The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 5

So the big thing is getting that high end sound out of items that usually don't get thought of as such. One of the first companies that came up with the rack sound in a pedal was TC Electronic.

The problem with stuff like that is yes you get a rack sound, in a pedal, but the price is usually closer to a rack, than a pedal. I had one on loan to me for awhile, and when my friend started calling me asking for it back, I actually started dodging his calls for a day or two! The Sound was amazing, it had a nice Hi-fi like feel to it, certainly a modern sound that could get nice and glassy. It was one of those situations where it didn't clutter up what was already going on tone wise, but just added "more"

Recently TC said they can't make them in large amounts anymore, as some of the components aren't getting made as much, and as technology is progressing, there's less and less need for those components. Eventually the manufacturer will stop making them all together.

So TC decided to make one of their Corona Chorus pedals, with the retro graphics and a downloadable tone print (that works on the regular graphics version of the corona chorus as well). With a Street price of $129, its nice to see that rare-ish high end stuff I used to drool over, alot more available, and well within almost any budget.

If the Tone Print is as good as the original, It's worth getting either the green or the classic looking one, but I know I'd prefer the vintage looking one.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 4

Chorus is an 80's Effect, it was perfected then, and like the 80's it was overused like Aquanet, and Dayglow colors that was finally defeated by Seattle flannel, and College Radio.

So in the Spirit of things 80's I give you "That 80's Rack Chorus", by Fulltone:

Now Multi Effects were standard in the 80's, but this comes from an era where if you wanted a Rack effect, that one box did ONE thing. Need a chorus, well that's one rack unit.Need a Delay?, well, you got a rackmount Delay unit. Later on things got combined into things like Multiverbs and the like. But this is a re-creation of that classic "dyno-my-Piano" chorus effect. I haven't played through one of these myself, but If there's anything that could make me go back to a rack system it's this. 

This is a video of Pete Thorn putting one through the paces:

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 3

When you add something to a rig, you really don't want to have that new item take something away. Honestly, I used to think that Eric Johnson's ears were probably OCD the way he described how certain effects needed to placed far away from each other for noise reduction, cables that were to thin or too bassy sounding, different batteries sounding different in different effects.

Then it happened to me. I retired my aforementioned Fender Ultra Chorus and got a Fender Prosonic Tube 2x10. Boss/Roland always did the best chorus, in my opinion, as they kind of perfected that effect for the masses, so I got the Super Chorus CH-1.

My Mesa V-twin was retired and I used the Prosonic's overdrive (and at this point it's the only amp I regret parting with), the aforementioned DD-3, and a VOX Wah. But as soon as I plugged the CH-1 into the signal path, something happened. The top end of my entire sound lost about 20%. I was perplexed. I checked cables, knobs, tubes and each pedal to come the conclusion that this CH-1 pedal just sucked the tone out of my signal. Bummer. I kind of did without it, and I didn't really have any issue playing with no chorus. I returned it to Guitar Center, thanks to their liberal return policy.

I mentioned this issue to a friend, and he suggested a Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus. Danelectro had made a comeback of sorts, with some cool retro style guitars, and some effects pedals that had nods to the past. Their Dan-echo was very tape delay esque, and I heard good things about their overdrives being natural. My friend said it was as close to a Boss CE-2 that you could get and not break the bank.

So I got one of the Cool Cat Chorus Pedals. The design was very retro looking, and only had a speed and "chill" knob. I Set the Speed to like 10%, and the chill to maximum. There was no tone suck at all. I was kind of amazed that a newcomer (as Im sure someone just bought the danelectro name) got the tone beat. The effect was nice and spacious, and if it was cranked it still had a musical warble that was nice and jucy. It had a special power supply (18V) and in the days before Multi voltage pedalboard power supplies being common, the extra wall wart on my pedalboard was kind of a bummer, but my friend was right, it was very CE-2 like. Years later, when I got my hands on a real CE-2, I did a quick comparison. and it's hyper close. Eventually I sold the cool cat, but it's a great value for the $.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 2

 Admittedly this post isn't about a particular chorus unit, but to really hear a stereo effect, you need 2 sound sources, a left and a right signal. For guitar players that means two amps or an amp that has stereo capabilities. There are still some amps out there that have stereo options, usually a 2x10, or a 2x12. I've have some experiences with a few, and these still stick out in my mind, even years later.

