NPD Freqing out!!

804 Views 27 Replies 11 Participants Last post by zztomato, 13 d ago

Milkman

Discussion Starter · 15 d ago

I've been seeking something like a sustainer but in a pedal. I'm trying out this Digitech Freqout. I just plugged it in and don't have much time at the moment, but it does definitely work.

I actually found a couple of old power amps in the shed so I dusted them off and traded them in at L & M.

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Milkman

Discussion Starter · #2 · 15 d ago

LOL, inflation.

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Grab n Go

· #3 · 15 d ago

I'd be curious to hear your take on it. It's been on my radar. Not really a priority for me, but I think it would be a neat way to simulate feedback when recording.

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Milkman

Discussion Starter · #4 · 15 d ago

Grab n Go said:
I'd be curious to hear your take on it. It's been on my radar. Not really a priority for me, but I think it would be a neat way to simulate feedback when recording.

Yes, sure. Once I get a few minutes I'll make a clip.

I plugged it in for a few seconds between meetings and right off the bat it reminded me of the Sustaniac.

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Milkman

Discussion Starter · #5 · 15 d ago

Powdered Toast Man

· #6 · 15 d ago

Did you pay by money order and have your cousin's brother's neighbour's girlfriend pick it up for you?

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Milkman

Discussion Starter · #7 · 15 d ago

Powdered Toast Man said:
Did you pay by money order and have your cousin's brother's neighbour's girlfriend pick it up for you?

LOL, No, but I made replicas of two Yorkville AP4020 amps complete with 40 lbs of ballast in each and traded them in for the pedal....

I had sunglasses on....

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mhammer

· #8 · 15 d ago

The Freq Out is a decent pedal. I still prefer the Fender Runaway over all the others, but that may be because I've never seen one in the flesh, let alone used one, or owned one. But it just sounds more realistic to me. That doesn't take away from the musical validity of others like the Freq Out, or the Boss DF-2 and Line 6 Dr. Distorto (both of which I do own). The Runaway just blooms more like actual feedback to my ears.

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JMann

· #9 · 15 d ago

This is an interesting take @mhammer

Never heard of the Fender Runaway. I use the Freqout for a couple songs (maybe more, depending on if I’m feeling it lol). Use it especially for one song: “Is This Love”.

I‘ve also got my mind on another Freqout but you have me looking at the Runaway now. Which is a good thing

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mhammer

· #10 · 15 d ago

I thought it was a great pedal (again, NOT a diss at the Freq Out). I have no idea why Fender discontinued it. It seemed to arrive and then vanish almost as quickly as it appeared. I don't know if it was because of some sort of persistent technical problem, discontinued or unavailable critical parts, or simply the perception that it wasn't a big seller. Whatever the case, I do wish they'd bring it back.

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JMann

· #11 · 15 d ago

Wow, just did a quick search on Reverb re the Runaway. It seems the Guatemalans have the market cornered on these rare items:

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Milkman

Discussion Starter · #12 · 15 d ago

I’ll need a little time to dial it in, but it’s a fun and useful effect.

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Grab n Go

· #13 · 15 d ago

Milkman said:
I’ll need a little time to dial it in, but it’s a fun and useful effect.

Thanks for demoing it! Dang, that sounds really good. Very convincing. It seems to generate a lot of overtones too.

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mhammer

· #14 · 15 d ago

Sounds very good. Without meaning to be critical of Milkman or anyone else here, one of the best things about such pedals is that they require the player to avoid wanking That is, you can't try to be the fastest picker alive and make use of the feedback simulation. You MUST be willing to slow down and hold notes. And in doing so, one has to be judicious about which notes.

And I happen to think that's probably a good thing. Most players are capable of that, and such pedals force them to show that side of their playing. So, in addition to being a neat effect, it's a good influence. Win-win.

I don't quite remember what the Runaway retailed for when it originally came out, but I think it was somewhere just north of $200. I would hope that those ridiculous prices shown are not a consequence of my praise of the pedals.

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david57strat

· #15 · 15 d ago (Edited)

I highly recommend the Freqout. It's a fun pedal to have, and nice, well-tracked feedback effects are possible, without blowing out your eardrums (a must for DAW users who play a lot through headphones, and don't have the luxury of playing through a cranked amp in the middle of the night).

I can't believe how expensive they've gotten though. Damn. I paid $134.00 USD for mine - just in time before they took a price hike, days later!

This was back in late December of 2018, before all the on-line stores started incorporating sales tax on their orders:

Bottom line - money, well-spent. Worth every penny

.

