Voodoo Lab - Pedal Switcher and Commander Demo 1

[FernandesStrat]

I am confused. First you demo the disto pedals in this order : guitar --> Octavia --> SD9 --> Fuzz Face --> Tube Driver, but later you say "I have the sd9 *after* the Fuzz face". Anyway, I think best to put the SD9 with buffered input AFTER the Fuzz face, so the Fuzz Face 'sees' large impedance - is this correct? Also, do you really have the TONE on the SD9 completely rolled off? (It doesn't sound like it!)

[hepone]

great setup. So, I am guessing you can only use one pedal per switch. So, if I run 10 pedals I would need 3 pedal switchers? I am running 8 now but there is a couple more I want.

[TooMoLeft]

Amazing tones! I would never have thought a Twin could sound so good for distortion / overdrive. Simply awesome!

[mainlymusicman]

geez... there are so many setups out there.. does anyone know if this:(combinator + pedal switchers) is the only one where you can have presets and still have instant access switches as well? (between this and .. then theres the octaswitch, the gigrig, loop master etc...) by the way james your platying is ridiculous.

[TheEternalLeader]

Hello voodoolabvid, I had a question that I found interesting that was asked by someone else on another Youtube video where the videos' author recommended this video: Can you use something to dedicate some effects to the clean channels and others to the dirtier channels ? I do a lot of gigs and I like messing around with stuff like this so I think it'd be cool to know of a way to do something like this.

[blueheadphoneguy]

this is the best review ive ever seen on anything on youtube!!!! PROBS TO YOU!!!!

[adamw98]

hey, with this pedal can you use multiple effects at once. Like if i was running a delay chorus etc. could i use them two at once or can you only use one at a time

[voodoolabvid]

@adamw98 You can use any combination you wan.t If you add the Commander, you can make presets. Watch the next video in this series for the details.

[ledzurso]

really great sound. It's nice to see a gear head that also knows how to play

[InspiredProphecy]

Hey do you know if the voodoo lab 2+ will power a line 6 dl4. If so how many outputs on the voodoo lab will the line 6 dl4 take, 1 or 2?

[voodoolabvid]

@InspiredProphecy Pedal Power 2+ has two high-current outputs (5 & 6) that can each handle a single DL4. They are labeled L6. ;)

[Hesthewizeguy]

wonderful, exactly what i needed to know about this thing!

[CodyWalker5]

hey man, do u know if there is a pedal similar to this pedal switcher that enables me to stomp on 1 button, and turn more than 1 pedal on at the same time? that would be very convenient and im new to the pedal world

[voodoolabvid]

@CodyWalker5 Watch the next video. All you have to do is use Commander to create presets with multiple pedals being turned ON and OFF.

[andretoyo]

Man u have a great and beautiful tone but wow it´s too many details, too many things to get a nice tone, I hope to get your experience in the future. Cheers... Thanks for your tips about the fuzz...

[voodoolabvid]

@andretoyo Of course, you can't go wrong with a nice overdrive and delay pedal into a decent tube amp. Most of the time, I practice through a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, MXR Carbon Copy and a TC Polytune (powered by our ISO-5) sitting on top of a little Epiphone 5-watt tube combo! Simple, cheap and hides nicely behind by living room couch. Cheers!

[AviatorAndyK]

so what you're saying is this thing can be used as an amp head switcher as well???!

[voodoolabvid]

@AviatorAndyK I am switching between two heads, but each does have their own speaker cabinet. So essentially I am A/B switching between to completely separate amp paths. To do full on amp head switching into a single speaker cabinet can be very tricky, and only a handful of companies make a product like that. Reason is that if you do it wrong, you WILL blow your amp heads. And no one wants that to happen!!!

[hebertoclemente]

Jesus, your like a wizard with this stuff....good job, cool rig.

[Rubionguitar]

Man, congratulations. Fine explanation and great sounds.

[Likui]

must off and on the other footswitch to change chanel?, what if you step 1 then later 2 will it combine chanels or it will auto change to 2?

