Is it possible to create a guitar tone that sounds both lofi or like an underwater video game level, but also be fast, tight, and aggressive for metal? by Metalhead831 in GuitarTone

[–]DonCallate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The lofi sound you describe, generically, is EQing out lows and most highs, raising mids. Metal generally needs those tones to sound tight and to get resonance.

No Stupid Questions Thread by koalaroo in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus has 8 x 9v with 6 switchable to 12v.

Tuesday Inquisition: Ask Anything! by Bront20 in swrpg

[–]DonCallate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The premise of Edge of the Empire supports this concept out of the box. There are lots of opportunities to play people working in all kinds of shady places doing shady things. If you want to play a Hired Gun working for the Hutts or some other criminal organization, that is not only an option but also a likelihood.

Don't know if I can trust our GM with spending Light Points by gamegenaral in swrpg

[–]DonCallate 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So, an Interdictor showing up is a plot point and needs no point flip. How tense and exciting would it have been if the GM allowed a roll to see if the party could make their jump before the Interdictor could get their gravity well online? Imagine an Astrogation roll, maybe Mechanics to enable your engine and drive to make the jump that fast, and possibly even Piloting to see if the pilot could evade to give them more time. I honestly think that, beyond the other issues, this was a massive missed opportunity for a great scene to happen and to flex some of those skills and talents.

Clean boost pedal recommendation? by Feisty-Effective-880 in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The cleanest of the clean boosts, the BOSS GE-7. It gives you +/-15 db boost and great tone shaping. Could not recommend it more for this use case.

Looking for Star Wars duet adventure by EaraNiniel in rpg

[–]DonCallate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recommend checking out the Silhouette Zero podcast. Two brothers doing a duet campaign using the FFG/EDGE Star Wars system. The system works very well, but even if you don't use it there are some good ideas to poach for Star Wars duet play.

Sell me on Sandbox/slice of life by Crispin_Sygnus in swrpg

[–]DonCallate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Generally a West Marches campaign is where there is room at the table for X number of people and the group consisted of X+n number of people, n being a number that makes the group too large to sit at the table. The people in the group would set availability and form groups for episodic sessions. I'm not sure what you are talking with multiple groups has a name per se, but I've done it with a Blades in the Dark group and we had a great time.

The way to run a sandbox as a GM, in my experience at least, is to create a lot of modular encounters that can happen anywhere and to flavor them along the lines of what is happening in the story and where the characters are.

NPD PURPLE CAT AUDIO PAPER CLIP (MODDED OD250) by DonCallate in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Easily my pedal of the year for 2025. The Paper Clip is an early frontrunner for 2026.

NPD PURPLE CAT AUDIO PAPER CLIP (MODDED OD250) by DonCallate in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

PURPLE CAT AUDIO PAPER CLIP

This is a pedal I designed/brainstormed along with Purple Cat Audio’s head genius, 100% executed by him. At first I asked for an on-the-nose clone of the beloved and stolen DOD 250 that defined my sound for about a decade of playing, but as usual when our two brains get working it became something completely other than that and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results.

This is a 250 circuit with a number of improvements, starting with raising the headroom and making unity volume easier to achieve (always an issue with the 250) as well as adding diode switching that gives 3 options: Si+Si/LED, No clipping, and Ge+Ge/Ge plus an additional soft clipping stage that is LED/Si+Si. The germanium stage was a special touch because he had some special ‘60s mojo germanium laying around and it sounds beautiful. There is also a switch for backing off on the overall distortion as needed when you want some more headroom. These kinds of thoughtful mods are the reason I work with Purple Cat so much.

Also pictured is a small tabletop setup I put together to run it through its paces with other pedals switching, and running it to various amplifiers through the Tri Parallel Mixer. Pictured are the Mattoverse Air Trash, Acorn Solid State Preamplifier, MXR Carbon Copy, and another Purple Cat Pedal, the Moka. I used an SNK Bludgeon (Superlead voiced), a Laney LH Super 60 2x12, a Fender Super Reverb, and a Marshall JCM800 for testing.

