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I got mine yesterday! I started down the list of the effects, and stopped when I got tired. I probably played each I tried for at least 2 minutes, and some for as much as 5 minutes. Here's my findings.

[*]Redline Overdrive
What is it: Overdrive with Bass and Treb tone controls
Useable: Totally. This thing is surprisingly great, especially considering it's a digital overdrive.
Good: It responds very much like an analog pedal does to dynamics. Sounded very authentic
Bad: Nothing

[*]Total Recall Delay
What is it: I think it's a ducking delay. The Repeats get louder when you're not playing, are quieter when you are.
Useable: Not really. The ducking wasn't very smooth, and the delay sound was anemic.
Good: It has a tap tempo feature
Bad: Wish there was a 'smooth' control rather than a 'threshold' control. If it was a little easier to control the ducking, that would be better.

[*]Blue Pearl Chorus
What is it: Analogish Chorus
Useable: Probably in a pinch or as a backup tool
Good: It sounded fairly good.
Bad: Wasn't as subtle sounding as a good Analog CE-2. The Wave control didn't really seem to do anything

[*]Death Metal
What is it: Crazy High Gain Distortion. I think it heralds back to an old DOD unit of the same name (like the Grunge effect)
Useable: Not really. If you're going for that sound, you should get a proper Brootz amp setup.
Good: It has a fairly flexible tone control setup. You can get that crazy scooped mids (non existent mids) sound easily. It's a lot of fun for a short while.
Bad: No Gain control, so there's no way to dial back the distortion. It's full on, all the time. It's very gimmicky sounding, not realistic at all.

[*]Envelope Filter
What is it: Another DOD classic emulation I think. Name speaks for itself - It's an envelope filter.
Useable: Yes, unless you use Envelope Filters a lot. If you use one a lot, you can find an analog one that's better.
Good: It filters your guitar along an envelope, which is what it's supposed to do.
Bad: The controls don't quite respond as well as I'd like. I'd like a little bit more realism out of it, not quite as much piercing highs, and lots more warmth. Fortunately, this isn't likely the effect you bought the iStomp for.

[*]Continuum Reverb
What is it: A Room/Hall style reverb
Useable: Very much. I found this one really tweakable and fun to play with. I could get really realistic small room, and echoey cave like settings really easily. Found at least 3 or 4 useable settings that were significantly different from each other.
Good: The pre-delay control really helped this thing separate your original notes from the wash. The Decay had a very broad range
Bad: Nothing

[*]Jet Flanger
What is it: Not sure what brand it's clone of, but it's a Flanger.
Useable: Maybe, but probably not. I would bet some of the other flangers are going to be more useable than this one
Good: The controls worked to do the functions they were reported to do. I think it sounded fairly authentic, but just a little digital maybe
Bad: I didn't come off loving this one. I think it was just too hard to tweak the settings into something useable. I couldn't come up with a sound I wanted to use easily, despite spending a few more minutes with this model.

[*]Compressor
What is it: A Compressor.
Useable: I think so, but I still like an analog comp better than this one. Maybe for someone who doesn't really use Compression pedal ever, but needs one for something specific
Good: It did a fairly good job at compressing. It's not a very complicated effect.
Bad: It actually made things noisy. Considering it's a digital effect, I could have done with having it emulate the sound of a good compressor WITHOUT emulating the problems compressors have.

[*]Octaver
What is it: A clone of the Boss Octave Unit, gives Down 2 Octaves, Down 1 Octave, and Dry signal levels
Useable: Yes. It totally sounded Boss. (See what I did there?)
Good: This thing rips. I don't know if it sounds like the Boss unit does, but if it doesn't than this is either better or still awesome like the Boss unit.
Bad: Maybe that the polyphony sucks, but I would expect that

[*]Dirty Robot
What is it: Synthy Noisy Machiny Thingy
Useable: Not really. It works fine, but i can't imagine the type of music that would regularly feature this effect.
Good: Really fun to play with
Bad: Not a practicle effect, more like a gimic

[*]3Q
What is it: A 3 Band EQ, with the Mid Band having a tunable mid frequency
Useable: Yes... I guess...
Good: It does what it's supposed to do
Bad: The fine control on the unit isn't spectacular. The main problem is, if this is what you're using the iStomp for, than you have a lame pedal need. EQ is something that can be done at the amp.

