Phase versus vibe pedal

Out of context one could argue that some Phase pedals and Vibe pedals sound the same.  Granted they both provide tons of swirly tones and some do a faux Leslie better than others. Still,the vibe and the phase pedal have similar qualities.

Eddie Van Halen certainly solidified the potential for phase pedals.  The likes of Jimi Hnedrix and Robin Trower certainly used the Uni-Vibe very effectively. So what's the difference.

Phaser, or Phase shifter pedals tend to use transistors and resistors to blend a dry signal with an out of phase wet signal. Vibe or the original Uni-Vibe used a photo resister and lamp to achieve a similar but usually more dramatic effect. In fact, the Uni-Vibe was first designed to emulate a Leslie rotating speaker. While it did not achieve the exact desired effect, it did achieve a sound all it's own

I decided to take my phase and vibe pedals and compare them side by side to demonstrate the similarities and the differences.

Check out the Phase and Vibe pedal comparison and see for yourself what each pedal does.

Scott's Superdrive

As you may know I've dabbled in the DIY pedal scene for a while.  I love the smell of melting solder and the fly by the seat of your pants "will it work?" feeling when making a pedal.

A number of years ago I started trying my hand at creating something different by mashing different pedal designs together. Some of these were non starters and others were OK.  This particular experiment came out quite well.

Scott's Superdrive took the Tube Screamer type circuit and married it to a Big Muff type tone stack. Of course each of these parts of the pedal received their own tweaking and modifications.  At the end of it all was a Mosfet output stage to recover some of the signal loss from the tone stack.

The result was an overdrive with more drive than a Tube Screamer, less buzz than a Big Muff, and an overall interesting characteristic all it's own.

Mesa Engineering Bottle Rocket Tube Overdrive

Mesa Engineering is famous for the Boogie branded Mark series amps as well as the massive sound of the Rectifier series.  The company has also recently released several pedals to compliment the various amplifiers they produce.

This is not Mesa's first foray into the pedal market.  In the 1990's and early 2000's Mesa released two tube driven pedals. The well known V-twin preamp pedal and the little brother and lesser known Bottle Rocket overdrive.

The V-1 Bottle Rocket is driven by two 12AX7 preamp tubes that create a wide range of overdrive and distortion tones.  This pedal is quite different than the high gain tones of the Mark series amps and crushing distortion of the Rectifier series.  This pedal thrives in the low to medium gain blues, rock, and classic heavy rock tones.

Below is a quick demo of the Bottle Rocket being run through a Fender Blues Jr.

Enjoy

Focus on the playing forget about the gear

We all go through periods where the quest for tone becomes almost obsessive.  We think,rethink, and over think the signal chain. “If I had my XYZ box on the board I could get the (insert favorite guitarist here) sound. 

Maybe we think we need another OD just to round things out.  Maybe a speaker change would get us that tonal nirvana.  What about new cables for the board?

I have gone through this myself.  While chasing the perfect tone is fun, it can be counter productive.  You see, it doesn’t matter how good you sound if the sounds being made are not pleasant.  I’m not saying that trying to get a great tone is a bad thing, just make sure it isn’t the only thing.

I have done the past several gigs without even thinking about my gear.  I have a few pedals, wah,a booster, a chorus, and an echo into a Fender Blues Jr.  I stopped worrying about whether the OD I have is the right one or whether I should use another pedal for an extra layer of sound.  I have been enjoying just playing with what I have and it has been great.

I’ve tried to make sure the notes I am playing count more than whether of not the Leslie sound I’m getting out of the chorus pedal is convincing enough. I'm too busy making music to worry about my rig. I’m also trying to make sure I sell the song.  Really making sure that the audience sees the fun I’m having playing the gig.

I have had many last minute gigs and when I find out in short notice instead of worrying about the gear I need I just nodded my head and said ” I’ll be there”.  All I’m concerned with now is the set list.

Try to spend some time focusing on the playing and you’ll be surprised at how easily the rig comes together.

Russian Big Muff

I have a friend who had a Big Muff pedal that was intermittently cutting out. Knowing that I'm a tinkerer and build pedals I was asked if I could look at it. Of course my response was yes.

Since I don't own one of these glorious distortion devices I though tit would be a great opportunity to play around with this "Made In Russia" monster of sonic madness.


I initially thought it might be a faulty switch.  Once I opened it up and tested it with the circuit board exposed I came to the conclusion that the switch was fine but there was a loose connection somewhere.

Since EH uses a ribbon wire that is split off to the various connections on the pots, switches, and circuit board I basically started re-soldering all the connections on the pedal.

Fortunately, after I did the switch the tone control and the volume control the pedal came back to life and the sound was loud and proud with no cutting out.














Check out the demo of the revived and revitalized pedal.