Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap? (NPD page 3)

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by August » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:05 am

Listening to your SRs example, and as an owner of a Leslie, it's the vibrato setting on my Deja Vibe (mini mkII) that gets it. My CE-2 is too slow at max speed. A phase 95 can kind of get there, but not as subtly from memory.

Edit: just messed around a bit and adding a subtle chorus after the vibrato really nails the high speed + swirl...

Do you have a vibrato effect at hand? Think subtle depth and matching the speed (obviously).

As for the slow Leslie sound, I've never liked emulations of the drive and swirl, found them exaggerated and unnatural (hence buying a Leslie), but I was quite smitten with my friend's cheap Danelectro rotary pedal for the slow thing. It pretty much sounded great set with subtle depth and at a certain speed, but it captured that flavour nicely.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:39 am

Thanks, everyone. Lots to think about here. The only modulation pedals I have currently are tremolo, so I can’t experiment with pedals I have, unfortunately.

I do have a demo my bandmate sent of a song where I’d like to try a rotary-ish sound with, so I can at least experiment with plugins when recording (and make sure the band likes the concept).

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:38 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:39 am
Thanks, everyone. Lots to think about here. The only modulation pedals I have currently are tremolo, so I can’t experiment with pedals I have, unfortunately.

I do have a demo my bandmate sent of a song where I’d like to try a rotary-ish sound with, so I can at least experiment with plugins when recording (and make sure the band likes the concept).
Yeah, if you have a couple of modulation pedals it’s easier trying to find a facsimile of the Leslie sound.

I have had decent success using an LFO filter for the slow and a chorus for the fast together. Or a tremolo with a vibrato can sometimes work. It really depends on the pedals though.

I forgot to mention that the old A/DA Flanger is well known for a nice Leslie simulation. It has a feedback loop that makes it sound like 2 different pulsing and swirling effects are happening at certain settings. I used mine more often for a Leslie sound than any standard flanged sounds. I don’t know how well the newer and smaller modern versions or possible clones do that though? The A/DA Final Phase has the doubling effect too, but sounds more like a Bi-Phase, not a Leslie.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by Zork » Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:54 pm

Sweetfinger wrote:
Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:22 pm
I used to use a DOD Flanger. If you're looking for "rotary" but don't want it to "sound like an organ", or Univibe, you might want to look outside of pedals that are specifically trying to sound like an organ or Univibe.
fuzzjunkie wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:38 pm
I forgot to mention that the old A/DA Flanger is well known for a nice Leslie simulation. It has a feedback loop that makes it sound like 2 different pulsing and swirling effects are happening at certain settings. I used mine more often for a Leslie sound than any standard flanged sounds. I don’t know how well the newer and smaller modern versions or possible clones do that though? The A/DA Final Phase has the doubling effect too, but sounds more like a Bi-Phase, not a Leslie.
It's amazing what you can do with a cool flanger. Even a totally common pedal like the Boss BF-2 has such a big variety of great sounds to offer, it could as well be your only modulation pedal. Ok, and a tremolo.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by mgeek » Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:06 pm

If space isn't a problem, you sometimes get those Yamaha rotary amps turn up cheap. I've got an RA50 and haven't regretted buying it for a minute, use it for loads of production stuff too, great on pretty much everything. The thing most pedals won't give you is the stereo aspect of the doppler effect, it's really cool with two mikes on it.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by Musjagjazz » Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:41 am

Here is a cheap way for a rotary speaker sound if you are recording.

Producer Andy Johns used this method to record the guitar solo by Richard Lloyd on the song "Elevation" from "Marquee Moon" by Television:
“We wanted to rent a rotating speaker to get the sound for [‘Elevation’],” Lloyd explained. “But the rental people wanted way too much. So Andy came up with an idea. He took a microphone, and while I did the guitar solo to ‘Elevation,’ he stood in front of me in the studio, swinging this microphone around his head like a lasso. He nearly took my fucking nose off. I was backing up while I was playing.”
Marquee Moon in the record rack for $3.87:
Image

There are a bunch here if this helps, no experience with any of them but there are videos with examples:
https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-b ... ect-pedals

Image

More here
https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-b ... sideration

Image

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by ElephantDNA » Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:30 am

I think the above list is cool, but this is such a specific effect and it sounds like we're only using it for one song or section. I think a lot of vibrato and phasers can actually nail this sound if dialed in correctly. And you can find those at a lower price point and will be useful in more applications - at least to me. Anyways, just my .02.

edit - and like stated above, some flangers can do it too though I find that effect less usable for me as a whole. I feel like phaser or vibe is a better investment and I'm sure you can find plenty of demos online of people showing settings on those that get close to what you're looking for here.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:06 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:39 am
I do have a demo my bandmate sent of a song where I’d like to try a rotary-ish sound with, so I can at least experiment with plugins when recording (and make sure the band likes the concept).
So, tried this on Saturday and am pretty happy with the result. The rest of the band digs it too.

