What happened to the 'secret' pedal thread ?

[mr.twistyneck]

Greenbacks: that's a good idea - i have a marshall 4x12 in storage that has two greenbacks in the top, and two EV speakers in the bottom. that should be fun.

noise suppressor: well, i got it when it was cheaper to get the pedal than fix the head. have since fixed head, but just got used to having it. may not be necessary - that is, until you play out and you get that snotty-ass prima donna band member or sound guy crap "is that SOUND your AMP???" yes. yes it is. deal with it. LOL

The pick sound got way better when i switched to holding the pick between my middle finger and thumb rather than the traditional method of between index finger and thumb. you end up playing slightly different, and then you start having all these "ah-HA" moments as you slog through things that used to not sound quite right. also interesting to note that i could do the hummingbird picking with the traditional hold - but when i do it with the EVH hold, it just sounds closer. there's probably some physics at work here, perhaps future generations can look into that.

yup, lots of work to do on the recording technique. many cobwebs in the head to clear out. i used to religiously home record up til about 1997, then all sessions afterwards were either live on stage or in a proper studio. then i just quit recording and sat on the couch for about ten years. i hope to build a la-z-boy recliner that has dual marhsall 4x12s as the sides, a SL in the base, and a plexi control panel in one of the arms so i can lounge in my 100 Watt Marshall La-Z-Boy Recliner, but that's another dream for another thread.

[fhn_lopes]

Other things to notice:

Twisty is not using magical boutique pickups
He also isn't using greenbacks
The amp has no mods (so far I know) and it's not a 68 spec (mine is 71 as well)

On the other hand

He IS using a Variac (but not too low)
He IS using a dummy/attenuator
He IS using a MXR 6band
He IS using a Colorsound circuit
The amp is DIMED all the way.


Makes me think of what IS what IS NOT really the key ingredients (besides EXCELENT chops)....
My guitar playing tecnique came from different influences unfortunatelly (bluesy/funky stuff and some early metal).... Then I had that virtuoso part of our lives (like malmsteen shit and whatsoever) that I had to play fast.... but it helped in some aspects though.... But I'm not a VH type of guitarist .. I can see the chops are 1st key ingredient here..

[mr.twistyneck]

<snip>
Twisty is not using magical boutique pickups correct. last guitar i built was turn of the century and pickups were sourced from the used pickup bin at Broadway Consignment Music in Nashville (sorely missed)

He also isn't using greenbacks unsure if I could hear the difference. playing loud kills your hearing kiddies. but definitely worth experimenting; perhaps i could hear the difference after recording, letting my ears rest, and with headphones

The amp has no mods (so far I know) and it's not a 68 spec (mine is 71 as well) well...not entirely true. I believe i stated this on a thread elsewhere, but my beloved 1971 SL, nicknamed "Bill L." was restored at my direction to stock spec by Nashville Amplifier. Now, what spec that was is anyone's guess unless you want me to yank the chassis and flip it; happy to do so. I blew so many heads that Todd was up in arms, and i actually carted my entire stage rig into his shop and showed him what I did and we agreed the best thing to do was just put all my heads at stock spec. with Bill L. he asked if he could do two non-invasive switchable mods: 1. half power switch to 50 watts, and 2. Limit switch. he assured me that if they were off, they were out of the circuit. so i said, have at it. they do what they say they are gonna do. if you engage both, you've got about a 30 watt amp. but... it just didn't seem in the spirit of things, and the Hotplate was working well enough. also, by then i was experimenting with the ****** mod and blowing up my amps in completely new and different ways (mostly screen resistors and tubes with artificially shortened lives) and to be honest, i leave both mods switched out. oh, and by the way, the power tranny is probably not original, and i KNOW the OPT is non-original - it appears to be out of an old Plush head. and the tubes are the cheapest i could get. So....plexi spec - no. metal face spec yes. vintage - sorta. correct numbers matching only driven by the little old lady on sundays - not hardly. i bought Bill L. off of eBay as a basket case for 425 bucks and spent three times that putting him into playable condition, and then proceeded to blow him up several more times over the years.

On the other hand

He IS using a Variac (but not too low) True. i think the lower you go it gets too spongey. but then again, why trust MY ears...

He IS using a dummy/attenuator yup. and i'd use ******'s mod and try and really flesh out the variables...but i just don't have the resources to afford the risk. kids come first. i can live with what I have.

He IS using a MXR 6band not vintage. neither is the mxr flanger. the phase 90 is old...but not script

He IS using a Colorsound circuit true. and maybe i'll ping mr. throbak and ask him how to defeat that tone stack for grins

The amp is DIMED all the way.absolutely. that's how i roll. i've tried not doing that, and it makes me feel icky and cheap. why have knobs anyway? maybe i'll just solder the stuff together.....LOL

[jnewlyn]

What's up with the input on that schematic? is that a stereo jack that just has two contact points to the sleeve of the input cable?

