El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
I can understand him having sub-optimal experiences with customers wanting refunds due to user error but it’s a bit much to treat every customer like they’re fixing to waste time and cause trouble by default.
Fulltone closing up shop
- Thread starter Hsb
- Start date
I can understand him having sub-optimal experiences with customers wanting refunds due to user error but it’s a bit much to treat every customer like they’re fixing to waste time and cause trouble by default.
Indeed. Too many choices at this point. I can see the choices narrow with things like the tape delay, as not many people make those anymore. But if I think the owner of the company is a jerk, I am not handing over money no matter how rare something is (see Henry-era Gibsons).
NegativeEase
New member
I think an analog tape delay product is a dumb idea to bring to market for a pedal company.
-Why? because it will create more technical support and reputation issues than the profit that can be made from the limited audience of sadomasichists that want to battle keeping them going.
I work on Space Echos all the time, there is just no way to keep them up unless you know how to stay on them and service them often.
There's a reason why Brian Setzer had to buy 100s of them
-Why? because it will create more technical support and reputation issues than the profit that can be made from the limited audience of sadomasichists that want to battle keeping them going.
I work on Space Echos all the time, there is just no way to keep them up unless you know how to stay on them and service them often.
There's a reason why Brian Setzer had to buy 100s of them
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it worked like a regular tape machine and didn’t use proprietary tape cartridges.
Mind you, I’ve had it over a decade and it only needed a replacement once. I keep the heads clean, keep it dust-free. Basically what I’d do with an actual tape machine before and after each use.
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the fact that he made a modern tube tape delay is great. its all new and built to last, the only thing that needs replacing is the tape. i sure if he sells the company, they will still be available might probably not cheap.
whats so different about the tape it uses? ive played one a few times but didnt pull it apart or anything
whats so different about the tape it uses? ive played one a few times but didnt pull it apart or anything
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Exactly. It’s better than the original Echoplex. Far less noisy. Nothing is really that “special.” It’s 1/4” mastering tape, but it feeds by a specialised plastic cartridge that only Fulltone makes.
NegativeEase
New member
Yeah. the problem for Fulltone is it's designed and marketed by a pedal company for your guitar rig, instrument level I/O for transport, for gigging etc.... when actual tape transport mechanisms are better suited for studio care -so that pricepoint and form factor becomes an expectation and support nightmare -whereas instead a product in a studio enclosure, balanced level I/O options, rackmountable, primary use in a climate controlled scenario and a higher price point for the studio market would have made supporting it realistic I believe -Although theres likely way less money in that approach.
Instead he's supporting 5,000 guitarists gigging at clubs and 5,000 more dragging it to a church on Sunday morning. who are emailing and calling on Monday morning upset -I see it as a no win/nightmare support scenario for a pedal company.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Doesn’t leave the studio. It’s very much a studio tool because the audience at a show isn’t going to GAF if it’s a echoplex unit or a DD-3… Absolutely pointless waste of freight and potential damage. It’s indispensable in the studio for everything from warming signal with its tube preamp (what the EP booster tries to copy,) another way I can true analog tape sounds with 1 regeneration, 100% wet (if my 4-track goes down for some reason) and is just a beautiful delay that shines on recordings as opposed to a plugin locked to the timecode.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8tfdkq5qcxr6b7/IMG_0264.MOV
I like it! Plus you can get really crazy sounds by adjusting tape speed, tone and other settings for some of the noisy soundscapes I like to utilizez
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NegativeEase
New member
Im generally dubious to any peal company where the company name is an adjective about the tone.
I realize this is a me problem.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
There goes my new company, “BestTone.”
How about;
”From acceptable to very nice
Tone for competitive price, doo-doo-doo…
DecentTone!”
NegativeEase
New member
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
You don't like Boss pedals? I hear they sound boss . . .
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
"DecentTone".
What’s not to like? Descriptive, indicative and honest. Gotta love pedal/amp naming conventions. Just like cars (SuperThunderspatrolMeister! You’re a Lancer, a Laser! You can be a Grand Cherokee..)
They don’t really mean anything do they? Can you go return your “Toneblaster” because it didn’t blast you with tone? What about products that tout something like “proprietary real tube technology patent pending!” Then carefully word how there’s nothing resembling a tube in it, “we mean that you’ll swear there is! Pinky Promise!” Maybe focus more on it sounding good over whether or not it fakes tubes? Or it’s some starved plate thing with an LED that nobody is even going to notice, just for show.
Duncan and Dimarzio may be a little non-indicative at times but the product names at least have a little more class than all that. Even the Invader deserves its name. The most egregious and funny example of a “tone” company was a local one that went out of business actually called Pure-Tone. They made accessories including moderately okay DiMarzio knockoffs (PAF Pro up to X2N) as well as some oddball original designs, like a black covered humbucker with slanted rails sticking out of it. I still have a couple. Obviously their version of the PAF Pro, called the “White tip” (they’re all named after spiders and Australian animals, Wombat, Huntsman etc.). While it looks virtually identical and sounds nice, it’s blatantly lacks all the characteristics of the PAF Pro. I like the other one I have, an original, decent Alnico 5, moderate output humbucker of their own design called the “Redback.” That one was very popular. Maybe it was meant to be kind of a JB ripoff?
They weren’t expensive, were at least better than most cheap stock pickups but they made the absolute worst strings of all time in a way I didn’t think it was possible to mess up strings. How do you make acceptable pickups, but make strings that are DOA (dull on arrival) unwind themselves within a week and just about self-destruct on any trem system? They always felt like they were coated in some kind of crap despite not being coated strings, just felt and sounded awful. I know plenty of people got burned with the idea of buying strings in bulk on the cheap. Pure Tone…
At least my one-off custom built Cornhole overdrive does what it’s named for…. Cornholes the front of any amp, no matter how clean. :lmao:
NegativeEase
New member
Boss gets a pass -as they were originally intending it as a noun -as their name comes from "The Boss" named pedal (their first pedal)
devastone
Well-known member
Or Devastone Designs (from back in the day) what kind of pompous jerk would use a name like that!
Devastating Tone was the idea behind the name and I admit, it sounds a bit cheeky now.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
I love it! Best part is, if a customer is terribly unsatisfied, it’s not untrue. They’d be pretty devastated!
