EH Black Finger...compressor pedal

[heylow]

Anybody had a chance to play with one of these yet? Joel, I know you're the resident EH cool stuff junky. I got one and had a chance to play around with it. In true EH fashion though, it developed a problem right away so I'm waiting on a replacement.

Anyway, it's tube compressor in guitar a pedal format...real deal supposedly....300v and all that. One tube for compression and one for make up gain. It's got a couple of great features...you can change the way it grabs audio by switching between light sources (opto and LED). Plus, depending on how you set it up, you can get some great additional overdrive out of the tubes. It's got quirks but I gotta love it. I can't imagine any other guitar pedal compressor that does what it does.

The downs are that it DID seem a little noisy...of course this one had some other noise issues that were obviously not right. I guess we'll see. The power supply is kinda wack. It's a wall wart and that's fine but it sports the dumbest plug imaginable...no replacement except by EH if it breaks or whatever and I could see it easily kicked out.

When I get the new one, I'd like to open it up. I'm really curious if there are any mods that might be able to be easily done. There isn't usually much inside of EH boxes.

I dunno. I like it. I was just wondering if anyone else has tried these things.




heylow

[joel hamilton]

Anybody had a chance to play with one of these yet? Joel, I know you're the resident EH cool stuff junky. I got one and had a chance to play around with it. In true EH fashion though, it developed a problem right away so I'm waiting on a replacement.

Anyway, it's tube compressor in guitar a pedal format...real deal supposedly....300v and all that. One tube for compression and one for make up gain. It's got a couple of great features...you can change the way it grabs audio by switching between light sources (opto and LED). Plus, depending on how you set it up, you can get some great additional overdrive out of the tubes. It's got quirks but I gotta love it. I can't imagine any other guitar pedal compressor that does what it does.

The downs are that it DID seem a little noisy...of course this one had some other noise issues that were obviously not right. I guess we'll see. The power supply is kinda wack. It's a wall wart and that's fine but it sports the dumbest plug imaginable...no replacement except by EH if it breaks or whatever and I could see it easily kicked out.

When I get the new one, I'd like to open it up. I'm really curious if there are any mods that might be able to be easily done. There isn't usually much inside of EH boxes.

I dunno. I like it. I was just wondering if anyone else has tried these things.




heylow

I have a pair of white finger compressors racked up with xformer I/O and XLRs.

The white finger is just the FET version of the Black finger. They rock. The Black finger was kind of a prototype for the NY2A.
They totally rule.
That custom white finger thingy is one of the comps I used for the room mic on your record, Heylow....

[dwelle]

you know, i've had one for awhile now, and i've only really used it between a bass and an amp. it can definitely get some cool sounds and has really helped me smooth out my techinque when finger picking. i recently got a reamp and look forward to comparing it to my other compressors with line level signals, but haven't done it yet.

it is a little noisy, but i sort of think of it as a color box anyway. i don't think the noise is too big an issue.

it can definitely squash...

[heylow]

I have a pair of white finger compressors racked up with xformer I/O and XLRs.

The white finger is just the FET version of the Black finger. They rock. The Black finger was kind of a prototype for the NY2A.
They totally rule.
That custom white finger thingy is one of the comps I used for the room mic on your record, Heylow....

Right...I knew you had said something like that but I couldn't remember if it was the white or black....plus you have so much cool custom shit, it's hard to keep track!

I didn't realize the BF was the NY2A prototype though...that's interesting actually.

Did they rack the WF with Xformers for you or did you do it yourself?



heylow

[joel hamilton]

A pal of mine that works here (Brad, who is in some of the videos) did the racking. He did a great job. In the pictures you took, the thing was still in the prototype phase, so it looks alittle ragged. It it done now and looks/works amazing.

[heylow]

Ok....so......update time.

Either EH is like the worst company on the planet or I am having an interesting string of bad luck.

As I said, I got a Black Finger that was screwy. It sounded great....a bit noisy, sure, but every few times I'd step on it, it would make this very loud sort of "electrical surging" sound....something like you hear on an old mad scientist movie where high voltage travels up between 2 posts in a large blue arch.

Anyways...I send it back and had to order one from a different store. SAME friggin' issue, only now it's EVERYTIME I step on the thing. Quirky's one thing but c'mon! Both units will do it randomly, AND at random lengths of time if left on as well. L A M E.

Of course it goes back. Yep...I tried different tubes, isolated it fom the rest of the chain, etc.

Their website has an email address....I don't know why it doesn't have a phone number though. The lamest thing about this is that I love the unit but don't have the time, patience or faith in the long term reliability of the unit to deal with it. Quality control? I mean, what are the chances....2 from 2 different stores!

Screw it....I ordered a Barber Tone Press. Not as interesting but I bet it works as advertised.

I may try to get in touch with EH and ask about it at some point because I DO love the unit but the "every dollar is a vote" guy in me has a hard time justifying even considering THAT much hassle.


Sorry....just shaking off some steam. Damn.



heylow

[dwelle]

shit, you just reminded me of something.

the last time i used mine, it did what sounds like the same thing. i'm gonna dig in and see what's up.

keep us posted on your quest, now i'm really curious...

[ottokbre]

heylow, lemme know about the barber. i'm really curious about their stuff in general.

[heylow]

Word to both of you guys....will do.

Dwelle... Post if you find anything. I really want to know if these ALL do this or what. Doesn't make sense.


When I decided on the Barber it was a toss up between it and THIS. Tough call. I like the idea of the slanted EQ on the Diamond but I also thought the concept of BLEND on the Barber was genius.

I like the idea of the Diamond being opto and I like the idea of the Barber using some kind of parallel compression.

I liked that Diamond puts pics of the insides on their site but I liked that Barber has a widely known rep.

Gear decisions, man.



heylow

[soundguy]

jesus, add an input transformer and a driver stage and that diamond pedal might compete with shit ten times the price... The inside of that box is ridiculously overkill for a guitar, most MOST of the cheap studio limiters on the market arent built to that standard.

dave

[heylow]

jesus, add an input transformer and a driver stage and that diamond pedal might compete with shit ten times the price... The inside of that box is ridiculously overkill for a guitar, most MOST of the cheap studio limiters on the market arent built to that standard.

dave

Yeah...it's got a pretty great geek factor going, don't it? Those guys seem to take signal path very seriously....nothing wrong with that! I may have to pick one up later anyways just for the hell of it just to suppress the geek in me. PLUS, I like to support guys that actually give a damn.


heylow

[joel hamilton]

Call EH.

They will help you.

[heylow]

Call EH.

They will help you.

Ummm right....except they don't post a phone number on the site. I may email them anyways to get the number to ask the question but....damn.



heylow

[joel hamilton]

Call EH.

They will help you.

Ummm right....except they don't post a phone number on the site. I may email them anyways to get the number to ask the question but....damn.



heylow

New sensor posts a number, since that is who sells EH... Same building, but a different world....

[joel hamilton]

Phone 1 718 937 8300 or toll free in USA 1 800 633 5477, or Fax 1 718 937 9111)

New sensor.

Ask for Gary. Tell 'em Joel Sentcha....