Jacques Katapult Germanium Vintage Treble Booster

1 - Ge : The missing element
I remember when we first start our experiments with my buddy Pierre back in 1973, how we used to get our electronic components supply from his uncle, a Philips repair tech.  We had little paperback books called like 'Light and sound effects for electric guitar' or something, and we tried to build from scratch the special effects from the schematics.  The worst part was to match the needed components with what we had in our poor stock.

We often - if always - took the freedom to replace unavailable resistor, cap or even transistor with our closest possible.  Needless to say that very few of our projects ever uttered any sound at all, let alone work somehow.  But, by the end of those hazardous experiments, we had learnt a lot about transistors, and had some of our ugly boxes start to give good tones.

Eventually we broke down and bought us some decent stuff like nice soldering irons - I had a blue wooden 100 watter made for plumbing applications ! -- and a nice array of correct components.

But, mysteriously, most of our new 'improved' projects had a much cheesier sound than their scavenged incestors.  It took us years to understand why :

The new, clean and straight transistors were Silicium.

2 - The VOX and MARSHALL riddle
Back then, two of my fave bands were -- and still are -- Deep Purple and Queen.  And both of their guitarist used TREBLE BOOSTERS.

That really made me wonder why in this world do they want this artefact : Aping them, I tried to plug my EH Screaming Bird into my tube Marshall.  Even in a friend beautiful old AC30.  And the ice-pick ear piercing tone I got was so far from their beautiful sustained sweet tone, that really let me puzzled.

Years later, the web brought me the solution : their treble booster was GERMANIUM fueled.

3 - BaGy's got a temper
Ok, so we now all know that Germanium sounds much better in a treble booster.  But problem is that, on an industrial scale, it is a scarce element.  While silicium transistors are very consistent, the Ge ones tend to differ one from his brother of the same ref and brand, in a spectacular manner.

The solution : none.

I still have to HAND-TUNE EVERY KATAPULT while monitoring its tone with an electric guitar and amp.

So heat up your tube amp, and prepare yourself for a JACQUES taylored tone like in Old Bond street.

4 - Be true to your amp
I have been asked a thousand times why I do not use true by-pass switching in my pedals.  Well, for me, a good buffer is much better because I use a lot of pedals in my sound chain.

But this time, I have thought that this pedal could be used alone with a legendary amp.  Thus, knowing my love for vintage amps --- see my boutique in France 1001 Guitares --- I went for a very efficient relay-based true by-pass switch that allies precision and reality.  I see some of you tone-freaks smiling...

Jacques Kapellmeister BBD Analog Flanger

1 - The flanging effect
It is not quite clear who invented the word flange for this wonderful effect.  Peter Sellers during the Goon show or Lennon at the BBC recording?  Anyway, we'll keep Britt Ekland because she's better looking.  The effect itself was invented by BBC sound masters who put their greasy fingers on the rim ( flange ) of one of the tape reels of the simultaneous tape decks playing the same recording.  This resulted to a sweeping effect we all know and adore.  Thanks again to all these great guys and girl.

2 - BBD chip
Once again, the superiority of analog delay chips to produce this time based effect is easy to prove : the BBD chip retains the sounds in its guts of caps and resistors much more naturally than any coding digital chip that have to translate it in computer language. Just observe the right return to vinyl recording in hifi these days and you'll understand why analog will always sounds better than digital encoding, no matter how many Hz and bits you will align in our musician front. You can see on the picture the vintage mutron that has inspired me all along this creation process of a holy grail flanger, not counting how hard it was to find it on the vintage market!

3 - The J.S.Bach effect
Nevertheless, you will still have to inbreathe musicality to sound circuitry whatever electronic base you put in an effect.  This is performed only by trying and listening. ALL components affects the way your signal is processed and it's only when you explore all possibilities BY EAR that you reach the supreme goal : Great Music Tone.  This is what I did with the KAPELLMEISTER, sparing no effort in choosing all components in the signal path in order to achieve a standard.

4 - And now, let's crank this amp up!
During all these tests, our beloved KAPELLMEISTER was tested both with great clean tube amps ( '65 deluxe reverb , Hiwatt Custom 100 heads, etc...) AND raging overdriven legendary amps ( '68 Marshall plexi, JMI top boost Vox ac30, etc....), because it is a very crucial point on a flanger. Good flangers must sound good with distortion, letting you enhance your soli with swirling rotating effect, a la EVH. And the KAPELLMEISTER excels in this exercise.  Satisfaction guaranteed.

While my TUBEBLOWER pedal is a personnal upgrade of the ts pedal, there will always be a wish to obtain the original specs, in order to recreate the exact tone of our fave records and riffs. I can understand this because I often feel this way----don't forget I own 4 originals!  So, like a sci-fi movie, I have been working on a clone for more than a year now and there it is: the SAME tone with exactly the same controls and control action than in a original vintage ts!!!

Let's face it : Like SRV himself, you need TWO!!!.  But no sweat : you will not have to buy 2 OVERTUBE.  I have included clever circuitry that is completely equivalent to two OVERTUBE linked in serial, exactly as on the SRV set up.  Just turn the CASC. switch on and get that compressed high-gain overdrive that will transform you solo in melting iron magic.

Introduction
A complete new breakthrough in the world of effect pedals, the TRINITY is a combo 1- envelope filter, 2- auto wah and 3- wah-wah in one compact pedal and a controller ---and of course an hommage to Carey Ann Moss.  But not only this : thanks to its unique controler, the TRINITY opens a whole new field in effect pedals, allowing tones and sensations never experienced before.  For once a new pedal is really new.

