My new Attack Decay pedal showed up yesterday. My first impressions are really positive. It sounds really good and there are so many things you can do with it (24-page manual!). I explored the looping envelope mode for the bonus tremolo, which someone on another forum compared to the Vox Repeat Percussion tremolo.
Apparently the Electric Prunes used the Vox Repeater. It sounds really cool, so excited to explore the possibilities.
Also, with the AD you can change the start and end envelope shapes, and even set up an expression pedal to control stuff like the wet/dry mix or the speed of the tremolo. I will almost certainly be using one of the three favorite spots as a trem sound. Also, if you switch to poly when you have the looping envelopes on, it can do a really unique, spaced out, almost Middle Eastern sound. It reminds me of something that band Glass Beams could use.
The digital fuzz is also surprisingly useable on its own. I read somewhere that itās an original fuzz sound, not a copy of something. EH said in a post somewhere that itās closer to a Fuzz Face than a Big Muff, but I think it sits somewhere between the two. It can get insanely over the top, but also be tamed down to almost overdrive territory. Definitely not bad for a ābonusā fuzz, and Iām interested to try out the filter sweeps on it with the expression pedal. My first impression is quite positive and I donāt bond well with many fuzz pedals.
Another bonus feature I have found a use for is that when the pedal is engaged but nothing else is on, the blend knob mixes between your dry signal and a compressor (the compressor can also be turned off if you donāt like it). Itās just a one knob thing and certainly not the best compressor out there, but I was able to find some applications for it already. You can control multiple parameters with an expression pedal, so you could use that to blend between dry and compressed sound, or even set up the AD as a regular volume pedal or volume pedal with a boost.
Anyway, thatās as far as I got with it so far, but itās a deep and versatile pedal for sure. I think Iām going to enjoy exploring all the psychedelic sound possibilities with it. It will probably be a year before I get around to exploring whatās possible with that effects loop (I was thinking some kind of feedback pedal in there might be wild).
Iāve got a Dr Scientist Dusk filter pedal after it and itās really great for taming some of the highs from poly mode and the fuzz as well. With control over attack, decay, and a resonant filter on my board it feels almost like a synth rig. Haha.
Really digging this thing so far! Given all it can do it feels like a bargain considering pedal prices these days.
I have a feeling the expression pedal is where the magic happens with this one.
I know thereās really no right or wrong when looking for tone but sending a guitar amp pedal that has MICād cab emulation through a preamp would essentially the same in the studio right?
I have the simplifier running into my Neve clone and it sounds fantastic! Added some reverb on the insert and wow!!!
I think youāre mostly lowering the noise floor of the simplifier because you donāt have to run the gain as hot to get a good level and the preamp after the cab emulation might smooth out the edges a bit, depending on whatās going on inside of it. Iām not really familiar with the inner workings of a neve preamp but I can only imagine it adds warmth. Sounds like a cool setup! Is that with the strat?
Got a stellar offer on the SG I couldnāt pass up. Plus Iām weird! Only one of each when it comes to guitars! Otherwise, Iād easily get out of hand quick!
The Attack Decay pedal just keeps on surprising. I didnāt have a compressor on my board and the one in the AD is surprisingly nice. You donāt have any controls, but the blend knob goes between fully uncompressed on the left and full compressed on the right (no idea of the compression ratio), which I guess would make it parallel compression.
I have a coil tap on my old Yamaha guitar and while I have always found the split coils a good option for heavy gain, they always felt a bit too thin for clean sounds. With the AD blend and volume at 11 oāclock, I get a really full sound out of the pickups with enough bite to be really satisfying with stuff like tremolo picking without completely killing the dynamics. It also makes the guitar so easy to play it feels like a cheat code.
I emailed EHX and they said that itās a model of a simple VCA compressor based on the compressor in the original pedal.
What Iāve found is that understanding how the compressor interacts with the master volume knob (which is after the compressor) is also key to dialing in good fuzz sounds (and also good clean sounds).
So basically the AD is now almost always on.
(Although itās now making me want to explore compressors more. Iāve mostly just used dynacomp style compressors.)
I havenāt played it yet, but they would set it up for me if I asked. I bought a pedal yesterday and they let me spend up to 30 minutes in a soundproof room filled with a bunch of different amps. Iām tempted to swing back by there today after work and try it.
Been a while since I played in something other than the guitar center sound room which is basically a room where sound gets in and out very easily hence the name sound room? I guess. Itās probably something you should stay away from unless your will power is better than mine.
Pretty awesome little try out station though, really got enough specific flavors out of those amps that itās going to be pretty close to what someone already plays. All they need is a boutique combo to round it out I guess.
About once every 6 months I start researching Jackson Rhoads and get very close to buying one. The Alexis are also excellent but I am trying to slim down my collection, not buy moreā¦
Iām just not used to that volume, lol. I go to the absolute lowest setting I can to try to get an idea of what it will be like for me at home.
Really fun though. I need to start going to the practice studios they have over here as playing through a big tube amp is great stress relief after work.
I got a cheap cubbyhole / cube storage that fits in my closet that is about 5ā tall and has six spots to organize gear. Got some cheap plastic storage tubs and a roll of blue tape / sharpie to label.
If you think the workstation is good for your setup, go for it. I would also suggest doing an Etsy search. Look for solid wood. The following link is more for amp / pedal storage, but I got the black danish amp stand and I think the quality is amazing.
