Basic Audio Tourbox #2 sign-up (tan)

[TheWarmth]

Again, I'd like to get 5 to 10 people. Please PM me or email me at firefire90 AT hotmail DOT com with "tourbox #2" in the subject line.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/chicagowarmth/BasicAudioDoc1.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/chicagowarmth/BasicAudioTourBoxPedals.jpg

[TheWarmth]

Bump ... looking for a few more people to join in.

[TheWarmth]

This is coming along well. Still some room for a few more, though. PM or email me. Thanks!

[fyler]

very cool. John just rehoused a rack Electra analog delay into a wooden stompbox for me. it turned out great:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2297322810_5f4e02ce18.jpg

[basicaudio]

Thanks for the pic, the delay did turn out well I think.
I burnished the knobs a bit and I dig the softness of them.

I'm looking forward to having you folks try these pedals out.
There are some great very colored 6Ts sounds in these tourboxes as well as some warm and fuzz guys...
The warmth seems to really like these and he's got a pretty discerning taste.
I think you'll dig 'em.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks

John

[TheWarmth]

This tourbox is going out tomorrow. If anyone wants to sign up, please do so ASAP. Thanks!

[2tone]

Got the pedal box with Electric Mud; Lucky Number;Spooky Tooth; Future Man. All nicely constructed, quiet. The favorite was the Lucky Number. This had the most robust, dynamic fuzz sound. Silicon, with a good feel and this pedal can really get the singing single note stuff. Kind of hopped up FF sound. The Volume, Tone and Gain knobs have good range , the Tone somewhat subtle.; The next pedal was the Spooky Tooth. This is a silicon style fuzz with a non FF sound, more like an Asian fuzz or Bosstone type sound. Not the fatter full sound of the Lucky Number though.More narrow and brighter, with some psuedo octave kind of sounds possible. The Future Man is Vol, Treble, Bass and gain. This fuzz is more compressed, less dynamic, almost too constrained. BC109 trannies. But I think it needs to breathe more. Decent range of EQ but not enough zip. The Electric Mud is Vol, Tone and Gain. Again this one was small sounding and too compressed. Like diode clipping and hybrid transistors. I think this one needs to be more open and dynamic. Not a believable singing sound, more like an IC chip type sound. Thanks for letting me try these guys....

[basicaudio]

Thanks for the review 2tone.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
The Lucky Number is the most straight forward fuzz and full sounding of the pedals you tried.
I voiced the tone control so it cut the high end and scoops the middle a little bit. Even with the tone turned down there is a a decent amount of high end but it won't kill all the upper harmonics of the sound, this way the tone control is usable over the entire range instead of just one sweet spot.

The Spooky Tooth, Future Man, and Electric Mud are all 60's style boxes with a lot of character.
The Future man is sort of a big muff sound although it's not close to that circuit at all. It's compressed and thick, not something that you use for a transparent blues sound of course. It's full on and wall of sound there...
I'm kind of surprised you didn't like the Electric Mud. I really like it for the cranked fuzz settings and for a rolled off guitar volume "wah quack" sound. It cleans up well and really puts out the fuzz.
I guess it just depends on how you use them.

Thanks for trying them out and posting back.

John / Basic Audio

[2tone]

Hi John . I do have a "bias" toward old style fuzzes, which in part comes from the older components' characteristics and the extra sizzle riding on top of a wave of fat harmonics. More importantly, I like the more direct feel of the old circuits using the old transistors and caps. I admit I don't get along with TS type pedals and generally don't like the diode clip type of sound. You are correct that it is a personal type of preference and type of rig employed. I was using a tele and strat into a 30 watt tube combo which is very pedal friendly. With this rig the two pedals I mentioned just sounded lots more compressed and didn't have the big dimension of sound that I prefer. I couldn't get them to sound very dynamic. Possible with a loud clean amp these pedals may perform as you described. I'll be interested to read others' evaluations of the tour pedals. Thanks

[Blunder]

I had the tourbox a few months ago. Finally got some time to post my thoughts.

Gear used: Koll Jr Glide and homebrew tele thru my TopHat VibraTrem and Swart Space Tone Reverb.

