Guitar Gear Forum

Good morning,

NOTE: Despite the thread’s title, I am not making any connections to the band Muse.

I had a chance to test my new pedalboard, and, to my absence of surprise, it isn’t working properly. That means diagnosing each pedal, and each cable, until I get it right. I started with the Orange Guitar Butler, which sounds really nice. The dirty channel is actually perfect for my tastes; I will have to dial the clean properly, but I know it’s in there.

Through this, as it’s also a DI, I ran my tests, starting with the Valco BloodBuzz. I like it, but I do not like the size. It’s a Cheese Source reproduction; it didn’t need to be the same size. Before I continue, I will state that, because I had played through them first, and knew they were working fine, I did not test the Parachute, Strymon Ola or the Digitech Bass Whammy. Next came the Strymon BlueSky and El Capistan. They’re pretty cool, and they work just fine.

Now, for the meat of my pedal tests: Those Lovetone clones; for the purposes of this article, I will refer to the Ftelettronica versions by the Lovetone names. The Ring Stinger (ring modulator), which was my favorite of the Lovetone pedals I had initially tried (the whole two), sounded just as good as I had remembered. The Meatball (filter) does filter-y things, and it does them well. There is a caveat, as with all of the Ftelettronica pedals, and it is the same as the BloodBuzz: They’re rather large. The Doppelgänger (phaser) has a twin-LFO design, and I’m sure I can get some cool sounds out of it, but it is not intuitive. The same holds true for the ? Flanger With No Name, which comes with an instructional novel. I like pedals I can tweak, and get some fucked-up sounds, but I prefer them to have somewhat intuitive controls. Lovetone pedals, with the exceptions of the Big Cheese, Brown Source, and the Cheese Source (which is the former two pedals in one chassis), are not intuitive. The flanger doesn’t really sound like a flanger, but, again, I’m sure it can. I did not purchase the Wobulator clone, nor will I do so.

The Wilson Freaker Mini solved all of the Parachute’s problems - gigantic, terrible jack layout, gigantic, rack with missing teeth, gigantic - and it sounds nearly identical.

I have to diagnose cables next, but I threw another wrench into the mix: The large pedals are inconvenient, and I will be replacing them with smaller ones. Boss-sized, in fact. And you don’t come any more Boss-sized than Boss. The following Boss pedals will be gracing a pedalboard near me, thanks to some flipping of unused studio gear, and a couple of pedals:

FZ-1W - The BloodBuzz goes bye-bye
PH-2
BF-2
RV-6
DC-2W
PS-6
EV-30 - The only pedal that comes close to being as needlessly gargantuan as the Lovetone is the Digitech Bass Whammy. Pitch-shifting effects sound fake - that’s not a criticism, that’s the point - so I don’t feel too bad about going with the Boss. And both were available as used at GC Middleton, so I got to take them home with me.

I did not get an FT-2, which I ultimately will do, because they are somewhat expensive and difficult to find. I did not get a RE-202 or DM-101, because they are very expensive, albeit very easy to find. The El Capistan will have to do.

Lovetone, the pedals (and the clones), mostly ended my infatuation with Lovetone, the myth. That is somewhat of a disappointment; I wanted them to be better. That could just be me. I first read about them as a kid, and they captured my imagination. I’m 38, and my imagination isn’t as strong on such things. Reaching middle age pisses me off.

Thank you.

So what's not working properly?

Don’t know. There was no signal when I ran through the effects loop, hence eliminating the pedals and patch cables as points of failure. I never said I was done. I probably won’t be back at it for a few days, until the Boss pedals arrive. No point, really.

Updates:

1. I took possession of all of the pedals on order, save for the RV-6. Apparently, GC San Bernardino can’t decide if they want to ship it, or cancel the order.
2. I also ordered some 3D printed bottom plates for the Boss pedals - 2, initially, to see if I like them, which I very much do, so 6 more - these will give me a Velcro surface, without fucking up my pedals.
3. I also bought an SY-1 and an FT-2. This now leaves me with buying an RE-202, which I will not be doing for some time.
4. I am considering a PW-1, but it is massive, compared to the Freaker Mini, so I probably won’t get one.
5. I really wish Roland had bought Mesa/Boogie, rather than Gibson. Then, Boss x Mesa preamp pedals - a Mark and Recto pedal (in one) and a Bass pedal would be all mine.