The Tone Control

The Tone Control

By The Tone ControlArtsPerforming Arts
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The Tone Control episodes

  • Ep. 148 - They're Spamming The Chat With Butts!
    • Discord and Patreon!

      • Huge thanks to our Patrons! 

      • Steve Huffman
      • Righteous Ryan Johnson 
      • Nick Greenwood
      • Kyle McIntyre 
      • Jonas Sabatini
      • Eric Girabaldi 
      • Doug Gann
      • Doug Christ 
      • OG Friend of the show Brian Rizzi
        1. Listen to that new Jimmy Eat World record! (stab: Dirty LIttle Secret)
        2. Shot out and congratulations to The Tone Jerks on their 100th episode! (chicka)
        3. A quick follow up questions from Instagram: (stab: Strymon El Cap)
          4. “Derek, did you ever solve the iPhone headphone jack problem?”
        4. Steve’s quintessential Tone Control episode (stab: WA Jupiter Fuzz)
        5. Universal Audio (stab: Angry Ape)
        6. Maxon 40th Anniversary OD808 (stab: Alexander Amnesia)
          7. Originally released in 1979
          Maxon 808 circuit was later licensed by Ibanzed to make the Tubescreamer
          The anniversary edition is modded by Robert Keely!
          “Max-gain” knob for increased gain, output, and low end response.
          400 units worldwide, the first 40 of which will be signed by Robert Keely
        7. Pedal Genie
          8. Walrus Audio Lillian 199$
        8. Strymon Iridium (stab: JHS Bonsai)
          9. Amp and IR Cab in a pedal
          Three amps: Fender Deluxe Reverb, Vox AC30, Marshall Plexi Superlead
          9 included cabinets, option to load your own IRs, headphone output on the front makes for easy home use.
          This is smart because it moves amp and cab modeling into a pedal size
          $400, but it’s probably easier to get a grip on than something like an HX stomp for a lot of people

          Thank you again to all of our patrons for supporting us! We're really overwhelmed by the response and we're so glad you're here.

          1 hr 13 min
        9. Ep. 147 - Three Quick Clicks and Two Short Clicks

          JOIN OUR DISCORD!

          BECOME A PATRON ON PATREON!

          BIG NEWS: The Tone Control has started a PATREON page! For $1 a month you get our undying love and thanks for helping to keep the show going. For $2 a month you can listen to us record the show LIVE on Discord. OH YEAH, WE'RE ON DISCORD. 

          The Discord is free and open to all listeners of the podcast. On Discord you'll be able to chat with other listeners as well as Justin and Derek, ask questions to be featured on the show, and if you're a $2 Patron, listen to the live recording of the podcast. 

          EPISODE 147 SHOW NOTES:

          • Update on using HX Stomp in a live band setting
            • Power supply shopping. Strymon Ojai, Cioks DC7, something else?
            • Boss DD-3T and DD-8 (stab: OBNE Haunt Fuzz)
              • DD-8
                • Picks up where DD-7 left off
                • Stereo in/out, tempo/expression in, built in tap tempo
                • 11 modes! Analog bucket brigade, standard digital delay, tape, warm, reverse, digital delay + reverb, shimmer, modulated delay, warp (holding the footswitch allows for increase in feedback/level), GLT (glitch. Kind of like a tremolo or a delay sample/repeat, no decay. Expression can control rate/pitch)
                • Looper holds up to 40seconds mono, 20 seconds stereo
                • Trails on/off
                • DD-3T
                  • DD-3 has been updated to have a tap tempo, direct output jack got moved to the output side of the pedal
                  • More traditional digital delay pedal from Boss. Short, medium, long settings.
                  • Pedal Genie

                    • Eventide H9 $500

                    1 hr 16 min
                  • Ep. 146 - Get Your Buffers in Order

                    We're blasting through the questions from last time! 

                    1. Cheap vs. Expensive pedals?
                    2. Will the pedal craze die down soon? Has it already? Do we need more? 
                    3. What popular piece of gear just didn't do the trick for you? 
                    4. Offset Fender issues; mostly the bridge. Discuss. (note: get a Mastery!)
                    5. What's in Justin's studio?

