As I have mentioned before, I am not much of a in-line guitar effect pedals guy but when I do take a higher end guitar pedal for a test drive and purchase it, I want to let you know. So with that said, I went down to my local family owned guitar store, Guitarville in Shoreline, Wash. and said, “hey Dave”, I have heard positive things about the MXR carbon copy delay pedal could you please plug one in and show me what it does.. WOW!, this pedal is beyond cool. For me I will use this in post-production on a track to add spacey, 1950’s B-movie reverberation, Moog style sound effects. It not just a delay, it is a pedal you can put on a desk and modulate in the mix wide to narrow sounds patterns.

If you looking to upgrade / add to your pedal board I highly suggest this delay pedal, with my bias opinion get rid of all lower quality pedals. Less is more in the chain between your guitar and amp, Less white noise, less problems, less tone loseage, less weight, less cheap pedals.

If you use “in the box” effects for your mixing, take a few more moments to make a better song and use analog effects, it will come through as a saturate full body sound that will stand out instead of some hearing or saying “yep, that is a plug-in”

I went into Guitarville with the idea to buy my son a gift, I left with two MXR’s in hand because after the demonstration I knew if I purchased just one for my son, a week later the pedal would end up in the studio and I would feel bad for taking my son’s cool new pedal.

Here is the official MXR press-release about the Carbon Copy: The MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay features a completely analog audio path for the ultimate in rich, warm delay—made possible only by old-school bucket brigade technology. This design boasts an amazing 600ms of delay time with optional modulation via a top-mounted switch and a simple, three-knob layout that controls Delay time, Mix (dry/wet blend), and Regen (delay repeats)—all in a pedal no bigger than a Phase 90. In addition, two internal trim pots offer user-adjustable width and rate control of the modulation for even more tonal options. The Carbon Copy will take you from crisp “bathroom” slap echoes to epic, Gilmour-esque delays with a twist of a knob. True hardwire bypass, single 9-volt operation, and stage-ready blue LEDs round out the package.

This edition of artist of the week has to do with songwriter’s. Writing a song for commercial success is almost as challenging as landing on the moon. Andy Werth is one of those composers that can take thoughtful lyrics, catchy hook and bring them together in a soulful upbeat “Tower of Power” feel. Andy style weaves together piano, organ, horn section and a composition that makes you want to listen and share what this artist has to sing about.

Now as a band The Young Sportsmen are all great musicians and songwriters but in this edition I wanted to showcase Wesley from The Young Sportsmen who as the front-man is a very talented pop/rock vocalist and songwriter. The Young Sportsmen have released 2 albums back to back Death to Palaces and If you want it. Here is a quote from Three Imaginary Girls: “It has taken about 18 months for this Seattle-based power-pop band to release a proper LP; Death to Palaces is that album and in several ways, it’s stunning. To put it bluntly, this is a great record by a great band and I can only see them getting better and better. It’s easily one of my favorites of 2007.” - Chris B., Three Imaginary Girls

Well, Summer is here and FBS will be showcasing many events. We are supporting and sponsoring many styles of music and events from all-ages to 21 & over. Go out and support the artist at the venues and purchase their music that was recorded at FBS

Here is a channel strip that we use on a daily basis, so I took the factory specs so you could have a closer look at the gear we use.

The Avalon VT-737SP features a combination of TUBE preamplifiers, opto-compressor, sweep equalizer, output level and VU metering in a 2U space.

PREAMPLIFIER
The VT-737SP has three input selections: 1. The VT-737SP features a higher-performance microphone input transformer with +48v phantom selection. 2. Instrument DI high source input with jack located on front panel. 3. Balanced line input, discrete high-level Class A. The Class A preamplifier utilizes two cascaded, dual vacuum tube triodes configured with minimum negative feedback. A high gain switch boosts the overall gain of the preamplifier. The four high quality tubes are configured as singled ended anode coupled followers. A passive-variable high pass filter and hard-wire relay bypass completes the input signal conditioning. The phase reverse relay is available on all three inputs.

OPTO-COMPRESSOR
The opto-compressor features a minimum signal path design with twin Class A vacuum tube triodes for gain matching. The optical attenuator acts as a simple passive level controller. Full dynamic control from soft compression to hard- knee limiting can be achieved with threshold, ratio-compression, attack and release controls plus gain reduction selection on the large VU meter. Special spectral control including de-ess is available with the dual sweep mid EQ to side-chain switch. The EQ section can be flipped pre or post the opto-compressor via a front panel switch for alternate effects and tone shaping. Two VT-737SPs can be linked via a rear panel link cable for stereo tracking. The compressor bypass is a sealed silver relay for the most direct signal path.

SWEEP-EQUALIZER AND OUTPUT LEVEL
The VT-737SP equalizer utilizes 100% discrete, Class A-high-voltage transistors for optimum sonic performance. The high and low frequency bands provide the smooth characteristics of an all passive design, while the dual mid bands include variable frequency and switched Q-width selection. The enhanced range of the mid bands is extended into the high and low bands by the use of X10 frequency multipliers. The bypass switch incorporates a sealed silver relay for the most direct signal path. When the EQ to sidechain is engaged, the high-low EQ remains in the audio path for “tone enhancement”. The output level control provides a variable control of the overall signal path. The output amplifier utilizes another dual triode vacuum tube driving a 100% discrete, Class A, high-current, balanced and DC coupled low noise output amplifier.

AVALON VT-737SP FEATURES

Vacuum tube triode signal path, transformer balanced microphone input, high-voltage circuits for maximum headroom to +30dB, low noise -92dB, internal discrete power supply with toroidal transformer, soft-start tube life extender, stereo link for compressors, all discrete Class A equalizer with musical passive filter design, sealed silver relays for signal routing, large control knobs with professional conductive plastic potentiometers, VU meter for output level monitoring.

The Rainieros are in the studio at this time laying down some real roots Honky-Tonk swing. These guys are playing everywhere and often. We used a traditional mid 1950’s recording technique’s with ribbon microphones capturing the true recording sounds of yesterday’s country music. If you enjoy the true swing country you will really enjoy hearing The Rainieros.

The Mary McPage Band is in the studio at this time, recording a much awaited release for her fan base. This will be a 11-song album to be sold at events throughout the region. Later this year Mary will be recording a all original follow-up release, so in 2008 you will have the best of both worlds from Mary. 1st, a great cover album with all your blues favorites you enjoy ( to be released mid-summer) and coming before Christmas even more new original music for your listening pleasure.