Day #14 is here! Enter for your chance to win an ISP Technologies Deci-Mate G Micro Decimator!
ISP Technologies DECI-MATE G Micro Noise Reduction Pedal with Loop Connections
ISP Technologies introduces the new DECI-MATE G™ Micro Decimator pedal. The DECI-MATE G pedal is a full implementation of the world renowned Decimator G circuit with new patent pending tracking improvements all in a small, micro pedal package. When real estate is critical the DECI-MATE G is the answer. Now you can have the best noise reduction available in a micro pedal package with the full functionality of the larger G version of the Decimator pedal. The DECI-MATE G has a loop to insert your noisy pedals or connect to the effects loop of a guitar amplifier that has a series loop. The G version of the Decimator allows the noise reduction to directly track the guitar output. The advantage of tracking the direct guitar is the noise floor of the direct guitar output remains constant when you switch pedals or preamplifiers with different gain settings. This allows the DECI-MATE G to eliminate the noise in your rig without any need to adjustment it’s threshold setting for different gains and the corresponding noise floor changes. You can switch between extreme high gain and clean and never need to adjust the threshold. The ISP Technologies engineering team has spent years perfecting the operation of real time noise reduction and has been awarded multiple patents for the Decimator Technology. Patents include the technology for the adaptive response of the Decimator, which tracks the envelope of both super fast staccato notes as well as long sustained notes.
Two horns? It must be a Bison!
It makes me think about an old childhood friend who lived up the street from me. Jerry and his parents lived in an old house on their grandparents’ large plot of land. On one part of the land there was an old orchard filled with all types of fruit trees and pines, and I remember how we would climb to the top of the pines and just roll ourselves down the side, Revenant style! If you fell the right way, the branches would kind of gently let you down to the next, but if you hit it wrong and got in between the branches, you’d be wrecked. It’s like we enjoyed getting hurt, and, of course, when you’re young, you can snap right back. Ah, the days when pain really didn’t hurt. Now I wake up with injuries, for real.
“The action was way high and the fret ends were sharp. It was basically a painful affair.”
So why am I talking about my click-and-stick movie and stupid childhood escapades? Well, let’s get back to memories of my old friend Jerry. First, the house he lived in was so old that it had real wooden siding, but it hadn’t been painted in forever so the exterior took on a worn, faded, haunted house vibe. Second, his carpet was so tattered that it was being held together with duct tape. Lastly, I remember his dad had a cool, old electric guitar in the living room. His dad would let me play it sometimes, and I remember that it actually hurt to play! The action was way high and the fret ends were sharp. It was basically a painful affair. Not falling-out-of-a-tree painful, but as bad as it comes with guitars. It had the label “Conrad,” and young Frank didn’t realize that he’d be looking for that guitar again one day. I mean, it did have four pickups and lots of knobs and switches!
Made at the old Japanese Matsumoko factory in the ’60s, this Conrad Bison 1233 has four pickups and a 27" scale.
Years later, I would discover that his was a Conrad Bison guitar. The model came in a few different configurations, but the four-pickup design was designated as the 1233. Primarily featuring a lovely sunburst, these Bisons were made at the amazing old Matsumoku factory in Japan and were imported by the David Wexler Company that was based in Chicago. Matsumoku always had a good supply of aged wood, and many of the guitars made there are resonant and built well. The Bisons first appeared around 1966 and had a rather good run into the early ’70s.
Simple volume/tone knobs are paired with preset solo/rhythm switches that power alnico magnets. There’s an on/off switch for each pickup, and the sound really covers all the bases. Thumpy lows and crisp highs are all there. And, the pickups handle fuzz and distortion with ease. The Bisons also came in one- and two-pickup configurations with a normal scale, but the four-pickup ones have a longer, 27" scale, which is common for Matsumoku-made electrics.
So there it is: pain, survival, American frontier, Bison, haunted houses. It all sticks together like a duct-taped carpet. Click and stick, baby!