Sixdayoldstring Music Technologies Official sound samples and video demos

These are my guitar pedals in action, used by yours truly and some of the most brilliant musicians I personally know.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=1007305

http://www.youtube.com/user/sixdayoldstring

Downgrading

A few weeks ago, I have spotted an interesting electric guitar on a local music forum. It really looks like the one I have lost around 6years ago. And because it had triggered lots of memories, I decided to buy it.

The guitar isn't a very well known brand. I have researched the wood used in that guitar and the body turned out to be alder, a sought after wood for its pronounced upper midrange. The neck is made of maple, fretboard is rosewood. It has a H-S-S pickup configuration and is equipped with a licensed Floyd Rose bridge. And it is Japan made.

When I got the guitar, I can definitely say that this is the worst setup I've seen with guitars. The Floyd Rose bridge routing is a disaster. The neck pickup was forcibly placed, breaking the pickup cover. Middle pickup is missing, and the previous owner bored a new hole for a Les Paul type of switch, leaving the slot for the blade pickup selector empty. And did I mention the body is full of car stickers?

I decided to send the guitar to a good local luthier for repairs and modifications:
1. Reroute the floyd rose bridge
2. Reset of the neck cavity
3. Refret with medium frets
4. Remove the horn in the cutaway so that I can reach the higher frets easily
5. Place a killswitch and another hole for separate switch
6. Place a customized inlay on the 12th fret
7. Replace the decal in the headstock with a personalized logo
8. Repaint it with white
9. Scallop frets from 15-24frets

I will be the one to get the electronics done, and these will be the modifications:
1. Replace the bridge pickup with either Dimarzio D activator X or GFS Crunchy Rails
2. Bought 2 Artec dual rail single coil sized pickup for the neck and middle
3. Killswitch
4. Install a 3 way switch for pickup selector with bridge-bridge+neck-neck configuration
5. Replace the tone knob with a coil split switch, all 3 pickups are splittable
6. Place a new toggle switch for a bridge/neck-middle switching (since I want to use the middle pickup on live settings without worrying on wrong blade switch position)

I just missed using 6string guitar since I've been using 7strings for around 4-5yrs already. And I want this guitar to be a personal guitar. I'll be posting photos after I get it out of the shop.

The quest for a new amp

For weeks I have been trying to convince that I can get a good clean tone out of a non-Fender amplifier. I spent time going to different music stores, playing through some of the amps that I can try. Of course, modeling amps are out of the choices. I have tried Laneys, Marshalls, Orange, Ibanez, but in my opinion, I can't find the clean tone I was looking for. Fenders, even the solid state amps has the hi-fi sound, and now I can understand why they are that expensive.

Oh well, I'll just settle for a real Fender.

The Bunny's new look

I think this would be much more neat to look at..



no borders anymore..no more fancy graphics..just pure tone..

The Baby Squirrel

I knew there is a need to reduce the Mad Squirrel 2, make it a little more simple but still has the complete basic idea of the squirrel gain. So here is the original idea before it became the MSD-2.



It is still the squirrel tone, without the boost/preamp function. It still has the tone compensator switch, the 3band eq, the gain and the volume.

See it in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbiWsleZMWY&feature=channel

First batch of signal processors bound to Singapore

Three weeks has passed after I got home from Singapore. I started reworking my current designs to make them better. After three weeks of circuit freaking, pcb redesigning and a doseful of Johnny Mathis and Gloria Estefan music, I have finished the first batch of my handmade effects processors for Singapore. Here are the photos:








The improvements:

1. MSD-2 improved clarity, responsiveness and versatility. You can dial tones from a fat light overdrive to an ultra high gain new metal and everything in between. Thanks to the additional boost/preamp tone switch.
2. CSE-1 improved clarity yet maintaining the analog feel of the echo.
3. New pedal (DSCS-1) which didn't make it to the set because the unit won't fit the acrylic enclosure. My bad. Maybe next shipping schedule.
4. All pedals have cleaner looks because of the revised aesthetics, though it is still obviously home-made and I prefer it that way.