[*]Red Coral
What is it: It's a Dual Detune chorus pedal, I think like the dimension type chorus pedals
Useable: Yes if you just need this type of sound occasionally. I still think an actual analog unit or dedicated unit would sound better
Good: It created Chorus
Bad: I couldn't, for the life of me, tell the difference between the two different detuned signals. You should be able to hear the orignal, the 1st detune, and the 2nd detune, but it all turned into a mushy, but fairly pleasant sounding chorus sound. It was't all bad, just not really grabbing

[*]Swing Shift
What is it: A Pitch Bending effect with 1 Octave Down, 1 5th Up, 1 Octave Up, and 2 Octaves Up level controls
Useable: I wanted it to be, but I don't think so. I sold my Micro POG recently, and this doesn't hold a candle to that effect.
Good: I liked the 5th feature. That's something that was new, but appreciated to me. One single notes, it sounded alright
Bad: Tracking was slow, and the Polyphony was terrible. Like I mentioned, it doesn't hold up to the actual dedicated units out there. It was just too digital sounding unfortunately.

More to come of course! That's 13 of 46, so I still have 33 to go. Winners on this batch were the Redline Overdrive, the Continuum Reverb, and the Octaver. All three of those were very useable, and I can see myself using at least the other two.

Jacob

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TightCamera - Gear Reviews

Got some more done over a break at lunch time today!

[*]Freeze Wah
What is it: I think it's a cocked/parked wah type effect. Controls for position, Q and Boost
Useable: Meh. Maybe if you had one song you would use it for
Good: Sounded fairly realistic. The Q get's really sharp if it's up to high, and then really dull if it's down too low. Fiddling the Position knob got a fairly good Wah sound, which is a good indication I think. The Boost pushes my amp some
Bad: It's not really a very useful use of an iStomp I think.

[*]Unplugged
What is it: It's an acoustic Simulator
Useable: Not really. It's not a particularly good simulator. You can't just throw an eq curve at an electric guitar signal and make it sound like a real acoustic. It almost sounds like piezo, but even then, it's not a good emulation.
Good: If you really needed it in a pinch (like your actual acoustic got ran over by your tour bus), it would be there.
Bad: It sounds bad. I didn't try it through a DI into the House, just through my guitar amp, but I doubt it would get better.

[*]Sound Off
What is it: A stutter button, or kill switch if you will. Stomp on the switch, kills your signal
Useable: Not really.
Good: It does what it's reported to do. Really simple functionality
Bad: The switch clicks, which means you can't really do this effect quickly, so it's killed right off the start. Also, there seems like there's a bit of lag from when you press the switch to the kill. Not enough to say for certain, but rather it leaves a feeling. Not worth the iStomp usage.

[*]Red Compressor
What is it: It's a compressor, and I think it's a clone of the Dyna Comp/two knob OTA type
Useable: Yes, but analog is still better than this
Good: It's squashy. Very apparant that this thing is on and running, and it does a great job of emulating things if you set it right.
Bad: Not useable at all settings, you have to dial it correctly. Noisy when you're not playing (why? you don't need to do that with a digital emulation), and it never gets quite as transparent/non-squishy as an actual Dyna comp, so it's not a perfect emulation when you dial back the sensitivity knob.

[*]X U L
What is it: Crazy pyramid of doom fuzz (read octave down fuzz)
Useable: Yes, but an analog device would likely outweight this one easily
Good: It sounds pretty great. I think the octave down probably tracks better than the octave down of most analog octave down fuzzes. I like that the octave down is fairly clean, just a hair dirty. The fuzz all comes from the dry signal getting fuzzed up. Tone control is useful, but the sweet spot is hard to find.
Bad: Dunno if this one would replace an analog device on this one. Octave Fuzz isn't a super common or useful effect either, so being sure that it's going to get used enough to grab the iStomp loading for gigs is pretty rare I think.

[*]Tone Boost
What is it: Clean boost with tone shaping effects. There is a full parametric eq control set, but for just one frequency, plus an output level boost
Useable: Yes, if you really need tone shaping or need to dial a very specific frequency for cutting though a dense mix or somthing
Good: Much better than the other EQ pedal I tried already. It goes from very thin and specific frequency boosting up to something much broader, and it generally sounds really good. Useful tool in some arsenals.
Bad: Is an EQ type pedal what you really need in an iStomp?

