NPBD! The FX of my youth...

[Antag]

For a while I've been thinking about some of the gear I used to have & the sounds I used to get in the 80s.  In particular I was interested in getting some of the pedals I used to own but in a nice tidy pedalboard with decent cables  (Back in the day I didn't have a board, used to just get them out of the toolbox when I wanted them.  It was such a pain to set up with cables trailing all over the shop that I often didn't bother).

Anyway, after a few months trawling ebay & elsewhere, I finally get what I wanted & assembled it this evening:

Pedaltrain 2
Lehle 3@1 switcher
Boss PSM-5 Power Supply & Masterswitch
Boss MZ-2 Digital Metalizer
Boss BF-2 Flanger
Boss CE-3 Chorus
Boss HF-2 Hi Band Flanger
Morley Bad Horsie Wah




EDIT: Apologies for poor pic quality, not got great lighting in the room + it was hard to find an angle where I didn't get glare off the CE3! :)

It's not a total nostalgia trip: the 3@1 wasn't invented back then but it's such a useful device I couldn't do without it now, and there's no way I could go back to a Crybaby after using the Bad Horsie which IMHO is better in every way.  Also there are several pedals I used to have that aren't here, either because I wouldn't use them (DF-2, SD-1, OC-2, DD-2) or because prices are insane (oh how I regret selling my PH-1R, DM-3 & DC-2 pedals!)

It's been fun getting this together & I'm very happy with the end result.  In particular, I'm so happy to have the HF-2 again - it's by far the best flanger I've ever heard & one of my all time favourite pedals.  Expect some of this stuff to pop up if/when I get round to posting clips again... :)

[gingataff]

How do you get on with the MZ-2?
I've got one of those and I used to love it when I was a teenager, but I'm not so convinced these days.

[Antag]

How do you get on with the MZ-2?
I've got one of those and I used to love it when I was a teenager, but I'm not so convinced these days.

Back in 1988 I was taken in by the words "Digital" (hey, it was 1988 :)) & "Metal" plus the black colour & red lettering so I bought one without demoing it.  From day one I never liked it as a metal pedal.  The distortion is horribly thin & the doubler modes aren't anything like as useful as I imagined.

However, I found an unintended use for it - with the drive & tone controls turned right down to 0 & "Cho II" mode engaged it acts as a really nice "crunch" boost on a clean amp channel.  With chorus built in, it does a decent Lifeson impression.  Also, I had to use a PSA type Boss pedal at the start of the chain so that I could power the ACA type ones - so even if I never turn it on, it serves a purpose. Plus I snagged it for £20 :D

[shobet]

I've a HF-2 as well, they are nice. It's a pity they're kind of lilac coloured.