The JC-120 is probably THE amp I have a love and hate relationship with. The cleans are beyond amazing, but the dirty channel is pretty weak for most applications. Joe Satriani used one with a Boss-DS1 for a few tracks on "surfing with the alien", so it's not a lost cause for dirty tones. The clean sound on Metallica's Enter Sandman is a JC-120, and that tone is instantly identifiable.

I had a friend that had a pair of them for awhile, and He let me try them out for a few rehearsals. Using a few various Distortion pedals, including my Mesa V-twin Pedal preamp.  I could get some nice tones out of them. I preferred the one that had the non metallic speaker cones. They seem to hold their value in the used market, so getting a good one at a cheap price is almost impossible. The price on new ones hasn't moved all that much either.

I did, however get a Fender Ultra Chorus (later called the Ultimate Chorus). It was kind of like a non tube Fender twin configuration. It was all solid state, with stereo Chorus (hence the name) and reverb, and 2 channels.

Honestly, the overdrive wasn't good, It was notchy, and blocky-ish. But the cleans could make a virgin look like a hollywood hooker. I ran a Boss DD3 delay in the effects loop, and a Mesa Boogie V-twin pedal in the front. It really was an amazing rig, with that warm tube tone from the Mesa Boogie, and those cleans with the chorus were spacious and rich. If you're going to get that true stereo effect, a chorus pedal into 2 sseparate amps is the way to go. But this configuration gave the same effect, in a smaller package. This lil rig did me well for a long time, and fit into the trunk of my 94 Ford Escort easily.

The Twelve Days of Chorus - Part 1

I remember the first time I heard it, a friend of mine had a DOD Chorus, He was running it in Mono, so wasn't true stereo, but the spaciousness it had was amazing! He was gracious enough to let me borrow it for a night, and that neat warble had me in it's clutches for years afterwards.

Working part time when you're a teen can suck cash wise, but eventually I got myself a used Digitech PDS-1700. The battery cover was missing, and the music store had it in their version of a "cut out bin". I think I paid $70 for it. It did Chorus AND a flanger. Digitech at the time was DOD's upscale brand, and while it might have technically been better. I think the DOD version sounded better. 

As the years went by, I delved into rackmount effects, and of course there was chorus. At this point I was playing in bands where I was the only guitarist, and I needed to fill out the sound, and this was an invaluable tool. 

Later on I got involved in bands that had a lead singer that also played guitar, and Chorus kind of just muddled things up in the mix. By this point I was primarily using it as a slight modulation, usually only on clean parts, with some delay and reverb for some ambient tones. 

I'm lucky to have an original Boss-CE2, and I had Robert Keeley go through it, replacing the leaky capacitors, and replacing some of the components for cleaner sound, and higher fidelity. He did a great job of it, and I have to say, I' never part with it.

Currently I'm using a Dreamscape by TC electronic. I did a review HERE on it a few years ago for Performer Magazine. It's very versatile, but again, I really only have it set for a wide spread in a shallow sense. We'll talk about that one in a future post.

I love inside jokes, and jokes that keep on giving. A few years ago at a NAMM show I ran into my friend Bobbo. He asked "did you see anything new that's interesting?' I just shrugged and pointed over to the nearby Tech21 booth, and said "well Tech21has a new chorus pedal" not thinking much of  my suggestion. Bobbo's response was simple and to the point:

"If you're into that sort of thing"

Admittedly it was funny, even now. He then was kind of like "aww shit". It was just such a knee jerk reaction that brings a smile to my face to this day. 

