Sister Ray - what pedal comes close?

[Marbles]

So, yeah, that's basically it :)

I'm kind of looking for a overdrive-lo fi thing to give me that tone of velvet underground's sister ray or white light/white heat album.

I know this is not a gearetc-page, but thought you guys might have an idea? I like great smooth overdrives, but i'm looking not looking to build that now :)


One of each guitars basically. An overdrive that sort of sounds like an overdriven cassette player, shrill harmonically rich, but has that percussive sound to it when playing muted jabs (so still some bottom end).


I have no idea if anything of the above makes any sense whatsoever, but does anyone have tips?

I guess by then they were using Silvertone 1484s, so maybe a pedal who mimics that? Does the JHS twin twelve come close, or can anyone tell me which other pedal their pedal is based on :D

[Kinski]

http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/mid-fi-electronics-demo-tape-fuzz.html?m=1

[Marbles]

Cool, thanks!

I remember there was a pedal with orange knobs. I googled 'cassette-fuzz' 'lofi' etc, but it didn't come up. Didn't remember what brand it was. Thanks a lot!

After this one pedal away from having built every mid-fi layout on this site.

Did you build it? How is it?

[Kinski]

I built it a long while ago. Never boxed it, but remember it sounded pretty good. Powerful EQ on board. I love all things Mid-Fi.

[Beaker]

I built one but never boxed it. Initially I loved it, as the EQ really is amazing - one of the best I have come across, and it sounds great at low gain settings. However I noticed a really unpleasant note decay when you let a chord die out - sort of a splutter and fizz, just as the note dies away.

I have revisited it several times, but never been able to improve things. If someone could sort this issue out, I would be eternally grateful, as it is almost a perfect pedal - to me anyway, but I just can't get past that decay characteristic.

I'm a massive Replacements fan, an this pedal can nail some of Paul Westerburg's guitar sounds - if the decay can be sorted.

[nocentelli]

It's an opamp driven into clipping (exactly like a 4-track input stage being overdriven, complete with powerful baxandall bass + treble cut/boost) so it is unlikely to be able to achieve a nice smooth decay without that characteristic "opamp fuzz" drop from dirty to clean as the guitar signal drops back under the chip's headroom. It may be worth trying some rail-to-rail opamps to see if this improves matters: I know some amp simulator pedals use the 2262 as a dirt stage without any diodes in the loop or to ground off the output, so it's worth a go. It's also worth considering that in a band context, the decay is unlikely to be heard unless it's a smooth sustain-y guitar solo where the rest of the band drop out to allow the last note to fade tastefully to silence....

[Marbles]

Will box this for sure!

https://youtu.be/CvnSw78TBbI

Love it. Crappy quick chords and out of tune, but I think in my band with 2 guitarplayers, it's definitely  going to be a nice countersound to his cleanish overdrive.

Thanks!
The decay feels indeed when the signal gets underneath a certain point, the fizz is gone. I kind of like it.

Great effect for me. I love gain pedals that don't feel heavy. Most pedals have that 'metal' sound, and for me that's just not it. Less heaviness, more nastiness. This one does it, awesome.

Thanks for the tip!