Hi folks! Long time no post. Hope you're all well.
I have a question for you Carbon Copy owners. But it requires a bit of rambling backstory. Bear with me.
A few weeks ago, I bought a Way Huge Aqua Puss. I'm using it for rockabilly-style quick single-repeat slapback delays. I was fairly happy with it, until...
I got a new guitar that had a humbucker in it. I noticed some really weird, unpleasant noises coming out of my rig. I narrowed it down to the Aqua Puss. With the volume backed off (or using my other guitar with singlecoils), the effect is exactly as you'd expect - nice and dark, decaying analog delay. But with a hot signal running into the pedal from a humbucker, the delay repeats clip in a really unpleasant, fuzzy way. The dry signal is nice and clean, but the repeats just sound like farts. I assume this is the same when there's an overdrive in front of the Aqua Puss, but it's less noticeable because the dry signal is distorted too.
At first I thought the pedal was broken, so I took it back to the shop and they A/Bed it with another Aqua Puss. It was exactly the same. The explanation given was "well, that's what it's supposed to do". Having done a bit of research online, this does seem to be a common problem with the pedal. It's great with low-level signals, but clippy with hot signals. Sad times.
So, I've sold the Aqua Puss. And now I want to buy something else to replace it.
The current top contender is the Carbon Copy. But, if I understand correctly, the CC was designed by the same chap who designed the Aqua Puss. So, my question is this: does the Carbon Copy exhibit any nasty clipping problems with hot signals?
I suppose a secondary question might be "can anyone recommend another similar pedal for slapback delay?". I'm open-minded, but I'm fairly happy with my Carbon Copy choice, I think. Unless it's also similarly broken, of course.
Thanks!
Comments
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Or you could wait about 3 weeks and buy the dm2w....
If it must be analog, the Ibanez/Maxon AD series has enough headroom to not clip and sound great for slapback. If you want to get a bit more spendy, get an old DM-3, but try and check if it has enough output for you - some older Boss analogs struggle to get to unity volume.
I'm considering selling mine (only because I've got no cash for much needed mics for my live sound rig and can probably get by with just my Deluxe Memory Boy) so if you do decide you fancy one drop me a line.
:P
I've owned CC's, akai headrushes, TC Flashbacks and T Rex Replica's...
For quick repeats the digital pedals do work nicely and have great headroom for hotter signals. Their analog emulations are also very believable but if you need an analog pedal I'd echo the idea (see what I did there) to put the delay in your effects loop. Even better if it has a level control.
If you like Aqua Puss, check out the Supa Puss. Not only does it have tap tempo and time divisions there's a level for input gain.