lunedì 30 luglio 2018

Comments to the stomp clones list

So i've already published the list here

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/p/list-of-pedal-clones-for-overdrive-and.html

I will be updating since it is an unfinished work.

First comment is about Tube screamer clones: there are plenty and they have difference. I will not go into deep in that, just look at the switch some of them has to find the more versatile. Or buy one of the cheap ones like me and be happy with it.

There is a count of the number of clones per model, as you can see the most cloned stomps are near or less the most famous/used ones:

IBANEZ TS
PROCO RAT
SHURE RIOT
BIG MUFF
BOSS DS
MI AUDIO CRUNCH BOX
FULLTONE OCD

If you consider that the Shure Riot is an evolution of the Mi Audio Crunch Box and this one is based on the  Marshall Govnor, we have a total of 17 clones of the Marshall Guv'nor. I dont have one ut if you are in for a clone of one of this pedals, as far as i've read the a Suhr Riot clone is your best bet.

Anyway if you want to built a collection i suggest to start from the list above.

The list has some error, i will provide to fix while i review them.

I have included a "ZOOM" column due to the fact that i own a ZOOM G1xon. Zoom has other emulation spread in other product but this ones are included in almost every products.

The list is based on a mix of internet research, specs and info from the makers and some personal guess/intuition. Thanks to everyone who shared informations that help this list.

