Buying a guitar with coil-taps as standard is one (albeit expensive) solution (hence why I bought my PRS Cu24). But what if you want to stick with your favourite Gibson Les Pauls/SG's etc? You could take them all to your favourite guitar tech and have coil-taps fitted - but that can be an expensive business, and if you have an older guitar you might not want to muck around with its 'originalness' (is that a proper word?
). The other problem with guitar mods is that fuffing around with push-pull pots on stage can be a bit awkward and the moment you're in single-coil mode you lose the hum-cancelling properties and can pick-up noise. But if you think you're stuck, think again. Because Retrobob has designed a very ingenious solution that requires no rewiring of your existing guitars...the Quasi tap pedal. I've been trying one out all afternoon with my Les Paul Custom, Epi Sheraton II, & PRS Cu24, through a Laney VC30-210, Cub 12R, VTX150 Pro & AD120VTX and it's very impressive.
Looks & construction
Aesthetically the finish of the pedal is very professional, & it's painted a very nice green. It runs on a standard 9v PP3 battery, but it also has a mains outlet and works great with a mains adapter too. The switching works very well with a heavy duty stomp switch, plus a selector that is sufficiently 'tight' to turn so it won't move accidentally. It also has a nice bright blue LED to tell you when it's engaged, and I was pleasantly surprised at just how light the pedal is.
And rest assured that this is a quality, hand built 'boutique' pedal made with quality components. You can see a pic here:
quasi-tap-pedal-t4389.html
So how does it sound?
If anyone had told me a few months ago that my Les Paul could sound like a single coil guitar with no rewiring, but just by using a pedal, I'd have been sceptical to say the least...I'd probably have told them they were nuts
. In fact I was just about to have a re-wiring job on my Les Paul. I'm pleased I held off, because (just like Ronseal adverts) the Quasi-Tap "does exactly what it says on the tin". And it's so convenient to use. Just kick in the pedal & your tone changes to a typical single-coil tone regardless of the p/up selector position you're in. With the Quasi-Tap I now literally have 6 p/up combinations on my Les Paul and Epi Sheraton II (upgraded with 2 superb Seymour Duncan SH1 59'ers).
It's actually a bit uncanny, because I've never heard either of my H/B guitars make those tones. I found myself playing 'Doobie Brothers' & funk riffs - normally reserved for my single-coil guitars! And to be able to get the thinner, brighter type of tone similar to those Jimmy Page gets from his modified Les Paul is something I thought I could never achieve without an expensive mod!
This pedal just adds so much more versatility to my H/B guitars - I love it & I'm going to be using this pedal as a regular add on to my rig.
And just as Bob promised, there's no single-coil noise ...and no faffing around with push-pull switches..and of course, no rewiring jobs!
This little box is just darned clever! And it's true bypass...so when the pedal isn't engaged, & because this is hand-built with 'the good stuff', you hear your normal tone with no colouring whatsoever!Now, there's also an interesting 4 position selector on the pedal which is designed to very subtly alter the amount of bass response. This is not designed to colour tone, but rather it very slightly changes the 'feel' of the single-coil effect, specifically the bottom strings. It's changes aren't 'in your face' but the difference is there.
Cost
The pedal normally retails at $120-140, but for Valvetronix.net members there is a big discount offered by Bob (via Joe Webb guitars), reducing this to $80. If like me you have one or more H/B only guitars and want brighter single coil tones too, this could be an absolute godsend. And for a boutique hand made pedal this represents excellent value and could save you a small fortune in mods!
Over the Xmas break I'm planning to do some new videos, including the new VTX150 Pro, my Laney Cub 12R (with Vintage 30 upgrade), .....and the Quasi-Tap. So watch out for these!
And its Xmas...so why not treat yourself to some 'California Sun'!
Best
Rich
