Pro Tone Pedals

Amps in a box... and a free pedal for you!

2008-08-22T11:05:13Z

So over the last few months we've been working our ass' off on a few different signature pedals, and along the way we found some serious tones. For example- while prototyping the Jason Becker pedal we built a Marshall™ Plexi based distortion box. We built it to compare/contrast the differences, and see if we could get the Becker tone. While it didn’t hit what we wanted for the JB pedal, it was a killer Plexi sounding pedal. You can actually buy that Plexi based distortion from our good friend Tom at FuzzHugger.com
That said- we will be releasing it as part of our amp in a box type line. No, we wont use that phrase as its been used to death, but you get the idea- we'll take a rare or expensive amp and cram its characteristics into a 4.7"x3.7" box.
How does this benefit you? Well- if you cant drop $2500 for a Plexi head, maybe you can swing $250 for a stomp box that will get you really fuckin' close and keep you in the ANALOG REALM instead of dealing with digital gobbledygook.

The Plexi tone will be just the start- We've got our eyes on probably 3 more, but I'll keep those quiet for now… heres a hint- one will be the 2nd color of a rainbow.

So your assignment- help us come up with a better phrase than 'amp in a box'- if we like your idea enough we'll adopt it, and give you a free pedal for your trouble.

Take care!

Dennis

MySpace Is Making You Lazy

2008-08-18T09:52:55Z

MySpace is turning you fuckers into lazy spoiled brats!

What ever happened to searching for things? Fucking GOOGLE was invented for a reason- use it. HELL... ITS EMBEDDED RIGHT HERE IN MYSPACE

Don't send us a message asking for our web address or if we make this other type of pedal or where you can buy our products or who uses our stuff or if we have any audio or videos. All you're doing is wasting our production time & delaying someones pedal because you cant be bothered to do your own research.

Take the initiative and fucking find it.

And don't even get me started with you MySpace celebutards out there asking for endorsement deals when you've never played our products. Why would you want to 'endorse' something you've never god damned played? Are you that big of a whore.... dumb question, sorry. We dont work with people just because we give them discounts. We work with people because they believe in the products, such as Jason Becker.
Sure Jason never got a chance to play our pedals, but a close friend of his has- he made the recommendation, which inspired Jason and his father to do their homework. They became familiar with what we do, who we work with and what our standards are. I suggest you all follow that lead.

If you're in a gigging band and need a break on some new equipment, do your homework, be humble and above all be respectful- to us and yourselves, and ask for some help. Give us a reason to WANT to help you out. Tell us what you hear in our products that makes you want to own one.

Too harsh? Welcome to the music fucking business... its the music business we're in, not the music friendship. Get used to it.

/rant

Pro Tone Pedals Podcast #4

2008-08-09T19:28:09Z

Pod Cast #4- I need your help! Give me some topic ideas... what do you want me to babble about?
Sorry about the hot & nasty audio during the intro... I'm reintroducing myself to Pro Tools.

Video of prototype testing and configuration update

2008-08-07T09:43:02Z

We've got some video footage of Rusty Cooley testing the release candidate circuit on our YouTube page. Check em out- the pedal really nails the Marshall tone of that era!

Secondly, there has been some change to the configuration... Rather than a low gain overdrive feeding the distortion circuit, we reversed it- the distortion feeding into a low gain overdrive/booster. Sounds amazing!

Dennis

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Prototyping Round 1 is Complete

2008-07-31T08:08:13Z

Monday July 28th I spent much of the day with ubershredder Rusty Cooley testing the myriad of prototypes of Perpetual Burn pedals constructed in an attempt to nail Jason Becker's amp tone.

I've never really addressed the importance of having a player of Rusty's caliber test the pedal. Its actually quite simple- most distortion pedals don’t hold up well to high speed picking. They tend to mush up, or blur and you loose the attack of each note. There are very few people on this planet that can do what Jason did, and very few that can do what Rusty does. So I figured if this design can hold up to Rusty's furious picking speed it could withstand anything.

