The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[marnold]

The Good:
I survived another orbit around Sol (I think). My stuff from MF arrived today. The Jensen MOD speaker made a world of difference in my little Peavey. Now it's got a very respectable clean/blues tone--certainly as good as you'll get out of a little SS amp with an 8" speaker.

The Bad:
I think I got a bad Cool Cat Fuzz. When it's on, it seems to work fine. When it's off, no signal goes through at all. If I turn the knobs up, I can faintly hear my guitar with a good amount of hiss. That's true both on battery power and with my 1-Spot. I'm going to use it for a little while to see if I like the tone it gives or if I just want to punt.

The Ugly:
I don't know how many takes of the "In My Dreams" solo I tried to record on Saturday. It was absolutely driving me insane. I couldn't dial in a tone I liked. When I played without the "real" track I could at least fake the last run decently. With the track, I couldn't play anything to save my life. I was so ticked I put my guitar down and hadn't picked it up since. I wouldn't even have picked it up today except I wanted to see if my stuff worked. I didn't visit here or the other guitar sites I frequent since then either. I played my bass a bit on Sunday or Monday (don't remember which). I still don't feel very inclined to play.

The To-Be-Determined:
The Ragin Cajun. I know I'm not in the best frame of mind to give this a proper review. I like what it did to the Blackface clean tone. It removed the harshness I detected at higher volumes. I want to do a bit of testing with pseudo-SRV Tweed settings too. The jury is most definitely out on the high-gain models. The new speaker warms them up quite a bit. The bass is better and, as mentioned before, the highs aren't as harsh. The warmth is both a good thing and a bad thing though. It almost sounds like some of the models have a blanket thrown over them now. I'll try some of the distortion models on my EX-7 with it on the Blackface settings and see if I can get anything reasonable that way. I may also try to swap the tube to see if that does anything. I may also try it with the back off.

 

[Robert]

Ahh, I know that feeling about underperforming when recording. It happens to me too, and I think the only thing to do is take a break and get at it again later. If that doesn't work then, just repeat the same process. Eventually you'll either get it or you'll go slightly mad (to quote a Queen tune)...

 

[markb]

The CC Fuzz is true mechanical bypass. You should hear signal in bypass even if the battery dies. I think you got a dead one.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

The Good:
I survived another orbit around Sol (I think).

So was today your birthday? Happy Birthday! I also get frustrated with not playing my best when I am recording or when I rarely play out. But it is fun to try! I hope you end up enjoying your new gear after it all gets settled in! :beer:

 

[Jimi75]

Hey Marnold,

I know times like these and I have experienced the good the bad and the ugly more than once. Forget about recording when you are not in the mood to do it. We are no professionals who have to function for studio jobs, so a nice break from guitar playing could be the cure. It's tough to stay focused every day.

The good:
That speaker is cool, ain't it?!?!

The good:
You can return that CC pedal. Remember the stroy with my RMC Wah recently? You know what was good about it? Without having returned it I would have never ever found my awesome sounding and much cheaper Vox Wah! So there is a reason for your CC being cr*ppy.

The good:
I have heard your last take on the solo and it was great. Don't diminish this success by destroying everythin with a stupid " I have to record it NOW" attitude. Take a nice break for 2 weeks. Get your mind free of guitar stuff and then check back. As far as I remember getting the solo done was your goal for 2009 and it's only february my friend ;-)

Take care and don't push yourself.

J75
:AOK:

 

[oldguy]

Buck up, Matt, it'll work itself out. Like Jimi says. Send the pedal back, take a break from the recording, playing too if you're burned out temporarily.
You'll come back better than ever.
Happy birthday also, btw.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

That's why I never record.

 

[duhvoodooman]

The Bad:
I think I got a bad Cool Cat Fuzz. When it's on, it seems to work fine. When it's off, no signal goes through at all. If I turn the knobs up, I can faintly hear my guitar with a good amount of hiss. That's true both on battery power and with my 1-Spot. I'm going to use it for a little while to see if I like the tone it gives or if I just want to punt.

Given that it's true mechanical bypass, this is either a bad footswitch internally or the wiring of it. If you get wet signal, the connections to the jacks and effect circuit itself are obviously OK. (** bad advice deleted **)

Usually it's the other way around--works fine in bypass, but no (or weak) output when the effect is engaged. Those are a lot harder to troubleshoot....

 

[marnold]

Given that it's true mechanical bypass, this is either a bad footswitch internally or the wiring of it. If you get wet signal, the connections to the jacks and effect circuit itself are obviously OK. If you can open it up and take a look, a wiring/connection problem may be obvious/easily fixed. If it's the switch itself, that's another matter.