                      6. Hit us up with questions ANYTIME on our website, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter! Lastly, if you're listening on Anchor, you can leave us a voicemail with a question that we can pop in the show! 

                      1 hr 17 min
                    6. Ep 145 - That Sweet, Sweet Charlie Brown Ass
                      • Fender Certified Vintage Reverb shop (Stab: Fairfield Unpleasant Surprise)
                        • These guitars are from Fender’s vintage vault and are reference guitars for custom shop builds and product lineups
                        • 5 strats currently up for sale: ‘54 2-tone burst, ‘57 2-tone burst, ‘65 lake placid blue, ‘65 3-tone burst, ‘65 candy apple red.
                        • These are Meticulously reviewed by the Fender custom shop to confirm they are all original
                        • 2-year warranty, any service required will be handled by the Fender custom shop
                        • Hand delivered by Fender master builders
                        • Includes original cases and case candy like cables, straps, bills of sale, bridge covers, etc
                        • Pedal Genie
                          • JHS Charlie Brown V4
                          • Bogner Oxford Fuzz
                          • FAN QUESTIONS!
                            •    What's the deal with cables? 
                              • 1 hr 14 min
                            • Ep. 144 - It’s Like a Lightning Bolt Diddlin’ on a Pickup
                              • Revv D20 (stab: Walrus Audio Descent)
                                • All tube head with Two Notes reactive load and virtual cabs built in
                                • 2 6V6, 1 12AX7, switchable from 20 down to 4 watts
                                • Reactive Load automatically engages when speaker is not connected
                                • Front panel: Gain w/ pull boost, 3 band EQ, volume, headphone out, 6 virtual cabs accessible on the front, or 128 via MIDI
                                • Back panel: Built in FX loop, 4/8 Ohm cab out, ground lift, bias terminals
                                • CITES lifts rosewood ban for musical instruments (Stab: Keeley 1964x)
                                  • After about two years of rosewood being banned from crossing international borders, the CITES committee is lifting the ban “on all “finished” instruments with rosewood”
                                  • It wasn’t impossible before, but it was a major hassle and lots of paperwork and red tape were involved.
                                  • Pedal Genie
                                    • Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal
                                    • Should we include a discussion topic or just news?
                                      • 1 hr 14 min
                                    • Ep. 143 - Either I Don’t Know, or Yes
                                      • Went to see friend-of-the-show Eric play at Pipedream Brewing!
                                      • TC Electronic Fashback 2 X4 Delay (stab: OBNE Haunt Fuzz)
                                        • Same form factor as before, but now has 3 MASH switches which are pressure sensitive.
                                          • This lets you hold 2 sounds per bank and hard-press the pedal to switch between them
                                          • 10 delay sounds plus 6 tone print slots (previously 4)
                                          • Subdivision knob with 11 different tempo settings
                                          • 40 second looper
                                          • Mini toggles on the back for true/buffered bypass, and kill dry on/off
                                          • Stereo in/out, MIDI, USB, Expression in
                                          • $249
                                          • Birthday Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZM2yLiZJL0
                                          • MOOER Tone Capture GTR (stab: Meris Mercury 7 Reverb)
                                            • Makes your guitar sound like other guitars *pretty* well
                                            • Record a target guitar (strat in the example), then record the same passage with a source guitar (les paul), it does some quick math and black magic, and boom, your LP sounds like a Strat.
                                            • Holds 7 sounds
                                            • Can work as a basic EQ pedal if not using a sound clone
                                            • True or buffered bypass
                                            • Price TBD, but MOOER tends to be pretty affordable
                                            • Pedal Genie
                                              • Catalinbread Adineko. $210
                                              • Analogman Prince of Tone $148
                                              • Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact $385 (stab: LWA Plague Rate)
                                                • Y’all remember the Revival Drive? This is a more affordable (read: still expensive) version
                                                • Can be used into a flat response power amp as shown in the demo video
                                                • Insane control over amp-type parameters, but in a more standard pedal size.
                                                  • 1 hr 16 min
                                                • Ep. 142 - With A Presence of Forethought That Is Nothing Short of A Miracle