List of Pedal Clones for Overdrive and Distortion

ORIGINAL MOOER CALINE BEHERINGER MOSKY JOYO ROWIN ENO DONNER ZOOM valeton AROMA DANAELECTRO KOKKO STAGG BLAXX BIYANG NUX MUZIZY AMMOON N.CLONES ORIGINAL NOTE CHIP
IBANEZ TS GREEN MILE MIDLANDER TUBE OD/VINTAGE TUBE OD MINI SCREAMER VINTAGE OD/GREEN LEGEND 602/LEF-302B/LN-328 TUBE DRIVE - TUBE PUSHER
ln-323 AMP PUSHER/302A OVERDRIVE I
ES9 tc-17 BLUES DRIVE TSCREAM TUBE ENGINE/TUBE REFINER GREENIZER PRIDE OF TEXAS FOD3 OVERDRIVE OVERDRIVE PLUS/OVERDRIVE OD-10 MAD DRIVER  x drive OVERDRIVE OD3 ULTIMATE DRIVE 17 IBANEZ TS rowin+DONNER+STAGG ha hot/warm JRC4558
PRO CO RAT BLACK SECRET HEAD ROOM DISTORTION MODELER BLACK RAT DIST III/301C MYMORPHA SQUEAK DARK TALE BLACK TEETH MOUSE/MAX DISTORTION 10 PRO CO RAT bright-normal-warm sul biyang LM308
SHURE RIOT SOLO CRAZY TONE US DREAM DIST II 601B/ 301B/201B MORPHER MANIC DISTORTION DISTORTION PLUS DISTORTION 8 SHURE RIOT natural tight classic - BASATO SU MI AUDIO BASATO SU GOVNOR
BIG MUFF TRIANGLEBUFF VINTAGE DIST lef-305 HOLY WAR / LEF 605 HEAVY METAL / LEF 205 CARALY BMF STYLISH FUZZ GREAT MUFF FIRECREAM METAL 8 BIG MUFF ROWIN/STAGG HA HI/LOH/OFF -early santana
BOSS DS ULTRA DRIVE DISTORTION MODELER DIST IV 301d TRINITY/DA-3/TC-12 DS-10 DISTORTION FDS2 DISTORTION 7 BOSS DS rowin ultra extra original
MI AUDIO CRUNCH BOX CRUNCHER SANDSTORM CRUNCH DISTORTION CRUNCH LEF 601A CRUNCHBOX/LEF 301A TC-15/CLASSIC DS LA CHARGER 7 MI AUDIO CRUNCH BOX BASATO SU GOVNOR
FULLTONE OCD HUSTLE DRIVE LEON DRIVE OBSESSIVE ULTIMATE DRIVE TROUBLE/DSO2 TC16 COOL CAT DRIVE DISTORTION 7 FULLTONE OCD TONO SUGLI ALTI-SOLO CANALE DISTORTO
METAL MUFF BLADE CP-15 TANTRUM EXTREME METAL METALISTIK GIANT METAL 5 METAL MUFF donner ha hi/low/off
XOTIC RC BOOSTER PURE BOOST HIGHWAY MAN XP BOOSTER ROLL BOOST BOOST KILLER 5 XOTIC RC BOOSTER
BOSS BD2 BLUES DRIVER BLUES MOOD BLUES OVERDRIVE BD-10 BLUE 4 BOSS BD2 BLUES DRIVER VALETON CON FAT
TIMMY PURE SKY TM/MM SILVER TRANSPARENT OVERDRIVE 3 TIMMY
MARSHALL PLEXI CRUNCHER PLEXI DISTORTION LN 302 HUNK 3 MARSHALL PLEXI
MARSHALL BLUES BREAKER BLUES CRAB BLUES LN 301 lef 321 LEF 602A BLUESY 3 MARSHALL BLUES BREAKER
MARSHALL GUVNOR GOVERNOR DADDY-O OVERDRIVE 2 MARSHALL GUVNOR
CARL MARTIN PLEXITONE ENGLISHMAN HOT PLEXY DRIVE 2 CARL MARTIN PLEXITONE
ELECTRIC MISTRESS ELECLADY JET CONVULTION 2 ELECTRIC MISTRESS
KLON CENTAUR PEGASUS GOLDEN HORSE 2 KLON CENTAUR
XOTIC BB PREAMP ORANGE BURST BB PREAMP 2 XOTIC BB PREAMP
WAMPLER SUPER PLEXI RED DEVIL PLEXI DRIVE 2 WAMPLER SUPER PLEXI
BOSS OD1 OVERDRIVE OD-10 2 BOSS OD1
MARSHALL SHREDMASTER HIGH GAIN DISTORTION HIGH GAIN DISTORTION 2 MARSHALL SHREDMASTER
BOSS MT2 ULTRA METAL POCKET METAL 2 BOSS MT2 SWEDISH DEATH METAL
FULLTONE FULLDRIVE 2 CRAZY CACTI 1 FULLTONE FULLDRIVE 2
MXR D+ DIST+ 1 MXR D+
WAMPLER TRIPLE WRACK CP-15 TANTRUM tantrum 2 WAMPLER TRIPLE WRACK
DOD OD PREAMP WHITE HEAT 1 DOD OD PREAMP
BOSS SD FOD5 SUPA DRIVE 1 BOSS SD
DUMBLE GUMBLE LN-315/lef 315 1 DUMBLE BRIGHT/NORMAL SU ROWIN
RAMS HEAD FUZZ MOO 1 RAMS HEAD
MAD PROFESSOR SWEET HONEY SWEET BABY 1 MAD PROFESSOR SWEET HONEY
WAMPLER PLEXIDRIVE ROCKFACE 1 WAMPLER PLEXIDRIVE
DIGITECH DEATH METAL RAGE MACHINE 1 DIGITECH DEATH METAL
DOD 250 OVERDRIVE D250 1 DOD 250 OVERDRIVE
MAD PROFESSOR LITTLE GREEN WONDER GREEN DRIVE 1 MAD PROFESSOR LITTLE GREEN WONDER
BOSS HM2 HEAVY DISTORTION 1 BOSS HM2
BOSS OS2 OVERDIRVE DISTORTION 1 BOSS OS2
BOSS OD3 OVERDRIVE 1 BOSS OD3
BOSS PW2 POWER OVERDRIVE 1 BOSS PW2
BOSS HM3 SUPER METAL 1 BOSS HM3
BOSS DS2 ULTRA DISTORTION 1 BOSS DS2
BOSS XT2 DISTORTION X 1 BOSS XT2
DEC BUFFER OVERDRIVE DEC BUFFER BUSTER 1 DEC BUFFER OVERDRIVE
ZENDRIVE RUMBRLE DRIVE 1 ZENDRIVE
16 15 14 13 11 9 7 6 6 6 5 5 3 4 3 1 1 2 127
BULLET METAL
METALHEAD
HUSKY DRIVE
OLD SCHOOL
LION ROAR

The right way and the wrong way

Either if you look at guitar gods or at your friends that plays guitar in the basement or in some local stage, you may see a number of different approaches to gear/tones.

