Euro Tourbox #2 Telenordia (OD/Compressor/Treble Boost/Trem) Post reviews here

[Seegs]

Seegs...Germany
Sikor...Germany
Chrissy...Germany
SkipTracer...Germany
Lordriffenstein...Belgum
Blueprint...France
Hendrix2430...France
Stekks...Holland
Auratnik...Slovenia
Stubrew...UK/England
Tube Guy...UK/England
Toasted...UK/England
Andy J...Finland
Samtheman...Finland
back to Telenordia FX...


Telenordia Tourbox #2

TA-100 Overdrive
TK-23 Kompressor
TA-24 Treble Booster
TT-3 Tremelo

Test Equipment
1987 Gibson ES335 with Wolftone Dr. Vintage pups
K-line Ash/Maple Hardtail Strat with Lollar Tweed neck and Blonde Middle and Bridge pups
Fargen Dual Classic S/N 1
Analogman AR20DL (330ms) Analog Delay and Lehle 1@3 for channel switching


TA-100 Overdrive - low to medium gain Germanium based od that gets fuzzy in the upper gain ranges...tightens your low end and while the high end remains very sweet...imparts its own thing but seems to integrate with and become part of your rig...very seemless and not at all pedal sounding...three controls but high interactivity with the pedals placed before and after it...IMO this is where the magic happens but more on that later...

TK-23 Kompressor - a very nice compressor that doesn't have the typical compressor side effects that kill your high end or mess with your attack...a very sublte gentle squish which can help dirt boxes to sustain...turning the threshold control up provides a bit more of a subtle compression as well as a noticeable volumn drop which can be compensated for with the output control....there is also a Dry Feed control to route some of the precompressed signal around the compression circuit so you can shape your own attack... I didn't really feel or hear the effect of the dry feed control when the compressor was used by itself but it was way more noticeable when it was used in conjunction with the Overdrive and Treble Boost pedals...does a very nice low gain clean boost for soloing and as a tone shaper/smoother/sustainer for gain pedals placed before and after it...for me what I liked best about this pedal was how it interacted and helped me to shape the tone of any gain pedals placed before or after it...it worked incredibly well with the other Telenordia boxes...

TA-24 Treble Booster - Wow I really dug this pedal...a buddy of mine is a treble boost freak (Hi Chrissy and has brought by just about all the ones currently avaliable and they are usually either painfully voiced or hissy or both...I cringe everytime he tells me he has a new one for me to hear as I end up feeling the same about most of em...I can't wait for him to hear this box..this pedal was a pleasant surprise in that it is voiced ever so sweatly in the high end and is dead quiet...it has a non-linear gain control which appears to make the pedal louder until you get to the point where it starts to add distortion...there is also a tone control which reduces the gain at high frequencies and a 5 position Treble switch which is basically a high pass filter with various selectable corner frequencies...set all the way counterclockwise the TA-24 becomes a full range boost equivalent to the TA-23 which was not included in this tourbox...I found the furthest CC position great for my strat and a bit too woofy for my hums...the beauty of this box lies first in dialing in the treble control to suit your pickups and then setting the gain and tone to taste...I liked the first 2 CC settings of the treble control for single coils and the farthest 2 CW settings for humbuckers…


TT-3 Tremelo - this pedal also adds its own thing to your sound and is based on the TA-23 booster circuity...it has an LFO that produces a near sine waveform but it can get seriously raunchy and overdriven and get close to a hard pulsing square wave tremelo...it can be very subtle and used as a boost or take over your tone as a wacky deep throbbing raunchy trem. pedal depending on how you set it...feeding it an overdrive or treble boost signal was a very musical experience the led me to places I don't normally go...fun box...I'm not a tremelo guy but I sure could be with this box and a little analog delay added in...

Four pedals in unfinished boxes made with premium parts and stellar workmanship...these pedals are Art!...I have to admit that when I first got these I was scratching my head as they appeared to be very simple...three knobs but the tones I was getting at first were difficult for me to comprehend as they are unlike anything I have ever played or heard before...full of warm and fat germanium tone which I found sometimes to be too fat and woofy in certain settings with humbuckers...in all cases I was able to dial out the excess woof and find a setting rich in harmonics that worked for me...I even found the infamous germanium torn- paper sound which unlike some germaniumn based pedals I have tried...could be dialed out with some knob tweakage...it's a cool sound when you want it but I don't really care for it all the time...

