A digitally-controlled stomp that provides from 25ms to 450ms of delay.
Gilbert, AZ (July 28, 2016) -- Vick Audio, a longtime pedal builder that specializes in reproductions of out of production effects units from the 60s and 70s as well as original effects, is excited to announce the release of its latest original guitar effects pedal, the Hypocenter Delay.
The Hypocenter Delay is built around the PT2399 chip by Princeton Technologies. This chip, though digitally based, is often used to emulate the sound of older analog-based delays. They have created a delay that will work well with a clean guitar signal or with distortion. The Hypocenter Delay is capable of providing a delay time from 25ms all the way to 450ms with a very low-noise distortion and repeats all the way from a single repeat to infinite repeats.
The four control knobs of the Hypocenter Delay controls the pedal's overall volume, the delay time, the mix between the wet and dry signal and the number of repeats. Customers can also expect a 3PDT true bypass switch, Neutrik audio jacks, 2.1 mm Boss style power jack (no internal 9V battery clip), a powder-coated aluminum enclosure, and a handwired, boutique-quality pedal that is made in the USA.
The Hypocenter Delay is retailing at $139
For more information:
Vick Audio
The roots and jazz guitar virtuoso offers insights and guidance on how to make the most of the vintage sound of the companyās enduring RH, FH, and Rhythm Chief pickups.
What do the screaming tone of Elmore Jamesāslide guitar, the dirty rumble of early Muddy Waters recordings on Chess, the smooth 6-string voice of Johnny Smith, and the warm melodies of GĆ”bor SzabĆ³ās eclectic repertoire have in common? DeArmond pickups. Since 1939, DeArmondsāin particular the companyās RH (round-hole) and FH (f-hole) models, and the Rhythm Chief 1000 and 1100āhave helped define the sound of experimenters and traditionalists, depending on the era.
One of todayās most notable DeArmond players is the revered blues and jazz guitar virtuoso Duke Robillard, a deep student of vintage tone who has learned how to recreate many historic guitar sounds. We asked Robillard to share his expertise and experience with DeArmond pickups, which goes back to the mid-1950s, when he and his father built his first guitar for a school science fair. They took the neck from an old, acoustic Kay Kraftsman and cut a Tele-shaped body from two pieces of 3/4" plywood, inspired by the guitar James Burton played on TVās The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Then, they recycled the Kayās bridge and tailpiece, and ordered a DeArmond. āA week after that, I was in a band,ā Robillard says.
DeArmond originally referred to its pickups as āguitar microphones,ā as they were designed to amplify acoustic guitars without altering their organic tone. Of course, once plugged into an amp all bets on that were off, given the breakup characteristics of the small combos that were common at the time. The RH pickups, which James and SzabĆ³, for example, used, are held in place by clamps. The FH and Rhythm Chief models are floating pickups, mounted by whatās often called the āmonkey-on-a-stickā method. Essentially, the pickups are held in place by a metal bar thatās screwed to a guitarās body, and the pickups can slide up and down the bar, like a simian might scale a tree, to find the sweet spot.
DeArmondās Rhythm Chief 1100.
By the time Robillard founded the swing and jump blues band Roomful of Blues in 1967, he was playing a Gretsch Synchromatic archtop fitted with a DeArmond, in quest of the authentic vintage tones he heard on records from the ā30s, ā40s and early ā50s. āThen I went to a Gibson ES-125, where I ended up finding a way to make a Rhythm Chief 1100 work in the neck position,ā he recounts. āThen I added a P-90 for the bridge. I didnāt want to use a guitar with a cutaway because I wanted every setback that the guitar players in 1940 had. That stopped me from going high on the neck all the time, which I think was a discipline that made me a better musician.ā
āThe cheapest model [the 1000] is really the best sounding one.ā
Today, he uses a variety of DeArmond pickups on his guitars, but his favorite is the Rhythm Chief 1100, which has screwdriver-adjustable pole pieces. And he applies the tricks heās learned over the years, like placing stick-on felt pads under DeArmonds positioned near the bridge, to raise the floating pickup to the correct height. He also notes there is an alternative to attaching the monkey stick behind the bridge. āA lot of jazz players would shorten the bar and have it flattened out, so you could screw it to the side of the neck. That became popular with guitarists who played Strombergs, DāAngelicos, and L-5s, for example.
āThe cheapest model [the 1000] is really the best-sounding one,ā he continues. āAnd you need to use a wound G string on an archtop, or itās going to howl like crazy. It isless of a pickup than a microphone. You can actually talk into it, and Iāve done gigs where something went wrong with the PA and Iāve sung through the pickup.ā
Robillardās latest album, Roll With Me, includes āYou Got Money,ā played on his DeArmond-outfitted J.W. Murphy archtop.
These days his favorite archtop is a J.W. Murphy with an 1100 with a shortened bar attached to the side of the neck. He puts stick-on felt pads under the treble side to keep the pickup height as he likes, and to preserve the natural sound of the guitar. You can hear Robillard play his DeArmond-outfitted Murphy on āYou Got Money,ā a track from his new album, Roll with Me, on Bandcamp.
One more recommendation: āUse a small amp because thatās what they sound best with,ā he says. āSmall tube amps are what these pickups were made for, but if youāve got a closed-back cabinet they tend to feed back on the low end. Keeping the bass side of the pickup lower helps with that. When youāre setting up the pickup, press down on the last fret and get the treble side high and the base side low, and then just balance it out till you get the right sound.ā
Originally priced at $25 and tagged for the student market, this guitar built at the Kawai factory sounds surprisingly good, but its neck is a āhuskyā fit.
