Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde V1

Now here's a trusty companion that keeps coming back to my pedal boards.

I managed to dial in some satisfying settings for both sides of the effect, so I better take some pictures to fight forgetfulness.

Since I acquired the pedal Visual Sound managed to release two more versions of the pedal and even change the company's name to Truetone.

Although I haven't used the newer versions, I can say that at least version V3 has one improvement I would like to have on my pedal too, namely the ability to change the order of the two effect sides.

As its name implies the "Jekyll & Hyde" combines an distortion and an overdrive, both can be used independently or together.

The signal hits the distortion side first, then going through the overdrive.

Now I would personally prefer it the other way round. As I said V3 offers this by giving each side its own outputs.

Most sources on the www consider the Jekyll section a "Tube Screamer - ish" overdrive with an added bass switch while the Hyde part of the pedal is described as "Marshall Shredmaster - ish" with a Sharp/Blunt option.

I won't comment on that but I will say that I like the sound of both sides and I use them separately as well as stacked on top of each other.

Using Two Amps - Dry / Wet Setup

So I decided to put a very simple pedal board together to use two amps at the same time.
Of course there are several ways to go about this but I wanted a dry / wet setup.
Since the stack on the left has more clean headroom it would be my "effects amp",
the smaller combo on the right would be the dry amp.

With a small pedal board I am able to get my basic sound ideas covered.

It's just an overdrive pedal with two variations, a delay pedal, a tuner, and a splitter box which isolates the two signals going to the amps and takes care of phase issues.

The white coil cable goes to the effects amp, the red one goes to the dry amp.

Now to recap my signal chain:

Guitar goes into the Jekyll & Hyde for overdriven sounds; 

into the Silvertone guitar splitter box;

from there one signal goes to the dry amp;

the second signal goes to the Double Deca delay;

out of the delay into the wet amp;

(the tuner is connected to the splitter box too via a separate output);


Both amps are set to a clean sound but just the wet amp gets the effect from the delay pedal.
When I use the overdrive pedal, both amps get driven, but again, only the wet amp gets the delay added on top.

Very useful for running time - based effects or any kind of modulation pedals way "wetter" than usual because there's always the essential sound coming from the dry amp to provide a clear and responsive foundation.

Looper used as A/B Switch

Small problem and a simple solution: How to switch between two amps on the fly?
I was already looking to buy an A/B switch when I remembered my old passive looper.

I got this true bypass looper years ago and it works in a lot of situations.
Here I'm switching between a Palmer "Eins" and a Randall "Diavlo RD 5" - the Palmer does clean, the Randall does distortion.
Guitar goes into the looper and the signal is passed through to the Randall.
When Loop 1 is engaged, the signal goes to the Palmer amp instead. Only the send connection is used.
Loop 2 remains unused but one could easily connect a tuner in the same fashion and use Loop 2 for silent tuning.
I had to post this just to remember myself not to buy new stuff but use the tools I already own!

A Place for Music in my Life

My quarters were in dire need of an overhaul - here is the result:

Epiphone SG G-310 - A Dozen Skulls

You can count them yourself...

  

Epiphone Robb Flynn Love / Death Baritone - Machine Flying Head!

I had to undergo surgery recently and while I always hope for the best I still like to be prepared for the worst...
So one more guitar before I go (to the hospital).

"Love and Death" - that sums it all up quite neatly I reckoned, so I jumped at the chance to aquire the Robb Flynn signature baritone.

Either way it would work out - I might have something to look forward to after surgery or my beloved ones would have to do the unpacking if I couldn't do it myself anymore.

The Love / Death guitar - epitaph or welcome home gift? Boy, am I glad it was the latter!

Scale length is 750 mm (29.5 inches).

Tuning is open C : C G C g c e

Epiphone ZV Custom - Zakk Wylde Signature SG

Concerning guitar construction I have one favourite design and that's the SG shape.

My very first electric guitar was a Les Paul - type (still have that one) but in terms of playability I immediately fell in love with my second guitar, which was of course an Epiphone SG.

The number of SG-type guitars I own has grown quite a bit over the years and I have to say that I think of the Zakk Wylde Signature as the final keystone of my collection - at least for now...

And what a misshappen keystone it is!
First of all the instrument is huge and since I lack the impressive physique of Zakk Wylde, I almost disappear behind it.

The split tail design seems to make some people feel sick - like staring at a M.C. Escher drawing for too long - is it a Flying V or an SG? Just so malformed it looks outright wrong.

Still - I love that monster.

The controls are way off but at least the output jack is positioned quite conveniently.

The toggle switch has gone where no man has gone before - placed on the upper wing, one has to reach far back to change pickups.

It comes with EMG Hz pickups, an important fact to keep in mind when looking at the back of the guitar:

Lovely neck by the way but a closeup of the body shows my biggest personal gripe with the instrument:

The control cavity is extremely small and narrow. It's fine for the passive EMG Hz pickups but there is no way to fit the controls of active EMG's in there.
Which is funny because Mr. Wylde and EMG actually have a signature pickup set on offer that would go with his guitar quite nicely, I think.
Since I am unwilling to rout out a bigger hole I will have to look into the problem further, maybe i could manage to cram the old soldered system into it...

Now - after all those hard facts I feel inclined to offer my personal OPINION as well:

As it is, the instrument plays well and sounds great.
Some design choices make it impractical to use, at least for me, others might be happy to have all controls positioned far away from the strings so they won't interfere while playing.

One might find the shape of the guitar appalling - I think it looks superb, even though I look ridiculous when strapped on to it.

The only remaining question is - do I tinker with the pickups and control setup or should I keep it in stock condition?