Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Ian Price on September 07, 2010, 10:37:11 PM
-
Anyone on here got experience of these (any versions)? I know there are 3.
I've had a Bad Monkey for a few months now and am not really getting on with it and fancy a change. I saw a few gearmandude clips on youtube and they sounded good but quite difficult to tell how good through computer speakers.
I did once have an OCD that I shouldn't have sold (sellers remorse striking again!) but don't want to buy something that I have previously owned and then sold.
-
You're not having the OCD back, I'll bring it on the 16th so you can say hello
-
You're not having the OCD back, I'll bring it on the 16th so you can say hello
:lol:
It's a piece of sh!t isn't it. I'll be interested to hear what it sounds like through the deluxe.
-
I had version 2 until recently, i didn't care for the 'tweed crunch' at all, and the top end seemed too harsh through my MJW Roadstar. For a pure clean boost i preferred the MXR Boost Line Driver.
-
Best clean boost I've used, and still own, is the Rothwell F1 Boost:
http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/f1_booster.html
-
I got the new version of the OCD after playing your ex pedal Ian
It's interesting seeing how a lot of other people grumble that the old version is the best etc.
Tried mine in a chain with Shobet's. The only thing different seems to be the taper of the pots - all the same sounds are there, just at different settings on the knobs.
Maybe the different versions of the Fat Boost aren't that different? I've not looked in to it at all to be honest
I'm thinking about an additional OD pedal. Just sold my Zvex SHO. Likewise I regret letting that one go but needed the cash in the short term.
Dave are you going to bring the Rothwell to the meet in Oct? I'd like to try it with my new amp
-
Sure - if I remember to bring my rehearsal board with me!
-
Sure - if I remember to bring my rehearsal board with me!
I think I might be asking to give it a go if I make it to yours before the meet!
I'm thinking about an additional OD pedal. Just sold my Zvex SHO. Likewise I regret letting that one go but needed the cash in the short term.
I've considered the SHO, it seems like a lot of money for the pedal. Is it that good or is it just the branding that pushes the price up?
-
SHO is pretty decent but not worth the money they ask for, if you know how to use a soldering iron I can give you a link of how to make one, takes about half an hour and about £15 - 20 at the most for the parts.
-
subtle when used sparingly, abusive to amps when cranked
They are a great pedal but interact very differently with different amps, pickups and pedals.
I think you would quite like them as they work well with singlecoils.
I wouldn't lust after one though - you do pay for the paintwork, but then again if you buy one 2nd hand you won't loose out if you move it on as his stuff holds its price very well.
The youtube video by zach vex gives a good enough representation.
Dave has a clone version which seemed to have less background noise than mine
-
SHO is pretty decent but not worth the money they ask for, if you know how to use a soldering iron I can give you a link of how to make one, takes about half an hour and about £15 - 20 at the most for the parts.
I'll have more time on my hands next year. I might have a go at that
-
Ian - do you not have your SHOLICON fuzz pedal any more? That has an SHO as the boost side...
-
Had to sell it Dave :( - it was in my period of financial emergnecy (which I am now out of!).
The SHO/Fuzz combination was awesome :(
-
Can you get another built? Probably your best option!
-
I have owned/still own every pedal mentioned in this thread with the exception of the Rothwell.
What is it you are trying to achieve with the boost?
-
The MI Boost and Buff looks better value than the fulltone. The Xotic EP Booster looks good too.
I had and sold an OCD, don't miss it in the slightest!
Gassing for a BB plus still though, those sound great....
-
What is it you are trying to achieve with the boost?
I want to retain the tone of the amp but be able to drive it a little harder. I've got single coils (twisted tele neck and broadcaster bridge) in a tele and they can sound a little weedy.
-
Ian - is the power scaling not enough?
I wouldn't want to push the tubes too much in the very-gainy-already Deluxe, so I'd be looking for a light overdrive maybe?
-
The power scaling is indeed fine. I'd just rather set the amp clean(ish) and then push it harder with a boost. I could be barking up the wrong tree with a boost then?
-
What is it you are trying to achieve with the boost?
I want to retain the tone of the amp but be able to drive it a little harder. I've got single coils (twisted tele neck and broadcaster bridge) in a tele and they can sound a little weedy.
The pedal you want is the Maxon OD 820. Cleanest, most liquid, touch responsive, and quiet clean boost/mild OD around.
