Operating Theater: DOD DFX94 Digital Delay / Sampler

Doktor Ross Sewage13 Comments

This was another non-functioning pedal handed to me by my friend Mauz, the DOD DFX94 Digital Delay / Sampler. I’d gotten pretty cocky after I’d fixed his DOD FX9, so I took this one on with confidence.

DOD FX94

When working, the DFX94 was purported to have a spacious maximum of 4 seconds delay along with an “infinite repeat” and a sample function. I had no idea how to get any of these special functions to work as finding a DOD manual online is kind of like trying to find a funny Owen Wilson movie. What I did know was that the normal delay functions wouldn’t power up.

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Class or ass: DOD FX-17 Volume / Wah

Doktor Ross Sewage3 Comments

One guitarist I played with was adamant that mute switches and volume pedals were for the unskilled. He insisted every guitar player should learn how to use their volume knob on the guitar or they shouldn’t be playing. A bold statement from a big dick. For the rest of us pussies, there’s devices like the DOD FX-17 Volume / Wah pedal, manufactured from 1987-2000.

DOD FX17

Since the first wah, people have been trying to find new ways to do the same thing. First it was the Crybaby style pinion gear to turn the pot and then a pulley system to get more sweep, but that could always lead to scratchy pots. Morley invented the LDR light-based system with a movable curtain to avoid scratchy pots, but the curtain system took up some room.

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Occupy 924 Gilman: Ghoul show report

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Last week I finished up a poster for the Ghoul show on January 8th (on sale now in my webstore). That was the easy part. As it turned out the show itself was the real ordeal.

15ghoulposter_gp

924 Gilman is a historic punk club situated in an industrial neighborhood of Berkeley. It’s helped give rise to (for better or for worse) bands such as Green Day, Primus, Mr. Bungle, Rancid, No Doubt, and the Offspring. Tankcrimes Records decided to put on a label showcase there featuring Ghoul, A.N.S., Kicker, and Fucktard.

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Gross Anatomy: Ghoul Poster

Doktor Ross Sewage4 Comments

I’d been planning to do a gig poster for the upcoming Ghoul show / Tankcrimes showcase at world famous punk club 924 Gilman. I was beginning to think it wouldn’t happen what with too much work, the holidays, etc. Well, work slowed down. Instead of sitting around playing with my new Christmas socket wrench set, angle grinder, or digital soldering station, I got to work. I’ve had enough time dicking around with pedals. It was time for some more art!

Strictly speaking, me being able to screen print my own 18×24″ poster is hardly DIY. It’s been my occupation to print posters since my utter failure to make it in the design industry. Nice work if you can get it and my boss is a peach (he hates when I call him boss). It’s still a fair amount of work to carry the project forth from beginning to finish.

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MXR Distortion+ sees the light

Doktor Ross Sewage3 Comments

John Cobbett of Hammers of Misfortune is an old school kind of guy and I’m not just making age jokes. He runs a Marshall JCM800 for some transparent rockin’ tone from his ’70s Les Paul guitar. A great set-up and dead easy. Maybe too easy. When it comes to leads, it can be hard to pop out over a six-piece prog band. With no boost channel to switch to, Cobbett uses another classic, the MXR Distortion+ guitar pedal. It subtly boosts his tone and adds some more skreem to those licky lixxx.

MXR Distortion+

After losing his first one, John picked up this “beauty” off of eBay. Back when we played together in a band, I was just starting to dick around with all my own pedals. Cobbett asked if it was possible to add a power indicator light to his Distortion+. It was and is. Looking back, though, I think I could’ve done it better.

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Operating Theater: DOD DFX9 digital delay

Doktor Ross Sewage16 Comments

My jefe, Mauz, handed me this broken hunk of gear in the hopes I could figure out what was wrong. The DOD DFX9 digital delay was a pretty cool pedal back when it worked, he assured me. I put it in a drawer for a few months until I got around to check it out. I was dubious about taking on the repairs of some cheap-o digital pedal.

DOD DFX9

The DFX9 was DOD’s shot at BOSS, their far east competition. BOSS’s DD series of compact digital delays had become quite popular in the ’80s and was surpassing older, analog delays like the DOD FX90. Self-proclaimed as “America’s pedal,” DOD would not go down without a fight. Non-functioning and with the jacks falling out, Mauz’s DFX9 pedal was a casualty of the war that DOD lost. FYI, I got ADD about curing the DFX9 of its PTSD ASAP.

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Extreme BOSS DS-1 Makeover: Sewage Edition

Doktor Ross Sewage4 Comments

Mauz, my boss and friend, is probably most well known for playing in Dystopia. He’s also played in Mindrot, Nigel Peppercock, Medication Time, and now heads up the oi punk outfit Kicker. One day at our print shop a year or so back, I noticed he had a horribly beat up BOSS DS-1. It looked like shit and something was wrong with it. He handed it over to the Doktor.

BOSS DS-1

Just to be clear, that’s not what his pedal looked like. That’s a clean, normal DS-1, a classic in the distortion world. It’s a lot of people’s first stomp box. It’s a simple IC distortion circuit using silicon diode clippers and a very basic low-high tone control. That’s also why it’s a fun pedal to work on, because there’s a lot you can do. Mauz’s DS-1 pedal was spray painted black by some old punk rocker and was missing all the knobs. It needed to be cleaned up, but the technical refurbishing came first.

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Class or ass: Ampeg Pro SVTRC rack case

Doktor Ross Sewage8 Comments

My Ampeg SVT-2 Pro is a champ. It can roar like the SVT buried inside of it and sing with all the bells and whistles of a graphic EQ, direct out, and even more I haven’t figured out yet. It’s got two major problems, though. One is the weight. It’s a beast, weighing in at 68 pounds unmounted. When Impaled toured the first time with Incantation, Kyle unlovingly dubbed it “the brick.”

Ampeg SVT-2 Pro

The second problem is the look. The SVT-2 and 2 Pro are victims of their time… the nineties. Everyone was looking to put things in rack mounts. Rack mounts look like shit. They belong in the back of a Google server warehouse, not at a rock show. Ampeg partially addressed this situation when they made the Ampeg SVTRC series. These are nice looking rack mount boxes for their stupid looking series of heads. I wanted one. My 2 Pro is a good amp on the inside and I wanted it housed like one.

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