Skreddy Paradigm Shift

[rockeroo]

Has anyone tried one? Impressions?

[cajone5]

I have one. The only one off (as far as I know) so far. It's brushed aluminum with black graphic.

It's an interesting pedal. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be sticking around but I'm still on the fence. The explaination on the Skreddy site is a bit deceiving. If you look at his graphical representations of the way the depth (I think) knob works it basically changes whether the circuit chops of the peaks or valleys of your signal while adding a pitch shifting effect that can take you from clean to phase to chorus to vibe on the mix knob. The big problem I have with it is the setting showing the full signal passing without cutting the peaks or valleys cannot be achieved. Something always gets chopped off which creates an abrupt change in the pitch that happens rhythmically with the rate knob. Not necessarily a bad thing as my BJFe vibe really gives me that smooth wobble anyway so they could definitely coexist on the same board. But I was really hoping to get something that could take on the more traditional phaser sounds. This is not it though so I'm not sure I'm going to keep it.

The clips on Skreddy's site are pretty good representations of what it can do. And I actually think it sounds really good when I hear it on other peoples playing. For some reason I can't adjust to it with my playing



But such is life... I guess if any folks here are interested in it they can let me know as I probably won't be keeping it. I just don't have the heart to put it up for sale quite yet...

[Donner]

I have one. The only one off (as far as I know) so far. It's brushed aluminum with black graphic.

It's an interesting pedal. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be sticking around but I'm still on the fence. The explaination on the Skreddy site is a bit deceiving. If you look at his graphical representations of the way the depth (I think) knob works it basically changes whether the circuit chops of the peaks or valleys of your signal while adding a pitch shifting effect that can take you from clean to phase to chorus to vibe on the mix knob. The big problem I have with it is the setting showing the full signal passing without cutting the peaks or valleys cannot be achieved. Something always gets chopped off which creates an abrupt change in the pitch that happens rhythmically with the rate knob. Not necessarily a bad thing as my BJFe vibe really gives me that smooth wobble anyway so they could definitely coexist on the same board. But I was really hoping to get something that could take on the more traditional phaser sounds. This is not it though so I'm not sure I'm going to keep it.

The clips on Skreddy's site are pretty good representations of what it can do. And I actually think it sounds really good when I hear it on other peoples playing. For some reason I can't adjust to it with my playing



But such is life... I guess if any folks here are interested in it they can let me know as I probably won't be keeping it. I just don't have the heart to put it up for sale quite yet...

I wondered about this one too and how it would compare to the MiniVibe and the MP TOPhaser ...

[rockeroo]

I have one. The only one off (as far as I know) so far. It's brushed aluminum with black graphic.

It's an interesting pedal. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be sticking around but I'm still on the fence. The explaination on the Skreddy site is a bit deceiving. If you look at his graphical representations of the way the depth (I think) knob works it basically changes whether the circuit chops of the peaks or valleys of your signal while adding a pitch shifting effect that can take you from clean to phase to chorus to vibe on the mix knob. The big problem I have with it is the setting showing the full signal passing without cutting the peaks or valleys cannot be achieved. Something always gets chopped off which creates an abrupt change in the pitch that happens rhythmically with the rate knob. Not necessarily a bad thing as my BJFe vibe really gives me that smooth wobble anyway so they could definitely coexist on the same board. But I was really hoping to get something that could take on the more traditional phaser sounds. This is not it though so I'm not sure I'm going to keep it.

The clips on Skreddy's site are pretty good representations of what it can do. And I actually think it sounds really good when I hear it on other peoples playing. For some reason I can't adjust to it with my playing



But such is life... I guess if any folks here are interested in it they can let me know as I probably won't be keeping it. I just don't have the heart to put it up for sale quite yet...

I wondered about this one too and how it would compare to the MiniVibe and the MP TOPhaser ...

I think mine comes in tomorrow, so I will certainly share thoughts once I have some. Burgermann's demo of the pedal was quite interesting. Hopefully it sounds similar to his depiction of the pedal. Sounded usable (compared to my OLD DOD Phasor 490).

Cheers.

[skreddy]

Yeah, my initial goal was to replicate the throb of a Uni-Vibe; so that's why my sweep's LFO waveform is so saturated. I've been thinking about revisiting that LFO design to enable the more modern, typical phaser sweep (a sawtooth, basically). But it's really only an issue if I'm just sitting there listening to the sweep itself. If I'm actually playing something, it's actually a very musical effect; so I'm not sure I even want to redesign it at this point. It's such a transparent sound when clean, but it really takes off with distortion and does everything I would have used a phaser or 'vibe for; and the squashed tops and bottoms of the LFO just add interesting, old-school character.

I totally hear you, though, and agree. I just honestly feel it's not an issue that really needs fixing at this point. Perhaps I'll make a new LFO design to compare; but I actually like this saturated LFO waveform the more I play live with it.

[cajone5]

Yeah, my initial goal was to replicate the throb of a Uni-Vibe; so that's why my sweep's LFO waveform is so saturated. I've been thinking about revisiting that LFO design to enable the more modern, typical phaser sweep (a sawtooth, basically). But it's really only an issue if I'm just sitting there listening to the sweep itself. If I'm actually playing something, it's actually a very musical effect; so I'm not sure I even want to redesign it at this point. It's such a transparent sound when clean, but it really takes off with distortion and does everything I would have used a phaser or 'vibe for; and the squashed tops and bottoms of the LFO just add interesting, old-school character.

