A challenge - could we do it?

Mark Hammer · August 17, 2011, 11:18:09 AM

You know those documentaries you see where a community gives up something for a while? So, the whole town gives up TV or junk food or internet. Or a family lives without electricity, "just like the pioneers". Or those shows like "Wife Swap" where families do without the regular mom for a week or two. And I guess if you like Seinfeld there are always those other kinds of contests or self-restraint commitments.

Could we collectively do without fuzz/distortion/OD here for a week? I mean, seriously. Could we go for that long without ANY threads being started or added to that involve harmonic distortion? It could be about filters, or wahs or delay or chorus or truly clean preamps (i.e., NOT for the purpose of pushing an amp into overdrive) or mixers or tremolo or the¨"perfect LFO" or getting rid of ticking or panning or anything else you want....JUST NOT ABOUT DISTORTION.

Is that within the realm of possibility? Could YOU personally do it?

Earthscum · August 17, 2011, 11:30:41 AM

That's a hard one... Maybe shoot for a day first? I'll give it a shot. My mind is on delay and reverb at the moment.
ETA: maybe we could get a tradition going of 'distortion free mondays' to start the week off on a clean slate, pun entirely intended.

Gurner · August 17, 2011, 11:44:54 AM

The conundrum is that the whole world is not in synch wrt knowledge....so while you might think it all dreary, to an 18 year old guitarist wanting to build his first awful fuzzbox, it's all a brave new world.

And while exploring any brave new world there's a thirst to learn more, wheels to reinvent....questions to ask.

What you're proposing is tantamount to asking those who 'don't yet know', to go quiet to placate those who are tired of the repetition....but repetition is the lifeblood of forums - folks ask the same questions time & time again (some actually enjoy answering the same questions time & time again), but it's not always the same people who give input....occasionally, just occasionally, there's a pearl of wisdom in amongst all the white noise.

So my vote goes "let's hear it for more n00bs trying to get to grips with something that at first seems quite ungrippable"....let's hear it for those that help 'em, and let's hear it for the odd pearls of wisdom.

deadastronaut · August 17, 2011, 11:49:59 AM

^ +1. for the noobs...

now, can anyone help me with my fuzz face...it doesn't seem to work when i don't plug my guitar in, or when i'm in tunisia. ......

oldschoolanalog · August 17, 2011, 11:55:14 AM

Brilliant concept Mark!
Been doing it since I joined!

I say put up a sticky at the top that says, "Have you REALLY Used The Search Function(UTSF!)".
While not a panacea, the search function pretty much can answer >90% of the Q's posted. It just takes a willingness on part of the seeker to sort through all of the info there. Maybe some folks are too lazy? Here? NAH!

PS: Case in point. Type "Tube Screamer" into the search function. 44 (yes 44, not a misprint) pages to sort through. Think there is an answer or 20 in there?

runmikeyrun · August 17, 2011, 12:03:26 PM

the first step is admitting you have a problem...

oldschoolanalog · August 17, 2011, 12:08:05 PM

Quote from: runmikeyrun on August 17, 2011, 12:03:26 PM
the first step is admitting you have a problem...

12 step troubleshooting!

Paul Marossy · August 17, 2011, 12:14:36 PM

Can we get some "Fuzz Strips" to stick on our arms to ease us down slowly?

rousejeremy · August 17, 2011, 12:15:16 PM

I know I could personally do it as long as I didn't build anything.

Gordo · August 17, 2011, 12:32:22 PM

Quote from: Paul Marossy on August 17, 2011, 12:14:36 PM
Can we get some "Fuzz Strips" to stick on our arms to ease us down slowly?

I'm going the other way and taking "Ginko-Viagra". It's so I can remember what the f&^k I'm doing...

R.G. · August 17, 2011, 12:37:22 PM

I'm pretty sure I'd need the electronic equivalent of methadone - writing out loop and node equations and solving equation matrices for some kind of circuits.

aron · August 17, 2011, 12:50:52 PM

Right before you posted this I was think of making something that says I love distortion!

WGTP · August 17, 2011, 01:23:12 PM

Well, of course I could quit if I wanted to... no problem...

What if I'm messing with Bridged T circuits for distortions. Does that count?

