GearDump

For those of you familiar with the Deja Vibe line of products that Fulltone has offered the MDV-2 shouldn’t be to big of a shock. For the rest, the MDV-2 is essentially a period-correct Uni-Vibe stand in. There are features and sounds unique to this pedal that really get to the core of what a real univibe can do. Just check out the proguitarshop.com video from youtube.

As is normal, Mike Fuller declined to comment on this story. Fulltone’s history with the Deja-Vibe started with the original Deja Vibe. It was later trumped by the Mini Deja-Vibe. The Deja-Vibe and Mini Deja-Vibe are great clones right down to the matching of original photo resistors and lamps. For those not in the know, Uni-Vibes are an optical phaser. They use photo-resistors and some lamps inside the pedal to actually create the phasing effect. The Dunlop Univibe that is currently manufactured has photo-cells to but they are nothing like the originals since those parts were no longer being made. Fulltone has apparantley started producing NOS parts for these pedals. The Deja Vibe 2 was the first pedal that Fulltone produced that came with a speed control. The original univibe had a speed control that plugged into the box (which was actually about the size of an echoplex). The Deja Vibe 2 somewhat resembled a Morely Wah pedal in that configuration. Early this year the MDV-2 was unveiled to essentially replace the entire Deja Vibe product line. The MDV-2 looks like a Fulltone Clyde wah except for it’s cream colored casing. Under the hood are the electronics of a complete Deja Vibe including all the controls, an LED and some modifications to the Speed Control circuit.

The Deja-Vibe 2 had a switch the user pushed to turn the speed control on or off. The MDV-2 has an ingenious always-off unless rockered slightly forward operation–the best part is Fulltone actually managed to make a true-bypass pedal with this configuration. I’ll spare the lecture on why you might not want true bypass for another article but if you’ve ever built or modded pedals then putting true bypass in a pedal like this would be difficult to say the least.

Most importantly, does the MDV-2 give those watery textures offered by the other Deja-Vibe products and does it come close to the original Uni-Vibe? In a nutshell, Yes. The MDV-2 actually sounds closer then the Dunlop “reissue” and is frankly the best main-stream uni-vibe clone on the market. It is slightly pricey but if you want those tones without the rediculous pricetag and maintenance fees the MDV-2 might just be the ticket. Hell, even Robin Trower, who has depended on a Vibe pedal of some sort has been spotted with each of the Deja-Vibe products at different times.  If you know Fulltone’s build quality, it is excellent. The parts are top notch, the boards are easy to work with for repairs and are amongst some of the most reliable designs on the market.

Fulltone MDV-2 at www.fulltone.com

Hughes And Kettner Tube Rotosphere Mk. II

Hughes & Kettner has manufactured the Rotosphere for a few years. The MkII is a minor revision of the original design. The Rotosphere has been discontinued though new ones are available for around $500-$600. This is a steep price but for true Leslie fans who cannot haul their cabinet this could be a God-send.

The pedal features a 12AX7. Like most other tube powered pedals requires a wall-wart AC plug. Tube based pedals can often introduce more noise in the signal but with the right provisions (like a voodoo labs pedal power 2) there should be no problems. The unit features controls for Drive, Level, Rotor Balance, Bypass, Breaker, and speed. In addition to the top-mount controls there is also an impedence switch for matching signal levels to keyboards or guitar. The effect is intended to be used in a stereo rig but has a switch for monorual operation.

The Rotosphere’s breaker control is unique to this pedal. The breaker control effectively simulates stopping the rotary motor, and so slows the rotating speaker effect down until it finally stops. The balance control is something like a tone control controling (if it were real) how much of the signal goes to the driver or the tweeter.

The effect really does a great job of emulating the sound of a Leslie with a stereo guitar rig. There has been discussion regarding the proper placement of stereo amps when utilizing the rotosphere but ultimately the sound is very close to that of a leslie. The pedal even ramps up and slows down when the speed switch is engaged. The addition of the breaker control is a nice addition as well. The AC power is really the only tonal drawback to this pedal. The casing is built very well and the tube is visible from a glass panel. Some users have reported that the tube is hard to get to for replacement but most 12AX7 tubes have a long life. For anyone who truly relies on the rotating speaker sound for their work the Rotosphere might just be the go-to effect pedal.

If you can stomach the cost of admission the Tube Rotosphere gets leslie-like bliss without back-breaking labor!

When Donald Leslie Invented the rotating-speaker cabinet he could not have known that droves of guitar players would desire one to alter their tones. From Peter Frampton to David Gilmour, legions of guitar players owe a large debt to Donald Leslie’s tonal curiosity.

There are many different ways to get those swirling spacious sounds these days. The Uni-Vibe was designed to emulate that sound and it spawned a whole series of phaser effects. This Month, we will focus on the swirling swami of rotating speakers & simulators.

This seems to be a new thing for guitarists to experiment with. Many big acts have incorporated Laptops with other instruments on stage. Peter Gabriel’s stage act usually incorporates several laptops alongside the keyboards. Depeche Mode uses laptops on stage for effects and recently I spotted Vernon Reid & Doug Wimbish with Macbooks. I myself have never used one but being in IT and dealing with Laptops in the studio I can surmise some general tips and basics about using Laptops on stage.

First rule of playing live, redundancy. Since Laptops are very expensive I would suggest you have a spare hard drive with all your software pre-loaded so that if the most likely component of your PC fails you can simply swap out the other drive. This also means that you should bring any tools necessary to restore your laptop back to working condition. For Laptops I reccomend getting a second battery. As you may or may not know this battery should be stored at half charge at the appropriate temperature. It’s also important to test your rig before you leave for a gig just to be sure that the backups function as well.

I’m sure some users have a lot of crazy & complex software running together. I think the best thing would be to simplify your patches and setup as much as possible so there is less of a chance of something going wrong. Any adjustments that must be made tonally should be done quickly and efficiently. If your software offers midi integration you should really consider getting a controller and using it to control things like EQ and Gain.

More importantly is how your getting your guitar into the computer. NEVER use the built in audio card. Get one that is made specifically for Audio production. M-Audio, Presonus and many other companies make great audio interfaces for this. I also suggest getting an EQ or tube Pre-Amp to go before the interface to give your amp some adjustable warmth. Living Colour were using the new Line 6 Pod X2 interface.

The main thing is to think about reliability. Tonality can be a component only after you are sure your equipment will function properly. What I thought most interesting about Living Colour was the tone was fantastic but most of it was handled Via Vernon Reid & Doug Wimbish’s amplifiers. Reid was definitely using his laptop to handle his Parker Signature Midi sampling, and possibly to do some Delay and Modulation. It seemed as though his guitar sound was being routed into the laptop, out into his Dual Rectifier, then back into his laptop for more processing, and finally back into the head and out to the cabinet. It was likely only his effects & sample triggering that was being handled by his Macbook. Simply put Vernon could have played with just his amps if worst came to worst.

Many players are considering laptops as an alternative to commercially available Modelers that are built specifically for this kind of thing. Honestly I am not sure I understand why. Being in the position of an IT tech I can legitimately say that counting on a computer for something as important as a Gig could end up in disaster. I believe it can be handled properly to mitigate risk but ultimately you should be prepared to toss the laptop and play with a traditional rig as well.

PedalTrain hosts a great pedalboard planner application specifically for their boards.

For those of you who don’t know Pedal Trains offer quick cable routing and professional power supply mounting options. They also come in gig worthy hard or soft cases. They aren’t quite as fancy as trailer trash boards but they are tough as nails and built to outlist most of effects. Quite a few manufacturers have offered images of their pedals for use too. Good Stuff, check it out!