ring Mods under $200

[foot]

I was going to mention Freppo's stuff also. He sells a pcb for the regular Corruptor (in fact I have one on the way to me ) which makes building much easier if you haven't before. He also has some other cool designs that are noisy but musical.
linkage: http://www.parasitstudio.se/index.html
-foot

[penelope tree]

If you've never owned a Freq. Analyzer, you are missing out.

It's not batshit insane, but if you want retro 70s Devo-type stuff, it is the way to go there and it's got one of the most musical ringmods out of the box of anything.

And I am a certified EHX disbeliever but I have one (I used to have three)

Are the reissues considered to be worthwhile? Or just the vintage units?

[lordgalvar]

I've only played the 40v and vintage freq analyzer (devo ones). Both are awesome. I used my 40v 2000s one for 10+ years and I like the sound of it a lot. It is less clean than the moog, but it fits better with distortion. It is one of my top three for sure...some times I do feel like it feels a little dead (compared to the blaring noise of the sick pitch king), but the fine and course knobs are awesome plus you can cut out the high end signal. I always run them full wet (or at least 80%). I just always liked the way it sat in the mix and the range was just right for guitar.

The copilot planetoid is a little too nice and round sounding. The moog is nice, and I like it a lot for the options. But I still feel like the LAL Sick Pitch King and Freq Analyzer are the best sounding (the freq analyzer doesn't have the range in the carrier as the other ones do though...but I like the high metallic bell sounds).

I think those parasit ones sound nice from demos but haven't built one yet.

Never used an XO or whatever it is now. Or the Ring Thing.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, I have the big box 40v first reissues, sold the vintage ones because the new ones (then) wer emore consistent.

Haven't tried one of the new small box versions.

[K2000]

IMO, the best sounding ring mod is the big Moog unit. You can find used ones for $200-220. I didn't care for the nano Frequency Analyzer. Not sure if I can explain it. The Moog is versatile and sounds sweet.

IMO look into bit crushers which can get you into similar dissonant territory as a ring mod, but don't have the same obviousness ("I'm ring-modding!!")

[rfurtkamp]

Bitcrushers to ringmod are the transparent overdrive of the ringmod world!

[The_Active_Conundrum]

IMO, the best sounding ring mod is the big Moog unit. You can find used ones for $200-220. I didn't care for the nano Frequency Analyzer. Not sure if I can explain it. The Moog is versatile and sounds sweet.

IMO look into bit crushers which can get you into similar dissonant territory as a ring mod, but don't have the same obviousness ("I'm ring-modding!!")

But sometimes that's what you want.

Though I would like to see a ringmod with CV blend instead of pitch.

[lordgalvar]

The moogerfooger has cv blend.

[tuj]

DOD is reissuing their ring mod, the Gonkulator.

[DarkAxel]

Necroing, this looks awesome

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIrl325-vNI[/youtube]

although there seems to be quite alot of the carrier signal present.. Which I remember on some settings of the Cbread Heliotrope as well and it was pretty manageable until you put a distortion after it

[lordgalvar]

I will probably pick up the reissue Gonkulator, but the ring mod seems to be pretty much in the range (or less) than the EHX Frequency analyzer. The distortion is nice and it over all sounds like something for people that want a more blended signal. It is focusing the more middle ground of the carrier. Like you aren't going to get the neat low speed tremolos or the hurtful peircing highs. For a good mix in weird sound and distortion this thing is pretty cool though.

All ring mods have some carrier bleed. Metasonix TM-1 is the worst. SPK isn't too bad, but that whine is there. The Moog is still the best bang for your buck in analog in the used market I think (versus ehx FA, blue ringer 2, metasonix, hax, saturn, etc). I also think that the ring thing gives a ton for the price. Randy's revenge is a great one too. The DBA one is a little unique too, but I don't know if I can justify it yet.

The corruper looks good also and will get one.

[DarkAxel]

I only owned the Catalinbread Heliotrope, which is sort of a btcrusher/ringmod hybrid-y sort of thing. Beyond that my experience is only the virtual Moog in Guitar Rig and a some jams with the Randy'S revenge (yeah that was awesome, especially with Prunes and Custard and gnarly bass )

I lack the experience, but I know carrier is normal... heard bad things about the Ringworm regarding carrier signal... Anyway - To me, Gonkulator seems like a decent and pretty well prices starter ring mod. Which is very strange considering the old Gonkulator

[lordgalvar]

Yea, I hear you on that. Esp. considering the price the old one was going for (and the lack of pitch adjustment). If this current one would have been out 10 years ago, it would have been my only pedal when I was actually in a band. All I was running was an MT-2 and EHX FA.

I see those Ring Things go cheap used...kinda hard to keep passing them up though (esp for the versitility). Either or I guess. I like this Gonkulator so far and will get one.

The Heavy Saturn is ok too and I just picked mine up for $70 and it has a blend. Might be a good option.

[penelope tree]

I've just bought a reissue Gonkulator, should hopefully receive it soon.

[ChetMagongalo]

I recommend the Minifooger ring mod, they are a great value and sound really good, no noise at all and EXP control. It sounds just as good as the big one but it doesn't have an LFO and it's a lot smaller and can run on - tip 9v power. you can run it into a fuzz to get an octave down or octave up tone, it gets really heavy, I used to run mine with a PolyGrace and it was super heavy. it would sub out my bass cab speakers