The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 1 of 11 123 ... LastLast
Posts 1 to 25 of 274
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    My favourite guitars sounds are generally from 60+ years ago.
    This is reflected in my preference for big bobbin single coil pickups in my guitars (CC, P-90s, Dynasonics etc.).

    Recently I bought a DV Mark Little Jazz, it's a great little amp but it's firmly rooted in the solid state/Polytone kind of character. With my archtops it sounds great but it's a more modern sound I typically go for.

    My other amp is a Quilter Aviator, also solid state but it responds in a more tube-like manner than the DV Mark, especially on the second channel.

    This pedal is designed to emulate the character of the old Gibson amps of the 30s/40s (the EH-185). There are very few good demos of this pedal on the internet. I was worried it would have far too much gain and make things sound boxy. It's also fairly expensive. Based on the large amount of positive written feedback I decided to buy it.

    Anyway, it's really good.

    It actually doesn't colour the sound of the amp much at all. What it does do is change how the amp responds to dynamics. If you dig in on double stops for example, there is the tiniest bit of break up - but it's subtle and warm sounding. It sounds great with both the Quilter and the DV Mark.

    It also adds a bit of compression, but again it's very subtle and very much like an old tube amp.
    It attenuates the more extreme highs (these are what often tend to make an amp "sterile" or hi-fi sounding).

    So far I'm really impressed, playing Charlie Christian licks hasn't been more fun or authentic sounding. Another sound that it does well is that thick "on the edge of headroom" clean sound - just like the sound Johnny Smith has on the "Moonlight in Vermont" album.

    I think it'll be very useful when I need to use a backline amp such as a Twin or JC-120 and want that slightly more ''smaller tube amp'' kind of response.

    Nocturne The Jr. Barnyard Preamp-jr-barnyard-png

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    nice!!! enjoy... tavo @ nocturne tried to give a little true vintage octal tube tone to modern amps...with a pedal

    he's also got a new model that combines the barnyard with a reverb...the el pescadoro....his tribute to early classic chicago electric blues tones..



    cheers

  4. #3

    User Info Menu



    I try not to leave home without this. Outside of my house, I frequently plug into Blues Juniors, Rolands, Polytones, and weird Fender modeling amps. Over years, I have grown to be entirely distrustful of others, especially amps. The Jr Barnyard comes with me if I know I'm going to be plugging into one of these amps. I have a cool octal preamp amplifier by Vintage 47, but I don't always take it with me. This pedal has been a life saver for getting a great sound through solid state amps.

    Neatomic, I had noticed the El Pescadoro, but I had no idea it had a Jr Barnyard Preamp. Gotta check out some demos. Anything Tavo makes is gold, and I'd love to consolidate pedals as much as possible. I've been occasionally assembling a pedal board ad hoc at rehearsals and I'm getting sick of it. A one-stop-shop for gain and reverb sounds great.
    Last edited by omphalopsychos; 10-03-2018 at 10:09 PM.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    Man, Tavo really knows how to sell a product. Form a grestchpages post:

    Maybelline by Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley's first hit Road Runner of Chess's Checker label, you hear that sound. In the first 12 seconds of Etta James "at last" you hear a dramatic shift of the studio space around the strings, to an upfront sound of string and then her voice hits enveloped in natural reverb. Universal Recording and Chess Records had a beautifully dense, warm, and open quality. Early on it was chambers and later in the 50's it was both chamber, drainpipe mics hanging down in the basement AND 600lbs electroplate EMT. No springs there and not really any particular room but a culmination of sounds from blaring guitar amps in the recording space, and that sound in the tube mixing console sent through a floor drainpipe w a speaker into a basement to ribbon and tube mics.. not to mention the melding of the EMT 140 mechanical steel plates and magnetic drivers. Its a 50's haunting bloom that is neither tape echo or reverberating 60's springs. The irony is this is a live sound that surrounds a guitar in a mix, its not an on-top surface effect, that drippy springs created in the 60s.. its the underneath, below the chop of the waves churn and boil. The darkness of salty kelp fingers reaching up from in the shallows of the waterfront's glimmering blue twilight. Or even the River bottom's silty turbulence murmuring beneath the winding edges of city streets.

  6. #5
    I did see the El Pescadoro but I ended up opting for the Jr Barnyard as it was a bit cheaper and I didn't really need reverb.

    While it has nothing to do with how it sounds, I love the look of the El Pescadoro.

    Tonight I have a gig, I'll be using the Jr. Barnyard with my DV Little Jazz. Really keen to hear how it sounds in a band setting.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    I'd be more interested in how one of these reacts with a BF amp like a Deluxe. I'm interested in "smaller amp response" but NOT "smaller amp sound", if you follow. Meaning I don't want a boxy sound, but I do want a bit of that breakup with tamed transients.

