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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 25, 2014 20:23:22 GMT -6
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Post by svart on Jul 25, 2014 22:13:12 GMT -6
Never even seen one before. Looks like a germanium pultec..
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 25, 2014 22:48:39 GMT -6
I'm thinking that it'll do the Pultec thing with a bit more bite. Looking forward to comparing it to my Summit and Lindell eqs.
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Post by odyssey76 on Jul 26, 2014 3:38:57 GMT -6
jcoutu1 - these do more than the pultec thing and they are great for additive eq on electric guitars and basses. These are the only instruments I've used these on. This EQ is not at all subtle. It's a piece of gear that is so easy to misuse because you can boost and tone shape limitlessly until you have something unrecognizable in comparsion to the original signal. A little goes along way with these boxes.
There's a reason they call it Tone Control EQ - whatever's in that box is hairy, exciting, electric - always adding to the original tone. Would love to have one here eventually. I don't think I would use one on pristine acoustic, piano, vocals, etc. but you never know.
Love to hear your thoughts if you get one in…..
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 26, 2014 5:42:14 GMT -6
jcoutu1 - these do more than the pultec thing and they are great for additive eq on electric guitars and basses. These are the only instruments I've used these on. This EQ is not at all subtle. It's a piece of gear that is so easy to misuse because you can boost and tone shape limitlessly until you have something unrecognizable in comparsion to the original signal. A little goes along way with these boxes. There's a reason they call it Tone Control EQ - whatever's in that box is hairy, exciting, electric - always adding to the original tone. Would love to have one here eventually. I don't think I would use one on pristine acoustic, piano, vocals, etc. but you never know. Love to hear your thoughts if you get one in….. I was thinking that this would have it's best uses on kick, snare, and bass. Places that I want Pultec type shaping, but with a little hair/balls. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jul 26, 2014 8:43:43 GMT -6
The few times I tried the Germanium pres I thought they were kind've lifeless. It's been years ago, so maybe I just didn't know what the hell I was doing...
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jul 26, 2014 9:06:36 GMT -6
The few times I tried the Germanium pres I thought they were kind've lifeless. It's been years ago, so maybe I just didn't know what the hell I was doing... Huh. I always heard that they were super colored and full of life... no hands on experience yet though. |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,921 
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Post by ericn on Jul 26, 2014 13:18:49 GMT -6
The few times I tried the Germanium pres I thought they were kind've lifeless. It's been years ago, so maybe I just didn't know what the hell I was doing... From the little time spent with the modern Germs, it really feels like you have to spend a bit of time dialing it in. |
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Post by fishnmusician on Jul 26, 2014 15:04:32 GMT -6
I had the Germ pre and tonecontrol for a few years. Thought the pre was mushy sounding (weird) and except for the one time I used it as a processor in a mix with the gain/feedback all mangled, I just didn't get it as a preamp.
The tonecontrol could either have a bus load of tone ,or almost none depending on the track going into it for me. Used it mostly on vocal mixing, sometimes taking forever to dial in the low freqs and other times falling right in. I really did like the gain/feedback tweeking for a male with a softer voice, (not much growl) to stand out in the mix.
The Retro pultec was easier for me to dial in, although way sweeter sounding.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jul 26, 2014 16:03:56 GMT -6
The few times I tried the Germanium pres I thought they were kind've lifeless. It's been years ago, so maybe I just didn't know what the hell I was doing... Germanium anything is a real face-palm moment for those of us who witnessed the tube to solid state transition. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Aug 7, 2014 9:35:33 GMT -6
I took the Tone Control for a quick spin and it's about what I expected. Just a first impression here, no extensive use, just a few minutes on a female vocal. The lows were really sweet. I was doing the Pultec trick with the boost and cut on the same frequency (interactive selected) and it added a nice touch of body to the vocal without getting tubby. Smooth and nice. The presence seemed to have good bit of bite to it. I didn't realize when I got it that it was boost or cut (I thought boost only like a Pultec), but it was a nice surprise. Just a touch of this was nice, but any more than a touch just feel too aggressive for my tastes. I imagine that this would absolutely smoke on electric guitar. The treble band also felt aggressive IMO. A bit sharper sounding than I would put on this vocal, but with just a touch it was working nicely. High quality build too. Switches and pots all feel solid and the thing weighs a ton (for a 1u piece of gear anyway).
