# Post your favorite one-knob pedal



## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

MXR Micro Chorus


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

ClinchFX EP-Pre


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## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

What about my no knob Vintage Tone pedal ?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

BGood said:


> What about my no knob Vintage Tone pedal ?
> 
> View attachment 421072


What does this do?>???


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

This for sure:


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## polyslax (May 15, 2020)

BGood said:


> What about my no knob Vintage Tone pedal ?
> 
> View attachment 421072


LOL instant coily cable tone.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

polyslax said:


> LOL instant coily cable tone.


I am going to have to look into this "Coily Cable" tone, perhaps that is the one that I have been missing all my life.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Mark Brown said:


> I am going to have to look into this "Coily Cable" tone, perhaps that is the one that I have been missing all my life.


You don't know about curly cables? It was fundamental to Hendrix' tone. Seriously.

I do like bgood's joke, but it takes a lot more cable than that to do the trick.


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## MetalTele79 (Jul 20, 2020)

I picked up one of these from a member here and it's pretty awesome.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Toss up between the Line Driver and Ditto.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

mhammer said:


> You don't know about curly cables? It was fundamental to Hendrix' tone. Seriously.
> 
> I do like bgood's joke, but it takes a lot more cable than that to do the trick.


I honestly do not know if you are yarding me on, or are serious. See, the problem with being gullible is that I will probably believe anything especially in the case of folks that know more than me about things I do not.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Mark Brown said:


> I honestly do not know if you are yarding me on, or are serious. See, the problem with being gullible is that I will probably believe anything especially in the case of folks that know more than me about things I do not.


Cable Length and capacitance relate.
Coil cables just make a cool shitty sound when they hit the ground while plugged in.

but I don’t think they do anything aside from offer a longer cable with a shorter relative distance to an amp. Which could effect something.

Just to be careful, I use one.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I had a coil cable when I was in grade 10. It sucked. Contacts inside kept breaking all the time and I burned myself a whole bunch of times with an iron fixing the bastard.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)




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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Mxr micro amp.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I've tried other boosts that are "better" (more expensive) or cleaner, but there's just something about it. In front of my old Princeton reverb it's awesome. I've even used it for bass.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Mark Brown said:


> I honestly do not know if you are yarding me on, or are serious. See, the problem with being gullible is that I will probably believe anything especially in the case of folks that know more than me about things I do not.


All good. Here's an explanation.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Grab n Go said:


> All good. Here's an explanation.


I am not sure how much weight I put into that light piece however at least now I can be sure that at least someone isn't messing with me.

Thanks!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Mark Brown said:


> I honestly do not know if you are yarding me on, or are serious. See, the problem with being gullible is that I will probably believe anything especially in the case of folks that know more than me about things I do not.


We're not shitting you. Always 12am provided most of the explanation. 

So-called curly cables tend to have a much higher cable capacitance, per linear foot of cable, than regular straight cables. The "curl" is largely due to the rubber insulation and moulding of it, but the wire inside is also of a type that has to be able to survive both the curl, AND the stretching and contraction. And I imagine because of those requirements, does not and can not have the sort of internal diameter and shielding that can keep cable capacitance low.

How is it connected to the Hendrix tone? First, Jimi tended to use curly cords, most likely just to keep the cable out of the way and not trip on anything while he moved around, although I suppose it's possible he also liked the resulting sound without necessarily understanding why it did what it did. But the Strat is a very bright-sounding guitar,and the Marshalls he used are very bright-sounding amps. Listening to his recordings, we hear a Strat with lots of presence, but with a tone that seems to have the sharp edges sanded down. One may attribute at least some of that to his use of curly cables.

These days, we understand more about cable capacitance, buffering, and so on. Whatever a curly cable did can be reproduced by other electronic means, so that one can achieve the sound of those cables without having to put up with any undesirable aspects of the cables.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

MXR Microamp.

I tried a lot of overdrive pedals to use as a boost and none sound as good and fat as the MXR.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Addendum:
Here is a simple lowpass filter. The frequencies which easily pass are those not impeded by the capacitor. The greater/higher the value of the capacitor and the higher the resistance, the less higher-frequency content can easily pass.








Cables all have some degree of behaviour like a capacitor, and shielded cables for audio processing generally always have a capacitance rating per foot. The longer the cable, the greater their capacitance value. So for example a 20ft cable rated at 47pf/ft has a total capacitance of 940pf, just under what would be a .001uf value. Curly cables not only have higher capacitance per linear foot, but are also longer. Cable capacitance CAN be "overcome" by various means, like buffers that push more current through the cable, or even simple passive transformers (e.g., in the Les Paul Recording guitar).


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

mhammer said:


> You don't know about curly cables? It was fundamental to Hendrix' tone. Seriously.
> 
> I do like bgood's joke, but it takes a lot more cable than that to do the trick.


OK ... just for you, I present the coil board. Taylor your tone by simply adding as much as desired.


