Re: Worst Effect You've Ever Heard/Tried?
And these utterly useless clunkers, The Morley Pik-Pedals: The Pik Attakc, Pik-Wah and Pik-Percussion.
Couldn't find images of them right away but I do remember trying at least two of them (circa 1979 or 1980) The basic gimmick was the pedal had a special cord with a metal pick at the end. Supposedly, using this electric pick setup, these pedals would enable you to do auto-wah, smooth out your pick attack or the exact opposite. Needless to say, the series BOMBED!!! These things were BEYOND USELESS!!!
Here's an unusually positive review from Harmony Central of said vintage pedal:
Ease of Use: 10
ACV is a pretty straight-forward piece of gear. There is a toe switch that switches the unit between volume pedal mode and Attack/Control mode. There is also a toggle power switch. And of course, an optical volume pedal. The power supply is internal which is very nice! No batteries or wall warts! woo hoo!!!!!! The ACV effect requires a special "Pik" in order to "trigger" the effect. The "Pik" is connected to the unit via a 1/8" Tip ring cord... Mine didnt' come with a pik, so I made one out of a guitar cord and a metal pick.. I just soldered the leads to the pik and taped it. A very ghetto approach, but it works.
Sound Quality: 6
Well, the thing is from the 70's. It sucked quite a bit of tone and I lost quite a bit of volume when in the Attack/Control mode. There was also some static/hiss noise when in Attack/Control mode.
The effect itself is actually pretty cool. It did what I wanted which was to automatically swell and cut off the initial attack of a note or chord. Combined with some distortion and some delay, I can get some pretty cool violin sounds. I played Pach's Canon and it was very cool. Without distortion, it's almost accordian or harmonica sounding.
Reliability: 5
Again, this thing is from the 70's and pretty old and very rare. I would not gig with it period. I replaced the optical bulb, which thank heavens, is still the kind Morley uses today. The unit seems pretty well built... metal construction.. but more tin like than tank like. Having said all of that, mine works and probably works just as well as when it was new.
Customer Support: N/A
And yet again, this thing is a rare vintage hard to find piece of gear and Morley offered no support/assistance whatsoever. I pretty much expected that and I can't fault them... I was given some places where I can buy schematics, but no info on where to find the "electric pik" piece.
Overall Rating: N/A
It's hard to rate vintage gear, so I won't. I bought this off of Ebay DOA. I replaced the optical bulb, McGyvere'd an electronic Pik, and I'm in business. It does what I wanted it to do, although I was hoping for a better quality in sound and I didn't expect the "pik" thingy.. I'm primarily a fingerstyle player, so my style is cramped... However, the thought did cross my mind to solder up some metal finger-picks... that thought died a quick and quiet death.
