Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while.....

some_dude

Raging BB Gunologist
sunlion205.jpg


:D
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

Ooh, hello! How does that sound?
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

I can't tell you about the whole thing as it hasn't arrived yet, but I can talk about parts of it.

It's basically a stacked Beano Boost (left - Dallas Rangemaster clone) and Sunface (right - 68 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face clone).

I had a Beano Boost before and it was pretty cool. It definatly works best with a darker vintage voiced amp. It has three mods, treble boost (authentic Rangemaster), mid boost (modded Rangemaster), and bass boost (something Analogman added). It's a germanium transistor circuit and can be overdriven in a similar fashion to a fuzz pedal....only it doesn't fuzz up. It has a bit of squish to it that gives it a really organic feel that's similar to a tube amp in some ways (not as hard as a silicon transistor boost/overdrive). I think it tops out at around 18db of boost.

The Sunlion side is said to be a killer Fuzz Face clone. The cool thing is that sun knob....it lets you adjust the voltage so that it sounds correct in any weather conditions (the circuit is tempature sensitive) and will let you open up the headroom or turn it into a sputtering fuzz if you take it to extremes.

I don't know if you've tried the current Dunlop Fuzz Faces....the one's with no smile on them have germanium transistors instead of the silicon ones the older Dunlops had.....but they're a treat, and they clean up really well with the guitar's volume knob.

Which brings me to another cool feature of the SunFace.....it has an internal trimmer that simulates your guitar's volume knob. So if you use higher output pickups that would normally make the fuzz sound sh*tty you can preset the max setting so that you don't have to grab the guitar's volume everytime you turn the pedal on or off......and to me that is a killer feature in a fuzz box.
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

Veddy interesting, can't wait to hear your full report.
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

I was considering the Beano Boost and the Sunface for a while (but I found a killer deal on the Tweak fuzz and I sort of forgot about the Beano Boost when I got my OCD), but I never realized they packed those two things into one pedal. Very cool, I have heard great things about analogman's stuff. I might pick up the sunlion anyway, especially because I want to have two different set ups after my Tweed amp comes in (which should be in about 3 weeks, I cant wait, dudes!) and because the sunface is really different from the tweak fuzz and the beano boost is totally different from the OCD. So good luck with that thing...
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

:D

Just scooped one in a trade with a guy....lemme know what your thoughts are when you get yours :bigok:
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

Analogman Mike makes absolutely killer stuff, I'm sure you'll love it :fing2:
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

i recently ordered the comprossor with sustain control, everyone says its the ****znit when it comes to getting a nasty wailing tone!
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

:D

Just scooped one in a trade with a guy....lemme know what your thoughts are when you get yours :bigok:

The pedal arrived today.....I'll just post the initial review I've done of it;

For those that don't know, the Sunlion is a combination Beano Boost ('60s Dallas Rangemaster clone) and Sunface ('68 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face clone). I'm using an old Les Paul loaded with a Duncan 59 bridge in the neck and a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge. The amp is an Orange AD30 2x12 combo running into an Orange 4x12 cab (for a 3/4 stack). I set the amp gain at 6, the master volume at 10, and adjust the EQ to suit the pickups. My main fat rhythm tone is with the guitar's volume between 3 and 6 and my main crunch rhythm tone is with the volume between 6 and 8. Above 8 is generally reserved for leads or old school (not tight) distorted riffing. For the most part I've dialed in the pedal to sound best with my bridge volume at 6 and my neck volume at 5.

So far it's really good. I don't know how it will react with other amps but after about two hours of experimenting with different settings I feel I can get some really good tones out of mine. Both effects blend really well with my Orange....they're obviously not transparent but they do manage to feel like they've become apart of the amp's voice rather than feeling like a separate gain device sitting in front of it.

Although I dialed in some more extreme stuff right off the bat I'm now running really conservative settings on both. I'm trying to dial these in so that they remain as much apart of the amp as possible while still giving me the effect I'm after.

I'm basically dialed in for three things now;

Fat Riffing and 'on the verge of OD' soloing - Strait Orange
Crunch riffing and open leads - Beano Boost
High gain riffing and compressed leads - Sunface

As a side note; I've added one of those rubber Dunlop knob things to the knob on the Beano Boost part of the pedal.....I've found it to be pretty useful to be able to tweek the gain on the fly the same way I would tweek the volume on the guitar.

Anyway....about the pedal;



The Beano (treble boost) side has taken my amp from the ultra thick 70s overdrive I set it for and turned it into the type of amp you hear on so many old recordings. I thought my amp sounded 'vintage' before, but now I'm getting that 'vintage' tone I hear on so many albums. Some small changes in the guitar's volume and Beano's output (they interact well together) can take you from an edgy blues sound right through blues rock and up to Black Sabbath. Very cool.

The Sunface (Fuzz Face) side manages to make my amp sound more like a high gain amp that an amp with a fuzz in front of it. Using my guitar's volume I can still make it sound fuzzy, but I don't have to if I don't want to. Best of all it gives me this great high gain sound without the midrange honk, bottom end loss or excessive attack noise that overdrive pedals give me. Seriously cool.

Lastly, you can use the Sunface to overdrive the transistor in the Beano for some cool germanium tri-fuzz tones. We're talking mild Big Muff territory....only you can still palm mute to some extent.

The only complaint I have about the pedal is that the Sunface sounds a little dark when playing on the higher strings and the neck pickup....but hey, if those notes were bright enough other things might sound way too bright....so it's only a small complaint and not one I'm going to dwell on.

Yeah, I'm probably in the honeymoon phase with this pedal and my opinions will change at a later date, yet for me it's really rare for me to be this happy with a new piece of kit unless it's going to work well for me. I suspect this will be one of the few effects I grow happier with over time.
 
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Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

Sounds like a killer pedal, you got me gassing for more fuzz. Ugh. I cant deal with this :laugh2:
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

COOL.....mine should be here tomorrow :D

With any luck, I'll get to play it before New Years!!! :(
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

Well, it appears mine got caught up in the Holiday shuffle & didn't show up last week...........maybe today :fingersx:
 
Re: Well....it looks like that set of Seths I wanted is going to have to wait while..

GOT IT !!! :32:

I'll have to wait to give it a proper run (hard to get a complete grasp when running it heavily attenuated with the family home :rolleyes: ), but my initial impression is GREAT PEDAL !

The Beano Boost side is a fairly simple beast.....Volume & a mid/treble/low boost toggle; initially, I'm digging it as a treble boost

The Sunface Fuzz side is exactly the fuzz tone I love....think Hendrix & Cream full on 60s fuzz.

I need to tweak it with my other pedals & play it at higher volumes to get it just right, but DEFINITELY a very good pedal !!! :beerchug:
 
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