A Unified Garcia Effects Thread

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

When in the 80's did Jerry switch from the MXR to the Boss, or at least add a Boss to the lineup? I was under the impression that most of the 80's was the sound of the MXR, and not until 88 or 89 did a Boss OD pedal appear. Someone here has got to have the answer to this easy one.


Brad

[waldo041]

he dropped the dist + sometime in late 88 early 89. from the 89 and 90 photo's i see he also used BOTH the OC2 And MuOctDiv in the same rack eventually dropping the MuOctDiv. this timeframe also shows NO Eq's for the OD's.

87/08/15

88/08/28

89/08/19

90/05/06


peace,
waldo

[Capt Rosebuddy]

Waldo,
that's pretty much exactly what i was looking for. once again, excellent work also sweet photos! I like the one with Parish eyeballing the scene from behind the rig.

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Thanks Waldo.

You confirmed what I was thinking, that most of the 80's was the sound of the MXR+, and only in the last year or year and a half did he have the Boss there. And I believe that first Boss that showed up was the Turbo Overdrive OD-2, right?

Also, I once had both octave pedals as well, and always thought the little brown Boss was far superior to the Mutron octaver, at least for what I was going for. The Boss was more stable at tracking from what I recall.



Brad

[Capt Rosebuddy]

Yea the photos WITH the dates is key, that clintches the transition from MXR to Boss. I truely believe that as great as the MXR sounds there is JUST NO way to get that classic late 80's guttural break up with it.

[tigerstrat]

Thanks Waldo.

You confirmed what I was thinking, that most of the 80's was the sound of the MXR+, and only in the last year or year and a half did he have the Boss there. And I believe that first Boss that showed up was the Turbo Overdrive OD-2, right?

Also, I once had both octave pedals as well, and always thought the little brown Boss was far superior to the Mutron octaver, at least for what I was going for. The Boss was more stable at tracking from what I recall.



Brad

Make that definitely less than a year w/o the MXR, almost certainly less than half a year or even just a few shows. Pretty sure that pic from Greek 89 is an initial stage tryout of the Boss ODs, because I have seen later pics from fall/winter 89 (not going to hunt them down at the mo) with the Wolf, and the MXR is back in the rack w/o the Bosses. By 90 though the Bosses are in for good. Note in the 88 pic waldo posted- the only pic I have ever seen of the often-talked-about-but-seldom-seen Boss HM2.

Gotta disagree wholeheartedly: a good specimen of a Mutron Octave is way better and more stable than the Boss imho, (and about equal to the FoxRox, just different usability features- a blend vs separate oct levels).

Also on the MXR D+, while it may be electronically related to distortion circuits, it's Ge diodes yield a soft-clipping effect more akin to an overdrive... maybe what it is is the Best of Both Worlds. But I'm going to save my $200+++ and enjoy my CTO-1: best $50 I can remember spending.

I don't think you can ever say anything is clinched until there are photos of every single show date. He goes back, he goes forth...

[Emoto]

I have an MXR Distortion+ that I bought new sometime in 77-78. I find that if I have it in line with my other effects, when it is turned off it really kills my tone, even with a UGB in the guitar. So, as much as I might want to use it, I don't know how to get it in there without losing tone...

[tigerstrat]

I have an MXR Distortion+ that I bought new sometime in 77-78. I find that if I have it in line with my other effects, when it is turned off it really kills my tone, even with a UGB in the guitar. So, as much as I might want to use it, I don't know how to get it in there without losing tone...

It needs to be bypassed when not in use, either with the guitar loop, or a true-bypass switcher of some kind. You could also convert it to TB with a DPDT or 3PDT switch, but I wouldn't do that to a vintage pedal.

[Emoto]

I have an MXR Distortion+ that I bought new sometime in 77-78. I find that if I have it in line with my other effects, when it is turned off it really kills my tone, even with a UGB in the guitar. So, as much as I might want to use it, I don't know how to get it in there without losing tone...

It needs to be bypassed when not in use, either with the guitar loop, or a true-bypass switcher of some kind. You could also convert it to TB with a DPDT or 3PDT switch, but I wouldn't do that to a vintage pedal.

