NPD: Horse American Sound, Sonicake IR, Kmise ABY

[MrShake]

Got some new toys to help with some logistical problems:



Having to reorganize for home-based headphones rehearsals for a while, and decided to get a few cheap things to help sound better straight into the board. Realized it would behoove me to have it ready on a board, so I grabbed a switcher online and pulled out some backup mini pedals to whip something up.

Horse American Sound - came highly recommended. Still getting to know it, but without it, my guitar sounds kinda flat, with it, it sounds a lot more like a clean amp in the room. An excellent way to spend $27, and I've got another knockoff, this time of the "M-shall" sound, coming in the next few weeks for kicks. I was skeptical, but I was wrong.

Sonicake IR - as much or maybe even more than the preamp pedal, this helps go from "straight in" to "in the room". Everybody raves about #4, but I like the 4x10 sound of #5 best for my rig. Simple, easy, and acts as a DI box for a home mixer or into a venue PA. Simple and easy, and I don't see myself loading it with custom IRs - it's just a $40 way to make things sound better, and if you're not too specific, one of the 11 models will probably suit anyone limiting their search to one of these.

Kmise ABY - this was so I could have 2 outs for the board. One sends the pedals through the preamp/IR, one goes straight from the effects out, like any other pedalboard. Easy and won't have to re-route anything, just pick the jack on the board (1/4" or XLR) that I want to send from, or even perhaps both - direct to amps onstage and an XLR line to the PA for the engineer to do whatever they want with.

I paired these with a slate of backup minis and came up with a board that, while cheap, should cover band practice or small grab-n-go gigs with minimal fuss, plenty of sonic ground covered, sounds good, weighs nothing, and wouldn't cost much to replace.



Total win for, what, $85 in "fake amp" options?

[Shadoweclipse13]

That's a beautiful board! I love your options!!!!

[MrShake]

That's a beautiful board! I love your options!!!!

Thanks - I AM surprised at how nice it just LOOKS, and I've already swapped the order of the Muff and Flanger, and traded out the Eno/EX reverb at the front for a NUX Damp. The "hold for shimmer/infinite" gives me something approaching the "hold for drone" of my DF-2 Super Feedbacker. The NUX is a better all-rounder, that Eno is a nasty little piece of work sometimes - does one thing well enough, but I had a better option, so I used it. More versatility here than I expected, for sure.

But once I did that, my wife pointed out that now I need a blue/violet preamp instead for maximum board color coordination. It's all about the sonics for me, but she's right. So there might also be a Mosky "F-der" in my future if she gets clicky online, lol. Have to see how their "M-shall" preamp sounds .

Sonically, it's been pretty top-notch messing around since last night, with only a slight lack of headroom going from "crunchy Rat" to "blastoid Rat 'n' Muff", but I'm still fiddling with the gain staging, and even if that's the case, small price to pay for this versatility.

[MrShake]

Sorry, going wild on my own thread, but I do rarely have a morning all to myself to putter and dink around with gear.

Here's the progression:


Top: Pedalboard Prime (blank pedal is a Superfuzz)
Middle: Live Board
Bottom: DI Board

The Prime board can do reverse reverb, the others can't, but I've built an auxiliary board with a Nanoverb and a Rat I can feed the live setup.

The Live board has a Boss Super Feedbacker for drones and "Boss-style" distortion, the Main and DI boards don't. But I can approximate the Feedbacker with the "hold for shimmer/infinite" on the NUX reverb on the DI board, pumping it through Rat, flange, Muff, delay, reverb - all into a throbbing swirl.

The DI board is missing a Superfuzz. That one's a hit, but I can patch in a spare SF300 w/batteries or just deal with it and use only the Big Muff (the iset one with the badge) for "make it big" fuzz on top of the Rat.

The DI board is missing the crispness of a DD-5, but I'm adapting. The 2 delays on the DI Board almost cover what I use the DD-5 for, but they're either a bit quiet in the repeats or a little "mushy" in analog voicing. But again, I can also just use a DD-5.

Fun times, and funnier how after spending my 20s aspiring to a spaceship full of wild fancy pedals, I feel like I'm devolving, but still somehow sounding increasingly better.

[sal paradise]

My favourite thing about this is that when I think of the times I hoarded a lot of pedals, I never thought about making multiple boards.

Love the utility. Although what will use the prime for?

[marqueemoon]

My favourite thing about this is that when I think of the times I hoarded a lot of pedals, I never thought about making multiple boards.

It can be helpful. I have boards for each band plus one with some randoms.

I eventually want to organize my direct guitar stuff. The OP’s setup looks great. Love that baby IR pedal.

[MrShake]

My favourite thing about this is that when I think of the times I hoarded a lot of pedals, I never thought about making multiple boards.

Love the utility. Although what will use the prime for?

Well, up until recently, it made sense to have my board at home, and then do my best to replicate it on the cheap to leave at our practice space. Or "close enough" equivalents. The RV-2 on the live board had long been some cheap thing (that Eno reverb, I think), and the Boss DF-2 wasn't on there for a long time (notice my other one's not on the Prime Board), so it was really only a DD-5 on the Live Board that wasn't a cheap substitute.

