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Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:39 pm
by pelliott
I will say the Pharaoh is absolutely perfect for what you're looking for. Will push a gritty/dirty amp into fat OD. And it just make you happy.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:54 pm
by LOCOPELAND
Harry_Manback wrote:He'd buy a pharaoh, dawg.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:26 pm
by crohny
What kind of Laney do you have? The Pharaoh sounds right up your alley. I have a Pharaoh along with a Laney Gh50l. The Laney isn't all that pedal friendly in regards to fuzz and distortion though.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:06 pm
by HeavyXIII
crohny wrote:What kind of Laney do you have? The Pharaoh sounds right up your alley. I have a Pharaoh along with a Laney Gh50l. The Laney isn't all that pedal friendly in regards to fuzz and distortion though.
I would've imagined that single channel amps like the GH50L would take dirt better than that. :/ I'm running an AOR50. The boost channel provides more than enough gain, but it only does it in one flavor and in one amount. On top of that, it squeals like a pig unless I have the amp set to a whisper. The amp seemed to take my buddy's RAT clone well enough when I ran it before. Sunn O)))'s drones tones all day.
I would probably have just stuck with my WMD GC, but something about the gain structure doesn't blend with my amp. At all. Certainly not a bad pedal, but it's only really useful when it's the only source of dirt, which is a problem because my clean tones come from volume pedal manipulation. Not to mention many of the different wavetables produce so much distortion in the upper frequencies you'd swear it was the second coming of the locusts or something. Cool sounds for sure, I just don't really know what to do with them.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 10:58 pm
by crohny
HeavyXIII wrote:crohny wrote:What kind of Laney do you have? The Pharaoh sounds right up your alley. I have a Pharaoh along with a Laney Gh50l. The Laney isn't all that pedal friendly in regards to fuzz and distortion though.
I would've imagined that single channel amps like the GH50L would take dirt better than that. :/ I'm running an AOR50. The boost channel provides more than enough gain, but it only does it in one flavor and in one amount. On top of that, it squeals like a pig unless I have the amp set to a whisper. The amp seemed to take my buddy's RAT clone well enough when I ran it before. Sunn O)))'s drones tones all day.
I would probably have just stuck with my WMD GC, but something about the gain structure doesn't blend with my amp. At all. Certainly not a bad pedal, but it's only really useful when it's the only source of dirt, which is a problem because my clean tones come from volume pedal manipulation. Not to mention many of the different wavetables produce so much distortion in the upper frequencies you'd swear it was the second coming of the locusts or something. Cool sounds for sure, I just don't really know what to do with them.
I got my Earthbound Audio supercollider to work decently well with it. The BF got kind of glitchy with it unlike how it reacted when it was run through my Bassman. It just doesnt have the head room like my plexi or Bassman. It seems it's designed around the high gain preamp it has. I have gotten useable tones out of the Laney with pedals it's just not the best at it. I have heard of people using pedals with AORs with no problems though so you could end up with no issues.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:34 am
by HeavyXIII
Yea, I don't really expect any but occasionally I feel bad that I'm not using the amp to it's absolute fullest.
I recall people suggesting them as JCM800 cheapers, but I've heard conflicting reports that the circuit looks more like a high gain plexi. The cleans are pretty sweet when I roll the gain back right to the edge; I think having an analog dirt pedal is going to give me a wider range to work with. Pushing the low end some more should definitely yield better things for drone too.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:26 am
by crohny
Having the gh50l and an actual plexi I'd say the Laney is far more in the 800 realms. Just with a lot more gain on tap. I just use the Laney's natural dirt and run fuzz through the Marshall. Marshall does all the lower registers while the Laney picks up where the Plexi leaves off with the upper midrange and treble. Any time I run just one amp i feel like I left my pants at home.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:39 am
by conky
crohny wrote:Having the gh50l and an actual plexi I'd say the Laney is far more in the 800 realms. Just with a lot more gain on tap. I just use the Laney's natural dirt and run fuzz through the Marshall. Marshall does all the lower registers while the Laney picks up where the Plexi leaves off with the upper midrange and treble. Any time I run just one amp i feel like I left my pants at home.
