PIGTRONICS SPACE RIP SYNTH
 |
| $180.00 USD |
These are the guys that resurrected the Supro Amps, pedals and guitars. For years they were the word of mouth go to pedal guys. They have several pedals they still make that have been around for years. Their Philosopher's Tone optic compressor was the only other choice besides the MXR Dyna Comp and other wannabes back in the steam powered pedal era. Being optic it is very transparent and by using a germanium transistor in the preamp stage gave a really rich warm voice. Adrian Below still has the one he bought when it was new back in the neanderthal age.
I liked it so much I swapped a Keeley 4 knob for the new mini version. I love it for low gain and clean sounds. It sounds killer on my old '89 MIJ Washburn 335 wannabe semi.
SYNTH?
Back when I worked for Ibanez as a product specialist in the early 80's. We had regular meetings to discuss how long Ibanez guitars could keep losing money before they dissolve the company. Yes guys ...back in the 80's kids coming up wanted a Synth not their older brother's out of date fosil ..the guitar!!!
Even the great session players I knew were not getting any work. Especially in the lucrative TV advert biz.
It struck me at the time that I was getting redundant too!!!
Soooo I taught myself to program analog Synths. I even made a few bucks teaching keyboard players how to.
The 'Pig' wonder toy is an actual Synth. Most pedals that call themselves a Synth are just a few bits and pieces from a wah, an octave pedal, a trem etc. and labeled as a Synth. It makes me want to scream!!!
A great way to learn to program a keyboard Synth is to use a Mini Moog.
It is built with the basics of an analog synth without any frills that are not needed for Rock. I will start with what the 'Pig' does not have. It it has no envelope filters/ ADSR that you need to shape the whole array of orchestra instruments even if it is more an impression of one. Different instruments need different mindsets and techniques. If you keep it to just needing basic guitar technique the learning curve will be nearly nothing.
It does have Oscillators normal and another set an octave lower. If you wanted huge sound on a mini Moog you would set two out of the 3 you have like this anyway. The third one on the Moog you would set for modulation. The 'Pig' simply does that for you and you just dial in you modulation like you would on a Flanger or Phaser, Chorus Trem etc. Every Synth needs a choice of waveforms. One for the basic sound and one for the modulation.
The Moog has 6 waveforms choices for each Oscillator. The two most used are a Sawtooth and a Square wave. You get just the 2 but you will not miss the others. One pair is for the sound the the other pair is for the modulation.
So reread this a few times. LOL
Basics is #1 __Envelpe filters is #2 __Bells and Whistles is #3
on a Mini Moog. But on the 'Pig' you never go past #1.
CONCLUSION
The guy that designed this did not have to be a great player ...but at least a good player. He also had to know his way around a basic Analog Synth like a Mini Moog or an Arp Odyssey. Everything in this box is a must have and he resisted useless features that would only confuse an average player. Right out of the box he new a guy would try a few chords, a few favourite licks and a riff or two. Once you hit a riff ...game over ...you are hooked. The Moog is monophonic so like Moog that is where this is King. After this mess with a few controls and Bingo! Surprise! you know there are a lot of usable sounds in this liittle sucker.
Unlike those synthy washes you get from the endless number of ambience delays and reverbs tout there this pedal just says Play! None of that reinventing your playing style to the simplicity of a neophyte to get you and your pedal Rockin'
No comments:
Post a Comment