NAMM: A bunch of guitar pedals

There really hasn't been much of note from Summer NAMM. There's Ableton Live 5 (good but dull, $99 upgrade). But no new synths, no cool new effects, no amusing Behringer outrages. So, here are three new guitar pedals:
Digitech Jam Man: This is a guitar looper (record yourself playing, jam over the top, impress buddies). Interesting points: If you buy a 2gb compact flash card and put it in the back, you can record 6½ hours of loop. It's name is stolen from the Lexicon Jam Man, which was discontinued in 1997 but is still popular amongst people who like looping. They won't get sued, because Lexicon and Digitech are both divisions of Harman International. It has a USB connection... on a guitar pedal! In short, it's the polar opposite of the Zvex Loop Junky.
Boss RT-20: It's a leslie speaker simulator in a big pedal. Why interesting? Because it comes with a fantastically silly magic eye, which shows the 'virtual' bass and horn speakers spinning away. Here's a video [real player, sorry] of a guy playing his guitar synth through one.
Fender Blender: Fender's website says: "There are few Fender products with as much "indie cred" as the Fender Blender." Well, hey, there goes that problem. The Fender Blender is a mildly cultish fuzz/octave pedal. They fetch $3-400 on eBay, but that's peanuts compared with $1000+ for an Ampeg Scrambler, or $1600 for a Frogg Fuzz-Wa (OK, that bidder didn't actually pay up). So, the Fender re-issue for $199 might be more about making Fender look cool than satisfying "an overwhelming demand".
Want more pedals? Check out Analog Industries, where Chris has been running a great analog delay special for the last few days.
... [CONTINUE READING]


Comments:
$199 is a lot of money for that Fender Blender.

The circuit is very simple, probably around 7$ worth of parts, and all the parts are still made. There are no 'special' op amps or anything, the only interesting bits are $0.07 2n3391a, 2n3391 transistors and 1N267 diodes.

I guess you get a nice box and things, and they won't sell many, but it does seem a lot of money.
Sorry. Rant over.
 
Where can I get some (Fender Blender) plans, then? Someone post a link!!
 
Google for Fender Blender schematics.
http://filters.muziq.be/files/schematics/fender_blender.pdf
The octave stage looks quite similar to a Green Ringer to me.
 
The Fender Blenders are a good starting project for those just getting their feet wet with pedals and a soldering gun.

I Built one 3-4 years ago, and have since added an Orange Squeeze in the same box, before the blender.

Make yours with Mica caps, ceramic resistors, and some love, and you'll have alot better product than the Fender version. Also, some decent mods are, making it true bypass, making the 100K resistor ebtering the tone stage a variable resistor, and same with the 100K resistor leading into the "sustain" section. (This is actually the final output stage.)

(I used a 100K variable resistor and a 68K inline, Making the range 68K -> 168K, tone really screeches when pushed.)
 
Wanting to see a demo video of the JamMan in action - anything posted online? Any any guess at a selling price?
 
Sure enough, 14 seconds of 'net research says the going price for a JamMan is $300US, which for a looper ain't bad.

Curious to see what the Loopers Delight cats will have to say about it - they're usually pretty vocal 'n' detailed about their likes/dislikes.
 
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