The Wonderful Horrible Gonkulator

[CarBootyKing]

Open University dude

[DRawKiD13]

Trying to find this on the Google. Can't find it. I'm trying to replicate Mike Einziger's rig

[jgamez91]

nice vid man! i just got mine n love it! its the INCUBUS tone for some of those songs too an very kool but i dunno where to put it n my rig lol!

[IDP5150]

You have no idea how to use it.

[renzolikescheez]

combine this with some nice delay and you got LSD.

[EmperorGum]

Nice demonstration, not sure I'd get one but I'm glad it exists!

[GreenmanTalking]

Have you heard the band Gonkulator?

[paulrpotts]

@GreenmanTalking no but I will have to look them up, thanks!

[mouthbreather1]

Super Sonic & a Gonkulator! So jealous of this setup of yours.

[kontsnorification]

nice guitar man! Squier Supersonic rule!

[TacooGrill]

thats a great sounding guitar! and the gonkulator... its definetly horrible in a good way!

[starwarscomic]

Thanks for the demo! I love this kind of stuff.

[bib4tuna]

fun stuff. sell me your guitar? :)

[paulrpotts]

If you really want one, check out eBay. Use a search string like this:

(fender, squier, squire) (supersonic, super-sonic)

That will catch auctions that misspell Squier, and also that call it a Fender. You will have to skim through a lot of amps, though, since there is an amp with the same name.

I still see quite a few come up for auction, at least two or three a month, and prices haven't really gone up since I bought mine ($250-$450 depending on color & condition)

[0700717062]

WOW, the effect definitely for the songs GLASS from the band INCUBUS.. :p NICE VIDEO, SIR.. :)

[burntumber]

the dirt in this is actually nice, it's like a crisp fuzz box.

if you can find one cheap, get it.

the trick to a good sound is: find a good distortion setting, then dial in some ringmod.

it sounds nice with volume swells and delay...and also nice with reverse reverb.

[paulrpotts]

@burntumber if you just like the distortion sound (and I do like it) you can get just that sound in the DOD Grunge pedal. I think it's the identical circuit and you don't get that background whine.

[deandimedof]

@paulrpotts Digitech makes the Grunge

[paulrpotts]

@deandimedof thanks for the info. Apparently they are made now under the Digitech name. My Grunge pedals say DOD on them. If you look on eBay for "DOD Grunge" or "Digitech Grunge" you can find many of each. I have no idea if there are any real sound differences that go along with the brand change.

[that421stylee]

Incubus - Glass

[theredconnection]

An example of the Gonkulator put in GREAT use! :D

[paulrpotts]

The Gonkulator is a matter of taste. I said, I am saving it for a particular track that calls for that noisy sound, but I wouldn't use it often!

The guitar is a Squier Super-Sonic. I collect & restore them, along with Venus and Jagmaster models. I have much more expensive guitars, but I chose to play this one. I think they are under-rated gems with a lot of character.

The amp is a Cube Street, set to emulate a Jazz Chorus. I live in a small apartment; we can't all use Marshall stacks!

[Broodkill]

hold on. fuck that guy dont fucin explain yourself to him. the cube is a badass amp..so is the mini colosuss. rock on man..love squires.

[TheAliceShow]

Agreed.  Fuck that guy. Don't explain yourself. The old squires are quality equipment. And this was a great demo. I think this thing would be useful to repel and alien invasion. They'd be terrified.

[nepalnt21]

a good electric guitar player can make any setup sound good

[CliffDiverMusic]

Sounds like South Park !! And I'm The Next Kevin Skinner !

[Renegadrian]

Nice video!!! 3.15 I think it'd sound good with some funk lines on a bass!!!

[DB4XKE]

Nice job man... Couldn't get a decent 'sound' review until now. And that whine is definetly something to consider.

[antifaith82]

Thanks for this review, it made me feel better...

I thought I had just bought the worst sounding pedal to ever exist ((dod thrashmaster for $30))......until I saw this! This pedal is S&M for your ears..

[osityan]

cool.... a pedal that can make you sound even worse then you normally would! woohoo!

[ihartanchondo]

i would love to buy this from you!

[telecaster1963]

Just like the rare Boss Spectrum that is an useful, exotic pedal wich must be used parcimoniously.

