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Post by phdamage on Aug 8, 2023 20:03:05 GMT -6
What I find so amazing on the Vertigo is the M/S capability. When distorting sounds, I find myself most of the time wanting to either have more dirt on the mid or on the side. I find choosing one over the other really helps keep the sound not get too washy and lose too much punch. I wish I could afford one. couldn't you do this with digital routing of some kind - making your stereo unit function mid-side? i mean, as long as you can unlink the channels? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2023 20:42:08 GMT -6
Drawmer 1968 and the 197x series if you can afford it or get a good condition used one and refurbish. FET comp with a 12ax7 makeup stage and diode clipper. All of the lofi fun negates the need for a lot of two bus crap in one compressor. Zvukofor Tanhx Molot made flesh. www.instagram.com/zvukofor/?hl=enPushed Daking circuits turn into a hifi tube screamer. You can always get a Tascam. National is making type II cassettes again. |
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Post by phdamage on Aug 8, 2023 22:29:43 GMT -6
Drawmer 1968 and the 197x series if you can afford it or get a good condition used one and refurbish. FET comp with a 12ax7 makeup stage and diode clipper. All of the lofi fun negates the need for a lot of two bus crap in one compressor. Zvukofor Tanhx Molot made flesh. www.instagram.com/zvukofor/?hl=enPushed Daking circuits turn into a hifi tube screamer. You can always get a Tascam. National is making type II cassettes again. Curious about that thing in the video. Any idea how much they are? And can you even get them - made in Russia, no? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2023 16:38:23 GMT -6
Drawmer 1968 and the 197x series if you can afford it or get a good condition used one and refurbish. FET comp with a 12ax7 makeup stage and diode clipper. All of the lofi fun negates the need for a lot of two bus crap in one compressor. Zvukofor Tanhx Molot made flesh. www.instagram.com/zvukofor/?hl=enPushed Daking circuits turn into a hifi tube screamer. You can always get a Tascam. National is making type II cassettes again. Curious about that thing in the video. Any idea how much they are? And can you even get them - made in Russia, no? 300-500ish for the desktop version, over 1000 for the rack. Made in Armenia. |
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Post by jmoose on Aug 10, 2023 23:07:52 GMT -6
Very curious about those ART tube pres. I def owned one long ago but hated it and sold it. Granted I only used it as a pre Sorta feel like I'm talking about some kinda secret that's actually not much of a secret... guys like Dave Fridmann & Joel Hamilton were talking about 'em eons ago. Even Vance Powell has one in his racks of doom... As a preamp they're kinda functionally average at best. To me they really excel as an effects box. Its like any other distortion pedal or a Boogie amp, dime the input gain and keep the output low. Hit the boost button (+20 ?)... magic! Love them on synths & drum machines, scream-O vocals... drum room mics on "nuke" and sometimes even first call acoustic guitar DI. They can really chew the edges off a piezo pickup. All kinds of things that you don't want "wire w/gain" clean. The one to get is either the OG "DI" box style or the stereo rack. The other versions with compressor, VU meters etc all kinda suck. They don't "blow up" in the same way. Not as cool. Not as chunky & smooth. And while I've seen people say 'ya gotta stick good tubes, even NOS glass in there? In my book they don't make that much of a difference. Any good "modern" tube like a Sovtek / JJ or whatever is fine to me. Partly because they're only running about 50 volts on the plates or something around there. Its just not worth wasting big money old glass on them. |
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Post by paulcheeba on Aug 11, 2023 2:40:31 GMT -6
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Post by lowlou on Aug 11, 2023 11:40:58 GMT -6
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Post by deaconblues on Aug 11, 2023 14:45:21 GMT -6
I picked up the Nuclear Unicorn a few months back. I totally love it for this kind of thing, and it made my Gas for a Stove or an Oven that much greater. (It is incredible in parallel on bass / synth bass, btw). However, I'm extremely jealous of that crazy tube spring reverb eq distortion thing, paulcheeba. Theo's designs are amazing. Do you have any recordings of yours in action that you can share? |
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Post by nick8801 on Aug 11, 2023 18:08:26 GMT -6
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Post by paulcheeba on Aug 12, 2023 21:35:02 GMT -6
I picked up the Nuclear Unicorn a few months back. I totally love it for this kind of thing, and it made my Gas for a Stove or an Oven that much greater. (It is incredible in parallel on bass / synth bass, btw). However, I'm extremely jealous of that crazy tube spring reverb eq distortion thing, paulcheeba. Theo's designs are amazing. Do you have any recordings of yours in action that you can share? I’ll get some together soon. I have 3 weeks of solid drums to check atm. They sound unbelievable. So many break beat styles. |
