You know those documentaries you see where a community gives up something for a while? So, the whole town gives up TV or junk food or internet. Or a family lives without electricity, "just like the pioneers". Or those shows like "Wife Swap" where families do without the regular mom for a week or two. And I guess if you like Seinfeld there are always those other kinds of contests or self-restraint commitments.
Could we collectively do without fuzz/distortion/OD here for a week? I mean, seriously. Could we go for that long without ANY threads being started or added to that involve harmonic distortion? It could be about filters, or wahs or delay or chorus or truly clean preamps (i.e., NOT for the purpose of pushing an amp into overdrive) or mixers or tremolo or the¨"perfect LFO" or getting rid of ticking or panning or anything else you want....JUST NOT ABOUT DISTORTION.
Is that within the realm of possibility? Could YOU personally do it?
That's a hard one... Maybe shoot for a day first? I'll give it a shot. My mind is on delay and reverb at the moment.
ETA: maybe we could get a tradition going of 'distortion free mondays' to start the week off on a clean slate, pun entirely intended.
The conundrum is that the whole world is not in synch wrt knowledge....so while you might think it all dreary, to an 18 year old guitarist wanting to build his first awful fuzzbox, it's all a brave new world.
And while exploring any brave new world there's a thirst to learn more, wheels to reinvent....questions to ask.
What you're proposing is tantamount to asking those who 'don't yet know', to go quiet to placate those who are tired of the repetition....but repetition is the lifeblood of forums - folks ask the same questions time & time again (some actually enjoy answering the same questions time & time again), but it's not always the same people who give input....occasionally, just occasionally, there's a pearl of wisdom in amongst all the white noise.
So my vote goes "let's hear it for more n00bs trying to get to grips with something that at first seems quite ungrippable"....let's hear it for those that help 'em, and let's hear it for the odd pearls of wisdom.
^ +1. for the noobs... :)
now, can anyone help me with my fuzz face...it doesn't seem to work when i don't plug my guitar in, or when i'm in tunisia. ...... ;D ;)
Brilliant concept Mark!
Been doing it since I joined! ;D
I say put up a sticky at the top that says, "Have you REALLY Used The Search Function(UTSF!)".
While not a panacea, the search function pretty much can answer >90% of the Q's posted. It just takes a willingness on part of the seeker to sort through all of the info there. Maybe some folks are too lazy? Here? NAH! ::) :P :icon_lol:
PS: Case in point. Type "Tube Screamer" into the search function. 44 (yes 44, not a misprint) pages to sort through. Think there is an answer or 20 in there?
the first step is admitting you have a problem... ;)
Quote from: runmikeyrun on August 17, 2011, 12:03:26 PM
the first step is admitting you have a problem... ;)
12 step troubleshooting!
:icon_cool:
Can we get some "Fuzz Strips" to stick on our arms to ease us down slowly? :icon_lol:
I know I could personally do it as long as I didn't build anything.
Quote from: Paul Marossy on August 17, 2011, 12:14:36 PM
Can we get some "Fuzz Strips" to stick on our arms to ease us down slowly? :icon_lol:
I'm going the other way and taking "Ginko-Viagra". It's so I can remember what the f&^k I'm doing... :icon_wink:
I'm pretty sure I'd need the electronic equivalent of methadone - writing out loop and node equations and solving equation matrices for some kind of circuits.
:icon_lol:
Right before you posted this I was think of making something that says I love distortion!
Well, of course I could quit if I wanted to... no problem...
What if I'm messing with Bridged T circuits for distortions. Does that count? ;)
If we all wanted to it wouldn't be any problem. But what would we gain from it? The TV show people usually gain perspective on something in learning about the past. We would just be abandoning discussion of a large part of DIY discussion and pretty much all new DIYers' first foray into building their own effects just for the sake of not talking about it. That doesn't really help us with anything. Its not like everyone will start posting about other effects. They just wont post if their primary interest is building dirt pedals.
:blackhole: "fuzz" "distortion" "overdrive" "ts-808"
Quote from: WGTP on August 17, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Well, of course I could quit if I wanted to... no problem...
yeah, quitting's easy....I do it every day! :icon_lol:
Trust me, I
fully understand the collective attachment we have to distortion. It's as inherent to the medium as 6 strings is to guitar. I also understand the special attachment that beginning players and builders have to it: it makes you sound huge, even through a Frontman 15, it's easy to build, doesn't cost much, and even when you screw up you can still get some interesting sounds.
I'm looking at it from the perspective of someone who has eaten macaroni and cheese every day for 40 years, and feels almost guilty cooking it for others. There has to be MORE to life, right?
