Eastern Glass Pucks

A visit from my brother last weekend afforded us the chance to A/B some pedals from each our our collections.  Or particular interest to me was the EHX East River Drive, a Tube Screamer clone that apparently had help from Analog Man. We ran both through the Fender 68 DRRI and used an Eric Johnson Rosewood Stratocaster.

Comparing it to the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and the Noah Sark Green, the EHX was really good.  Clearer in the midrange than the Sark, with a bit more of an edge on top than the Fulldrive. If you ever wanted to hear how Screamers could sound different, compare the EXH to another clone.

Pictured Somewhere - All the pedals mentioned.

The second comparison we took a stab at was the JHS Angry Charlie and the Boss Power Driver. Still running into the Fender, but this time using humbucker equipped guitars, it was really shocking how close the latter could get to the former.  With the Boss, anything above 12 o'clock on the gain compressed too much, but below that setting it was awfully close.

It wasn't enough to make me sell the Angry Charlie, but if I didn't have either, it would be hard to ignore one of these on the used market.  As for the EHX, I'm kicking myself for not taking my brother up on his offer to leave it with me. I think there is a ton more comparisons to be done with that one, and I may just end up having to buy it from him.

Glass Half Empty

During my brother's visit, we got to talking about his Fender Vaporizer, which I had forgotten the name of (though he insisted that I hadn't and was just being shitty - I probably deserve that for being the gear snob I am).

While the truth was I did forget the name of that amp (Pawn Shop amp names were stupid and worthy of Danelectro), I've always been keen to see that amp become more than it is. My focus has always been on replacing the stock speakers, which have that Chinese-cheap-shrill-top sound that is just terrible.

Instead, my brother replaced the stock tubes with some JJs, and says it has made a world of difference.  I'm not surprised. Any amp I've ever owned that had "Made in China" tubes in them got a new set right away, and the results were always stellar.

Inspired by this, and a variable volume drop from the my Maz 8 a few nights later, I went out to the local store and picked up a couple of new tubes. Turns out I hav a drawer full of EL84s, but am seriously low on preamp tubes.

I ended up buying an EHX 12AT7 for the V3 position (reverb), and a Mesa SPAX7 for the V1 position. 

Turns out I had a Made in China 12AX7 in V3, and recall that I had a tube go, threw that one in for the time being, and forgot to go buy something else.  V1 had a Marshall branded 12AX7.  It looked like a rebranded Made in China.

The rest of the amp was sporting JJs and Sovtek.

Needless to say, replacing those two tubes, and swapping a JJ84 for a Mesa 6BQ5 EL84, yielded a much better tone and a much sweeter reverb. Plugged straight in was a revelation, and I'm excited to get back to it tonight and start putting overdrives in front of it again.

Trading Pucks - Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive

In the world of hockey, a "hockey trade" is when two teams trade players, and both benefit immediately - A team with too many defensemen trades with a team with too many forwards for example.

Well, I'm looking for a hockey trade right now.

I mentioned previously that I had picked up a Boss Turbo Overdrive along with a few other pedals for a steal of a price, and since then I've had time to run it through it's paces. Overall, it's a really good overdrive for someone looking for an overdrive that seems like a Tube Screamer but is much better suited to single coils.

In fact, in a recent get together with my brother, he nailed a Beano-like tone with his Epiphone Les Paul (yeah, he has one too), the Boss, and my Fender Silverface DRRI. It was a killer, edgy sound that you typically have to spend much more money on to nail.

The problem is that I'm not looking for that tone out of my Fender.  My Dr. Z Maz 8 combined with the Wampler Plexi-Drive is much better suited to pulling those types of tones IMHO, so all of a sudden I find myself with too many defensemen... errr... Overdrives.

The same goes for the Phase 90.  Yes, it is a classic pedal, and yes, it sounds great. This may be best suited to hang around as a utility pedal, but it doesn't seem to be a fit for me.  Call me crazy, but that little Dano Chorus makes me want a better chorus, not a phaser.

So, I'm hoping to find the right trading partner. 

So far I've had one offer: A TC Electronics Flashback Mini and a Boss DS-1.

Right off the bat, the Flashback is the winner of the bunch. I already have the mini Sub N' Up and the full sized Hall of Fame 2, and I can tell you that the TonePrint functionality is outstanding.

Also, I don't own a digital delay. I feel like that's like not having a goalie.  Or at least a 3rd pairing d-man. The rub is obviously the DS-1. I have no interest in the DS-1, and this is obviously the throw-in part of the trade.... The bag of pucks to even it out.

If I wanted to keep the Flashback, the chances of me flipping the DS-1 for anything more than a $20 would be slim. This isn't a huge issue, because the OD-2 and the Phase 90 cost me $60 not including whatever the Dano Chorus is worth, but still...

On the other hand, $60 for a Flashback Mini is a pretty good price, and I've now watched Dan and Mick play with the DS-1 in their distortion video a half dozen times and am almost convinced it could be maybe-sorta-ok.

I'm 80% of the way there... I think.