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NPDx6 redux
I never planned to spend months without looking at the forum, but life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans. For a while toward the end of last year it was difficult to find time or even motivation to play, but finally getting some long-delayed work done on a few of my primary players has really helped. In the meantime, I'm sure I've said it before but in case I haven't, GAS never rests. I may have taken a break from the forum, but I definitely did not take a break from my pedal habit, and that's why people are viewing this, right?
Made By Mike Dream Box
I've wanted one of these for years, and found a great deal on Reverb last fall. The left side is the nastiest sounding IC Big Muff I've ever heard (with a mid control in place of the tone switch I never use), while the right side is an MXR Distortion II modified to run on 9vDC instead of the AC cord the original had. As the name indicates it's essentially the Siamese Dream guitar sound in a box; left side for rhythm, and both cascaded with a subtle phase and flange added for the leads. The Smashing Pumpkins sound is fun, but will it do Gilmour? It turns out that it does; the secret is to think of it as a Fuzzface on steroids, run the sustain a lot lower than you'd think, and cascade it into an overdrive (like the BD-2W) set for some mild breakup into a clean amp. It'll do a ton of other sounds too, including some you'd never think of as Big Muff with the mids rolled up a bit. Classic Muff tones require turning the mids 'off'.
Fulltone '69mkII
It's a germanium Fuzzface with added 9v (center positive) power in addition to mid contour and input impedance controls. Both of the small knobs fully clockwise is 'stock' Fuzzface. I've never tried it battery-powered, but I imagine that would probably sound better. Even when run on DC it sounds plenty good enough with my Strat through my Egnater Tweaker with any of the three tone stacks. My personal favorites are with the Fender setting; either with a bit of breakup, or clean and cascaded with the BD-2W.
BOSS MT-2W Waza Craft Metal Zone
Really? A BOSS Metal Zone? I count myself among those that couldn't take this pedal remotely seriously back in the day. That started to change when I happened to catch a Sister Machine Gun show in maybe 2004 at the Warehouse in La Crosse, WI. It turns out that a Parker Fly, Metal Zone, and Silverface Twin make a pretty badaxx industrial tone. Fast forward another 15 or so years and I hear Pete Thorn demo this thing. I know he can make a wet cardboard guitar with rubber band strings sound good, but I was impressed none the less. Since I bought it, it's become a favorite for tracking heavy rhythm guitars. Compared to a standard MT-2 it's far less noisy, and the 'custom' tone stack is nice if stock mode cuts too much low end.
BOSS BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver
I bought this after a pedal addict friend mentioned that it's his favorite OD pedal. I'd also seen it recommended by both Kitrae and Gilmourish as a low cost way to achieve Gilmour-esque lead tones when stacked with a fuzz. I don't particularly care for the stock version, and I've yet to find a sound I really like when using only this pedal. OTOH it stacks great with a Tube Screamer, the '69 or the Dream Box.
Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe
I originally bought this strictly for recording, but it sounded so good that it replaced the black label BOSS CE-3 in my main rig. I run it in parallel with some pretty aggressive settings that end up highlighting arpeggios without getting in the way of the rest of my playing the way the CE-3 can.
BOSS CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus
I bought this mainly to avoid taking my 'unicorn' vintage CE-2 out of the house anymore. It doesn't sound exactly the same, but the buffer is substantially better and the slightly brighter voicing tends to work better for playing live. In terms of overall tone it's about 85-90% there, with the added bonus of Waza CE-2s being consistent if this one ever dies or otherwise disappears.
Made By Mike Dream Box
I've wanted one of these for years, and found a great deal on Reverb last fall. The left side is the nastiest sounding IC Big Muff I've ever heard (with a mid control in place of the tone switch I never use), while the right side is an MXR Distortion II modified to run on 9vDC instead of the AC cord the original had. As the name indicates it's essentially the Siamese Dream guitar sound in a box; left side for rhythm, and both cascaded with a subtle phase and flange added for the leads. The Smashing Pumpkins sound is fun, but will it do Gilmour? It turns out that it does; the secret is to think of it as a Fuzzface on steroids, run the sustain a lot lower than you'd think, and cascade it into an overdrive (like the BD-2W) set for some mild breakup into a clean amp. It'll do a ton of other sounds too, including some you'd never think of as Big Muff with the mids rolled up a bit. Classic Muff tones require turning the mids 'off'.
Fulltone '69mkII
It's a germanium Fuzzface with added 9v (center positive) power in addition to mid contour and input impedance controls. Both of the small knobs fully clockwise is 'stock' Fuzzface. I've never tried it battery-powered, but I imagine that would probably sound better. Even when run on DC it sounds plenty good enough with my Strat through my Egnater Tweaker with any of the three tone stacks. My personal favorites are with the Fender setting; either with a bit of breakup, or clean and cascaded with the BD-2W.
BOSS MT-2W Waza Craft Metal Zone
Really? A BOSS Metal Zone? I count myself among those that couldn't take this pedal remotely seriously back in the day. That started to change when I happened to catch a Sister Machine Gun show in maybe 2004 at the Warehouse in La Crosse, WI. It turns out that a Parker Fly, Metal Zone, and Silverface Twin make a pretty badaxx industrial tone. Fast forward another 15 or so years and I hear Pete Thorn demo this thing. I know he can make a wet cardboard guitar with rubber band strings sound good, but I was impressed none the less. Since I bought it, it's become a favorite for tracking heavy rhythm guitars. Compared to a standard MT-2 it's far less noisy, and the 'custom' tone stack is nice if stock mode cuts too much low end.
BOSS BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver
I bought this after a pedal addict friend mentioned that it's his favorite OD pedal. I'd also seen it recommended by both Kitrae and Gilmourish as a low cost way to achieve Gilmour-esque lead tones when stacked with a fuzz. I don't particularly care for the stock version, and I've yet to find a sound I really like when using only this pedal. OTOH it stacks great with a Tube Screamer, the '69 or the Dream Box.
Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe
I originally bought this strictly for recording, but it sounded so good that it replaced the black label BOSS CE-3 in my main rig. I run it in parallel with some pretty aggressive settings that end up highlighting arpeggios without getting in the way of the rest of my playing the way the CE-3 can.
BOSS CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus
I bought this mainly to avoid taking my 'unicorn' vintage CE-2 out of the house anymore. It doesn't sound exactly the same, but the buffer is substantially better and the slightly brighter voicing tends to work better for playing live. In terms of overall tone it's about 85-90% there, with the added bonus of Waza CE-2s being consistent if this one ever dies or otherwise disappears.
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