Tonefiend Forum

Quote from bear on August 8, 2012, 19:29
Electrix was part of the Alesis family that went into bankruptcy. Part of the shame is they never really delivered on their looper -- loop fanatics say it had a lot of originality but was basically in beta when it was pushed to the market.

I have an Electrix Repeater pedal here. It's a great piece, and it was really a shame how it came and went and came and went again. Some really innovative features. But these days I'm real happy with ny Boomerang III with SideCar. 🙂

Hmmn, the only old pedal that I would love that hasn't been cloned, surpassed or satisfyingly reissued might be the '80s Arion Stereo Flanger. If the exact same circuit and sound could be put in a sturdier enclosure with true bypass, that'd be great!

Quote from joe on August 5, 2012, 10:17

Quote from Oinkus on August 3, 2012, 05:20
Echoplex ? Just had one for a few days in the 70s it went off and never returned.

Michael Fuller from Fulltone makes a beautiful Echoplex clone — but it's mucho expensive. Meanwhile, tape echo is one of those sounds that digital modeling manages to fake really, really well, whether it's an a computer hosted plug-in (linke Universal Audio's mind-blowingly accurate plug-in), or a hardware modeler, like in the Line 6 pedals.

While I haven't used on myself, a lot of players seems stoked about several of the current boutique pedals that clone the preamp section of an Echoplex — no echoes at all, just the funky-cool boost section that became a crucial sonic element for some players, such as Ritchie Blackmore. Just google "echoplex preamp stompbox" or some such, and you'll find the pedals in question.

I'm lustily longing for a Clinch FX EP Pre or EP+, and > drool < > drool < a Strymon El Capistan... !!

I think someone should clone the Danelectro Tuna Melt Tremelo in a proper road-worthy housing. It's simply the best repro of the Fender Tremolux trem I've come across, but it's so flimsy that I lost my "rate" knob from carrying it in my gig bag. 🙁 It would be cool to have that circuit and a true-vibrato circuit in the same box, perhaps synchable, or synchable at slow/fast rates from one another! Tap tempo, too? Groovy!

Wow, Jeremy — thanks for posting that! How did I manage to miss it?!

Jeez — eight frickin' transistors and an inductor! I'm definitely going to have to breadboard that one.

I was reading through the thread on freestompboxes.org (my absolute fave DIY pedal site), and there seems to be a lot of confusion about which signature Eno tracks use the WEM, which use a Buzzaround, and which are processed through a synth filter. I've made a few Buzzaround, and it's a cool circuit that includes a sort of bias control. Over at freestompboxes, mictester posted a version using only one germanium transistor (as opposed to the all germanium original), and it's GREAT — all the tone of the original, minus the noise.

I'll let you know how the WEM project goes!

Quote from joe on September 11, 2012, 10:04
...and there seems to be a lot of confusion about which signature Eno tracks use the WEM, which use a Buzzaround, and which are processed through a synth filter.

there's some more about it here...

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=538695

I think maybe people assume the Buzzaround is on there 'cause Fripp is, and he used one, but then people assume that it's Fripp playing lead on Baby's On Fire, but there's contrary opinion that it was Paul Rudolph (who I only learned today was likely the guy who gave Eno the Project WEM).

I can't find a copy of it online, but I recall a Beat Instrumental interview with Phil Manzanera where he was talking about using it on his early solo records - using neck pick up with tone control to the max and having to play without taking your fingers from the fretboard.

as an aside, I own a Starway guitar just like the one Eno used (and as pictured on the inner sleeve of Roxy's For Your Pleasure) - but it was my first electric, and I was young and stupid and didn't know what I was doing... and I "customised it". poor guitar!

look forward to hearing the outcome of your breadboarding experiments!