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This Year's Gear Discoveries

yek

yek

Legend!
Got really nice additions to my gear this year.
Things that stood out:

- TC Electronic BodyRez pedal
Really enhances the natural tone of my acoustic (EDIT: not piezo). I can approximate its effect by building a preset with EQ, compression etc., but the BodyRez is more more simple to use.

- EHX Mel9 (Mellotron emulator)
THE discovery of the year. Already tried the Key9 pedal but was disappointed. This one is a far better experience and a real head turner at gigs, after learning how to use it. Very, very, very addictive.

- Fryette Power Station II
A "neutral" tube poweramp (I primarily use a power amp and traditional cabinet to amplify my FAS devices). Sure, it's heavier than my Matrix and may require maintenance in the long run (tubes), but there's a noticeable improvement in tone and feel.

What are yours?
 
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Highlight would be adding a Luke 3 to the stable. It's the hss version. Usual Ernie Ball build quality and just great pickups.

Switching my band to an x32 rack for live work. Mixing from a tablet, streamlined set up, no multicore, great flexibility and nice preamps.
 
yek said:
Got really nice additions to my gear this year.


- EHX Mel9 (Mellotron emulator)
THE discovery of the year. Already tried the Key9 pedal but was disappointed. This one is a far better experience and a real head turner at gigs, after learning how to use it. Very, very addictive.
Click to expand...

Just watched the promo video for this. Wow, great tip! Essential for 60s/70s prog fans. Going on my holiday shopping list.
 
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UAD Apollo Twin USB

I was already a big UAD user; I have 2 of their PCI-e cards.

I'm in planning of a brand new studio so I'm re-doing some of my gear. I sold off my audio interface and was using the Fractal as my only audio interface but I needed an easy way to patch in a mic pre for tracking so I bought the Apollo.
 
My band switched to the XR16 for creating individual band mixes, and starting to use it more and more with gigs.
 
yek said:
Trick (for me) is to not use it 100%, but make it fill the background with a slow attack.
I especially love the Flute, Cello and Clarinet modes. The Flute above all, classic Mellotron.
Click to expand...

Does this mean that you have two leads going from your pedalboard to the AFX then @yek? i.e. midi for the GCP, and then audio assuming you route the guitar -> Mellotron -> AFX?

I've been considering adding a fav pedal to my board but I'm loving the simplicity of only 1 lead to my MFC.
 
yek said:
Trick (for me) is to not use it 100%, but make it fill the background with a slow attack.
I especially love the Flute, Cello and Clarinet modes. The Flute above all, classic Mellotron.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about the GT16, after using the GT22, would the GT16 still be enough for a Fractal rig?
 
I recently just purchased a Master Mind GT16, and it has plenty of buttons for the axe. Pages are wonderful, can setup a page for the looper, for deep stuff, etc. Very easy to learn. Coming from a LF12+ which is also awesome for the axe, just needed bigger screens.
 
yek said:
- TC Electronic BodyRez pedal
Really enhances the natural tone of my acoustic. I can approximate its effect by building a preset with EQ, compression etc., but the BodyRez is more more simple to use.
Click to expand...

Was looking at this one too. Have you used it with an electric w/ piezos? Thoughts?
 
Stringmanipulator said:
Wow that EHX mel 9 and the autotune are two really nice things ..
never heard of either .. thanks for sharing guys!!
Click to expand...
As far as the Autotune goes I figure if your going to model the pre-amp, power-amp, spk-cab and all the efx why not model the guitars also. This way you've got a whole rack full of guitars all in one box, and you only need to haul one guitar around.
 
This is going to seem like a shameless Fractal plug, but my FX was getting pretty beat up (mostly the connections) dragging it all over the place so I purchased an AX8. Sounds great (as I expected) and is super easy to set up and tear down. Considering my geezerness, and considering that it is the roadie's week off (every week is the roadie's week off) the ease of use is a big deal for me. Now my FX is safely tucked in my studio, Electric Geezerland.
 
I'll 2nd that Mel9.

I think the other organ pedals are pretty cool, with the Key9 being last on the list.

I'm hoping to be able to hold onto all 4... They are nice to have in the arsenal.

And yes, the BodyRes is a nice pedal. With the L.R. Baggs Lyric, I don't need it, but it does greatly improve a piezo acoustic.
 
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The other guitarist in one of my bands uses the B9 and gets some great tones. That and the Mel9 are definitely on my list!
 
chucma said:
Does this mean that you have two leads going from your pedalboard to the AFX then @yek? i.e. midi for the GCP, and then audio assuming you route the guitar -> Mellotron -> AFX?

I've been considering adding a fav pedal to my board but I'm loving the simplicity of only 1 lead to my MFC.
Click to expand...

Nope, the Mel9 is very intelligent regarding the input signal, as long as it's a clean tone

EDIT: didn't read it well enough. Yes, my guitar goes into Mel9 on pedalboard, then to Axe-Fx. Also a phantom powered Midi lead. Mel9 gets its power from my RJM.
 
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barhrecords said:
I've been thinking about the GT16, after using the GT22, would the GT16 still be enough for a Fractal rig?
Click to expand...

I guess so. I'm a control junkie and want best of both worlds: being able to engage effects on the fly, as well as switching all-in-one presets. The 22 (with additional ext. switch) provides this, and the 16 will as well, I guess.
 
Speaking of Mellotron and new gear discoveries: I got me a Nord Stage 2 EX 88 HA at the end of May.
I think there went my whole budget for musical stuff for this year :eek: but it was and is well worth it :)
Never felt more inspired in front of a keyboard .
 
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