The Ugly Truth About The iRig iPhone Attachment (and GarageBand and AmpliTube)

If you ask me, I'll tell you that I'm very low tech when it comes to my guitar rig. I like analog effects and tube amps. I've tried multi-effects and amp modulating amp simulators. I haven't found them very useful. Maybe I am not that good at fiddling with the setting on those types of effects. I know some guys that get some good sounds out of those things. But as time and tech keep moving forward, digital effects keep getting better. Digital effects have been connecting to computers for some time now. Patches and updates have come to the current models of digital, multi-effect processors. There is a new trend in digital effects. Videos from NAMM this year keep showing effects that are intrigrated with smart phones. Digitech has a pedal that is basically a programmable stomp box. Others include features that are only editable from a connected device such as a smart phone or tablet. Seemingly traditional effect have started tapping into the power of the devices those most of us keep in our pockets.

The iRig is a smartphone interface. Basically an adapter, the iRig taps into the microphone input of the three ring miniplug on your phone while keeping the output for headphones. The actual adapter works well. Everything is pretty simple. There is a guitar input, a headphone output and a three ring output for your device. By its self, the iRig is not very useful. The most important part of this equation is the app that you run alongside the iRig. The iRig promotes AmpliTube. My iPhone came with GarageBand. Both of these apps work well with the iRig. It took a little while to set up everything, but after it was ready, it was a lot of fun to play with. Do a google search and you'll find iRig for around $20 ($40 at some places). I was able to get one on eBay for just a few dollars. There is a HD version that cost $99. It includes a USB connector to let you connect to you computer. Not sure if it is worth five times the cost, though.

GarageBand has to be told to "monitor" so that your guitar is heard as you play. Once it is set up, you are ready to go. There are 9 different amp models to choose from. The tweakability of the amps are pretty nice. Gain, three band EQ, Reverb, Tremolo, Presence, Master, and Output are available as "knobs". The Amp models range from Fenders, Vox, Mashell, and Mesa Boogie. In addition to that you have your vertual pedalboard. You can choose up to four pedals from a decent list of effects that include: Phase, Drive, Boost, Fuzz, Chorus, Flang, Vibe, Echo, and Comp.Not bad for a free app. Not to mention that it is a good tool for making songs. I was able to put together a little loop to play along with easily. I was able to put drums, piano, strings, bass, and rhythm guitar together in a few minute. Jamming was a lot of fun and the amps and effects give you lots of options. Lets just say that I ran out of time before I ran out of options.

AmpliTube (free) is another app that models amp sounds and effects. The options for amps and effect are nearly endless. There are too many amps to list, and unlike GarageBand, AmpliTube has the actually amp names attached to the ampsounds that they are modeled after. The part that I'm not a fan of is that you have to pay for nearly every sound you want. You are given a marshal type amp and a couple of effects (noise filter and delay). If you want anything beyond that, then you are going to pay. In face, there is an option the purchase everything in the app for $99! I've never spent more than 99 cents on an app. There is a lot to this app, with dozens of amps and pedals, the options are nearly endless. However, if you aren't using this as a part of your rig or recording then its hard to justify spending a ton of fake amps and pedals.

In conclusion, The iRig is a great tool to use if you own a smartphone or tablet. Its like turning a device into a headphone amp with a lot of extra features. If you want to be able to try out different amp and effect sounds with minimal investment, or you want to play with effects without busting out your pedal board, then the iRig might be something the look in to. I don't see my self using the recording portion of these app very much, but it might be something that make my home (quiet) practice more enjoyable.