[*]Grunge
*Disclaimer - I loved the actual DOD unit as a kid, and always wanted to get one (but my mom said no). I played with this thing for like 15 minutes*
What is it: A distortion pedal designed to emulate the early 90's grunge sounds, complete with knob descriptions like "butt" and "face" instead of Low/Bass and High/Treble
Useable: Totally! If you love that sound. I was really able to dial in the classic Nirvana sound for All Apologies, and the solo for Heart Shaped Box (as best as I could remember). I you play a clean amp, and really need to get to the 'full on distortion' sound in a hurry for a solo or something, this can do it.
Good: Surprisingly good for a Digital distortion device, and because you can dial back the distortion somewhat, much more useful than the Metal box I tried earlier. Not perfect, but certainly good enough
Bad: It's still a little weak of an effect. I think they went for perfect emulation of the old analog units, and I think they nailed it (from my memory). The problem is that they should have aimed to improve that sound a bit - there's a reason the old FX69 units didn't end up on a lot of pro boards and are pretty rarely seen today…

[*]Strato Boost
What is it: One knob dirty booster
Useable: Totally.
Good: I've never been one for the classic Stratoblaster sound, but this version made me feel this is a useable effect. I think they picked the right frequency to peak the Q at, so it really cuts through a mix without becoming obnoxious, nasally, or piercing.
Bad: One knob effect that's only a few bucks in parts for a good DIYer? If you like this sound, you can build one in a 1590B without trouble.

[*]Halfpipe Overdrive
What is it: I think this is one of the original designs, not emulating anything, but it's another Overdrive with Low and High Tone controls
Useable: I think so, yes.
Good: This is much like the Redline - surprisingly good for a digital distortion pedal. However, the Redline is better with the mid-high gain stuff, but this halfpipe really, really did well with the low gain stuff. Just a little bit of clipping, and great tone controls. I was able to easily dial in several good settings, but my favourite was with the gain low and on my neck pickup things were almost clean, but on my bridge pickup I was easily in 'ramp up for the chorus' drive mode.
Bad: Nothing

[*]DOD Overdrive/Preamp 250
What is it: A Clone of the DOD 250 yellow box
Useable: Nah, but it was sorta close
Good: I was able to turn both knobs up and get my guitar to feedback even at moderate volumes. Wasn't able to have full control over the feedback like with a good amp that's turned up, but it was pretty fun for a few minutes
Bad: It's pretty yucky sort of distortion. However, I feel the same about the stock 250, so it could be that they did an alright job on cloning the circuit digitally, and should have improved it a bit. This circuit really could have used a tone control.

[*]Screamer Tube Overdrive
What is it: A Tube Screamer Clone. I had a real 80's unit with a 4558 in it as my main drive for like a decade before I got into building, so I'm very familiar with this one.
Useable: Yes. I would totally use this if I needed this sound and didn't have a TS handy/my TS broke.
Good: Considering it's a digital emulation, I think this sounds like the real thing and responds like the real thing. I think a real box would still be my go to with any overdrive sound, but I haven't heard a digital emulation that's this good on this effect yet. I know what the real thing sounds like, and this would fool me if I didn't know better.
Bad: Nothing.

That's it for this round. Winners here were the Halfpipe and Screamer Overdrives as useable, gig worthy sounds. Honourable Mentions go to the XUL, Grunge and Strato Boost as being fun to play with, and certainly worth trying out or using in specific circumstances.

More to come again, probably tomorrow. I'm up to 24 out of 46 now.

Jacob

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This is very useful Jacob!
I only disagree with one so far...the Swing shift. I really like the octave down on it more than the Octaver pedal. But that is just me.
-P

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Me too.

HAHA. Honestly, 20 minutes later I bought a dozen boards from guitarpcb.com.

Yep, and Its been awhile since I said screw it, lets make a 7th muff variant, why not? And I don't even like big muffs!

HAHA i have a bunch of PCB's i need to build up, something like 4 or 5 schematics to make into a pcb, a power supply build that has been taunting me for a while, a new amp project, recording setup to... set up. and im still buying new crap...

i suppose when im done spending all of my money, ill have time (or whatever) to tackle some of these.

