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May 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm #83474renzulliParticipant
I’ve been looking for an EHX attack decay pedal for along time now which have been discontinued since the eighties. They’re quite rare and thus expensive on ebay.
I’ve noticed that the Riddle envelope filter for gutar has a separate attack and decay knob. Is it possible to get an ‘tape reverse’ effect on this pedal (think ‘Castles made of sand’-Hendrix)? I’ve heard a lot of pedals that are supposed to create this effect but none hold up to their promise or they are combined with a delay effect. The only effect that comes close is the Prescription Electronics ‘Experience” but does not have a lot of controls. Is there any EHX effect that provides a serious tape reverse effect without delay?May 10, 2014 at 7:58 pm #119956The EH ManModeratorHow about the Pigtronix Attack Sustain? Designed by EH alumni Howard Davis.
May 11, 2014 at 6:13 pm #119958renzulliParticipantI’ve read a lot of forum comments and they all claim that pigtronix is interesting but doesn’t really comes close to the EHX attack decay pedal, just as a lot of volume/swell pedals. I think it’s a shame that EHX doesn’t built a reissue of such a great pedal. There are a lot of video’s on youtube that show the sound and versatility of these pedals, but none of them really hold up to their promise such as the Danelectro Back Talk, Boss Slow Gear or the tape reverse option on the Boss Digital Delay 7 which all sound ugly and are pretty useless. I have a Snarling Dog Foot pedal (built like a Wah pedal) which has an volume and tape reverse option. But it is not really suited to simulate tape reverse in a solo since you have to move the foot pedal all the way up and then all the way down to achieve the maximum point that gives the characteristic effect of the tape reverse effect. This will not work well since the phrasing of a solo consist of very long but very fast notes too and the latter ones are a problem having to move a foot pedal all the way up or down which takes just too long. Thus pretty useless as well. Volume pedals have different characteristics that don’t really sound like a tape reverse effect.
I remember having seen and hearing a Marshall Cream Machine effect top around 1986 that had a very impressive tape reverse effect but I haven’t found such a device on ebay or internet at all. Nobody seems to know about a Marshall Cream Machine.
Again; anything that comes close at the moment is the Prescription Electronics Experience.May 11, 2014 at 10:14 pm #119959The EH ManModeratorThe only Cream Machine I’m familiar with is the Hughes & Kettner. It’s just a straightforward tube preamp.
May 12, 2014 at 1:17 pm #119961theodorMemberQuote:I’ve read a lot of forum comments and they all claim that pigtronix is interesting but doesn’t really comes close to the EHX attack decay pedal, just as a lot of volume/swell pedals. I think it’s a shame that EHX doesn’t built a reissue of such a great pedal. There are a lot of video’s on youtube that show the sound and versatility of these pedals, but none of them really hold up to their promise such as the Danelectro Back Talk, Boss Slow Gear or the tape reverse option on the Boss Digital Delay 7 which all sound ugly and are pretty useless. I have a Snarling Dog Foot pedal (built like a Wah pedal) which has an volume and tape reverse option. But it is not really suited to simulate tape reverse in a solo since you have to move the foot pedal all the way up and then all the way down to achieve the maximum point that gives the characteristic effect of the tape reverse effect. This will not work well since the phrasing of a solo consist of very long but very fast notes too and the latter ones are a problem having to move a foot pedal all the way up or down which takes just too long. Thus pretty useless as well. Volume pedals have different characteristics that don’t really sound like a tape reverse effect.
I remember having seen and hearing a Marshall Cream Machine effect top around 1986 that had a very impressive tape reverse effect but I haven’t found such a device on ebay or internet at all. Nobody seems to know about a Marshall Cream Machine.
