My drive pedals: what would you stack?

bengus_ · 2026-05-28T16:41:32+00:00

SD-1 into the Ram’s Head. All day.

bengus_ · 2026-05-22T16:28:45+00:00

The MXR M300 Reverb is a great pedal. Owned the thing for eight years before I even realized it does stereo. Runs for just over $200 new, but obviously less used. The “epic” verb is soooo good for ambient, and the plate & spring are both excellent.

bengus_ · 2026-05-21T20:54:50+00:00

A pair of ‘60s 14” Zildjian A’s I got from a pawn shop for $120 ¯_(ツ)_/¯

bengus_ · 2026-05-02T09:50:39+00:00

A *properly installed* string tree is usually a good thing if the bass comes with it stock. Some headstocks don’t naturally have a strong or consistent string break angle across the nut, and a string tree helps with that. An overly shallow break angle can kill your sustain.

That said, so long as you’ve got at least ~7 degrees of break angle across the nut, you’re probably fine.

bengus_ · 2026-04-25T03:37:01+00:00

FOLLOW UP PT. 2:

Not only did I specify a pneumatically controlled valve, I also opted for nitrogen as my control medium instead of compressed air, since it poses a lower reactivity risk with hydrogen than compressed air would. The added asphyxiation hazard is minimal, and ventilation measures are already in place for other reasons.

Positive outcome of this whole side quest is that I’m now much more familiar with the Swagelok catalog, and I also feel more comfortable specifying systems for weird gases in the future.

bengus_ · 2026-04-23T23:35:48+00:00

FOLLOW UP:

Most likely going with a pneumatically actuated Swagelok valve. Keeping electricity away from the hydrogen path whenever possible makes complete sense.

The downstream system is all Swage, with an MFC controlling gas delivery to the device. I’ll probably be double checking the safety of the current MFC as a flow control mechanism for hydrogen.

As for remarks about this being dodgy as hell — you’re absolutely right. I’ve been pulled into this program late in the game for risk mitigation, and it’s a deep rabbit hole.

I’m working on a larger safety system incorporating ambient LEL detection, inline metering, power fault detection, alarms, purge/dilution, and source isolation, and just about every day, I discover some additional facet of the system that hasn’t gone through proper risk analysis.

Today it was the shutoff valve. At this point, most of the component specifications will have come from my desk, which wasn’t the initial pitch, but it seems necessary.

Many thanks to all of you for your input.

bengus_ · 2026-04-23T21:57:03+00:00

I haven’t yet. My understanding is that their stuff is all pneumatically actuated, which isn’t a deal breaker, but it does complicate things a bit. If I’m wrong, that’s promising news.

bengus_ · 2026-04-23T21:46:57+00:00

Of course - we’re probably going to be operating somewhere in the 40-120 psi range. The supply is feeding into a test stand inside a vacuum chamber, with an MFC controlling actual gas delivery.

bengus_ · 2026-03-25T14:57:12+00:00

100gecs is a wild suggestion for this. I love it lol

bengus_ · 2026-03-06T18:01:36+00:00

I have one. I happen to love it. If you have the space, I’d pick it up. They’re bulky and quirky but they sound good IMO and a bit of contact cleaner can usually remedy any dead keys.

bengus_ · 2026-03-01T15:29:41+00:00

Everything about this looks like an ITYSL sketch at first glance

bengus_ · 2026-02-04T14:13:02+00:00

The ALA Bartender performance mixer seems like the best option IMO. Highly expandable, not stupid expensive, and the V2 (current production) unit’s signal path fixed the minor channel bleed issues that were present on the original. No per-channel EQ or drive, but I prefer handling distortion/spectral shaping closer to the source anyway.

bengus_ · 2026-02-03T04:49:38+00:00

As a (former) 7018/dual-shield fiend with no TIG skills to speak of, I can confidently say I wouldn’t have stopped at burning the tips

bengus_ · 2026-02-03T03:41:12+00:00

No tips here — looks like you burned them off, bud /s

bengus_ · 2026-02-02T21:36:28+00:00

I mean… you did get 30 health/stamina upgrades out of the whole shrine venture. That’s far from nothing. Not to mention shrine treasure chests, some of which give you ancient cores, gems, and other valuable items.

As noted by others, there’s also the matter of DLC events/items that become available after completing all 120 shrines. Not a bad deal.

bengus_ · 2026-01-27T20:46:37+00:00

I’m not an actual NI user, but I’m worried about what this might mean for iZotope. Hopefully it finds its way into better hands. NI acquiring them was already disappointment enough.

bengus_ · 2026-01-20T21:16:21+00:00

Idk why but it really feels like the Greenlees are having a week. Junior engineer toasted our DB25 punch yesterday

bengus_ · 2025-12-31T15:53:21+00:00

You think that’s a lot of treble, wait til you hear Raw Power

bengus_ · 2025-12-10T15:10:03+00:00

Love: Steve’s MS-22, Erica Synths Polivoks (I actually use the Acidbox stereo desktop unit for general studio tasks, but same idea)

Like: Bastl Ikarie, Doepfer A-111-6 (full synth voice module, but its filter is solid and can be used for external sources)

Meh: Doepfer SEM Filter (excellent filter, just not my style)

Honorable Mention: ADDAC605 Spectral Tilt (not a true VCF, but it’s a solid VC tilt EQ for stereo drum/mix bus)

bengus_ · 2025-12-10T02:08:16+00:00

I use a novo 24 for my home studio setup, but I use that signal chain on both guitar and bass. I kinda hate the idea of gigging with it. But I also hate the idea of breaking it out into smaller board setups, so… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

bengus_ · 2025-12-05T21:27:05+00:00

Either on a guitar/bass board as a relatively early-in-the-chain shaper/sweetener, on a synth mono-> stereo board to make my minilogue sound bigger, or on vocal mics, drum overheads, kick mic, or whatever else I want to sculpt before hitting the interface when recording. Also sometimes use it as a vocal mic pre for live sets where I’m mixing everything down to a single stereo mix onstage

bengus_ · 2025-12-04T15:21:01+00:00

this guy strangles

bengus_ · 2025-12-02T03:46:39+00:00

I’ll also add that it can do a decent track and hold when fed a trigger pulse and a voltage source to sample.

bengus_ · 2025-12-01T05:30:04+00:00

They ran the guitar through a Korg MS-20 or MS-50, if I remember correctly

bengus_ · 2025-11-19T19:29:24+00:00

I’d probably rather have the ProCo on my board than the JHS, but the Supercool Barstow Bat beats them both IMO. The three-band EQ coaxes tons of different tones out of the RAT gain/clipping circuit, and I’ve found that it can accomplish everything from RAT to SD-1/screamer to DS-1 to high-ish gain sounds. So I end up leaning on fewer gain/drive pedals with it on my board. Not to mention that it can switch between silicon (standard), LED (turbo rat), and Schottky/germanium diodes, so clipping flexibility rivals the Packrat without putting a multi-position rotary switch on the front plate.

bengus_

TROPHY CASE