Aping old-school digital echo yields a sweet spot between BBD and ones-and-zeroes delays.
Distinct, dirty, and colorful echoes. Very cool BBD-like overtones. Rangy tone and modulation controls.
No expression control.
$209
Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME
crazytubecircuits.com
Even in the earliest days of the analog/digital delay schism, there was never a right or wrong answer about which was best. Each has their virtues and musical place. And both delay categories are far too broad to encompass anything close to a definitive sound. An analog Echoplex sounds pretty different from a bucket brigade Deluxe Memory Man. And a shimmeringly pristine Eventide DDL definitely sounds nothing like the smoky MXR Model 113 that helped kick off the digital delay era.
The 113 was, by modern digital standards, a filthy-sounding thing. It's also the sonic inspiration for Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME digital delay, a flexible and smartly designed device that captures the lo-fi magic of the Model 113 and inhabits what many will consider a sweet spot between immaculate digital repeats and grimier bucket brigade repeats.
Relatively Clean Relays
MXR Model 113s are notoriously noisyāparticularly as they age. The original also had a narrow frequency response of 20 kHz to 2.5 kHz, depending on delay time. The TI:ME uses a set of analog filters in the twin digital delay lines to achieve the grit and much of the tactile response of that narrow range while cleaning up the noise floor considerably. It doesn't replicate the Model 113's circuitry, but Crazy Tube Circuit's take on the filtering component of the 113's design helps the TI:ME nail the tone idiosyncrasies of early digital.
Unlike the Model 113's hodgepodge of push buttons and knobs, the TI:ME's control set is simple, familiar, and super intuitive. Mix, feedback, and delay time controls are arranged on the top row. Tone and modulation depth knobs are arrayed just below. A quarter note/dotted eighth/triplet delay divisions toggle is situated in the center. Apart from that, there's just soft-relay footswitches for bypass and tap tempo. You can hold down the latter to induce runaway oscillation effects. An internal switch enables you to select between true bypass or buffered bypass with trails.
The TI:ME maintains a just-right balance between BBD haze and percussive, distinguishable repeats.
Dirty Animals
When I say the TI:ME inhabits a world between digital and analog tonalities, I don't mean that it splits the difference. In fact, the TI:ME's fundamental tones are much closer to a bucket brigade delay unit. The closest tone match I could find among the digital and analog delays I had on hand was an MXR Carbon Copy, which is no small compliment in my book. The Carbon Copy and other analog delays I tested against the TI:ME all produced repeats that were more distorted and compressed than the TI:ME's echoes. By comparison, high-resolution digital delay tones sounded like sterile reflections from hard, cold tile.
Those differences get more interesting and pronounced when you situate a drive or distortion source upstream from the delay. Where bucket brigade devices tend to turn distortion into beautiful reverberative miasma, the TI:ME maintains a just-right balance between BBD haze and percussive, distinguishable repeats. You have to wonder if it was the original Model 113's ability to walk this fine line that attracted notorious tone hounds like Gilmour and Zappa to the unit. Certainly, the TI:ME's take on that balance offers intriguing near-hybrid analog/digital sounds that aren't as readily discovered in simple bucket brigade or digital delay units.
Additional analog-redolent textures lurk in the tone and modulation controls. Both have wide range and can help fine tune the TI:ME's echoes to suit the effects elsewhere in your rig. Used together, they can also add extra grime to the TI:ME's basically dusty voice.
The Verdict
The TI:ME is brimming with character that defies digital stereotypes. And while its voice has much of the color of a BBD analog unit, it has the capacity to be slightly cleaner in a way that gives nuanced solos, harmonics, chord detail, and overtones from your guitar and elsewhere in your effects chain more room to breathe. And while a streamlined 3-knob analog delay may be 30 to 60 bucks cheaper on average, those units are less likely to offer tap tempo, modulation this characterful and rangy, or dotted eight and triplet division options. Consider those features and a truly distinct delay voice, and the $209 price tag starts to look like money very well spent.
Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME Demo - First Look
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The veteran Florida-born metalcore outfit proves that you donāt need humbuckers to pull off high gain.
Last August, metalcore giants Poison the Well gave the world a gift: They announced they were working on their first studio album in 15 years. They unleashed the first taste, single āTrembling Level,ā back in January, and set off on a spring North American tour during which they played their debut record, The Opposite of December⦠A Season of Separation, in full every night.
PGās Perry Bean caught up with guitarists Ryan Primack and Vadim Taver, and bassist Noah Harmon, ahead of the bandās show at Nashvilleās Brooklyn Bowl for this new Rig Rundown.
Brought to you by DāAddario.Not-So-Quiet As a Mouse
Primack started his playing career on Telecasters, then switched to Les Pauls, but when his prized LPs were stolen, he jumped back to Teles, and now owns nine of them.
His No. 1 is this white one (left). Seymour Duncan made him a JB Model pickup in a single-coil size for the bridge position, while the neck is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Staggered. He ripped out all the electronics, added a Gibson-style toggle switch, flipped the control plate orientation thanks to an obsession with Danny Gatton, and included just one steel knob to control tone. Primack also installed string trees with foam to control extra noise.
This one has Ernie Ball Papa Hetās Hardwired strings, .011ā.050.