The final prototype candidate, the design I was pretty sure would be 'the one'… was exactly that! It nailed everything we wanted and needed from it! The notes, even at hyper, speed jumped out the amp each one ringing as clearly as the next. Massive amounts of sustain, crushing Marshall-ish distortion… smooth and silky tube overdrive when you dial the gain back, totally un-pedal-like in every aspect.

We've got some audio and video clips of the sessions. I'll post some of the testing as Rusty and Jason approve of them.

From here we'll do some more recording, build a few more prototypes with the final design and send them to a couple of other players for their feedback, and present all of the data to Jason for his final approval.

We're RIGHT on track for a Fall release.

Thanks to everyone for your support on this project- its made a tremendous impact.

Dennis

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Packing up the prototypes to be tested

2008-07-26T15:09:35Z

Pictured are 5 of the Perpetual Burn prototypes. We've been pretty open about how we intend on getting Jason's tone, so seeing the labels on these shouldn't come as ANY surprise.

We're putting 1 last prototype together for session with Rusty Cooley on Monday.

Let me run you through them real quick-

Buffer- I want to test each pedal with as even a signal as I can at this point- a buffer should help us keep all things as equal as possible.
Simple Marshall Tone- just a simple Marshall-y distortion
Plexi-ish... name kinda says it all
Super Lead- an approximation of the Soldano Super Lead. We know Jason didnt play this amp, but plenty of the guys from that ilk & era did, so lets see what we can do with it.
Emul800- Jasons Perpetual Burn amp was a JCM800. We've emulated the 800 here with a few tweaks to give it a little more drive.
Complex Marshall Tone- nice tone, but the controls are all wired backwards... oops.
YES the A/B switch is upside down

I'll post some thoughts from my hotel room tomorrow night... maybe some video to go along with it all.

Dennis

Pro Tone Pedals Podcast #3

2008-07-18T21:33:51Z

OK all-
Heres a quick podcast for ya! I picked up a new USB Microphone from CAD this afternoon and wanted to test it out.

Covered in this episode: Progress of the Jason Becker Perpetual Burn distortion, upcoming visit with Rusty Cooley to test a big batch of P.B. prototypes, tips on how to get endorsements from us for all of you aspiring bands out there wanting free Pro Tone gear.

Prototyping, Pick Ups & Photos

2008-07-12T09:37:17Z

Wow... its been a full week since the last update lets jump in!

Prototyping- I did some prototype testing and the results were... well not as great as I had wanted them to be. The overdrive into the distortion model that I wanted to follow just creates too much noise. So I'm going to investigate other options for giving people the tools to get Jasons tone. We'll keep it dual channel, but with a different mindset and functionality. The bottom line is that it has to sound amazing. That's our commitment... otherwise we're all just wasting time.

Pick ups- I heard through the grapevine that Jason was using a DiMarzio Super Distortion. Coupled with the fact that somewhere I read Jason used Dimarzios in the bridge and Duncans in the neck... I ran with that thought. WELL... I found out in a most humbling fashion this is NOT CORRECT. Turns out I actually had that backwards, DiMarzios in the neck Duncans in the bridge.
With that bad info firmly lodged into my head, and I admit its my own fault I had bad info, I made a call to DiMarzio. I wanted to find out if there would be any differences between the Super's on the shelves today, and those sold 20-25 years ago... After getting a long lecture on how Jason was never an endorsee, and other technical BS I wont bore you with here... I walked away knowing only 1 thing: I would never again give the DiMarzio company another fucking dollar. I dont care who is on their roster list you just dont treat people the way I was treated. I'm not going to name WHO it was that I spoke with, but trust me when I say they should know better. I guess he just figured when you're the top dog in your field you can treat people like shit without giving a damn.
If you are EVER in the market for after-market pick ups, PLEASE check out our friends at Motor City Pick Ups. They hand wind everything and they sound amazing!!! All 5 of my electric are loaded with Motor City P'ups and I love em.

Photos- Jason sent over a few rare photos for us to use in the promotional campaign.. cool stuff. We'll use them I'm sure, but we've also got something else planned that will just be ubercool. More on that later.

Thats it for today... next time I might share some new images, so keep an eye out for that.

Be well!

