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Topic: New PSG electronic toy - the FreeLoader |
Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Jonathan Shacklock
From:
London, UK
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Posted 7 Jul 2008 8:49 am |
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Hi Brad, looks like a great product.
I have two questions: would you recommend for or against combining a Freeloader in the signal chain with an older, pre variable input impedance Black Box?
Also, is the Freeloader a better option than a BB if you're using a tube amplifier? ie would the tube in the Black Box be somewhat superfluous in front of a tube amp?
Thanks! |
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George Macdonald
From:
Vancouver Island BC Canada
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Posted 7 Jul 2008 9:04 am Freeloader
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| Brad, Does it perform the same as the Black Box, or is there a tone difference due to the tube in the Black Box verses all solid state in the Freeloader? Is there an off and on switch or is the battery in use if the guitar is left plugged in? Thanks, George |
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Billy Murdoch
From:
Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.
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Posted 7 Jul 2008 9:34 am
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Brad,
Similar question from Me.
I am very happy with My "Tonic"Would the Freeloader be a worthwhile addition for Me or is it designed for players who do not already have any of Your products.Black Box,Tonic or Rev.
Best regards
Bily |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 7 Jul 2008 10:31 am
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I would not recommend the FreeLoader to anyone using a Black Box, a Revelation, or a Tonic. The vari-Z knob on any of those three tube devices will offer this "loading" control, but will also have that tube sweetness. I really wanted to offer this thing up to those who don't have such a control for nailing their pickup's tone, or for those who need something super quick and light and compact and self-powered.
But really there are no rules. Personally, I just prefer an all tube signal path from pickup to the output of a preamp. There are many of you who do like the transistor sound. Also, the hybrid of a FreeLoader into a tube preamp may be a very cool sound to some. No rules, just what feels and sounds best when you pick your strings.
For those with an older, pre-Vari-Z Black Box, this would provide the loading control, but you could just as easily have me mod the old Black Box and add the control to it.
Brad |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2008 7:45 am
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Bump.
Last edited by Brad Sarno on 9 Jul 2008 9:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 9 Jul 2008 8:57 am
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Brad,
[/quote]For those with an older, pre-Vari-Z Black Box, this would provide the loading control, but you could just as easily have me mod the old Black Box and add the control to it.
As I live in the UK it would not make sence to return the BB to the USA for the mod, could I do this myself ?,
I am a quaified electrician .. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Steve Feldman
From:
Central MA USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2008 10:17 am
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You have me stumped. Is there a differene between the Freeloader and the Matchbox (other than the color...)? E.g., they both do impedence matching and gain/loading control?
Is there some feature/benefit information that would help us to be more informed? Thanks.
_________________
"...An admission of interest in protracted commentary is certainly no reason to capitalize on surmised aberations that do not exist." - BH |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2008 1:44 pm
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Steve,
I really haven't studied the inner workings of a Matchbox. But it's my understanding that they have a fixed high impedance input, and then a treble cut control with the tone knob, and then a low impedance output to drive the signal, all built around an opamp based circuit.
The FreeLoader fundamentally offers a variable loading control on the pickup itself. That's the tone action right there. No traditional "tone capacitor" like in a standard guitar treble or tone control. This is strictly varying the loading on the pickup itself to tailor the amplitude (strength or height) of the pickup's inherent resonant peak. The FreeLoader doesn't dictate the treble control frequency, that's actually an inherent characteristic unique to each model of pickup. The FreeLoader lets you dial in and tweak that factor. Then after that initial stage, there is an active buffer stage using a single discrete transistor (no opamps) to create a low-impedance output do drive the signal onward.
So it's similar to other "impedance matching" devices in that it offers a low impedance output, but the means of controlling tone is different, as well as the style and design of the active buffer circuit.
Brad |
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Steve Feldman
From:
Central MA USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2008 1:48 pm
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Fair enough. I still have some questions, but I guess I'll have to see if I can find one to try out sometime when there are some out in the field.
Thanks for the info.
_________________
"...An admission of interest in protracted commentary is certainly no reason to capitalize on surmised aberations that do not exist." - BH |
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