# Arbiter(dallas??) Add A Sound



## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

still trying to find out information on this! been trying for years. I have one from the 60s. the only info at all I can find on this is that the guitarist from the yelping hounds used one. from this siter it reads http://www.theyelpinghounds.co.uk/split.html. "Part 2" which develops from its stretched sensous intro into the classic riff. The middle section has a really tasty solo which then launches itself back into that unforgettable riff. The track ends with curious sounds - one like a violin. This was achieved using an Arbiter Add-A-Sound octave splitter which produced higher harmonies & also lower octaves. McPhee had "modified this unit & built in a pre-amp with a high pass filter which acts as a treble boost." 

other than that i can't find anything. it's a very obscure unit. it sounds really cool. In one zappa song on hot rats I swear he is using one but I have no way of clarifying this.


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## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

bump. New finds and I put up pics. anyone interested in this at all go here: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2084412


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I have something called the Guild Tri-Oct that operates in a similar vein and I would love to find out more about it. The unit I have has a 3-digit serial number, so I gather not that many were made.

It is a hexaphonic octave-divider/fuzz; meaning that it uses a hex pickup to feed the unit 6 individual string signals, which are then processed individually to derive an octave below and a fuzz signal, which is then mixed down to a mono output.

The hex pickup is butt-ugly, let me tell you. It is low profile but about the footprint of a P80, which means it is virtually impossible to position where it *needs* to be (right up against the bridge) in order to minimize string bleedthrough and tracking error. For that reason, I imagine it failed to impress when originally launched (which I reckon to be somewhere just shy of 1970 or so). There is no master bypass, just a foot-control unit that lets you cancel the octave down, the "treble" (fuzz) and/or normal channels individually.

One of the real "missing links" between early stompboxes and the first guitar synths. I'd love to find out more about it if you know anything.


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## sesroh (Sep 5, 2006)

Sounds pretty interesting. Try to look it up. there might be info out there.


as for my item, possibly the rarest dallas arbiter item ever? It was definately made around 1967 or before hand. 

We also have a dallas arbiter 12 string acoustic guitar which is a bit battered, but cool.


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