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The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differences?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:09 am
by tehguitarist
Love the steampunk version! Actually I like the wilderness... maybe without the white switch knobs but that's neither here nor there. And was curious... so have been searching for the past half hour for the answer... Seems like the earliest versions were a little noisier, and there was some grounding funniness at some point... anything else? Dr.Scientist gets me all curious like!
Curious about the other pedals too!
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 1:43 am
by goroth
The black alchemy finish had higher gain and a little gating to keep things quiet, and the clean blend was out of phase. The first 150 ( I think...) weren't grounded to the enclosure. As far as I know all other finishes are the same. I have an early black alchemy Elements, and a Gears. I find the early version to be a little more fun for brutally high gain, but I'm talking differences that are swallowed as soon as you play in a band situation. And don't get the wrong idea about the "higher gain" thing - you can still use it as a clean buffer, a clean boost, dirty boost, overdrive... And the non alchemy Elements still have enough gain to palm mute an audience to death.

Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:39 am
by tehguitarist
Hopefully i can find a steampunk/gears/brown one! Though I don't know why anyone would part with a pedal like the elements!
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:43 pm
by Sparrow
goroth wrote:palm mute an audience to death.


Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:42 pm
by Chankgeez
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:13 am
by goroth
That's just a minor detail. Elements rocks the Undead just as hard as the un-Undead.
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:23 pm
by Jakezor
Everyone's children and heirs that came to avenge their losses.
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:26 pm
by Clean Channel
Elements is going back on my board the same day I get hold of a Heisenberg.
E+H = ultimate all-DrS OD setup!
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:36 am
by Sparrow
Clean Channel wrote:Elements is going back on my board the same day I get hold of a Heisenberg.
E+H = ultimate all-DrS OD setup!
pics! or it didn't happen ( in this universe )
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:40 am
by Clean Channel
Oh, there will be pics. Oh yes, there will be pics...
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:20 am
by Ryan
Can't wait to see that board, Tim!
Thanks for taking care of this thread, guys, much appreciated!
The Elements circuit has been set in stone since those early days, I just boxed up serial #1299 last night. That's something I like a lot about the Elements, they all sound the same. I don't have any changes planned for it either, I'm still super happy with it. There'll be a new finish soon though, we're taking a shot at a gold bar look..
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:15 pm
by Sam-2XD
Oooo. New finish? Any chance for a sneak peak? Also, random curiosity, but if the Elements are at #1299, what are your others sitting at?
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:19 am
by Zamboni
Ryan wrote:
The Elements circuit has been set in stone since those early days, I just boxed up serial #1299 last night.
It's me, I'm the guy who got #1299!
Thanks Ryan, it is a work of art. It doesn't make me play any better, but it does make me play much much louder and that's what it's all about. Now off to the settings thread to do some tweaking.

Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:39 am
by goroth
That's awesome Zamboni! Glad you found your way here!
Re: The Elements through the ages, mostly cosmetic differenc
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 1:37 am
by sanfi4u
Ryan wrote:
The Elements circuit has been set in stone since those early days, I just boxed up serial #1299 last night. That's something I like a lot about the Elements, they all sound the same. I don't have any changes planned for it either, I'm still super happy with it. There'll be a new finish soon though, we're taking a shot at a gold bar look..
First off, I'm a happy owner of The Elements Wilderness and like the pedal a lot. Thanks, Ryan!
Probably the schematic didn't change much over the years but parts have gone through minor changes as I've noticed. See the gut pics of "Black Alchemy" (2011) and "Schematic" (2014) given below:
As you can see electrolytic caps got smaller, some are replaced with tantal ones, big filtering 1000uF cap has gone. Though I kinda like "Black Alchemy" parts more, my Wilderness is still very good and versatile OD.