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I should clarify, what I said was that it wasn't as good as the Micro POG or other polyphonic Octave effects. Like I said, I wanted that effect to be good, but considering the Octave effects out there like the Boss, EHX, and Digitech units…

Considering Digitech makes the Whammy, I don't think they made this particular iStomp model as good as they could.

jacob

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Great job Jacob.
I disagree with a couple of things too but that's to be expected. One thing we differ on is the application of this pedal. I think the I stomp is very well suited to niche effects like the freeze wha and sound off. It's kind of why I got it - to compliment what I don't have.

Has anyone played the effects at band/rehearsal volumes? AKA loud. Im wondering if the effects start to sound cold, sterile and uninspiring at high volumes...

I'll let you know tomorrow night. Programming the 4 iStomps right now for rehearsal...Just can't decide which four effects!

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Yes. I think the once the band starts up, the pedal shines even more. Crash symbols + snare drum = this pedal sounds exactly like the real one!

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I had things at the volume I normally play at. We mic my amp, so I never run my Tweaker 15 past half on the Gain and half on the Master. I had the Master at half, and the Gain at 1/3 so it was a bit cleaner than I usually have it.

Jacob

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Okay, I'm at the point now where I will likely be getting some cash in my paypal soon, and I think I want a second of these. Playing around with the one I've got so far the last couple days makes me sure I'll find a use for it.

Anyway, point being, if someone wants to flip theirs, or if the deal is still going down at MF and someone is willing to pick one up and forward it to me - I'd really appreciate it.

Jacob

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Today is supposed to be the day they get more in stock.

Yesterday they changed it to Monday.

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The spring reverb is awesome. Turn it up way too high and pretend to be Jeff Buckley.

I guess since guitar center canceled my amp order, I can get another IStomp. Its only fair, right?

My Tuesday night gig was in a 400 seater, and to be honest, I was surprised at how well I was cutting through the mix. I actually had to dial back some shimmer (wave) on the Blue Pearl.

The bandleader called out a surprise last song, which starts with an 18 note solo run from me above the 12th fret. I used to play it with grit from my zen clone. I stepped on my iStomp Rodent, and many small children and birds were frightened.

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Ok, official favorites (so far ):
Red line. Really good drive sounds. Smooth and versatile.
Rodent. Was getting some "Whole Lotta Love" tones.
Spring reverb. Plate reverb and lexicon verbs. Easily dialled in and just sound good.
I can get good sounds with both Flangers.
Swing shift is great.
Magic fingers, with a little tweaking, sounds great.
The stone phase, dirty robot, xul and Gonkulator are great noisemakers.
Vanishing point, tape delay, double cross and total recall delay are all useable and quite good.
Envelope filter is usable too.
Both terms are really decent too.

Things I probably won't use: the dm delay, grunge and halfpipe. Everything else I could find a use for.

They're back in stock at MF and still $39...

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I... have become... uncomfortably numb...

Got some more tested today. Here's what I found.

[*]Fuzzy
What is it: A Fuzz Face clone, I think. Simple Fuzz and Volume Controls, so it seems like it
Useable: I guess. I probably would never use this one, but you could if you wanted to
Good: It sounded Good overall. Simple controls
Bad: I don't think it was really like any actual Fuzz Face I've ever played. Did it sound like one? Sorta, but there was way more volume boost available than any Fuzz Face I've ever played. The Fuzz control wasn't too realistic either. It felt like the knobs one this unit were at %60 and were like a real fuzz face would be at Maximum. So, in the end - is that bad? So it's like a Fuzz Face, but with more available. Not sure I liked that, but some might.

[*]Amp Driver
What is it: I think this isn't a clone of anything, it's a Digitech designed model that's a distortion unit made to push already distorted amps.
Useable: Yes. I liked it.
Good: It has this unique Mid Boost knob that focuses in on 600 hz. I liked what it added to the pedal, and turning this up actually really created distortion in the frequency I like to hear distortion on guitars. It's a bit unique, so that adds to it's useablity
Bad: Nothing

[*]Glimmer Drive
What is it: I think this is a clone of the Sparkle Drive.
Useable: Yes.
Good: It sounds authentic. I've had a Sparkle Drive, and I've got a cloned PCB available, so I'm quite familiar with this circuit. The controls respond similarly, and reflect what an actual unit would be set like. It was not hard to get a good, useable sound out of this model, and would certainly be a good addition
Bad: Nothing

[*]Rock It Distortion
What is it: 3 knob distortion. I think this is another Digitech designed model as well
Useable: I don't think so, but if you really wanted to it would do
Good: It does Rock, like it claims to. However, that's about it. Good for maybe one sound
Bad: Turning the knobs don't really help find better sounds. It does one thing, and only moderatly well. I don't think it does anything better than any of the other good circuits already available in the drive and distortion realm. In the info description, it's slated to be versatile, but it's not really at all - it's actually the opposite of Versatile, and only makes use of 3 of the knobs, not 4 like the Redline or Halfpipe drives. One trick pony, and 3rd or 4th best at that.