I admit that at first as I was trying to understand these pedals I probably didn't do them justice... that is until I hooked them up together...my chain was the TA-100>TK-23>TA24>TT-3>Analogman Delay>Lehle 1@3 (Channel Switching)...this is when it all made sense to me and when the real magic started happening...the subtle complexity of the controls became more apparent when the pedals were used togthter... it was when I used and adjusted them as a system or like an amp channel that I started to understand and fully appreciate what was going on here...the pedals integrated seemlessly into my setup and it was very easy to find the sounds I was looking for... the tones I was getting were absolutely amazing and full of rich harmonics…first I adjusted the OD for low gain and then the compressor for high compression and low dry feed for a beautiful singing sustainy lead tone and then kicked in the TB dialled in for either my strat or 335 to lift it up and add some sparkle and articulation...lowering my guitars volumn control cleaned up the signal which still had some hair around the notes but was less gainy...after I got the hang of how I would use these pedals I found them to be extremely musical and very inspirational...I was able to go from subtle and predictable to wild and wacky and everything in between... I would love to have just a smaller pedalboard with a few of these pedals and a delay...I'd like to say thanks to Matt for sending us the tourbox for all to try and experience first hand... I'm sure you guys are gonna have tons of fun with them...I am gonna have a hard time sending them on their way!

 

[auratnik]

Great review Seegs I really looking forward to test them out!

 

[SkipTracer]

Excellent reviews, Seegs! Thanks very much.

 

[Seegs]

you guys are welcome...Sikor will be picking them up at 10am tomorrow and I will be deep in withdrawal

I thought by putting togehter some tourboxes I would be weeding out a bunch of pedals that have interested me thus saving me some money in the process...but between the Okko and Telenordia pedals I now want 5 new pedals...

Chow,
Seegs

 

[Sikor]

you guys are welcome...Sikor will be picking them up at 10am tomorrow and I will be deep in withdrawal

Yeep, I did pick them up and I am already finished with my test too

I thought by putting togehter some tourboxes I would be weeding out a bunch of pedals that have interested me thus saving me some money in the process...but between the Okko and Telenordia pedals I now want 5 new pedals...

He, he, I know the pain. Just before Christmas I have sold 5 pedals, but since then I bought 3 new one and after this test want a couple more


Ok, let's go to the review part


Test equipment:
Fender Stratocaster Custom Classic > [effect] > Laney VC15


TT-3 Tremolo
Knobs: Output, Speed and Depth are pretty obvious and self-explaining, so there is not much to say.
This is the first tremolo I have ever used, so I can't really compare it with the others.
I found some nice sounds in it, but as I said I just don't use tremolo.
Effect is definitely very well built, very quiet, even at extreme setting (it is true for all the Telenordia pedals from a tourbox).
What I didn't unserstand is position of the diode, too close to the switch. I think the "standard" position (above switch) is more reasonable.
But this is not really that important.


TK-23 Kompressor
It has 3 knobs: Output, Threshold and DryFeed.
I have to say, that manual explanation of the Threshold and DryFeed function was a little too detailed/complicated for me
My ears say that Threshold sets the amount of compression and DryFeed is resposible for the attack. Maybe not only that, but mostly.
Even when Threshold is set to off, there is some compression. From 11-12 o'clock compression is very strong.
When DryFeed is set completely counter-clockwise attack is very attenuated, sound is very soft, mellow.
Attack can be gradually raised and from 15 o'clock lot of it is preserved. Although even when maxed, attack is a little bit attenuated.
Output has quite a lot of gain reserve, so it is easy to get a boost effect.


TA-24 Treble Booster
Pedal is equipped with 3 knobs: Gain, Tone and Treble.
Gain is self-explaining, Tone is gain attenuator for trebles and Treble is 5-position rotary switch which defines which frequencies will boosted the most.
On the first position from the left full range is boosted.
Depending on position of the Treble switch, the Tone works a little bit different, so it allows for variety of tones. Nice.
I have to say once again: the pedal is really quite, even at high setting, there is none noise added. Impressive.
Treble in position 1, Gain at 12 c'clock, Tone at 13, bridge pickup
and drive channels set to "just breaking" and I got great rhytm tone.
I think that because of gemanium diodes, TA-24 added some edge and grit which sounds very different than typical full-range booster.
I like that a lot, it was like really new channel of my amp
I really didn't expect so much variety of sounds from a booster.
Thanks to rotary swich, I think this effect can be set to work nicely with any amp and any guitar.


