ISP Decimator "G-String" II (Version 2)

Just scored a new Decimator II - "G-String".


Compared to my old Decimator, "Threshold" of Decimator II works even smarter,
smoother and more linear.


If you want to put a Decimator into your amp effect loop to kill the noise from preamp stage, 
you should get a "G-String" version.
There is another extra signal loop on "G-String" to track original signal from your guitar.
You can switch from gain channel to clean channel and never have to switch the Decimator G String off due to the threshold being set too high.


There is another patterned design on Decimator II - 1/8" "Link-In" and "Link-Out"
which allow user to link another Decimator II to work as ISP "ProRack G".


Comparison Video - Decimator I vs Decimator II

Electro-Harmonix (EHX) Magnum44

Go ahead... make your day


This is a 44 watt solid-state poweramp in pedal form.
It has great clean headroom below volume at 12 o'clock which I think is enough
to kill a loud drummer at that volume level.

Magnum44 is definitely capable for band practice/rehearsal or small gig venue.

Mgnum44 also sound great with other instruments such as Bass, Keyboard and etc.

Even Magnum444 has a "bright" boost switch, I don't think that's good enough
to create a nice clean tone when you just simply plug your guitar in.
If you need a decent clean tone, you have to plug in a preamp which has clean channel instead.


Connect Output to Speaker Cabinet Only.

OKKO Dominator

OKKO effect pedals are hand-built in Leipzig, Germany by Heiko Lauenroth.
He's not only designer to builds his own hand-made effects pedals,
but he also mods other pedals like the "Tube Factor" from Hughes&Kettner.


Bass/MIDs/Treble/Gain/Level and 3PDT true-bypass switch.
Hand-painted chassis.


Mine is older Grey color chassis. Heiko told me that if the PCB board inside is red color,
the sound and circuit is exactly like the current "Red color chassis" version.
If it has green PCB (one of the very first version), it has slightly darker sounding.
There will be a minor change in the next batch of Dominators as well.


Input/Output Jacks, 9VDC jack and MID-Range switch.
The MID-Range switch has 3 kind of tone setting :
Left position - MID
Middle position - Low MID
Right position - High MID

The differences between these three settings are subtle.


An internal circuit in Dominator that electronically doubles the supplied voltage to 18volt
from a regular 9V battery or adapter for more headroom and clarity.

OKKO Dominator is a great distortion pedal indeed.
It's very responsive to your picking style, I mainly use this pedal for high gain lead tone.

Crybaby From Hell - Dimebag Darrell signature model

I love the camoflaged finish.


"CFH" (Crybaby From Hell) logo on the pedal.
Two LEDs on the bottom - Green shows "wah effect" is on, Red shows "15db booster" is engaged.


This is the most powerful wah pedal that I've ever owned before.
It's actually based on famous Crybaby 535Q with more functions.


Features :
1) TWO output jacks, one of them can be switchable as either input or output jack.
This can be accomplished by a small slide switch which is labelled as "JP2" on the internal PCB board.
2) "Variable Q", "Booster Volume" and "Fine Tune" adjustment knobs.
3) 6-position "Wah Frequency Range" selector.
4) 15db Booster on/off switch.


Tuned by Italian FASEL inductor (red color).
Two typical types of FASEL inductors - Red and Yellow.
Red gives you modern and brighter sound, Yellow gives you vintage, warm and mellow sound.

MXR GT-OD (a.k.a M193)

Here is my new booster - MXR GT-OD (a.k.a M193).
According to Joe Lam from Dunlop, when GT-OD was originally designed and released
it was called the "CSP021" from MXR Custom Shop. Due to the great success of this GT-OD pedal,
it was inducted into the MXR product line and was renamed the "M193" during year 2010.
The new M193 and the CSP021 are the same pedal.
Only change being made to the box and removing the "Custom Shop" script.


