Your STRANGEST effect ever?

[Rhcole]

Hands down for me, Digitech XP-300 Space Station.


I thought it sounded cool but never knew exactly what to do with it.
The string synths were cool but frustrating because they needed a blend knob to mix with regular sound. It was all or nothing, which meant I had to use a splitter box with a mixer.

[admin]

FWIW - The Digitech EX-7 Expression Factory includes a portion of the XP300 Spacestation
http://digitech.com/en-US/products/ex-7-expression-factory

The Expression Factory™, is the pedal that lets you modulate a whole pedal board of classic expression models. From Wah and Whammy™ to models of effects like the A/DA™ Flanger and our own highly collectable Space Station™ Synth Swell™.

Thanks to two-in-one concentric controls, you can tweak three key controls of each expression effect and season them with your choice of seven classic distortion stompbox models piped in from our DF-7 Distortion Factory™.

Add Flexible Output Mode™, cast metal treadle and sleek carbon fiber finish and you have an industrial strength tool for anyone who likes to tread a treadle.

More Details
*DigiTech, X-Series, CIT, Flexible Output Mode, DOD, Whammy, Space Station, Synth Swell, Johnson Amplification, Metal Master, Expression Factory and Distortion Factory are trademarks of Harman International Industries, Inc. *Other product names modeled in this product are trademarks of their respective companies that do not endorse and are not associated or affiliated with DigiTech or Harman International Industries, Inc. A/DA, Dunlop, Vox, Cry Baby, Clyde McCoy Wah, Unicord Uni-Vibe, Leslie, Pro Co Rat, Boss, DS-1, Metal Zone, Ibanez ,EH, Big Muff, Fender, Deluxe Reverb, Bassman, Marshall and VHT Amplification are trademarks of other manufacturers and were used merely to identify products whose sounds were reviewed in the creation of this product.

Features
Seven classic expression pedal models
Seven classic distortion stompbox models
Three expression effect controls plus three distortion controls
Flexible Output Mode™ -- configure outputs for amp, mixer or both
CIT™ models classic speaker cabinets
Cast-metal treadle and chassis
Unique carbon-fiber look
Non-skid rubber base
Power supply included

[Elantric]

I still own one of these
MORLEY EVO-1 ROTARY ECHO VOLUME-


http://www.wingspreadrecords.com/morley_page.html

[Rhcole]

Ha! I had the Echo Volume also! That was a strange beast, the oil drum echo had a sound like no other!

[Elantric]

And I own one of these too

1971 Oberheim Ring Modulator


Which is identical to the Maestro version ( different paint job)

[Elantric]

1978 Korg Stage Echo

[Elantric]

1980 All analog Ashly Stereo Parametric EQ  - real tool

[Elantric]

1967 Schaller Bow-wow / Yoy-Yoy pedal

[Elantric]

1958 Rowe DeArmond Tremolo - uses a motorized mechanical pivot for a mercury switch

[Elantric]

I had one of these - but it burned up in the Valley Arts Fire

1974 Delta Concept 1 Tube Amp with built in Tape Echo (A Univox EC-100 clone based on a Ford/Philco car 8 track player mechanism)

Had preset push buttons for "Delta / Tele / Gib / Fend / Mar"








interesting thread from 2010 with Harvey Gerst - the Delta Amp designer
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end/538672-early-70s-delta-concept-1-amp-speakers.html

Yup, the Delta Concept I is in our studio and everybody loves it. It's only the head, so I'm still looking for the original cabinets to go with it. The speakers present a 1.2 Ohm constant impedance load to the amp, so the speakers can't be used with any other amplifier.

It's now 36 years old and it was way ahead of its time - with some features only starting to appear in current amplifiers. I doubt the figure of a hundred units out there; more like maybe 10 or 15.

[Rhcole]

"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

[ericar123]

Mine was an Electro Harmonix guitar synth back in the early 80s I think.
I could almost get some usable sounds but just got frustrated with its
blurping and farting.

[shawnb]

One of my first effects was an EH Attack Equalizer.   Boosted fundamentals & did some interesting things with tone.   You could make some pretty big & also some pretty jangly sounds (ala Jerry Harrison) with that.   

[Now_And_Then]

Attack Equalizer

Never heard of that. EHX is featuring this, errrr... "film" on their product page. Now that "film" might do a lot of things, but I'm pretty sure that one thing which it won't do, is sell any pedals.