Thanks for posting!

[subinbar]

thanks for the review!

[fucktubereligion]

orgasmic

[paulrpotts]

The last four that sold on eBay went in the $91 to $132 range. So the prices are up a little bit but they are not too outrageous.

On the other hand you can get an RP250 for less than that, with a Gonkulator sound that is probably better than the original pedal (if I recall, it doesn't have that constant whine sound).

[petewentzchupaero]

SUPERSONIC!!

[paulrpotts]

Yes, I love my Supersonics. I also have a Jagmaster. Short-scales forever!

[bs9nonsense6]

i've never wanted a pedal so bad since before i got my whammy pedal. i love experimenting with my effects rather than coming up with riffs and stuff so the more whacked out, crazy noise i can get the better. you wouldn't be thinking about perhaps selling it would you? ; ) lol

[paulrpotts]

Sorry, I am intending to keep mine... I have a track in mind that needs a very ugly sound.

[bs9nonsense6]

haha that's cool. i was just joking around. i wouldn't sell mine either if i had one. great video though!

[agger08]

If I was being raped while suffering from food poisoning, this is what it would sound like.

[fucksalottasluts]

I just found out that the digitech RP250 has a model of this pedal also. It's not too bad either, it doesn't have that high pitch squeal, and it only has adjustment for the Gunk Suck and Smear.

[paulrpotts]

You are right -- people love to go for particular lo-fi sounds. It is largely a matter of taste and style. I am keeping the Gonkulator because I think at some point I will have a track to record that needs it.

I used to have an RP350 and I remember the Gonkulator emulator in that too. It's kind of funny that the reproduction of the sound would sound better than the original!

I have some more interesting floor pedals I might be reviewing some time soon.

[fucksalottasluts]

ah but the lo-fi crap sound and noise is why people like them. You can't get that kind of terrible noise out of a good pedal, no matter how hard you try. Just look at the stuff the kids are doing with the circuit bending and you will see why they are popular. The same goes for the meat box, it was like an octaver & distortion, completely useless and my buddy got one at a music store years ago and they basically begged him to take it. I think he payed like $30 brand new, now they sell for $200.

[nicbroox]

check out the track "glass" by incubus and youll hear a great use of this pedal

[paulrpotts]

I finally listened to the original Incubus track. It is a good use of the Gonkulator sound. It's a sound that is definitely hard to place in a mix!

[arklop5]

@nicbroox

Probably the only good use of a Gonk. I can't think of another.

[itsGoboboy]

This is my type of pedal something that sounds weird. I herd that the distortion was pretty descent. maybe its the amp, I know that you probably hate hearing that, I know how you feel I have a cube too and people give me crap all the time because I use it in all me pedal demos and they say its not a precious tube amp. Good demo though, you are one of the only people on here that has it.

[paulrpotts]

Goboboy: you are right, the distortion on this pedal is pretty good, but the constant whine from the ring modulator kind of ruins it. That whine shows up no matter what kind of amp you run it through. Behind me you can see my Peavey Mini Colossal, which is a nice little boutiquey tube amp, and it sounds just as bad through that. But still, I'm sure I will find a song sometime that really needs that Gonkulator sound even with the background noise.

[paulrpotts]

By the way, if you are looking for just that distortion, I think the circuit is probably exactly the same as the DOD "Grunge" pedal. I should pick up one of those to try by itself -- they are cheap on eBay.

[paulrpotts]

@paulrpotts FYI for anyone still reading, I did get a DOD Grunge pedal and it is a nice distortion if that crispy "sizzling" distortion tone is your style. The Grunge does _not_ have that constant whining noise in the background.

[paulrpotts]

I bought it at a guitar show in, I think, around 1998, and don't remember how much it was -- probably around $50 or $75. I really don't recommend this pedal very highly -- it is very noisy even when the ring modulator is not turned up. I would recommend something like an Electro Harmonix Frequency Analyzer instead, or a Moogerfooger MF-102 ring modulator, if you can afford one. Thanks!

[626shepherd]

great demo man, thanks. how much did you pay for your gonkulator? i am trying to decide whether or not to buy one. any additional info/advice would be appreciated. thanks