                                                   

                                                  • Bodacious Brian’s big, big rigs and also sometimes little rigs too! (stab: RedWitch Empress)
                                                    • Brian mentioned to me that we should do OUR OWN rigs for BBBBRAASLRT
                                                    • Derek: Guitar of choice (leaning towards fender style bodies with Gibson style parts). At home I’m now using the HX Stomp, but I also have a small pedalboard with a Smallsound/Bigsound Mini, MIJ BF-2 Flanger, EHX Memory Toy, and HOF mini, into either the HX or an Orange micro-terror (just a practice amp mostly).

                                                      • Live/Band: Polytune, Ernie ball volume, Coppersound custom stutter/vol, Script Phase 90, Fulltone plimsoul, EP Booster, Small Clone chorus, Coppersound Loma Prieta, OBNE Procession Reverb, Strymon Timeline, then into the front of a jumped and crispy AC30 w/Greenbacks. (Alex also built me a footswitch for amp reverb/trem)  
                                                    • Justin talks about his stuff in the episode, maybe just listen, yeah?
                                                      • 1 hr 20 min
                                                    • Ep. 141 - The Worst of Both Words: Vibrating My Butt With Very Very Much Loudness

                                                       

                                                      • Crash! (stab:805)
                                                      • Sold the amp! HX Stomp! Wahoo!  (stab: Apocalypse Fuzz on bass)
                                                      • Righteous Tele! (stab: Wombtone)
                                                        • Demo features all three pickups on a 50W Plexi
                                                        • Reverb to be acquired by Etsy! (stab: KHDK Abyss)
                                                        • Kemper Profiler Stage (stab: Longamp Time Machine)
                                                          • Full blown Kemper Profiler in a floorboard format
                                                          • Kemper head/rack require a foot switcher to change sounds, recall settings, etc
                                                            • THIS is a Kemper amp WITH the switching fully integrated in pedalboard form
                                                          • 5 buttons for 5 rigs per performance, 4 stomp box style effects buttons are individually assignable, 4 expression pedal inputs, 2 stereo effects loops 
                                                          • 2 XLR outs, USB, MIDI, S/PDIF
                                                          • $1700
                                                          • Reverend Manta Ray 390 (stab: Jackson Prism)
                                                            • It’s the Manta Ray but with 3 P90 pickups! 
                                                            • Features the bass contour passive bass roll-off. 
                                                            • Korina body, 3 piece korina neck 
                                                            • African Blackwood or Ebony fretboard w/ 12” radius 
                                                            • Treble bleed, locking tuners, dual acting truss rod
                                                            • Pedal Genie 
                                                              • Boss MD-500 $350 
                                                              • Neunaber Immerse $250 
                                                              • Righteous Ryan! Electronic Audio Experiments (stab: OE Revival Drive)
                                                                • DIRT PEDALS! But this stuff stands out 
                                                                • Model FET https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/nad-sunn-model-t.1885737/ 
                                                                  • Based on the Sunn Model T preamp 
                                                                  • Controls for bass, mid, treble, matser, normal, and brite (sic)
                                                                  • Designed to have pedals stacked into it, much like the old Model T amps 
                                                                  • Sounds big, wooly, kinda fuzzy, but also crisp and clear. 
                                                                  • Longsword 
                                                                    • Op-amp based drive with a huge range of distortion 
                                                                    • low/hi sets the James/Baxandal tone stack 
                                                                    • Shift toggle selects the frequency that the Mid knob controls 
                                                                    • Lots of EQ controls… like Metal Zone level of control. (this is NOT a metal zone, but it’s got a TON of EQ control like the MZ)
                                                                    • Interview with John Snyder up on the website! 
                                                                      • VERY detailed interview with lots of insight on his design process, gear he uses, and upcoming projects. 
                                                                      • Dunlop Tortex White Jazz III picks (stab: Sea Foam)
                                                                        • 1 hr 30 min
                                                                      • Ep. 140 - Sometimes We All Want That Shitty Pizza

                                                                         

