Schizoid Havoc V0.5 - or CAD and methaphysical electronics

[VacuumVoodoo]

Mods: If you feel this belongs in a different section please move accordingly. Thanks.

Alright. I teased you a little in the "Good tidings to us all" thread. I wasn't sure anything would materialize out of it so I kept my mouth shut.
The thing is, sometime in March I began toying with an idea for separate guitar preamp. The Louder&More amp was a physical collaboration between Björn and myself. This time I went into the metaphysical realm trying to imagine what would "THAT GUY" come up with if he could think like "THAT OTHER GUY" and vice versa.

I won't go into details of the process, it took time, meditation and hard thinking. No, I didn't use any consciousness enhancing substances, legal or not.

My main problem was lack of time for building and testing a physical prototype after computer simulations showed that this thing should do what all three of us envisioned in my temporarily split mind. Don't ask who was moderating these inner mind disputes...

Luckily, I befriended a talented, and eager to learn, tube guitar amp enthusiast through a Polish tube forum. He also lives very close to my mothers home town so it's almost like we are related through the whirlwinds of modern history. He goes by the nick "Marvel" and is a frequent contributor to bognerampforum where he presented some smart mods. So, having him volunteer for a sort of student/apprentice role I burdoned him with the task of building the first prototype. Needless to say, there were tweaks, changes and revisions during the process but Marvel went above and beyond his "apprentice" duties. He even got his professional guitarist friend Andrzej Gondek to record "just a few" demo clips. Well, the "few" clips turned up to be well over 50....all good which makes it very hard for me to select the ones to post.

Well. Here is the first selection. Two guitars were used, A Fender SRV and a Suhr with a HB in bridge position.
Played through a clean 12W tube power amp into a Mesa 212 cab. Miked with a SM57 onto HD. Just a touch of delay was added on couple tracks.

I do not wish to spoil a bright and sunny Sunday with devilish sounds from the dark side so these go from clean jazz to crunchy rock. Amp settings remained basically unchanged throughout, it's mostly PUPs, playing and guitar volume control.
Next installment will be Strat clips with amp gain & OD progressing higher & higher.
After that clips with LP Studio, full gain/OD progression & guitar volume control.

Strat clip 26

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/26.mp3

Strat clip 20

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/20.mp3

Strat clip 23

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/23.mp3

Strat clip 18

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/18.mp3

Strat clip 22

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/22.mp3

Strat clip 07

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/7.mp3

Strat clip 24

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/24.mp3

Strat clip 08

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/8.mp3

Strat clip 06

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo01/6.mp3

I feel the low end still needs some tightening but it could just as well be mic placement and the cab itself. So, there's a trip to eastern Poland planned for eof June...need to do final tweaks on real hardware..

STDBY for more

[Strat-o-lux]

Cool idea! I presume you've incorporated some of the unique features described on the Tubewonder site, active EQ and etc..

It would be interesting to hear it thru various cabs: closed vs. open, Celestion vs. Jensen vs. EV type speakers - given how dramatically that can change the perceived character of an amp.

I was not familiar with Tubewonder Amps. I don't imagine I'll have an opportunity to play one anytime soon, being on the other side of the big lake, but exploring your website has me intrigued. It's always great to encounter someone who's not simply trying to produce a better 5F6A clone (much as I appreciate those 5F6A clones).

Cheers!

J.

[Bobby D]

i like how you think, alex

[Donner]

T O U R freakin B O X !!!!!

I cant get the clips Alex ---- but I know my ear likes what your ear does so Im all ears ! Hit me

[Robapov]

tourbox!!!

[Bobby D]

T O U R freakin B O X !!!!!

I cant get the clips Alex ---- but I know my ear likes what your ear does so Im all ears ! Hit me

i like how YOU think too donner

TOURBOX!!!!!

[VacuumVoodoo]

T O U R freakin B O X !!!!!

I cant get the clips Alex ---- but I know my ear likes what your ear does so Im all ears ! Hit me

A tour box is in the plan. But it'll take some time. I haven't decided yet how this will be packaged.
That cool enclosure I showed in the topic I mentioned earlier is too damn expensive. Even in volume quantities

If the embedded player doesn't work for you go this way and download the clips from their wolf den.

[VacuumVoodoo]

Here some more Strat SRV & Suhr HSS clips. A bit more gain, grain & OD yet still not OD'd on the dials.

Strat SRV clip 2_2 sorry, no notes were taken on gtr/amp settings for Strat clips

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/strat_srv_neck_2_2.mp3

Strat SRV clip 2_12

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/strat_srv_bridge_2_12.mp3

Strat SRV clip 2_15

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/strat_srv_2_15.mp3

Strat SRV clip 2_13

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/strat_srv_bridge_2_13.mp3

Suhr HSS clip 2_7 neck PU guitar vol on 5

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/suhr_hss_neck_2_7.mp3

Suhr HSS clip 2_5 neck PU guitar vol 4 progressing to 8

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/suhr_hss_neck_2_5.mp3

Suhr HSS clip 2_4 bridge PU guitar vol 10, same amp settings as clip 2_5

Download: http://www.anacon-tech.com/downloads/schihav/stratdemo02/suhr_hss_bridge_2_4.mp3

LP clips coming up in a few days.

What say you, guys

[Bobby D]

liking clips 2-15 and 2-5

interesting sounding distortion, lotta midrange content with a strat, but yet still "stringy" -- i have to hear that "stringy-ness" with a strat, or else i don't like it

what sort of amp will this turn out to be? a rack preamp or pedal?

[VacuumVoodoo]

liking clips 2-15 and 2-5
interesting sounding distortion, lotta midrange content with a strat, but yet still "stringy" -- i have to hear that "stringy-ness" with a strat, or else i don't like it

That was one of objectives in the tone design, to still hear strings even if layered with distortion.
The midrange EQ is a bit different from what you usually find on guitar amps (yes, it's mixing desk EQ type with a twist)
It gives a wide boost of just ca +4db while mid dip affects a narrower frequency range and can be dialed to about -15db.
The dip has four switchable center frequencies. Together with Bass/Treble you can approximate frequency responses of some well known classic amps as well as your own flavors.

Since the clips were recorded I also implemented an active control I call Bottom Nip & Tuck.
It has 3 positions: Loose/Tight/Skinny ......hm...perhaps I should lose the Loose ?

what sort of amp will this turn out to be? a rack preamp or pedal?

Not decided yet. There is a possibility to make both versions. Pedal version having a simpler foot operated switching system and a rack version with MIDI controlled switching functions.

Your input on packaging format will be most helpful in arriving at a decision.