There's an internal slide switch which located on PCB of current MXR GT-OD pedal.
You could move it to the opposite side from where it is at now for getting the MXR ZW-44 pedal sound.
MXR will probably end up removing this feature in the future.
Grab your GT-OD pedal as soon as you can.


My another favourite booster - Maxon OD808.


Compare MXR GT-OD to Maxon OD808 as an amp booster,
GT-OD is brighter, much aggressive than OD808 which is warmer and mellow.
MXR GT-OD adds more bite and crunch into your tone which is great,
but Maxon OD808 tighten up the bass just slighly better than MXR GT-OD.
If you're extreme metal player, I bet you'll like MXR GT-OD as a booster.

Amptweaker - TightMetal™

Amptweaker TightMetal™ was introduced during winter NAMM 2011 show.
It was based on many ideas of profesional guitar players such as Mark Kloeppel/Misery Index and etc.
It's hand-made in U.S.A with high quality componets and TRUE-BYPASS !


I didn't play any distortion pedals since I started to use high gain amp heads few years ago.
This TightMetal™ pedal was my first exception, mainly because it was designed by James Brown.


Who is James Brown ? (Read more from http://www.amptweaker.com/page/About-James-1.aspx)
James Brown is not a stranger to the amplification industry.
After a long relationship with Peavey® (from year 1986-2004), he is now the chief engineer for Kustom® Amplification.
He worked with guitar legends like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani and etc to design classic amplifiers
like the Peavey® 5150, JSX signature model, Triple XXX and many more.


Features :
1) Four control knobs - Volume, Tone, Gain and Tight.
One simple but effective "Tone" control is all that you need.
You may connect an external EQ pedal in EFX loop which already built-in with this pedal for further tone shaping.
I'm using an old 90's Boss PQ-4 (Parametric EQ) pedal with TightMetal™.
"Tight" control is acting like some kind of "low pass filter" to me.
It filters out flabby bass response, your picking response will become faster and tighter which is great.
I really love the dynamic response from TightMetal™.


2) 2 position slide-switches - Mid and Gate.
"Mid" - When it's on "Thrash" setting, you'll get modern and mid-scooped rhythm tone.
"Gate" - When it's on "Chomp™" setting, the built-in noise gate will be engaged and stop the notes even quicker
which is great for doing very quick riffs with a lot of palm-muted stops.

3) The built-in noise gate works brilliantly, it kills high gain noise and makes this pedal dead silent.
I don't even need my ISP Decimator anymore.


4) Magnetic battery compartment sliding door is a user-friendly design,
you don't need screw driver or any other tools for battery changing.
5) You could run this pedal with 9VDC or 18VDC adapter.
9VDC sounds like 50w amp tone, 18VDC sounds like 100w amp which is louder and cleaner.


6) Battery disconnect switch is another user-friendly design.
You DON'T need to unplug your cables from the pedal anymore.
Both "Send & Return" jacks of the EFX Loop are in opposite way from the pedal "Input & Output" jacks.


7) I think EFX Loop is the best feature from this pedal.
You can select this EFX loop either "Pre" (Before) or "Post" (After) position of the pedal.
TheEFX Loop will be turned-off as well from your signal chain when you switch off the effect of pedal (bypassed).
You may ask James to modify your TightMetal™ with the new SideTrak™ design
which lets EFX Loop still working when pedal is bypassed.


14 gauge steel chassis. Built like a Tank !


8) Dot marks surrounding control knobs. You can easily view your settings by four LEDs on the panel.


My ENGL Powerball II takes this pedal well. I just plugged it directly into the clean channel.
TightMetal™ really kills both Ch3 and Ch4 of my Powerball.
It sounds like a high gain stack amp in pedal. You could also plug this pedal into the another amp's FX loop
to bypass whole preamp section itself and use the TightMetal™ as a Preamp pedal.