                                                                        • Derek sold him amp! Kind of… 
                                                                        • HX Stomp (stab: OE Revival)
                                                                        • Digitech drop update. Standard guitar in an Eb band. (stab: Mathews The Architect)
                                                                        • Righteous Tele update (Stab: 805)
                                                                        • Gibson update  (stab: JHS Unicorn)
                                                                          • They released a statement FINALLY. They acknowledged that this is something they have to do but their tone was all wrong. Too little too late, and the actual statement still didn’t soften things much. 
                                                                          • Apparently they have threatened dealers with legal action unless they stop selling Dean guitars, alleges Dean.  
                                                                          • Earthquaker Devices Plumes (stab: WA Luminary)
                                                                            • It’s a tube screamer with three clipping modes. Like a super baby Palisades. 
                                                                            • Symmetrical LED clipping, OpAmp distortion, Asymmetrical silicon diode clipping
                                                                            • Level, tone, and gain controls. 
                                                                            • Relay based true bypass with momentary option. 
                                                                            • The real killer feature is that it’s $99. 
                                                                            • TS Mini is $79, TS9 is $99, TS808 is $179. Boutique pedal company getting in at those low prices. Cool! 
                                                                            • Discussion topic idea from fan-of-the-show Eric Giribaldi (stab: WA Plainsman)
                                                                              • “What do you do when you reach a crossroads with your equipment?” 
                                                                              • As in, coming to terms with not needing 11 overdrive pedals, needs vs. wants. 
                                                                              • Guitarists are weird people. We want all the latest cool tech and big rigs, but also want the simplicity of grab-and-go, maybe some pedals, and an amp. 
                                                                              • Downsizing your set up. When is it time to sell? 
                                                                                • 1 hr 21 min
                                                                              • Ep. 139 - It's A Heat Clock!

                                                                                Ernie Ball VP Jr. (stab: Chicka-wahh)

                                                                                • I asked them when this sucker would be out and they said winter 2019. 
                                                                                • Gibson’s “Play Authentic” marketing results in them suing Dean (stab: Bogner Wessex)
                                                                                  • Basically making an example of them 
                                                                                  • Gibson posted this video, which they later removed. Isn’t Mark Agnesi just the worst?
                                                                                  • They’re claiming that any copy of one of their design styles or trademarks is “a counterfeit gibson guitar”. Which I guess they’re saying is what Dean is doing? 
                                                                                  • “To the manufactureres out there, we want you to know that you’ve been warned.” 
                                                                                  • “This isn’t about us trying to be bullies, or trying to stifle the boutique marketplace. This is about protecting our legacy”, except you’re also being bullies! 
                                                                                  • Watch out, literally everyone else. 
                                                                                  • They added a counterfeit submission form to their website so you can blow the whistle on anyone you think is infringing on Gibson’s trademarks… So, since they’re going after Dean, I guess this means anyone is eligible. 
                                                                                  • New Music from Two Cheers: Future Constellations 
                                                                                  • Fender Vintera Series (stab: WA Mayflower)
                                                                                    • Overhauling the MIM line! All floating around $900-1000 bucks. GREAT. 
                                                                                    • Big era years: 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, each available with a “Vintage” or “modified” option
                                                                                      • Vintage is pretty close to period correct, Modified is more like “inspired by” but with modern appointments (flatter radius, S1 switching, etc) 
                                                                                      • Some highlights: 
                                                                                        • 60’s tele with a Bigsby 
                                                                                        • 60’s Jazzmatser with matching headstock 
                                                                                        • 60’s Jaguar HH 
                                                                                        • Really rad new colors on a bunch of these: white blonde, natural, sienna sunburst, Firemist gold on a jazz bass looks HOT. 
                                                                                        • Pedal Genie
                                                                                          • Digitech Drop demoed with Metal Zone. 
                                                                                          • Daredevil Fearless Distortion
                                                                                            • 1 hr 18 min

                                                                                          About The Tone Control

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                                                                                          The Tone Control is a sometimes side-eyed look at the guitar world and making music! We talk about everything good, bad, smart, stupid, and weird about guitar gear and bring it to you every other Monday.