TA-100 Overdrive
It has typical 3 knobs: Gain, Tone and Output.
Gain is self-explanatory, Output is just Level and Tone works the same as in TA-24.
With Gain off and Tone maxed, TA-100 works as a booster, full-range booster to ma ears.
Only bass is a little clearer and there is a tiny bit less highs, but overall sounds is fuller. But the change is rather subtle.
I like the sound mostly with slightly overdriven amp, rather then with clean channel.
Especially with Gain over 12 o'clock characteristic of the germanium diodes stands out too much for me.
But with my eyes closed I was sure someone cut my speaker with razor!

 

[Tube Guy]

Should be nicely broken in when they reach me

I have a Cornish TB and a Plosive May Booster waiting to welcome the TA-24!

 

[jhfire]

Great Telenordia review, that's why I have two of them.

 

[Grant Ferstat]

Great Telenordia review, that's why I have two of them.

Are you running your TA's after the TU2?

I started that way and thought they sounded fine but my Telenordia's really sound much better without the TU2 buffer in front of them.

Matthias from Telenordia thought the same.

 

[jhfire]

Thanks Realfi for that tip, I'm gonna try it. You mean it's gonna sound even better? :AOK

 

[Grant Ferstat]

Thanks Realfi for that tip, I'm gonna try it. You mean it's gonna sound even better? :AOK

Yep.

Like you I thought it sounded pretty good as it was but you'll find a sweeter tone if the pedals are prior to that TU2 buffer and even more dynamics with the Telenordia pedals being hit directly by the guitar signal. Let me know how you go.

It's interesting the way you essentially have a clean boost on either side of the TA-100. How do you utilise the TA-23>TA-100>Sexdrive combo?

 

[Chrissy]

Just received the box - testing tomorrow... reviews to follow!

Chris

 

[macca]

are the Telenordia pedals true bypass?

I'm especially interested in the compressor . . .

thanks

 

[Grant Ferstat]

are the Telenordia pedals true bypass?

I'm especially interested in the compressor . . .

thanks

Yep they are.

 

[macca]

thanks

 

[Chrissy]

Test equipment:
Lollar Classic (SG style) with Lollar 50s P90s
GVCG Pine 2 Pickup Esquire (Lollar/GVCG neck pickup and 10.5k bridge PU).
Orange Retro 50 Head into Germino slant 4x12 with Scumback H55/H75 X-pattern mix.
Evidence Audio cables.
Amp set to break up a bit.
Other effects of similar genre with me to benchmark too: ProAnalog Scot 60, Artefact Audio Element 32, ProAnalog Power Driver, Tone Czar Powerglide.

Treble booster
This one is my fave of the bunch (you kinda guessed that already, eh Seegs? ) As regular posters here will know, I have had quite a few over the past few years and currently own a couple too. Just love those chunky, retro dynamic tones you can get from a treble booster.
Plusses:
Having both the 5 position rotary AND a tone control to reduce treble means this one is easy to match up to different guitars. Compared to the Java Boost I once owned the tone control manages to remove treble yet retain more of the character of the effect. I would live on positions 2, 3 or 4 as fully clockwise is too fat for me and the trebliest boost too... well, trebly. What I really appreciate is the manner this thing cleans up in. It's not as sudden as a traditional treble booster so you get more gradual shades of crunch via the guitar volume with a nice bit of grit in them (instead of rapidly getting that piezo-y hi-fi tone like many boxes respond). In this respect it behaves a bit like an OD via the guitar volume and yet the clean up is far better than most traditional overdrives. Cool!
Minusses
Turning down the guitar volume gave me more white noise type of hiss that I would want. Using a power supply (I used an isolated output on my Juice Box 003) gave me added low-frequency hum which I find annoying. I also prefer the tone on battery (9v power is harder feeling). Tried running just this box and nothing else to make sure nothing was interfering... hmmm... strange you other guys found it so quiet.

