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Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Overdrive

Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Overdrive

It’s sea-sick green outside is quite deceiving. Accept no substitutes to boost your signal, get the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9!

The year was 1993, and I walked through the band room at my old high school when I found a couple of people playing guitar in the practice space. There was a break in their playing and I raised my voice to ask, “Hey, what is that sound from your guitar? It sounds really…

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TS9 808 Mod

For an easy, simple, funcitional upgrade for your Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, get our TS9 808 mod kit!

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Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo Pedal

Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo Pedal

Real Tape? Echoplex? A guitarist craves not these things as long as they have a Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo! (more…)

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Memory Man Reborn! Electro Harmonix (EHX) has resurrected the delay effect and repackaged the mojo into the EHX Memory Man 1100-TT Delay Pedal.

If there is one thing we have learned as gear nerds, it is that two types of pedals continually are reinvented: overdrive and delay. Tuners are pretty much set, well, to be tuners. Chorus doesn’t really deviate much from pitch shifting and modulation. Overdrives strive to become the amp distortion we have grown to appreciate in recordings. Delays, however, are trying to provide the right decay, age, frequency, and timing. This brings about either a wash, slapback, or running character to our guitar.

I have been on the prowl for a delay pedal which would end my search for an incredible Tape Delay type tone. My problem in achieving my goal has been locating a delay with a tap tempo switch which wasn’t the Strymon Timeline or some digital knock off. Of course the Timeline sounds incredible, yet I am looking for the feel of analog.

I had looked everywhere but to the EHX Memory Man 1100-TT. Honestly, I had heard a few years back that EHX was coming out with the Memory Man Tap Tempo for around $700. I wasn’t going to jump at that. Then I head about this glorious pedal. Reverb had an anomaly posted for a ridiculously low price for this pedal, so I gave it a home, and I’m so glad I did.

Memory Man Hardware

There are plenty of knobs to turn to tweak dimensions of the delay including the elusive gain. Clicking on the switches Bypasses the pedal or sets the tempo. You guessed it, the tap switch overrides the knob for setting the delay time. Almost all of the parameters are able to be controlled via an external Expression pedal, which may come in handy for the live and experimental players.

XVive MN3005 reissue chips

The heart and soul of the EHX Memory Man 1100tt is the Xvive MN3005 reissue chip. This chip is the reissue of the legendary chip used to process delay in the old EHX Memory Man delay pedals that came in the silver folded metal boxed with the heavy 3-prong power cord. These reissue chips cost $20 a piece while the NOS chips cost $50+ depending on one’s source.

The inside layout of the pedal is quite well planned with thick mil-spec pcb board and clean lines. There are plenty of trim knobs on the board that allow for a tech to voice the delay prior to shipment.

Memory Man Sounds

Lush and organic, this pedal drips smoothness and delayed TONE. Please understand that there is a slight shift in the girth of each note. This is not distracting, but adds to the sweetness of the delay. Honestly, I have been way too uptight about trying to find pedals that don’t color one’s tone. Come on, people. Of course, as the name implies, the delay time can go up to 1100ms. This is plenty of time in order to create your own odd and memorable sonic scapes.

No matter what pedal we place between a guitar and an amp, there will be an alteration. There is no such thing as a TRANSPARENT DRIVE. This pedal adds chorus to your tone if you want, gain to your signal if you want. Youcan nail pretty much any tape delay tone. Ever play an MXR Carbon Copy? This is everything you might want the MXR CC to be. Yet, now you won’t have to bow to MXR’s insane ways of marketing the bright and deluxe versions of the Carbon Copy.

Further

I know that we try to use words to explain the sound of pedals, but they don’t do this justice. Please understand that no matter what demos you hear about this pedal, you must experience the delay yourself. I haven’t found many of these in brick and mortar stores. Boutique shops should have a few of these on hand, but call ahead to be sure. Humbuckers and Single Coil guitars both sound great through this pedal, which is quite reassuring.

