Peter Bernstein's effect pedal

[AllanAllen]

Wouldn't it just be easier to use an eq pedal or a parametric eq? Why reinvent the wheel?

No battery in this one. That’s a pretty big plus.

[garybaldy]

One would think if it was a passive circuit that it would only achieve the same as the guitar controls.

[GuyBoden]

One would think if it was a passive circuit that it would only achieve the same as the guitar controls.

Depends upon the Caps, Pots and maybe it has an isolating coil.

I have a Passive Tone pedal.

This:


Edit: you can put a Baxandall Tone circuit in a passive pedal too.

[bluejaybill]

Just goes to show - a Fractal with a Rat and a homemade passive eq!!

Interesting, I would have thought that a Fractal would have a simple high/low Baxandall EQ built in. I use the one in an Empress EQ a lot.

[Doug B]

No battery in this one. That’s a pretty big plus.

I never use a battery-just 9 V from a Voodoo Labs Isolated Power Supply.

[DawgBone]

I just exchanged messages with Peter about the mystery red box. He writes "It's just a strange contraption that cuts the evil glassy highs that come out of new Fender amps. Matt at 30th St Guitars in NYC made it. Kurt has one and he let me try it at a soundcheck on our tour last month. It's totally passive, doesn't use batteries or electricity. Just cuts the high end so I can use some treble on the amp instead of rolling it all off and still getting the harsh high end I can't stand."

Hey, another good reason to own a vintage Twin instead of overpaying for a reissue! Peter was probably stuck with that as his backline I reckon.

[omphalopsychos]

Wouldn't it just be easier to use an eq pedal or a parametric eq? Why reinvent the wheel?

Or tone knob on guitar, if this is just a passive low pass filter.

[AllanAllen]

Or tone knob on guitar, if this is just a passive low pass filter.

Are you really proposing that Peter Bernstein doesn't know about the tone knob?

[omphalopsychos]

Are you really proposing that Peter Bernstein doesn't know about the tone knob?

I think he's trolling you.

[Christian Miller]

So we can buy chops??? Why'd you wait so long to tell us, Christian?

Just send 200USD to my Paypal account and await my instructions

[Christian Miller]

@sgosnell and @pauln - The "twisted" cable going into the pedal is simply a Vovox instrument cable - I know it by the distinctive orange tag as I have the same cable.

I just exchanged messages with Peter about the mystery red box. He writes "It's just a strange contraption that cuts the evil glassy highs that come out of new Fender amps. Matt at 30th St Guitars in NYC made it. Kurt has one and he let me try it at a soundcheck on our tour last month. It's totally passive, doesn't use batteries or electricity. Just cuts the high end so I can use some treble on the amp instead of rolling it all off and still getting the harsh high end I can't stand."

I unironically think I could do with one of those

[Bob_Ross]

I got a RAT recently, it’s good to see Kurt still uses one.

Thread Drift:
I still have the original ProCo RAT I bought in the late 1980s, but I almost never bring it to a session anymore. Not sure why; perhaps because it's so old and I'm so used to it that I (foolishly) think something newer -- or more likely, something less extreme -- will be more appropriate, or more refined?

Yet every time I do bring the RAT out for a session I ask myself "Why don't I use this pedal all the time?!?!"

[AllanAllen]

I think he's trolling you.

I would love that

[bluejaybill]

Hey, another good reason to own a vintage Twin instead of overpaying for a reissue! Peter was probably stuck with that as his backline I reckon.

yup, I believe that his main amp is a vintage Vibrolux.

[grahambop]

Thread Drift:
I still have the original ProCo RAT I bought in the late 1980s, but I almost never bring it to a session anymore. Not sure why; perhaps because it's so old and I'm so used to it that I (foolishly) think something newer -- or more likely, something less extreme -- will be more appropriate, or more refined?

Yet every time I do bring the RAT out for a session I ask myself "Why don't I use this pedal all the time?!?!"

yes I just use it sometimes, on a very low setting (very much as Kurt has it in the photo) to get a Scofield-type sound.

[Bob_Ross]

yes I just use it sometimes, on a very low setting (very much as Kurt has it in the photo) to get a Scofield-type sound.

Ha! A Scofield sound is probably the last thing I would use a RAT for!
I love it for that mid-80s Bill Frisell sound...or its excellent approximation of that mid-70s Robert Fripp sound.

[grahambop]

Ha! A Scofield sound is probably the last thing I would use a RAT for!