Tremelo
I was not so keen on this one. I think that's because I want a trem to retain my base tone and just add throb whereas this one shapes your base tone too when you click it on so keep that in mind reading this. Switching it on adds a bit of grit and sag (that'll be the germanium at work) and that was not for me.
Plusses
Nice range of speeds that can be adjusted gradually. Output level has enough range to get volume cut, unity or a boost at whatever depth setting you choose (why don't all trems have this?!).
Minusses
The above mentioned coloration of tone when switched in is not for me. Used on a battery there was a noticeable rounding off of treble. A power supply improves this somewhat, but I still hear a little clouding in the low/mid registers, robbing the sound of some definition which bothers me when I switch it in.

Overdrive
I found this voiced dark. For me it only really suited a bridge pickup - neck would have needed more definition/tightness for me.
Plusses
Lots of shades of OD to be had via the guitar volume and good overall clean-up. Nice lo-fi chunk to it which has lots of retro character.
Minusses
Even with the treble cranked I wanted less woof in the bass. Plenty of gain on tap - I would only need 09:00-12:00 myself. After that the fuzz/woof of the germ trannies takes over even more. If I wanted that tone I'd rather use a dedicated fuzz to be honest.

Compressor
This one is my second fave. I like the way the controls work - easy to fine tune your sound.
Plusses
Lots of ways to tweak the attack and feel of this one - good for getting the right balance of squash but also retain definition. I liked it with threshold around 10:00 mostly. Higher settings are rarely my thing on a compressor though. Also adds a bit of it's own grit which makes it easy to use as a hybrid of boost and comp. Gelled with my basic tone well.
Minusses
Hard to adjust on the fly, since increasing threshold will definitely need the other controls tweaked too. If I just wanted a bit of sustain/squish then this box would add more colour of it own.

Overall:
I like the aesthetic of these boxes, the controls are well thought out and (with the exception of the OD in my rig) well voiced too. I could easily use the TB - which is high praise from me as I'm picky about those if the noise floor was lower when rolling off the guitar volume (something I do a lot, especially with a TB). The OD was too dark for my taste, the tremelo obviously aims to do something that is not my thing and the compressor was very good at light compression/boost tones, it's just not something I would need.

Many thanks to Matt at Telenordia for setting us up with these demo units and to Seegs for organizing things! I really appreciate the chance to try gear out in my own environment so I hope the bluntly honest reviews are taken in the spirit they are meant. :AOK

 

[Seegs]

I enjoyed that Chrissy...very nice and very well thought out reviews...the Tourbox now moves on to Skiptracer...

Chow,
Seegs

 

[Sikor]

Minusses
Turning down the guitar volume gave me more white noise type of hiss that I would want. Using a power supply (I used an isolated output on my Juice Box 003) gave me added low-frequency hum which I find annoying. I also prefer the tone on battery (9v power is harder feeling). Tried running just this box and nothing else to make sure nothing was interfering... hmmm... strange you other guys found it so quiet.

I didn't, but I should write in my review, that I have tested Telenordia pedals only on battery

 

[MattHahn]

thanks to all of you guys for your time and checking/reviewing our pedals, with special thanks to Seegs for organizing all this.

its great to see that there are people who love pedals, quality and last but not least tone as much as we do.

the pedals are designed for use with either a battery or a good powersupply..some people strictly prefer batterys in their Telenordias while others dont care.Personally i dont care too much about that.

the hum issues with the Treble Booster as Chrissy describes are absolutely new to us, there shouldnt be any as we use the best known parts and circuit to eliminate just this possible AC hum...but as always with hum there are many ways it can get into your rig...

that said with filter networks like the one in the TA-24 you´ll have more hiss the higher you go filter-wise, thats in the nature of these filters.
there will be a upgraded Treble Booster with a modified filter network to eliminate that hiss very soon, prototypes done, pcbs ordered..

i hope you will enjoy testing our stuff as much as i do reading your reviews.

for any questions you are always more than welcome to drop me a mail or call us by phone.

take care and rock´n´roll

matthias hahn

 

[Chrissy]

Skiptracer - the box is in the mail as of today. I did a second test session yesterday just to check my findings - confirmed my impressions above.

Have fun with it!
Chris

 

[Chrissy]

MattHahn,

Thanks for chiming in on the thread - many thanks again for the tourbox. I'm most interested in the new TB - will drop you an email regarding time-frame.

Chris