Lucky Number:
This one was my favorite. Lots of gain and sustain. Backing off the fuzz control gave up some cool distortion tones. Cranking up the volume and backing off the fuzz give some cool overdriven tones too. Chords had nice clarity. Tone control had a good usable range. Could get really thick and wooley if you want it to.
Very cool enclosure too.

Spooky Tooth:
This one was fun. Cool, gritty fuzz that turns into a chaotic beast when you crank the fuzz knob. There are some crazy octave/oscillation sounds in this box. A little crazy for what I usually need in a fuzz, but fun anyway. Stacking this with the other boxes was some crazy fun.
The wooden enclosure is really cool as well.

Electric Mud:
This one sounded similar to a fuzz face to me. Nice grit to it. Tone control had a usable range. Cleaned up well with the guitar volume.

Future Man:
Very interesting pedal. I wish I would have had more time to really explore this one. The bass and treble controls don't work like you'd expect. They control tone and elements of the fuzz. Very cool idea that takes some getting used to. I was able to dial in some bright,spitty fuzz as well as some thick,big muff type sounds out of it. I would have liked the gain control to have had more range though. The gain didn't really come on until the second half of the sweep. (this could have had something to do with how I was setting the tone controls though)


I really enjoyed all 4 pedals. I have never had more than 2 fuzz pedals at the same time so it was cool to be able to compare these 4. They are good sounding circuits with some original tones. Quality construction.
It will be cool to see what other designs John comes up with.

I would like to thank John at Basic Audio for sending out his pedals and also TheWarmth for running this tourbox. It was fun to be a part of. Sorry that it took me so long to post my review.

[Dandy13]

I had the tour box a couple weeks ago and finally have some time to post my thoughts.
First off the build quality seemed really good even though these are proto's. Especially when it comes to the enclosures, they are all very cool looking and unique.
I spent most of my time with them playing a jazzmaster through a 71 princeton. I tagged an Eternity or a Timmy along with a delay at the end of the chain behind the fuzz boxes. For reference I had a big muff, vintage tonebender, fulltone '69, fuzz factory, and even a boss fz2 hyper fuzz laying around for comparison.

All of the boxes were different yet shared a common "tonality" if that makes sense. All had a good amount of volume on tap and could really push my princeton yielding some really great tones. All of them featured a lot of interaction between the controls making them pretty fun to get dialed in, lots of tones to be had. They all responded well to the volume control on my guitar, especially from like 6 and 1/2 to 10 on the volume knob. Though not as well as a '69 or a sunface which can go totally clean. They all could get a pretty wicked fuzz face type overdrive sound going - This was particularly awesome for me cause that is the sound that makes up my basic tone (currently using a '69 as my main dirt). I used those settings as a starting point with each pedal.

The Spooky Tooth: First off, this pedal is now tops on my GAS list. At low settings, as I mentioned above, you can dial in a nice raunchy OD that will respond well to your volume control. Tons of Volume on tap. As you turn the fuzz knob up you get the funnest octave sound I've ever played and even some ring mod craziness. While this fuzz can get crazy it is very musical and usable which I think is the main knock on pedals like Devi Ever's fuzzes, DBA stuff, and even the fuzz factory. A must have if you are like me and get into those more extreme type fuzz's now and again but don't want to waste pedal board real estate on something only used for those moments.

Electric Mud: at low settings again, you get those fuzz face type tones, however this one does not get as clean as the others. This ones def got some hair on it. Using the volume control on the guitar was most helpfull with this pedal. I played "Satisfaction" for about 20 minutes I think. Other tones to be had: Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top

Lucky Number: my second favorite. At low settings you get those great Overdrive tones, as you turn the fuzz up you get quite a bit of gain. Does a great scooped muff sound only a lot more "3 dimensional". I would sum up this pedal by saying: "Sustain for dayyyzzzz".

Future Man: This is the most versatile dirt box I've ever played hands down. Does everything from cleanish boost (there is a TON of volume in this box) to OD to Fuzz to Octave Fuzz. Responds well to the volume knob on the guitar. The 4 controls on the pedal are very interactive. I'm very happy that they are not labeled, I think it made the tweaking that much more fun and I found so many different sounds in this box.

