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mhammerMemberQuote:From vibrato to phaser to filter (+ tremolo)
is what I did in the (non-OTA…) “Wahbrato”-labelled prototype… :now its aka: “WORM”
I haven’t actually played a Worm, yet, so I ask a naive question: Does it actually DO the phase-filter thing? That is, 2 stages allpass, followed by 2 stage lowpass? If you’ve never tried it (though somehow I doubt that could ever be
), its a wonderful swampy thing. Cancel the dry signal so that you only get the allpass/lowpass signal and its this gorgeous combination of vibrato, modulated wah and quasi-tremolo that, at medium speed, has voodoo written all over it. It’s a sound that deserves to be heard more often.
mhammerMemberThough I personally don’t consider it a criticism or shortcoming, just about every review I’ve seen of the Flanger Hoax depicts it as “deep”, implying that achieving a desired tone is not a simple matter, and almost demanding a more seasoned user. Certainly not as simple a matter as the good old “one-knobbers” (Small Stone, Doctor Q, Y-Triggered Filter, Small Clone, etc). And even though in a just world it shouldn’t have, I think that seems to have held it back in terms of sales. That’s just my opinion, though.
What I’m proposing for the Small Stone lies somewhere between the Flanger Hoax, and where the Small Stone is now. I’m thinking simple modulation box with just a few more tricks up its sleeve. There are all sorts of 3-knob phasers out there (Speed, Depth, Resonance), and with a digital implementation, Boss introduced Barber-pole phasing for the masses. But no one has ever produced a commercial Phase-filter effect from what I know, and for such a delightful signature sound it is such a simple thing to do on a Small Stone. The use of OTA stages provides some really nice easy-to-implement options, like converting stages from allpass to lowpass, staggering notches, and so on.
What else might the typical Small Stone owner/user like? Some kind of stereo output might be nice (e.g., an extra 90 degrees of phase shift for output 1 relative to 2), as would a vibrato option. And finally, for my money, a centering control (that shifts the overall range of where the notches are, without altering sweep width) would be delightful. So, two knobs (Rate, Center), a Color switch, Vibrato switch, Phase-filter/phaser switch, and a stereo output option of some kind, would give a great many players a wider palette to draw from than before. All of it still providing the same classic SS sound people have come to love. And if you want to throw in a ramp-up/ramp-down switch, there’s “that” market too.
But, but, but…you say…..we MAKE a fancy phaser already: the Polyphase! Yes, you do, and a fine phaser it is. But, there are some things it doesn’t do. And, if EHX can have more than one distortion, and more than one delay, and more than one chorus, it can have more than one or two phasers that each do different things, and appeal to different markets. Besides, if one already owns a few phasers, and has experimented with them in series or parallel, you’ll know there can be some really interesting sounds produced by having two of them at different speeds doing slightly different things.
mhammerMemberQuote:Well here’s the interview:http://www.gearwire.com/snamm08-electroharmonix-mikematthews-interview003.html
And yeah I’m mistaken about the reason being the chip. I guess a few bytes in my brain were fragmented. Crossed it over with the DMM chip supply only lasting another 2-3 years.
The reason he gives is that there was a lot of variation- some were awesome sounding, some were awful.
It is true that 4049 chips can vary a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer. I know those of us who use 4049s in DIY projects will often find that switching to a different 4049 manufacturer will sometimes make the difference between something working well and sounding good…or not. And we’re not talking about differences between *types* of 4049s, like buffered vs unbuffered.
Given that the Snarling Dogs Tweedy Dog and Black Dog are essentially copies of the original Hot Tubes, is it necessary or smart to produce an EHX version? On the other hand, it’s not like the distribution network for Snarling Dogs pedals is as big as that for EHX.
Either way, though, the omnipresence of adaptors and pedal-board power supplies makes the need for an AC-power supply for any SS reissue obsolete. I’ve run my own clones (and so does Snarling Dogs) successfully off a 9v battery for a long time now (and yes, we used to make clones in the 70’s too!). The battery doesn’t last a LONG time, but it’ll easily take you through a practice and gig. Certainly a small-box SS Hot Tubes would be feasible, and even cheaper to produce than the original, once you take the onboard transformer and power cord out of the picture.
Personally, I like 4049-based overdrives. They have a nice grunt to them. Think Keith Richards.
mhammerMemberActually, it doesn’t really need to be updated or changed much at all. Except perhaps to use SMT production methods. I bought one when they came out an it was a sweet little unit. Great for bass lines.
The questions to ask, though, are:
1) Is there a big enough market to justify producing something in an entirely different package from all the other current EHX products? (and there is no way that the membrane keyboard could be part of a diecast or folded-steel box).
2) Would the final price-point make it reasonable to sell when one considers the competiton from all the polyphonic sample/wave-table-based full keyboards out there that can be bought for under $200?
My guess is that the answer to both questions is “No”…..darnit!
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