The "LEVEL" thingy. Is that just a 6 position selector switch?

And lastly, near the bottom of the schematic, it says 2K A. Is that just a 2K pot with one lug just not connected to anything?

I'm gonna order up the parts as soon as I get this sorted out.

[mr.twistyneck]

from the web:

The Univox UD-50 Uni-Drive is one of the oldest overdrive pedals that were made. Jimi Hendrix used one in the studio on certain songs while recording at the Record Plant.

It rocks back and forth, similar to a wah or volume pedal. It also has 6 overdrive adjustments using the Input Level Dialer. Each setting clicks into place and increases the amount of volume and overdrive. The Pedal Range knob adjusts the pedal's sweep/volume ratio.

The Uni-Drive has a delicate mid-range tone, in the last two stages slipping into a mid-range distortion.

This is the first endorsement of a Univox product that Jimmy Page had given. He only used the Uni-Drive pedal in March 1971, on Led Zeppelin's Return To The Clubs Tour. After he stopped using the Uni-Drive pedal, he relied on the Marshall 1959SLP Amplifiers for volume boost and distortion, while also using the Volume knobs on his guitars for fine volume tuning.


hope that helps!

[jnewlyn]

It does help. So I guess I was right with those items. I'm gonna build one if I can source the stuff.

[rgorke]

Good thing Rockstah is banned....

For the record, this was said in jest. I have no gripe with Mark, he has helped me on many occasions. I know others have different views and I can respect those views. This one is mine.

[leadguy]

yup, lots of work to do on the recording technique. many cobwebs in the head to clear out. i used to religiously home record up til about 1997, then all sessions afterwards were either live on stage or in a proper studio. then i just quit recording and sat on the couch for about ten years. i hope to build a la-z-boy recliner that has dual marhsall 4x12s as the sides, a SL in the base, and a plexi control panel in one of the arms so i can lounge in my 100 Watt Marshall La-Z-Boy Recliner, but that's another dream for another thread.

Twisty, you have to market that 100 Watt Marshall La-Z-Boy Recliner

[Coot Boy]

It does help. So I guess I was right with those items. I'm gonna build one if I can source the stuff.

Hey James, how's it hangin? I'm gonna do this one too but I still haven't done the complete EP3 so I'll be looking forward to your appraisal of this one.

[jnewlyn]

No problem. This one seems pretty simple and is intriguing. I just hope some of those components haven't become that un-obtainium stuff.

[Good Guest]

No problem. This one seems pretty simple and is intriguing. I just hope some of those components haven't become that un-obtainium stuff.

Most any general purpose npn transistor will work with a unidrive ..there are no magic transistors , just all kinds of stuff that can be done to the circuit....especially the input or the output.....wouldn't it make sense to have a "permanent gain control " instead of a wah type volume ..if you were going to hide it? or had a fav setting? perhaps providing less noise and boost the input volume...now where have we heard stories like that before ??? Wonder what pedal is a good candidate for that?

[jnewlyn]

Yeah but if it's true, what would explain the additional cable in that thing?

I found and bought some 2SC859's anyway but now is where my electronics stupidity gets the better of me. I'm on mouser's website and I don't know where to start in buying the right capacitors. Tantalum, silicon, electrolytic, mylar, etc. With the EP-3 pre amp board and compressor board, I've seen photo's and was able to use as a guide but I'm pretty in the dark on this one. Any suggestions? I'm sure different types will be needed as there are a few and they serve different purposes but I don't know enough about their applications to be able to tell what type I need for what jobs they perform. Ratings too, the schematic tells some but all others have only values, no ratings. WTF?

Oh, and where the hell do you get a 40pF? Never seen one

[fhn_lopes]

Twistyneck, you have more in common to EVH now.. blowing amps like this ahahahah... Damn I'd cry hard if I get my amp fried. BTW, mine is metal panel specs too

The Throbak idea looks promising, lemme know if you ever make it... Been trying boosts all my life but never found that spongier thing you have and I beleave the colorsound circuit helps that without tighting things too much (like any TS-like pedal).

[Audiowonderland]

Man, I tell you... You DIDN'T USE greenbacks and it sounded damn close... I wouldn't bother at all with colorsound thing, just get this rig Through a pair of ROla greenbacks or some m75 scumbacks and you'll see what happends... pure mate...

.

I think black backs would be a better choice. I think that might be where some of the differences in attack people are hearing come from

[rgorke]

how the heck do you set the graphic EQ? i've got the 1.6 notched way up, but don't have any clue what i'm doing.

I would set the EQ like this...leave the 100 and 200 right where they are, bump up the 400 so that it is right at the "9" line. Set the 800 slider above the "9" line or a bit higher. Have the 1.6k match the 400 and the 3.2k match the 100 or 200.

The tone seems too bitey for me and I crack that up to the 1.6k being really too high.

Try those setting and see how you like it. For me, the 800 is where the tone really blooms.

Finally, I would quarrel with your statement of not knowing what you are doing.