2023: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2023)

[WatchTheGuitar]

I just bought a yellow MO off Cash Converters who were selling one second hand for £99!

[cryophonik]

I just bought a yellow MO off Cash Converters who were selling one second hand for £99!

That’s a great deal!

This thing has me thinking I might have to also keep an eye out for a good deal on the OG TD-3. The MO definitely has more range, but doesn’t nail the 303 sound like the OG.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.
Think there’ll be fun to be had using them both with the Digitakt as it can sequence them and bring in their audio, add delay/reverb and sidechain to kick etc.

I’ve got my eyes open for a good deal on a hardware delay unit too, either a Boss DD500 or a Strymon Timeline. Anyone recommend one?

[cryophonik]

I had a Timeline (and Big Sky) for a while and it was an excellent delay (and reverb). Those types of pedals don't really fit my workflow, though, so I sold them and went with a UAD Apollo and just use the onboard DSP effects. That said, can't speak for the DD500, but I would definitely recommend the Timeline for someone looking for an outboard delay. It's solid, very flexible, and sounds amazing!

[ghettosynth]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.

I think that you just sold me on a red og. Rhubarb and custard takes me back to my childhood.

[vurt]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.

I think that you just sold me on a red og. Rhubarb and custard takes me back to my childhood.

what about rhoobarb and custard?
was that a thing over there?

[cryophonik]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.
Think there’ll be fun to be had using them both with the Digitakt as it can sequence them and bring in their audio, add delay/reverb and sidechain to kick etc.

Yeah, that sounds like a fun time! I think I need to try that. I just received my MO yesterday and had it MIDI'ed to my Alpha Base, but I need to run it through the Digitakt.

Do you use any external distortion pedals or plugins with your TD-3? I need something to pulverize the $*#% out of it!

[cryophonik]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.

I think that you just sold me on a red og. Rhubarb and custard takes me back to my childhood.

what about rhoobarb and custard?
was that a thing over there?

Nooooo, I missed your 100,000th post!

[vurt]

did it happen?

[_leras]

did it happen?

[WatchTheGuitar]

I have the original TD-3 too, a red one, so will be a bit rhubarb and custard when they’re together.
Think there’ll be fun to be had using them both with the Digitakt as it can sequence them and bring in their audio, add delay/reverb and sidechain to kick etc.

Yeah, that sounds like a fun time! I think I need to try that. I just received my MO yesterday and had it MIDI'ed to my Alpha Base, but I need to run it through the Digitakt.

Do you use any external distortion pedals or plugins with your TD-3? I need something to pulverize the $*#% out of it!

Yeah, no hardware distortions but lots of plugins.

* cracks fingers *

Current favourite is the Arturia Coldfire, it's seriously good and using it all over drums, basses and leads at the moment.

D16 Devastor 2 - seriously useful distortion unit.

Others worth a mention - D16 Decimort, a bit crusher, works really well even if just dropping it to 12 bit.
Denise My Crush - very basic but produces some nice tones.
FabFilter Saturn 2 - lots of scope for fattening and warming the sound.
D16 Antresol - An "Analog BBD Stereo Flanger", produces some lovely phasing artifacts.
Eventide CrushStation - one of their H9 series and it's nice for gentler levels of distortion
Soundtoys - various like Decapitator, Radiator and Devil-Loc can mess nicely with your signals and FilterFreak is awesome for introducing movement to the sound.
Reason - loads of REs that f**k nicely with 303 sounds like Pulveriser, Alligator FilterGate and the Synchronous effect modulator.
Waldorf D-Pole - mainly known as an over the hill filter, this actually has a really great sounding overdrive.
Abberant DSP Digitalis - a really cool plugin that has a bunch of bit distortion effects
Audiority Pyros - decent little fuzz/distortion plugin
Audio Thing Wave Box - lets you waveshape the incoming sound based on a number of shapes plus has some utilities that let you use an envelope follower and LFOs to control parameters.
Cableguys Shaperbox 3 - a bunch of useful mix and match plugins that let you introduce noise and distortion amongst other things

Melda MXXX - unsurprisingly it contains ways of producing just about any effect so lots of stuff in there for distorting and filtering in wacky ways. I really like a preset called "4S Formant Distorsion" that is unlike anything else I've heard, kind of creates a distorted glissando harmony.

Other than those I also try stuff through guitar FX found in various places like Line 6 Helix, IK Amplitube and various Neural DSP guitar amp simulators.

Those are just ones I use a lot, I've got many, many others and I didn't even get started on things done with VCV Rack and Voltage Modular.

Also and I'll keep these on the downlow due to haters...
Waves Berzerk and PA Elysia Phil's Cascade.

[cryophonik]

Yeah, no hardware distortions but lots of plugins.

Wait, a guitarist who doesn't own 50 different distortion pedals?

That's quite the list! I have several of the plugins included in your list and was thinking that the various Soundtoys distortions would be a good place to start. I may also see what UAD offers so I can use it in real-time without having to fire up my DAW.

[vurt]

boss heavy metal destroys 303s nicely.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Yeah, no hardware distortions but lots of plugins.

Wait, a guitarist who doesn't own 50 different distortion pedals?

That's quite the list! I have several of the plugins included in your list and was thinking that the various Soundtoys distortions would be a good place to start. I may also see what UAD offers so I can use it in real-time without having to fire up my DAW.

I was always more attracted to the delay/chorus/reverb effects end of things. The only pedal like that I ever owned was the original Boss HM-2 chainsaw pedal which I used initially to fail to sound like Steve Jones then later to fail to sound like Kevin Shields.

That's quite the list! I have several of the plugins included in your list and was thinking that the various Soundtoys distortions would be a good place to start.

I don't know if you can demo it, but Arturia Coldfire is seriously nice, it feels much more 'alive' than most plugins.

[cryophonik]

boss heavy metal destroys 303s nicely.

Ooooh, I'll have to look for a deal on that one.

I don't know if you can demo it, but Arturia Coldfire is seriously nice, it feels much more 'alive' than most plugins.

That one is definitely on my list to pick up the next time I see a deal. I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up during the initial loyalty offering.