Recorded an EP with the tourbox today, all I can say is that I'm completely blown away by each and every one of the pedals and what they do, and now I want them all.
I tried to cover a few different styles, so the first track is a 15 minute funeral doom epic, followed by a sludgy thrash song, with a classic doom feeling closer.
You can check out the EP here:
http://thecivilacoustic.bandcamp.com/album/07272014
About the recordings:
All guitar and bass were recorded live in the Dirge Cave.
Guitar was an EGC Standard tuned to Drop C into 50w Verellen head and Emperor 2x12.
Bass was a Jazz Bass copy tuned to C Standard into 50w Verellen head and B Cabs 2x12.
Both guitar and bass tracks were minimally post-EQ'd and mixed.
Drums were generated using Garageband's virtual drummer.
Guitar mic was a Samson kick mic, Bass mic was a 60's vocal mic.
About the pedals:
Dungeon Master: The sluuuudge master. Perfect on bass. Slightly more gated/vintage sounding compared to the Blower Box. The Drive Knob is cool in that all the way down doesn't cut the fuzz, but zero is actually like the 'base', and increasing the drive only adds to the amount of ridiculous gain it has. Compared to the Blower Box, this guy makes you take your time- ie, it's not quite as 'chuggable', but just thick, brutal, and gnarly. Sounds PERFECT on bass, and the two band EQ paired with the overall circuit seem to have a little bit more mids presence than the Blower Box. Which is awesome if you want to make your bass stand out. I pretty much kept this guy cranked the entire time too, however, I did roll back the drive a few times to get a more subtle sort of bass crunch or drive tone. I'm really, really impressed with it on bass. On guitar, I used it more on the slower tracks, when playing fast it can sort of get a blocking distortion thing going on. Again, thick as molasses. I stacked this into the Blower Box for the third track of the EP, on one of the guitar tracks, and used it on almost all of the bass tracks.
Blower Box: Really great, more modern sounding distortion. Based on a Rat, I believe, but the bax EQ really opens up the sounds you can get from it. Easily chuggable, not excessively noisy at all. Gobs of low end, but with the ability to bring some of the high end bite back in. I pretty much kept the gain dimed on this guy the entire time, although rolling the gain back did yield some overdrive type tones. Sounds equally great on guitar as it does bass. I usually find that most distortions/fuzzes I use can sound kind of brittle recorded, but this one really really needed very little post-production after recording. Just really great natural sounding gain. I used this guy on every recording, mostly on guitar, but a little on bass.
Dimension X: What a great delay. I'm really truly blown away by this guy. It sits perfectly in the mix, and plays incredibly well with dirt. It's super ambient and washy without getting muddy, and almost feels like a delay and reverb in one. I can't help but think of similar sounds out of Wata of Boris' reverb/delay choice on her board. The modulation on the Dimension X is awesome too, and something that has been executed in various other delays, but nothing quite sounding like this. You can go from chorusy type sounds, to whacked out spaceship type sounds with the twist of a knob. Seasick modulating, endless ambient notes. I want one so bad now....
Rainbotron: I haven't spent too much time with this guy, but it is pretty cool. Hooked up into the Dimension X delay you can get some spacey sounds for sure. The combination of the LDR and the 6 step sequencer is pretty cool, although at higher frequencies (more light) the sequenced sounds kind of fade for a more theremin like sound/screech. I found myself covering the LDR to let the least amount of light in so that the more sequenced sounds would come out.
That's all I've got for today! Seriously enjoying these pedals, and GAS ignited...