Dennis

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Phase Shift Promo Clip

2008-07-08T09:47:31Z

A quick 'video' of the brand new Phase Shifter

Updated Mock up image

2008-07-12T09:36:29Z

A new mock up of the Perpetual Burn Distortion pedal... and since rendering this I've already made a change- the EQ section will go on the outside with the water drops. Not to mention I forgot to use the blue knob!

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Tech Talk

2008-07-05T15:23:04Z

Lets see... its been a busy couple of days... I spoke to Jason 3 days ago. Again, a surreal experience. I wanted to know if he could recall any of the settings he used on his amp or pedal... sadly, no, he could not recall his knob settings. Oh well... no problem

I did find out that he most likely used 9-46 gauge strings... that's helpful.

Had a chance to swing by a music store and pick up a Jackson dinky to experiment with, as my usual experimenter guitar is breaking due to the extremely heavy strings I usually use... the bolts that go into the guitar and support the bridge are puling out and shredding the wood.

I picked up the Jackson for a few reasons- it was cheap-the sticker price was $350, its got a floyd rose, and it was cheap.

Why is cheap important? We're designing a pedal for the average joe to get WAY FUCKING ABOVE average tone... so I figure I would get a guitar, not unlike the normal dude would be playing.

We will be outfitting said cheap guitar with the 9-46 gauge strings and the pickups favored by Jason- the Super Distortion by DiMarzio. I'll be making a call to DiMarzio next week to see if there are any differences between the p'ups we can buy today and the p'ups on the shelves 25 years ago.

I've got a bunch more to report, but I think I'll try to keep each post to a bite size amount...

Be well!!

Dennis
And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

The Goal

2008-07-05T15:23:26Z

So during all of these press releases and blog postings and so on, I've neglected to point out what we're trying to do here... and who we're looking to help with this tool.

The goal is to get as close to Jasons PB tone as we can. Obviously there will be variables we cant design for- like Jasons fingers, the amp you would plug the pedal into... things like this but the goal is to get the Perpetual Burn tone from an average bedroom sized combo amp. That is what I'm designing to.

At the end of July I'll spend a day locked in a room with Rusty Cooley doing prototype testing. In addition to being a freaking MONSTER shredder, Rusty is an accomplished instructor, giving lessons to a new breed of maniacs. We'll use his finger-on-the-pulse knowledge of what young shredders are using for amplification as our benchmark.

Jason was never secretive with his gear and how he got his tone. So if you could afford a distortion pedal, inexpensive guitar and a JCM800 along with the capability to crank it, you could easily get his tone... but for those that cant do that this pedal will be a crucial element to getting that sound.

Thanks for reading

Dennis

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Squeezing it all in

2008-07-05T15:24:38Z

Here area a few shots during the layout process. Trying to make everything fit and still functional on top.

Notice a slight change in the art...

Take care!
Dennis

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Distortion part 1... the saga begins

2008-06-27T08:39:07Z

Today is Thursday June 26th, 2008... Tomorrow we will mail the 'official' press release regarding the partnership between Pro Tone and Jason.

I'm going to try my hardest to post as frequently as possible during the design and development phase. For us here this is not just another signature product in the guitar market. Jason is a special guy with amazing fans and they deserve nothing but the best Pro Tone Pedals has to offer.

Let me catch you up on how the ball got rolling...
On 6/11/08 I posted a blog on MySpace ranting about Guitar Center. We've received a flood of positive feedback from that rant, one of the supporters was Dave at Paradise Guitars. Paradise Guitars is currently working on a Jason Becker signature guitar. So... Dave contacts us, says it would be cool to also put out a JB pedal using Gary Beckers (Jason's dad) art. After a few days of Emails between Dave and I, he passes JBs contact info, and I made the call to Jason on 6/18/08.

After a few days of research we began prototyping on 6/21/08. Luckily Jason's gear at the time was very straight forward, nothing really exotic about it. The same 6/21 date saw Jason provide us with the first round of art work. I say its the first round because at this point it could change.

Here is the first concept art for the Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Distortion:

June 25, 2008- shred master Rusty Cooley signs on to assist with the prototype testing.

And now for the tacky, yet required, part of the blog...
We are anticipating extremely high demand for this pedal. You can pre-order the unit here with a $100 deposit. When yours is in the build queue an invoice for the balance will be sent.

