
i'm doing this, because i'm in a mood to do this and i don¨t blog
also because you - ILF people - are absolutely responsible for the last few "stages"

WARNING: IMAGE QUALITY WILL VARY... ALSO SOME WEIRD TONAL ABOMINATIONS WILL OCCUR... also it could be funnier

so...
STAGE ONE - FIRST TOUCHES
this photo dates to December 2008. I just got my first tube amp (Laney VC30) and decided to take a first photo of my pedalboard... what preceded? first rig ever was a Zoom 707II multieffect unit... then those pedals appeared... as i recall, i just got the Reel Echo and it was still working pretty fine. This was also the first time i tried nano Dr.Q by EHX

Dunlop CB Mister (wah/volume/boost) -> Rocktron Zombie (my first stompbox ever) -> EHX nano Dr.Q -> Danelectro Reel Echo (broke really soon, was cool tho!)
Notice the vortex of wild wires of death... yeah, i hadn't had it figured out yet at all


STAGE TWO - SHAPING MY OPINIONS
February 2009
So the Dano broke on me (stupid time slider


Dunlop CB Mister -> Tech21 GT-2 -> Boss DD-20
I tried the famous GT-2 - wasn't pleased. Too compressed, PROCESSED is the key word... but by that time, i dug it alot... i didn't know better


STAGE THREE - PEDALBOOM
can't date it precisely, but it existed somewhen between february and september 2009
I wanted a distortion that wasn't as compressed and sounded good... and out of nowhere appeared Damage Control Solid Metal



Morley PWV -> Ibanez FZ-7 -> Ibanez FL5 -> Boss PH-2 -> DC Solid Metal -> Boss DD-20
that was indeed a pedalboom for me

STAGE FOUR - NEVERENDING CHANGE
September 2009
I ditched the DD-20 for EHX SMMH i got from my friend... i keep on saying that SMMH is my favourite delay, but more on that later... DC Solid Metal got changed for this neat version two Visual Sound Jekyll&Hyde that is my all time favourite double dirt pedal of all the time - incredible distortion! Sadly it has a TS in it that is really weird... i decided to try the Guyatone Noise Reduction to get rid of any noise coming from the VIsual Sound - WORST IDEA EVER. That box is supposed to be called "Tone Reduction", since it destroys your signal either turned off or on... got thrown of really fast

Morley PWV -> Boss PH-2 -> Visual Sound J&H -> EHX SMMH -> Guyatone NR-2 (THE PAIN!)
the photo on the footswitch is of my ex... even though i kinda have similar opinion on her as on the Guyatone thang, she had some pros
STAGE FIVE - DISCOVERIES AND A COMEBACK OF THE EVIL DOCTOR
October 2009
Yeah, to keep the long story short - i decided to try the Doctor Q again, because i didn't know about the internal trimpot first time... i was hoping for magical results of tweaking it... didn'T happen. I don't think i can really recommend the pedal even though it can sometimes produce quite good filtering for the price... didn't like it for funk tho and i think that'S a bad thing for an envelope filter...
Also - my first encounter with Big Muff ever... and I also discovered tremolo... this is a cheap Mars Effects tremolo i bought on ebay
And this was also after my revelation i don't need wah pedal anymore... i stil regret selling it


EHX nano Dr.Q -> Boss PH-2 -> Visual Sound J&H -> Sovtek BM -> EHX SMMH -> Mars Eff. Pulsating star tremolo
The black sovtek is pretty BIG sounding, but as i learnt the hard way, it get's lost in the band mix really easily


The Mars Eff. is some company similar to Biyang i'd say... without the good stuff... they're cheap chinese knockoffs. The tremolo sounded quite mediocre, but the worst part is that it had a major flaw that i still don't understand... on 10 o'clock of the Rate know there was this place when the know was really stiff and the pedal didn't... tremolo

STAGE SIX - VIDEOTAPED
February 2010
don't have a photo, but i have a video with a cool loop...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Rj9LUNtT4[/youtube]
EHX White finger -> Boss PH-2 -> Visual Sound J&H -> Sovtek BM -> Mars Eff. Pulsating star tremolo -> EHX SMMH
let me explain the compressor affair - i wanted to try a compressor to make an opinion. This thing popped up for a good price, so i bought it and really liked it - it beautifully beefed up my single coil in bridge position... but then i changed the SC for The Chopper, which is a humbucker and the magic was gone - it sounded incredibly redundant and stupid so i traded it for...
STAGE SIX - WELCOME, BOUTIQUE!
april-ish 2010
... F5 Tap-Tremolo prototype. Got it directly from it's builder

I also swapped the Big Muff for my first boutique fuzz - an awesome hand made clone of Si Fuzz Face made in czech republic. this great guy calls himself "Electronic Orange" ( http://www.electronicorange.cz/ ) and he's awesome - builds good stuff and is really great do dealy with... he also modded my Disaster Transport and is currently repairing my fried Fuzz Factory clone. BTW he builds an incredible univibe clone that got a really good review over at gilmourish.com!