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Sounds like a really cool pedal (I dig octal sounds myself). Congratulations, and play it in good health!

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    I’ve been using mine with an old 100-watt Ultrasound “acoustic” amp and an archtop with a reissue DeArmond pickup for rhythm (boost off) and soloing (boost on) in big bands and smaller groups. It just nails that classic single coil sound.

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    I really regret that I haven't really had the chance to test out the Jr. Barnyard as much as I would have liked by now.
    I've only gotten to use it on two gigs, and although it sounded awesome, the plug-and-play nature of my regular amps (a '39 EH-185 and a Vintage '47 VA-185G) as been a bit easier than bringing a pedal with adapter, plus a separate head and separate cab (the Jr. into a Quilter 101 Mini into a V'47 Cab with an Emmenence Lil Texas).

    That said, I have something coming up next week I should use it on....

    I'm also hoping to do a demo video with the pedal / quilter combo comparing it to the original EH-185.

    But, I will say in my limited testing, I've been stoked at the sound of the Jr. Barnyard.

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by D.G.
    I'd be more interested in how one of these reacts with a BF amp like a Deluxe. I'm interested in "smaller amp response" but NOT "smaller amp sound", if you follow. Meaning I don't want a boxy sound, but I do want a bit of that breakup with tamed transients.
    I have played it trough my PRRI with great success, although the difference of pedal on vs pedal off on a clean tube amp is different than on a solid state. A solid state amp typically does not compress your signal, while this pedal does compress and saturate it. So if you’re plugged into a quilter or a Henriksen, you will probably hear a stark difference. Because a clean tube amp is already compressing your sound a bit, the difference will be less noticeable at low gain settings. Let’s be clear: this pedal isn’t an equalizer, it’s a drive circuit. The specific appeal of this pedal is that the drive circuit replicates the response characteristics of old octal amps. The pedal does not make the sound boxy at all, meaning it doesn’t noticeably attenuate treble. The thickening effect doesn’t come from rolling treble off, it comes from increasing gain and compression, much like a low-watt amp. It has a Low Pass Filter switch that allows you to roll treble if you want. I like to plug this pedal into a Henriksen because the Henriksen EQ is so flexible, between the EQ of the Henriksen and the drive of the Jr I can get really close to the sound of my Vintage 47.

  12. #11
    My gig last night using the Jr. Barnyard went well!

    I used my early 80's Epiphone Emperor "F" with Gabojo Lab Dynasonics into the Little Jazz. The Jr Barnyard really complimented the sound of both that guitar and the amp. It still sounded like my DV Mark amp, but it was responding to dynamics like an octal tube amp.

    What I particularly like is the "bright/woolly" switch - it tames the sometimes slightly clangy top end of the Dynasonics. This isn't an issue with all amps, it's mainly with more high-headroom amps I encounter this. With this switch on, it still had clarity and brightness but the treble was much richer sounding.

    The group I was playing with last night do several Benny Goodman/CC tunes, even with Dynasonic pickups that Charlie Christian sound was there. Pretty amazing considering I was using a 1x8'' solid state combo amp.

    When playing chord solos, there's this really nice bit of break up, but it doesn't hit the treble, it's all in the bottom end. It's very pleasing to the ear. We do a few Johnny Smith arrangements and it made those close voicing chords bigger and bolder sounding than otherwise.

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    Off topic a bit ....

    That Quilter pro block sounds great anyway
    It's got a nice bit of breakup on it already
    Probably enough for me ....
    (unless it's just the youtube breaking up)

  14. #13
    That demo with the Quilter has a lot of break up, far more than I get from the pedal.
    Maybe the P-90s are hotter than my Dynasonics? or there's already some gain coming from the Quilter.
    The Barnyard does add a bit of volume when on so maybe that's pushing the front end of the Quilter.

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    I’m pretty certain those p90s are hotter than your Gabojos. I have both and that’s my experience, at least. I have no clue how high you set your Gabojo. I also think a lot of the clipping in this video is coming from input gain into his recording device being too high.

  16. #15

    User Info Menu

    it's not about just adding distortion..its the type of distortion..octal tubes differ greatly from more modern 12ax7 pre amp tubes...octals are lower gain, and cleaner until pushed..then they get a unique harmonic distortion...ruff edged...12ax7's have a much smoother harmonic distortion

    so your not so much just adding more crunch , but adding a different type of vintage sounding crunch

    cheers

  17. #16

    User Info Menu

    Just put in an order for the El Pescadoro. Based on how much they overlap, I just may have a JR Barnyard to sell to someone.

    kwik bit of knoodlin’ w EL PESCADORO/... - Tavo Garcia Vega | Facebook

  18. #17

    User Info Menu

    This discussion inspired me to bring my Quilter/Barnyard rig to last night's gig. I was working as a sideman, and in this particular band, I often feel like my original 185 and my Vintage '47 are both a bit underpowered.