[voodoolabvid]

@Likui It's a switch that mechanically goes to either output A or B. At no point can you put both amps on. To achieve that, you'd need to use something like our Amp Selector for running up to 4 amps with no ground loops, hum, or signal degradation. Each out on that is transformer isolated.

[bgingras05]

Man this is cool, I'm starting to look into a pedal switcher. I was wondering, I like to run my wah > Germanium Fuzz Face > Vibe pedal like Jimi did, why do somany people advise putting the vibe ahead of the fuzz? Would sending the fuzz into a buffered input on the vibe help if say all my pedals were true bypass? I noticed how on the left hand pedal controller you mentioned you could buffer the inputs for the flange/ vibe / phaser etc pedals, thanks!

[voodoolabvid]

@bgingras05 You got it right the first time. Wah>Fuzz>Vibe

Sometimes it's cool to dirty up the vibe with some overdrive, usually from the amp being loud and gritty. If you have a really clean amp, a light overdrive pedal after your vibe could be cool. But, in no case have I ever heard putting vibe in front of a fuzz face sound good. Unless you are going for a nasty tone experiment or something... Good luck in your tone hunt!!

[phatsound1]

Hi James,

First off nice playing and tone! I Have to say imo your perticular arbiter england fuzz face that your have is just a killer sounding one! I really think that one just has the tone and you can tell with in 3 seconds it is awesome sounding one. How many have you gone thur and tried before finding it? If you ever get a rid of it please let me know if you want. I would love to buy that pertiulcar one you have there.

[voodoolabvid]

@phatsound1 Thank you! I have gone through many versions (years, colors, silicon, germanium...) and tons of custom ones made by some great friends. However, I got very lucky with that particular fuzz. It had been played a lot but then put in a closet since the late 70s apparently. I've had it probably 15 years and it's the one I always keep coming back to. All the other ones I use get put against this one as the benchmark. I doubt I'll ever let it go, but if I do...

[sirjaz1]

hey james, nice sounds.now can you come over to the eleven rack world and do some videos on voodoo lab's Ground Control Pro w/ eleven rack? please? please?

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[voodoolabvid]

@sirjaz1 You should be all good now. Videos done by Sean from Digidesign and myself have been up for a while!

[berherbi]

guys, please help!!!!

what octavia pedal is he using? many thanks for your answer

Berh

[voodoolabvid]

Berh, it's a clone that was made a long time by Jeorge Tripps who used to have a company called Way Huge. I think he made less than 12 of them!

[berherbi]

many thanks voodoo lab vid, your tone is the best on you tube!!!! berh

[chrisdgoldie]

This was extremelly helpful. I really ought to get myself a couple of these. It'd save me from doing rediculous tap-dancing.

[JazzMac36251]

I'm not sure how he's getting such clean switches. My Voodoo labs Pedal Switcher pops violently when i change loops.

Maybe cutting the guitar volume helps?

[gottfriedbrux]

This was great!!! Thanks for sharing the info. Love the Tube Driver!!!

[OnlyByFishStandards]

that's a nice board man!

[cast390]

This guy used to work for line6

[Teutonic1250]

im guessing this guy isnt a metal player

[Fender7Gibson]

what does "AB your amp" mean?

[TacooGrill]

"AB" means to switch between two outputs, so he's saying that he's switching between two amps.

[jeffmsnipes]

It means on this amp actually channel switch between the standard and the vibrato side. You can also A/B (switch) between two or more different amps.

[wildshorty902]

What tube do you have in your Tube Driver? I just bought one online and it sounds like crap, and I'm pretty sure it's the cheap tube.

[Fender7Gibson]

Can you save two settings on one preset?

[voodoolabvid]

I this case, these are just the loops with their individual on/off footswitches. To make presets you need a Commander. Watch the next video in this series and you'll see what I mean.

[highsociey]

(honest ? i aint being sarcastic)

how os this any beter then just steping on the pedals???????

[Timzsk8]

This makes the pedal true bypass. Also watch the other vids, you'll like it.

