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rustywire wrote:Step 1: eliminate sonic overlap. This typically means pushing the limits of what you wind up keeping, and developing new techniques.
I've never had the FUZZGOD or Hyper Fuzz...but from my understanding...isn't there considerable overlap between them?

Which do you use the most, and where in the signal chain? Which one can cover the most ground of the other's sounds...and sounds better/does more to your preference?

Already decided on sacrifising the FGII actually, but not really cause of the overlap with the FZ-2. The FGII is a velcro/osscillation silicon fuzz, the FZ-2 is like scrambly superfuzz on steroids.

As far as dirt goes, I rely on my amp's distortion channel a lot. I tried replacing the FZ-2 a couple of times the last decade or so, thinking there's got to be a more boutique alternative that does the same thing, only maybe better. But the FZ-2 isn't going anywhere.

There's more overlap between the mastotron and the Fuzz God II, but neither are really working for me.

The Hotcake sounds great with the right settings and the right amp. For what I use it, for how I use it...it's perfect. But if there's somekind of clone out there with top jacks and an okay price tag, I'm all ears. I could easily get by with just one other fuzz pedal, and though I'm not sure yet how I want it to sound, I am pretty sure I'll love it if it's a bit different from the FZ-2, has tons of gain, and doesn't lack low or dissapear in a mix like your typica big muff type circuit. So my amp's dirt channel, a distortion pedal, and two fuzz pedals...Should give me all the combinations and flavores I want and really use from time to time, and not a lot more.

braaandooon wrote:Not sure how much you value an oscillating delay but could probably replace your es2 and chorus with a ibanez dml 10/20. Top mount jacks, and the added ability of having a decent flanger and all the other weird shit they can do. Dml 10 for the win if you dig massive sweep in your modulation.

The ES-2 isn't small, but it has top mount jacks, and it's just all kinds of awesome, especially for the money. The Ibanez DML 10 was actually on my watch list when I was shopping for a digital delay, but I couldn't find a good deal at the time. And I really wanted an analog dealy with a long delay time and osscilation options. The only pedal I could find that does all that for unde $150 was the ES-2. And as far as digital delays go, the DL8 is impo hard to beat for a versatile all-in one stereo delay that does all sorts of high quality delays/reverse/modulation/looping...

weed_killer wrote:

lordgalvar wrote:

frigid midget wrote:
Mtl. asm Positive: Had no idea of it's existance. Too bad it lacks the tone control. From what I heard the vintage 2-knob hotcakes are either too dark are too shrill, thanks to the toggle switch. Also: I can't seem to find out for sure wether the jacks are indeed top mounted or not :s
They look nice,and the price is okay too I guess. Are they even still available though?

I ordered mine with the CT5, but I am still on the waiting list. They were still around in Feb.

I dunno if Scott's still making more. I got one when he first listed them, and I thought it was really good. Maybe a bit dark but definitely not shrill. The jacks are top-mounted.

I guess I could email him. And maybe doing a switch>pot mod isn't too hard, right?

vidret wrote:

braaandooon wrote:Not sure how much you value an oscillating delay but could probably replace your es2 and chorus with a ibanez dml 10/20. Top mount jacks, and the added ability of having a decent flanger and all the other weird shit they can do. Dml 10 for the win if you dig massive sweep in your modulation.

sure it can do delay and flanging but in no way does it replace the hardwire's different modes and the oscillation/sound of the es-2 IF that is what he uses them for. the dml's sound harsher compared to the es-2 and the don't have the modes(reverse etc)/looping of the dl-8

if all you want is a simple delay sound then just move down to a simple delay. actually no, fuck it. bitquest, bitquest, bitquest, bitquest, bitquest. there. top mounted, delay/flanging that also does chorus/dirt.

Yeah that's kinda what I like about the DL8/ES2 combo. They compliment each other perfectly, and give me all the delays I want, for not too much money or real estate.

Didn't really intend the dml as a dl-8 replacement, just noticed the es2 taking up some real estate.

Transitioned from a pro to a mini and with it went my big box ehx's, a dml20 filled my modulation/simple delay needs as my old polychorus went bye bye. But like most around here, an oscillating delay is of mucho use and currently using a dd2 for that.

frigid midget wrote:

I'll keep the case/board around in case (pun not int.) I want to go big again, but even though I replaced a slightly smaller board with this one not too long ago, I kinda found out that I'm not putting the extra pedals to good use. Dismanteled the board, but threw everything on again for a quick pic. Here's what I wanna go to:

-Bye bye Phaser. At least untill I find something similar with a more present, bigger deeper 'swoosh'. But I could get by phaser less and live happily ever after.
-Replace the Mastotron and Fuzz God II with one gnarly sick fuzz that'll do both hairy gritty single notes as well as chords. Something with lots of low end, not too much fizz, and it has to cut through a loud mix like it's nobody's business.
-I'm digging the Afterneath, and the delay combo too. Though if anyone knows of a version of the DL-8 that has top mounted jacks, or at least a smaller footprint, I'd like to hear about it.
-Pretty obvious and not really relevant, but in order to get away with a super convenient small board, I'd move the a/b box and channel switcher offboard.
-If I should run out of space on the new tiny board: Anything out there like the CE-2 that has top mounted jacks? Hotcake: Same question.

