Robben Ford Discussion :: View topic - please identify these buttons for me?
Help support this site by shopping at Amazon through this link.
Robben Ford Discussion Forum Index

Robben Ford Discussion
The Official Robben Ford Discussion Group

www.RobbenFord.com
All Access Pass

  
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

 

 
please identify these buttons for me?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Robben Ford Discussion Forum Index -> The Daved Zone
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
tedro
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Nov 2008
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:01 pm    Post subject: please identify these buttons for me? Reply with quote

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/ichisatori/equipment/buttons.jpg

what's the 2 button box to the left, i think, it's the Dumble channel select/boost buttons? and, are those lights atop those buttons or what (they look sorta like toggles in this picture)?

how about the 3 button box on the right? (i have no clue, unless it may be for amp selection.)

thanks in advance to fill me in!

btw, regarding Robben's Tele and its single coil pups -- how does he get around the infamous potential single-coil buzz (in certain venues)?

any special wiring (like Suhr and i guess others have available) to silence those bad boys?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Alienlovefreak69
Member


Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Central Valley

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's the Dumble amp pedal, and yes those are the LED's for the switches.

The one on the right is kind of hard for me to tell? It sorta looks like a Tech21 Midi Channel Selector. Maybe for midi on the TC rackmount unit Robben uses with his Dumble Amp. If it is, it would be LEFT button midi channel switches up, RIGHT button midi channel switches down, & the middle button engages the selected patch when you are ready for it. I am just guessing though. Maybe someone else has seen a better pic of it or seen him use it live that would know what it is.

Alien
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Daved
Robben Connection


Joined: 08 Aug 2003
Posts: 943
Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, A, you are correct. That pedal is a MIDI Mouse, made by Tech 21.
It is used as a program switcher for the TC-2290.
We've been using it for a few years now as it is compact, durable, and simple to use thru a MIDI cable to the TC, with a small display screen so Robben can easily tell which program number he is on (128 patches on any of the 16 selectable MIDI channels).

The button on one side toggles up and the one on the other toggles down. The button in the middle selects "active" (MIDI programs select sequentially and instantly) or "search" (MIDI programs flash and scroll before selecting them) mode.

There are 2 pedals specifically designed for the TC-2290... a small 8" bar with several programable buttons and no display... or a huge heavy pedal with a bunch of programable buttons, each with it's own individual display screen. We've had and used both.

This pedal is an excellent compromise between the two for simple and accurate program selection.

BTW... you will notice the pedal is placed 'upside-down' with white electrician's tape clearly labelling the 'up & 'down' switches, as Robben does not generally use the 'mode' switch and this prevents it from getting in his way and being accidentally activated.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved

"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Alienlovefreak69
Member


Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Central Valley

PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

YES! I got one right! lol' :-)

I think Tech21 should build Robben one without the middle switch. I'm sure they probably would if they knew he was using one of their products.

Sorry tedro, still no answer on your tele pickup question. :-(

Alien
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Daved
Robben Connection


Joined: 08 Aug 2003
Posts: 943
Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea

PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No special construction or shielding on Robben's Tele... it is stock, tho suprisingly quiet for single coils, and Robben generally just lives with the noises.
On the rare times that noise does become excessive, he uses the volume pedal as a mute between songs or passages.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved

"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jconstant
Senior Member


Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California

PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daved wrote:
No special construction or shielding on Robben's Tele... it is stock, tho suprisingly quiet for single coils, and Robben generally just lives with the noises.
On the rare times that noise does become excessive, he uses the volume pedal as a mute between songs or passages.


Daved, what would cause the noise to be excessive one night compared to another?
_________________
"Somebody's got to make some music around here." - Robben Ford
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address
Daved
Robben Connection


Joined: 08 Aug 2003
Posts: 943
Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea

PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lots of things can cause noise... Radio Frequencies nearby, bad power/grounds, etc. Some venues sit near radio transmitters. Lighting dimmer swiches (Prince's place in Minneapolis [7th Avenue?] put the dimmer packs right under the stage, inducing noise into any amps sitting right above them stage left)... and so on.

