Whoa - that was one lonnnnnnnnng paragraph!

quote:

Originally posted by Rollo Timbré:
I totally enjoyed reading your experience with the pedals. You don't vacillate, but know exactly the tones you're going for. Cool about the Lonnie Mack Magnatone type sounds with the Chorus/Vib. The GAS builds with each review.

I've already HAD this tourbox and I'm gassing for it


Great pedals- I wish that I could afford more than one right now - and the delay is on my list, fo sho.

quote:

Originally posted by Iron Chef LFB:
Whoa - that was one lonnnnnnnnng paragraph!

yup,that's the twang's style.pulls no punches,right to the point,words flow like the surf that crashes off dick dale's shorline gold Strat:doodle-doodle-doodle-doodle doodle-dah...
chock full of pearls of tonal wisdom,punctuation only slows down the genius mind,just look at kerouac...peace-out

t.l.a.m.f !

sorry about the looonnggg paragraph,good coffee buzz,dig! i'm basically done,so if we are on track i'm guessing mr. tonewolf gets it next.if he or cubba can email me his name & address i can send it out tomorrow a.m.,if not wed. a.m. @ the latest.
surfabillyguitar@aol.com
long review to follow!

Ha!

So twang, how does the tone of the delays of the R-S Analog Delay compare to the tones you get from the Replex and Chandler? Wow, those are two toneful delays units to go up against (albeit large in size and a little unwieldy).
I have a Chandler too which I haven't used in years since I switched to pedals but I keep it for the studio, it's my go to delay in that mode, so rich and vibey.

Loved your review, so real-world and a true proving ground.
Glad to hear the Retro-Sonic's withstood the test and came out shining.

OK, email to follow... thx again for the cool comments.

alright,here's the big bedroom,well guitar room review.i'll list all the gear i used,but i must
say,for most players you could slap all these
pedals on a board & be pretty well set.they sounded really nice w/ every amp & every type of guitar i used.remember,these are just my opinions!
amps used-
-dr.z carmen ghia head w/ peavey classic open 15",weber ceramic chicago 15
-oahu/jester ju-28 w/2x6v6's,carvin tweed open 1x12",mojotone 30 watt alnico
-64 fender champ,rebuilt by kendrick,beefed up,kendrick blackframe 8"...whatever kendrick did,it sounds like a scaled down blackface fender amp of much bigger wattage.my main tone reference & the amp i used for a lot of the a/b
type comparisons
guitars-
-chandler rh-2 lap steel
-94 prs mccarty
-gibson historic vos singlecut l.p. special
-esp series 400 copy of 62 tele custom,brass saddles,rio grande muy grandes,set up w/11's for slide
-fender 52 reissue copper tele,warmoth vintage boatneck,vintique hardware,bardens...my homemade gatt-o-caster
-94 robin ranger revival w/ rio tallboys
-95 rose esquire,alder w/quilt maple top,maple fretboard/neck,duncan lil '59 bridge p/u