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Primack runs both a PRS Archon and a Bad Cat Lynx at the same time, covering both 6L6 and EL34 territories. The Lynx goes into a Friedman 4x12 cab thatās been rebadged in honor of its nickname, āDonkey,ā while the Archon, which is like a ārefined 5150,ā runs through an Orange 4x12.
Ryan Primackās Pedalboard
Primackās board sports a Saturnworks True Bypass Multi Looper, plus two Saturnworks boost pedals. The rest includes a Boss TU-3w, DOD Bifet Boost 410, Caroline Electronics Hawaiian Pizza, Fortin ZUUL +, MXR Phase 100, JHS Series 3 Tremolo, Boss DM-2w, DOD Rubberneck, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Walrus Slo, and SolidGoldFX Surf Rider III.
Taverās Teles
Vadim Taverās go-to is this cherryburst FenderĀ Telecaster, which he scored in the early 2000s and has been upgraded to Seymour Duncan pickups on Primackās recommendation. His white Balaguer T-style has been treated to the same upgrade. The Balaguer is tuned to drop C, and the Fender stays in D standard. Both have DāAddario strings, with a slightly heavier gauge on the Balaguer.
Dual-Channel Chugger
Taver loves his 2-channel Orange Rockerverb 100s, one of which lives in a case made right in Nashville.
Vadim Taverās Pedalboard
Taverās board includes an MXR Joshua, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, Empress Tremolo, Walrus ARP-87, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector, MXR Phase 90, Boss CE-2w, and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200, all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Big Duff
Harmonās favorite these days is this Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass, which heās outfitted with a Leo Quan Badass bridge. His backup is a Mexico-made Fender Classic Series ā70s Jazz Bass. This one also sports Primack-picked pickups.
Rental Rockers
Harmon rented this Orange AD200B MK III head, which runs through a 1x15 cab on top and a 4x10 on the bottom.
Noah Harmonās Pedalboard
Harmonās board carries a Boss TU-2, Boss ODB-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Darkglass Electronics Vintage Ultra, and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. His signal from the Vintage Ultra runs right to the front-of-house, and Harmon estimates that that signal accounts for about half of what people hear on any given night.
The Sunset is a fully analog, zero latency bass amplifier simulator. It features a ¼ā input, XLR and ¼ā outputs, gain and volume controls and extensive equalization. Itās intended to replace your bass amp both live and in the studio.
If you need a full sounding amp simulator with a lot of EQ, the Sunset is for you. It features a five band equalizer with Treble, Bass, Parametric Midrange (with frequency and level controls), Resonance (for ultra lows), and Presence (for ultra highs). All are carefully tuned for bass guitar. But donāt let that hold you back if youāre a keyboard player. Pianos and synthesizers sound great with the Sunset!
The Sunset includes Gain and master Volume controls which allow you to add compression and classic tube amp growl. It has both ¼ā phone and balanced XLR outputs - which lets you use it as a high quality active direct box. Finally, the Sunset features zero latency all analog circuitry ā important for the instrument most responsible for the bandās groove.
Introducing the Sunset Bass Amp Simulator
- Zero Latency bass amp simulator.
- Go direct into the PA or DAW.
- Five Band EQ:
- Treble and Bass controls.
- Parametric midrange with level and frequency controls.
- Presence control for extreme highs.
- Resonance control for extreme lows.
- Gain control to add compression and harmonics.
- Master Volume.
- XLR and 1/4" outputs.
- Full bypass.
- 9VDC, 200mA.
Artwork by Aaron Cheney
MAP price: $210 USD ($299 CAD).
His credits include Miles Davisā Jack Johnson and Herbie Mannānext to whom he performed in Questloveās 2021 documentary, Summer of Soulāand his tunes have been covered by Santana and the Messthetics. But itās as a bandleader and collaborator where Sharrock cut his wildest recordings. As groundbreaking as Sharrockās music could be, his distorted tone and melodic tunes helped bring rock listeners into the jazz tent. Our callers let us know how much Sharrock meant to them and why heās one of the ātop guys of all time.ā
Belltone Guitars has partnered Brickhouse Toneworks to create a one-of-a-kind, truly noiseless Strat/Tele-tone pickup in a standard FilterāTron size format: the Single-Bell pickup.
The Single-Bell by Brickhouse Toneworks delivers bonafide single-coil Strat and Tele tones with the power of a P-90 and no 60-cycle hum. Unlike typical stacked hum-cancelling designs, Brickhouse Toneworks uses a proprietary āsidewindā approach that cancels the 60-cycle hum without sacrificing any of the dynamics or top-end sparkle of a Fender-style single coil.
Get the best of both worlds with clear bell-like tones on the neck pickup, signature quack when combining the neck and bridge pickups, and pristine twang in the bridge position backed with the fullness and power of a P-90. Push these into overdrive and experience the hallmark blues tone with plenty of grit and harmonic sustain ā all with completely noiseless performance.
Key Features of the Single-Bell:
- Cast Alnico 5 Magnet, designed to be used with 500k pots
- Voiced to capture that signature Fender-style single coil tone without the 60-cycle hum
- Lightly potted to minimize squeal
- Made in the USA with premium quality materials
The retail price for a Bridge and Neck matching set is $340.00 and theyāre available directly and exclusively through BelltoneĀ® Guitars / Brickhouse Toneworks at belltoneguitars.com.