To those interested, the pedals will be available here before Dec1:
http://www.theeighthnote.com.sg/music%20school/mspage1.htm

The Dancing Sea Cow

The moment I decided to switch to analog stompboxes, I knew I need a special switcher for my needs since I was using a multieffects way back and had no problem in changing patches since it was programmable. I want to build something different, something more for a performer, I want it simple and effective.

Imagine a looper with 2 loops. The first loop would contain the dirt processors you need such as the distortions and overdrives and the equalizers, while the second loop would contain the modulations and delays for your clean settings. The usual bypass loopers can accomodate this. However, switching from the first loop to the second loop would require you to stomp one of the switch to turn it off and then stomp the other switch to turn the other loop on. It will be tricky to stomp on them both at the same time, and the moment you fail to do so, it can lead to a disaster. This is not very friendly for someone performing and needs some "seamless channel switch". Also, to place the two channel in series will require you to stomp on both switch if both is off. An ABY switcher is a different thing though because it only allows you to switch outputs.

Finding a perfect solution for this, the Sea Cow is finally born. Changing from one loop to another won't be troublesome anymore. Just one stomp on the A or B switch and you can change from the first loop to the second loop and vice versa. Place the two loops in series with just one stomp of the A+B switch. Bypass the two loops with just a flick of a switch.



But wait!!There's more!!

What if I just need one loop and a bypass? By default, the empty loop acts as bypass, so you can use just one loop and stomp on A or B to switch from your loop and bypass.

You can also use this as an AB switch, if you need to switch between 2 amps, or between 2 instruments.

And this unit is completely passive so the power supply is just for the indicators.

Vector Quantity

Vector quantity - is a physical quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

When you go out, you see more of the world...more than what the most imaginative mind can see..and you see the places where you could be, things you could be doing..

I suddenly realized that life could be much better if it does have not only magnitude, but direction as well.

I'm gonna start to get things done.

Singapore trip

Today is my 5th day here in Singapore. My demo went fine and I'm glad I got some good comments bout my pedals. Still discovered some things about my pedals while doing my tests here:
1. MSD-2 as a preamp can handle a 150W half stack amp, loud enough for small concert. The pedal started to feedback when the boost knob is at around 6, and it was damn loud.
2. It sounds great on a Fender cabinet (Now I really want a Fender amp..nyar)
3. The tone compensator switch is much more reactive in bigger amps, also in lower gain settings.

I also got to try some pedals that are not available in my mother country. Got some ideas feature-wise. I think i can incorporate some of those in my designs in the future.

I have 5 more days to go, so maybe I'm gonna get my Megamac before I get home. And lots and lots of soy milk too!!

Mad Squirrel Distortion

After a lot of developments and refinements, here is my latest gain pedal cooked with passion...

MSD-2 is a high gain overdrive/distortion/preamp. It is basically a tube emulating overdrive/distortion that has a complete features of an amplifier. There is the gain, volume ad 3-band equalizer. The tone compensator switch (namely fat, dry and heavy) helps the pedal jive with different types of guitars and amps. The boost switch gives a lot of added volume (careful use should be considered) and added presence suitable for lead tones. It can also act as a preamp for a more natural distortion tones by just using the power amp and cabinet of an existing combo amp.It can sound cute at low gain settings like a squirrel, but it can do metal tones also just like a mad squirrel.

Soundclips will follow.

Finally done with a new pedal...

I have experienced quite a lot of digital effects, particularly the delay effect. Using them with clean signals were good, but when it comes to lead guitar echo, they sound sterile and lifeless. So i thought of making an analog delay that can quite keep up will digital delays in terms of delay time. Also, I'd want to do something crazy with it, something that normal analog delays can't do. After a lot of experiments, revisions and headaches, I came up with this:

I call this pedal the CELESTIAL SPIDER ECHO. It has 2 selectable range, the short delay which has a maximum delay time of 600ms, and the long delay which has about until 1.3sec. Yes you read it right, 1.3sec. Also, it has stereo outputs, being switchable you can use only the wet output if you want just the effect to be heard. Plus it has an effects loop to which the wet signal will be affected by any effect plugged into it.