Pair this pedal with a Lovepedal Eternity Burst Overdrive or an Ibanez Tubescreamer for an incredible array of versatility to your sound. I really like videos that compare two pedals to one another in a verses (vs.) way of pitting pedals against one another. This way of demoing pedals allows for the survival of the fittest. Please, watch the comparison of this to the Strymon Timeline and hold that thought.

Memory Man Conclusion

I’m sure that you have a beloved pedal that you rely on in each and every situation. For one of my friends, it’s the Boss DD-20, which sounds great and is extremely user friendly in recalling settings per tempo including previous programs. The Strymon is the king of these kind of pedals which have banks and banks of stored settings.

That said, the EHX Memory Man 1100-tt is easy to setup and change up on the fly without sacrificing neither tone nor dependability. My tip is to setup an expression pedal to affect the feedback and delay volume, together. Along with the tap tempo switch, you would have perfect control over this pedal, in order to work in most any song situation.

Get your EHX Memory Man 1100-tt Delay Pedal today!

Looking for a more budget friendly version of a Tape Delay? Read my post about the Lovepedal Hermida EPH3 Tape Delay Pedal. For some delay tricks, read this post! Add in a little Reverb to your action with the Lovepedal HSR-3 Reverb.

EHX Memory Man 1100-TT Delay Pedal Memory Man Reborn! Electro Harmonix (EHX) has resurrected the delay effect and repackaged the mojo into the EHX Memory Man 1100-TT Delay Pedal.

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Sonic Secrets of a Boss DD3 delay pedal

Sonic Secrets of a Boss DD3 delay pedal

This is a ridiculously simple, no-gimmicks approach to enhancing your tone. Further, this is a legit way to tease life from your existing tone with a cheap Boss DD3 Digital Delay pedal. This will immediately change the way you play guitar! (more…)

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Wokka-wokka – All the tone, but none of the suck, the Vox Wah True Bypass mod!In my initial foray into the world of wah, I bought a Jim Dunlop Crybaby from my local ma and pa guitar shop. I had a horrible drive pedal, the DOD Grunge pedal, and the wah. I was going for Hendrix, SRV, Satriani… Yes, I had sounds in my head I was trying to match. Sadly, none, and I mean NONE of my setting on the crybaby came even close to where I wanted to be. About five years later, I tried a Vox V847 wah and fell in love! This was the true tone I had been looking for. It had a simple sweep, a minimalistic build, and the Vox V847 model really is built for interchangablility and tinkering.

A side note: I have owned the Deluxe Clyde Fulltone wah as well. All of the bells and whistles are on this pedal, but the Vox just nails the tone that I need in an absolutely economical and well built package.

I would go so far as to say that if you are entering the world of pedal modding, start with a Vox V847 pedal. Swap out some parts and get your soldering skills up to par. All of the mode one will do to this pedal are certainly felt, and heard. Perhaps the most important mod, however is the Vox wah True Bypass mod.

Vox Wah Guts – after

Materials needed:

Vox V847 wah pedal – find on Reverb.com 24 gauge wire – http://amzn.to/2jFDLh2 3pdt Effect Pedal Switch – http://amzn.to/2jsxCp3

Tools needed:

Wire Strippers – http://amzn.to/2jg7Kj3 Soldering Iron Kit – http://amzn.to/2ilH3tM Screwdriver – http://amzn.to/2jNrM5f Small Adjustable Wrench – http://amzn.to/2ilAKpY

You can see by the pictures that the old switch in place already has three wires attached to it. We will reattach all three of these wires to the poles of the 3pdt switch.

Here are the steps in order.

Desolder wires to SPDT (stock switch), remove it, and Install new 3PDT with the connection tabs running horizontally to the length of the wah pedal.

Remove circuit board with screwdriver

Cut Brown wire where it meets PCB Quick Disconnect Harness, reinstall circuit board.

Desolder other end of brown wire from the input jack.

Cut new length of  wire and solder to where the brown wire was on the input jack. I use a purple wire in my build. Route this wire along side of the other three (green, blue, and white) to the new switch.