Well, I could open it up, but since it's brand new it'd probably be just as easy to send it back. As I mentioned, I'm going to noodle with it for a while to make sure I really like it since the effect part actually works. If I'm understanding this "true bypass" stuff, then technically even if there is no power to it (no battery or wall-wart) my unaffected guitar sound should still go through, right?

And Jimi, my goal was to have it down by my birthday and recorded.

 

[duhvoodooman]

If I'm understanding this "true bypass" stuff, then technically even if there is no power to it (no battery or wall-wart) my unaffected guitar sound should still go through, right?

Correct. It's a purely mechanical switch.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Well, I could open it up, but since it's brand new it'd probably be just as easy to send it back. As I mentioned, I'm going to noodle with it for a while to make sure I really like it since the effect part actually works. If I'm understanding this "true bypass" stuff, then technically even if there is no power to it (no battery or wall-wart) my unaffected guitar sound should still go through, right?

I'd just send it back. If it is new and you open it up you void the warranty. Then you can't send it back.

tung

 

[duhvoodooman]

I'd just send it back. If it is new and you open it up you void the warranty. Then you can't send it back.

Very valid point. Forget what I said about opening it up. Send it back.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Very valid point. Forget what I said about opening it up. Send it back.

The bad thing about those Dano pedals is that they are SMD, very hard to fix even if you figure out what is wrong with it.

tung

 

[duhvoodooman]

The bad thing about those Dano pedals is that they are SMD, very hard to fix even if you figure out what is wrong with it.

If the problem is on the board, yeah, absolutely.

This has been the main complaint I've read about Dano pedals right along, production quality problems--reliability issues and DOA's. I have a Chicken Salad that falls into that category--cuts out intermittently and takes a good whack or two against the floor to kick in again. Obviously a bad connection or solder joint in it somewhere, but good luck finding it amongst all those tiny SMD devices. Music123 sent me a new one and said to just throw the old one out, but I saved it for "experimentation"....

 

[tunghaichuan]

If the problem is on the board, yeah, absolutely.

This has been the main complaint I've read about Dano pedals right along, production quality problems--reliability issues and DOA's. I have a Chicken Salad that falls into that category--cuts out intermittently and takes a good whack or two against the floor to kick in again. Obviously a bad connection or solder joint in it somewhere, but good luck finding it amongst all those tiny SMD devices. Music123 sent me a new one and said to just throw the old one out, but I saved it for "experimentation"....

Good points. The mechanical stuff is easy enough to fix. For the SMD stuff you need special soldering equipment and a very powerful magnifying lens.

Very cool on the Chicken Salad.

I'm seriously considering getting on PaulC's waiting list for a Timmy. It is a very good sounding pedal, and will no doubt last longer than I will. The TOD I'm not so sure about.

tung

 

[marnold]

Well, I swapped my original AD30VT speaker back in. What I thought would happen, happened. The low gain amps sound worse (although not horrible) but the high gain amps sound better. If I would stay on the left (low gain) side of the amp dial, I'd say that this Ragin Cajun would be a great addition. If you hang out on the right side, well, it just doesn't play with those models' voicings very well. It's not an indictment of the speaker itself. It's just that probably a more neutral sounding speaker would work better. The Cajun is on the warm side.

I don't know if the speaker breaking in more would help. I've got a feeling that it probably wouldn't, from what little I know about speaker break-in.

 

[marnold]

Just got off the phone with MF. They're sending me out a new Cool Cat and I'll return this one in the box the new one comes in. The good news is that I really like how this pedal sounds. You probably can't quite get to Big Muff territory with it, but you can get pretty close. I can go from Hendrix to Iommi with the twist of some knobs. It cleans up remarkably well when you turn down the guitar's volume too.

So basically, I really like the pedal--if only this one didn't have False Bypass.

 

[tunghaichuan]

I think that most of the speakers in modelling amps are nuetral. They don't want the speaker to be part of the tone equation but would rather use the modelling circuitry to generate the sounds. Breaking in a speaker just makes it looser and warmer sounding, which is moving away from a neutral tone, so you're correct on your assumptions about speaker break in.

tung

Well, I swapped my original AD30VT speaker back in. What I thought would happen, happened. The low gain amps sound worse (although not horrible) but the high gain amps sound better. If I would stay on the left (low gain) side of the amp dial, I'd say that this Ragin Cajun would be a great addition. If you hang out on the right side, well, it just doesn't play with those models' voicings very well. It's not an indictment of the speaker itself. It's just that probably a more neutral sounding speaker would work better. The Cajun is on the warm side.

