Family Shot

after seeing a picture of my pedalboard on the Boss/Roland Website I thought I would update a new family pic......

Adamas Guitar Picks

Ok..... so I stumbled across some bags of "new old stock" Adamas Guitar Picks at a music shop.  I don't need all of these but if you would like to purchase some from me I am selling them 3 for $15 or individually for $7.  There is no charge for shipping.  Just give me your address and I can get them out.  If you already don't know they are a graphite composit that is no longer made... you can't buy these at any retail or online guitar establishment and are very rare.  There is nothing like this pick, in fact Jerry Garcia, Trey Anastasio, Phil Lesh and Santana used these.  They will only increase in value over the years.... trust me, I have used no other pick since discovering these.

just shoot me an email if interested in buying

cavefish34@yahoo.com

Way Huge Swollen Pickle

Before there was "Boutique", there were a handful of people tinkering with electronics in the early 90's as a hobby. There wasn't all the information accessible as there is today on the Internet. Sure there were a few Basic Electronic's Handbooks but not many geared towards musicians. Guitarists are infamous for wanting to alter or tweak their tone and they can never "leave well enough alone". There was Prescription Electronics, Fulltone, Voodoo Labs and a handful of other builders like Analog Mike making a name for themselves. Jeorge Tripps came up with the name "Way Huge" when he was 18 working at a music store in Monterey California. He came up with quirky names like Aqua Puss, Red Llama, Purple Platypus, Saffron Squeeze, Blue Hippo, Tone Leper, Piercing Moose, Foot Pig, Camel Toe, Sasquatch, Super-Puss and Swollen Pickle. He wanted to just have fun by making these unique and quirky pedals because he knew most musicians are well..... kinda weird themselves. They were not only quirky pedals, they used great electronic designs and developed a cult-following very fast. Unfortunately, it was very short-lived much like another famous boutique builder Lovetone but that's what makes them much-desired collectibles today. By the time he had just gotten started, another company by the name of Line 6 snatched him up with his reputation in the electronics industry. As he put it,"Okay, maybe I should get a real job". He still owns the name of his company Way Huge but has partnered up with Dunlop to resurrect some of the more popular designs and even create a few new models. One pedal has achieved a sort of cult-status among collectors... The Swollen Pickle and for good reason. Among all the fuzz pedals this one can created quite a sound. Think Smashing Pumpkin's Cherub Rock or some of the most corpulent fuzz by Hendrix. It has quite a range of tonal filth to satisfy any fuzz freak. As they say,"It has more fuzz than a moldy peach". For the latest incarnations visit http://www.wayhuge.com/ or http://www.dunlop.com/

Ibanez TK999US Tube King

There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the original Chandler Tube Drivers and BK Butler's Tube works line. Butler was a keyboard player and was looking for a device that would emulate the same overdriven sounds for his organs. Soon the BK Butler devices were spotted on pedalboards like Eric Johnson and David Gilmour(no shortage of tone here). He also had a hand in designing the US made(Japanese engineered) device and they sounded seemingly similar... almost too similar that a lawsuit ensued. The original TK999OD was marketed exclusively in Japan and featured a noise gate control and silver knobs. Considering that the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer is a legend it's ironic that they never actually sported a 12AX7A tube like the TK999. Although the Tube Screamers are well-known for their smooth overdrives and ubiquitous JRC4558 chip, that's where the similarity ends. Ibanez wanted to fatten-up their tones with extra punch and power in a different way. When I removed the back I was delighted to see 3 TL027 Op-amps inside. The fact that it has 3 tonal controls for bass, mid and treble allows the user to sculpt the sound as well. This could make any solid-state amp sound tubey or act as a pre-amp to boost in direct recording and mixing. It's a shame it never garnered any cult following as it's cousins. for more info visit www.Ibanez.com

Boss BF-2 Flanger

At some point when the compact line of Boss pedals took off it was realized they needed to have a flanger. The original BF-1 had a much larger case and took up way too much real estate. The original BF2's sported black knobs but little has changed in the 20 years it has been around. When production moved to Taiwan they changed the knobs to white like this specimen. No other compact Boss effect has undergone as many lable changes too. Black, Green, Pink, Orange and Dark Gray were spotted on the backs. The Cure used this particular model on many albums. The unit is still available today.

Dunlop Cry Baby

What's interesting about the Wah-Wah pedal is that it's really just and equalizer attached to a rotary dial that allows you to dial in a particular range. If you want bass(heel), mids(mid-way) or treble(toe) you just dial it in with your foot. The unit uses a bandwith filter to achieve it's vowel-like voice. These new devices were very popular with the musicians of the day like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. You can see the camera man zoom in on one during Jimi's performance at Berkley college. What would Voodoo Child be without the famous intro or the solo on Dazed and Confused without the Wah-Wah. Frank Zappa use to dial in a particular "sweet-spot" with one and leave it there while he jammed. In the eighties Jim Dunlop was buying up a lot of the rights to devices and kept the unit alive. The Cry Baby is more of a subtle effect compared to other models but has a great mid-range while less treble and bass of it's cousins. It's a solid workhorse of a unit even if it doesn't provide the extreme ranges of it's other contemporaries. For more info please visit http://www.dunlop.com/