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## YaReMi (Mar 9, 2006)

Always on ...


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

A timely pop-up in my You-Tube thread... go figure.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)




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## Dru Edwards (9 mo ago)

Guncho said:


> MXR Microamp.
> 
> I tried a lot of overdrive pedals to use as a boost and none sound as good and fat as the MXR.


+1. I've had the MXR Micro Amp on my pedal board since 2007 or 08 when I bought it new. I use it in the FX loop as a clean solo boost.


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## crann (May 10, 2014)




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## Jamie McQuistin (Aug 20, 2018)




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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't wish to rain on anyone's parade, and I completely understand the widespread desire for simplicity, but one-knob wonders drive me up the wall. When you know what else they could do if only* this* or *that* part was changed to a pot, you can't help but see them as fundamentally incomplete.

For instance, I've built a bunch of Phase 90 clones. The P90 was designed to provide an acceptable sweep width that was okay for both faster and slower speeds, as well as just enough feedback/resonance for both slow and fast sweeps, and an offset (i.e., initial starting point in the frequency range) that worked for both faster and slower speeds. In other words, it aimed for compromises on all other potential functions, so as to mesh acceptably with the one control it DID provide.

"Clean" boosters, like the Micro-Amp, were acceptable for a time. Eventually, people realized that if one was intending to push an amp into saturation, and not just hike the level up a little bit for a solo, you needed to be able to trim back on the treble, such that the amp received a warmer and less brittle-sounding signal. That's two controls.

I used to have a Russian EHX Small Stone. One knob for speed, and the standard 2-position switch. Before selling it, I modded it to separate the two feedback and two sweep-form/width settings normally part of the same "Color" switch, added a vibrato/phase switch, and a 4th switch to make two of the phase-shift/allpass stages lowpass, for the "phasefilter" sound. Not that it was a bad phaser before, but it was a MUCH more flexible unit with many more tricks up its sleeve afterward.

Nope, for me, a single knob is a recipe for disappointment, and invitation to mod.


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

My Mythos Golden Fleece, and not far is my Phase 95


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## Xevyn (Jul 14, 2021)

Not on my board at the moment but still one of my favourites:


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Fisher Overdrive:


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## Hear Ye Music (Dec 19, 2012)

I’m a sucker for 1 knob pedals and this is on top of the list. I will say I’ve no interest in a Phase 90, though, as I prefer a Univibe.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Paul Running said:


> Fisher Overdrive:
> View attachment 421174


My first overdrive pedal, for want of a better descriptor, was the mic preamp of an old tube-based Roberts reel to reel. I'd plug my guitar into it and take the line out to my guitar amp. The guitar saturated the preamp (mic inputs expect a MUCH lower signal level than a guitar provides) and the preamp supersaturated the amp's input stage. Sustain for days.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Well, my volume pedals have no controls or knobs
All the others have at least 2.


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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

Hear Ye Music said:


> I’m a sucker for 1 knob pedals and this is on top of the list. I will say I’ve no interest in a Phase 90, though, as I prefer a Univibe.
> View attachment 421390


Great pedal, but how about two with still just one knob


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

I’d love if someone would make one knob pedals that just did “fuzz” or “dirt” without altering the volume by 700db.

I have no idea how anyone is getting useful clipping on 99% of pedals inside of a residential dwelling without choking the pedal using the volume at .01 / 10


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There is a way, but one has to decide a priori on what the "ideal" output level would be, and then perhaps use a dual-ganged pot to both turn gain up and turn output down simultaneously. If the means for producing distortion/clipping is diodes-to-ground, the diodes tend to do all the work for you, setting an absolute maximum on output level. The trouble is that at less than max drive, the output level is often below bypass.


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## Hear Ye Music (Dec 19, 2012)

vokey design said:


> Great pedal, but how about two with still just one knob
> View attachment 421550


LOL! I actually have the black Tchula, as well! 🤣


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## ampaholic (Sep 19, 2006)

Analogman Beano Boost!!


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> View attachment 421114
> 
> 
> I've tried other boosts that are "better" (more expensive) or cleaner, but there's just something about it. In front of my old Princeton reverb it's awesome. I've even used it for bass.


Those LBP's are like great sauce on a great steak .... that pedal doesn't color the tone, it just brings more out of the amp and pickups.
I had a an old LPB 1 from the 1970's, it had one switch, one knob .... of pure heaven 😍✨️


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## Jack Donaghy (6 mo ago)

Horrothia FX Type One chorus


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Mine would have to be the old Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster SFX-1 model.
It has one knob to increase the signal 6db to 25 dB and has a tone enhancement switch to lower the pick up resonant 2-3k in mode #1, mode 0 only allows the boost / no tone enhancement and mode #2 lower frequencies 3-5k .
To get, that pedal to do that, it has to be the first thing you plug into.

If you have it set at the end of the pedal board, you can drive longer cable and make your tone more meaner and it has true bypass when turned off.


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