I don't know if the speaker breaking in more would help. I've got a feeling that it probably wouldn't, from what little I know about speaker break-in.

 

[duhvoodooman]

Well, I swapped my original AD30VT speaker back in. What I thought would happen, happened. The low gain amps sound worse (although not horrible) but the high gain amps sound better. If I would stay on the left (low gain) side of the amp dial, I'd say that this Ragin Cajun would be a great addition. If you hang out on the right side, well, it just doesn't play with those models' voicings very well. It's not an indictment of the speaker itself. It's just that probably a more neutral sounding speaker would work better. The Cajun is on the warm side.

Time to bite the bullet....

 

[marnold]

Time to bite the bullet....

Of course, there are other bullets one might bite, although that's a pretty good price on the Celestion. Based on what I heard from the Jensen I put in the little Peavey, I might be tempted to try the 10" version in there at half the price of the Celestion.

 

[marnold]

A second listen . . .

Today I decided to pop the Ragin Cajun back in and see what I thought of it. I was also playing louder than I had been previously. After playing a bunch, I found myself liking what I was hearing. At this point, I began to question my sanity. Was I really hearing a difference because there was one there, or was I hearing what I wanted to hear? Was my crappy mood on Wednesday coloring my perception? Is little Tommy really trapped in the well again? So asked my wife and oldest son to help me with a little test.

Using my Floyd and the Screamin' Demon therein, I played bits of "Sweet Jane" and "Walk, Don't Run" on my clean Blackface settings. Then I played some random power chord riffs, the riff to "Rock You Like a Hurricane", and some noodling with plenty of pinch harmonics on a medium gain setting (UK 70s) and high gain setting (U.S. Higain). I played them through the Cajun first. Then I swapped the original speaker back in. Then I went back to the Cajun once again.

One thing was immediately and undeniably noticeable: the Cajun is a LOT louder. It's not even close. On all settings, the stock speaker sounded thinner.

As with my previous test, we all preferred the Cajun on the clean settings. It kept the humbucker from getting too harsh on the high end. It really shone with my Area 61s. The neck single coil sounded fantastic.

In the medium gain settings (mind you, the gain was still dimed, but the UK70s model doesn't have a ton of gain on tap) both sounded pretty good. Once again, the Cajun had a much fuller sound. The bass was also tighter so palm muting wasn't as flubby as before, which was a big beef of mine with the UK70s model.

On the high gain settings the battle wasn't quite as clear. The distortion sounded harmonically fuller on the Cajun but was in danger of being slightly muddy. It was clear that the different speakers begged to have different e.q. settings. I'd probably want to roll off the bass and the mids a bit more with the Cajun. Nevertheless, it didn't sound like there was a blanket over it. My preliminary thought there is that since I was playing louder today I could hear those nuances better. I've a feeling that the louder I play, the better the Cajun with sound. My wife might not be thrilled with that assessment.

After a while, I grabbed my Fender and had at it. I liked the sound of its Atomic II humbucker better with more gain than the Screamin' Demon. I would have guessed the opposite. The Atomic II has a ton of midrange which I thought for sure would push it into mudsville. It didn't. Both series and parallel modes sounded really nice with the Blackface settings too. Man, I'm glad I didn't sell that guitar.

I have yet to try DVM's pseudo-SRV settings. I've a feeling they will sound pretty cool. The Boutique OD amp does seem to suffer the most with the Cajun. It does still somewhat sound like there's a blanket over it. I'll have to fiddle with it more.

So I guess at this point reports of this speaker's demise may be somewhat premature.

 

[marnold]

I had a rare moment of lucidity this morning. I remembered that a friend of mine has a stock AD30VT. I'll have him bring his over so I can do a proper A/Bing.

 

[just strum]

I had a rare moment of lucidity this morning. I remembered that a friend of mine has a stock AD30VT. I'll have him bring his over so I can do a proper A/Bing.

This will be interesting. Do me a favor, be sure to compare the left side too. I know your concerns are on the right, but I would like your thoughts on the left just to sort of confirm my views.

thanks,

 

[marnold]

This will be interesting. Do me a favor, be sure to compare the left side too. I know your concerns are on the right, but I would like your thoughts on the left just to sort of confirm my views.

Will do. If I can rig up some way to record it, I will. My initial impressions mirror yours in that the left side benefits greatly.

 

[marnold]

FWIW, I got my new Cool Cat Fuzz via UPS today. The good thing is that this one actually works. My only gripe with the design is that when I've got my 1-Spot going into it it's hard to adjust the knobs with the input, output, and power cords right there--especially for someone a bit lacking in the fingertip department.