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Post by deaconblues on Aug 12, 2023 22:50:41 GMT -6
I picked up the Nuclear Unicorn a few months back. I totally love it for this kind of thing, and it made my Gas for a Stove or an Oven that much greater. (It is incredible in parallel on bass / synth bass, btw). However, I'm extremely jealous of that crazy tube spring reverb eq distortion thing, paulcheeba . Theo's designs are amazing. Do you have any recordings of yours in action that you can share? I’ll get some together soon. I have 3 weeks of solid drums to check atm. They sound unbelievable. So many break beat styles. Can't wait to hear those drums! |
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Post by poppaflavor on Dec 21, 2023 11:39:17 GMT -6
Got this Jack of All Trades (perhaps master of none?) sat box off Reverb. Responsive, informative fellow selling them, it really has some nice tones. I wish it were balanced in/out but I have some other unbalanced gear so I just run this Tsomokos box through my Rane Balance Buddy to keep everything integrated. I ended up checking out the Gutz and (kinda not surprisingly) it is handmade. And, has some interesting design choices. I actually (kinda) like that it is breadboard built, as that helps confirm for me how I might begin some basic prototype builds. I can understand the layout somewhat well by assessing the wiring from knobs to sections of the breadboard. The lil' transformer is so CUTE! Its like a doll house transformer, but actually it sounds really good! And the tube is also a little cutie, presumably starved because I run the box on 12V and I don't really see a step up transformer to take it to 250V. It does allow for two (dual) use of tube saturation settings so presumably the tube has two stages and each are tapped sperately. I can't hit this box with high signal; I try to stay at -4 to 0 dBu especially when using the transformer. Overall, the feature set is quite nice with Harmonics, Boost, Single or Double (chained) Tone Generation, Transfo in/out, Tone type and Tone Filter. It sounds really good when dialed appropriately, as it can EQ and saturate concurrently. When I look at the build and components and think about what it would take for me to select and test and build all the components I'm dam glad I bought it eben though it was what I did (and still do) consider too high of a price if viewed from a component and build standpoint. But from a sound and flexibility standpoint, so worth it. So now I want to build one!     |
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Post by Tbone81 on Dec 21, 2023 12:57:26 GMT -6
Curious about that thing in the video. Any idea how much they are? And can you even get them - made in Russia, no? 300-500ish for the desktop version, over 1000 for the rack. Made in Armenia. You had me at Armenia…I’m checking them out and will definitely be buying something, if no other reason than to support their economy. Thanks bro, or as we say in Armenian, Schnorhagaletyun! (Yes that’s how we say thank you!) |
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Post by Tbone81 on Dec 30, 2023 14:50:50 GMT -6
Very curious about those ART tube pres. I def owned one long ago but hated it and sold it. Granted I only used it as a pre Sorta feel like I'm talking about some kinda secret that's actually not much of a secret... guys like Dave Fridmann & Joel Hamilton were talking about 'em eons ago. Even Vance Powell has one in his racks of doom... As a preamp they're kinda functionally average at best. To me they really excel as an effects box. It’s like any other distortion pedal or a Boogie amp, dime the input gain and keep the output low. Hit the boost button (+20 ?)... magic! Love them on synths & drum machines, scream-O vocals... drum room mics on "nuke" and sometimes even first call acoustic guitar DI. They can really chew the edges off a piezo pickup. All kinds of things that you don't want "wire w/gain" clean. The one to get is either the OG "DI" box style or the stereo rack. The other versions with compressor, VU meters etc all kinda suck. They don't "blow up" in the same way. Not as cool. Not as chunky & smooth. And while I've seen people say 'ya gotta stick good tubes, even NOS glass in there? In my book they don't make that much of a difference. Any good "modern" tube like a Sovtek / JJ or whatever is fine to me. Partly because they're only running about 50 volts on the plates or something around there. Its just not worth wasting big money old glass on them. I think you may have just saved me mucho $$$… I remember those boxes, they were everywhere in the early 2000’s. I just ordered one on reverb. I’ve been looking for something that can distort in a cool way for synths. I need an additional 4-6 channels to able to leave all my synths patched in and ready to record. I’ve been looking at the Phoenix N-8, Radial Space Heater, thinking of having someone modding a line mixer etc etc but these just might be the ticket. On a related note, do you have any experience with the Art Tubefire or OptoTube 8? They look similar in topography, are pretty cheap on reverb and people seem to really like them. I’m hoping they distort in a cool way. A rack mount 8 channel unit would be awesome. They’re cheap enough I just may buy one and try it out… |