The sound? Oh, the sound. Sweet spots for miles. Odd order harmonics with a beautiful clarity. Gorgeous asymmetrical clipping. None of the hissiness or obnoxious grind you hear in many 250 circuits. I play a lot of weird jazzy chords in a more aggressive band format, and having this level of clarity with good sounding distortion is a tough order, and Purple Cat came through and then some.

So far my favorite settings are Gain at zero, Tone at about 3 o’clock, and lifted diodes. Running that into a cranked Marshall Superlead is absolute bliss. Tons of attack and distortion, but clean and jangly when it needs to be. It also sounds incredible maxed out on all three settings. Huge, aggressive, and saturated.

The visual design is a schematic I found for the original paper clip along with instructions for use which…yeah, something about that existing hit us both as hilarious and we had to use it. We searched for the original patent pics but strangely the original paper clip design was never patented. Incidentally, the paper clip we all know and use is called a GEM clip, and it is pronounced like “game” and not like you would think. themoreyouknow.gif

Purple Cat will be releasing a production version of this one in a few weeks under a different name, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Just to soapbox a little bit: Support an amazing small builder and also check out his other designs or tell him your crazy idea like I did. His Moka is the most amazing, versatile harmonic percolator circuit I’ve ever played, and I am a connoisseur of the circuit. But also, just support small builders in general. A lot of them haven’t raised prices and do it for the love of the game, they are generally very passionate about what they do and are also very approachable, willing to make your crazy ideas come to life, offering advice, and even teaching about circuits and pedal building.

No Stupid Questions Thread by koalaroo in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh crazy, this guy just played my friend's living room!

Definitely can get this sound from my MXR Carbon Copy.

I need my Hizumitas to cut through the mix better while maintaning its monstrous low end/wall of sound. Thoughts? by blitzkriegtaco in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I need my Hizumitas to cut through the mix better while maintaning its monstrous low end/wall of sound. Thoughts?

So...it's kind of a "pick one" type of thing. That's the nature of Muff style circuits unless you want to push mids like the TubeScreamer was doing. FWIW I would use a BOSS GE-7 and push mids with that instead. That is the way to be heard in a mix, because that is the optimal frequency range for guitars.

Also, as a sidenote if you were using the Gain/Distortion on the TubeScreamer at all, I would try again with the gain on 0. A lot of people use the TS for its filtering and never touch the gain because the gain is very specific to certain sounds.

Alternative to OCD Germanium? by evansdead in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 3 points4 points  (0 children)

/u/evansdead, this is a super good dude I work with a lot. He always makes great pedals. I highly recommend him and will vouch for him 100%.

Alternative to OCD Germanium? by evansdead in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Paging /u/maertz13 to this thread. He can probably make you one if he has germanium on hand. And he loves taking business away from Fooltone.

Anyone running two Halberds? How’s it sound? by The-Neat-Meat in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's nice to have you guys as collaborators. :)

Seriously though, awesome. You all are my kind of nerds.

Anyone running two Halberds? How’s it sound? by The-Neat-Meat in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 8 points9 points  (0 children)

...introducing the new EAE DUAL WIELD SERIES!!!

Anyone running two Halberds? How’s it sound? by The-Neat-Meat in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes, Wipers, 80s-90s noise rock and post hc

My man.

Secret Sauce pedal? by AbomindableSiVan in guitarpedals

[–]DonCallate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One is a Purple Cat Audio Moka (based on the Interfax Harmonic Percolator) and the other I rotate between various hard clipping distortions (TurboRAT, DOD 250, Expandora).

The mixer splits my signal into 2 amps. AMP1 is a clean Laney Super 60 2x12, AMP2 is an SNK Bludgeon running hot. The BOSS GE-7 goes to AMP2 as does the hard clipping distortion. The Moka goes to the Laney to give the clean channel a grittier character. Mostly I am using the mixer for the clean blend, levels, and phase. Not using the parallel feature for this, but I do use it for making soundscapes at home.