I feel this way now too. Dual rigs are where its at.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:27 pm
by HeavyXIII
So I received my Pharaoh today. First impressions:
- The chassis is MUCH taller than I expected. I took a peek just to see the guts and you could fit most of the circuit in there twice!
- It's loud. Maybe not as loud as I was expecting, but it's up there. I'm gonna AB it with the Geiger Counter and see what's what. I seem to remember not setting the volume control higher than about noon.
- The tone controls aren't as intense as I would have liked. I didn't get a particularly bright sound with the tone and high knobs maxed out. The pedal does do the woolly sound well, which I can't really get unless I completely re-calibrate my amp settings.
I ran my amp a little louder than usual. Feedback was a pleasant rumble, no screeching or wailing. I can't decide if my reverb processor doesn't take dirt well or is set funny, because every dirt pedal sounds harsh and clangy when they're both on. I may need a little more bonding time with it, but at least I have the option to return it if it doesn't work out.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:03 pm
by benjuro
HeavyXIII wrote:So I received my Pharaoh today. First impressions:
- The tone controls aren't as intense as I would have liked. I didn't get a particularly bright sound with the tone and high knobs maxed out. The pedal does do the woolly sound well, which I can't really get unless I completely re-calibrate my amp settings.
Keep playing with it. The tone controls are very interactive and are definitely going to behave differently depending on what diode setting you choose.
Also, volume at noon is not really going to cut it. Push them shits up to 1:30 or 2:00 and stand back, preferably in front of a loud tube amp.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:15 pm
by HeavyXIII
benjuro wrote:HeavyXIII wrote:So I received my Pharaoh today. First impressions:
- The tone controls aren't as intense as I would have liked. I didn't get a particularly bright sound with the tone and high knobs maxed out. The pedal does do the woolly sound well, which I can't really get unless I completely re-calibrate my amp settings.
Keep playing with it. The tone controls are very interactive and are definitely going to behave differently depending on what diode setting you choose.
Also, volume at noon is not really going to cut it. Push them shits up to 1:30 or 2:00 and stand back, preferably in front of a loud tube amp.
I was actually referring to the GC in terms of output. It could get harsh enough that too much volume was a bad thing. I definitely put the Pharaoh through it's paces though. My favorite settings involved no diodes and maximum volume. But I'll give them a few extra yoinks for good measure.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:50 pm
by AxAxSxS
I've found the tone controls to be VERY dependent and interactive with the rest of you circuit. I run 3 amps and 4 dirt pedals and the pharaoh is the one I adjust for trimming the high end or adding to it.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:10 am
by revancha
benjuro wrote:
Keep playing with it. The tone controls are very interactive and are definitely going to behave differently depending on what diode setting you choose.
Also, volume at noon is not really going to cut it. Push them shits up to 1:30 or 2:00 and stand back, preferably in front of a loud tube amp.
i totally agree with both of these points. i also find that where this pedal sits in your signal change makes a huge difference, especially if you are trying to get some crispness to the sound.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:26 am
by Harry_Manback
revancha wrote:i totally agree with both of these points. i also find that where this pedal sits in your signal change makes a huge difference, especially if you are trying to get some crispness to the sound.
I've found that pushing it with a boost/od really opens it up, depending on what you're looking for. Took me a while to get it dialed in with my setup as well, but now I love it. Shits rainbows.
Re: Pharaoh vs Black Forest vs ?
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 12:59 pm
by samzadgan
Harry_Manback wrote:revancha wrote:i totally agree with both of these points. i also find that where this pedal sits in your signal change makes a huge difference, especially if you are trying to get some crispness to the sound.
I've found that pushing it with a boost/od really opens it up, depending on what you're looking for. Took me a while to get it dialed in with my setup as well, but now I love it. Shits rainbows.
That...a boost before hand...just a slight one makes the Pharaoh pop huge.
as far as the tone settings, i find that the tone all the way off and high knob all the way up and the lo/hi switch set to High gets a really nice mid heavy fuzz that cuts through the mix really well.