Here some sample for you:

1) The primitive guitarist: a guitar, a cable and an amp is all he need. Most of time i does not even use the reverb from the amp, preferring the ambience. You keep it simple, but you cannont archive anytone with that simple and you are down to 2 or 3 tones to do everything

2) The basic guitarist: add to the recipe a low number of stomps: distortion, delay, chorus, wah. With 3 or 4 pedals you can get almost everywhere exept for exotics like harmonizer

3) The stomp maniac: he has alarge pedalbord built with severalstomps and an even larger collection of stomps in his arsenal. With this type of approach you can go almost everywhere! It is not rare to find more than one pedal of the same type in this pedalboards, like 2 distortion, that may be the same model but with different settings. It looks like a cheap way but it is not cheap at all.

4) The multieffect guy. He is the evolution of the stomp maniac. The single stomps are replaced by a floor unit that can do everything and combination of effects can be recalled with a single foot strike. Very comfortable and also cheap.

5) The rackguy: the high end version of the mfx guy. Some use only a midrange rack unit, other may be in the range of the stomp collector. High quality, high flexibility, high control.

Ok, so, where do we go from here?

If you are reading this you probably own or plaw to own a Mustang amp.

Where do we place our beloved stang in this scale?

Obviously you can use the mustang like a primitive guitar player, but how far you can go from there?

Fender gave us a "limited" amount of flexibility, if you consider the number of effect and the number of symoultaneus effect. The basics are all covered, you also have the ability to manage combination so i think we can get in the real of the multieffect guy, but you need a bit of immagination to compensate the lack of flexibility.

3 Examples:

1) you have only one overdrive pedal, but you can compensate using different amp models. I think you can go really far, especially compare to a setup where you have 3-4 overdrive/distortion stomps but a regualr 1-3 channel amp

2) you cannot have wah and overdrive togheter but there is a pedal that do wah and fuzz together and you can twak the fuzz to act very much like an overdrive

3) you cannot have 2 delay in the chain, but you can use the pitch shift with no pitch as a simple delay

That said, what's the point here?

You my be asking what's the best way between the 5 above. Simply there is no right or wrong, it is just witch one works better for you. I may suggest you to keep it simple, or at least the simplier you can, but not too simple. One side you will risk to taste overprocessed on the other one consider that no reverb is ok only if  your room has a good natural reverb.

Another thing to consider is the organization. Let me explain how i see it.

1) The primitive switch only betwwen the 2 or 3 tone offered by the amp, i've seen some tweaking the amp between one song and the other, someone using more than one amp to get different tones (same amp with different setting or totally different amps)

2 and 3) Manage a tone change with this board may be tricky, just like a dance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk6-H9Xu9Io

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz2-wO6vBIo

4 and 5) Management is pretty similar, all that change is, eventually, the quality of tone you get.



Expanding the Mustang Capability

AS i've posted recently, i'm appily staying with my 'stang for now.

But i am planning change a bit my approach.

It all started with the idea of using a boost in front of some channell/preset to change/expand what the tone availables with my feets.

An easy task, i already own a KOKKO OVERDRIVE, that is a tubescreamer clone i bought for a cheap a while ago to experiment. But i really dont use it since i have overdrive already on in most of the preset where i need it.

I have read about the usage of a TS and i think it may work for me as a boost just by rolling the drive off, also rolling the tone off the make it a MID boos and then adjust the boost with the level.

So if i have a clean and a crunch tone in the mustang foot switch, by activating the boost i should have a blusy dirt tone and a middish solo. A nice range of possibility.

