Maybe I missed the thread, but this is the first I heard of this new pedal from Lone Wolf. I remember Jason mentioning he was in the process of developing a compression pedal a few months ago in one of his videos.
I have one, but don't use it much. It creates more feedback. I have to play with it more. I've found it will affect your tone even with squash at zero. I don't have a firm opinion yet...no enough experimenting. ---------- Custom Harmonicas Optimized Harmonicas
Careful of your placement and compression by nature will always effect your tone. mine reduces feedback so Im confused harp ninja maybe email me and well have a phone chat and try and get it right! Jason jasonricci1@gmail.com
also I leave mine on all night I haven't played a song in 11 years (on my own rig) without compression ,so I guess it IS part of my tone. Meaning I work with it, adjust with it, tweak with it etc... I never step off that ferret.
Ryan - My understanding is that a compressor makes everything more even. It takes out the peaks and troughs in volume and makes for a more focused sound. I'm told it can also add a little sustain and can generally makes the overall tone of a player sound a little smoother. I'm sure Jason could explain it far, far better than I ever could though.
Sounds to me like you're saying it takes the edge off of the live sound and makes it more friendly like a studio recording sound. I'm in the market for a different pedal at the moment I was just asking for curiosity sake.
Yes you're right Ryan. That's basically what it does. Or at least as far as my understanding of it goes. Because it levels things out, I suppose this may also have some effect on helping fight feedback. Although I'd suspect that something like a Kinder AFB would be better for that particular task.
The following is lifted from the Lone Wolf website:
" A compressor "compresses" the signal your microphone produces and equalizes the dynamic range. The benefit of a compressor lies in that every note played will be at nearly the same amplitude, and therefore nearly equal in volume. This will help equalize tones that are sometimes lost in the mix because of complex overtones, and it will result in a more articulate sound. "
Hey K.....That description via the L.W. site makes it "sound" like something wondrous to me. If anyone can do a clear AB comparison. Same amp, same settings, same mike with the compressor on and off I'd be profoundly grateful. I find my "Soulful" amp has these electric sounding peaks with my attack that: the best I can put it is: They don't sound warm and round like my "Premiers". This pedal as described would possibly remedy that.....d ---------- Facebook
Thanks my friend...I had just went to the L.W. site and listened to that...I heard little to no difference with that pedal per se. He did remind me of the poverty of my talent though! ;( d ---------- Facebook
One of the problems making that video was that the camera itself and my computer (when converting to Vid) actually COMPRESS the video itself both in sound and video as part of their intentional design! The difference in the room was crazy, although it is still a subtle effect compared to an octave/chorus/delay type thing. The craziest part of making this was in that garage the high harp sounded more compressed than the lower ones on the video the lower harps compression is much easier to hear even here. BTW Kingly and Randy's from LW descriptions of this effect were fine!!! around 5:30 this video, flawed as it is, to me, clearly shows the advantages of some compression for a person wanting those.
Here is the pedal Of and then On with similar riffs all over a G harp...
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Flat_Cat_Two.mp3
Here, the volume is always max and the squash is at 9. The volume drop at the end is my fault and nothing to do with the pedal. ---------- Custom Harmonicas Optimized Harmonicas
On this clip, I am running through the boost and delay on my G5. It is a 12AY7 tube being pushed with no amp modeling, etc.
You can hear the Flat Cat clean up the signal and make for a better sound. However, I had to boost the riffing with the Flat Cat as the volume drop is substantial even with volume on 100% and the Squash still at 9.
What is a tad frustrating is the increased feedback even though I hear the harp at a lower volume. It is generally mid bass. The odd thing here is the first section caused no issues through studio monitors. As soon as I engaged the FC, it was feedback city. I turned down on the desktop mixer I have, so I had two things going on:
1. The volume was reduced by the FC. 2. The volume on my mixer was reduced.
All in all, I lost a whopping 10db's in volume to get that sound and was still ringing. I am not sure how to trouble shoot this one, but something - the volume or squash is changing the tone enough that there is feedback.
The obvious solution is to leave the volume down instead of at 100% and boost it more at the amp level. ---------- Custom Harmonicas Optimized Harmonicas
Well, I tried to record this, but my desktop mixer was acting up...
I recently scored a Harp Break and LW Version 1 Delay (darkened my tone too much for my taste). I put the Flat Cat after the Break and it was an amazing sound through studio speakers!