Notes:
When I'm running this pedal in front of the amp (using clean channel itself),
I have to turn the "Tone" control almost all the way down for brightness reducing.
I'll ONLY turn it up to around noon when I plugged it into the FX loop (return jacks) of the amp.


Video Clip :
Amptweaker TightMetal™ v.s ENGL Powerball II

VOX Big Bad Wah - Joe Satriani signature wah pedal

I owned many wah pedals before - Fulltone Clyde Wah, RMC Picture Wah, Dunlop Crybaby GCB-95Q, Dunlop 535Q Chrome, Dunlop "Crybaby from Hell" and cheap Behringer "HellBabe".

VOX "Big Bah Wah" is the only wah pedal that I truly love. It sounds really deep and rich.
It's very versatile as you can select either between UK/US style two inductors or Wah-1/Wah-2 modes.
In Wah-2 mode, a mini toggle switch enables you to choose between two kind of voicings -
Typical "Bright" or Darker "Vowely" sound. There's also a 10db booster drive knob in Wah-2 mode.


Although it's NOT true-bypassed, it has a great buffered-bypass instead.
I DON'T hear any "tone suck" from this wah pedal.


It was made in Japan. It has light-weighted chassis, just about the half weight of typical Dunlop Crybaby.
It will definitely save your heavy pedalboard loading.


Two inductors inside the "Big Bad Wah" - UK/US style inductors.
Even though their differences are subtle, I prefer US style inductor (white color which I believe) in high gain soloing.
"UK style" inductor is for vintage and warm sound, "US style" inductor is for modern and screaming.

"Adjustable Torque Clutch Mod" for Vox Big Bad Wah

I really love the "Big Bad Wah" (a.k.a "BB" wah). It's the best wah pedal that I've ever owned.
It sounds great and versatile. It's lightweight, just about the half weight of Crybaby wah pedal.

The only problem is the expression pedal will become loose and won't hold on certain position.
If I put it heel down, it just slides down to toe down. Even I tried to tighten up that two screws on the metal strap,
it won't hold there tight as Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal.

Therefore, I modified my Vox "Big Bad Wah" with "adjustable torque clutch" from Dunlop Crybaby.

Access to the inside of wah pedal and loosen the two screws which hold the metal strap.


Hammer out the original knurl pin by using another old knurl pin.


Use pliers to pull out the whole knurl pin from the other side.


"Big Bad Wah" pedal was separated.


Replaced the traditional metal strap by the "adjustable torque clutch".
Need to drilled a little hole on the chassis for the screw of torsion block bracket.


"Adjustable Torque Clutch" was properly set.


Compare the traditional metal strap with "adjustable torque clutch" from Dunlop Crybaby.


"Before and After".



Now I can adjust the expression pedal tension of my Vox "Big Bad Wah" easily as much as Dunlop Crybaby.

Torsion Block Bracket/Knurl Pin Replacement for Crybaby Wah Pedal (Separate Wah Pedal)

Some metal parts on my Crybaby From Hell were rusted.
Joe Lam, eletronic manufacturing manager from Dunlop sent me the replacement parts directly from U.S.
What a great customer service ! Thanks, Joe and Dunlop !

Knurl pins on the left side and Torsion Block Brackets on the right side.


Follow the instructions from Joe, I need to loosen the torque clutch by allen screw first.


Gently hammer the Old rusted Knurl Pin out by using the New Knurl Pin.


The New Knurl Pin was hammered into the half-way of the pedal.


Stop the procedure above and totally pull the New Knurl Pin out.
Turned pedal to the other side, you will see the Old rusted Knurl Pin was about the half-way out.
Use pliers to slowly remove it out from the pedal.


The Old Knurl Pin was rusted.


The expression pedal was successfully separated.


Old Torsion Block Bracket was rusted which need to be replaced by a new one.


Hammer the New Knurl Pin back to pedal.


Adjust and match back the pot gear and rack perfectly.
(Picture from Joe Lam)


Congratulation. The replacement was done.