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Chapter 1: I’m on a bender.
For three years straight I continuously stated that modeling had cured my GAS and during that time it did, but right around the New Year I remembered the excitement of getting a new pedal in the mail or taking one home from the music store, plugging it in for the first time and finding a spot for it on a board. So I started snagging a pedal here and there and have been focusing on EJ/Gilmour tones.
Modeling has not cured my GAS. It’s given me more GAS. Not because I’m dissatisfied with it, but because I’m a fucking gear junkie.
I’ve been dragging these pedals between my studio and living room, a couple at a time, and it’s getting to the point I need to put them on a pedalboard so it’s not just a big mess everywhere. I haven’t had them all in the same place at once since I’ve gotten them and quickly realized that I’m completely off the wagon.
I had a couple of these previous to January, the Whammy, wah and Freqout. I’ve still got a ways to go before I’m “done” (
), so I’ll keep an running journal of my binge.
The Iron Bell, Dover Drive GE and Fuzz Face are the newest ones. The Iron Bell is stupid good, the most usable fuzz, across a fairly wide range. It does 70’s Gilmour just as well as 80’s and 90’s. I was a bit nervous about the Fuzz Face before I got it, I’ve had some nasty ones in the past and I haven’t heard a ton of great demos with the EJ FF. It definitely needs the right amp to work with (I’m putting all these in front of an FM9 or AxeFX III) and not surprisingly and can be really finicky, but it’s super smooth and the sustained notes have an awesome motion to them with all the fuzz.
I’m still getting used to the Dover Drive. I wanted it more for lower gain tones, but I think I might grab a Blues Driver for that purpose. The EJ violin tone is definitely in there, but like the Fuzz Face, needs to be paired with the right amp. It’s pretty crazy how the Fractal amps respond to these pedals hitting the front end and how much interaction they have together. I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
Here’s a quick clip of some Gilmour stuff, it’s the Iron Bell into the Dover Drive, into the FM9- Analog Chorus, Hiwatt, Delay, Rotary (in parallel) Reverb, two 2x12’s in my living room-
And now I’m off to find a Blues Driver….
For three years straight I continuously stated that modeling had cured my GAS and during that time it did, but right around the New Year I remembered the excitement of getting a new pedal in the mail or taking one home from the music store, plugging it in for the first time and finding a spot for it on a board. So I started snagging a pedal here and there and have been focusing on EJ/Gilmour tones.
Modeling has not cured my GAS. It’s given me more GAS. Not because I’m dissatisfied with it, but because I’m a fucking gear junkie.
I’ve been dragging these pedals between my studio and living room, a couple at a time, and it’s getting to the point I need to put them on a pedalboard so it’s not just a big mess everywhere. I haven’t had them all in the same place at once since I’ve gotten them and quickly realized that I’m completely off the wagon.
I had a couple of these previous to January, the Whammy, wah and Freqout. I’ve still got a ways to go before I’m “done” (
), so I’ll keep an running journal of my binge.The Iron Bell, Dover Drive GE and Fuzz Face are the newest ones. The Iron Bell is stupid good, the most usable fuzz, across a fairly wide range. It does 70’s Gilmour just as well as 80’s and 90’s. I was a bit nervous about the Fuzz Face before I got it, I’ve had some nasty ones in the past and I haven’t heard a ton of great demos with the EJ FF. It definitely needs the right amp to work with (I’m putting all these in front of an FM9 or AxeFX III) and not surprisingly and can be really finicky, but it’s super smooth and the sustained notes have an awesome motion to them with all the fuzz.
I’m still getting used to the Dover Drive. I wanted it more for lower gain tones, but I think I might grab a Blues Driver for that purpose. The EJ violin tone is definitely in there, but like the Fuzz Face, needs to be paired with the right amp. It’s pretty crazy how the Fractal amps respond to these pedals hitting the front end and how much interaction they have together. I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
Here’s a quick clip of some Gilmour stuff, it’s the Iron Bell into the Dover Drive, into the FM9- Analog Chorus, Hiwatt, Delay, Rotary (in parallel) Reverb, two 2x12’s in my living room-
And now I’m off to find a Blues Driver….
:
Even for the hour or two of enjoyment I’ve had playing through them, even in redundant cases like the OCD (Cliff nailed that), it’s totally worth it. Haven’t tried replicating the Dover Drive yet, but between that, the EJ Fuzz Face and the Dry Bell, it’s absolutely been worth it. There’s tones in those that I’ve wanted to get since my teens, I just need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with them. Overall, yeah, it’s totally been worth it. If I’m going to blow money, it’s better I do it on gear rather than the other extracurricular activities I’ve gotten myself into in the past; it keeps me enticed to play and satisfies long-standing itches.