[jlopez47]

The switcher is all true bypass, so the effects of the pedals in his chain that are sucking his tone are eliminated. Try using a germanium fuzz pedal in series with any other pedal that isn't true bypass. It kills the fuzz tone. This isn't limited to just fuzz pedals.

[nickeax]

You may have more than one pedal in the loops.

[ilovemyfender1]

also, if you have a big board, it makes it easier to switch pedals and not have to search for the pedal you're looking for.

[twocabezas]

great video ... I need to know if I can plug 2 guitars in the switch control is that posible?????

[diagonox]

I think you can, but one guitar will be in buffered input , other guitar you will need to plug in passive input.

[twocabezas]

Ok thanks alot ... diago..... you have some nice strat ..... I really need to 2 guitars pluged so in a live performance dont need to make noises or waste time ....do you think that buffered input will make my guitar sound diferent??? is there any difference with a passive input...???

I apreciate that u anwered anyway.. good luck

[Tejoz]

Anybody tried this one before? I so want to buy the switcher slowly buying it one by one and later buy the commander. But the only review I can found is this one guy in Harmony Central. and that guy was happy all full 10 review, then suddenlt couple of days later give another review all mad and said bad things about it.

I really wish it was just that one guy, so any of you already used it for a while, could you give me an advice =) cheers

[lpunknown]

seems like you have to turn one off before u use the pther.

doesnt that completely defeat the object of a switcher?

[mhd9890]

Hey can i use the pedal switcher with a ground control pro?

[khalilhab]

What a great video! What kind of pick ups do you have in that strat? Thanks

[JasonM2691]

Hey on my tube amp it has a single footswitch to change between clean/overdrive. can i plug the pedal switcher into the footswitch input on my amp and change the channel? does that make sense lol

[asdf3455656]

Nice RIG man! those tube driver, and fuzz face are sexy.

[diagonox]

You have three same pickups on this guitar, Dimarzio Area 61 ? or I miss something...

Thanks.

BTW, sound is great !

[wowurnotgood]

What's the Way Huge logo doing on the Octavia?

[voodoolabvid]

It was a special run made by Way Huge a few years ago. There aren't many out there and they were xmas presents and not anything ever put into production.

To note, I use either my VL Proctavia (which has the original Tycobrahe circuit), a real vintage Octavia, or this Way Huge. I keep a few different rigs and pedalboards, so I just rotate them for different purposes. You can never have too many pedals. ;)

[PhycoBias]

What do your do with tuner and wah-pedal?

[voodoolabvid]

I have a wah sitting to the right of the board. It's a Buddy Guy unit that has true bypass switching already. So if I need to patch it in, I just run it before I go into the switchers.

At gigs, I put the tuner on top of the the Pedal Power on the top left and I use another loop to bring it in and out of the signal chain. Basically, this board is one of a few boards I have that are constantly changed around.

[tylersuhr77]

Did you change the tube on your Tubedriver,if yes ,what brand and model you using??? thx a lot

[voodoolabvid]

Yeah, I changed it a long time ago. I experimented with a bunch of stuff and went with a Mullard 6072. Compared to a 12AX7, a 6072 is like a 12AY7 which has less gain. I have a second unit from the same era and inside it has a Chandler branded 12AX7.

[rjetpereira]

what exactly does this thing do? Is it like using presets on a GT-6 where you can have certain pedals activated with one single stomp? I might have to get one

[kareemb0]

You can connect your pedals to this system and by creating presets. That way you can select a whole different set of pedals with just the press of one button, rather then doing the tap dance.

[bigtophalloween]

That's pretty much exactly what it does, you just plug all of your pedals into it the way that you want 'em and presto! The thing is it's a series of components, i.e. you'll need two pedal switchers and one commander (total of 620 bucks) PLUS the pedals. Expensive but worth it, especially if you want better tone that a Boss or Digitech multi-effects unit. There's more info at the Voodoo Labs website, I think...

[blahman178]

hey, idk if you own voodoo labs or whatever, but it's an awesome company! How is the tube driver? Is it good for an EJ sound? What kind of strat are you using? Thanks for the demo, I might need a switcher.....