With the Gain off, and the Tone and Volume controls at noon, you cannot hear the difference between the pedal in bypass or on; it's that transparent!
The OD820 is the pedal for someone who is happy with their tone but just wants a little 'more' for soloing or mild breakup.
-
I've got single coils (twisted tele neck and broadcaster bridge) in a tele and they can sound a little weedy.
We're talking Baja with stock pickups? I know some folks like them, love them even, but I just couldn't get on with them, nearly ditched the guitar (and I rarely get rid of anything). How much are these pedals compared to a set of BKP tele pups? I'm guessing same ballpark ... My advice is get them Flat 50 Blaggards in asap first - the Baja still sounds like the Baja but "more". The guitar I nearly ditched is now one of my favourites and it taught me how to like "telecaster".
Mind you, DnL's suggestion sounds very interesting - if I was gigging I'd be going "oooo!", what he describes is exactly what I wants from a little box on the floor to kick my solos over the rest of the band...
-
The MI Boost and Buff looks better value than the fulltone. The Xotic EP Booster looks good too.
I had and sold an OCD, don't miss it in the slightest!
Gassing for a BB plus still though, those sound great....
I own an MI Audio Boost 'n Buff, it's great. To tell you the truth, I mostly use it as a buffer; it's the first pedal in my signal chain and the rest of them are true bypass, until the signal hits the preamp. BnB is there to get rid of the signal loss occurring AFTER it.
Anyway, it's definitely a great pedal ESPECIALLY for the money. Great clean boost up to 15 dB. After that it is a treble booster (up to 35dB), which I want to get to try with e.g. a Vox AC30 8)
-Zaned
-
The MI Boost and Buff looks better value than the fulltone. The Xotic EP Booster looks good too.
I had and sold an OCD, don't miss it in the slightest!
Gassing for a BB plus still though, those sound great....
I own an MI Audio Boost 'n Buff, it's great. To tell you the truth, I mostly use it as a buffer; it's the first pedal in my signal chain and the rest of them are true bypass, until the signal hits the preamp. BnB is there to get rid of the signal loss occurring AFTER it.
Anyway, it's definitely a great pedal ESPECIALLY for the money. Great clean boost up to 15 dB. After that it is a treble booster (up to 35dB), which I want to get to try with e.g. a Vox AC30 8)
-Zaned
+1
I have the earlier version and it's great as a buffer at the start of a large pedalboard, and sounds great when pushing a slightly dirty amp.
The switch in mine is startign to go, but apart from that, it's been a great pedal for me.
-
We're talking Baja with stock pickups? I know some folks like them, love them even, but I just couldn't get on with them, nearly ditched the guitar (and I rarely get rid of anything).
Yep - stock pickups. What was it you didn't like about them Andy? It's the bridge I don't really get on with, I just find it a little bland and uninspiring. The neck works ok for me and I'm not against keeping that in and changing the bridge to a BG F50. I really don't know if they would mix though.
Also, I've never been sure if the pickups used in the Baja are the same as ones used in Custom Shop models?
-
They're Mexican-made versions of the CS stuff I believe, Ian.
OK, but not stunning?
-
Flynn amps Hawk booster - made for just such an occasion. Just a boost, no overdrive - doesn't colour your tone at all and boosts the hell out of anything with the added advantage of boosting seperate frequencies and a treble boost option.
Utterly brilliant (not cheap) but brilliant especially for single coils
-
Can you get another built? Probably your best option!
Had a long break from pedal building and getting back into it now. I've got another SHO/Fuzz combo that is equally but differently epic. Finally made number 2 for marauder and I think we have enough good germ trannies left to make one more. It's our take on a tonebender, but substituting more modern Russian trannies. Don't know whether it's a happy accident or what but we're running these at way more voltage than you would the older, more commonly used bender trannies and they really kick arse. Another side effect is that they're negative ground so you don't have to dick about with different PSUs for them. Sound, I just love. Can go from really compressed vintagey fuzz to thick distortion. The sho just fleshes it out even more. It's very different to the sholicon and to muffs. It's definitely a bender, just much more meaty.
Anyhow, I must knock another one out and you can give it a test drive and see what you think.
I can also knock out another sholicon if Ian wants another.
Been some epic pedals recently. Totally loving the Echobase also. Though gotta make that one from a board, it's a little complex.