Again; anything that comes close at the moment is the Prescription Electronics Experience.The attack decay i believe was designed by the guy who branched off to make pigtronix. So the pigtronix attack sustain, and the philosopher king ARE reissures of a sort-supposedly improvements on the ehx design. i didn’t know the attack decay did anything other than these volume swells and on youtube it appears to be very similar to the pigtronix in function.
from pigtronix site
“Back in 1978 I designed the Attack Decay for Electro-Harmonix to answer the need for a tape-reverse effect pedal. It did that and much more, and its price has since gone through the roof. It was not polyphonic however; it could only track single notes. In 2006 I created the ATTACK SUSTAIN as a state-of-the-art, polyphonic upgrade, and it can do far more than the original Attack Decay. This is a true amplitude-envelope synthesizer for guitar, far more versatile and easier to play than its predecessor. I’m proud of it!” — Howard “Mick” Davis
then he released another improvement with the philosopher king, which is great.
however, if you are just looking at youtube videos: it depends a lot on how people order this effect, or use with delay etc. the first attack decay demo is run into overdrive and delay for a start, but actually isn’t doing much more than a volume pedal and drive pedal could do.
but if you want reverse—-get a smm/hazarai as nothing will come close to actual reversed sounds and the intelligent reverse echo helps with phrasing that…
May 13, 2014 at 6:24 pm #119969renzulliParticipantAllright. I’ll check it out. Thanks for your info.
May 16, 2014 at 6:18 pm #119976Folkstone57MemberI would love for EHX to come up with an AD pedal as I am in the process of trying to find one. I’m trying out the Malekko & a Moeer is on it’s way but I would certainly prefer to buy one from EHX. Since I don’t use or have a VOL knob on my Electric but I do occasionally need the FX, it’s one of the must-haves for my pedalboard. It would be great if it weren’t just a sensitivity & decay knob set-up, but more like the AD set-up on the Micro-Synth or H.O.G. I don’t really care about reversing the input because there are plenty of delay pedals out there that can do that just fine. It would also be nice if it had the option of taking the SESN out of the pedal, so that with each note, no matter how loud of soft, the FX would kick in if the last note is damnped.
December 31, 2015 at 1:01 am #121135renzulliParticipantQuote:Allright. I’ll check it out. Thanks for your info.I have dug through tons of guitarforums and youtube video’s to find more information on a tape reverse effect pedal. The comments of Theodore on the pigtronix attack sustain/ philosophers king and EHX ssm-hazarai were helpful. I’ve seen a number of other delay pedals on top of these and I would like to know if you can totally isolate the tape reverse effect from the delay effect since I’m only interested in the tape reverse effect with no delay at all. I haven’t been able to try these pedals since these are not present in local guitarshops here. If I want to try them I have to order them or buy them first on ebay without knowing on forehand if they will be what I’m looking for. I’ve ordered a Prescription Electronics Experience pedal last month for $300 but don’t like it at all. It’s a far cry from the tape reverse sounds on Jimi’s ‘Castles made of Sand’ and ‘Are you Experienced’. I don’t like the fuzz, and the swell/tape reverse option only responds for half the time and then only with the tone knob set all dark. I’ve had a Snarling Dogs Erogenous pedal which was totally useless when operated in a medium-fast solo setting.
So what about the one-to-one tape reverse effect without the delays or tap functions for the following pedals?;
– Pigtronix attack sustain/philosopher’s king
– EHX ssm-Hazarai
– Strymon Timeline/El Capistan
– Empress Tape delay/Superdelay
– Eventide Timefactor
– Line6 Echo Park/ DL4
Any other suggestions are welcome.February 11, 2020 at 11:28 pm #125823renzulliParticipantTape Reverse effect – Expression pedal
I bought a Memory man with Hazarai last year and an AttackDecay pedal a while later.
A realistic Tape Reverse effect still seems quite elusive to emulate. Not quite satisfied yet.
The greatest problem creating a realistic Tpe Reverse effect seem to be:
1 – Playing a solo it consists of longer and shorter notes. Thus geting the Swell and Decay function correctly.
