Digitech + Fernandes

I guess everyone knows what is a Fernandes Nomad is, right? 

It is basically a guitar with a built-in amplifier on it. It is small in size and weighs rather light. In a nutshell, Nomad is a traveller guitars. In Japan, these guitars are known as Zo-series guitars. 

Of course, we don't expect the amp there to sound like a JCM or anything like that. It is after all a 'practice amp' integrated on the guitar. The priority of Nomad is to allow you to practice your guitar while traveling rather than its tone. Some of us may find that unappealing though. 

However, we also know that practice amps may produce tone that is rather appealing when you place a multi-efx unit before it. That is exactly what Fernandes do to their Nomad.

The above is Nomad Deluxe. It is just a Nomad Standard with one extra feature; built-in Digitech signal processor.

The processor is based on RP-100 so if you have tried RP-100 before (quite an old model though), you would know that it is quite a good unit. Oh yes, like the RP-100, there is a drum machine in it. Quite an awesome travel practice guitar.

A factory in hand (DF7)

This is what was inside the Takashimaya bag. Digitech DF-7 Distortion Factory. One the X-series pedals from Digitech. Another popular X-series is the DigiDelay. A few non X-series will be the Grunge, Death Metal, Bad Monkey and Hot Rod and any other Digitech that doesn't have that boring Arial Black or Impact (my guess) font on it.

Did I get it from Swee Lee? Of course not. Not at this time when there is no sales or any promotions. That would cost me quite a lot of money. Anyway, I got this from Subversion for a very good price.

First impression: "Damn it's heavy!". Well, it is heavier than any other Digitech pedals. Well, that doesn't affect the tone and tone is what matters the most. This pedal is called 'Distortion Factory' for the simple reason that it has 7 models of distortion/overdrive in it. It also has a 4-band equaliser like Boss MT-2. In different models, the knobs function different. So it's better to check the manual before trying it out.

Model 1: Ibanez TS-9

You can call it a replication of the famous TS-9. Though it is not exactly the same as TS-9, it is still amazingly close. Moreover, you are not just limited to a Tone knob on DF-7. With Low, Mid and Mid Freq controls available, it gives you a greater EQ flexibility. Some of us do not wish our overdrive to sound too bassy and with DF-7, you can cut down some of it. 

Model 2: DOD Overdrive/Preamp 250

Overdrive? What it actually offers is near the level of a distortion. I haven't try a DOD Preamp 250 before and they are quite hard to find nowadays. I still enjoy this effect though. The real DOD Preamp 250 comes with just a Level knob and a Gain knobs. So this is like a rehousing of Preamp 250 with a 4-band EQ controls.

Model 3: Boss DS-1

Who doesn't know about DS-1? I can't hear much differences between the emulated DS-1 & the real thing. But I definitely enjoy the DS-1 here more than its real orange-coloured kin because of the Mid control that is provided on it. No need for a mid cut mod. 

Model 4: Pro Co Rat

To be frank, I feel that this model is the least appealing model among all the 7. The emulation is a far cry from the real thing. No matter how I tweak, I still don't get the sound I want. So I proceeded to the next model.

Model 5: Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

Another popular Boss. I doubt anyone will fail to recognise that black box of metal. Well, I was never a fan of MT-2. I feel that MT-2 sounds quite dry by all itself alone. Perhaps a bit of chorus may make it sound better? Anyway, the emulation of quite well done. It brings along all that dryness I've been complaining about. 

Model 6: DigiTech Metal Master

This distortion is awesome. The main issue of the real thing is that there is a mid scooped voicing, which some find it rather annoying. The 'Morph' control on the real thing works as the Mid and Mid Freq combined together. You can smoothen the distortion by 'Morphing' it but the two controls are 'married' to each other. DF-7 is the 'divorced' version of Metal Master. Yes, the Morph control is gone but why would you need one when you have a separate controls for Mid and Mid Freq? A Metal Master with 4 band Eq... Ignore the real thing and get this one instead.

Model 7: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff π

Well, what I say about this? It sounds like a fuzz distortion like it is supposed to be. This is an imitation but I can't tell the great difference between the real Big Muff π. Sounds great enough for the $$ you pay for.