Since then I post and share videos of new Chorus devices and tag Bobbo, just for fun, At least I have fun. "if you're into that sort of thing" is a great tag line (ahem, new album title?) In this day and age it's nice to have a laugh at something that really doesn't matter in so many ways. So to take the laughs to another level, I bring you the "Twelve Days of Chorus". Every day from now until December 24th 2016 I will be sharing some of the best (maybe worst, depending on your tastes) examples of this wonderful effect that the internet has to offer.

Bobbo this one (and the next 11) are for you!

Telecaster Upgrades!

Tele Upgrades.

Now when I first started playing in the mid 1980's I actually took my first few months of lessons on a friend’s blonde 68 Telecaster, so while back then I really couldn’t play, I knew that there was something in that sound that only a tele has, and now I was on a quest to recapture it. But, my current tele was missing something. It had the standard bridge, and I wanted it swapped out for a Wilkinson vintage style one. I was nervous, as I liked the idea of each string having its own saddle, as opposed to 2 strings sharing one on a vintage style bridge. But seeing a lot of high end “clones” like Suhr, Nash, and Danocaster using these vintage style bridges I figured if those fairly high end instruments came that way I shouldn't worry.

Why not change the pickups? Wouldn’t that be easier? In theory yes, it would. But I already changed the pickups from the stock ones to a set of Vintage Hot hum cancelling set from Guitar fetish. Some people may scoff at their stuff, but in talking to a lot of people, it’s a “your mileage may vary” situation with any pickup. I have one of their “VEH” (guess who they’re referencing there) humbuckers in a parts caster, and It really delivers a nice slightly hotter vintage PAFish pickup sound. Their prices are beyond reasonable, too. So I had good luck with them, and tried them out. The hum cancelling feature was good, but the pickups were lacking something. So I went down the rabbit hole again, and started looking at pickups again.

After having a talk with a few people, I realized changing the bridge might fix my tonal mojo. I found out that after switching the bridge of my PRS Mira, that such a major tonal change happened, I stopped looking at pickups to mod that guitar. 

Before, with the American Standard Bridge

The replacement

I looked at various high end bridges, and saddles that could work. A friend suggested making a “backwards” upgrade, and go with a vintage style bridge.  After a little research, I found a few people that did this mod to Mexican and American tele’s that had the bridge I currently had, and faced the same issues I was experiencing. Again the 3 vs 6 saddle situation kind of made me worried, but I think the brass saddles, combined with a thinner, pressed steel bridge, as compared to the thicker steel would brighten things up just enough.

After getting it back from Mouradian guitars (who I can’t say enough nice things about) it was amazing! Acoustically it snapped much more (I’ll admit new strings help) but it felt tighter too. The only bummer is the “butt crack”; on vintage tele’s about 1/16” of the tele’s pickup rout stick out on the sides of the bridge. They’re, only visible when playing, or looking at it when the guitar is a certain angle. It doesn’t affect the structure or tone, and if that’s the way it was back in the day, I can deal with it. My idea was to get a more “tele” tone, and a vintage look.

Afterwards

The "Butt Crack"

Plugging it in, I was extremely satisfied. There’s plenty of that extra snap/high end that I was looking for, and the low end tightened up a lot! The raised edge of the bridge is really nice to anchor my pinky on, but doesn’t get in the way of any palm muting. Problem solved. The bridge cost me $40, and the installation was $40. 

I do have some future mods in mind, locking tuners are on the list, and that should be the last structural/tonal mods. I might upgrade the nut to a Tusq or an actual bone nut, as well. There are some cosmetic changes I’d like to do, possibly change the pickguard & control plate to an unfinished aluminum, as well as changing the knobs to a dome knob with a big knurl (almost cheese grater style). It’s also a very clean guitar, I’d like it to get some wear on it, but now I can get that wear from actually playing this one, rather than generating some faux patina or “relic-ing”. 

So does this keep me from drooling over other guitars, of course not, but it does keep the GAS at bay, at least for a Tele. Still want that Short scale fender or a Baritone. But that’s another story.

Upgrades & Mods to keep GAS away.