[voodoolabvid]

I've been using Tube Drivers for about 18 years now and they've never let me down. They're great for getting EJ tones, as well as David Gilmour. Great stuff.

Oh that strat, that's an old Fender '60s reissue that I've had since 1983. It's loaded with Dimarzio Area 61 pickups.

[timmonsisbest]

eric johnson currently uses the newest b.k. butler tube driver with bias.

[voodoolabvid]

Well, a lot of vintage-style fuzz pedals don't work very well after the wah. If there's too much gain in the fuzz, or it's not dialed in just right, you end up with a loud HOWL when you have your wah in the heel back position. I say try both ways and cross your fingers that the fuzz after wah is usable.

[CHEPETIJUAS]

hi!

cool video, i have a question, what's the difference between your pedal controls and the octa switch guitar effects, or you just prefered to buy the commander and that's it?

is it better than the other, like to hear your opinion, because im planning to buy one in the future but since i saw the octa switch im very impressed with it

thanks

[hafstrat]

Wow. This is cool. Very cool! I think I need help with my rig..:-)

[ham60]

Thankyou for the great demo. I wondered if I could ask what model Fuzz Face your using I'm currently looking at the new Dunlop J Hendrix models . I thought your Fuzz Face sounded fantastic so hoping its a model thats readily available or not too hard to locate.. Thanks agian for the informative demo. Craig

[voodoolabvid]

Actually, the new JH Fuzz Face is my spare to that one. I use it all the time. I just used both of them for an article in Guitar Player on Hendrix and fuzz. There are some videos I did using both of those fuzzes on the Guitar Player TV site.

Just look under Guitars and Gear, then hit Pedalboard FX Routing. The videos should be there.

[Lioanimals1977]

the new fuzz face sounds like the old version (dallas arbiter)???

[voodoolabvid]

The Fuzz Face in this video is actually a bit older. That's a 66 Arbiter England. It's germanium and really soft and warm.

[PilchersList]

What do you think of the Chicago Iron Octavia, im considering buying one?

[voodoolabvid]

They look really nice and I've heard they sound great too.

I use either my Voodoo Lab Proctavia (which has the original Tycobrahe circuit), real Octavia, or my spare Way Huge. I keep a few different rigs and pedalboards, so I just rotate them for different purposes. You can never have too many fuzz or octave pedals!!

[Slayerman256]

Could you tell me what kind of speaker are you using in your twin please ?

Have your twin a goodsound at lower volumes ?

Do you think that a 65 deluxe reverb reissue can approch the sound of your twin ?

What amp would you choose to have the sound of your twin at low volume ?

Again, sorry about my very bad english.

[voodoolabvid]

The Twin is going through the left side of that old Marshall cab with 25W Celestions.

That old Twin is great at low settings. Plus, I have it running on only two power tubes. So it's really only 50W now.

Oh definitely on the Deluxe. Great amps. You wont have a lot of headroom with a band. Past 7 on the volume and your gonna be all lead tones! Killer though.

Really, for super low volumes, a Deluxe is beautiful. I used to use an old Vibrolux once and a while too.

[Slayerman256]

You said that your pickups are area 61'. Is your bridge pickup an area 61' too ?

Again, your vid is awesome, sorry about my very bad english !

[voodoolabvid]

Yup. I do however pull back the height of the middle and neck pickups just a bit. Plus, the the bridge pickup is slanted higher on the plain string side. Set up this way, the bridge pickup sounds a lot more even and "louder" against the neck and middle.

[diagonox]

HELP ;)) What company is this octavia ? Sounds great ! I'am right now in "octaver research" so please help and tell me where can I buy this pedal?! Thank you !

[voodoolabvid]

Yeah, I've been through that too.

I use our Voodoo Lab Proctavia in my rack rig. But, this board usually has an original Tycobrahe Octavia on it. It was acting up on the the day I shot this so I replaced it with another unit that that had the same sound and dimensions. It's a Way Huge Octavia. Unfortunately, I think only about 11 of those units were ever made by Way Huge.

[arvee72]

What tube are you using in that Tube Driver? I have a new BK unit that sounds nothing like that!