EHX White finger -> Boss PH-2 -> Electronic Orange Moon Face -> Visual Sound J&H -> F5 Tap-tremolo -> EHX SMMH
STAGE SEVEN - CLONING AND I HATE PEDALS PUT SIDEWAYS
July 2010
basically i got apetite for experiments again so i got myself built a Green Ringer clone with blend knob - for those who don't know, Green Ringer is a monophonic octave pedal, more or less clean. I had it built and laying around for some time (i remember using it with the Big Muff, IMMENSE TONE) but this was the firts time it got to the official pedalboard.
And sadly, due to brief financial crysis i had to sell my PH-2... then i was ok again so i bought something more expensive.. makes sense alot?


EHX White finger -> Electronic Orange Moon Face -> Green Ringer clone -> EHX Stereo Polyphase -> Visual Sound J&H -> F5 Tap-tremolo -> EHX SMMH
I HATE PEDALS PUT SIDEWAYS, but that was the only way i could patch them together... at least it didn't last for long...
STAGE EIGHT - REBOUND WAH, ONE DELAY =/= ENOUGH AND I HAVE A SECRET
I got the Red Repeat again? yep, why not... unlike the Dr.Q i really liked it the first time (i recall i just had to sell it to get something else) and i liked it the second time, too... those things have ABSOLUTELY STUPID bypass tho
Also as you can see i decided i'm cool nuff to get a wah pedal again... i got it traded for a small MIDI keyboard, it was just a regular GCB-95, but i really liked it

The most important change was that i got rid of the Visual Sound and bought a Cbread DLS. It suits our band more tonally


Dunlop CB -> Electronic Orange Moon Face -> EHX Stereo Polyphase -> Catalinbread DLS -> F5 Tap-tremolo -> Carl Martin Red Repeat -> EHX SMMH
you see that orange patch cable? that mofo was probably a few decades old, from the time of communism in our country... of course it was the only pedal i had with this lenght that i needed... and of course it fucked up in a middle of a show
STAGE NINE - AFTER ILF, THE THINGS HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME AGAIN
fall 2010
You people just have your way how to fuck with me

instead i got a Fuzz Factory clone, redesigned to Rainbow Factory fuzz by my GF



Dunlop CB -> Rainbow Factory fuzz -> EHX Stereo Polyphase -> Catalinbread DLS -> F5 Tap-tremolo -> EQD Disaster Transport -> EHX SMMH
Notice the little piece of paper with my favourite settings for the Rainbow Factory... yeah, i probably lost it


STAGE 10 - HOW I GOT THE CASE FILLED WITH JOY
january 2011
my goal was completed... i filled my case with pedals! by a complete chance everything in this rig had it's place and it just made me so happy... not tonally tho
So after being mocked (not really) for having just one fuzz, i bought The Great Destroyer... but i was probably expecting too much from it... or too little?

Also i had high expectations for Boss RV-3... it's sometimes desribed as a holy grail of reverbs... not for me it's not. It sounded either too sterile and weird or not deep enough.
But i was so happy with the looks of this pedalboard


Rainbow Factory fuzz -> Dwarfcraft TGD ->Dunlop CB -> EHX Stereo Polyphase -> Catalinbread DLS -> F5 Tap-tremolo -> EQD Disaster Transport -> EHX SMMH -> Boss RV-3
a fun fact... when i tapped the footswitch to change channels, i sometimes accidentaly turned the Volume knob on TGD over 9 o'clock... you don'T want to do this in a live situation ... I DID... for a few times...

STAGE 11 - ROCKING OUT, GAZING INTO THE FUTURE...
NOWADAYS
Ok, this is the current pedalboard... i have to explain
when you look to step 10, there's a lot of knobs, right... i have to admit, those knobs weren't turned as much as they should be... for example since i got Disaster Transport, i used it almost more than SMMH... and the F5 Tap-Tremolo? i can't justify having a pedal that big for one regular tremolo sound i don't even need tap tempo for

After a few weeks, my goal was completed... RV-3 was sold and replaced by Holy Grail... a great choice imho








Rainbow Factory fuzz -> Dwarfcraft TGD -> Dunlop CB95Q -> EHX Stereo Polyphase -> Dr.Scientist Frazz Dazzler -> Catalinbread DLS -> Boss TR-2 -> EQD Disaster Transport -> EHX SMMH -> EHX Holy Grail
of course this pedalboard isn't flawless - you see the gap on the right? that really bugs me

but i'm aiming quite high for a replacements (Subdecay Proteus and Ibanez PT-909) and i can't really afford this right now (i could, but i have to save up for university and i want to buy a new guitar from my money soon-to-be-made on a summer job in scotland so i can't use that money for my university life... OR i just don't want to

long post is long... i guess i'm not the best writer, i'm just not used to something like this

questions? shoot!