Maybe we could have something like a single "fuzz-free" day once a month or every two months, or something like that. The circuit contests provided an interesting injection of new ideas and creatve thinking. But maintaining it was a burden for Andrew and Peter, and certainly the number of "non-regulars" who contributed to it diminished. So think of my suggestion as simply another way to get our heads out of our hairy little arses and think about something else for a bit now and then, just to see where it leads. You hold your breath for a day, and once its over you can resume your infinite search for buzz.
Mark, are you having some problems we need to talk about? ;)
For those that can't deal with it, maybe just talk distortions on the Members Only Forum...
@Mark,
Apparently the Fuzz/Distortion craze is cooling off quite a bit, I mean.....
I have been trying ot move several Germanium transistors for Fuzz Faces and Tonebenders in the For Sale thread for a while now with no takers (even at really low prices! :icon_eek:)
When I first joined the forum, it seemed that every other post was about a fuzz or distortion. Now, it seems that there is quite a bit of "off-topic" discussion. Granted, it is mostly in the Members Only and Lounge part of the forum but, it is still quite a bit less fuzz and distortion talk than it used to be.
I agree that I would like to see more projects/discussions about other circuits. Modulation, filters, delays, etc. would be a nice step ;D
I agree with the sentiment, but also see the problems for beginners raised above, RE: distortion/overdrive/fuzz circuits being generally simpler and the usual route into DIYSB'ing - How's about a starting a thread where people post simple circuits for NON gain devices? I've been in the game for three years now, and apart from a pre-fab autowah board, it's been dirt all the way, but this was only because filters, modulation and compression effects always seem a bit daunting: I then stumbled across a two-transistor vibrato circuit which sounds awesome, and my imagination has been fired by the possibilities. I'm now breadboarding different LFOs like there's no tomorrow, and the potential for tweaking seems endless.
We've seen from the Little Angel, Tiny tremolo etc, that more interesting non-dirt circuits are perfectly accessible for the less experienced builder, and collecting such circuits together might help encourage those "beginners-to-intermediate/getting bored of dirt" DIY'ers to branch out...
QuoteCould we collectively do without fuzz/distortion/OD here for a week? I mean, seriously. Could we go for that long without ANY threads being started or added to that involve harmonic distortion? It could be about filters, or wahs or delay or chorus or truly clean preamps (i.e., NOT for the purpose of pushing an amp into overdrive) or mixers or tremolo or the¨"perfect LFO" or getting rid of ticking or panning or anything else you want....JUST NOT ABOUT DISTORTION.
Is that within the realm of possibility? Could YOU personally do it?
Yes, Mark ! - I have built tube HiFi amps for 30 years - So I can talk and post about that subject for a very long time, indeed... In English and in French :icon_mrgreen: ;D :icon_mrgreen: ;D
A+!
To answer the original question, my guess would be no! ;D
Well then let's think of it as a brief collective "vacation" from the usual, or a "class field trip". Let's journey to the center of our minds, or maybe turn off our minds, relax and float downstream, come along if you can! :icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: Mark Hammer on August 17, 2011, 04:26:09 PM
.... Let's journey to the center of our minds, or maybe turn off our minds, relax and float downstream, come along if you can! :icon_mrgreen:
And listen to Tangerine Dream "Stratosfear", Robert Schroeder "Cygnus-A" or Klaus Schulze "En=Trance" would be of a great help, indeed...
A+!
I think maybe a better idea would be a "No Distortion Allowed" subforum. Then we could take a vacation from ODs and Fuzzes anytime we wanted.
Nah, that would fragment the forum even more. A simple banner or sticky that said "PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING RELATED TO FUZZ, DISTORTION, OR OVERDRIVE UNTIL xxH/date PACIFIC TIME" would do it, and nothing else would have to change. A person could still scroll through the holdings, and make use of whatever is here, without having to keep track of which subforum to look in.
I think it'd be pretty cool if you could categorize your post (as distortion/delay/chorus, phaser/etc.) and then be able to filter out categories using a series of checkboxes down the side, so by default you see everything (thus not fragmenting the board as much) but if you're really sick of Fuzz Faces you untick distortion.
At one level I agree with you. But I've been here long enough to know that a great many topics can fall into multiple categories at the same time. The threads are not nearly neat enough to be classifiable into any any particular coding system. Sure it MAY look like it's about some boutique noise-maker, but it ends up being about how to bias JFETs or what the differences are between different types of Darlingtons, or the interaction of guitar output impedance on pedal input impedance, or whatever. Few threads are about one thing only (and we like it that way!!), so having a classification system like you describe could easily end up being a burden on the poster/OP or misleading when it comes to searching.
