software

Ok, so I just spent about 30 minutes with this little pedal. As a baseline comparison I used my unmodded GE-7, I just daisy chained them, mine first, then Johns, so I could switch back and forth. 57' RI Les Paul into the GE7, into the Blues Jr, master volume dimed. Bass set at 6, treble set at 5, mids at 5, reverb 2. Channel volume at 4, so as not to get too much pre-amp distortion. All into my Marshall 4x12 with Gt12-75's.

I initially set all the sliders flat on both units. The first thing I noticed was how much quieter John's pedal was than mine. With everything set flat, Johns' produced no additional noise. Mine had an increase in the white noise (hiss). Not a ton set flat, but there was a noticable difference. Then I simply slid the level sliders on both up halfway between flat and full out, as a flat boost. Now the difference in noise was noticable. John's pedal was not completely quiet, but the white noise was more muffled and definately tolerable. Mine of the other hand increased in white noise/hiss considerably, which would have been unuseable in many situations. Perhaps not at full band volume, but certainly in quiet interludes or between songs. What I also noticed with John's pedal is that this pushed my amp from a subtle blues type OD to a more classic rock OD, again with less noise than my stock pedal. My pedal would accomplish the same thing, just not as quietly.

Now I used both pedals to boost the frequencies that I often find lacking in overall sound. Specifically the low end, lower mids and the treble frequencies, except for the last treble slided to the right. Too much of this adds piercing treble, imo. So I bump the lows about 1/4 between flat and full out, with the lowest freq being slightly higher. Mids get boosted just a touch. Treble gets boosted a small slide upwards as well. I also moved the volume slider up about 1/4...not half like in the flat boost. What you notice is a nice tightening of the bass, mids sound fuller and the treble bites just right. It's in this area (other than the noise difference) where I think the major differences stand out.

John's pedal seems to tighten up the frequencies without harshness. My pedal does something similar, but with a bit more harshness to the frequencies....almost a metalic quality. Not really that severe, but that's the best way I can describe it. John's pedal seems more organic, with richer overtones. The lows rumbled without being mushy or undefined. My stock pedal sounded slightly flabbier and not as focused. These settings also produced an overdrive situation that made the guitar sound much bigger. Again, John's sounded much more like a natural amp setting, while the stock version sounded somewhat artificial. These setting took me again from blues type OD to more of an AC/DC type crunch. Really nice.

The tolerance of the sliders on both pedals seems to be similar. Moving any of the sliders more than halfway between flat and full produces substantial white noise. Again, John's is not as harsh or open sounding, but it is still there. I think this is purely a matter of hitting the amp with too much signal, expecially at band volumes. The effect is not as noticable at bedroom volumes. Also, with regard to the volume slider, halfway between flat and full seemed to be the breaking point. Anything over half would create squeel from the pickups, unless I went about 25 feet from the amp, facing the other way. Johns pedal allowed for slightly more headroom in this area, about a notch or so.

Overall Johns pedal is a winner, just as I expected it to be. The tones are more organic, due to the upgraded caps and other changes he does to this. The sounds are not cheap or transistor like. Much more like a tube amp that is tuned to perfection. The stock pedal is decent enough, but the white noise/hiss factor can get annoying at times. John's mod reduces this enough to make it useable at louder volumes. The only thing I was not able to try was the EQ in an effects loop, where I expect it to be quieter. I see this pedal having two very usefull places in your pedal line up.

1. As a boost pedal. It can work in front of the amp, although you need to be careful with the level, so as not to get your rig squeeling. I think the pedal would work better in the effect loop for this. I would boost the bass just a tad, but bump the mids and upper mids to really cut through for lead work.

2. As a tone shaper right in front of your amp. On the Blues Jr this was my favorite setting. Bump the lows to make them pronounced and tight, just the way I like them, and boost the treble just enough to make it bite without being harsh. You could obviously set the sliders to boost the frequencies that you find most appealing, but I am usually a quot;Vquot; type of guy when it comes to setting EQ's, although in this case it's an easy curve, not a sharp V. This is how I will use mine once I have it modded, and then look for a true boost pedal in the loop, like a fat boost....something that is designed to do just that. Although, if you are on a budget, this will do the boost thing very decently.

This pedal is a winner.

Cool Jeff....Thanks for the reviews....Just so you know...The modded pedal is all about much better quality components and no other magic.Some of the chips in the pedal are upgraded to much better performance TI chips and I guess it makes the pedal quieter and better sounding..I did increase the caps that control the last two bass frequencies in that pedal,but other than using very upgraded components,there was no mods done to the original circuit...Glad you hear a difference and I guess it was worth it....Well cool Jeff

Jeff....I've only used that GE7 in the effects loop...It's very quiet there and it still has too much hiss for my tastes in front of my amps...

If you thought the pedal was quieter in front of your amp,then were successful in changing some components inside the pedal....

John, I had a feeling that it would be even quieter in the effects loop. There is some hiss in front, but for me having the volume on the Blues Jr. dimed I was suprised how little there really was. An interesting note that I forgot to add....I did all of this using the Samson Wireless unit that I just got from Xssive. Many people say that that will add some noise, but not in this case.

The difference in the bass frequencies really floors me. The tightness and fullness of the sound is amazing. How are the stock components on the mid and treble frequencies? Would they benefit from being changed, especially the treble side? Also, to what do you attribute the overall problem with the noise factor? Is it a matter of components, or just an inherant problem with anything that boosts signal?


Originally Posted by Jeff_HJohn, I had a feeling that it would be even quieter in the effects loop. There is some hiss in front, but for me having the volume on the Blues Jr. dimed I was suprised how little there really was. An interesting note that I forgot to add....I did all of this using the Samson Wireless unit that I just got from Xssive. Many people say that that will add some noise, but not in this case.

The difference in the bass frequencies really floors me. The tightness and fullness of the sound is amazing. How are the stock components on the mid and treble frequencies? Would they benefit from being changed, especially the treble side? Also, to what do you attribute the overall problem with the noise factor? Is it a matter of components, or just an inherant problem with anything that boosts signal?The noise fix is from using better chips,caps,and metal film resistors...Not sure other than Boss using lesser quality stuff in the GE7? All of the caps that control each frequency of the GE7 you have were changed to better quality,but 2 of those caps were also increased in value at the last 2 bass frequencies... The reason for less overall noise floor and better overall tone from that GE7,is due to all the changes that were done overall....

Well, it's a damn fine pedal now, that's for sure. I don't know enough about components and values of components to speak intelligently, but whatever you did is a winner. I think the changes are significant enough to consider making this a standard offering.

Also, a big THANK YOU for sending me this pedal to try....it really is exactly what I was looking for out of this pedal.

Notice how easy it is for me to make extra work for you....LOL.


Originally Posted by Jeff_HWell, it's a damn fine pedal now, that's for sure. I don't know enough about components and values of components to speak intelligently, but whatever you did is a winner. I think the changes are significant enough to consider making this a standard offering.

Also, a big THANK YOU for sending me this pedal to try....it really is exactly what I was looking for out of this pedal.

Notice how easy it is for me to make extra work for you....LOL.

Thanks Jeff....Well you're a buddy here on the forums and I very much value your ears and opinions on things also...Next time I order from Mouser,I'll order the chips and some of the other cap values needed to add this pedal to my growing list of pedal mods...Thanks again for the reviews and I'm glad you like it....