STOMP SCHOOL
TOM HUGHES
Back by popular demand, this month’s
edition of “Stomp School” is dedicated
to answering questions sent to us by you,
the readers of this column. If you have any
questions for us, please feel free to send
them to stompschool@formusiciansonly.com,
and we’ll do our best to answer them.
Okay, let’s get started.
One of my favorite settings on the A/DA
Flanger is the one described above, as it
produces an excellent “steel drum” guitar
sound. The Manual knob allows you to dial in
a wide palate of metallic timbres. You can get
a similar effect from most any flanger with
this feature, but none of them nail the steel
drum sound quite like the A/DA. If you’re
not getting a sound similar to what’s been
described, then it may be that something
isn’t working properly, possibly due to the
modification you mentioned.
More Stomp School Q & A
If budget is a concern, you can try a daisy-chain type power supply like the Godlyke
Power-All or Visual Sound 1 Spot. Whatever
you choose, nearly any music store you
go to will have something available that’s
designed for pedals.
Q: I have an A/DA Flanger that I got
recently. It’s the model with the AC cord,
as opposed to a wall wart. At some point,
it was modified to have a dry output. I
am trying to figure out the function of
the Manual knob. It seems to have little
effect on the sound when I turn it. Is this
normal, or is it possible that the Manual
knob is not working properly? Thanks for
any help you can provide.
Q: Hi, I need an adapter for my vintage
Ibanez AD9 delay pedal. Regular aftermar-
ket transformers made the ones I used to
have buzz like crazy.
A: The best way to hear what the Manual
knob does on the A/DA Flanger is to turn
the Range knob (depth) all the way
counterclockwise so it’s off. This will freeze the
LFO, so the effect doesn’t sweep. Try turning the Enhance knob (feedback) all the
way up to make the effect more dramatic.
Now turn the Manual knob while you’re
playing. It should manually sweep the range
of the flanger. This has become a fairly
common feature on many flangers, such as
the MXR Flanger. One of the things that
sets the A/DA apart is the addition of an
expression pedal jack, which will allow you
to do the manual sweep with a pedal.
A: The buzz you’re hearing is most likely a 60Hz
AC hum. Using a cheap, generic wall-wart can
allow noise and hum in your signal. You need to
use a good quality power supply made specifically for audio equipment that has noise filtering
and voltage regulation. The Boss 9V PSA adapters are a good choice for the AD9 and most
vintage effects. Dunlop, Danelectro, and Electro-Harmonix also make power adapters designed
specifically for pedals. The Dunlop comes with a
Boss-style barrel plug, or the 1/8" pin-type, like
an old MXR or Electro-Harmonix effect.
Q: Last month, I purchased a Marshall
Echohead delay pedal. Three days later it
took a massive dump. The only other pedal
I used in the chain was a Digi Tech Death
Metal distortion. This setup worked and
sounded killer for two days. The third day,
I put some Danelectro 9V batteries in the
Echohead. The result was a horrible popping and squealing sound, and ultimately
the death of the pedal. The guy at the local
guitar shop said the pedal blew up simply
because I ran a distortion into a delay pedal.
I have been told conflicting information ever
since this happened. I now run the Digi Tech
into a TC Electronic Nova Delay, and so far
I’ve had no problems at all. Yes, I still run
it this way despite what some people say,
because it sounds astronomically better.
What are your thoughts on this matter?
If you have several pedals that you need to
power, you should definitely consider something like the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2
Plus or T-Rex Fuel Tank, each of which will
give you up to eight isolated power outlets.
A: That’s really strange, on a lot of levels. A
distortion pedal should not be able to actually damage a delay pedal unless something is
wrong with one of the pedals. It would sound
very bad when you played, for a long time,
well before any damage could be done. This
sounds like a fluke. We weren’t really sure how
to answer this one, but we will say the info
you got at the guitar shop is highly suspect.
Try referring to our January column for tips on
troubleshooting your pedal problems.
Well, that’s all for now. Check back with us
again next month for more “Stomp School”
Q & A. Until then, keep on stompin’!
Tom’s A/DA Flanger, “Steel Drum Setting.” Photo by Tom Hughes
Tom Hughes
(a.k.a. Analog Tom) is the owner and proprietor of For
Musicians Only ( formusiciansonly.com) and author of
Analog Man’s Guide To Vintage Effects. Questions or
comments about this article can be sent to:
stompschool@formusiciansonly.com.
Analog Man
( analogman.com) is one of the largest boutique
effects manufacturers and retailers in the business,
established by “Analog” Mike Piera in 1993.
Mike can be reached at AnalogMike@aol.com.