Recently, I celebrated a birthdayāand let me tell you, after 50 I just feel thankful for a shot at another day. Iām at the point in life where I wake up with injuries, like random bruises or sore joints after a good night of sleep. What the heck! As part of being over 50, I find it necessary to keep up on my vaccinations and health things, and in my recent travels, I was surprised to learn that so many people have a birthday around the same time as me. It started with various phlebotomists, doctors, and nurses. Then it continued with people at work and social media messages. I never really thought about it before, but I did some research and, in fact, more babies are born in September than in any other month! My birthday is October 6, but according to my dear mom, I was two weeks late (as usual).
And so it goes that I pondered this proliferation of Virgos and Libras, and my hypothesis came into focus. Were we all the result of our parentsā Christmas and New Yearās celebrations?! I have to say, there was a camaraderie discovered among my fellow party babies when I presented my findings to them. Now, being born in the early ā70s also had me thinking of the culture of the times. Hippie life was fading as young people started to realize they had to get a job, and alas, long hair and beards were being replaced by staid 9-to-5 gigs that could slowly suck the life out of you. So, given the cultural mores of that era, I thought that this month I should write about the Sorrento Swinger.
āHippie life was fading as young people started to realize they had to get a job.ā
Born around 1967āmaybe in Septemberāthese Swingers hailed from the ācrazyā design period of the Kawai Co. Kawai produced some of the coolest guitar designs from 1967 to ā69, and there were some very creative guitar designers there on the job. Kawai had poached some of the finest employees from the wreckage of the Shinko Gakki factory (Pleasant, Intermark, etc.) and through the purchase of the Teisco brand. In this era, Kawai usually used three different standard pickups and they all sound great, plus the units are always wired in series, which is just awesome.
For a 25-buck, Japan-made guitar from the ā70s, the Swinger has an elite-looking headstockāand, on this example, most of its tuners.
Now, the Swinger (and similar Kawai-made guitars) came from an era where U.S. importers would order small batches of instruments that were often unique and extremely gonzo. The guitars might have been destined for medium-sized music stores or direct-order catalogs, but whatever the case, the importer usually gave the guitars names. In this instance, it was Jack Westheimer who featured this model as an āexclusiveā design. In Westheimer Corporation catalogs from the time, the Swinger carried the A-2T model name (there was another one-pickup model called the A-1) and sold wholesale for $25 in 1967! As the catalog mentioned, these were āpriced for the teenaged trade.ā This particular guitar featured the Sorrento badge, and was sold through some sort of music store thatās probably long out of business, but all the Swingers were the same.
The Swingerās large mahogany neck (sans truss rod) is robust and beefy in all the nicest ways. Like, when I was a kid, I was considered a āhuskyā fit. Thatās this neck: husky! The striped pickguard is a Teisco holdover and the controls are as simple as it gets. Two knobs (volume, tone) and two pickup selectors is all there is, but the beauty is in the body. That lower bout is shaped like some sort of 1969 lounge chair. The strap pin is totally in the wrong place, but the big bottom swoop is worth it. Yep, the Swinger was ready to bring in the dawn of the 1970s, but alas, the guitar came and went in a blink.
Hand-built in the USA, this pedal features original potentiometer values, True Bypass, and three unique modes for versatile distortion options. Commemorative extras included.
This limited-edition pedal is limited to a 1,974-piece run to commemorate the year of DODās start, 1974. The original OD250 put DOD on the map as āAmericaās Pedalā and continues to be an industry favorite today. Each pedal will have a serial-numbered Certificate of Authenticity, a commemorative laser-etched pedal topper, several commemorative guitar picks, and multiple commemorative stickers.
Hand-built in the USA, the DOD OD250 ā 50th Anniversary Edition pedal boasts Gain and Level controls using the original potentiometer values and tapers giving the control knob the feel and range that DOD enthusiasts love. A three-position toggle switch features the OD250ās classic āSILICONā mode replicating that original sound. The āGe/ASYMā mode uses a vintage Germanium diode for asymmetrical even-harmonic distortion. āLIFTā mode cuts the diode clipping from the signal path allowing for a clean boost or even a dirty boost when the vintage LM741 op-amp is clipped at higher gain settings. The DOD 250 also features True Bypass to maintain the integrity of your guitar tone.
This limited edition OD250 is outfitted in a stunning metal flake gray finish with classic yellow screenprint in a callback to the original OD250 of the 1970s. An etched aluminum badge on each unit commemorates this occasion. The DOD OD 250 ā 50th Anniversary is ready to take its place among the historic DOD pedal lineup.
When John Johnson and āMr. DODā himself, David O. DiFrancesco set out to make DOD Electronics in Salt Lake City, Utah 50 years ago, they had no idea how enduring their legacy would be. Now 50 years later, DOD Electronics continues to be at the forefront of pedal technology. The DOD OD 250 ā 50th Anniversary Pedal is an exceptional testament to DOD Electronicsā longāstanding success.
Retail Price: $250.00
For more information, please visit digitech.com.
Want to know how tubes shape your tone? Join PG contributor Tom Butwin as he breaks down preamp vs. power tubes, tone tweaks, and biasing, in this ultimate beginner's guide to tube amps. From Fender cleans to Marshall grit, learn how to unlock the full potential of your amp!
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