well, everything for the FEB arrived and i put the entire 3-board setup together. unfortunately, there were a number of problems that led me to trash the loop board and FEB setups and start over.
first i discovered that the Ernie Ball 6165 volume/pan pedals aren't suited for cross-fading from one looper to the next. there's a very noticeable volume drop as soon as you leave full heel-down position, and it never reaches the same level until you're all the way toe-down. and when i checked things out i discovered that the loop board was horrifically noisy when the compressor was turned off which is a new thing...it'd always been dead quiet before. so the 6165s had to go.
meanwhile, almost as soon as i got the FEB assembled the Demedash T-120, which had gone back to Manitoba for repair after crapping out after being bought used, started exhibiting the same noise problems as in February. needless to say i was not a happy boy. the problem is, there's nothing else out there that sounds like that. so i'm going to order a new one from a dealer with a liberal return policy.
it struck me that with the HUGE volume/pan pedals removed, the loopers and ancillary gear would fit on the smaller (Pedaltrain Jr.) board i used for the FEB and still have plenty of room between the loopers, so i switched boards and power supplies. the big Gator supply fits on the larger FEB (Pedaltrain 1) even after adding back the Attack Decay which i found i missed and a Dunlop Mini X volume/expression pedal used in expression mode, and only requires one splitter to power everything; the smaller Truetone supply tucks under the deck of the loop board and has sufficient outputs. it will be easier to operate the loopers because they're not crammed together to fit the 6165s, and i got a remarkable number of 1-foot to 3-foot cables back from the deal.
at present the back end of the FEB is provisional. i'm not happy with the Keeley Realizer reverb, which makes me happy i didn't buy a Loomer; i want the new Farm Pedals vague reverb in its place. until i can afford to get the new T-120 i have a Seppuku Memory Loss in the delay spot. but my main interest there now is the So High So Low. all i can say about it is that it was worth the wait. i can literally make my guitar sound like it's coming over a phone from 1940.
the main problem i'm back to dealing with is controlling the looper output levels without having to bend over my knees while seated to twiddle the knobs. the volume pedals were supposed to sort that. i may yet have to integrate some sort of small mixer on a stand, but i'm going to try working with the simplified setup and see if it fucks my back up before doing any more reconfiguring.
no, i haven't tested the boards yet. i''ve been busy. i really want to get out of the development phase and into the work phase. then, on the other hand i'm thinking about buying a used Moog Grandmother after i'm done paying for my upcoming vacation.
- there were good ideas, but overly complicated.
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signal path: Mellowtone Hi Five clean boost (for balancing guitar input levels)->EHX Attack Decay with Dunlop Volume (X) Mini expression pedal->[in Attack Decay effects loop]CMC Effects WIIO clone->Ibanez LF7 Lo Fi->Stomping Stones Virus->Analog Music Co. So High So Low->[effects loop return->AD output->]->Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water->Seppuku Memory Loss->Keeley Realizer. last two to be replaced with Demedash T-120 v2 and Farm Pedals Expanding Universes.
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signal path: Saturnworks 1-to-4 powered isolated splitter->two Ditto x2 loopers and one EXH 1440 looper->Saturnworks powered isolated 3-to-1 summing box with individual on/off switches->Keeley Bassist Limiting Amplifier.
Yeah love this one. Got it in a trade with Tom back in the day, will remain in my position till someone rips it from my cold (bright) dead hands haha. Both the ultimate octave fuzz (paired with something else) and a pretty pedal from a great era of ILF (and gear).
up and running for some jamming..
So finally time for a bass board.