I have no such qualms about modifying the damn thing. It is useless to me right now. I don't even want it in my effects loop because if all I have on is, say, the reverb or some other effect, it is still going to suck the tone away. I suppose I could put it in a second loop all by itself, but then my switching becomes more work (I am using a BOSS LS-2 line switcher).

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

I agree on it being ok to mod the old MXR pedal.

I have no problem putting in a true bypass switch. If you don't drill for an LED, then you really haven't done any irreversible damage. But who cares. The old ones aren't all that exotic, and it's tool after all. It's a tool that can be improved by adding a true bypass switch. Only if you expect to want to try and sell something as vintage/collectible should you leave it alone. I believe that BYOC offers a clone of the old DOD 250, which essentially is an MXR, so you can use that as a template to clone a true vintage MXR as well as twiddle with various coupling cap's for finding the sound. That beats the hell out of a brand new MXR, and this is a way to have the vintage circuit and parts along with true bypass, an LED, and a DC power jack.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/250.html

I nearly forgot about his dabbling with that Heavy Metal Boss pedal.

And as I recall, my Mutron octaver just seemed kind of squirrly. But those Mutron products are fairly inconsistent, so maybe mine was just not a great one. It seemed to lose track of the played note and the octave was intermittent and sputtery. I always liked how clean and solid the Boss' octave response was.


Brad

[tigerstrat]

I agree on it being ok to mod the old MXR pedal.

I have no problem putting in a true bypass switch. If you don't drill for an LED, then you really haven't done any irreversible damage. But who cares. The old ones aren't all that exotic, and it's tool after all. It's a tool that can be improved by adding a true bypass switch. Only if you expect to want to try and sell something as vintage/collectible should you leave it alone. I believe that BYOC offers a clone of the old DOD 250, which essentially is an MXR, so you can use that as a template to clone a true vintage MXR as well as twiddle with various coupling cap's for finding the sound. That beats the hell out of a brand new MXR, and this is a way to have the vintage circuit and parts along with true bypass, an LED, and a DC power jack.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/250.html

I nearly forgot about his dabbling with that Heavy Metal Boss pedal.

And as I recall, my Mutron octaver just seemed kind of squirrly. But those Mutron products are fairly inconsistent, so maybe mine was just not a great one. It seemed to lose track of the played note and the octave was intermittent and sputtery. I always liked how clean and solid the Boss' octave response was.


Brad

Eh, yeah... just a precaution in case you would want to retain resale value/authenticity. I feel the same way- I dont think of my stuff as collectibles, and I've done it myself, to my vintage Mutron III, and my Thomas Organ wah.

I should have qualifed my Mu Oct opinion by stating I was trying out the BEST one out of my buddy's collection of about half a dozen AND was A/Bing it vs a Taiwanese OC-2. The OC-2 has no octave-Up capability and also has the useless Oct 2 feature, my main gripe is you cannot get the classic Feel Like a Stranger/ Cats Under The Stars tone with the slight fuzz-tinge. The current-production FoxRox Octron has them all beat imo, but those are both pricey (but less than a Mu Oct iirc) and hard to find, and I was lucky enough to be able to receive one in return for helping facilitate a large gear deal a couple years back.

[KWRummie]

I have the Build Your Own Clone distortion pedal. It came with instructions and parts to build to 250 or MXR Distortion+ specs. Specifically, it's built to the earlier script logo version rather than the latter block logo.

[czyfingers]

I have a newer mxr D+ and I have a hard time getting a sound I'm happy with. It comes off a little on the shrill side to my ears too. Where do you guys that have them typically set the knobs for a good Jerry sound?

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Here's a great show to demonstrate the MXR+ in all its glory, in my opinion.

http://www.archive.org/details/gd88-03- ... sbeok.shnf

March 31, 1988 - Meadowlands - sbd


Check out the Let It Grow Jam in particular. Really, this whole show is a great example of Jerry's tone at the pinnacle of its evolution. Talk about a refined and dialed in rig....


Brad

[playingdead]

I'm listening to that Let It Grow clip now, Brad.

That has that sort of nasal midrange to it that I really like ... do you know how he had that thing set up? Was he running an EQ with it at the time to boost the mids?