My bullet mic from Greg H. has a high end rasp that I think is sometimes a tad harsh. It appears I have an issue somewhere as I get weird high end particle spikes and I am sure it has to do with a cable or something. It doesn't happen with my SM57, but I don't think it is really the mic.
Anyways, the compression helps a ton with eliminating spikes and not making the tone muddy. It makes the notes pop better and I have less of the low end feedback then in the clips above. With the HB volume control, I can also make sure the signal is strong leaving the Flat Cat (tested in limited fashion with my powered speaker).
The tone of the delay is great, but it kills off a lot of high end. I was able to get a very fat and warm blues tone - something most on the forum would really love. However, I wanted a raspier and more modern sound, and those highs are important.
I could add some back with a Sonic Stomp, but ultimately, when I had the delay off and used the SS as a subtle effect, I was VERY happy with my bullet tone...like I can't wait to use the rig live!
My bullet doesn't play well with my Zoom G5 and effects, but that is why I use the SM57. If I didn't need effects, or was playing blues, the LW rig with my bullet is really awesome for how I play.
I think the Flat Cat infront of the G5 and its tube boost is like having the FC before the HarpBreak, which I didn't enjoy, hence some of the quirkiness above.
Commonly, you'd want the compressor first in the chain, but having it after the HB, which I think you do too, seemed to create a nice effect.
Full disclosure, I am not gigging currently (ramping up to it, though) and only play with this stuff while I am cleaning harps or getting stressed out from tuning.
I have every intent of sharing more sound clips, but need to figure out why my computer wasn't picking up the signal anymore. ---------- Custom Harmonicas Optimized Harmonicas
"... stressed out from tuning." Hear that. :) I've been watching this Flat Cat conversation pretty close and haven't heard a compelling reason for it yet. I am also interested in some other pedals as toys. Can't believe I'm saying that but I'm playing so much other music these days I think it'll benefit to have some toys. Like "Staying Alive". What do you do with that...!? The guitar line is a lot like Superstition, and the groove too, assuming my ambitious self can do it.
Last Edited by Littoral on Feb 13, 2013 12:20 PM
I run ampless and get all my tones straight to PA...I categorize pedals in two categories:
1. Always-on 2. Sometimes-on
The FC is an always-on pedal like my HarpBreak/Tech 21/or G5 tube boost. It is the core tone I am rolling with, and not an effect used as a spice. In testing in real time, the FC makes notes clearer, the tone less boomy, and it takes some warms the tone.
So right now, I would run a HarpBreak into a FC into my G5 for a rock gig. I would never need to touch the HB or FC's switch...they would ALWAYS be one.
The G5 has all my delays (analog is always on and everything else has a switch). So, to that core tone, I can add the spices.
IMO, the best spices for harp are rotary, bass octave, and autowah. If you ran all three on a song like Staying Alive, it would sound cool. IMO, I have no need for a "blues harp" tone doing a gig like that and a warm straight to PA sound with a SM57 is my best bet.
On my G5, I have a rotary, octave, auto wah, phaser, long delay, reverb, and pitch shfited delay. That would be my rock rig. I've also used other effects, but would generally switch scenes to get things I might use like one time a night - a ring mod for example.
Something isn't working right as I get a ton of transients (think it is a cable), but you'll see how certain pedals fix that...
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Pedal_Demo.mp3
First is my bullet straight into my desktop mixer, then...
Harp Break
Harp Break and Flat Cat
HB, FC, and Sonic Stomp
HB, FC, SS, and Lone Wolf V1
Fat Cat, Harp Break
FC, HB, SS
You can clearly hear, IMO, that the FC should be BEFORE the HB. This is NOT how you usually use a compressor. With this mic, I definitely lose highs with the FC, but the SS balances that out and you end up with a thicker tone. ---------- Custom Harmonicas Optimized Harmonicas
Mike, first, I seriously appreciate the effort. Really impressive work. Second, I need to listen a lot more and take notes. Maybe do some blind comparisons and try for patterns. I do get the clarity generated by the FC. That, for now anyway, stands out. That said, I also like the mic straight in to the desktop mixer. The effect isn't as cutting but the articulation of the notes is there. The pedals shape the sound after that and trade away some articulation (of the notes, not sound). Then I'll listen tomorrow and disagree with myself. I do know it's an excellent PA plug in set up.
Last Edited by Littoral on Feb 13, 2013 6:53 PM