A friend has generously offered to let me borrow his H9 for a while. That's something I've been considering taking the plunge on, but the cost is a bit daunting and I'm more of a pedal-that-does-a-thing kind of person. I figure I will either love it or it will help get that idea out of my system.

As part of my "research" I've been listening to a lot of Luna's catalog and watching some live footage. That's a band I always thought had great modulation sounds. My takeaway from that is there's a lot of phaser, and after further research it seems a 2 stage phaser would be the best fit for me.

I think the J Rockett Tranquilizer or maybe even just a Phase 45 or DOD 201 would do the trick. The Tranquilizer is appealing because I really like the vibrato sound too.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by Zork » Wed Mar 31, 2021 12:59 pm

My favourite phaser and one that's usually totally under the radar is the Ibanez PM7 Phase Modulator. It's definitely worth a look. ;)

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Wed Mar 31, 2021 10:52 pm

Welp, found a deal on a pre-modded MXR CSP105 Phase 45 reissue with LED installed (and presumably true bypass). It has a mystery switch which might be the phase/vibe mod Analogman does? The LED bezel, 9V input, and toggle switch used look identical to the ones Analogman uses, but it wasn't sold as an Analogman modded pedal.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by jorri » Thu Apr 01, 2021 4:58 am

Sweetfinger wrote:
Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:22 pm
I used to use a DOD Flanger. If you're looking for "rotary" but don't want it to "sound like an organ", or Univibe, you might want to look outside of pedals that are specifically trying to sound like an organ or Univibe.
Yes i have been using my Teisco Delay. More the univibe category and of course mod-delay is basically a flanger chorus or vibrato if you want it to be, albeit not tuned in multiple stages for more intense typical 'mod pedal'

But reminded an actual rotary speaker is a different beast still. A friend's studio had a hammond he demo'd on guitar.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:22 pm

To clarify I don't hate all Univibe sounds. I just dislike the super chewy thing.

If the Phase 45 coming has the Analogman "univibe" mod I'll actually be pretty stoked. That's a sound I can work with.

Here's a bad picture. Gotta love Guitar Center's photo skills.

Image

If the mod work was competently done and everything works I don't really care who did it, but I'm still curious.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by ElephantDNA » Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:51 am

Yeah I actually picked up a phase 45 myself recently. Really digging it though I am experiencing some amount of volume loss. Will have to try putting it in different areas of the chain to see if I can make it a little louder. Bass player is a beast, so I'm turned up pretty high most of the time.

I find with the phase45 after about 3 o'clock you can nail this type of tone. And as you said, the rotary itself is a bit over the top. The phase 45 at a lower setting gives just a really nice shimmer to your playing that is subtle but really nice. Great choice!

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:16 am

ElephantDNA wrote:
Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:51 am
Yeah I actually picked up a phase 45 myself recently. Really digging it though I am experiencing some amount of volume loss. Will have to try putting it in different areas of the chain to see if I can make it a little louder. Bass player is a beast, so I'm turned up pretty high most of the time.

I find with the phase45 after about 3 o'clock you can nail this type of tone. And as you said, the rotary itself is a bit over the top. The phase 45 at a lower setting gives just a really nice shimmer to your playing that is subtle but really nice. Great choice!
Thanks. I do have a clean boost in the chain which will hopefully help if some compensation is needed.

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Re: Rotary speaker sounds on the semi-cheap?

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Apr 03, 2021 8:32 am

ElephantDNA wrote:
Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:51 am
Yeah I actually picked up a phase 45 myself recently. Really digging it though I am experiencing some amount of volume loss. Will have to try putting it in different areas of the chain to see if I can make it a little louder. Bass player is a beast, so I'm turned up pretty high most of the time.

I find with the phase45 after about 3 o'clock you can nail this type of tone. And as you said, the rotary itself is a bit over the top. The phase 45 at a lower setting gives just a really nice shimmer to your playing that is subtle but really nice. Great choice!

Well, shit. They canceled my order. I’m guessing it either sold in person and hadn’t been pulled from the site yet or somebody determined it was way underpriced and pulled it. I’m going to express my annoyance to them as another option I was considering for similar money is now gone.

How bad is tone suck with the unmodded stock version when off?

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