___THE UPDATER___NOV 2024___NEW GEAR NEWS___UPDATED 24/7

THE UPDATER

NOV 2024 

Separate those pedals that are a steal from 

those who are stealing from you at any price!

IF IT WAS WORTH KNOWING IT WILL BE HERE FIRST!

__________________________________________________________________________

MY MONTHLY RANT

Finally the damn election will be over!!! But then the screwballs on either side will argue who won for months. Worst of all if Trump wins or loses he will start instantly campaigning for 2018!!!

THE GOOD NEWS

The election is over !!!! The election is over!!! 

Black Friday is closing in. Last years sucked. Two yeas ago was the last good one. A few brand name pedals had 40% off.

DIED AT 91 QUNCY JONES 1933-2024

He played trumpet and piano and wrote, arranged and produced. He worked with Lionel Hamilton, Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Diana Ross, He  did a lot with Frank Sinatra, made all the big hits for Michael Jackson including Thriller. Did soundtracks for movies by Steven Spielberg and wrote the theme songs for many hit television shows. He won 28 Grammy awards and numerous Emmys and Oscars. He said NO to anyone wanting to change what he wrote, including Michael Jackson.  Sinatra would walk out of sessions if he was promised Quincy 

but the producers wanted someone else. All he cared about was the music. If he could 

pay the rent and had a challenging project he was happy. He set a sky high 

standard for himself 

 

PETER SINFIELD of KING CRIMSON 1943 to 2024 

He Wrote all the lyrics on the 1969 Court of the Crimson King. The band was a
breakthru that blended Rock/Jazz and Classical music with Robert Fripp using Marshall stacks & Fuzz creating the framework for Metal as well. Yes even before Sabbath had a record out. They created Prog Rock and ushered in virtuoso playing first. Fripp could play modes and scales that were only used in Jazz at blistering speeds using high gain Metal sounds.Pete was considered a full band member. Although he played guitar, Synths and had done vocals in other bands he did not play in Crimson. Live he ran the board using effects on the board that had never been done before. No band had raised the bar this high. Keep in mind there wasn't any other band to copy or learn from. 

.  

 

ROSS PEDALS, OUT OF BIZ, AGAIN

In August 2023 JHS had acquired ROSS and brought out 5 pedals. They sold about 5000 pedals in 2023. I expect mostly to old boomers who nostalgia won the day. From January 2024 they only sold 300.

The Compressor was classic and many modern Comps use their variation on the MXR Dyna Comp as their starting point. The distortion was and is passable especially for guys wanting to add an old school hardclipper to their collection. But! The other pedals by modern standards are mediocre. There will very shortly be a blowout sale. $79 a pedal 

.

BLACK FRIDAY SALE ? IS THERE MORE IN '24 ?

I can remember a few years back when you could get a Charvel San Dimas in the Black Friday sale for less than $800. Even 3 years ago some brand pedals were 50% off. But it went from that to squat. But life goes on so for some stompers are worth a look. 20% on any pedal from Beetronics is one of those. They pretty much just do a Fuzz but I have always loved their Fatbee OD. It is $130.00 USD 

I will tag on more if I see it. So check here for a heads up for more stuff...

TOYS FOR THE

OLDER BOYS 

MOVALL JumpSpace

A clone of a MI Audio Tube Zone. It pokes like a Tube Screamer but has a full range of EQ with great note definition. The pedal has a robust build. I have 2 Movall pedals with great sounds 

and zero issues. At $30.00 USD we are not even asked to pay for what they offer.

DANELECTRO Daddy O. 

This pedal was made in the 90's and part of the original line of the Dano pedals. They are of course clones. It is an impressive take on a 1988 Marshall Gov'nor v.1. Yes the one Marshall reproduced recently. The damn thing is huge. The size of a full size Hammond enclosure with a mini pedal glued on the end of it, LOL. I liked it well enough but because of the size I retired it 5 years ago. It is just too damn cool sounding and looking to retire. I dug it out to try again as I wanted a killer hardclipper and this is so nasty I may have to figure out a solution, lol.  

 

BEHRINGER Fuzz Bender

There are those who took one look and said "gotta have" and then there are a few liars, LOL 😇 Nothing is more appealing than a  well dressed Fuzz. Yes it is a proper metal enclosure. 

More important it is $60.00 USD!!!

...since posting my review I have had more hits on 

it than I got when Bill Finnegan said a decade ago 

he was going to make a new Klon, the KTR.

 

ORIGIN EFFECTS Deluxe 55  

Origin have done it again, their MIAB is one of the very best. They have now done a Tweed. I have never heard this close from any pedal. In fact I find other Tweed pedals are crap compared to this one. In short if you want a Tweed you buy this or save your money, There is not another. There isn't a competitor. Check out my Post. There is a video with pedal vs. amp. They totally nailed the amp.

  

JOYO JF-12 Voodoo Octave Fuzz

They have made this Fuzz for 12 years. So it must be doing something right. The problem is most reviewers keep trying to get a Fox Tone Machine Octave Fuzz out it. The ol' Fox totally tears your face off but it is NOT massive and meaty.  Guys doing a demo excessively drop tuned the guitar and fake you out. Where the Joyo is a plain vanilla Univox Super Fuzz earns a place on the board  once a guy has bought one and got over playing Shoegaze and Star Wars, it gets used on tunes for its massive yet rich power chords to move a tune along 

while playing in standard tuning.   

It came up on sale today for $37.00 USD  w/free delivery 

It arrived!! It had 3 tunes it had to cover really well and a 

4th that was wishful thinking.

Damned if it did not do all 4 better than I expected!!! 

