Just a bit of heady refinement...

Heady Jam Fan · November 02, 2013, 01:35:02 PM

Figured I share after some tweaking and simplifying, especially since someone was asking about MKIII settings - mine are close to Trey's from his rig video (and I wrote out the settings on that thread). The first two and last knob are pulled (I have my lead drive knob pulled to be in the lead channel because I don't have a footswitch plugged in currently). My input volume is 7 rather than 8.5, my master is lower cuz I was playing at home, my lead drive is a bit lower (2 rather than 3) than Trey's as well, but my lead master is higher.

I have one open spot... hmm, wish I could afford an old Mutron

Kinda loving that all my pedals are from 92 or early except my tuner.
My Phaser used to be before my overdrives - I liked how subtle it was there, but I think I prefer it where it is now.

fluffhead4020 · November 02, 2013, 02:09:57 PM

Is your pedal board one of the custom ones from pedalboards.com? I've always loved how they have the custom wiring that you can use to bind multiple pedals to a specific stompbox.

Also, do you get a lot of use out of your RAT? My friend has one of those that I borrowed for a day, and I just couldn't get a controllable sound I liked out of it.

Heady Jam Fan · November 03, 2013, 07:26:34 AM

Quote from: fluffhead4020 on November 02, 2013, 02:09:57 PM
Is your pedal board one of the custom ones from pedalboards.com? I've always loved how they have the custom wiring that you can use to bind multiple pedals to a specific stompbox.

Also, do you get a lot of use out of your RAT? My friend has one of those that I borrowed for a day, and I just couldn't get a controllable sound I liked out of it.

My pedalboard is a just a pedal train pt2.
The loop switching system is from Buzz electronics. It lets you designate any foot switch to control a single loop, or you can program any foot switch to control several loops at once.

I love my rat. It's a 92, us made, with the lm308 chip. Right now I have the filter knob set for minimum treble, a la scofield, but I have the distortion set for a zeppelin crunch (just below noon).

fluffhead4020 · November 03, 2013, 01:18:28 PM

How much did you spend on the Buzz loop system? You can pm it to me if you want. Do you use your rat in conjunction with your tube screamer? I might have to revisit that pedal and see what can be done with it.

Heady Jam Fan · November 03, 2013, 03:30:58 PM

I can't remember exactly how much the Buzz was - around $200 though.

Sometimes I run a TS>Rat - it tightens up the bass a bit and gives it an extra kick + sustain. Very classic pedal stack combo!

Heady Jam Fan · November 13, 2013, 01:23:56 PM

Two more pedals:

70's MXR Envelope Filter
Mission Engineering VM-Pro

I've never tried a real Mutron and I definitely can't afford one. But ya'll know I love old pedals and the Dead. I had an extra space on my TB Loop Switcher and Pedal Power 2+ so I was looking for an original Ibanez AF9 (apparently the same circuit as the Mutron because it was licensed to Maxon), hesitated buying one and missed it, then saw even better reviews for the MXR - I got mine at a great price and it think it sounds awesome! Warm and natural, great tracking even after the volume pedal.

I usually use my guitar's volume knob to go from clean to mean with my TS>Comp, but sometimes I feel I lose treble on cleans and don't cut through with as much clarity as I'd like. I've used a Dunlop DVP1 (with and without a buffer before it) with some success, but not enough to warrant a big ass volume pedal. The Mission Engineering VM-Pro is buffered/Active and also has a 'Sparkle' switch to add in more treble as you drop the volume down. I figured its 50/50 if this was 'gimmicky' or actually worked better than other buffered/active volume pedals like the Ernie Ball MVP, but I knew I would always wonder if I missed something if I didn't try it. Damn.

Anyway the VM-Pro is pretty pricey for a volume pedal but I had an Amazon Gift certificate so I tried it. It does a great job retaining my treble - the DVP1 was about halfway between my guitar's volume knob and the VM-Pro in the amount of treble it retained. The Ernie Ball MVP doesn't have the sparkle option, but is smaller and about half the price. However, the EB requires a string inside it to function that is notorious for breaking at gigs (though others swear by its durability).

Another cool thing is the internal trimpot to set the minimum volume. I cranked it the whole way up so heel down is clean rather than silent, toe down is overdriven. The sweep is really nice - its very very easy to dial in any amount of overdrive and the tone is consistent across the sweep with the buffer and sparkle options on. However, I wish I could set the minimum volume a bit higher - its just a bit too quiet heel down. Its no biggie - I can just dial in the treadle a bit higher than heel completely down or toss a rubber bumper under the bottom of the heel side.

fulltone1989 · November 13, 2013, 05:13:10 PM

Nice! I had the MVP in mind but the Mission Engineering Volume sounds sweet too and I didn't consider the string aspect. I had a Morley Mini Volume which was optical like the Mission you describe IIRC so I may spring for that. Do they make a Volume/Expression pedal?

Heady Jam Fan · November 13, 2013, 05:22:06 PM

Quote from: fulltone1989 on November 13, 2013, 05:13:10 PM
Nice! I had the MVP in mind but the Mission Engineering Volume sounds sweet too and I didn't consider the string aspect. I had a Morley Mini Volume which was optical like the Mission you describe IIRC so I may spring for that. Do they make a Volume/Expression pedal?

The Mission isn't optical, but I didn't jive with the Morley treadle pedals I've tried.

Mission seems to make all sorts of stuff, but I don't know anything about their other products.