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I have faith it will burn off by the end of March...if not i'll just have to warm my hands on the chassis of the 185.
Originally Posted by The Nocturne Brain
Oklahoma! Isnt there s'pose to be a Snow-pocalypse heading that direction this week?
Im cold here in oceanbeach at 65F ha
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01-20-2026 09:06 PM
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have you had a chance to plug in the Atomic Brain preamp yet? Originally Posted by zephyrregent
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It's scheduled for delivery in the next couple of hours. I look forward to trying it. Thanks for checking. Originally Posted by The Nocturne Brain
Something new to me is Google AI answering questions. I asked it how to get an octal tone form an Atomic Brain and a Henriksen 112 and was surprised that it actually came up with a detailed answer. It pulls info from posts on this forum and others. What do you think of AI's recommendation? Do you have a recommendtion for a good starting point for me to try for a clean tone? It might take me awhile to figure it out but I'll post an update when I have tried it.
Using the Atomic Brain for "Octal" Character
- Saturation Over Boost: Set the pedal to 9V rather than 12V to encourage more texture and saturation at higher gain settings.
- Abby Mode: Engage the "Abby" switch to increase dynamics by approximately 35%, helping notes "bloom" in a way that mimics old tube circuits.
- Bass Management: Use the "Bass Cut" control (located on the left) to keep the low end tight. Dialing it back toward 4–5 o'clock provides the vintage full low-mid character.
Setting the Henriksen 112
- EQ Profiling: Since the Henriksen 112 is a very clean, linear solid-state amp, you must use its 5-band graphic EQ to "warm" the signal.
- Frequency Adjustments:
- Low Mids: Boost the 100Hz and 300Hz bands slightly to add the "pillowy" weight associated with octal amps.
- Highs: Cut the 3kHz and 10kHz bands to remove modern "hi-fi" sparkle.
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thats pretty crazy
Although it looks like its confusing the Atomic Brain preamp w the Jr Barnyard EH-150 / 185 preamp The later is an actual
gibson octal tube character preamp. The Atomic is a full range preamp from a 1979 channel strip on a Roland RE-301 tape echo
Abby mode, switches impedance within the preamp and feels like a volume boost but its more like a stethoscope effect with picking dynamic sensitivity.
No vintage tube amp thingy involved w the Atomic brain..but it is good to employ this mode w a master volume amp, thus letting the player
use guitar volume control for output gain. note: the bass control at 5 oclock is the full EQ low end of the preamp, so rolling back on it is activating a cut in
the bass frequencies. Anything less than 11 oclock starts really leaning out the bass and gives a more modern low mids response to bass heavy guitars and amps.
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[QUOTE=The Nocturne Brain;1446359]thats pretty crazy
Although it looks like its confusing the Atomic Brain preamp w the Jr Barnyard EH-150 / 185 preamp The later is an actual
gibson octal tube character preamp. The Atomic is a full range preamp from a 1979 channel strip on a Roland RE-301 tape echo
Abby mode, switches impedance within the preamp and feels like a volume boost but its more like a stethoscope effect with picking dynamic sensitivity.
No vintage tube amp thingy involved w the Atomic brain..but it is good to employ this mode w a master volume amp, thus letting the player
use guitar volume control for output gain. note: the bass control at 5 oclock is the full EQ low end of the preamp, so rolling back on it is activating a cut in
the bass frequencies. Anything less than 11 oclock starts really leaning out the bass and gives a more modern low mids response to bass heavy guitars and amps.
[/QUOT
I tried it and enjoy it. I played around with its wide variety of sonic capabilities. It can really fatten the tone up yet remain clear and clean. It particularly livens up the Henriksen 112 ER and Blu 6. When I switch between the Atomic brain on and the Henriksens without it they sound muffled in comparison. Thanks for recommending this pedal. I would never have picked it on my own as I don't recall any mention of it here on the forum and the info page on your website doesn't sound like it is directed at jazz guitarists. Maybe you should add that it livens up Henriksens? I set the tone controls with the bass at the low end of 4 or 5 o'clock, the hgh end left side switch off and the ABBY on. What is Abby? This pedal gives a clear and clean lively tone that I can hear better. I haven't owned a tube amp or pedal before so this is an interesting and rewarding experience.