It’s what Scofield himself used it for, back in the day.

(You have to set the distortion level quite low, as in the Kurt pedals photo.)

[GuyBoden]

Obviously, the addition of a passive "Tone Controls in a Box" type guitar pedal lowers volume output.

Because of this lowering of volume, that's why the pedal are usually active 9volt.

Below, this Active Boughton Audio High frequency cut-off (Low Freq Pass) might be the ideal pedal for this. (Ask for it to be painted red. )

Low Pass Filter | Broughton Audio


Don't be fooled again, a Passive high frequency cut-off pedal is a simple and inexpensive build for any pedal builder, professional or DIY.

[garybaldy]

Are you really proposing that Peter Bernstein doesn't know about the tone knob?

His GAS took over!

[floatingpickup]

Obviously, the addition of a passive "Tone Controls in a Box" type guitar pedal lowers volume output.

Because of this lowering of volume, that's why the pedal are usually active 9volt.

Below, this Active Boughton Audio High frequency cut-off (Low Freq Pass) might be the ideal pedal for this. (Ask for it to be painted red. )

Low Pass Filter | Broughton Audio


Don't be fooled again, a Passive high frequency cut-off pedal is a simple and inexpensive build for any pedal builder, professional or DIY.

Very interesting. I have a few guitars that have Johnny Smith pickups without tone controls. Would this type of pedal be basically the same as having a tone control on the guitar? How does it differ from a good eq pedal?

[Bob_Ross]

It’s what Scofield himself used it for, back in the day.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply someone couldn't get that sound with a RAT, I just meant that *I* wouldn't...both because I like what a RAT does at its more overtly "fuzzy" extreme settings, and (more importantly) because I would almost never want to get a sound like Scofield's.

[Bob_Ross]

Would this type of pedal be basically the same as having a tone control on the guitar? How does it differ from a good eq pedal?

That Broughton LPF should yield a more linear, textboox NdB/octave rolloff than the passive tone knobs in most guitars. Whether one can hear that difference is another story, but ime most passive tone circuits in guitars aren't linear, neither over the range of the potentiometer's travel nor at any given setting over the range of the the filter's attenuation.

Most (though not all) EQ pedals use either bandpass or shelving type filters, where the attenuation (or boost) outside of the passband is only a certain dB range, a fixed amount; e.g., if you turn down a Treble shelving control, every frequency above N Hz gets attenuated by the same amount (say, 3dB or 6dB)...so if your turnover frequency is 1.5kHz and you turn it down 6dB, 3kHz is attenuated by 6dB and 6kHz is attenuated by 6dB and 12kHz is attenuated by 6dB, etc.

But in a true Low Pass Filter like the Broughton every frequency above N Hz gets attenuated by an increasing amount...so if your turnover frequency is 1.5kHz and the filter's slope is 6dB/octave, 3kHz is attenuated by 6dB but 6kHz is attenuated by 12dB and 12kHz is attenuated by 18dB, etc.

[SOLR]

I emailed 30thstreet guitars for more info here is their reply:

Here is a quick guide to the pedal
They are $185

Emulates the capacitance of an old guitar cable
With an added circuit for a little bit oif grit if needed

30^th Street Guitars
234 W 27^th Street
New York, NY 10001

212.868.2660
[email protected]

www.30thstreetguitars.com


S

[GuyBoden]

Very interesting. I have a few guitars that have Johnny Smith pickups without tone controls. Would this type of pedal be basically the same as having a tone control on the guitar? How does it differ from a good eq pedal?

Pedal removes high frequency, it's not a Tone control as such.

No, the Boughton Audio (Low Pass Filter) Pedal removes high frequencies, it is not a Tone control pedal.

Quote "The Low Pass Filter pedal can be used for taming harsh high end such as fret buzz, string noise, and artifacts from other effects "

Below is the Passive Tone Control pedal you could use, it's inexpensive and easily made by any Pedal Builder or DIY enthusiast. It's simpler to use than the popular Active Boss 7 band EQ pedal and needs no battery.


Edit: Passive Tone Control pedal = volume loss.

[GuyBoden]

I emailed 30thstreet guitars for more info here is their reply:

Here is a quick guide to the pedal
They are $185

Emulates the capacitance of an old guitar cable
With an added circuit for a little bit oif grit if needed

30^th Street Guitars
234 W 27^th Street
New York, NY 10001

212.868.2660
[email protected]

www.30thstreetguitars.com


S

I'd like to see what's inside.