-
They're Mexican-made versions of the CS stuff I believe, Ian.
OK, but not stunning?
Ah, that'll explain why they sound tinny in comparison to your lovely red sparkle tele - at least that's my assumption.
I can also knock out another sholicon if Ian wants another.
Very kind John, very kind. I may well be in touch.
-
I'm slowly getting caught up. Got 3 to box up then someone was after a phaser, then I should be free to do some more for other peeps.
-
We're talking Baja with stock pickups? I know some folks like them, love them even, but I just couldn't get on with them, nearly ditched the guitar (and I rarely get rid of anything).
Yep - stock pickups. What was it you didn't like about them Andy? It's the bridge I don't really get on with, I just find it a little bland and uninspiring. The neck works ok for me and I'm not against keeping that in and changing the bridge to a BG F50. I really don't know if they would mix though.
Also, I've never been sure if the pickups used in the Baja are the same as ones used in Custom Shop models?
What TF said on who makes them I think.
I was the same as you - neck ok, but the bridge just didn't seem to have "enough".
I could hear in my head what I thought a tele ought to do in my hands, and I just couldn't make it do it. I was describing it the same as you - weedy, bland, sometimes thin, tinny. I'd put some oink in with the fingers and get no return for it coming out of the speakers. It's a nice "tone" - in the shop it sounds great, but if you're a vibrato/dig-in, vary-your-pick-attack sort of player, it doesn't seem to translate your playing into much "expression" coming out of the amp. And it wasn't making any pleasant scrunch sounds to my ears on chord-riffing.
The thing was, I wasn't sure whether this was "authentic tele" or not... was it that I just couldn't get on with a tele?
Eventually I went "wot the hell" and replaced them with the BKP set with the best name as far as I was concerned (:roll:) "Blackguard Flat 50". Turned out to be a brilliant choice - you can get the stock pup sound out of it now, but it just sounds more grown-up and expressive. It really responds to playing style. Somebody who wants to play cleaner might not like the change enough to pay for replacements, but I'm guessing you want crunch that can clean up or get hairy enough for a nice blues-rock solo/lick/riff. If so, I think it's worth the punt... As an added bonus, the both pickups in series option came into its own for me - I thought it was interesting but useless with the stock pickups, it's fab with the BGs :D
-
Cheers Andy - trying to move a few things on at the moment and may well take the plunge. I'll be aiming to keep all of the switching options the Baja has - as a technical dunce what do I need to ask for when ordering? I'm assuming the both pickups in series option means I need to ask for something different on the wiring?
-
Yep :)
You need a separate ground wire from the neck pickup cover. Tim and the boys will know what you need if you say you need this as you'll be using a 4-way switch.
-
Cheers Dave :D
Hoping I can get it sorted in time for the meet.
-
Yep, exactly what the TF-man sez :D
I kept all the same hardware, including the S1 (don't use it though). I tell a lie, I snipped off the treble-bleed capacitor I found across the volume - that won't help on the thin/weedy front. Try removing that now if you haven't already. Not sure where it will get you though - I've since tried the Baja pups in another tele without a bleed, and I replaced them with Blackguards too!
Soldering onto the S1 was a little more fiddly than standard, but if I can do it, anyone can! :lol:
Good luck. Hopefully you'll get the same thing as I did with the BGs - I went from "I just can't get into this tele thing" to "Oh wow, what an instrument" in the space of just a couple of hours (and more teles in a couple of months :roll:)
-
Cheers - I think the treble bleed has been mentioned to me before. I must have forgotten though as it is still on there!
I do love tele's - I was always a strat man but am getting more and more into the tele now. I've previously owned a few great teles and am now on my 3rd. I'm determined to hang on to this one as it feels comfortable for me and has quite a nice acoustic sound to it.
-
I like the EP a lot.
The SHO is I think what was in my Box Of Rock - really liked that one, too. I think the SHO is probably a bit harder and more transparent, whereas the EP has more spaciousness and mojo if you wish.
I don't like the OCD as a booster.
The RC Booster is very nice, too, especially if you wanna add chime and sustain to clean and crunch tones.
-
I use a Toadworks double boost. You can mix fat and clean-boost (two knobs, third knob is level). It works perfect and sounds great. Unfortunately they are out of production, but you can find used ones. I see Fulltone Fatboosts often on Ebay and that's not really a good sign.