Finished the slow gear - whats the point?

[Paul Marossy]

dont think a guitar can sound like a violin without a synth...

Yeah, that, or you play with a lot of distortion on the verge of feedback all the time, but keep it controlled. I've been able to do that before, and you can get it to sustain for a very long time with a little bit of finger vibrato. It's real tricky to get everything just right to do this, though! 

[$uperpuma]

I gtoa pretty decent Violinish/Synthy sound using the Big Muff and Small Clone together on the Guitar center Demo Station... made me want to leave immediately and build one of each

[MikeH]

I've also heard that compression is a must to get the Slow Gear to behave properly.

[Mark Hammer]

I don't think it is a "must". but the SG only fades in the volume of whatever signal is there.  It only knows there IS signal and knows nothing about the signal properties, so it does not adjust gain on the basis of those properties.  If your input signal has plenty of sustain, then if you set the rise time and sensitivity so that it fades in slowly, you will still have plenty of signal to notice fading in.  If the input signal has a very quick decay, then the SG will fade in the tail end of a quickly dying signal and you won't hear it as the desired effect.  So, yes, a signal with some sustain to it is preferred.  How you produce it is up to you and your instrument.  If the instrument is capable of doing it alone, great.  If it needs some assistance, then use it.

[Paul Marossy]

I just wish I could get my Slow Gear to actually work. It's one of the few things that I have built that I just have not been able to get to work.