Chapter 1 : Classic Wah
Thanks to its dedicated dome controller , the TRINITY can be used as a wah-wah pedal. As unusual as it may seems ----the JACQUES TRINITY controller is made in a former military hardware factory----- anyone who have tried it feels immediately at ease with its utterly precise control over one of the most uncanny wah tone of all time.  Try one and you will ask yourself why in this world bulky rocker pedals have been the classic choice for wah.  The unique TRINITY wah tone is more vowel-like, more human than any other wah pedal, and makes heads turn whenever you start playing it.  You can of course adjust the Q factor with the MANUAL knob to come back to classic wah tone, making the TRINITY an incredible wah pedal if only it was its sole function, but ......

Chapter 2 : Stuck Wah
Due to its nature itself, there is nothing easier to get a stuck wah tone on the trinity. Furthermore, control on these favored guitar tone has never been so wide, from throaty 'Money for nothing' to squealing hard rock tones.  You need it.  So why bother unstable drifting rocker pedal or expensive rack : the TRINITY will give you this famous tone stock without spending another dollar.  And yes : Stock stuck wah.

Chapter 3 : Filter Wah
One of the most coveted effects of guitardom is the envelope filter.  The TRINITY offers an incredible rendition of this beloved tone, with a more complete range of controls than the competition...  The best thing about the TRINITY filter is that it's still a really dramatic effect while being usable in any setting. I wanted the whole to be pro-proof, and that you could get GREAT filter tone on the first second with the pedal.  Simply adjust the sensitivity control to your guitar and playing tech and you'll get your first brush with royal sibling enveloppe filter from France !

Chapter 4 : Auto Wah
The TRINTY gets an inboard full functions autowah, with rate and depth controls.  More than automatic wah, this effect is sent up to the boundaries with flanger and phasing , thanks to its incredible depth and musicality.  Furthermore, the controler is still useful here, as it now slowly bypass this dramatic effects. You should try this.

Chapter 5 : In Between s and MP3
As a pure analog device, the TRINITY can anywhere between two settings, allowing literally hundreds of possible tones.  I think this demo from my GREAT demoer Jean-Christophe PANZA---meet him at newt SHG Milano, ITALY at JACQUES BOOTH !!!---will give already an idea of this panorama.

1-Studio Quality analog delay
It is often refered to analog delay as low-fi tone.  It's a mistake. While it sounds less bright than crispy analog, a pro quality analog delay must satisfy all fidelity exigence of a working musician.  In the old days, you could bet there was a difference between cheap plastic analog delay pedal and big bucks studio rack.  I remember a Dynacord studio analog delay ---one of my fave--- costed the price of 2 stratocasters!  This is what we did in the PRISONER delay: thanks to its high quality N.O.S. Made in Japan Matsushita BBD chips, the PRISONER offers 0.3 seconds of pure hi-fi analog delay ... but there's much more ...

2- Dry guitar tone when the effect is on
As you must know, when you stomp on a delay box, you hear the wet AND the dry guitar tone.  What you absolutely should know is that in digital delay, even the DRY tone is digitalized, which means that how good the delay is, the dry tone which mixes with it is lousy.  Try you main digital squeeze with all delay down and compare it with your original guitar tone.  You will see what I mean. Of course, no such thing with the PRISONER: the dry tone in the mix is exactly your guitar tone.  Believe me, this makes a huge difference and this is part of why we still want analog delay in our computerized world.

3- Modulation !!!!
This is the PRISONER forte.  When meeting Steve Morse for the MERCER BOX 2, I noticed he was using an old digitech rack crap.  I asked him why: the answer was clear: modulation delay.  Having your echoes mixing with your ---good--- dry tone and then going into chorus gives you a 3D tone no other effect can give you in monophony.  And analog pro tone completes this picture for total heaven.

4- Magic Effect level knob
Just like in the MEISTERSINGER, crazy tones can be musical thanks to this magic knob.  Adjust your most out-of-this-world fave setting and then use it with parsimony with the EFFECT LEVEL knob to achieve tonal expertise.

The MB2 uses high-tech construction and combines it with hand-built tone for the best of both worlds.  Using discrete components for tone and high-tech components for non-tone, Jacques has merged his best handmade designs into a coherent electronic device.  The MB2 emulates the heavenly union between perfect fuzz pedals and raging plexi 100-watters.  The resulting complex interaction - known as the best guitar tone ever heard by human ears - is now available in this modern compact stompbox.  Key to the Mercer’s extensive operating ranges are its uniquely named controls.  HATE introduces an immense low range, while lack of LOVE takes off the harmonics and gain.  BLOOD brings intense life and FUZZ brings in distortion with no limits.  Level acts much like a guitar volume, allowing the user to “clean-up” their sound as they roll it off.  All these controls are highly interactive, and different combinations will yield vastly different results.

When set at full distortion, the Mercer Box is fireworks splendor breaking the night.  At ease with single coil pick-ups or humbuckers, the Mercer lets loose a world of excess, bringing your amp to new frontiers beyond any description.  And the extraordinary feature of the Mercer is that you can decrease this huge distortion tone gradually down to clean, simply using your guitar volume knob.  In the past stompbox history, numerous attempts to morph distortion in real time have failed, but here and now you get a fully effective remote distortion controller for free.  Little finger maestro guitarists ala Steve Morse will find this just one more reason to own a Mercer Box 2.  One of the rare high-gain distortion pedals to offer a brilliant clean tone, the MB2 is stronger, warmer, and richer when engaged than when bypassed.  Very reminiscent of the best tube amps, the MB2 clean tone is so addictive you could leave it on all the time, or buy a second Mercer Box just for distortion!