Guitar Center

2008-06-27T08:39:51Z

This morning I received an Email that has me a little disturbed... It seems that Guitar Center is dissuading their clientele from buying Pro Tone Pedals because they
A: had never heard of Pro Tone Pedals
B: no big name artists use them

So I want to take a minute and set a few things straight...

A: If you've never heard of Pro Tone Pedals before thats OK- we invite you to read the review of the Body Rot II in the July 2008 issue of Guitar Player Magazine. They had some extremely nice things to say...
B: Big name artists... I'll let the guys in Velvet fucking Revolver know that they aren't a big enough name for Guitar Center. How about HellYeah? No, not big enough for Guitar Center... Ministry... not for Guitar Center.

Now here's the angle that makes their comments even more frustrating... Guitar Center home office buyers pushed HARD to get Pro Tone Pedals on their shelves! The bass buyer and the accessory buyer are both huge fans of Paul Raven and Killing Joke. When we released the Raven- they got all wet for it! We refused their offers. Its just that simple.

As you all know Guitar Center is nothing more than Walmart for musicians... You wouldnt go to Walmart for a Rolex, would you? No... you go to Walmart for items made by 12 year old slave laborers in 3rd world countries.

Guilty Pleasure

2008-05-29T21:16:10Z

C'mon now... admit it… you watched the glorious trainwreck that was Bret Michaels Rock of Love seasons 1 & 2! Well, Brets on the road, kicking major ass… and on stage with him is Pete Evick and a couple of Pro Tone Pedals!

Pete is a fucking firecracker on stage! We're having to design him a couple of multi-effects units because once this dude hits the stage hes like an epileptic after a 6 pack of Red Bull… and I mean that in the best possible way!

Don't believe me?? Check Pete out in the new Bret Michaels Band video- hes nuts, and we love it!

Rams Skull Promo Clip

2008-05-29T21:22:01Z

YES YES YES... its been a busy Memorial Day weekend here at Pro Tone Pedals. For your listening pleasure I present to you, the Rams Skull Fuzztortion...

A few quick notes:The guitar is a Reverend Daredevil with hand wound pick-ups from my man over at Motor City Pick Ups- AMAZING stuff! The p'ups are P90s, not humbuckers.
The cabling we use here is provided by Solid Cables out of L.A. California. Hands down, the best cable I've ever played!

I know that people like to see actual video clips of the pedal in use, but those usually don't come out well... so I did some voice over work letting you in on the settings in use for each section.

Now... on to the 'video'

Dead Horse Promo Clip

2008-05-23T23:05:35Z

OK Gang- sorry its taken so long (only 6 moths now) to get this out, but heres a little audio clip with some of the back-story behind the Dead Horse Overdrive.

A few quick notes:The guitar is a Reverend Daredevil with hand wound pick-ups from my man over at Motor City Pick Ups- AMAZING stuff! The p'ups are P90s, not humbuckers.
The cabling we use here is provided by Solid Cables out of L.A. California. Hands down, the best cable I've ever played!

This was primarily recorded to give people a chance to HEAR the Dead Horse, so I recorded the clips, and added the still shots just to make it a post-able video clip for YouTube.
Now... on to the 'video'
http://blog.protonepedals.com/2008/05/23/dead-horse-promo-clip.aspx

Pro Tone Pedals Podcast #2

2008-03-24T15:11:57Z

All right... The long over-due Podcast #2.
This week I debut a brand new track from our good friend(s) voodooNOUVEAU. Thats right- the GLOBAL premier of Stress from their upcoming release "Ophiuchus." Its an amazing slab of industrial goodness... plus we have a great sit down with the mastermind behind voodooNOUVEAU, Eric Morgan to talk tone, and everything under the sun.

Enjoy!

Pro Tone Pedals Podcast #1

2007-11-29T15:49:35Z

Alright.... to go along with the new website (thanks Felix!) I'm going to TRY to blog and do some pod casting. This first pod cast is a short one in which I talk about the history of the Raven Dirty Chorus. Future pod casts will have artist interviews and the like... so keep an eye out for those.
Enjoy!

Dennis