Solidgoldfx Oblivion

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HH1978
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Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by HH1978 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:47 pm

Has anyone tried one? Looks fun...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8laUfx7ps9Y

I never thought I might need a flanger, except maybe an Electric Mistress because I'm a Pink Floyd fan, but I'm very tempted.

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BoringPostcards
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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by BoringPostcards » Mon Aug 03, 2020 3:12 pm

What a refreshingly original demo!

GAS rising!
Det er mig der holder traeerne sammen.

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HH1978
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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by HH1978 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:17 pm

Cohen Hartman is one of my favourite demo players nowadays... He's responsible for a lot of GAS on my side too :D

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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:32 pm

I've been eyeing one of these for synth work... There are a couple demos out there that sound amazing. Stefan (The Pedal Zone) and Knobs both have a good one too!
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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HH1978
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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by HH1978 » Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:54 am

I just ordered one. Should be here next week...

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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:59 am

HH1978 wrote:
Thu Aug 20, 2020 12:54 am
I just ordered one. Should be here next week...
Please let us know! I'm really curious to see how it plays for someone not doing a demo, but just playing at home.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by CorporateDisguise » Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:03 am

Yeah, this dudes demos are on point. I’ve never bought a pedal out of pure hype from a demo before. Then I saw his demo of the arcades.......

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HH1978
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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by HH1978 » Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:59 am

Please let us know! I'm really curious to see how it plays for someone not doing a demo, but just playing at home.
Sure! I'll post my first impressions, and update later when ì'll have had it for a while.

I wish it wasn't only for playing at home, but with the pandemic measures, I'm not allowed to meet my bandmates before the end of september, at best... Some manage to rehearse together with videoconference tools, but honestly, I just hate the idea. On the brighter side, these are good times for songwriting, and I hope the Oblivion will be inspiring.

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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by HH1978 » Wed Aug 26, 2020 1:49 pm

Got it today!

So here are my first impressions, keep in mind that it is a pedal with tons of features, so it will take me some time to get used to it and be able to use its full potential.

Let say it straight, for classic flanger sounds, there are probably better options, in the analog territory (The A/DA PBF, for instance). BUT, now that this is out of the way, the Oblivion is technically a Flanger, but it feels more than that, an incredible modulation tool. I almost can't believe the number of different sounds I could get from it in the few hours I spent with it. Counterpart of that is that I will have to take notes of my settings, because the numerous controls are interactive with each other.

Using an expression pedal is where the real fun begins. It's factory set to control the speed, but you can change the dip switches inside to control the range, the regen, or both speed and range together. The first two options work well, and if set to control speed, you can control the flange manually if you set the range knob fully CCW. On the other hand, I found controlling the regen by foot pretty useless, and I haven't tried the last option yet.

Bi-flange is my preferred mode, but I like the through zero mode too, and the blend knob is handy to avoid the signal to disappear completely. And on a more general note, the blend knob is great to avoid the effect being overpowering. This pedal can be very subtle, or completely crazy, I like that.

I'm not convinced with the quad-flange mode. You have to keep the speed and range low, or it quickly becomes very warbly, dissonant (not in a good way) and muddy. Maybe I'll change my mind later when I get accustomed to the pedal a little better, but for now I don't like it.

The degrade mode is one of the things that really sets the Oblivion apart from other flangers. Lots of beautiful (and not so beautiful) synth-like or ring mod-like to find in there. It reacts to every change in other controls, so it's like having two full featured pedals, nice!

The waveforms are interesting, and I was surprised to get some sounds reminding me of a univibe (not as deep though), and even a kind of "yeyeye", which is fun when you think I'm currently building a clone of the "yoyoyo" box, the Ludwig Phase II (Sonic Youth's Diamond sea sound). BTW, I'm nearly done with that clone, just a couple of parts yet to be delivered.

Two negative notes though. The most annoying one in regard to the switching. With the soft switches relay switching method, there's a temptation for builders to assign more than one function to each switch. I'm ok with that. But here, the bypass switch also acts as an hold switch for the LFO, and it's programmed much too fast. As a result, there was a few times when I wanted to switch the effect off, and just couldn't. That won't be fun on stage...
The pedal also comes with the rubber feet installed, not practical for pedalboard installation.

Other than that, the built quality seems really good, quality PCB (components are SMD, and I'm not familiar with these so I can't comment), quality isolated jacks, top mounted :), neat wiring, beautiful and flawless black sparkle powdercoating...

Once again, these are only my first impressions, I'll update in a few weeks.

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Re: Solidgoldfx Oblivion

Post by mazzjaster » Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:26 am

I’ve had mine about a month now and I’m enjoying it. I’m typically an analog modulation only guy but the Oblivion sounds and FEELS great. I tend to “set and forget” pedals if I don’t have presets but where I have it (subtle) allows me to switch between all 3 flange modes for different textures without additional tweaking. Also, I find that the quad flange mode is better suited for chords than single note playing/runs. Hope that helps!

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