I could write at home and have the sounds for the band, or practice the usual band material at home. Plus, it was my favorite stuff/sounds anyway.

This new DI setup stole a bunch of raw materials from the tiny, 5-mini backup board I've been taking to gigs. This is bigger, but I think this will take over that duty. If my amp dies, I've got a DI, and if something on the Live Board goes during a show, I can just swap the whole thing out and not have to do too much adapting.

That said, I'd love to just bring one board, lol, but this could live in our merch backpack, easily. Probably doesn't weigh 5 lbs. Lol, but two mirrored boards felt smart-but-overkill, a third does feel a bit indulgent, haha, but it's so much smaller and more compact and even does more with the DI options, sooooo... indulgent it is.

I don't buy guitars, amps just find me for double-digits-to-free, and I never sell pedals, so, haha, the damn thing just accumulate - especially with my love of the Clone Wars we're currently living through.

It can be helpful. I have boards for each band plus one with some randoms.

I eventually want to organize my direct guitar stuff. The OP’s setup looks great. Love that baby IR pedal.

For me, with that stupid accumulation, more boards also helps keep clutter and loose pedals under control. And it's not like they're not modular. Sometimes I like to look at my "Fuzz Board" and imagine it's ONE GIANT GLORIOUS MULTI-MODE FUZZ BOX.

I've had fun making "purpose-designed boards", imaginary bands or split personalities, and sometimes using "their" board has gotten me out of my box. "Tele Mike", "Bass VI Mike", and "Grunge Mike" -- and their respective boards, lol -- would agree.

Anyway, thanks for taking a look, gang. I'd definitely suggest that if you were like me and curious about this DI route, that a Joyo/Horse/Mosky preamp of your preferred flavor and the Sonicake IR seems like a very solid place to start.

It was a huge improvement for home band practice today. Big fuzzy, droney, psych-punk, sounded pretty great through headphones, all things considered.

And a chance to prove to y'all that I'm not one of those Budget Gear Warriors. I like to sniff some fine cork from time to time:

[marqueemoon]

For me, with that stupid accumulation, more boards also helps keep clutter and loose pedals under control. And it's not like they're not modular. Sometimes I like to look at my "Fuzz Board" and imagine it's ONE GIANT GLORIOUS MULTI-MODE FUZZ BOX.

I've had fun making "purpose-designed boards", imaginary bands or split personalities, and sometimes using "their" board has gotten me out of my box. "Tele Mike", "Bass VI Mike", and "Grunge Mike" -- and their respective boards, lol -- would agree.

Nice. Currently my castoffs board is all dirt and a tuner. I will sometimes take that to practice to shake things up.

Sometimes I bring no pedalboard at all.

[MrShake]

Sometimes I bring no pedalboard at all.

Then what do you fiddle with throughout practice? What do you use to rationalize why that last take might have been bad?

...WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR FEET?!?!???

[Flurko]

That's some nice boards ! I have a Harley Benton American Sound which is I guess the exact same thing, I use it as a preamp before my EHX 44 magnum wich is my only band-level amp but can use some shaping as it has only a bright switch and a volume knob !
My pedalboards tend to be smaller as I have the added constraint of only biking to rehearsals or gigs in my town.

[marqueemoon]

Sometimes I bring no pedalboard at all.

Then what do you fiddle with throughout practice? What do you use to rationalize why that last take might have been bad?

...WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR FEET?!?!???

It’s very freeing to be able to just focus on singing and playing.

Not everyone plays music that’s conducive to this of course.

It is a weird adjustment having both feet flat on the floor all the time.

[sal paradise]

Sometimes I bring no pedalboard at all.

Then what do you fiddle with throughout practice? What do you use to rationalize why that last take might have been bad?

...WHERE DO YOU PUT YOUR FEET?!?!???

It’s very freeing to be able to just focus on singing and playing.

Not everyone plays music that’s conducive to this of course.

It is a weird adjustment having both feet flat on the floor all the time.

When I’m just songwriting with the band, I only take a tuner. And there’s often nowhere to even plug in power so have to tune up old school.

[sal paradise]

This post has me thinking about a new home recording setup.

Now, I’m yet to actually get round to recording any demos where amp sound is even a factor that I need to care about. But, gear is gear.

I’ve accepted that I think I’m going lunchbox head for main sound. And was then thinking about getting a Torpedo CAB IR for connecting to mac & take along for shows.

Instead of that I could get 2nd hand American sound, JMP LovePedal& sonicake IR for about the same price as the Torpedo… hmm options options

[JSett]

When I’m just songwriting with the band, I only take a tuner. And there’s often nowhere to even plug in power so have to tune up old school.

Pedal power companies hate this one cheap trick...

[sal paradise]

When I’m just songwriting with the band, I only take a tuner. And there’s often nowhere to even plug in power so have to tune up old school.

Pedal power companies hate this one cheap trick...

You know the battery went flat 10 years ago. And I didn’t get round to going to Woolworths.

Thank you for the reminder. I will get off my arse and go somewhere that sells batteries. Good idea.