Conclusion

If you want to get many different distortions, DF-7 is something you should consider. I love it for its EQ flexibility. I'm not a sound engineer but guitarists do care about their tones so EQ flexibility is very essential, another reason why I dismiss MXR Distortion + when I was looking for a distortion pedal.

Of course, there are some bad things about DF-7. 

1. It's power-hungry. It can suck an alkaline battery dry in 3 hours. This is to be expected because this is a digital unit and it will eat up more power than analog units. Time to get an adapter. I have my Cioks to feed this 'glutton'. This applies to all in the X-series from Digitech since they are all digital. 
2. When you switch from one model to another, you always need to go and retweak every single thing. It will start to get annoying at one point. So best if you note down the settings on a piece of paper. Photographic memory fails most of the time. Trust me.

The above is how the battery compartment looks like. If you own Behringers or other Digitech pedals, you know how to open it up. If not, please refer to the manual. All you need is a pen or a fingernail.

Anything missing? You are supposed to have all the things shown above.

Da Death Metal

Here is the Digitech Death Metal Distortion, something I tried yesterday (because I was too bored). I did try it once last time but not thorough enough to write anything about it. 

As you can see, there is no Gain knob on it. This means you have no control over the intensity of the distortion. It is fixed. You may find it strange but personally, I find that this pedal can do without that gain control. Some of my friends would set the gain at a fixed position and never touching it after that. If you are one of them, maybe this might be for you. 

Instead of a gain, it has the mid knob there though. I think it is more useful that way. I've tried Digitech Grunge and at times, I was often annoyed by Grunge that it doesn't have a mid knob for me to smoothen the distortion. By having a 3-band EQ on a distortion pedal, it gives you a large spectrum of distortion tone. 

This pedal kinda sounds like my Metal End King. It doesn't not have a Amp simulator like Metal End but the distortion it gives is very much like Metal End. So if you are looking for alternatives of Boss MT-2 or find that Metal End King is too big, you may consider this. 

Price: S$107~110. If someone is selling at a price higher than that, don't fall for it. I once had someone trying to sell his Death Metal for $180. Yes.. such people exists.

Digitech @ SV

Digitech effects are now available at SVGuitars.

They do not have a whole range of Digitech pedals such as the stompboxes but there are Digitech RP-series multi-efx available at a very tempting price. HERE IS THE LIST OF RP-SERIES THEY HAVE.
And guess what, they also have the famous Whammy DT.

One of its famous feature is the drop tune feature. Choose how many steps you want to shift down or up and there, you get your drop tuning without messing with the tuner. Quite a neat pedal for those with Floyd rose bridges. For those with a very tight budget, Whammy DT is out of the league. ($510) 

Striking resemblances

I just would like to share something which I've recently got to know.
Take a look at the following pedals,

Digitech Grunge

DOD Grunge (FX69)

OR

Digitech Death Metal

&

DOD Death Metal (FX86)

Any resemblance? Both 'Grunges' have the same relic design, with the same name and even the knobs has similar names. Is it a mere coincidence? Or one of them imitate the other? Copyright infringement? Well, neither.

DOD is under Digitech. Digitech used to produce Death Metal, Grunge and other effects under the name of DOD. It is just recently when it decided to revise these DOD pedals and name them under the Digitech family instead. 

Grunge - the re-review

I've done a review on this pedal before, but not a thorough one. 

'Grunge' is actually a subgenre of alternative rock, somewhat related to that of hardcore punk and heavy metal. So, by naming a pedal 'Grunge', one can tell what type of distortion it is. (It can be considered a metal distortion.)

General

"Loud" is volume level and "Grunge" represents the gain. For metal distortions, I would prefer it to have the mid tonal control as well. However, as you can see, there is only low and high knobs; implying that the mid frequency is fixed. It has a dual-output. The Amp output is for connecting directly to an amp (of course) while the Mixer output is useful when you wish to do recording. 

This pedal has a sturdy built. The housing of the pedal is fully metal. It also has a relic-style design. For those who prefer relic finish, Grunge might be an eye candy to you.