Stupid human tangential thinking!!! Grrrrrrr......
Quote from: Mark Hammer on August 19, 2011, 11:29:51 AM
Nah, that would fragment the forum even more. A simple banner or sticky that said "PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING RELATED TO FUZZ, DISTORTION, OR OVERDRIVE UNTIL xxH/date PACIFIC TIME" would do it, and nothing else would have to change. A person could still scroll through the holdings, and make use of whatever is here, without having to keep track of which subforum to look in.
Heresy!!! I'd rather slam a car door on my head. <<Looks lovingly at Fuzz Face - "I won't let that mean man ignore you...">>
Getting desperate and starting to negotiate... How about sacrificing the FUZZES, but allowing DISTORTIONS AND OVERDRIVES... (I don't really like fuzzes anyway) :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes:
Quote from: Mark Hammer on August 19, 2011, 12:23:21 PMFew threads are about one thing only
True, which is why with a checkbox system you could put your post into as many categories as you wish.
Quote from: WGTP on August 19, 2011, 01:20:25 PM
Getting desperate and starting to negotiate... How about sacrificing the FUZZES, but allowing DISTORTIONS AND OVERDRIVES... (I don't really like fuzzes anyway) :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes:
But how to quantify, what is actually fuzz, vs distortion, distortion vs OD, etc? For that matter, would swearing off distortion for a week also mean swearing off boosters? While not actually being 'distortions' technically, they do generate distortion. Sometimes intentionally...
What about 'hey my phaser is distorting' - can I post that?
No. Everybody else can, but you...well you've been a very naughty boy. No pudding for you, young man! :icon_mrgreen:
Well, reflecting on it for a moment, since the goal is to get a phaser to NOT distort, that would be alright, so long as you are not complimentary about it.
But I think a bunch of the posts in this thread illustrate my basic point, which is that it's hard to get away from the topic (hence easy for some of us to get fed up withit!).
QuoteWhat about 'hey my phaser is distorting' - can I post that?
Yes Rick, you can speak about my UFO phaser, eh-eh-eh :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen:
This afternoon, a friend came home and he was mainly interested by the clean and deep sound of my Boogie MKIIA... Until he wanted to know what where my latest release in term of overdrive, distortion and fuzz, and try it all, of course... The loop turns and is closed. For sake, I am listening now to Klaus Schulze "Castles" tune, from his album "The crime of Suspense" : absolutely no fuzz no dist here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKtL28wOhaE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKtL28wOhaE)
A+!
I deliberately left my proposal vague, sort of like a politician. :icon_cool:
If this happens, I may be forced to change strings on my guitar and maybe right a song. Do some real music stuff. Dammit. :icon_rolleyes:
+1 Klaus Schulze....you have good taste!... :icon_cool:
Mark,
your idea is an excellent idea, because it can support the SEARCH functon instead of cloning the same answers\questions 20 times a week.
Moreover, the same "ban" may be applied to other categories time-to-time.
For example: "Fuzz Free Week", then "Delay Free Week", then "Tube Free Week", e.t.c.
Quote from: deadastronaut on August 20, 2011, 05:50:01 AM
+1 Klaus Schulze....you have good taste!... :icon_cool:
Yes, deadastronaut,
KS is one of the Godfathers of EM (electronic music), and moreover a very kind man... Here is speaks and demonstrates his 1st synthesiser :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW0aPqL73v0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW0aPqL73v0)
Doesn't mean that KS ignores distortion : here's a sample of "Mephisto", from the album "Moonlake" (2005), where he uses a distortion with it's Minimoog, beginning at 4', until the end - Mark : there's NO guitar, so I think I am not in infringement... :icon_question: :icon_mrgreen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvZwYk2FT4s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvZwYk2FT4s)
But if you prefer deep synth sounds, KS is also a king. Here is FM Delight, from the Album En=Trance (1988) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptuanvXODdY&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptuanvXODdY&feature=related)
Another one to mention is Robert Schroeder. I am a fan of his music since his debuts in 1981, and still in contact occasionally with him. Here's his website and myspace page :
http://www.news-music.de/home_e.html (http://www.news-music.de/home_e.html)
http://www.myspace.com/robertschroeder1 (http://www.myspace.com/robertschroeder1)
Have an ear to his album "Cygnus-A" (2010). Again - no guitar in sight... without guitar, distortion is more difficult to trace in a tune, IMHO.
A+!
I vote for freedom and liberty to discuss whatever I want whenever I want.