[*]Rodent
What is it: It's a Rat - 3 knobs of distortion goodness
Useable: Yes.
Good: Like others have reported, this one sounds good. It sounds like a Rat, responds like a Rat, and since the Rat is already a great circuit, I'm glad they didn't mess with it or try to do anything different
Bad: Not everyone likes the Rat circuit. I don't go nuts over it like some do, so I wasn't too enthralled with the sound.

[*]Magic Fingers Vibrato
What is it: A 4 knob Vibrato effect. Goes between straight up Vibrato, to more Vibe like Phasery sounds, through to more Chorusy types sounds
Useable: Definitely. Since Vibrato isn't a super common pedal, and analog versions are often expensive or part heavy, not to mention hard to get right, it wouldn't be surprising if >%95 of guitarists didn't have one, which makes this an instantly useable model to have available
Good: It does sound good, and unlike the Rock-It distortion, it actually IS versatile. I was able to get several, good, useable sounds that were significantly different from each other playing with the four knobs. I would also expect this effect to come alive in Stereo mode.
Bad: Switching this one on and off seems to be a little funny. I don't know why, or if this is common to many of the digital effects, but I wish it was a little smoother. Having a Soft Touch switch would really help with the transition between on and off with this effect.

[*]Snakecharmer Tremolo
What is it: Another 4 knob modulator, this one being a Tremolo
Useable: Yes. Again, not everyone has trem, and this one works well, so it's instantly on the list of useable, recommended effects
Good: 4 knobs give a lot of control, and the options available actually really are useful. Unlike another pedal I tried, the Wave knob really did seem to dial in different wave forms, from Sine to Triangle to Square. Could go from fast choppy trem back to subtle smooth, jazzy trem very easily. Several good sounds that could actually be used live and recording without sounding artificial
Bad: I thought the dry signal seemed to be a little affected by the effect. I couldn't tell if I could tell a difference or if it was in my head. also, the graphic for this was eye-wrenching.

[*]Gonkulator Modulator
What is it: A 4 knob Ring Mod, based on the old DOD FX13 circuit that was available when I was a kid.
Useable: If you need this effect, or want to use it, it would be better to use the one in a 40 dollar reprogrammable unit like this than actually build or buy an actual Ring Mod. If someone actually uses these things live effectively, I'd like to meet them and show me how to use it.
Good: It works just like I remember the unit I played around with in the guitar store as a kid. That said, I was able to get some almost useable sounds. Having 4 knobs to play with, unlike the no-knob or 1/2 knob Ring Mod types I've played in the past, made it possible to dial back the Ring and get more of the fuzzy guitar sound with some strange noises.
Bad: I'm not sure if the Ring Mod effect is just a bad joke gone too far, or if people actually use these things. In any case, I have more bad to say about the type of effect than I do the Model that Digitech has released. This effect is weird, but I didn't really find anything 'bad' persay.

Winners in this round were certainly the Amp Driver and Glimmer Drive models, as well as the Vibrato and Tremolo models which worked well. Honorable mention to maybe the Rodent, mostly because others have already said they like it a lot. The 4 I mentioned as winners really stood out though, particularly the Amp Driver to me.

That's it for now. Will do some more soon I'm sure. I'm up to 32 of 46, so hopefully my next go around I'll be able to get through the remainder and compile my list of 'greats', 'usefuls' and 'duds'.

Jacob

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Great summation. I didn't download the amp driver. I will now because of your recommendation.

The guy from Incubus uses a Gonkulator to great effect.

Was gonna say this. Just a few songs at least when the sound of it is prominent, but it fits with their sound really well. No one else really sounds like Incubus though, not sure I can imagine it used in many other contexts...

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What Incubus songs should I check out to hear the Gonkulator?

Looks like the sale ends on the 31st.