2 – With many pedlas out there you cannot decouple the reverse function from the delay function (MemorymanHazarai, Line6 Pod, Danelectro BackTalk etc.)The Memory Man has a nice cutoff at the end of the tone, just like the real thing when the pedal control knobs are at their most extreme position. But the downaide of this pedal is that even at its most extreme setting the signal cannot be totally dislocated from the delay function i.e repeats. Another downside is that it takes a while for the signal to get started in this setting after picking the note.
Now the Attack Decay pedal does not suffer from these repeats since it is not coupled to a(digital/anaologue)delay.
But a real Tape reverse effect swells slowly and then is suddenly cut off at its apex.
With the Attack Decay the signal fades away slowly at the end. This can be altered of course with the Decay-knob but then you get these staccato like repeats. Now it sounds more like the Japanese Banjo from the EHX instruction video(when trying to shorten the cutoff by turning back the decay knob counter-clockwise) which is not at all what you’re looking for when trying to do a Tape Reverse effect. Consequently you have to turn down the Attack-knob now too but that doen’t do the trick.Furtermore: When playing a solo it consists of long and shorter notes. This is a problem for the Attack-knob on the AttackDecay pedal.
Try playing the “Castles made of Sand”-solo correctly with this pedal. You’ll have a hard time.The manual states that an EHX Expression foot Pedal can be hooked up to the Attack Decay an give you direct control over each control-knob on the Attack Decay.
My question now is:
1- does anyone have some experience with an Expression pedal on the AttackDecay (decay/attack-knob),
2- and more specific in creating a more realistic cutoff at the end of the guitar note like on the Memory Man Tape Reverse effect.
3- Or could this cutoff (like the MemoryManHazarai)be achieved by other technical means?February 11, 2020 at 11:30 pm #125824renzulliParticipantTape Reverse effect – Expression pedal
I bought a Memory man with Hazarai last year and an AttackDecay pedal a while later.
A realistic Tape Reverse effect still seems quite elusive to emulate. Not quite satisfied yet.
The greatest problem creating a realistic Tpe Reverse effect seem to be:
1 – Playing a solo it consists of longer and shorter notes. Thus geting the Swell and Decay function correctly.
2 – With many pedlas out there you cannot decouple the reverse function from the delay function (MemorymanHazarai, Line6 Pod, Danelectro BackTalk etc.)The Memory Man has a nice cutoff at the end of the tone, just like the real thing when the pedal control knobs are at their most extreme position. But the downaide of this pedal is that even at its most extreme setting the signal cannot be totally dislocated from the delay function i.e repeats. Another downside is that it takes a while for the signal to get started in this setting after picking the note.
Now the Attack Decay pedal does not suffer from these repeats since it is not coupled to a(digital/anaologue)delay.
But a real Tape reverse effect swells slowly and then is suddenly cut off at its apex.
With the Attack Decay the signal fades away slowly at the end. This can be altered of course with the Decay-knob but then you get these staccato like repeats. Now it sounds more like the Japanese Banjo from the EHX instruction video(when trying to shorten the cutoff by turning back the decay knob counter-clockwise) which is not at all what you’re looking for when trying to do a Tape Reverse effect. Consequently you have to turn down the Attack-knob now too but that doen’t do the trick.Furtermore: When playing a solo it consists of long and shorter notes. This is a problem for the Attack-knob on the AttackDecay pedal.
Try playing the “Castles made of Sand”-solo correctly with this pedal. You’ll have a hard time.The manual states that an EHX Expression foot Pedal can be hooked up to the Attack Decay an give you direct control over each control-knob on the Attack Decay.
My question now is:
1- does anyone have some experience with an Expression pedal on the AttackDecay (decay/attack-knob),
2- and more specific in creating a more realistic cutoff at the end of the guitar note like on the Memory Man Tape Reverse effect.
3- Or could this cutoff (like the MemoryManHazarai)be achieved by other technical means? -
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