Rig of the amateur: happyorange

[fulltone1989]

I used a 12.  Tell me more about this copper box for toggles.  I'm clueless.

Sidenote: just bought an older cmatmods 2 knob compressor for $60 to hold me over till I get my Tight Squeeze/Bone Squeeze. 

Nice! I want to check out an older Dyna-Comp

[the_great_lemon]

Sidenote: just bought an older cmatmods 2 knob compressor for $60 to hold me over till I get my Tight Squeeze/Bone Squeeze. 

I've been thinking about picking up one of those as a backup for my Ross....please, do share once you get it!

[Happyorange27]

Yep cmatmods compressor is sweet. Sounds best between 10-12 o'clock on sustain. Gets me that much closer. Need to get a sample for you soon. 

[fulltone1989]

Yep cmatmods compressor is sweet. Sounds best between 10-12 o'clock on sustain. Gets me that much closer. Need to get a sample for you soon. 

Does it do the Ross squish? I bought one and it's on it's way, super excited! Getting back into the comp world.

[Happyorange27]

It squishes plenty if you turn sustain knob up. I like to just have a good seasoning of compression. I would say adding the compressor after getting all of the other elements correct is the way to go.  I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as you get there eventually.

[the_great_lemon]

How do you think it compares with your rack compressor? I know you were a big fan of the amount of control you had over the sound with all the parameters, so what made you switch to the two-knob-camp?

[Happyorange27]

How do you think it compares with your rack compressor? I know you were a big fan of the amount of control you had over the sound with all the parameters, so what made you switch to the two-knob-camp?

I suppose that the pedal is already set to do what it needs to do. All the other parameters I used to tweak are set in stone so it's a good thing that sounds good.   Not to say I wouldn't mind messing with them but if I know I want a Ross performance, well that's what I'm getting. Also I now have everything in a compact pedal, not a rack unit laying out in the open. Also I think the pedal handles a guitar signal better than the rack.  What I mean is the compressor threshold in this Ross has much more range than my rack unit.  You can have an infinite compression ratio but it doesn't mean shit if you can't lower the threshold low enough.

The other set in stone parameter is the attack.  On a real Ross the spec says 4 ms.  I'm assuming Chad matched that attack.  From all of my tweaking on my old pedal, I found indeed that the minimal attack is best for the Trey style.  If you start letting the signal have more attack, the volume spikes can be too much.  The low attack helps keep everything "smooth" between all configurations of OD pedals on and off and also your guitar volume knob.  Remember attack is the time that your true volume is coming through before compression starts, so if you have at least 3 different volumes (clean, OD1, OD2, etc.) then all that is going to come through as being inconsistent.  Stick with the low attack.

I really only miss the decibel input output meters on my rack. Those show how much compression was going on in actual decibles. No big deal.

Oh and I miss the noise gate.  I'll look at getting a noise gate pedal eventually.  

[the_great_lemon]

I have considered the noise gate route before, but every time I've used one something is just missing.....I don't know, maybe it's just me 

[Happyorange27]

I have considered the noise gate route before, but every time I've used one something is just missing.....I don't know, maybe it's just me 

My success was putting the gate right before the compressor (after last OD) then with your OD(s) on and your guitar volume all the way on, but do not play any notes (mute the strings), you adjust the gate to just barely kill the hum.  A slow attack is good too.  Also you OD pedals shouldn't be too loud by nature with no signal or else you are probably not going to succeed.

[the_great_lemon]

I actually just started to crank the volumes on my ODs yesterday, and i'm really loving it.  I will certainly look into using a friends noise gate on my stuff, just like happy suggested ^

[Happyorange27]

Ok the compressor is in this one but so is a little bit of everything. It's not great, but a sample.
http://soundcloud.com/happyorange27/just-a-test

[IamWILSON]

Very nice recording Happy O!  Great tone, and I hear 2 specific licks/ideas in there that totally show Trey's influence:

1:15 - whole tone scale usage and resolution to the tonic.

1:50 - pentatonic pull off riffs ala Bouncin' Around the Room and many other phish songs.

A couple questions/critiques (however you see it) because I think you can still get some more sustain and overtones happening with your gear!  You are just using one AM silver ts9 right?  Where are your settings?  Especially because your previous post stating, "I actually just started to crank the volumes on my ODs yesterday."  I know I can use my cleaner ts-9 or ts-808 set with gain @ 9-10 o'clock, tone anywhere between 9 & 1 (dependent on the room and which pedal I'm using), and level dimed (if not at least 80% - usually for rehearsal), and I get some great sustain (and those glassy overtones that develop out of it) with only the one pedal on along with my compressor, and I'm not hearing it from that recording.  Also was your guitar volume all the way up?  Where did you have your compressor's level and sustain set?  And as far as your Blues Jr., was the "fat" switch on?  And where were your master and volume set on the amp? 

Just to give you an idea, and yes it may be "a little louder," but common settings for me are: ts9 gain @ 10 o'clock, tone 11, and level maxed, Ross comp or Keeley 2knob - sustain 9:30/10ish o'clock and level 1, and when using my Blues Jr. Humboldt, Volume @ #4, Master @ #6, and fat switch is on. 

Maybe its the iphone mic and small speakers on my macbook that totally aren't getting the tone to my ears, and I'm way off base with my comments, and if so, I am sorry, but I think with some more tweaking with all the gear you have, it can get even better!

[fulltone1989]

Great demo man! What do you use for looping? Where were your settings at on your Flashback?

[Happyorange27]

Thanks guys and especially Wilson for your in depth review.  Yes I'm just using one AM silver.  See pics below for settings.  You are reading the great lemon's (i think) words about cranking the OD's not mine (i can see how you got confused).  My guitar volume was varied throughout recording.  I try to change it up along with the pickup selector.  The fat switch was not on (but i use it sometimes).  Your settings are not far from mine.  

I must restate that this performance is kind of just blah actually and I had to keep everything quiet in the house so you aren't hearing balls to the walls.  No good demonstration of good sustain.  Trust me with any more volume it's there.  I like sharing my demos with you guys. I hope it helps you and inspires you.

Not sure if I bumped the amp knobs when moving it for picture.  One thing you'll freak out on is the low setting of the mids on the amp.  Well I've studied the circuit and truely it's more of a second stage volume and not really a mid control.  I've looked at the frequency graphs.  All that knob does is raises and lowers the entire volume between V1 and V2.  So it actually creates overdrive to V2.  To clean my amp up I have it down here.  When I play loud it goes up too.  Oh by the way the Volume knob controls gain between V1a and V1b, right in the middle of the first tube.  So really you have 3 volume controls on a BJ which has the twin stack mod.  Look that one up on Billm site.  I know of only Mesa Boogie and a few others that truely allow for mid humps, and it's not in any Fenders.  

Wilson my V2 has a 12AT7 in it.

Tom see Dynamic delay setting on TC.  My looping (backing track) is really a keyboard that has all types of style presets with rhythm and progressions.

Lately I've been sticking to the dual hard panned offset mics through my mixer into my iphone.  If any setting on my gear is not clear from the pics, just ask and I'll confirm.

[fulltone1989]

Sounds real nice, nice mic setup too btw! Have you tried plugging your tuner into the stereo out on the Flashback?