Anyway, I don't think it's a keeper for my needs. I was hoping that it could become a go to vocal sweetener for me, but it's more of a tone control than a sweetener (as the name implies). For me to keep this and be happy, I'd have to add a second one and it's just too cost prohibitive for me to have two. For a similar used price, I think an AML Pultec would suit my needs better.
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Post by sentientsound on Apr 28, 2023 20:50:46 GMT -6
Bump.. Anyone else have experience with these? Been searching the used market for a pair to use on drums, guitars or synth.
I'm pretty much only into relatively heavy color these days in an outboard EQ, something still far away from, but complimentary to the latest plugin EQs - which are getting damn good.
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Post by deaconblues on Apr 28, 2023 23:07:03 GMT -6
Bump.. Anyone else have experience with these? Been searching the used market for a pair to use on drums, guitars or synth. I'm pretty much only into relatively heavy color these days in an outboard EQ, something still far away from, but complimentary to the latest plugin EQs - which are getting damn good. Yeah, I've got a pair of these. Great fun and excellent on adding life to synths. Can add heavy and huge to drums (and drum machines) without breaking a sweat. I've only worked on two guitar-based things with it, but it did the trick - for those, it didn't take much at all. It's worth mentioning that there is a bit of a learning curve with a few elements on these. The passive low end's two modes, the Q tuning on the two active modes differs by frequency selection, and the Germanium Drive itself if you aren't familiar with its gain staging / signal coloring dance. It can take a little getting used to, but is worth the effort. The good news is, the manual's great and explains it all perfectly and there are only so many frequency selections on it, so a couple of days playing with it and you'll have it down. Also worth noting that the Germanium Drive circuit does not bypass, only the passive and active eq sections have bypass. I'm getting a hard bypass added on mine currently so I can a/b the drive. I use just the drive on synths quite a bit. I sometimes find myself using the presence and high eq's against one another. Cranking one and cutting the other can get really cool results. Also: definitely warm these up for a full 30-45 minutes. The germanium is grumpy until he wakes all the way up. All in all it feels a bit like a greatest hits of EQs. Pairs great with the TG2 500s. If "heavy color" is what you're looking for, these will provide. It definitely does not sound like a plugin. (Also, I've been offline for a bit. Hope everyone here at RGO is doing well!) |
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Post by din on Apr 29, 2023 8:49:49 GMT -6
I have a pair of these that I'll never let go. Love them on guitar, bass, and synths to change the character, give things hair, or generally make things sound more badass.
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Post by sentientsound on Apr 29, 2023 15:16:40 GMT -6
Thanks for the feedback guys. These will remain on my watch list.
Using the Presence/high sections against each other sounds fun.
I bet cutting highs could be great at softening top end in conjunction with the feedbcak/gain tuning, while finding a presence frequency to emphasize.
Having them available just for the amp color to add hair and badass-ery sound appealing too.
All in all they seem like a truly unique piece of gear.
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Post by spock on Apr 30, 2023 13:27:05 GMT -6
Thanks for the feedback guys. These will remain on my watch list. Using the Presence/high sections against each other sounds fun. I bet cutting highs could be great at softening top end in conjunction with the feedbcak/gain tuning, while finding a presence frequency to emphasize. Having them available just for the amp color to add hair and badass-ery sound appealing too. All in all they seem like a truly unique piece of gear. Chandler Limited Tone control EQs are a sound designers dream, so to speak...They are very cool and if you like to tweak and experiment, they are right up your alley. While we no longer produce them, we do service them. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Apr 30, 2023 16:12:50 GMT -6
Thanks for the feedback guys. These will remain on my watch list. Using the Presence/high sections against each other sounds fun. I bet cutting highs could be great at softening top end in conjunction with the feedbcak/gain tuning, while finding a presence frequency to emphasize. Having them available just for the amp color to add hair and badass-ery sound appealing too. All in all they seem like a truly unique piece of gear. Chandler Limited Tone control EQs are a sound designers dream, so to speak...They are very cool and if you like to tweak and experiment, they are right up your alley. While we no longer produce them, we do service them. Sad that they’re out of production. Wish I had a pair. |
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