I also had another situation that may be solved in a similar way. When i play Satriani and Slash/guns'n roses stuff i usually need a clean, a dirt and a (auto) wah tone. So i need 3 presets. This are actually the only 2 wah presets in the 24 stored in the amp. If i externalize the wah function i will free to memory slot in the amp and i will have better access to the thing. As a plus i could engaged the wah in any preset and experiment with this will be a lot of fun.

I choose the cheap donner dynamic wah for this. The Moer @Wah was the best choice but the Donner looks both cheap and good.

But when i started the search i found that there is much more than this that can be done to expand my tone galaxy. The next move is adding a distortion pedal. If you have a v2 'stang you have access to models of Boss DS1, ProCo Rat and Big Muff.

But i have a v1 and this is ok since i want it to be "out" of the amp.

Anyway thes led me to a complicate search to find the right distortion for me. Actually i think that a Boss DS clone will be my choice since i am actracted by the VAI lead tone and also i see i lot of options in this pedal, especially in the Keeley modded clones like the Mooer Ultra Drive and the ENO TRINITY.

In the next post i will share with you the map i made of the cheap overdrive/distortion clones, how to use stomp boxes in front of the mustang and how work the stomps i will test.

Meanwhile here is a picutre of the stomps i choose in the order i plan to use it:


mercoledì 18 luglio 2018

The dance of the guitar player (AKA the footswitch dilemma)

The main limit to me in the Mustang I has always been the footswitch.

From the single footswitch i can access to only 3 preset: the green one and the red one. I can select witch one from the 24 saved on the 3 banks. But still i am limited to 2 preset.

Many songs i play need a 3rd tone to make it complete tonewise (and somme other nned only one...).

I've thinked about this problem in a million different ways, this is the last one.

Just imagine the average Joe with an average valve amp and a decent set of somps. No rack, midi or multieffect.

He as 3 channels: one clean, and 2 overdrive, usually a crunch and a lead channel. So 3 basic amp sounds, a clean, an overdrive for the rtythm (maybe less mids here) and a "more overdrive" for the leads (maybe more mids here).

From this basics he add the stomps, say a Tube screamer to doubles the number of channels (giving a bluesy crunch from the clean and overdrive with different characters from the other 2), one or 2 delay and a reverb in the effect loop, something like a chorus where you like better and so on.

But lets get back to campare the 3 channel valve amp with my digital amp.

How many channell will i need?

I have 5 clean preset actually, using 2 different models: a Fender 65 and a Fender 57. And there is a reason for it. Giving that i have 2 preset based on the same with or without corus, i can nail it down to ONLY 4 diffrent BASIC clean tones:

1 - Metal Clean, that is basically a dark but well defined and acustic clean
2 - The piezo, very acustic with a lot of attac
3 - The Deluxe reverb, with gain compression and middish tone
4 - A clean that i call stomper that is shaped for the best tone with pedals like the metal zone

I can, near or less imagine that i could compromise on a "Metal clean" channel and get "The piezo" with a good compression, but there is no way to get The Deluxe Reverb from the same channel with the same EQsettings.

See the problem?

The Dirty tone situation is not that much different. I use the American 90 and the Metal 2K in equal mesure, and i have some patch with the British 80. But all the patches have different EQ.

Fender Mustang (the old ones) vs Mustang GT (the new ones)

I've been thinking about "upgrade" since ever the new mustang line appeared.

2 things really held me back:

1) i spent really few time playing so it was not a wise money investment

2) i should have worked out all my presets in to the new amp

On the other side i am really happy with my actual preset, they sound as i like, and, afterall, if you are happy with the result there is no real reason to change.

But there is more. Or , if you like me to say so, i found more about this.

Dont get me wrong. I think that the GT is a very good tool, but maybe is not the tool for me...

1) the direction of the new amp is obvious: this is more like a studio amp, less like a practice/performance amp. Just look at the speakers. Many people are unhappy with the GT speakers. Maybe they expect something different to what the amp was designed for.

2) 40w is too much for me, i am ok with my actual amp power, if things where different i would have bought a mustang 3

3) the old footswitch configuration of the GT is a step back the one in the III IV V

And since footswitch limit in the MI is my only concern i decide to try to find a different solution.

I'll be back with another post!