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Post by jmoose on Jan 3, 2024 16:12:42 GMT -6
I think you may have just saved me mucho $$$… I remember those boxes, they were everywhere in the early 2000’s. I just ordered one on reverb. I’ve been looking for something that can distort in a cool way for synths. I need an additional 4-6 channels to able to leave all my synths patched in and ready to record. I’ve been looking at the Phoenix N-8, Radial Space Heater, thinking of having someone modding a line mixer etc etc but these just might be the ticket. On a related note, do you have any experience with the Art Tubefire or OptoTube 8? They look similar in topography, are pretty cheap on reverb and people seem to really like them. I’m hoping they distort in a cool way. A rack mount 8 channel unit would be awesome. They’re cheap enough I just may buy one and try it out… Zero time with 8 channel ART boxes. Didn't even know they made one. Maybe you could get the stereo rack & put that on the output of a little smackie submixer? Like I said they're more of an FX box meets problem solver, at least the OG small box and rack units. Over the years I've owned several of the OG box and have given them away... think I only have one left. Something I reach for when we wanna grind something up and/or get into the "science experiment" factor - Things like cutting vocals with a 58 through a bunch of guitar pedals... totally invaluable. |
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Post by unit7 on Jan 3, 2024 17:42:07 GMT -6
I got the Sonic Farm Xcalibur JC this week and it's a keeper. Also have two Culture Vulture Mastering version anniversary limited editions which are fantastic. Then two Standard Audio Level-or and a couple of DIY-RE Color modules. I'm using all these in parallel to add a fairly subtle touch so having all these, for what I do mostly, is quite an overkill, but then...hearing what a high end tube saturator adds is one of those precious things :-)
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Post by drsax on Jan 3, 2024 17:49:41 GMT -6
The classic Spectrasonics 610 is great when pushed too far… and yes, the Silver bullet as well. Kush Audio Tweakers as well. In the more affordable zone, any good analog guitar overdrive pedals either direct or parallel processing
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Post by Tbone81 on Sept 26, 2024 8:33:32 GMT -6
Anyone use any of the BK Butler Blue Tube stuff, like the Tube Driver, Real Tube etc?
Having another distortion box to run synths through into mangle vocals would be great and these boxes look very interesting
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Post by poppaflavor on Sept 26, 2024 11:31:11 GMT -6
Anyone use any of the BK Butler Blue Tube stuff, like the Tube Driver, Real Tube etc? Having another distortion box to run synths through into mangle vocals would be great and these boxes look very interesting I haven't used those, but I'd be super keen on some feedback about them. Just wanted to express interest here on your point so that the next part of my comment wouldn't seem like a blatant hijack of your exhumation of this thread :-) Which, it kind of is. I got the Sonic Farm Xcalibur JC this week and it's a keeper. Also have two Culture Vulture Mastering version anniversary limited editions which are fantastic. Then two Standard Audio Level-or and a couple of DIY-RE Color modules. I'm using all these in parallel to add a fairly subtle touch so having all these, for what I do mostly, is quite an overkill, but then...hearing what a high end tube saturator adds is one of those precious things :-) How are you liking (or not liking, or kind of liking, or have sold) your Sonic Farm Xcalibur JC? Did you get the combo nickel iron transformers on the output? Or did you get just the iron output? Seems like they offer an option to get each of the two channels with a different output transformer, but that would seem to limit it to mostly mid side or mono applications. Keen to hear your thoughts on this sweet beast. |
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Post by jmoose on Sept 26, 2024 15:55:28 GMT -6
Anyone use any of the BK Butler Blue Tube stuff, like the Tube Driver, Real Tube etc? Having another distortion box to run synths through into mangle vocals would be great and these boxes look very interesting Yeah but only ever I think with the guitar player hat on. Remember a friend, eons ago in an Eric Johnson phase had the 'driver' ? The white one. Knew a bass player who had the blue one... As a jaded guitarist I'll say they were pretty cool, but also just another distortion box. Fulltone OCD? Marshall guv'nor? Earthquakers? Barber burn? What else 'ya got? FWIW I think there are a couple 'modern' interpretations of the white BK box out there. For synths & vocals, oodles & hours of fun? The gamechanger plasma box pretty much F'in rules. Super cool. Very unique. How'd you get on with the art toob box? |