The Ugly Truth About Joyo Pipebomb Compressor Pedal

If you've looked at any music gear website, or have been inside an actual music store within the last few years, you have probably noticed that pedals are getting smaller. Even the larger pedals that we see coming out are compact. Pedals like the Fuzz Face and Big Muff Pi are considered huge and bulky next to most of Boss' line, next to this new wave of ultra small effects, pedals like those are mammoth. Joyo has put out a line that is no longer than my thumb and not much wider. A pedal with a footprint that small is crazy. When looking for a compressor pedal for my already cramped board, I found these and thought that I'd give it a try. Comp isn't an effect that I use a lot, but is something I want on hand for when I do. I've had several compressors, but none of them have really filled that specific niche in my sound I'm looking for. The Visual Sound Rout 66 was a great OD slapped together with an OK comp. At least, the comp was just not what I was looking for. I've played the Boss CS-3 and found a vintage CS-2 that really didn't fit the bill. So I wanted something with a knob to blend wet and dry signal like some of the high dollar jobs, and I wanted it to have a small footprint to squeeze onto my board. So the Joyo fit the bill, as long as it did it's job in a manor of my liking. So here's what I found out:

Joyo has thought this through.

If you read about these pedals or watch videos on YouTube about pedals, then you might have seen that these pedals come in a nice box with some extra stuff. There is no rubber on the bottom of the pedal and the screws that hold the bottom plate on are countersunk so that the bottom is completely flat. In the box is a standard "anti-slip" 3M rubber mat and a precisely cut piece of Velcro. To me this means that Joyo totally gets that these pedal are meant to live on a board. If you lay all your pedals on the floor then you really don't need tiny pedals. The whole floor is your board! The knobs have a interesting cover to protect them from when your foot hits the switch. This is a nice touch considering the knobs are no larger around than a pencil. The stems on the pots must not be much larger than the lead of a pencil. I've seen regular pots get snapped off, so a wayward foot could probably do some damage.

The sounds are familiar.

To sum up this pedal you need two words: subtle and transparent. With the comp all the way up you notice the effect, but it's not really "in your face". In fact, that is one of my favorite positions. Although, I play with compression like it's an effect that is supposed to do something special instead of using it to "shape" my tone. For the most part, it is hard to tell when the pedal is on, but in a kind of good way. It doesn't color your sound or dampen your high-end. The pedal can be dialed in to let your clean signal in along side the compressed signal. This is a subtle pedal when its set to 100% wet signal. When you dial that back, it gets difficult to hear the effect at all. I know that I'm not an expert at compression pedals, but it seems like you should be able to tell when it is on.

It starts to get ugly.

So the pedal does what it says. Although, sometimes I find myself wanting to turn the knobs past their stopping points. That is until I start hearing the hiss that comes from this pedal. I put this pedal on my board for a set with the group I play with. I was excited to hear this pedal in the mix with a whole band. Everything was fine until someone said, "What's that hiss?". I was running through a Fender Blues Junior at stage levels. The hiss was more than a little annoying. I don't normally run into this problem so I don't have a noise gate on my board. That meant that the compressor had to either be dialed back, or turned off. The whole thing left me a little underwhelmed. I dialed the levels back and continued use until something developed a hum. It only stopped when I turned that Pipebomb off. That is the way it stayed until I had time to address the issue. The problem might have been something knocking the power jack around. It is located on the side of the pedal instead of the top of the pedal like most other pedals. Another black mark on the pedal is how it clips when in the signal path of a guitar with hot pickups. I played at many different levels and amps while trying to attribute the clipping to something else, but the only consistent thing was when running through a hot humbucker, this pedal acts like an OD. The sounds are not terrible. Actually it was a nice soft clip, but I couldn't get the signal to clean up. I turned the volume down, but it had to go way down to clean up. This was the biggest bummer of the entire review. I only got this effect when running a very hot humbucker. Other guitars did just fine. Strats with your average single coils really benefit from a little compression and had none of the clipping from my hotrodded Tele. This might be a common thing with compression in general, but it is a little underwhelming.

Is it worth it?