I forgot to mention that it was also good fun stacking the fuzz's for a wall of sound. Stacking into the Eternity was also great, but imo pretty much any fuzz or treble boost into an E is pretty awesome. They didn't seem to be that picky about other pedals in the chain but I admit, I forgot to put a wah pedal in front of 'em.

I wish that I had the chance to try a Lovepedal BBB07 and a Skreddy Screwdriver for comparison. - Especially to the future man. There is a lot of versatality in all of these boxes and they are some of the coolest looking pedals around imo. I don't know anything about Basic Audio, nor have I ever dealt with the builder. Once I get around to ordering a spooky tooth I'll let y'all know how it goes. Seems like a great guy to work with based on the posts above. Thanks Paul for organizing the tour!

[Dandy13]

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/blackswan999/S6300526.jpg

[flyingvees]

I would like to try them out sometime...seems kinda cool

[basicaudio]

Blunder and Dandy13

Thanks for the reviews!
I appreciate the detailed impressions on my pedals.
With the Futureman the fuzz control will have a larger range, I just didn't have the right pot at the time I made it up and was ready to send it out for the tourbox...

For anyone wanting a little more info here's my website. I need to add a few things still and I have some sound samples almost ready so stay tuned.

http://www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html

I can also be reached here basicaudiowv AT yahoo.com


Take care

John

[TheWarmth]

New soundclips can be found here:

www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html

[gkelm]

New soundclips can be found here:

www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html (http://www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html)

Clips sounds really good...wish I would have caught this tour.
Greg

[gkelm]

New soundclips can be found here:

www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html (http://www.mrdwab.com/john/pedalpage.html)

Any clips of old Tull are great clips...I like the LUCKY NUMBER the best from what I hear there. Looks like one of the boxes is headed my way.

Greg

[gururyan]

After thoroughly enjoying myself with the Basic Audio Tourbox #1, I'm happy to say that Tourbox #2 arrived yesterday and has already been a blast.

[Blunder]

...And I am having fun with tourbox #1 right now.

It was funny to go back and reread my review. In it, I stated that I never had more than 2 fuzz pedals at a time.:rolleyes:
Man, how things have changed in the last 6 months.

..plus I've got a Spooky Tooth and Solar Myth in the mail right now too.:D

[gururyan]

Yeah, as much as I try to resist...I'm thinking a Wildcat and Future Man will be in my arsenal.

[Sickle]

Ok, my much delayed review of the four-box set..Sadly, I'm experiencing some rather serious troubles at home right now, but I did my best to give each of these a fair go even if time was more limited than I'd prefer.

Ok, so gear used: Ibanez baritone with humbuckers, tuned to C, into a 120 watt Matamp custom with gain all the way down so as not to color any fuzz tones. Cab used was an old Marshall JCM800.

Spooky Tooth - All the Basic Audio pedals are loud, but this one is LOUD! Very dirty with tons of low end(almost too much, I had poor performance on neck pup, but I was driving the pedal way harder than most probably would). This one has that ultra cool buzzy, vintage sounding slow fuzz, highs are simply not there, but if I'd classify this I'd say hands down its a rhythm fuzz all the way, if you want highs, you'll need to use some EQ, no biggie. This one is GREAT for detuned sludge, and has good chord definition despite the low end frequency bias. Some downtempo/detuned acts like my old band Floor, and Slomatics, do not employ a bass guitarist. In a scenario like that, this pedal is about as close to perfect as anything I've tried, its just a brutal, brain-blasting low end power-assault. With a buzzy garage fuzz, you CAN get a very unique palm muting, it requires changing how you place the heel of your hand on the bridge, but you can get some amaxing low end chunk-buzz when you hit the sweet spot that is very unique to a narrow range of fuzz circuits. Glad to say this one does that really well.