808 overdrive:
as i said in the live playing part,i used tubescreamers for a long time.i have a bunch but chose to compare w/ my old 81-82 ts-9,& a
maxon od808.the retro 808 has a brighter more hi-fi sheen to it.i set them all exactly the same to compare & then tweaked them.the old ts-9
sounds more like an overdriven tube amp.the maxon sounded good ,kind of in the middle.they all sound like tubescreamers,i still love my old ibanez,but the retro has bypass switching & has much more range,a lot more tweakable.if i needed a tubescreamer type od,i'd be very happy with it.
compressor:
i was very curious about this as i am a big ross comp fan.my main comp is teddy's atomic grey,& i also plugged in my original block logo dynacomp.the retro sounded much more like the mxr then the atomic.compared to the mxr it was clearer,& had more of a hi-fi sound.this also had an extra knob,so it was way more tweakable,a much bigger range.it sounded nothing like my atomic-none of the fat,syrupy girth or the pre-amp like oomph that i dig the hell out of & keeps it as my main comp.but a lot of people don't like that element.the retro is just a damn fine guitar comp,& it just kills for cleaner chickin picking.i wouldn't mind having one.
phaser:
like i said previously,i'm not that much of a mod user,i like to have them to play around with
& just to have.my phaser is a maxon pt999,which was cheap & sounds good.the retro is in another league.a big suprise.the maxon didn't sound bad,but the retro with 2 extra control knobs has such range,depth,& array of sounds in it i could not really compare.it reminded me more of a univibe,so out comes my fulltone mini-vibe.
while the retro can't get quite that chewy,warm vibe thing when a/b'd,it's pretty damn close.on stage with drums,bass,audience noise,etc. it might be close enough.a lot of fun.
chorus:
again,i'm not that big on mod's,& chorus is my least fave,maybe due to the 80's...?i did have a boss ce-2 when they were new,but that was way too many years,& even way too many drugs to remember it's exact sound! i do have a fulltone choral-flange,so i did have something to compare
the retro with.i just can't get too excited over chorus,both are really nice,the fulltone has more controls,& a cool flanger,which is why i have it.the retro chorus is nice an warm,but the big feature for me was the vibrato.magnatone
city! i had a blast crankin' out my lonnie mack riffs.if i could buy the vibrato section in a smaller cheaper box,i'd be all over it.just amazing sounding.oh,thanks for retro-sonic ruining any idea i harbored about re-boxing my dano chicken salad vibrato.i'll never be able to enjoy it ever again.
analog delay:
i love delay,especially slap-back echo.it is a major componant of my sound.i really dug the retro delay.could it replace my beloved chandler
& h-k replex ? no,which was not a suprise.i doubt any thing other then the fulltone tube-tape unit could.the retro-sonic is an analog delay,where the other 2 sound more like echoplexes.kind of apples & oranges.so i pulled out some more similiar units: my maxon ad80,ibanez ad99,& my dano dan-echo.compared to the maxon & ibanez the retro has way more features & controls.the long/short switch makes it a deal closer if i was looking for a small delay pedal.i'm not in to tap-tempo,& really don't need to much delay time.thats why i dig that cheap dano,for a lo-fi psychobilly-surf-garage slapback...it nails that perfectly.if its on all the time it won't suck tone,not that it bothered me much.it is what it is.used as a delay,it & the maxon,& ibanez fell short compared with the retro.it sounds as good as a delay pedal could.throw in the size,features,& amount of delay available,i don't think it can be beat.another one i could see owning.very cool.
in all the the whole line is very well made.they look cool,sound great,& are very intuitively laid out.you couldn't go wrong w/any of them.this was a hell of a lot of fun,& i want to thank cubba for the invite,tim @ retro-sonic for the cool ass pedals,& ted for the best forum around(& my atomic comp!).i'm sure the next in line will have a blast too.

PM'ed my Addy - can't wait

t.w.- got the post,thanks.i'll send it out first thing tomorrow a.m. you'll definitely dig these...although it kind of sucks having to say goodbye!

tonewolf- you should have received the box this a.m.,...???

Got the box - It's in good shape and has some weight to it. I like the red white and blue logos... oh yes... Review the pedals... Not the box. I'll get to that very soon

Please excuse the short rushed reviews as I have become busy at the wrong time. I'll have 4 hours to play and review these today only.

The Comp - Let me start by saying that this is the best comp I've tried. I tried the MXR script and a Ross. If I used comps I'd have to get one of these. The extra knob is a nice addition to fine tune.

The 808 - I put this up against my Fulldrive II Mosfet and it held it's own having both more bass and treble than the Fulldrive in the tone knob. with the Fulldrive in vintage mode the 808 smoked it for great tone. I had to switch the Fulldrive to Mosfet to make it a better tone and feel than the 808. For those looking for a good TS clone that takes very little room on the board - this is it. I'll be keeping my Fulldrive II for now because of the versatility but the Retro-Sonic gave it a run.

The delay - This pedal can do all kinds of crazy things. I liked using it with a ultra short delay to thicken up my tone. I also liked the slap-back tones. The tone knob was welcome here and allowed great changes in the delay character.

The Chorus - I put this up against my Analogman Stereo 3 way toggle tone Clone. I was really kind of blown away by the difference in the two. The chorus I'm used to with the shimmering highs and deep lows was not here. I really tried to tune this one in but with my rig it didn't happen. The Clone is my preference.