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And it reminds me of my own "strangest pedal": the S. Hawk Tonal Expander.


EDIT: Addendum:

I listened to another demo of the Attack Equalizer and while the effect on guitar wasn't anything special to my ears, what it did to a bass guitar was really outstanding; although the bass was being played through a guitar amp, it sounded great. I'm going to have to look into this further, especially as the Attack Equalizer is quite inexpensive, at $68 new from *many* vendors...

! No longer available

[aliensporebomb]

Hands down for me, Digitech XP-300 Space Station.
! No longer available

I thought it sounded cool but never knew exactly what to do with it.
The string synths were cool but frustrating because they needed a blend knob to mix with regular sound. It was all or nothing, which meant I had to use a splitter box with a mixer.

The Space Station has a petition going to get it re-made in a modern version! 
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/update-the-space-station

The guys behind the petition posted this video:

[aliensporebomb]

Prior to the VG-99 it would be using the Lexicon Vortex to produce ambient pad textures but it could do so much more than that:
! No longer available

Basically, on the Lexicon Vortex "presets" were best thought of "control points" in complex programs.  I was going to do a Vortex demo of all Vortex demos.  Maybe I should now while it still works 100%.

There were patches with vibrant ring modulation, violent self oscillation, weird smeary modulation of repeating echoed envelope filtered textures, strange unclassifiable sounds that could make any instrument put through it sound like something else.

Oh and I actually typed this document in from some marketing material on the Vortex that was never in the manual - see Vortex applications notes:
http://pod.podzone.org/loopage.html

It goes on to detail processing guitar, keyboard, bass, drums and vocals too.  But it does so much more than even Lexicon knew I'd better do a video.  It was great for making drum machines sound like real drummers.

[chrish]

Yes to the vortex demo. Is the vg99 able to morph fxs like the vortex does? I almost purchased a vg99 yesterday but thinking about another boss sy-300 instead to try and keep it out of 'obselidia', the fictional encyclopedia of obsolete things, at least for awhile. In case anyone is interested, reverb.com has a 99 for 348 plus shipping.

[imerkat]

whatever this is;

[lespauled]

My strangest effect was many years ago, on stage and the guitar cable had some kind of short in it, during a benefit concert.  It started just before a solo break.  I noticed that it would work fine, if I put a little pressure on it from the side.  I played the rest of the song with my left hand only, and my right pressing on the chord.  I didn't switch it out during the lead break.  I actually incorporated it into the lead.  It added a percussive sound quality that I haven't been able to match since.   That was also my most memorable.  Still to this day, when we get together,  friends of friends will bring up that benefit concert, and say "remember that guy that played that lead with the broken cable?"   

[sixeight]

Like a kill switch with a difference...

[hading]

Basically, on the Lexicon Vortex "presets" were best thought of "control points" in complex programs.  I was going to do a Vortex demo of all Vortex demos.  Maybe I should now while it still works 100%.

I'd love to see that too. I actually have one of those, but never fully got my head around it and it kind of got stuck in a corner. Would be great to actually use it.  I'm planning to do a GP-10/SY-300 combination, and I'm sure it'd be even more interesting with the Vortex following.

[Cups]

My strangest effect is my GP-10. Inspiring noise.

[sixeight]

One I am considering is Adrian Belew's Flux:fx. Must be the wildest effect ever made...

[Now_And_Then]

My strangest effect was many years ago, on stage and the guitar cable had some kind of short in it, during a benefit concert.

Was it true bypass?

[aliensporebomb]

I totally forgot: at one rehearsal of my old band I connected my guitar through all of my own effects and then all of the effects of the other guitar player to make the sound of "the rings of saturn falling apart". 

The VG-99 COULD do morphing similar to the Vortex but what I like the Vortex for is the slowly undulating analog-sounding textures with certain presets.  I've never actually used the morphing the way Lexicon envisioned it.  Rather, sometimes the "space between morphs and the traveling to and fro" was what sounded the coolest.  So I tried to find ways to extend the
"travel time" between A-B morphs but the best was the device had pressure sensitive volume control kind of like a good tube amp.

Weirdest VG-99 patch?  A toss up between my "ripping tapes" patch:
https://soundcloud.com/aliensporebomb/vg-99-pods-ripping-tapes

And my patch that imitates John McLaughlin's insane "Miles Out" sound from the old Mahavishnu Inner Worlds album (see attachment):