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Rotary Effects?

Californiaman

By Californiaman
in The Gibson Lounge

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Californiaman

Californiaman

Posted
Posted

So I found a Hammond Leslie rotator effect on my local craigslist. The guy is asking $100 below retail for it. I will say, it's not the Leslie G pedal. Which after researching, I would prefer over the original Leslie rotator pedal.

I'm wondering if I want to get such a device for my guitar playing.

Strymon makes one as does Boss and Electro Harmonix and Roto-Sim.

 

Are there any others worth checking out?

And probably most important, anybody using a roto-pedal?

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Retired

Retired

Posted
Posted

The answer to the pedal is no but I had a Vox amp that I gave my son that had rotary effect on it and a lot more. There were like 80 different effects and you could mix and match them with the three dials. I tried them all but never used half of them. I didn't care for the rotary with the songs I know. However he never uses the amp so I thought about bringing it back since I did like certain effects like blues, California clean, chorus, echo, reverb and so on.

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jdgm

jdgm

Posted
Posted

Funnily enough I watched some demo vids for the Hammond pedal yesterday, it sounds good.

 

Bonzoboy had a Tech21 'Roto Choir' which he said was amazing.

http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/effects/rotochoir.html

 

I'm familiar with the Boss Rotary - I had this in a multiFX pedal and reckon it sounded pretty good; the distorted setting was instant Jon Lord in Purple and the pedal version has lots of features and is easier to program.

https://www.boss.info/us/products/rt-20/

 

I've heard the Ventilator is amazing but very pricey -

http://www.neo-instruments.de/ventilator/ventilator-features

 

Because of the speeding up/slowing down a rotary speaker sometimes sounds a bit chorusey, then a bit flangey, then a bit phasey, plus doppler.

I've even chained those 3 fx together to see if that worked...sort of close, wobbly and watery but it didn't sound like a rotary speaker because each pedal has a separate clock and syncing the speed is near impossible.

 

I have an Ibanez DCF-10 Digital Chorus/Flanger on my board, plus a Marshall Vibratrem (cheap, the vibe part is useless but the trem is great).

The Ibanez is IMO a great pedal and close enough for the 2 or 3 songs I use it on.

 

Best of luck!

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surfpup

surfpup

Posted
Posted

I settled for a Fulltone Deja Vibe - but that's really a Univibe clone not a Leslie clone. That said when I was on the hunt there were three rotos in the running...

 

Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere (Warren Haynes's favorite)

Tech 21 Rotochoir (someone on here owns one)

Strymon Lex (love me some Strymon)

 

Interested to see what you end up with, Cali. Enjoy the hunt. [thumbup]

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Versatile

Versatile

Posted
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It's great to hear a Hammond Organ with rotary in full flight....[thumbup]

 

Guitar wise IMO it is of less use other than as a novelty....

 

The Boss ME type pedals put out a stereo signal which can be used to good 'effect'....[biggrin]

 

So many fx.....so little time.....:blink:

 

V

 

:-({|=

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EVOL!

EVOL!

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As soon as I heard the Digital Leslie Pedal from Hammond I wanted one badly. The problem is that I play in a two piece so I would never use the pedal since I see it as more of an effect used while shading and adding color. Right now my old Phase 90 on a fast setting satisfies that itch; even though it is not a rotating speaker simulator.

 

Hope your pedal search goes well.

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charlie brown

charlie brown

Posted
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I've owned the Boss RT-20, for 15 years! No more than I use a "Leslie" effect, it's more than adequate!

Some of the other's mentioned here, sound great! But, 200 bucks+ for a new pedal, that I wouldn't use

anymore than I do my RT-20 would be "silly!" But, who knows? I've done plenty of "silliness" regarding

pedal purchases, in the past. [blush][blink] So, anything's possible! [biggrin]

 

 

CB

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saturn

saturn

Posted
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I have a Zoom 70CDR pedal. It does about 80 some effects including some good rotary sounds. It's fun to play with at home, but I find it too complicated for live gigs. I just put it in my chain for Tuner and Chorus at gigs.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Guest Farnsbarns

Posted
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I've never understood buying an effect which emulates a rotary speaker for more than the cost of making a rotary speaker. What am I missing?

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saturn

saturn

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I've never understood buying an effect which emulates a rotary speaker for more than the cost of making a rotary speaker. What am I missing?

 

I'm guessing that it's more practical to pack a small pedal rather than drag a whole speaker out only to use the effect on a few songs. :-k If it's going to stay in the home, the real speaker might be preferable and cheaper. Even then, me personally, that seems like a lot of work to do and space to take up just for a niche effect.