    Well, it worked like a friggin' charm.
    Nocturne The Jr. Barnyard Preamp-quilter-jr-barnyard-jpg

    Because I had so much headroom, I was able to keep my guitar volume low, which sounded great.
    Now, it's not exactly the same exact feel as an Octal Tube amp, but it's such a huge improvement over later style amps that just sound "wrong" for the tone I need. And the substantial increase in headroom/volume more than madeup for the difference. It made me play BETTER because I could relax and hear myself, instead of playing physically harder.

    I'm definitely a big fan of the Jr. Barynard. I've started packing it as a backup on our traveling gigs even when I know I'll be provided a good backline amp, just in case. And we've got a couple gigs coming up where I have no idea what I'll end up with, so I'll have some more opportunities to test it out coming up.

  19. #18

    User Info Menu

    Stout do you use the preamp boost (the "hot stomp", i.e. the right footswitch)? I see you have turned almost all the way down, which is similar to how I've been using it: the preamp boost is on, but barely, the pedal volume is set slightly above unity gain. Another setting I've come to love is to drop the preamp gain on my Henriksen to zero and have the Barnyard volume turned up really high to compensate. Essentially I'm replacing the amp's preamp with the Barnyard. The tone just gets so thick and saturated without becoming too overdriven or muddy.

    Tavo, man. He's a one of a kind that's for sure.

  20. #19

    User Info Menu

    I'm thinking about buying this one. I really would love to have a V47 or EH-180/185 but here in Brazil is not easy to import amplifiers.

  21. #20

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
    Stout do you use the preamp boost (the "hot stomp", i.e. the right footswitch)? I see you have turned almost all the way down, which is similar to how I've been using it: the preamp boost is on, but barely, the pedal volume is set slightly above unity gain. Another setting I've come to love is to drop the preamp gain on my Henriksen to zero and have the Barnyard volume turned up really high to compensate. Essentially I'm replacing the amp's preamp with the Barnyard. The tone just gets so thick and saturated without becoming too overdriven or muddy.

    Tavo, man. He's a one of a kind that's for sure.
    I think you can see the settings in the photo, but you probably can't see that both lights are ON.

  22. #21
    Really glad to hear from Campus Five re. this pedal. I've not been able to compare it to a real octal amp so it's good to hear that it compares in a favourable way, especially using a SS Quilter amp.

    I've been using mine mainly with the 'normal' side on 11 o'clock or so - haven't really explored using the 'hot' side of it yet.

    Last night I used it with my 73 Les Paul Recording at a quartet gig. The Barnyard stayed pretty much clean but there's this beautiful depth of tone that wasn't there before. If you dig in really hard there's the tiniest bit of breakup, but it's so subtle. I had it running through the DV Little Jazz. I don't think I can use that amp without the Barnyard now, there's no going back.

    I have another gig tonight, I'll have a go turning on the 'hot' side, with the level down similar to how Mr. Stout has his. It's a bigger venue, so I'll be dragging out my Quilter Aviator Twin Ten. Going to try it with my Gretsch G400- it has a floating vintage vibe CC pickup.

  23. #22

    User Info Menu

    Does it do that thing on some of CCs
    recordings when the double stops
    (2 note chords) only/mainly get distorted ?

    I love that !
    Maybe it's a speaker thing tho ...

  24. #23
    It does that for me, mainly when the guitar volume is turned up a bit to about 8 or so. It's a real subtle distortion but sounds so good.

  25. #24

    User Info Menu

    the bigger and cleaner the amp you plug the barnyard into, the more it's distinctive octal flavor will come thru...since the amp will not be generating its own distortion on top of the pedal's....also run it at unity gain or close to it...back off your guitar knobs and dial in your tone with the guitar...so that turning up your guitar will hit the barnyard harder, and it will crunch more...find your sweetspot


    and yes the doublestops really sound cool with octals...since the interaction between the notes and the octals slightly off harmonic crunch give it all sorts of rich and strange overtones


    cheers
    Last edited by neatomic; 10-11-2018 at 07:28 PM. Reason: sp-

  26. #25

    User Info Menu

    So great to hear raves about Tavo's stuff! The only reason I haven't bought a Barnyard yet is I need another hollowbody for it... I don't have much interest using it with my Grestch (Filtertrons), I really want a P90/CC hollowbody to use it with... so when I buy a Loar 309 or Godin Kingpin or whatever, I'll get a Barnyard too.

    Because that Charlie Christian "double stop dirt" thing is what I'm going for too!