Very cool. :D

Next up is the electric mud. This one was a real joy to play. GREAT sound, good mids/highs voicing, and better mix placement than the Spooky Tooth, which will lend itself to many more applications. This one would be good to go in a bass/two guitarist live setting no sweat. Its got a rich, higher gain fuzz like an MK III or 80's Rat. Of all the Basic Audio pedals I tried, this one is probably the most 'mainstream', and is a bread and butter pedal all day long. Sounds best to me when volume is close to max, running all controls here flat out sounded *the best*, bright, punchy, aggressive fuzz that would be great for a lead player. Slap a booster at solo time after it and you're in serious business. If it had a built-in treble booster it would be devastating.

Ok, so after that, I plugged in the Lucky Number, and man, I really like this one. Heavy, Sovtek Big Muff style, with a great tone control. LOUD like the Spooky Tooth and Wildcat, but also does excellent palm muting, nice and crunchy. Its a perfect compromise between old school fuzz and 80's distortion. Its got some HIGH GAIN, so expect noise! Easily the heaviest pedal of the whole bunch, and an instant favorite here, maybe a rival for the top slot I gave the Wildcat or Scarab. I don't have a lot to say about it aside from the fact that it kicks serious ass!

Last, but not least, is the Future Man. As some others have said, getting used to this one is a bit of a head scratcher at first, there is an extremely dynamic interplay between control positions. At first, I was a little confused, but I did not know what pots did what and went at it blind(I avoided reading any other reviews posted here on purpose so as not to color my own review).

This one's pretty damn interesting and well worth deeper experimentation. Like all new pedals I get my hands on, I slam all knobs at 11 and turn it down from there. At max for all, it nailed COC's 'Albatross' straight up! Nice 70's sounding fuzz! Rolling down volume just a little acts more like a low cut and gives a really nice sweet spot with really crunchy mids/highs and changes the fuzz tone completely into a kinda late 70's/early 80's arena rock sound, Rat-like in a sense. Volume all the way up changes back to full buzzy raunch, very cool, you've got a couple different fuzz tones in here! You can dial in a shitload of different tones, and there's a DRAMATIC difference in sound depending on which pickup used.

I wish I had more time I could spend with these, but I've had them too long already! Some of you may be glad to know that I'm forwarding them to Cali68, who if we're lucky, might provide us with a choice video or two!

:D

Great job, John!

[basicaudio]

Sickle
Sorry to hear of some troubles at home...hope things smooth out.

Just thinking out load here...

With the down tuned baritone and humbuckers you definetly are feeding some serious bass and level through these boxes. I have only played them in a standard a440 tuning while building and tweaking them.

The Spooky Tooth is a smooth pedal (although very fuzzy) so the baritone is working against it a bit. Seems like you liked it but I just wanted to address the low end issues you had. I'd imagine a couple cap tweaks would bring it alive a little more for your guitar setup.

Futureman does take some time to get to know. It's kind of a dual pedal in that you can boost with it with the fuzz down and volume up.
Turn the fuzz up and the volume lower and it really cranks! It's not over bearing at all though.
The bass and treble controls effect the fuzz density and tonal characteristics at the same time. It's not so much hard to nail down a setting as much as the fact that there are a few diffent tones to be had and the knobs play off each other and the overall sound.

Thanks for taking some time out to get your thoughts written down here.

Looking forward to Cali68's impressions and videos as well.

John

[Sickle]

Hey, don't get me wrong, that way the Spooky Tooth is currently set up with my bridge pup that bitch is SLAMMING, man!

:D

I don't use neck position too much anyways, but with the resonance in that unpainted body and the half round strings, etc, its no surprise at all I flubbed out, but that's my rig, not the pedal!

[basicaudio]

Oh, ok. I get ya....
I was just clarifying.

Half round strings? Interesting.

[Sickle]

Bumpage.

http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/bump.gif
(http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/bump.gif)

[Sickle]

Forgot to add we've got an excellent youtube demo of the Future Man stomp courtesy of TGP's very own Cali68 that can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFZ8rwoV-BA

http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/badteeth.gif

[Dandy13]

great demo!

[Blunder]

Great video! Tasty playing and a great example of the pedals versatility.

It's been so long since I played the Future Man that I forgot how cool that pedal is.

[CALI68]

Thanks Guys! Glad you like it.

The Future Man is crazy addictive! I can mess with that pedal all day.


-Chris