I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted! I have really not been doing anything new on the guitar lately, just my usual routine (when I make time to pick up my guitar). Ever since I got my Vox DA5 amp, I have been trying out all of the settings on each guitar that I have been using. I'm still using my Tradition Tele-style guitar, so I've been putting it through it's paces on the DA5. I have to say, it sounds great! Now I know why they say that Telecasters are probably the most versatile guitars out there!
Now that I have the Vox DA5, I've been using the built in effects a lot in my practicing, but before I acquired it, I hardly ever used effects. I have my DigiTech RP50 processor that I demo in my little audio clip, but I don't use it that often. Early on, I also bought a Danelectro FAB distortion pedal, which I had planned to use with my Fender Champ 600 tube amp when I bought the amp. I ended up giving my son the FAB pedal for his little electric guitar. This brought about a chain of events that led me to obtain two great vintage pedals. When I gave my son the FAB, he needed an extra cable to hook it up, so that left me with no extra cables. I started looking for cables on Craigslist, and I found an old ad advertising cables and pedals. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up bringing home the two pedals in the photo along with some cables!
The black pedal is a RAT 2 distortion pedal. From what I have read on the web, these first came out in 1987. It was made in the USA and is built like a tank! I love the sounds I can get out of this pedal. It is a keeper for sure! The other pedal is a Tube Driver overdrive pedal. This pedal has a tube in it, just like the tubes that are found in tube amplifiers. When I first plugged it in, I didn't like what I heard. It produced a lot of muddy and inconsistent distortion (too much for an overdrive pedal IMHO). I later opened it up and found that the tube in it was not seated properly in the socket. I pushed the tube all the way into the socket and started using it. I used it for about two hours, and it sounded better, but not great. It seems that I am going to have to replace the tube in it. I've already research what kinds of tubes I can use in it, and have contacted a guitar forum member that says he has tubes. Let's see what happens when I put a new tube in it! Stay tuned!