Sound

It is tested through my 'Vendetta' (my Fernandes). This pedal is just very loud despite level clocked at 9 o'clock position, same goes to my 10W practice amp. In fact, I got 2 complaints from 2 different neighbours while testing this out. 

It is also very distorted. The grunge knob doesn't seem to do much of a difference. Grunge is also too distorted. Even with your grunge at its lowest, the distortion is still there. So if anyone is trying to reduce the gain and use it as some mild distortion, you might want to give up that idea.

However, I still like this pedal. Why? It has a very unique tone. Very crunchy and gritty tone which, in my opinion, gives you an boosted effect on palm-muting. Those who like to have a coarse and crunchy lead tone, it would do a perfect job. I, for one, prefer a much smooth distortion which my Metal End King gives with the amp simulator on. I would rather use Grunge for playing rhythm rather than lead. However, it's all a matter of preferences. 
Hooray to sustain lovers, this pedal gives you a good one. Those who know how to utilise feedbacks will also find it useful.


Overall

★★★★☆ : 
-A good friend for anyone seeking for a fierce distortion
-Sturdy-built
-Dual output: Ideal for recording
-Crunchy tone (unique tone). Those wanting to be unique may consider this
-Good sustain


-Very loud and the gain can't be lowered.
-Lack mid frequency controls. 

Tuner times six!

Sick of tuning your guitar one string at a time? Well, that is where being polyphonic comes in handy.

Digitech Hardwire provides us , the guitarist, with HT-6 polyphonic tuner. Instead of plucking one string at a time, all you need to do is to strum and HT-6 picks up different signal from every strings. Interesting huh?

Shopping again & again!

Shopping is what girls always do.

I'm not a girl but I also love to shop - on guitar stuffs~

As I walked pass TY music, I saw that Davis renovation sale is still on. Many stuffs, especially basses are sold out but it doesn't really matter. I still got my S$19 worth FAB Overdrive. Not an very bad overdrive but its tone is very limited. Well, you can't expect Fulltone OCD standard for $19 right. My main purpose of buying this is: it is cheap and I can at least play around with it for relaxation. 

I also got myself a new padded bag for my Fernandes to bring back Myanmar, too. 

This is Rockbag by Warwick, a well-known bag to many guitarists. These bags are going for $35 at SV guitar in Peninsula.
It is very well padded and has more padding at the headstock and neck area of the guitar, to protect the neck of the guitar. As you all may know, this area is the most fragile part of the neck and there are incidents of broken headstocks from falls.

There is also a strap to hold the neck of the guitar at the neck padding as well. The purpose of this strap is to keep the guitar headstock in place and prevent knocking onto the sides and thus keeping the guitar more in tune.

Well, that's all I'd bought. 

Ivan had ordered this Digitech Grunge from themusicden at eBay for S$78.40. It is new, comes with everything it should come with. The effect is installed with a 9V battery as well.

The manual provides quite a lot of useful information, too. Such as how to join the pedals in correct order and so on. It also introduces its other products as well.

Crunchy, Grungy

Need a distortion pedal with large tonal spectrum than normal distortion pedal? Need more crunchy tone than a DS-1.

Digitech Grunge Distortion can fulfill all these needs.

Grunge has a special feature from other distortion pedal. Most distortion pedals, like BOSS DS-1 or ModTone Speedbox Distortion, only have one 'Tone' knob. However, Grunge is equipped with a Low and High instead which gives the user a larger tonal spectrum. It only requires the user's creativity to produce various tone from this Grunge. The DigiTech Website provides a few of its presets though. It is also provided in the manual booklet you get from buying this, too.

Grunge, when in comparison to DS-1, has more crunchy sound, the first impression I got from it when I first listen to it at its website. This would be a suitable pedal for anyone who seek for a distortion power of DS-1 but with more crunch and colour. I personally find DS-1 very raw but empty.

Grunge can be bought at Swee Lee, the sole DigiTech distributor. It costs around S$107. If you are looking for a cheaper deal and willing to wait for 2 weeks, you may also check on eBay. However, eBay has its own limitation; you can't see the pedal's condition beforehand.