[voodoolabvid]

That's a great question. Well, I did change it ages ago. Back when it wasn't so hard to find NOS (new old stock), I went through a huge pile of 12AX7, 12AT7, and 12AU7 tubes. I had my friend quickly change the tubes while I played until we found one that just had more mojo. I'm not sure what actually ended up in there. But I will open it up when I get a chance and see.

[voodoolabvid]

I opened it up and it has a Mullard 6072. Compared to a 12AX7, a 6072 is like a 12AY7 which has less gain. I have a second unit from the same era and inside it has a Chandler branded 12AX7.

[Relayer1968]

Im curious, what kindof speakers/cabinet are you using?

Great demos by the way!!

[voodoolabvid]

I'm running through an old Marshall straight cab that dates from around 1970. It has the original greenback 25-watt Celestions in it. I've had it a long time and I'm always amazed that it just makes whatever head I put through it just sound better!

[dstrats]

Hi,

I noticed you have the same black strip covering "Chandler Industries etc" on your Tube Driver just as one of EJ's TD has. Did you get that TD from EJ, or did BK Butler cover it for you?

[voodoolabvid]

Good eyes! Brent "BK" Butler did that when he went through it probably over 12 years ago. It's a long story, but there was a little falling out between him and Chandler. Hence the black tape. By the way, Brent was totally cool about fixing my unit and couldn't have been more helpful!

[guitarz333]

not to mention this dude can play his ass off!

[guitarz333]

I think Eric Johnson simply uses the rig many people dream about, but just can't afford. Obviously its hard to beat a Twin for cleans and certain effects, while the Marshalls and the Octavia, Fuzz, etc are the "Holy Grail" of tone.

In other words, these are teh perfect clean, crunch, and lead sounds, and these devices allow you to pilot that kind of rig. I wish I could afford those pedal loops!

[voodoolabvid]

I totally agree. EJ has great taste in gear, and the tones he gets are considered by many to be great examples of classic clean, crunch and lead. Yup, it's hard to beat a Twin for cleans, and Marshalls for dirty rhythm/lead work.

Integrating all the old pedals into a single rig can be a total pain. The fuzz doesn't like buffers, the Tube Driver kills the clean tone when bypassed... The Pedal Switcher allows me to use my old gear while avoiding those pitfalls.

[Antestor]

Super reverb?

[voodoolabvid]

Very close! Actually it's an old Twin Reverb that I had made into a head many years ago. Once the speakers are out of the equation, a Twin and Super are pretty close circuits. In fact, I'm running that Twin head at only 50-watts. It's also running through the left side of that Marshall cab.

[bigtophalloween]

I couldn't help but notice you're set up includes some of Eric Johnson's favorite pedals... That's not on accient, is it?

[voodoolabvid]

Well, I tried to mix up some classic pedals with some new. I've had that Tube Driver for 20 years, and my biggest complaint is that it loads down the signal when it's bypassed. That's also an original 1966 Arbiter England Fuzz Face. It's totally Hendrix approved! While my intent wasn't to demo an EJ style board, there's no doubt that the pedals I've purchased over the last 25 years have been heavily influenced by Hendrix, EJ, Andy Summers...

[bigtophalloween]

Righteous! Thanks for the low down. So... Are you pretty much running the Marshall clean and goosing it with those pedals? I seriously dig yer tone on this. I gotta a Bogner that I love, but your tone is about as close to "that sound" as I've ever heard!

[voodoolabvid]

Thanks! BTW, I love Bogners. Amazing amps. The Marshall head is a 50-watt JTM50 from 1966. It breaks up pretty fast so there's definitely a tiny bit of grit even when the pedals are off.  And I'm using the old Marshall cab that's in in the back of the video. It's got the original 25-watt Celestions so there's a bit of cone-cry breakup there too. The cab is split so the left side is the Twin Reverb, and the right is the Marshall.

[sanders4617]

What kind of pickups?

[voodoolabvid]

They are AREA 61 pickups by Dimarzio.

[mygroovylespaul]

Cool ......very imformative...thx