Nitefly182 · August 17, 2011, 02:15:53 PM

If we all wanted to it wouldn't be any problem. But what would we gain from it? The TV show people usually gain perspective on something in learning about the past. We would just be abandoning discussion of a large part of DIY discussion and pretty much all new DIYers' first foray into building their own effects just for the sake of not talking about it. That doesn't really help us with anything. Its not like everyone will start posting about other effects. They just wont post if their primary interest is building dirt pedals.

thedefog · August 17, 2011, 02:25:03 PM

:blackhole: "fuzz" "distortion" "overdrive" "ts-808"

Mark Hammer · August 17, 2011, 02:29:31 PM

Quote from: WGTP on August 17, 2011, 01:23:12 PM
Well, of course I could quit if I wanted to... no problem...

yeah, quitting's easy....I do it every day!

Trust me, I fully understand the collective attachment we have to distortion. It's as inherent to the medium as 6 strings is to guitar. I also understand the special attachment that beginning players and builders have to it: it makes you sound huge, even through a Frontman 15, it's easy to build, doesn't cost much, and even when you screw up you can still get some interesting sounds.

I'm looking at it from the perspective of someone who has eaten macaroni and cheese every day for 40 years, and feels almost guilty cooking it for others. There has to be MORE to life, right?

Maybe we could have something like a single "fuzz-free" day once a month or every two months, or something like that. The circuit contests provided an interesting injection of new ideas and creatve thinking. But maintaining it was a burden for Andrew and Peter, and certainly the number of "non-regulars" who contributed to it diminished. So think of my suggestion as simply another way to get our heads out of our hairy little arses and think about something else for a bit now and then, just to see where it leads. You hold your breath for a day, and once its over you can resume your infinite search for buzz.

WGTP · August 17, 2011, 03:05:31 PM

Mark, are you having some problems we need to talk about?

For those that can't deal with it, maybe just talk distortions on the Members Only Forum...

Govmnt_Lacky · August 17, 2011, 03:26:07 PM

@Mark,

Apparently the Fuzz/Distortion craze is cooling off quite a bit, I mean.....

I have been trying ot move several Germanium transistors for Fuzz Faces and Tonebenders in the For Sale thread for a while now with no takers (even at really low prices!

)

When I first joined the forum, it seemed that every other post was about a fuzz or distortion. Now, it seems that there is quite a bit of "off-topic" discussion. Granted, it is mostly in the Members Only and Lounge part of the forum but, it is still quite a bit less fuzz and distortion talk than it used to be.

I agree that I would like to see more projects/discussions about other circuits. Modulation, filters, delays, etc. would be a nice step

nocentelli · August 17, 2011, 03:49:45 PM

I agree with the sentiment, but also see the problems for beginners raised above, RE: distortion/overdrive/fuzz circuits being generally simpler and the usual route into DIYSB'ing - How's about a starting a thread where people post simple circuits for NON gain devices? I've been in the game for three years now, and apart from a pre-fab autowah board, it's been dirt all the way, but this was only because filters, modulation and compression effects always seem a bit daunting: I then stumbled across a two-transistor vibrato circuit which sounds awesome, and my imagination has been fired by the possibilities. I'm now breadboarding different LFOs like there's no tomorrow, and the potential for tweaking seems endless.

We've seen from the Little Angel, Tiny tremolo etc, that more interesting non-dirt circuits are perfectly accessible for the less experienced builder, and collecting such circuits together might help encourage those "beginners-to-intermediate/getting bored of dirt" DIY'ers to branch out...

tubelectron · August 17, 2011, 03:54:57 PM

QuoteCould we collectively do without fuzz/distortion/OD here for a week? I mean, seriously. Could we go for that long without ANY threads being started or added to that involve harmonic distortion? It could be about filters, or wahs or delay or chorus or truly clean preamps (i.e., NOT for the purpose of pushing an amp into overdrive) or mixers or tremolo or the¨"perfect LFO" or getting rid of ticking or panning or anything else you want....JUST NOT ABOUT DISTORTION.

Is that within the realm of possibility? Could YOU personally do it?

Yes, Mark ! - I have built tube HiFi amps for 30 years - So I can talk and post about that subject for a very long time, indeed... In English and in French

A+!

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A challenge - could we do it?