The phaser - This is my favorite of the bunch and I plan on picking one up in the future. It's much better than the MXR I used to have. It is so much smoother and has a bit of chorus shimmer to it to my ears. This box is top notch in my book.

All these tests were done through a Carr Rambler with a Terry McInturff Monarch SSH guitar. I used a MXR DC Brick for power to all the pedals.

All the Retro-sonic pedals were dead quiet when I wanted them to be and were built very well. I'd like to thank Retro-Sonic and Cubba for the chance to try these out. There will be one of these phasers in my future.

The next address Please....

Anybody want this box next?

well if we are on track of the official list on the first page of this topic...next up would be mr. gil. but i'm not in charge so,maybe the honarable cubba will speak up...?

Pedals are on the way to Gil's ...
his emails to tonewolf got caught in the wolf's lair...
I mean SPAM filter.

this may be within the 4 pages of posts but...


how do you participate in a tourbox?

quote:

Originally posted by Wired:
this may be within the 4 pages of posts but...


how do you participate in a tourbox?

Just sign-up when a new one starts.

Don't be surprised if I spank down the plastic and place the Retro-Sonic Phaser in Uncle Teddy's shopping cart ... WAY before the Tour Box gets here. I've been diggin' the heck outta the sample clips in the product description area of this site for months-and-months.

I'm sincerely looking forward to reporting on the full line-up and possibly uploading some mp3 or wav files of my own playing; and maybe a few *fair* A/B comparisons between two brands of the same effect. Retro-Sonic = A and ? = B.

By "fair", I mean: similar circuit topologies, component selections, design goals, etc.

I'm not going to A/B the Retro-Sonic four stage phaser against a Vermona 32 pole (bridged) rack phaser, for instance. Hheheheheheh.

I'll remain as neutral as humanly possible for the A/B'ing part of my contribution because of the inherent subjectivity of such a task.

In my view, the goal of doing such a test will be for timbral comparisons; not "Monday morning quarterbacking" or better vs. best arguments.

Timbral differences = wider palette = more tone-shaping tools for variegated and diverse context-dependent performance scenarios.

Still, the A/B thing is kinda goofy: each listener has a different set of multimedia speakers, temperature, humidity, SHAG carpeting, and so forth.

Heimholtz: On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music (1863).

I used to think Fletcher-Munson was a catcher whom was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Timbre!!

Got the box today.
I haven't had a chance to get into it, but I'll be sure to settle down with them soon.
It seems like the general consensus on them is good, so I'm betting I'll like them.

quote:

Originally posted by throckmorton:
I'm sincerely looking forward to reporting on the full line-up and possibly uploading some mp3 or wav files of my own playing; and maybe a few *fair* A/B comparisons between two brands of the same effect. Retro-Sonic = A and ? = B.

By "fair", I mean: similar circuit topologies, component selections, design goals, etc.

I would love to hear some mp3's!

Talking about comparing similar topologies... I found that the R-S pedals really opened up when used at rehearsal/gig volumes. They had a full sound at home, but I was even more impressed how tight but rich they were when the amp, speakers, room, etc. was cooking a bit and the harmonics were present.

quote:

Originally posted by throckmorton:
I'll remain as neutral as humanly possible for the A/B'ing part of my contribution because of the inherent subjectivity of such a task.

In my view, the goal of doing such a test will be for timbral comparisons; not "Monday morning quarterbacking" or better vs. best arguments.

Timbral differences = wider palette = more tone-shaping tools for variegated and diverse context-dependent performance scenarios.

Still, the A/B thing is kinda goofy: each listener has a different set of multimedia speakers, temperature, humidity, SHAG carpeting, and so forth.

Heimholtz: On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music (1863).

I used to think Fletcher-Munson was a catcher whom was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Timbre!!

The only reason to have a shag carpet these days is to shag.

Better bring your axe Thurman... get choppin'!

quote:

Originally posted by Gil:
Got the box today.
I haven't had a chance to get into it, but I'll be sure to settle down with them soon.
It seems like the general consensus on them is good, so I'm betting I'll like them.

Glad you got 'em Gil and as usual, looking fwd. to your thoughtful reviews.