BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

Excellent, excellent posts, guys. Thanks so much for your time, participation, and most valuable feedback. That's what this forum is all about!

Your name here wrote:

thiscalltoarms wrote:Loving your analysis and vids Marty! Very cool reviews!

Agreed!

Thank you for the cool vids and for your insight.

Thanks guys...Doc and SJK as well... I appreciate it.

I make the exception to put the effort in here because at the core, it comes from inspiration, of course substantiated by everyone here that shares the same high regard for this stuff, and freedom, which I've expressed to Bjorn many times, that their is no "thinking" about tone here per se, just engaging and being inspired by it.

Of course, their are always tweaks here and there, depending on one's rig, playing style, how well a particular model(s) bonds, and what one one seeks to achieve and how many colors one chooses to use.

thesjkexperience wrote:Thanks for the side by side video demos! I am also glad you did this as I was starting to gas for a BJFE CAF and I remember why I sold it!

Melodichaotic, I am surprised with a Matchless you are having trouble getting enough Treble and or Presence! Maybe you just need a Tele!

Well, I lucked out with the earlier CAF...I believe it was before a circuit tweak that I think requested By Sebastian at thesegoto11 to have more useable tones when dialing back on the guitar volume....this one I have is monsterous and thicker sounding than the later one I had, and subsequently it dials back that inherent upper octave treble spike that permeates throughout the circuit.

Ha!...one of these days I will put together a killer Strat and Tele....really love those tones, but I prefer humbuckers made "sparkly and single coil-esque" through my Matchless...so yes, even though I set the EQ pretty flat, I am getting plenty of treble and presence.

However, relative to that, as far as gain and treble(or presence), it's always good to have a bit more than not enough, especially live...I like to have more than enough gain, so I can play with the compression characteristics a bit more and dial it back from full on, to where the sound opens up a bit while still having enough sustain.
Treble....same general I ideology....more of it will fit more rigs(with single coils and 'buckers) and give you more control and detail where needed...suck when you you're playing live and you just don't have enough cut.

On the BF CAF for example, I found that the treble pot just needs a little more swing on the upper end(and less on the lower end) for it to be really dialed in and most useable throughout IMHO....but a great sounding version the way it's biased-excellent sounds in that one..kudos Bjorn and Donner.

The box mailed out this morning so it might arrive tomorrow or Monday to Jordan. I enjoyed the crap out of this box- especially the CAF and Mystoury/AWF. What I liked best about this box relative to some other tours that I have taken part in is the liberation that playing fuzz can have on me. When I try out ODs/Distortions/Comps/Boosts/EQs it is all about whether or not it beats what I have going. And honestly, I am so happy with my OD/Distortion/EQ/Comps that its just for the sake of trying something new- pedals rarely make any inroads into my rig these days. Fuzz is different. I don't use fuzz much live, or even in the studio. Normally fuzzes aren't my thing, or they haven't been up until now. I suspect that I discovered what makes fuzz work for me- a monumental discovery.

I don't really like fuzz... because I normally use humbucker equipped guitars. When I tried the tour pedals with my Tele and my buddies Mayer Strat it was a mind blowing experience. All four pedals seemed to just come alive with single coils- better treble response, less harsh gain, singing lead tones can be dialed in without feeling overly harsh and buzzy like I experience fuzzes with my SG & LP. My second discovery- I like fuzz pedals much better through my 6v6 amps than my El84 amps. I felt that the Morgan PR12 and Fender Vibro Champ both gave me amazing platforms to groove out some fuzz into vs with the Budda SD18 and the Z Maz 18 NR where the fuzzes felt a bit harsher and more choked up. You know what I love about these fuzzes? They sing. Lyrical, beautiful, destructive, and melodic.

A few thoughts about the different pedals- I got the most of the PPF with the gain dimed and the nature most of the way bright. Didn't feel like anything darker than noon was even remotely usable, and it really didn't like it unless it was mostly bright. But at the right settings it has a nice cut, not too much in the mids, and can really feel tight with some aggressiveness.

The EGDM is gorgeous for mid gain for me- useful up to about noon, beyond that it is just too much. I think the overall compression of the EGDM is a bit much for me for live usage, but I can definitely see it for recording. I LOVED the EGDM as an always on pick attack and volume knob clean up with no other gain pedals into my PR12, but it was way too much into my Z or Budda (which are my main gigging amps, the Morgan records and does coffee house gigs).

The CAF was a pedal that I enjoyed, but when I got to use it live, I wished I could get more out of the octave in the octave setting, could do with a bit more high end as well. Ran the gain between noon to cranked, mostly around 1:30-2:00. Didn't really like the CAF stacked, just congested the tone. No good for chords for me either, but very fun lead tones. The left hand side of the N knob has some very cool brass tones that I think I might get some use out of at churches around christmas time maybe...

I love the AWF at noon and below for rhythm tones with an ASAT into my PR12. Amazing crunchy semi fuzzy tones, just killer for jamming. Dime the gain and its so smooth and fat, just enough gain without getting out of hand. I compared my AWF production BF#1 to the Tourbox version and it was definitely the same except slight part variances. They weren't identical, but I don't know that I could prefer one over the other. With the gain and treble dimed, my AWF has a touch less low end and that makes it sound a touch brighter (which I prefer). Gain is similar, maybe a touch more on the Mystoury. But if you roll either knob back from max, they are capable of the same sounds anywhere. Use your ears, they you can match it identically. No question that it is the same version in my mind.

My plan is to run the AWF on my coffee shop gig / jam board: BF AWF - Bearfoot Honey Bair (Teal Balloon) - Boss DD5 - Carbon Copy. Run that into my Morgan PR12, with an occasional Wah or Volume pedal depending on the genre, and that should make a very cool vibe rig for smaller shows- from Blues to Post-rock on a PT mini. I'd love to add a Bearfoot SBEQ next, still haven't tried that one out since my BJFE has served me so well.

Thanks to Donner and the Doc for putting this on- and Bjorn for hooking us up with tonal perfection!

Hey folks,

Just checking in to see who has the tourbox right now?

Cheers,

Doc

I do not have it yet, but I'm not in any particular rush either. Whoever has it can take their time with it as far as I'm concerned. Get what you need to get out of them.

I sent it USPS priority tracked and insured to Jordan on 8/9/13. Hit me up if you need the tracking info Doc!

Thiscall,

I got it last Monday. I'm going to be testing the boxes later today/tonight through my Princeton; was fun. And pass it on in the next day or 2. m3talw4rrior please pm me you snail mail address.

I've been stuck plugging into my Microcube not the best test bed for a fuzz, although the EGDM has still been fun.

Jordan

Its on its way to its next stop. I will post my notes over the weekend.

Thanks for the update, Jordan.

I guess it's off to m3talw4rrior and, lastly, Gordon.