Here are some soundclips:

http://www.purevolume.com/sixdayoldstring/albums/Sixdayoldstring+Music+Technologies+Sound+Samples

Gratefulness in sorrow (repost from my other blog)

a man was sitting inside a bus, his ride on the way home… looking closely the lines of sadness openly showed upon his face… he was just fired from work this morning, sued because of a scandal he would certainly never do and now he had torn his reputation, his cruel family left him, unbelieving him and because he’s broke, he’s about to sell his little house because of that, no money left in his pocket except for his bus fare, no friend was there to listen to his sentiments, and now he feels a little dizzy because of a slight fever… in all his life he’d never been teary since 3^rd grade… gazing outside the window he feels most sorrowful and deep pity for himself… as if he was the most unfortunate of all beings…

an hour later, he gets off the bus...he heads off the ride to walk his way home, just to see his house for the last time… and just as he was a few feet away, there was a very loud bang… his terrified head turned to the bus he was riding on a while ago, and it was a burning hell…

Critter keeper

Have you ever thought of something that fascinates you would be someone else's nightmare?

I am certainly a pet lover, but I just came to a point that I thought I'd keep something different. There were actually a lot of candidates, most of them were hard (or should i say impossible) for me to acquire. The list had included likes such as komodo dragon, boa constrictor, bengal tiger, kangaroo (I seriously want this one), and vulture to name a few...until i had discovered these wonderful God-made creatures.

Tarantulas, we see them in movies as very evil creatures...something hairy and dreadful that would jump in the face or neck and suck the hell out of them...or bite the poor victim and let them die after a couple of seconds. Never in my life had I imagine being face to face with these creatures, until now.

Keeping them is quite a challenge, but they turn out to be rewarding pets if you take good care of them. So I thought I'd share what I have and had for a time.

The Chilean Rose (Grammostola Rosea) is one of the most docile tarantulas I have. Here in the picture is Jennifer, a sub-adult female. She doesn't like moisture at all so I gave her a dry substrate with a deep waterdish for her water needs. Currently she is about 5inches DLS (diagonal leg span, for those unfamiliar).

The Brazilian Fire Red (Lasiodora Difficilis) is one big guy. Steve here has quite a good appetite, and likes to stay on top of his clay pot hide. As a sub adult male, he monstrously measures 6.5inches DLS, and to date, is my biggest tarantula, and yes he is still growing.

The Asian Fawn Bird-eater (Chilobrachys Huahini) is a very defensive species. Lori is a sub-adult female, and she was my first tarantula. I manage to redecorate her enclosure while she was inside, because she doesn't like to move a lot. I have read that their kind were opportunistic arboreals (meaning they may settle on treetops and barks or they may end up burrowing). Lori decided to be a burrower and likes to hide in her web-made tunnel. She's about 5.5inches DLS.

The Indian Ornamental Tree Spider (Poecilotheria Regalis) is the most common arboreals. Stanley is a mature male tree spider and measures around 5.5inches DLS. He was always the one to get me nervous, for he moves very fast and has a good appetite. And he hates worms. Poecilotheria species were known to have the most potent venom in the tarantula world.

The King Baboon Tarantula (Citharischius Crawshayi), one of the most sought after species in the tarantula world is really a gem. I can't name him/her yet because I ain't sure of it's gender, but mine would probably be a female. For a long time it hasn't molted ever since I got this as a gift, and that would only prove it can live very long. She made a very very cool tunnel, something like a cave or labyrinth comes out at night just to wander over her territory.

This one is not a tarantula, but a centipede (Scolopendra Morsitans), not to be mistaken with the Arizona Tiger Centipede. I got this guy crawling in our sink so i decided to keep him. He just molted this afternoon, and maybe he grew a few centimeters. He never refuses a meal and is quite fast.

