those things that fuzz pedal makers like to claim. Brian could package up this setting by itself and sell it for $400 and no one would blink an eye.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I have always found the trombone thing very silly. I kinda get it but like, nobody actually wants to pretend they're a trombone.


Except you, and I appreciate you for it.

[goroth]

And me.

I love that tone and I think it sounds really good for solos in certain contexts.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Oh it's a good tone. The trombtone can be GOOD guitar sounds. It's just like, only mildly trombonerous

[goroth]

We've talked about this before regarding synths - I can express myself exactly how I want on a guitar. So if I want a monophonic synth sound I'm going to go on a crazy pedal search to get me as close as I can. Same thing with brassy tones of any sort. I'm never going to be able to play any wind instrument as well as I can get my way around a guitar. So if I can find a woody, reedy or brassy fuzz I'm all in.

With fuzz it's all about the attack for me - the rest of the timbre is less important. But getting that breathiness in the attack without losing sustain, that's hard, and super cool when you can find a pedal that does it.

[coldbrightsunlight]

[goroth]

Hope that didn't come off snarky - I meant it just as an explanation as to why I think chasing those sort of tones is interesting/legit. If you really want a synth or trombone or whatever then get one, for sure.