We've all said it "just one more guitar". Yes you already have several, but justifying a new one isn't a task. I've had more than a few, just below the line I could call a "collection". Now my guitar quantity status sits more in the "Tools that I use" situation.

GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome) isn't easy to overcome, but over the years, I think I've gotten through the worst of this affliction. I've found guitars I love, and use on a regular basis. No wall/case queens at this point.

It does rear it's ugly head from time to time, and in the past few years I've beaten it down in an interesting way. I've made the conscious decision to make the guitars I use more use able, modifying them to my current needs. I'm not making irreversible structural changes. Thankfully I don't own any vintage or rare instruments that I wouldn't be de-valueing. Here's the rundown on my "to-do" list to my current stable of guitars:

Telecaster. I parted ways with a custom G&L ASAT to get this Made in Mexico Tele. Yes, they guy I swapped it with got a great guitar. I never really bonded with the G&L, and it pretty much sat unused for years. Since getting my Tele, It's gotten a ton more use than the G&L ever did. However even after swapping out the original pickups with some Guitarfetish stacked tele pickups, there's something missing. It's a little dull. I started to think I might need to change the bridge saddles, and I looked for a few high end tele bridges. A friend suggested I don't upgrade, but downgrade to a vintage styled tele bridge.

A little research proved successful in finding a bridge that would fit on my Tele without alot of mods. I just purchased it, but I'll have to wait, I do have an appointment with Mouradian Guitars in December. I hope tone christmas comes early. The only thing I really wish i could change is the color, it's a great looking guitar, but needs a bit more "patina" or relicing. Making it a more playable guitar means it'll get played more, wearing in, getting some scratches and dings to add to it's presence.

50's Reissue strat. This one got a TON of mods done last year. Soon I'll have some in depth details on this one in an upcoming issue of performermag.com. But to make a long story short, I now have 3 Seymour Duncan Stacked single coils in it, a pickguard that has a reverse angle on the bridge pickup. The wiring's ben tweaked a bit too. After doing all this work, it's become alot more useful to me, and I recently did a gig with it, and played for all 3 sets!

I still have alot to do on this one though. As I mentioned above, I realized that changing the bridge can make a big difference in tone. I did need to change the pickups on this, especially for the hum cancelling properties. I'm eyeballing a John Mann PRS Style Tremolo bridge for this one. I love the trem on my CE24, and bringing this element to my strat would make the tremolo (and the overall guitar) more useful. I'm also trying to find a locking tuner that will work nicely, as well as possibly a new bone nut on it. I do have some adjustments to the wiring to make too.

PRS CE. This is a tough one, It's been my main guitar since 1995, it's gotten TONS of use, from so many bands and projects throughout the years. After playing my Mira with the newer tuning pegs, I've decided to swap out the old ones with the winged locking collet. John Mann said he can re-use the casings, and re-do the innards with the new ones.

I always toyed with swapping pickups, but I have kind of filed that under "tinkering for tinkering's sake". I knew alot of PRS Guys that were swapping pickups out on a regular basis, I never had a problem with the stock ones, but it might be time for a slight change. It came with black pickups and black pickup rings. I swapped the rings out for chrome ones a long time ago to give it some "bling". While it does make things pop a bit more visually, I think the black rings with some chrome or nickle covered pickups might give it a more of a classic look. So i'm on the hunt for an interesting set of modernish pickups. I've thought of a Duncan Custom in the bridge, and a 59 in the neck. I've been hearing alot of good things about Barekunckle pickups, and I've been checking them out. Choosing pickups can really be one of those "down the rabbit hole" scenarios. So I'm trying to be reasonable, and taking my time on this.

Will all these mods keep the GAS gremlins at bay? Kinda. I have less urges to seek out other guitars that kind of do alot of the same things I can get out of the guitars I already have. It keeps things simple. and as I already like the way these guitars already play. However It doesn't solve the urge for things like a baritone or a short scale Fender Mustang/Jaguar/Jazzmaster. But I can deal with that urge after all these other guitars are already sorted out!