Enjoy your new pedal, OP!
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david57strat

· #16 · 15 d ago

mhammer said:
The Freq Out is a decent pedal. I still prefer the Fender Runaway over all the others, but that may be because I've never seen one in the flesh, let alone used one, or owned one. But it just sounds more realistic to me. That doesn't take away from the musical validity of others like the Freq Out, or the Boss DF-2 and Line 6 Dr. Distorto (both of which I do own). The Runaway just blooms more like actual feedback to my ears.

I had the DF-2 back in the late eighties (?), and absolutely hated it. It sounded completely fake and it tracked notes horribly.

The distortion was okay though

.

david57strat

· #17 · 15 d ago (Edited)

Milkman said:

Cool video. As shown, later in the video, the pedal can be set so the onset of the feedback is a lot more subtle/more understated, if desired.

Also, I love the harmonic/overtone (?) intervals you can choose. Super flexible pedal.

As I recall, this pedal requires something like 235 mA (although the pedal says 300); so people considering it should make sure they have a power supply that can produce enough amperage to run it. Most high-end isolated power supplies can supply this effortlessly.

When I first ran it, I used an old Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus (Outputs 5 and 6 can output 250 mA).

Now, I use either a Pedal Power 3 Plus, a Strymon Zuma, or a CIOKS DC7, depending on which board it's mounted. It's not a pedal I use all the time, so I just bounce it back and forth, from one board to another, as needed.

It's also very heavy! Better than too light. Feels robust.

You can run it in latched, or un-latched mode

.

Somewhere, there is a video of Andy Timmons, demonstrating the pedal. It's one of the nicest video demo's of the pedal I've ever seen. I think someone one embedded on Facebook, or something. I don't recall seeing it on YouTube. But - it's been a while.

Here we go (for those of you who have access to Facebook):

fb.watch

DigiTech - Andy Timmons, playing the new DigiTech FreqOut... | By DigiTech | Andy Timmons, playing the new DigiTech FreqOut pedal at NAMM. #dig_it Andy Timmons Official Page

၅.၄သောင်း views, ၆၁၅ likes, ၅၉ loves, ၁၁၇ comments, ၂၇၃ shares, Facebook Watch Videos from DigiTech: Andy Timmons, playing the new DigiTech FreqOut pedal at NAMM. #dig_it Andy Timmons Official Page

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Brian Johnston

· #18 · 14 d ago

Digitech sent me one to review when they first came out. I still have it. NOTHING beats the Vibesware (the last two videos are mine at vibesware.com), but it's 299 Euro. The foot pedal (not necessary to use the unit) is another 69 Euro, but that allows you to shift through various harmonics, which is awesome.

mhammer

· #19 · 14 d ago

david57strat said:
I had the DF-2 back in the late eighties (?), and absolutely hated it. It sounded completely fake and it tracked notes horribly.

The distortion was okay though .

It was most definitely NOT God's gift to those wanting feedback emulation at reasonable SPLs, but it was what we had in those days, in the analog domain, so kudos to Boss for at least trying. Oddly enough, the most complaints I hear about it ARE with regard to the quality of the distortion.

Despite its lacklustre performance as a feedback emulator, one of the nifty perks it had was that you could hold down the treadle and the "feedback" could be used as a drone note. There were also mods posted to alter the vibrato speed and depth, which was fixed to mimic the finger vibrato one might normally use to hold a note until it feeds back.

Milkman

Discussion Starter · #20 · 14 d ago

mhammer said:
Sounds very good. Without meaning to be critical of Milkman or anyone else here, one of the best things about such pedals is that they require the player to avoid wanking That is, you can't try to be the fastest picker alive and make use of the feedback simulation. You MUST be willing to slow down and hold notes. And in doing so, one has to be judicious about which notes.

And I happen to think that's probably a good thing. Most players are capable of that, and such pedals force them to show that side of their playing. So, in addition to being a neat effect, it's a good influence. Win-win.

I don't quite remember what the Runaway retailed for when it originally came out, but I think it was somewhere just north of $200. I would hope that those ridiculous prices shown are not a consequence of my praise of the pedals.

I get what you're saying. If I wanted to truly demonstrate the effect I would play single notes and let them hang there until the feedback kicked in, but that's not really how I (or most of us) play.

I'm more interested in how the device fits in the context of the way I play and that would never be feedback on every note. It's important to me that the effect doesn't screw up other normal elements of my playing (such as it is).

I can set this thing to kick in with a natural delay but I know I can still play the licks I like and when I want that sweet feedback....there it is.

And I definitely do NOT want a pedal that adds vibrato. That's one thing I think should be manual.

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