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jaxson50

jaxson50

Posted
Posted
1481113658[/url]' post='1817598']

I'm guessing that it's more practical to pack a small pedal rather than drag a whole speaker out only to use the effect on a few songs. :-k If it's going to stay in the home, the real speaker might be preferable and cheaper. Even then, me personally, that seems like a lot of work to do and space to take up just for a niche effect.

 

No kidding, A organist I played with back in the day used a Hammond B3 and a Leslie, it was lots of fun, sounded awesome.But when it came time to play gigs it quickly lots its jive. Something about the rest of us playing with herniated backs that wasn't appealing.Pedals are cheaper than hiring a Roads with a forklift and more fun then back surgery, and the basic rule of thumb to understanding why most guitar players would opt for a rotating pedal then for a floor squasher is, we are lazy msp_scared.gif

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jdgm

jdgm

Posted
Posted

I've never understood buying an effect which emulates a rotary speaker for more than the cost of making a rotary speaker. What am I missing?

 

Think it's probably quite difficult (completely impossible for me![biggrin]) to make your own rotary speaker for under £300 which is about what the higher-priced boxes cost....?

And yes it's another thing to carry to the gig.....

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RevDavidLee

RevDavidLee

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I have too many pedals because I'm just crazy. Several of my modulation pedals can emulate a rotary type sound but the only one I own that is specifically for the rotary effect is the Tech 21 Roto choir. And it does an excellent job. I don't play a lot of songs that require a rotary effect so I don't feel the need for more than one :)

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Dub-T-123

Dub-T-123

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Think it's probably quite difficult (completely impossible for me![biggrin]) to make your own rotary speaker for under £300 which is about what the higher-priced boxes cost....?

And yes it's another thing to carry to the gig.....

I think it's certainly simple enough that you (or the average person) could LEARN to make one but it's probably not practical for many people. I'm not saying that you're an average person btw John. You're a star! :)

 

I'm one of the people that would like to build one. My buddy had a couple unusual Traynor rotary speaker cabs and I have to say I haven't heard a pedal that's as cool as the real thing. Realistically, any decent pedal is close enough for live use, but if you're really particular then there's probably no substitute for the real thing

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jdgm

jdgm

Posted
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I think it's certainly simple enough that you (or the average person) could LEARN to make one but it's probably not practical for many people. You're an average person John. You're DEFINITELY NOT a star! :)

 

Phew fixed........many thanks but [blush][laugh] [laugh] =D>

 

I'm one of the people that would like to build one. My buddy had a couple unusual Traynor rotary speaker cabs and I have to say I haven't heard a pedal that's as cool as the real thing. Realistically, any decent pedal is close enough for live use, but if you're really particular then there's probably no substitute for the real thing

 

There was a kit rotary speaker a few years ago but I can't remember the name or find it so far. The speaker didn't rotate - it was inside a rotating cylinder with a gap down the side. A few hundred dollars I think. Need to be the patient methodical logical type to make one.

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surfpup

surfpup

Posted
Posted

Important to remember some of the magic comes from the low and high speakers (driver and horn) traveling at different speeds. Not sure, but seems like that would require two separate motors (or something to slow one of the speakers down) if one was trying to build an actual Leslie type cab. The better rotary pedals seems to allow for a similar adjustment of high/low speeds.

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jaxson50

jaxson50

Posted
Posted
1481149992[/url]' post='1817745']

Important to remember some of the magic comes from the low and high speakers (driver and horn) traveling at different speeds. Not sure, but seems like that would require two separate motors (or something to slow one of the speakers down) if one was trying to build an actual Leslie type cab. The better rotary pedals seems to allow for a similar adjustment of high/low speeds.

 

I love the sound and feeling you get from a real Leslie, just don't want to move one. ;-)

 

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RevDavidLee

RevDavidLee

Posted
Posted

This thread got me wondering what I have in the studio for rotating speaker effects and I forgot all about this one - the Peavey Delta Stomp :)

 

It's now a discontinued multi-effects unit but there it was on the face of the pedal "Rotary Speaker". When I bought this unit several years back, I paid $50 or $60 for it. I just looked on Reverb and they're now going for $150 -$200 :blink:

 

Glad I got one when I did. :blink:

 

res_628_delta1_lrg.jpg

 

I had 3 images posted but for some reason the links which worked yesterday don't work today. Weird [confused]

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Guest Farnsbarns

Guest Farnsbarns

Posted
Posted

Important to remember some of the magic comes from the low and high speakers (driver and horn) traveling at different speeds. Not sure, but seems like that would require two separate motors (or something to slow one of the speakers down) if one was trying to build an actual Leslie type cab. The better rotary pedals seems to allow for a similar adjustment of high/low speeds.

 

It's worth knowing that in a Leslie the speaker doesn't actually rotate. There's a cowl inside which directs the sound, that's what rotates. I believe the tweeter horn actually rotates in the opposite direction and at a different speed.

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