Scott Henderson Discussion

[bonga]

Hey Scott,

Hope you're doing alright and are safe. California has seen a spike in COVID cases and trust you and your family are safe.

I have a question about your SD-9 - do you use the stock one now or the one modified by Analogman? Also, can you please share what exact was the mod that Analogman did to the SD-9?

One more question. I know you liked the Beano boost in the past. Am I correct in assuming that the RC Booster replaced the Beano boost?

Thanks!

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks, I'm doing good, just teaching on Zoom and practicing a lot.

I've tried many different mods of the SD-9, including the AnalogMan - I still like the stock one the most. I honestly don't think that pedal can be improved on. Last year Maxon sent me two betas to try, hoping to do a signature model for me, but that didn't work out. I still have the one that's been on my board for about 20 years!

I never used the Beano boost on stage - it doesn't have enough gain for me since I use single coil pickups, so I traded it for something. That pedal sounds better with a humbucker in my opinion. I started using the RC Booster after the Well to the Bone album. It replaced the combination of a Tube Screamer and Voodoo One, which I still use sometimes, but the RC is far more transparent. The new RCv2 has two channels - it sounds even better and is more versatile. I just did a post about it on my Facebook page Scott Henderson Music.

[bonga]

Thanks for the reply Scott. I asked whether you'd tried the Analogman SD9 because Mike said that the mod he does sweetens the tone a bit so that you don't have to turn down the tune quite a bit.

I'm actually struggling to get a good tone out of my bridge pickup - the neck, neck/middle sound great but the bridge pickup is too shrill. Hence, I was thinking of perhaps getting Mike's modded version.

[Scott Henderson]

I'm sorry, I was wrong - I've never tried the AnalogMan mod on the SD-9. I was thinking about the Keely (and many others). I liked the mods which Mike did on my old Ibanez Tube Screamers, but when I bought the Maxon OD-9, I liked it more than my modded Ibanez. I guess I figured it would probably be the same for the SD-9, but now I'm curious about Mike's mod for it. If you get one please let me know how you like it.

I agree about the stock SD-9 and the bridge pickup - what I've discovered for my personal tone is that the sweet spot for the tone control is 9 o'clock, but I rarely turn the guitar tone for the bridge pickup up more than 4. If you're into a more traditional rock sound with the guitar tone way up, the SD-9 wouldn't be my first choice for the bridge pickup.

[bonga]

Scott, the mods Analog Mike does are as follows:

1. He sweetens the pedal by switching out a couple of capacitors so that the tone control is usable beyond 2

2. He also offers a mid range mod that adds a 'mid knob' on the pedal. This allows for the addition of mids since the SD9 is quite scooped.

I am getting his King of Tone, will probably get this too. Should be here in about 6 weeks.

I'll let you know what I think of it, but I really don't think I am qualified to give you tone advice, it should be the other way round!

I should also tell you this - I am playing a Badger 35 and set up just on the verge of breaking up. Do you still use the Badger for recording?

[Scott Henderson]

I haven't used the Badger in awhile, not because it isn't a great amp, but because the class A sound doesn't work for my main guitar track. I'm used to working with amps that have a presence control - class A amps don't have one, which is like having the presence on 10. I'm my experience, it means moving the mic into the paper of the speaker and that's not my usual tone.

The SD-9 mod sounds cool - I trust your opinion! I've also never heard a King of Tone pedal. Maybe I'll ask Mike if I can try before I buy!

[bonga]

Thanks Scott.

For now, I have ordered the stock SD9 from Maxon, it should be here next week. Will also check out the Analogman modded SD9 and have it delivered with my King of Tone in two months or so. I'll remember to post an update here.

Btw, I hope you don't me sharing this here - I recently saw an episode you'd filmed with Pete Thorn and Tim Pierce and in that you said that you're finding the tele hard to play. Is this a Suhr tele? If it is, the solution to the problem you're facing is something I heard John Suhr say. The Suhr Tele's use staggered locking tuners and hence they don't need string tees. While this works brilliantly on a Strat, what John said is that this induced some additional tension on the high E and B strings (Not sure if tension is the correct word from a physics perspective, but I hope you get what I'm trying to say). John says the solution is to install a string tee as it helps dissipate some of that 'tension.' The reason you don't need this on a Strat is that the bridge is anyway rocking forward any time you bend a note while the tele bridge is fixed, hence the need for exerting a little bit of extra pressure to bend a note than what we would have to do on a Strat.

Thanks again Scott! Stay safe and hope to see you play live soon!

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks for the Tele advice! Yes, mine's a beast to play so I'll take it with me next time I go to Suhr.

[bonga]

Hey Scott, thought I'd give you an update. I recently got the stock SD9. It's absolutely amazing. I totally get why you and Landau love this pedal. Sounds amazing. If only the pedal would come with licks!

Using an old Bass RC Booster into the SD9. It sounds amazing with both single coils and hum buckers. Not sure to be honest if I will get the Analogman modded one now, very happy with the tone I've gotten so far. I think the Bass version of the RC booster just adds a certain amount of fatness that goes well with my maple neck Strat. Thanks again for talking about this pedal!

[Scott Henderson]

Great, I'm happy you like it! Not trying to change your mind about Mike's mod because he's really great, but every mod I've heard on this pedal has ruined it, and I've heard a lot of them. Landau is still playing a stock one - that tells me everything I need to know.

I'm curious, why do you combine it with the RC - for extra bass, more gain, or both? I've never heard a Bass RC, I have to try one.

[bonga]

Sorry didn't respond earlier Scott. So the RC is my 'always on' pedal. It seems to add a certain fatness white retaining the sparkle of single coil pickups. I do however switch it off when using an analog chorus since it drives the chorus a bit too much for me, personally (I'm a sucker for 80's chorus tones ala Landau and Dan Huff). So when I do need additional gain, I simply turn on the SD-9. What I found is that I'm loving the way the SD-9 cleans up with the volume knob. In fact, I may get rid of the RC soon since having the SD9 on all the time allows me to go from clean to searing lead tones with my volume knob.

Also, totally understand where you're coming from in terms of your comments about Analog Mike. I respect his work so much; will probably get the midrange modded SD9 that he does. I suspect that this will come in handy in bands where there are a ton of players. For example, I assume you'd have loved some extra midrange when playing with Zawinul because there's just so much space the keyboard occupies and the guitar has to work harder to sit in the mix and cut through. In a trio setting however, the stock SD9 rules.

Thanks again Scott!