Joyo is an imported brand that has a reputation of copying other pedals and selling them at a value price. This doesn't seem to be the case with this pedal. Even if this is a copy of another compression pedal, the price isn't necessarily rock bottom. At nearly $70, its a sizable investment for a pedal with the reputation of being a budget brand. There are things that this pedal gets very right, and other things that miss the mark. Packaging and design are the selling points here, but the very subtle effect, odd placement of the power input, higher than average price tag, along with the downside of these ultra-compact pedal inherently have, the price might warrant looking elsewhere for a similar unit.

Five O'clock Fuzz by Outlaw Effects Review

Recently the fine folks over at Outlaw Effects released two new pedals to their line of ultra compact pedals: The Boiler Maker Boost, which not only acts as a clean boost but also acts as an adjustable treble or bass boost, and the Five O'clock Fuzz. I was given the Five O'clock Fuzz to review by the guys at Outlaw. Here is what I found out:

It's Got Some Hair

This fuzz is not exactly subtle. Yes, there are settings that aren't "over the top", but you are not going to find "just a hint of fuzz" here. Even with the sustain knob rolled all the way back, you get a nasty (in a good way) fuzzy sound. It only gets better from there. The more you roll the sustain up, the more hair this pedal grows. Every step along the way there are settings that are useful and enjoyable. The effect gives a slight compression and heaps of sustain. Its squishy, but not too squishy. My favorite thing about any fuzz pedal is its ability to cover up many of my mistakes. Sloppy playing just adds more nasty (again, in a good way) noise. As long as your fingers find the right notes most of the time, you aren't just noodling around, you will start channeling your inner Jimi.

Its Not Just a Muff Clone

If there was one pedal that I'd compare this pedal to, it would be the Muff. The familiar three knobs of EHX's Big Muff Pi are here. The thunderous, fuzzy grunts are definitely more Muff than Fuzz Face. I'm not the expert on fuzz pedals. There are only a few that I really got to know well. I've run through the gambit of the MXR line of Jimi fuzzes. I've only messed around with the big red Fuzz Face and the signature models. Not a big fan of those. The moment I sat down with a custom strat and a vintage voiced tube amp and the EHX Muff Pi w/ Tone Wicker, I was in love. The original Big Muff sounds are some of the best (in my opinion), but the tone wicker circuit and tone bypass switches make the white BMP my favorite choice for fuzz. So this pedal is much more in the vain of a muff, but its tone knob actually matters. With a sweep of the tone, you get classic muff-ish sounds to crunchy, fuzzy, super-distorted (almost Metal Muff) sounds, to crisp (as crisp as a fuzz can be), bright and piercing tones.

Its A Killer Deal

So the Five O'clock Fuzz is one of the better fuzzes that I've had the privileged to play through. What might surprise you is that it is also one of the most inexpensive fuzzes as well. Most the EHX fuzzes are over 50 bucks, and the MXL/Dulop pedals all look to be about 80 or higher. There is the Satisfaction that runs about $55, but I was slightly underwhelmed by what I could do with it. There are some options for fuzz under $50, like the Danelectric FAB and the Cool Cat fuzz. EHX also make a Micro Muff (with just a volume knob). If you look at eBay, you also find Donner/ENO/Mooer pedals that might rival this one for cost and function, but that is purely speculation on my part. There are also brands like Joyo and Biyang that offer fuzzes under $50. I can't speak for those. I can say that I was surprised by what all I could do with this little pedal.

The Ugly Side

I can't speak too harshly of this pedal. I had a great time playing it. The remarks that I've made about this size pedal still stand. However, I can't fault the sound and functionality of the pedal due to the space-saving design. The foam rubber pad lost the Velcro off the bottom as soon as I tried to move it on my board. That is honestly my biggest gripe. So maybe Outlaw can learn something from Joyo in this case, by including a precisely cut piece of Velcro to attach to a flat, bare and completely smooth bottom of the case. Speaking of the case, the graphic on this particular one is a little silly. The stash is trendy, I get that, but the "stubble" just doesn't do it for me. Honestly, I think a stencil of a grizzly cowboy or something would have been preferable to literally giving this pedal a Five O'clock shadow. Other than that, good job on this pedal guys!