Anyone got any tips, for any/all of these 3rd world problems?

i down-sized my board from a PT-Pro to a PT2 and now its a PT Mini. i started out wanting a giant board with all the pedals from niche builders and the unique graphics but realised that it just had too many drawbacks for my liking. bulky, heavy, hard to use. great if im experimenting alone in my room for hours but to write songs and play with people in a practical and interesting way, not so much. so i set out to strip it down and make it as minimal as possible, but increasing the power and versatility of the board. so that meant embracing MIDI, using presets, tap tempo, and expression control, all of which really open up the possibility of effects, and doing all this with as few pedals as possible. essentially: fewer pedals, more options. with presets and exp control, i can make and combine sounds in ways that single pedals just could not produce without a lot of tweaking on the fly (not practical). i was prepared to sacrifice sound quality to some extent but to be honest, the difference in sound is none to negligible (to my ears) and considering the benefits, it was an obvious choice for me.

- first thing i did was invest in a H9. this solved alot of space and usability issues. the H9 kicked off my tuner, delay, looper, and a ton of modulation pedals. all in one box now. presets and midi. top jacks. stereo outs. exp control.
- i often combine 2 modulation effects (phase and trem, filter and ring mod, etc) so i needed a 2nd modulation pedal other than the h9. went with the mobius. its big but the range of sounds, and the dept in which each one can be tweaked outweighed the real estate it ate up. also, i can place it before/after the h9 easily with its pre/post mode. presets and midi. top jacks. stereo outs. exp control. using presets i can combine, multiple modulation effects in both the H9 and the mobius, into a single stomp. say, phaser+trem+filter+bit crusher. 1 stomp. and control it via exp pedal.
- 1st delay pedal which also acts as another looper: el cap. h9 is the 2nd delay pedal.
- invested in a disaster area MIDI controller. these things are great and really make me want to create presets.
- 1 or 2 dirt pedals with options. went with a VST-modded Twosome. it has more sounds than i need. i know i wanted some kind of muff with a filter option (musket side sorted that) and something more scratchy (fix'd side). the boost options on the fix'd is a good bonus. 2nd dirt is an Elements which also doubles as an EQ.

i think maybe these digital pedals are considered by some as boring tgp fodder and maybe not as niche or "cool" but i just want shit that doest what i need it to do. i'm still on the lookout for ways to lean it down even further and make the board more powerful at the same time.

For some guys it works.
I tried the Mobius of a friend of mine quite extensively for a week or so and it really didn't do anything I wanted nor could I tweak it to do what I wanted plus I really hate the sound of Eventide too (buddy of mine has an Eclipse which I think is pure garbage) so for me it doesn't work.

I wouldn't get the Montreal Assembly Hot Cake clone, I tried it and thought it sounded weak, I love most of Scott's other pedals I tried but to be honest that one was very meh in my opinion.

Tristan wrote:For some guys it works.
I tried the Mobius of a friend of mine quite extensively for a week or so and it really didn't do anything I wanted nor could I tweak it to do what I wanted plus I really hate the sound of Eventide too (buddy of mine has an Eclipse which I think is pure garbage) so for me it doesn't work.

I wouldn't get the Montreal Assembly Hot Cake clone, I tried it and thought it sounded weak, I love most of Scott's other pedals I tried but to be honest that one was very meh in my opinion.

'Weak', as in not quite like a hotcake, or are just not into hotcakes? Anyway, I mailed Scott, and he responded right away. They're available, but replacing the mid scoop toggle switch with a tone pot isnt an option.

Anyone else have or tried a Positive and agree with the 'very meh' sentiment?

tjlong wrote:
i down-sized my board from a PT-Pro to a PT2 and now its a PT Mini. i started out wanting a giant board with all the pedals from niche builders and the unique graphics but realised that it just had too many drawbacks for my liking. bulky, heavy, hard to use. great if im experimenting alone in my room for hours but to write songs and play with people in a practical and interesting way, not so much. so i set out to strip it down and make it as minimal as possible, but increasing the power and versatility of the board. so that meant embracing MIDI, using presets, tap tempo, and expression control, all of which really open up the possibility of effects, and doing all this with as few pedals as possible. essentially: fewer pedals, more options. with presets and exp control, i can make and combine sounds in ways that single pedals just could not produce without a lot of tweaking on the fly (not practical). i was prepared to sacrifice sound quality to some extent but to be honest, the difference in sound is none to negligible (to my ears) and considering the benefits, it was an obvious choice for me.

