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Topic: We've Been Doing This All Wrong! |
Douglas Schuch
From:
Valencia, Philippines
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 2:01 am |
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There is a new pedal out for guitarists that mimics a Bigsby Tremolo bar. In fact, it even looks like a Bigsby tremolo arm!
So it's an electronic device that replaces the mechanical device - yet gets what sounds to me like a pretty good tone as a result. Video:
https://youtu.be/LDJpjD5XQjA
As for what we've been doing all wrong - besides the obvious satire in that comment, I am thinking of the many times I've seen people suggest servo-electric motors that replace our complicated pitch-changing setup of pedals, rods, bell cranks, and fingers. But, why bother with little motors? It can all be done digitally by manipulating the audio! Of course, there is the technical hurdle of needing a pedal to affect a particular string (or 2 or 3 strings) with the same amount of pitch change, no matter where the bar is (i.e., different starting pitches) while leaving all other strings the same. I have no idea how big or small that hurdle is, not being an electronics whiz. But indeed, that is the direction the world is going.
I've gotten rather serious about playing blues harmonica after years of mostly just fooling around with it. The typical recommended amp for loud jams and gigs is something like a '59 Bassman Reissue 4x10 cab. I decided to see how close I could get with gadgets vs heavy tube amps - and I made a pedal board rig that includes a Quilter Interblock (45 watt amp with full features the size of a large effects pedal) and a Joyo "American Sound" pedal that emulates the Fender Tweed tone, all going into a cab I made with 2 Vintage Weber 10" speakers - and several pro players commented on how good it sounded. So why not have a pedal steel that uses digital effect pedals to create the same thing our current mechanical pedals do?
Don't take me wrong - I don't see it happening anytime soon, I just find some of the ideas finding their way into guitar pedals are pretty interesting!
Oh yeah - here's the link in case anyone wants a Bigsby Tremolo Pedal:
https://www.gamechangeraudio.com/shop/bigsby-pedal-limited-offer/
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Bringing steel guitar to the bukid of Negros Oriental! |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 3:13 am
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Thanks for the heads up. Looks promising. I really like the design and look. I put Bigsbys on all my guitars. Wish this was around then. I just finished setting up an F logo B5 unit on a T style yesterday. I also added a B Blender trem arm mechanism to it. Of course this new pedal can't do that, but it would have saved money and frustration on the others ...and weight too.
I tell people I'd put a Bigsby on my pedal steel if I could, so now it looks like I can. At this price, I'll dig a little deeper and watch the progress on these first though. 🤔
Concerning the digital technology to mimic the way individual pedal steel knee and pedal changes behave, I believe that's much too complicated for the technology. The way we bend pedals and half pedal with varying amounts of pedal feel, you'd have to have one of those type bigsby units on every foot and knee appendage with preset limits for ea. one. Even if that were possible, the cost of say, minimum 8 and 4 on a D10 would probably be hugely cost prohibitive.
Last edited by Jerry Overstreet on 22 Jul 2021 8:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 10:25 am
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Well....
Game-Changer Audio COULD do a pedal rack with a gaggle of those little digital gizmos, each user-programmable to do what the equivalent pedal does in the user's copedent, and another user-programmable group up under the hood for the KLs.
It'd be equivalent to those 9-speed automatic transmissions automakers supply with new cars. I gotta confess to a preference for a stick shift.  |
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Robert W Wilson
From:
Palisade, Western Colorado
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 10:45 am Video is 5 stars
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| Almost closed the video early but glad I didn’t! Well done and made me laugh out loud! |
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Cappone dAngelo
From:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 8:15 pm
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It's interesting, but from the few demos I've heard I'm not convinced it can do what a Bigsby can do. From that video it sounds more like a Strat trem to me than a Bigsby.
As for technology to do what a pedal steel does, the technology to isolate individual notes in a chord and change their pitch has existed for a while (I've used the Melodyne ProTools plug-in that does it, for example) but I don't think we're yet at the point where the technology can do it in real time. I suspect it won't be too many years before there is technology to change the pitch of individual notes in a chord - played on a real instrument - in real time and bend them, though don't know whether it will be able to reproduce the nuance of a pedal steel. Time will tell ... |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 10:18 pm
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| Cool idea, and a cool look. I think it would be very difficult to get that typical just-a-hint-of-trembling vibrato or slow Chet-bends that the Bigsby is so good at, since it's foot operated. But for other styles it would be a great way to add some pitch bending ability without modifying a guitar – and without all the tuning problems normally associated with vibratos. |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 8:00 am
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I've said this 20 years ago (and some believed it)...
Yes, the future, IF there is one big enough to warrant the technical development IS electronic tone shifting.
Imagine having an App on your phone, tablet or computer or a plug-in control module, where you can select your set up. It would also adjust tuning to each and every pedal-lever COMBINATION (affecting all or most strings)...
Bodies could be built to have the best resonance possible and the bridge would be "clean" (no chunky large radius, nor mechanics rattling).
I think it's totally possible.
... J-D.
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Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
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