Go inside the New York Amp Show, held June 4-5 at the Embassy Suites in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Check out Warm Audio’s Pedal76 and WA-C1 with PG contributor Tom Butwin! See how these pedals can shape your sound and bring versatility to your rig.
Shred-meister and Eric Johnson expert Andy Wood joins us to talk about EJ’s best tracks, albums, and more. Whether you’re a fellow expert or don’t know where to start, Andy’s got you covered, from studio albums to live tracks. Come with questions, leave with homework!
Universal Audio Introduces the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp Pedal
Experience the legendary tones of the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp emulator from Universal Audio Inc. Featuring dual-engine processing and world-class UAD modeling, this pedal captures the iconic "D-style" tube tones of guitar greats like John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Explore customizable options and classic mic/speaker combinations for authentic ODS tones.
Universal Audio Inc. (UA), a worldwide leader in audio production tools, including the popular Apollo and Volt audio interfaces, UAD plug-ins, and UA microphones, is proud to welcome the Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp emulator to the award-winning UAFX guitar pedal lineup.
Built on powerful dual-engine processing and world-class UAD modeling, Enigmatic ‘82 Overdrive Special Amp gives guitarists the mythical "D-style" tube tones made famous by John Mayer, StevieRay Vaughan, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Joe Bonamassa, and Carlos Santana.*
With exclusive access to numerous original Overdrive Special amplifiers, UA perfectly captured the sound and feel of custom Overdrive Special amps spanning 30 years — from the first 1970’s SantaCruz models to later iterations built in Los Angeles in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
By emulating the Overdrive Special's colorful FET preamp and HRM overdrive voicings and mysterious tone stack mods — including the late-’80s Skyliner option — Enigmatic '82 gives guitarists the crystalline clean tones and touch-sensitive, blooming grind that made the OverdriveSpecial the most lusted after amplifier ever built.
"With original Overdrive Specials, there was constant innovation in every amp," says UniversalAudio Sr. Product Designer James Santiago. "Each circuit tweak revolved around the player’s touch, and the desire for tones that made their personal style musically speak. With Enigmatic '82, we're giving players of all genres the evolving magic that made these amps so legendary with more customization than we've ever put in a UAFX pedal."
Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp Pedal - $399
For more information, please visit uaudio.com.
Key Features:
- A complete emulation of the mythical Overdrive Special amps made famous by Stevie RayVaughan, Robben Ford, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, and Carlos Santana*
- Jazz, Rock, and Custom modes offer cloud-like cleans, creamy overdrive, and bloomingstring-to-string definition heard on countless records
- 9 classic mic/speaker combinations, plus '70s Santa Cruz, late-‘80s Skyliner, and ‘90s HotRubber Monkey (HRM) preamp mods for authentic ODS tones
- Groundbreaking physical room modeling derived from award-winning OX Amp Top Box
- UAFX mobile app lets users fine tune tones using hidden amp tweaks, EQs, and mods foundin original ODS amplifiers from the '70s-'90s
- Timeless UA design, feel, and craftsmanship, built to last decades
Here’s how to recreate the wide-ranging Epiphone Tone Expressor system on your guitar.
Hello and welcome back to Mod Garage! This is the second part of the Mod Garage look at the Epiphone Tone Expressor system (Pt.1), which is found on the Al Caiola signature model that was built from late 1963 until 1969. After discussing the individual parts and settings last month, we will now bring it all together and see how to use the system in a modern guitar.
In general, it’s possible to use the Varitone/Tone Expressor system in any electric guitar as long as you have enough space to squeeze all the stuff into it. You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best. It’s also possible to use it the other way around and thicken up single-coil pickups instead of slenderizing humbucker tones, and in a future column I’ll talk about what I like to call the “reverse Varitone” system.
For a good and simple overview about all the details from last month, I decided to use a technical drawing to show the isolated Varitone system, so it’s easy for you to identify the individual parts:
Diagram courtesy of SINGLECOIL
This is the basic structure of the Gibson Varitone system with the original values Gibson used. The inductor is a 1.5 H choke. The Epiphone Tone Expressor system is identical but uses a 15 H choke as an inductor. There is a second version of the Tone Expressor system found on the Al Caiola model using the same structure but with different values for the parts. I think this was because different pickups were used, so here are the values for the version of the system in the Al Caiola guitar:
• 15 H choke as an inductor instead of 1.5 H
• Replace the single 100k resistor with a 33k resistor
• .0033 µF cap is used instead of the .001
• .01 µF cap is used instead of the .0033
• .022 µF cap is used instead of the .01
• .047 µF cap is used instead of the .03
• .1 cap µF is used instead of the .22
For best results, use the original Gibson Varitone values along with PAF-style humbuckers—the second version will work best with mini-humbuckers or similar pickups. Depending on the pickups you use, you can experiment and make your own custom version out of it.
“You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best.”
The differences are:
• Using a 15 H instead of the 1.5 H inductor will shift the notches of the filters created by the Tone Expressor system down approximately a fifth for a fuller and fatter tone. Because it is possible to combine several caps with this wiring, choosing a 15 H inductor was also a clever move to keep the tone clearer and more present. You can experiment with this, too. A choke with something between 7 and 10 H will be in the middle of both versions.
• Using a 33k instead of the 100k coupling resistor fits pickups with a lower output like the mini-humbucker perfectly, while the 100k is great for pickups with more output like a PAF.
• The different cap values also correspond to the combination of different pickups and chokes, e.g., for a twangy, Telecaster-type tone, you need a 0.22 µF cap along with a PAF humbucker, while a 0.1 µF cap will do the same along with a mini-humbucker.
So, here we go with the Al Caiola wiring, starting with how it looks in the original guitars from the ’60s. You can clearly see the big, silver-cased choke on top of the electronics as well as the caps, resistors, and the individual switches.
Photo courtesy of Bonfires Vintage
And here is the drawing of the Tone Expressor system I made for you:
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
All switches are DPDT switches, the tone and volume pots are both 500k audio, and the tone cap is 0.022 µF. A is the coupling resistor (33k or 100k), B is the five 10M ohm pulldown-resistors (one on each switch), which prevent popping noises when engaging a switch, and C is an additional 33k decoupling resistor on each switch that is necessary to decouple the switches from each other when you want to combine their settings. You don’t need that on the Varitone because you can’t combine several caps with the rotary switch.
Besides experimenting with the parameters of the choke, the caps, and the coupling resistor, you can enhance your tonal palette quick and easy by using a pickup selector switch that can engage both pickups together.
In closing, here is a scaled-down version of this wiring, in case you don’t want to use a choke or can’t find one.
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
As you can see, the coupling resistor (A) and the decoupling resistors (C) are removed. That’s because in the system with the choke (second order filter system), these are necessary, but without a choke, they’re not.
That’s it. Since we are still in the year of the Strat, next month we will have a look into the Fender Cory Wong Stratocaster, so stay tuned!
Until then, keep on modding!