- first thing i did was invest in a H9. this solved alot of space and usability issues. the H9 kicked off my tuner, delay, looper, and a ton of modulation pedals. all in one box now. presets and midi. top jacks. stereo outs. exp control.
- i often combine 2 modulation effects (phase and trem, filter and ring mod, etc) so i needed a 2nd modulation pedal other than the h9. went with the mobius. its big but the range of sounds, and the dept in which each one can be tweaked outweighed the real estate it ate up. also, i can place it before/after the h9 easily with its pre/post mode. presets and midi. top jacks. stereo outs. exp control. using presets i can combine, multiple modulation effects in both the H9 and the mobius, into a single stomp. say, phaser+trem+filter+bit crusher. 1 stomp. and control it via exp pedal.
- 1st delay pedal which also acts as another looper: el cap. h9 is the 2nd delay pedal.
- invested in a disaster area MIDI controller. these things are great and really make me want to create presets.
- 1 or 2 dirt pedals with options. went with a VST-modded Twosome. it has more sounds than i need. i know i wanted some kind of muff with a filter option (musket side sorted that) and something more scratchy (fix'd side). the boost options on the fix'd is a good bonus. 2nd dirt is an Elements which also doubles as an EQ.

i think maybe these digital pedals are considered by some as boring tgp fodder and maybe not as niche or "cool" but i just want shit that doest what i need it to do. i'm still on the lookout for ways to lean it down even further and make the board more powerful at the same time.

I looked into the H9, probably for the exact same reasons. For my limited modulation needs, one multi thing would be more than good enough to do all the non fuzz/verb/delay stuff, and it'd take up less space than two boss size peds. But I decided not to go that route after all, cause of the marketing scheme, and heavy price tag.

I also checked out pedals like the Twosome or Hoof Reaper, but since I wanna hold on to the hotcake (or something similar) and the fz-2, a big dual fuzz like that would be overkill if I want to focus on downsizing my rig. Plus, I don't really see the benefit of having two fuzz pedals in one enclosure, I think that for the money I'd usually rather opt for two seperate fuzz peds of my choice, so I can also stack em in the order I want, but a delay or whatever in between, etc...

frigid midget wrote:

Tristan wrote:For some guys it works.
I tried the Mobius of a friend of mine quite extensively for a week or so and it really didn't do anything I wanted nor could I tweak it to do what I wanted plus I really hate the sound of Eventide too (buddy of mine has an Eclipse which I think is pure garbage) so for me it doesn't work.

I wouldn't get the Montreal Assembly Hot Cake clone, I tried it and thought it sounded weak, I love most of Scott's other pedals I tried but to be honest that one was very meh in my opinion.

'Weak', as in not quite like a hotcake, or are just not into hotcakes? Anyway, I mailed Scott, and he responded right away. They're available, but replacing the mid scoop toggle switch with a tone pot isnt an option.

Anyone else have or tried a Positive and agree with the 'very meh' sentiment?

I don't know, never tried a Hot Cake but the Positive stood out as a pedal that has problems in the punch / attack department to me, which I'm usually quite particular about, basically the same thing as I explained in that topic about different Muff based pedals.
Besides the gain of side mount v.s. top mount jacks isn't that big that I'd consider the Positive if you like your Hot Cake, just my opinion of course.

Tristan wrote:

frigid midget wrote:

Tristan wrote:For some guys it works.
I tried the Mobius of a friend of mine quite extensively for a week or so and it really didn't do anything I wanted nor could I tweak it to do what I wanted plus I really hate the sound of Eventide too (buddy of mine has an Eclipse which I think is pure garbage) so for me it doesn't work.

I wouldn't get the Montreal Assembly Hot Cake clone, I tried it and thought it sounded weak, I love most of Scott's other pedals I tried but to be honest that one was very meh in my opinion.

'Weak', as in not quite like a hotcake, or are just not into hotcakes? Anyway, I mailed Scott, and he responded right away. They're available, but replacing the mid scoop toggle switch with a tone pot isnt an option.

Anyone else have or tried a Positive and agree with the 'very meh' sentiment?

I don't know, never tried a Hot Cake but the Positive stood out as a pedal that has problems in the punch / attack department to me, which I'm usually quite particular about, basically the same thing as I explained in that topic about different Muff based pedals.
Besides the gain of side mount v.s. top mount jacks isn't that big that I'd consider the Positive if you like your Hot Cake, just my opinion of course.

Dude, that's a hot cake in a nutshell. I have one and love it but they only work with super bright rigs. I can't use it with my current rig, but I do like it boosted by something.

Frigid: the circuit is well documented and quite simple - pm Schlatte and he'll build something awesome for you. He's the best. And he's in Austria so no crazy import fees and stuff.

^ Exactly.

With my fender guitars and vox amp, the hotcake sounds great, at least at moderate gain levels. I use it to beef up other dirt, mostly my amp's distortion channel, or on its own for medium gain rhythm parts nstuff. It's thick and meaty as fuck, which I love. But it's rather dark, and at higher gain settings it can get really muddy. So I can easily sea why a lot of guys don't like the hotcake for their not-so-bright sounding rigs...

I'll track Schlatte down, thanks for the tip!

I usually try stuff with a Strat / ES335 + Vox / Marshall combination but I'm not much of a low gain nor a really high gain dude, distortion and fuzz is the name of the game for me, that's true.

Update:

Just pulled the trigger on a cheap MXR Blue Box, for fun and giggles, to keep me bussy while I'm looking for a more worthy replacement for the FGII and Mastortron. Never really owned a true octave fuzz. Or at least not an octave down one