NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

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GreenKnee
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NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by GreenKnee » Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:30 am

One by one JAM pedals seem to be taking over my board. Ever since I got the Wahcko a few years back they've been on my radar, and each time I try one out I'm blown away.

The Lucydreamer has replaced a Plumes on my board. I know, shock horror right!? But here's why:
The Plumes sounded great, and I fitted a wingman knob to allow me to go from a light OD to a heavier one by turning up the gain with my foot. This wasn't ideal as during gigs I would sometimes miss, or give it a bit too much/too little gain and then throw my sound off for the song.
Secondly, I felt like Plumes took away a little too much of my low-end. I didn't mind this too much as I play in a 3-piece and so the bass player is filling in all the low end and some space where a rhythm guitar may sit sometimes. But there were some instances when I just wanted to be BIGGER, and unfortunately Plumes couldn't deliver for me there. I used Plumes exclusively in Mode 1.

The Lucydreamer sits in the same sonic space as Plumes in Mode 1; kind of TS, kind of Klon, kind of slight mid-hump, clear, tube-like OD. Very nice for note clarity and adding a bit of hair to a lovely clean sound. The Lucydreamer does it really well, and keeps just enough more low end to keep me happy without muddying anything up.
The left footswitch is for the high gain mode, which just gives it an extra kick. It's called high gain, but should really be called "A Touch More Gain" as its just enough to get a bit more saturation but it is NOT distortion my any means. There is an internal trimmer for the output level of this side, and so I have tuned it as a nice solo boost: more gain and a bit more volume, perfect!
The wet/dry pot controls how much of your unaffected signal is heard. This is kind of like half of the gain pot of a Klon. On a Klon as you turn down the gain, more of your dry signal comes through and visa versa. With it being separate on the Lucydreamer it means you can dial in more dry signal with more gain, a nice bit of extra control. I have it set about 9 o'clock, which is just a little bit of the dry signal in with the OD sound. This opens it up and makes it sound a bit less compressed.

This pedal sounds great, and was just what I was looking for in my OD section. Plus, see how amazing it looks!?!

Image

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marqueemoon
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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:10 am

Interesting. I’ve found the dry signal blend thing to be a mixed bag. When it’s done well it’s great though.

Agree about the Plumes lopping off a bunch of low end. Been using mine with my 3 piece and thus far that’s my only real complaint.

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GreenKnee
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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by GreenKnee » Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:37 am

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:10 am
Interesting. I’ve found the dry signal blend thing to be a mixed bag. When it’s done well it’s great though.

Agree about the Plumes lopping off a bunch of low end. Been using mine with my 3 piece and thus far that’s my only real complaint.
I've had mixed results with a clean blend in the past, I used to use a big muff with a clean blend and struggled to get it to sound good. I've since found that if I run a compressor before the pedal with a clean blend that the even volume and less pronounced attack really helps. I guess with a non-compressed signal the jumps in volume can make the transients too pronounced and the rest of the sound dip down behind the effected sound.

I'm going to keep the Plumes as I think it will double-track wonderfully with the Lucydreamer for recording

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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by Sauerkraut » Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:05 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:10 am
Agree about the Plumes lopping off a bunch of low end. Been using mine with my 3 piece and thus far that’s my only real complaint.
Dammit. I was so happy with my Plumes for a while, but recently I’ve been noticing the same thing and it’s a problem for me.

You’re really making a good case for that Lucydreamer here, Greenknee. The artwork’s really not for me, but a great pedal is a great pedal. Hrm..:

Edit: just noticed yours has a custom design and the normal artwork is different. I’ll have to get one now.

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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by GreenKnee » Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:22 am

Sauerkraut wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:05 pm
marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:10 am
Agree about the Plumes lopping off a bunch of low end. Been using mine with my 3 piece and thus far that’s my only real complaint.
Dammit. I was so happy with my Plumes for a while, but recently I’ve been noticing the same thing and it’s a problem for me.

You’re really making a good case for that Lucydreamer here, Greenknee. The artwork’s really not for me, but a great pedal is a great pedal. Hrm..:

Edit: just noticed yours has a custom design and the normal artwork is different. I’ll have to get one now.
Let me know what you think to it :)

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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by Sauerkraut » Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:20 am

GreenKnee wrote:
Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:22 am
Sauerkraut wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:05 pm
marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:10 am
Agree about the Plumes lopping off a bunch of low end. Been using mine with my 3 piece and thus far that’s my only real complaint.
Dammit. I was so happy with my Plumes for a while, but recently I’ve been noticing the same thing and it’s a problem for me.

You’re really making a good case for that Lucydreamer here, Greenknee. The artwork’s really not for me, but a great pedal is a great pedal. Hrm..:

Edit: just noticed yours has a custom design and the normal artwork is different. I’ll have to get one now.
Let me know what you think to it :)
I've had it for about a week now and it's pretty much exactly as you described: a better Plumes, with much nicer low-end. The dry/wet blend works great too. So the Plumes is going. I like the way you set it, by the way, that's exactly how I found myself liking it best; with the tone set at around 3 o'clock and the gain down at 9 o'clock. But that's also because my main problem with Tubescreamer-type pedals is that I don't like the character of the gain all that much. I prefer my Klon clone's gain, even if the Lucydreamer is easily the best of its type of ODs I've heard. I'm fickle though, so I'll keep it around for when I change my mind on soft-clipping ODs again, and I'll probably use it for recordings sometimes, but I'm gonna have my Klone and two Rats on the board for now.
Last edited by Sauerkraut on Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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GreenKnee
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Re: NPD: JAM "Achenbach" Lucydreamer

Post by GreenKnee » Thu Dec 09, 2021 12:38 pm

Sauerkraut wrote:
Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:20 am
GreenKnee wrote:
Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:22 am
Sauerkraut wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:05 pm


Dammit. I was so happy with my Plumes for a while, but recently I’ve been noticing the same thing and it’s a problem for me.

You’re really making a good case for that Lucydreamer here, Greenknee. The artwork’s really not for me, but a great pedal is a great pedal. Hrm..:

Edit: just noticed yours has a custom design and the normal artwork is different. I’ll have to get one now.
Let me know what you think to it :)
I've had it for about a week now and it's pretty much exactly as you described: a better Plumes, with much nicer low-end. The dry/wet blend works great too. So the Plumes is going. I like the way you set it, by the way, that's exactly how I found myself liking it best; with the tone set at around 3 o'clock and the gain down at 9 o'clock. But that's also because my main problem with Tubescreamer-type pedals is that I don't like the character of the gain all that much. I prefer my Klon clone's gain, even if the Lucydreamer is easily of its type of ODs I've heard. I'm fickle though, so I'll keep it around for when I change my mind on soft-clipping ODs again, and I'll probably use it for recordings sometimes, but I'm gonna have my Klone and two Rats on the board for now.
Nice, thanks for letting me know your thoughts about it. I've found myself turning the gain down even more when I use my Tele with the pedal, the bridge pickup pushes it that hard that the gain barely needs any encouragement.

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