Here are some of the tarantulas I had and had to let go for some reasons.

Trey, Brazilian red tarantula (Nhandu Carapoensis). Hope he makes it to create lots of mini-Trey's.

Jeff, Mexican Fireleg (Brachypelma Boehmi). This one's a crazy brachy. He prefers to bite rather than flick.

Carrie, Honduran Curly Hair (Brachypelma Albopilosum). She was formerly named Kerry until I discovered he was a she and felt the need to change her name.

Greg, White Stripped Birdeater (Nhandu Chromatus). He died in a mating project. But good news! The female he mated with is possibly gravid. Hope he'd make a lot of little Greg's.

Tony, Cobalt Blue tarantula (Haplopelma Lividum). He also died in a mating project. Still waiting for updates.

The babies will have their turn when their mature colors appear.

Silver Bunny

Everyone in the audio industry knows how important preamps are. As an instrument player, I have been quite late in discovering its wonders, and how it can totally change and maximize the sound of my instrument. I have used quite a number of 'em, different instruments, different applications.

About a couple of months ago, I was working on a bass preamp for my bestfriend/bass player which could behave like a tube preamp, with a passive tone control and can be plugged directly into a power amp or into the effects loop (return) of a bass combo amp. I also want it to serve as a boost to drive a bass amp, but as a preamp it can have a separate drive channel, to simulate the overdrive produced by a boosted tube amp, and add some grit. I came up with a prototype after a while and it looked like this:

It doesn't look presentable at all, so I reworked it and here it is:

I called it Silver Bunny preamp, a preamp where you can

dial vintage tones for light music as pop, jazz and funk to

modern day music such as metal and electronic music

(without the space age effects of course). It includes a

bright switch to compensate the loss of treble in low volumes without cranking the treble knob(more treble = more high

frequency noise), and a drive switch which pushes the tube emulating preamp to a light overdrive. It can also provide a

lot of boost to a bass tube amp and push it to hard

overdrive.

I'll be posting the soundclips soon.

Nimbus Crowd recording day1

Today was the first day of my band Nimbus Crowd's drum recording. It went out fine, including the food trip and the fresh knowledge I got from the recording guys there. Can't wait to have the whole album to be finished.

Stomping on the box..

It's been more than seven long years when I first became interested in guitar tone shaping (I don't know what else to call it then). I remember my first build, a straight clone of a good distortion pedal...only I complicated it too much...double sided printed circuit board for a very simple circuit. Yes I tend to complicate things, that's who I am back then..and guess what..it sounds HORRIBLE!!Why? I can't even remember what my prototype exactly looks like...one thing's for sure, it definitely is a work of a newbie..

I'm doing it again..but this time, am more cautious, with more ideas, even crazy ones...crazy yet useable (i think)..

For this post, I'll be enumerating the pedals that i have made, and decided to discontinue making them:

1. Dr. Boogey Dual Rectifier Emulator Distortion - nice thick distortion tone, with six knobs (gain, bass, mid, treble, presence and volume)..got my layout from Gaussmarkov's site..but i think there are lots of guys making this, so I'll just leave it to them..

2. Tubescreamer - the "standard" for overdrive pedals..I used to think this is the holy grail for overdrive tones, until i got a used Overdrive 855 (I modified it to true bypass) made also by Ibanez and it changed my mind..similarly, there are lots of DIY guys doing this, so I'll leave it to them too..

3. Rebote Delay 2.5 - nice warm "analogish" echo unit..small and compact..until I realized its limitations..the delay time is too short at 580ms..and yes a lot of DIY people does this too..

4. Diefet Diezel VH4 amp simulator - hi gain distortion..very nice tone with seven knobs..a certified metal pedal..

5. JCM800 emulator - quite hard to tweak..I don't dig the sound either..so let it be...

I told myself I'm done with cloning..I'm gonna make my own designs..

The world I know

Test run...

You will find here things that interests me (might interest you too)...mostly within music, technology, animals, and maybe topics that i might stumble upon in the future..enjoy..