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I tried it and enjoy it. I played around with its wide variety of sonic capabilities. It can really fatten the tone up yet remain clear and clean. It particularly livens up the Henriksen 112 ER and Blu 6. When I switch between the Atomic brain on and the Henriksens without it they sound muffled in comparison. Thanks for recommending this pedal. I would never have picked it on my own as I don't recall any mention of it here on the forum and the info page on your website doesn't sound like it is directed at jazz guitarists. Maybe you should add that it livens up Henriksens? I set the tone controls with the bass at the low end of 4 or 5 o'clock, the hgh end left side switch off and the ABBY on. What is Abby? This pedal gives a clear and clean lively tone that I can hear better. I haven't owned a tube amp or pedal before so this is an interesting and rewarding experience.[/QUOTE]
I wouldnt call Brian Setzer of the Brian Setzer Orchestra a jazz guitarist but he is a jazz trained musician, and if there is any "fame" attached
to the Atomic Brain BS-301 pedal, it comes from his discovery of putting his archtop guitars through an re-301 space echo preamp for
his playing dynamics through bassman amps. The Abby mode on this preamp comes from the recovery dB- pad at the output of the RE-301
as it can be boosted, separate from the input preamps dB pad. Basically changes in the impedances at both sides. Abby is
a silly name that plays on the pedals namesake from the movie The Atomic Brain and in the movie Young Frankenstein where Igor loses
the normal brain and tells Dr Frankenstein when ask what brain did he give him, he replies "abby someone" ie abnormal brain.
Ultimately we end up with a very Dynamic clean preamp that roland put in the channel strips of a tape echo unit meant for their powered
PA mixers to put in the effects buss. Brian Setzer found that the RE-301 was a much more reliable unit than the Echoplex units that he
loved but couldnt depend on. The irony is that he still has to tour with about 10 units, because even those RE-301s almost all crapout
during the tour. Tvjones his main luthier shared that bit with me after asking if Brian Setzer had a Mystery Brain (this has both
the Atomic Brain preamp and tape echo sim built in). Which he has 2 of
But.. you got to stick with your schtick, I get it. His prob would be solved w the pedal I made to solve it with.
btw there is a brother who is a killer west coast blues/ jump blues guitarist named Tommy Harkenrider, that turned me on to quilter amps
which arent too far from the basic design of Henriksen type solid state amps. And I was underwhelmed by its dynamic response but
I loved both its potential and its super compact portability not to mention its great D.I. for stage. Tommy was taking the Atomic Brain
and pushing the little quilter power block and aviator amps with the Atomic Brain, and because of that I stopped lugging around
my tube combo amps because this atomic brain paring w the little solid state amp as a powerful duo. Of course I have the Jr Barnyard/ El Pescadoro
on my rig as well because I like a little reedy octal tube attack for many of the songs I perform as well.
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I wouldnt call Brian Setzer of the Brian Setzer Orchestra a jazz guitarist but he is a jazz trained musician, and if there is any "fame" attached Originally Posted by The Nocturne Brain
I tried it and enjoy it. I played around with its wide variety of sonic capabilities. It can really fatten the tone up yet remain clear and clean. It particularly livens up the Henriksen 112 ER and Blu 6. When I switch between the Atomic brain on and the Henriksens without it they sound muffled in comparison. Thanks for recommending this pedal. I would never have picked it on my own as I don't recall any mention of it here on the forum and the info page on your website doesn't sound like it is directed at jazz guitarists. Maybe you should add that it livens up Henriksens? I set the tone controls with the bass at the low end of 4 or 5 o'clock, the hgh end left side switch off and the ABBY on. What is Abby? This pedal gives a clear and clean lively tone that I can hear better. I haven't owned a tube amp or pedal before so this is an interesting and rewarding experience.
to the Atomic Brain BS-301 pedal, it comes from his discovery of putting his archtop guitars through an re-301 space echo preamp for
his playing dynamics through bassman amps. The Abby mode on this preamp comes from the recovery dB- pad at the output of the RE-301
as it can be boosted, separate from the input preamps dB pad. Basically changes in the impedances at both sides. Abby is
a silly name that plays on the pedals namesake from the movie The Atomic Brain and in the movie Young Frankenstein where Igor loses
the normal brain and tells Dr Frankenstein when ask what brain did he give him, he replies "abby someone" ie abnormal brain.