Solder wires in these locations of the switch

Green (from Harness) to the top left hand corner of the switch.

Blue (from Pot) to the top right hand corner of the switch.

White to the the terminal righ hand center row.

The new wire (mine is purple) from your input jack to the left center row of the switch.

Adda jumper wire between the lower left and lower right terminals of the switch.

You are done!!!

This mod bypasses the circuitry of your wah pedal when it is “off”. The tone suck has been bypassed, making your signal a bit more “true” :-)

Tone heaven! Enjoy!

Pictures below!

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The Vox V847

Remove switch

Desolder and remove switch

remove circuit board

snip off Brown wire at harness

Vox Wah guts After

Note purple wire running around the pot

close up of switch

purple wire

Another closeup

Vox Wah True Bypass mod Wokka-wokka - All the tone, but none of the suck, the Vox Wah True Bypass mod!

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Winning the award for the longest pedal name in history, the JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive.

Guitar afficianados the world over have hailed the praises of Andy Timmons, a staple shredder who blends the finesse of Jeff Beck with the chops of Steve Vai.

Mr. Timmons is famous in the guitar rig world for pushing a few Mesa Boogie Lonestar Amps with an Xotic BB Preamp of his own signature. Noticing that he was playing gigs having to fly in to different venues of vastly different sizes, he found the JHS Angry Charlie pedal to be right up his alley. After using this for a spell, a collaborative effort with JHS pedals yielded the JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive pedal, which captures the voice and girth of the Lonestars and places the versatility found in variable wattage at the feet of the player.

Hardware

If you know the layout of the JHS Angry Charlie, then this walkthrough is familiar to you. Volume, Gain, Presence (Air), Tone – all of the knobs will control the punch, saturation and the EQ of the sounds you are looking for. The build quality of all JHS pedals is nothing short of mil-spec, including their rock solid enclosure.

The kicker for the JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive pedal is that the three way switch found on the face of the pedal switches between the saturated 25 watt voice, through a 50 watt balanced voice, into a full headroom version of a 100 watt amp. These settings are profoundly voiced after a Marshall Master volume Amplifier. You will have to work very hard to find another MIAB (Marshall in a box) type pedal that competes with this awesome work of @rt.

Sounds

The roar of the engine within this modified, and glorified, JHS Angry Charlie is substantial. Where comparison is a framework in which most guitarists understand differing sounds, this pedal accentuates the sustain and muscle of a cranked amp. The benefit of JHS’s design in comparison to other MIAB pedals is that this is an incredibly quiet pedal when engaged yet not played.

Note separation, Chord chugging, dropped tunings – this pedal does it all and with style. As one would expect, the 25 watt setting is compressed gain a la JCM 900, where the 100 watt seting is open as a JCM 800 should be. My all out favorite is the 50 watt setting.

There is enough dynamism within this pedal to play without a boost, coaxing the gain and growl from working the volume knob on your guitar. Scratchy volume knob? Consider rewiring your guitar! This pedal is worth it.

Conclusion

Yes, I love pedals, I love overdrive pedals. This one will stay a bit longer than others….as I played through an Angry Charlie, yet felt an allegiance to keep my Lovepedal Purple Plexi on my board for the time being. Now, the JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive pedal has kicked the PP off and is fending off other adversaries for the time being.

Don’t be afraid to pick yours up today from Amazon!

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JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive pedal Winning the award for the longest pedal name in history, the JHS @ AT Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive.

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Buffer Circuit Pedals for Pedalboards

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Keeley Compressor Pedal

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Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer

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Pedalboard Effect Pedal Order

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Electric Guitar Tone Practice and Gear

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True Bypass AB Switch Pedal

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Stevie Ray Vaughan Guitar Gear Tone

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Wiring a Gibson Les Paul

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Christmas Gifts for Guitar Players

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Way Huge Swollen Pickle Fuzz Pedal