 | Download Example 1 Dyna-ssor |
| Download Example 2 Delay Llama |
| Download Example 3 TubeDreamer+ Rhythm |
| Download Example 4 TubeDreamer+ Lead |
| Download Example 5 TubeDreamer+ and Dyna-ssor |
| Download Example 6 TubeDreamer+ and Delay Llama |
| Clips recorded with a 1991 Ibanez Sabre on bridge humbucker through Marshall JMD:1 on JVM410H preamp model. | |
Packed For Action
The Multi-Pedal features a compressor, overdrive, and analog delay. It has six jacks laid out on three different sides, and eight knobs and five footswitches on the front panel—none of which are labeled.
Instead, Jam Pedals went for an artful, vintage-gift-wrap finish that incorporates yellowed sheet music and a reproduction of a woman who may have been a ‘50s B-movie queen. It looks cool, to be sure, but makes some obvious sacrifices in terms of functionality. Clearly, Jam has enough faith in the intelligence of their customer to believe that labels, call outs, and standard UI elements are not a requirement to get maximum function out of a device. For the most part, that is probably true. In the case of the compressor, once I learned which knob is for sustain and which is for level it was easy to remember. Since these are custom units, guitar players who tend to party when they play might opt to ask Jam to label their controls.
The Multi-Pedal features (from right to left): a Dyna-ssor compressor inspired in part by the MXR DynaComp and Ross Compressor, a Tube Screamer 808-flavored TubeDreamer+, and the Delay Llama, a BBD style analog delay. The Dyna-ssor and Delay Llama each have a single footswitch, while the TubeDreamer+ has an on/off footswitch and a High Gain switch which adds a healthy dose of high mids and fatness to the overdrive—something original Tube Screamers lacked. The pedal can only be driven by a 9V DC power supply, which is not included.
On the left side of the unit are two output jacks, an A and a B. Top rear has an expression pedal out (for controlling delay time) and Send/Return jacks for an FX Loop. There is also a footswitch about an inch from the Delay Llama's Time knob. This footswitch toggles output between the A and B jacks, making the second out suitable for a tuner or mute. The placement of this switch was an issue for me—when I hit it with my big stupid foot, I often bumped the delay time knob.
Jam Pedals takes great pride in the quality of their devices that extends beyond outward appearances. They use high grade, sometimes hard-to-find components. And as you can imagine, they are not cheap. The unit we tested retails for just over $500 dollars.
Sound Selections
All of the Jam's Multi-Pedal effects sound exceptional.The Dyna-ssor was especially good with a humbucker and a little distortion The manual states it can be used as a typical squash-type compressor or as a sustainer. I preferred it for the latter and it worked exceedingly well with the exception of having a somewhat limited boost capability.
The TubeDreamer+ overdrive is next in line and of the handful of Tube Screamer inspired pedals I have played through, it was the best by far. The effect is controlled by three knobs—Level, Tone, and Gain. As mentioned previously, this stomper also has an additional High Gain footswitch that kicks in some beef and fuzz. This overdrive effect gave me great sustain that faded out well at higher Gain settings, and I found the tone richer overall and more harmonically complex than the pedal that inspired it. Used with a humbucker, it was super-crunchy with plenty of bite. And it is a great effect for players who need a tone that punches through thick mixes. The highs can border on brittle, but could also be tamed by the Tone knob. And there was no discernable addition or subtraction to my guitar’s bottom end.
Used in conjunction with the Dyna-ssor, this pedal gave a really aggressive tuneful overdriven sound that worked great for lead and rhythm. The High Gain switch is a nice addition on the Tube Screamer theme, and it took the pedal into creamy distortion zones beyond what typical overdrive pedals deliver.
The Delay Llama is third in line. The control set is a familiar and easy-to-navigate set of knobs for repeats, time, and level or mix. With a max delay time of 600ms, repeats range from slapback to sci-fi sound regeneration. If you remove the bottom plate of the unit you can access an internal pot that allows you to adjust the max delay repeats—a very useful addition. The Delay Llama uses faithful reproductions of the classic Panasonic MN3205 IC chip. And indeed, the pedal sounded like a vintage BBD-style delay that was mint-in-the-box and not beat to crap from decades on the road. Like the TubeDreamer+ and the Dyna-ssor, the Delay Llama was quiet and about as noise free as you can get from an analog stomper. The Verdict
The Verdict
All in all, the Multi-Pedal provides extremely faithful reproductions of classic delays, overdrives, and compressors. Like all Jam Pedals, it’s very well crafted. At $500, it is reasonably priced for a boutique handmade multi-effect pedal. It provides excellent takes on vintage circuits that could fetch that much or more if purchased individually, with the bonus that if these three aren't the effects you're looking for, can have Jam tailor one more specifically to your needs. For the player that knows what they like and prefers vintage over digital, the Jam Multi-Pedal concept is one that, in terms of ease and tone, really works.
Buy if...
you want faithful but improved replication of vintage stompbox delay, overdrive and compression, and you demand style.
Skip if...
you like the ability to swap pedals in and out and don't really care about one-of-kind graphics.
Rating...
Street $500 - Jam Pedals - jampedals.com |
Peterson StroboStomp Mini Pedal Tuner
| The StroboStomp Mini delivers the unmatched 0.1 cent tuning accuracy of all authentic Peterson Strobe Tuners in a mini pedal tuner format. We designed StroboStomp Mini around the most requested features from our customers: a mini form factor, and top mounted jacks. |
Cory Wong—a funky player with his own signature-model Strat wiring.
Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Cory Wong is renowned for his solo work, his band Fearless Flyers (with Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart, and Nate Smith), and collaborations with artists such as Vulfpeck, Jon Batiste, and Dave Koz. His playing style is deeply rooted in funk rhythm guitar, with a heavy dose of rock and jazz. Well-known for playing a Stratocaster, his signature model was released in 2021, and it’s a unique offering. If you want to build your personal Cory Wong Strat, here is your shopping list, starting with the primary structure:
• Alder body, scaled down to slightly smaller than a regular Stratocaster, with Fender American Ultra body contours
• Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard with rolled edges, modern Fender American Ultra D neck profile, slightly larger headstock, 25.5" scale, 10" to 14" compound radius, 22 medium jumbo frets
• Locking tuners with all short posts, a bone nut, and two roller string trees
• Vintage-style 6-screw synchronized tremolo
• Hair tie around the tremolo springs (which mutes them to enhance the rhythm tone)
• .010–.046 strings (nickel-plated steel)
“While these are all interesting features, resulting in a very comfortable guitar, you don’t need to copy every detail to transform one of your Stratocasters into a Cory Wong-style Strat.”
For the physical build, as you can see, Wong and Fender created a real signature instrument to his specs and wishes. While these are all interesting features, resulting in a very comfortable guitar, you don’t need to copy every detail to transform one of your Stratocasters into a Cory Wong-style Strat. My personal favorite of these is the hair tie for muting the tremolo springs. A lot of my funk-playing customers are doing similar things on their Strats to get a dry sound, and they’re using all kinds of funny things in there, like foam, rubber bands, and pieces of cotton, as well as hair ties.
Now, let’s have a look at the electronics:
• Seymour Duncan Cory Wong Clean Machine SSS pickup set
• Standard 5-way pickup-selector switch with classic Strat switching matrix
• 250k master volume pot with a 90/10 audio taper and Fender treble-bleed circuit PCB
• 250k tone pot with a 90/10 audio taper and Fender Greasebucket tone control PCB for only the neck pickup
• 250k audio push-push tone pot with Fender Greasebucket tone control PCB for only the bridge pickup; the push-push switch overrides the 5-way switch and defaults to middle + neck pickup (in parallel) as a preset
• Middle pickup is without tone control
Let’s break this down piece-by-piece to decode it:
Pickups
The pickup set is a custom SSS set from the Seymour Duncan company with the following specs:
• Overwound hum-canceling stacked bridge pickup with a 3-conductor wire and shield in permanent hum-canceling mode (red wire taped off), bevelled alnico 5 magnets, approximately 14.5k-ohm DCR
• Overwound middle single-coil, RWRP, beveled alnico 4 magnets, approximately 7.1k-ohm DCR
• Overwound neck single-coil, bevelled alnico 4 magnets, approx. 7.0k-ohm DCR
The pickups are voiced for clear highs, which perfectly suits Wong’s funky playing style and tone. While a lot of pickup companies will have pickups in that ballpark, it will be difficult to put together a full set that really works as intended. The Duncans in the Cory Wong Strat are available as a balanced set, so if you want to get as close as possible, I think this is your best bet.
5-Way Pickup Selector Switch
Nothing special here, just the standard 5-way switch with two switching stages that is wired like a classic Stratocaster:
bridge
bridge + middle in parallel
middle
middle + neck in parallel
neck
The upper tone pot is assigned to the neck pickup, while the lower tone pot is connected to the bridge pickup, leaving the middle pickup without tone control.
Master volume pot and treble-bleed circuit.
The 250k master volume pot is a standard CTS pot with a 90/10 audio taper found in all U.S.-made Fender guitars. The volume pot has the treble-bleed circuit from the Fender American Pro series, but uses a ready-to-solder PCB from Fender instead of individual electronic parts. The PCB is available from Fender individually (part #7711092000), but I have some thoughts about it. While using a PCB makes a lot of sense for mass production, it has some downsides for us mortal human beings:
• Soldering on PCBs requires some training and also special soldering tools.
• The PCB is quite expensive, while the individual electronic parts are only a few cents.
• The PCB uses ultra-tiny surface-mount parts, so it’s very difficult to repair or mod it to your personal taste.
I don’t think we need a PCB for adding a treble-bleed circuit, so let’s do this project using conventional electronic parts. The treble-bleed PCB contains a 1200 pF capacitor with a 150k-ohm resistor in parallel, plus another 20k-ohm resistor in series. Using individual parts, it looks like this:
Courtesy of single-coil.com
In general, a treble-bleed circuit will help you to combat the “volume vs. tone problem” when using passive single-coil pickups. When you turn down the volume (even just a bit), the high end or treble loss is not proportionate. In other words, a small cut in volume creates a far greater loss in your guitar’s treble response. Using a treble-bleed circuit is an easy way to get rid of this problem, as long as it is calculated carefully.
ONLINE ONLY: If you want to find out more about treble bleed circuits please have a look here: https://www.premierguitar.com/diy/mod-garage/treble-bleed-mod
Next month, we will continue with part two of the Cory Wong Stratocaster wiring, bringing it all together, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!