I totally hear you, though, and agree. I just honestly feel it's not an issue that really needs fixing at this point. Perhaps I'll make a new LFO design to compare; but I actually like this saturated LFO waveform the more I play live with it.

The thing that gets me while playing is unless you dial it in juuuust right you end up with a pretty apparent throb due to the saturated LFO (cutoff waves) that typically doesn't end up on the same rhythm as the song. I think this circuit would be super useful with tap tempo to keep things on the beat because the obvious non-smooth throb occurring off beat gets in my head. If it was a smoother wave form the rhythm of the vibe/phase wouldn't be nearly as in your face and you can get away with it being off tempo but the chopped off waves create an obvious reference in the wave that generates a rhythm of its own. I still love other people's sound with it but when I'm playing and listening to beats it gets to me. So yea -- I'd love the circuit if I could use that throb rhythmically via tap tempo but for something that can't be dialed in too exactly on the fly I think the circuit may be more useful if it had settings where it doesn't saturate.

Any chance or possibility of an update with either a tap tempo or a non-saturating wave form? I'd love to keep it as is and be able to tap in rhythms to use the unique sound it currently has. To a lesser degree I'd also like to see it go the traditional route of non-saturation somewhere on the dials but that would be second to tap tempo (but likely more realistic)... Anyway, I hope all this makes sense The Skreddy Echo is still my all time favorite delay (surpassing the echoczar/angelbaby, memory lane jr., el capistan, timeline, dl4 and others...) so I have a lot of faith in this circuit. I just don't feel like it's quite where it needs to be for me. Anyway, hope this feedback helps and if there are any plans for an update I'd certainly be interested.

[Donner]

funny - Im reading this with headphones on and the current song has a line ' the paradigm has shifted ' and 'keeping up with the Joneses' (Solipsistics)


Skred does the PS have a mix knob so you can still have the same intensity of throb within the effect but not eat the whole signal ...?

[rockeroo]

funny - Im reading this with headphones on and the current song has a line ' the paradigm has shifted ' and 'keeping up with the Joneses' (Solipsistics)


Skred does the PS have a mix knob so you can still have the same intensity of throb within the effect but not eat the whole signal ...?

The "mix" knob dials in the intensity of the effect -- from a slight phasing to "vibe"-like tones. As far as I know, there is not a traditional "wet/dry" mix. With that said, I have thus far enjoyed my explorations with the paradigm shift. Last night, I played with a band and used it primarily on cleaner sounds, and it has a nice feel to it. The depth control (I think that's what he calls it) provides the option of emphasizing a more warm or bright tone.

I think that a wet/dry knob would make the effect more usable in a variety of situations, but as is, it sounds very nice.

[skreddy]

funny - Im reading this with headphones on and the current song has a line ' the paradigm has shifted ' and 'keeping up with the Joneses' (Solipsistics)


Skred does the PS have a mix knob so you can still have the same intensity of throb within the effect but not eat the whole signal ...?

The "mix" knob dials in the intensity of the effect -- from a slight phasing to "vibe"-like tones. As far as I know, there is not a traditional "wet/dry" mix. With that said, I have thus far enjoyed my explorations with the paradigm shift. Last night, I played with a band and used it primarily on cleaner sounds, and it has a nice feel to it. The depth control (I think that's what he calls it) provides the option of emphasizing a more warm or bright tone.

I think that a wet/dry knob would make the effect more usable in a variety of situations, but as is, it sounds very nice.

The mix knob is literally a dry/wet control. The thing is, "wet" is the modulated signal. When you hear that signal all by itself, not mixed with the dry signal, it just "sounds" like a pitch-shifted vibrato. It's only when this wet signal is mixed with dry signal that you get the notched filter effect. So, with the mix knob, if you listen to mostly just the dry signal with only a little bit of wet, it results in a subtle phase effect; or if you listen to mostly the wet signal with only a little dry signal, it results in a rich, vibey effect, but again with a subtle phase sound (the notched filter effect). In the middle of the mix knob's sweep is where you get the most intense phase/filtered effect.

Anyhow, I'll play around with LFOs and see if a new version of the phaser is called for. I definitely do want to hear myself if a more sawtooth waveform would be better (or if I could just add that as an option). I don't want to get into too many switches and knobs, and I like the relative simplicity, with still a fairly powerful control over a lot of different styles.

As for fine-tuning the speed on the fly, do give adjusting the knob a shot with your foot if you can manage it. I did go to some trouble to lay it out up front with a nice big speed knob. But rhythmically speaking, I never actually envisioned the Paradigm to go in time with the music so much as provide either a slow wash over the top of it or a fast warble, neither of which need be any particular division of the beat. So if you're distracted by the sweep, I suggest slowing down the speed enough that it never interferes with or distracts from the rhythm of your playing.

[skreddy]

I've been playing with the LFO on a breadboard, and, for some reason, it is working a lot more symmetrical on my breadboard than in the actual circuit. I need to fine tune it and make sure to eliminate all the parts-value variances to track down the exact source of the difference (and check to see if current draw from the rest of the circuit might be the difference). But thoretically it appears I'm using the "best" setup right now as it is and that the "Dwell" control should be able to help the waveform do what you want to do. So I think I can track down just some very minor parts-value changes to get the sweep to travel more consistently and rest less at the tops and bottoms. Bear with me, please.