I remember that playing the old Buddy Guy's in Chicago was always a nightmare because of bad grounds in the house power. Got to the point where we wouldn't even take out Robben's old Les Paul from it's case. Totally unplayable there... lol.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved

"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BlueRunner
Senior Member


Joined: 19 Sep 2003
Posts: 646
Location: City of Trees, USA

PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool Love that electro-magnetic noise. Some years ago I heard Shane Dwight on an outdoor stage on a foggy night at the Ventura County Fair. He was getting horrible noise out of his Les Paul, but only out of the neck pickup. And it nearly dissappeared when he turned sideways to the crowd. During the break while I was chatting with him he told me that he'd just installed the neck pickup and he figured something was wrong with it. I pointed to a transformer box up on a power pole that was right behind the stage, arcing in the damp air as though it was a 4th of July fireworks show. "You can either play everything off the bridge pickup for your second set, or stand sideways to reduce the antenna effect from your coil," I told him, "or maybe we can just find a big sheet of lead and hold it over you for the rest of the evening." When I saw him a few months later and remarked about the arcing transformer, he told me he'd gone back into the guitar and put some shielding around both pickups.
_________________
- BlueRunner
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
tedro
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Nov 2008
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hey guys, thanks!

just to be sure and clear up any of my misconceptions:

when i say/asked about pickup noise in certain venues i was specifically referring to single coils, for example... there is one place i play ('57 strat) where the only time i can use one pickup is when the number is loud enough! between songs and most other times -- when you know it's there you can hear it anyway -- i simply must use the NM or MB (pos 2 or 4), sucks.

anyway, i imagine it's the same on a Tele (leaving only the "both" pickup selection to buck/cancel it). this is the kind of "buzz" that humbuckers (2 coils) seem to "buck", i.e., single coil buzz (usually various lights or machines, i guess).

so, right? this is the pickup noise we are talking about?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
FatTeleTom
Senior Member


Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daved wrote:
I remember that playing the old Buddy Guy's in Chicago was always a nightmare because of bad grounds in the house power. Got to the point where we wouldn't even take out Robben's old Les Paul from it's case. Totally unplayable there... lol.


I've played there a couple of times, and found single-coils practically unusable.

I've got an audience recording from there where you can hear the neck pickup on my Strat-copy humming *while the band is playing*. That is, the hum was as loud as the band (and my playing). Fortunately, I realized it fairly soon into the tune and switched to an in-between. Brutal!

It seems to me that my Tele is less susceptible to hum than my Strat copy. Or, more accurately, they both will hum in the same situations, but the hum on the Tele is usually quieter than on the Strat.

I'm assuming this is because the Tele neck pickups are shielded to some extent (metal cover on the neck pickup, the bridge structure and base plate on the bridge pickup).

It may also be that I've done a crappy job of trying to install shielding tape in the faux-Strat.

Maybe Daved can shed some light: Is there an inherent difference between Strats and Teles in your experience?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tedro
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Nov 2008
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so you guys call the single coil noise that is so bad in some venues that you either can't use it or only when the band level is high enough to mask it, and, no matter what you have to kill it between songs... you guys call that "hum"?

i call it "buzz"? always have. yes?

also, when Dave listed Les Paul, i thought, huh? rereading i see it says "old" -- so it must refer to the P90 type.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sidneystreet
Member


Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 29

PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tedro wrote:
... you guys call that "hum"?

I call it "buzz"? always have. yes?


The way I describe them is:

hum - a sustained low frequency tone (like a bass guitar), 60 hz or 120hz

buzz - higher frequency buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sounds just like saying the word
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tedro
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Nov 2008
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah, but what do you call the infamous single-coil noise when it's really bad?

:-)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Daved
Robben Connection


Joined: 08 Aug 2003
Posts: 943
Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea

PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"noise"
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved

"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
FatTeleTom
Senior Member


Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daved wrote:
"noise"


Laughing

I guess I do call it "hum" when it's annoying (recording at home for example), and "buzz" when it's so loud that a pickup setting is unusable at a gig.

But, yeah, noise pretty much covers it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Robben Ford Discussion Forum Index -> The Daved Zone All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group