MOOER AUDIO Yellow Comp

An exceptionally impressive clone of the patented optic Diamond Compressor. It has become the secret sauce of modern players who still uses tube amps live to tighten up levels yet do it almost invisible by using just a bit of compression. Perfect for keeping your levels down at clubs where volume is an issue without losing your sound. I have had mine for 10 years. It sits on top of my Marshall always on.

$42.00 USD incl. free shipping on AliExpress

ROSS Distortion

JHS is liquidating ROSS. Their $170.00 USD Ross Dist. will be $79.00 USD in a Black Friday sale. Personally the old school hardclipper Distortion is very good medium gain OD. It is most usable Ross pedal for a modern player. These pedals will go back to being collectable again. You have nothing to lose even if you sell them used in a month or two.

 

MOSKY AUDIO Deluxe Preamp

It is a clone of Lovepedal Amp Eleven. It has a definite Timmy vibe but it unlike most transparent pedals it is much fatter sounding. It also has a Boost so you can push it into a great medium gain OD. ...this pedal is 6 years old and only now has it been discovered as something special

     NEW PIC OF MY BOARD 11/14/2024     <<RECENT

THE GUITAR KIOSK

GIBSON NON-REVERSE FIREBIRD
1965 discontinued

EASTWOOD STORMBIRD 
$700.00 USD
choice of 7 colors

ESP Edwards Escythe
$2050.00 USD
...a waiting list at  Musamaalma Sweden,😢

IBANEZ ichiOO Tallman
$700.00 USD
...if a Strat is a greyhound then think
of this as a  bulldog
...it then makes sense, both have pedigree

_______________________________________________________

 QUESTIONS & COMMENTS WELCOMED 

OVERDRIVE- MOVALL Jump Space ___ NEW___ MI Audio Tube Zone clone

movall audio

JUMPSPACE

$30.00 USD

This pedal is a MI Audio Tube Zone clone made around 2010 in Australia. 

It was made famous by Gary Moore.

The layout is Bright, Mids, Char a high end sibilance, Volume, Tone and Gain. 

    CONCLUSION ___ 

It has a rich full and open tone. That said the MI is much, more aggressive. I find all Movall pedals well made and with very

nice detail in the harmonics. Never muddy but they lack a bit of 

punch. Hell I own two Movall and they are keepers. I am not looking for their replacements. Like a zillion pedals out there this one sounds very much like it started life with the topography of a Tube Screamer. 

The airiness in the overall tone sounds like it has a symmetrical voicing and it has upper mids poke. Oddly it has so much gain if pushed it gets fuzzy. It sounds better backed off a bit.

My main point is like most Movall product there are hundreds of OD's that cost over $200 and are not as good. 

 

___FRIEDMAN IR-J, IR-X & IR-D Tube Pre Amps ...comparison/application & expansion

FRIEDMAN MODIFIED MARSHALL PRE-AMPS 

They are an alternative to Modeled amps. Perfect for guys that want the real sound and real feel of playing tubes. All 3 are variations of modified Marshalls. From classic near clean and Crunch to all out shred.  

The answer to >What About Effects???< Watch the second video.

FUZZ/SYNTH - EVENTIDE Knife Drop___NEW___ another Jack White pedal, LOL

Eventide  

 Knife Drop  

$375.00 USD

It is in every way a convincing synth. It has an ADSR to shape your overall sound but also guide the rise and fall of the modulation. 

It has a waveform, a square wave, aka Fuzz, a pitch control aka 

Octave, the pitch control also allows for glissandos. Oh yes,and modulation. Finally an enveloped filter follower aka Auto-Wah. 

___ So ends my Synth bafflegab, lol

It makes very cool analog Synth sounds and the best are already 

in it as a pre-set. 99% of all keyboard Synth players mod presets. 

No one actually starts from scratch. If you do hours later you get a 

great sound but soon find there was a preset virtually the same, 😇 

So stick with the Pre's and wiggle the 3 knobs. 

    CONCLUSION ___ 

It sounds dead cool, and larger than life. A little goes a 

long way so if you want to get serious with Synthesis, 

buy a keyboard and start from there. I did that back  

in the late 80's and hung up my guitar for about 10 years.

The best thing is I also had  many Synths attached to a

sequencer and I learnt how to orchestrate and arrange

hands on.

OVERDRIVE- EVIL EYE FX PALADIN Drive Pedal VII... YAMAHA OD-10 MII clone

EVIL🅞EYE 

$150.00 USD

PALADIN Drive Pedal VII

In the 80's Yamaha got into the pedal biz with one of everything Boss and Ibanez were making. The only one that took off was the OD10 and more so the OD10 v.2.

It is a OpAmp/Silicon diodes OD. It has it's own voice but it certainly using a BOSS OD like type of topography. The Paladin layout is like the Yamaha with Volume, Tone and Gain. A toggle switches the Yamaha voiced Silicon for an LED giving you more gain if required. 

___

     CONCLUSION ___ 

What can I say? If you love it buy it. 

It is no better or less than my 

Boss or Ibanez just a bit different. 

The price is certainly reasonable. 

OVERDRIVE/PRE- ELECTRON BROTHERS 228 Pre .....what is it, high tech or magic box?

E l e c t r o n  BROTHERS

$240.00 USD

The company is from Australia and it is 3 guys with an electronics and a military background. They are big on borrowing tech from high end studio gear and using high voltages to get control of headroom allow the input of the dynamics of the players touch.

The layout is Gain/level, and using high and low frequency shelving. Then finally a second more conventional Gain 

to color the sound a control any saturation. 

___

     CONCLUSION ___ 

It is easier to use than understand but in effect 

the basic sound is shaped and fixed and you 

get to play studio engineer with the sound.