Ultimately we end up with a very Dynamic clean preamp that roland put in the channel strips of a tape echo unit meant for their powered
PA mixers to put in the effects buss. Brian Setzer found that the RE-301 was a much more reliable unit than the Echoplex units that he
loved but couldnt depend on. The irony is that he still has to tour with about 10 units, because even those RE-301s almost all crapout
during the tour. Tvjones his main luthier shared that bit with me after asking if Brian Setzer had a Mystery Brain (this has both
the Atomic Brain preamp and tape echo sim built in). Which he has 2 of
But.. you got to stick with your schtick, I get it. His prob would be solved w the pedal I made to solve it with.
btw there is a brother who is a killer west coast blues/ jump blues guitarist named Tommy Harkenrider, that turned me on to quilter amps
which arent too far from the basic design of Henriksen type solid state amps. And I was underwhelmed by its dynamic response but
I loved both its potential and its super compact portability not to mention its great D.I. for stage. Tommy was taking the Atomic Brain
and pushing the little quilter power block and aviator amps with the Atomic Brain, and because of that I stopped lugging around
my tube combo amps because this atomic brain paring w the little solid state amp as a powerful duo. Of course I have the Jr Barnyard/ El Pescadoro
on my rig as well because I like a little reedy octal tube attack for many of the songs I perform as well.[/QUOTE]
This is very interesting to me because I have a Roland 501 Chorus Echo which I used to use live back i the day.
I thought there was a modification available for the preamp to (supposedly) make them compatible for guitar input? Have you ever heard anything about that?
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This is very interesting to me because I have a Roland 501 Chorus Echo which I used to use live back i the day. Originally Posted by bluejaybill
I thought there was a modification available for the preamp to (supposedly) make them compatible for guitar input? Have you ever heard anything about that?[/QUOTE]
ya the space echoes have an evolution moving from class A discreet transistors using carbon comp resistors (re-150/201), to linear 7 pin toshiba opamp and carbon film resistors of the Re-301 that reduced noise floor and increased headroom. then furthering that with the RE-501 going a little more hi-fi w the hitachi opamp.
They were all designed to fit into the effects buss of a preamp, or as a line level mixer for keyboards etc. You can modify the preamp so the input can accept a hi Z guitar signal.. or you can grab yourself a super high quality 1/4 guitar instrument cable thats at least 50ft long which is what setzer does. Once again, thats why the atomic brain was made with
corrections for electric strings instrument. And now apparently, harmonic mics. Something that has taken off recently a long jog around the block to say that the atomic brain
preamp is a friend to archtop guitars as well as solid body guitars. My personal pref. being archtops
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Short version: buy both! You will not be disappointed.
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(...) Originally Posted by The Nocturne Brain
Abby is
a silly name that plays on the pedals namesake from the movie The Atomic Brain and in the movie Young Frankenstein where Igor loses
the normal brain and tells Dr Frankenstein when ask what brain did he give him, he replies "abby someone" ie abnormal brain.
(...)
[/QUOTE]
Hah! Abby is not the only thing in music business that got its name from that Mel Brooks movie scene! The most long lived and successful rock band in Finland, Eppu Normaali, got their name from the same gag!
In Finnish the "abnormal" means "epänormaali". So "Abby Someone" was translated in the subtitles as: "Eppu Normaali". The members of the band saw the movie and took their name from there.
They started about 50 years ago as punk rockers but became the biggest band in Finland. This year they are having a farewell tour in Finnish stadiums and festivals. So You can still see them alive!
Eppu Normaali - Wikipedia
From punk:
to stadium:
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