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Post by Tbone81 on Sept 26, 2024 16:11:32 GMT -6
Anyone use any of the BK Butler Blue Tube stuff, like the Tube Driver, Real Tube etc? Having another distortion box to run synths through into mangle vocals would be great and these boxes look very interesting Yeah but only ever I think with the guitar player hat on. Remember a friend, eons ago in an Eric Johnson phase had the 'driver' ? The white one. Knew a bass player who had the blue one... As a jaded guitarist I'll say they were pretty cool, but also just another distortion box. Fulltone OCD? Marshall guv'nor? Earthquakers? Barber burn? What else 'ya got? FWIW I think there are a couple 'modern' interpretations of the white BK box out there. For synths & vocals, oodles & hours of fun? The gamechanger plasma box pretty much F'in rules. Super cool. Very unique. How'd you get on with the art toob box? The Art Tube MP is awesome. I got two, one came with the wrong power supply and I can’t get it to work…oh well…the one I have is doing wonders. I perfectly distorted the shit out of a vocal with it the other day. And it makes my Yamaha CP88 sound nicer as well. Thanks for the recommendation 👍. I like it so much that I’m about to buy the old 90’s rack stereo rack mount version. I’m trying hard to talk myself out of the Blue Tube pedal too. The online samples sound cool and I’m betting it’ll sound great on bass synth. Also looking forward to mangling vocals with it. Edit: those game changer plasma thingys look dope….must not looking to spend that much. I’m enjoying buying weird cheap pieces at the moment lol |
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Post by the other mark williams on Sept 27, 2024 12:00:32 GMT -6
Yeah but only ever I think with the guitar player hat on. Remember a friend, eons ago in an Eric Johnson phase had the 'driver' ? The white one. Knew a bass player who had the blue one... As a jaded guitarist I'll say they were pretty cool, but also just another distortion box. Fulltone OCD? Marshall guv'nor? Earthquakers? Barber burn? What else 'ya got? FWIW I think there are a couple 'modern' interpretations of the white BK box out there. For synths & vocals, oodles & hours of fun? The gamechanger plasma box pretty much F'in rules. Super cool. Very unique. How'd you get on with the art toob box? The Art Tube MP is awesome. I got two, one came with the wrong power supply and I can’t get it to work…oh well…the one I have is doing wonders. I perfectly distorted the shit out of a vocal with it the other day. And it makes my Yamaha CP88 sound nicer as well. Thanks for the recommendation 👍. I like it so much that I’m about to buy the old 90’s rack stereo rack mount version. I’m trying hard to talk myself out of the Blue Tube pedal too. The online samples sound cool and I’m betting it’ll sound great on bass synth. Also looking forward to mangling vocals with it. Edit: those game changer plasma thingys look dope….must not looking to spend that much. I’m enjoying buying weird cheap pieces at the moment lol I’ve got one of those Blue Tube pedals, Tommy. I haven’t pulled it out in years, but your post reminds me that I should. My memory is that it was interesting, but not anything particularly special. I do remember liking it on bass, but I can’t recall what it did to the bottom octave. |
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Post by Tbone81 on Sept 27, 2024 19:05:07 GMT -6
The Art Tube MP is awesome. I got two, one came with the wrong power supply and I can’t get it to work…oh well…the one I have is doing wonders. I perfectly distorted the shit out of a vocal with it the other day. And it makes my Yamaha CP88 sound nicer as well. Thanks for the recommendation 👍. I like it so much that I’m about to buy the old 90’s rack stereo rack mount version. I’m trying hard to talk myself out of the Blue Tube pedal too. The online samples sound cool and I’m betting it’ll sound great on bass synth. Also looking forward to mangling vocals with it. Edit: those game changer plasma thingys look dope….must not looking to spend that much. I’m enjoying buying weird cheap pieces at the moment lol I’ve got one of those Blue Tube pedals, Tommy. I haven’t pulled it out in years, but your post reminds me that I should. My memory is that it was interesting, but not anything particularly special. I do remember liking it on bass, but I can’t recall what it did to the bottom octave. ”Interesting but not special” is the exact vibe I get from the sample online. Yeah most distortion pedals kill the low end…that’s what I’m worried about but I think they make one for specifically for bass? I’ll have to do more digging. |
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