Schmoooooooo - got any settings to share?

[Kiwi]

This is a repost of a topic that was lost as a result of the server melt down last month.   Only this time I'm going to add to it. 

Schmoo was the name Mike Landau had on his pedalboard for the chorusy, reverby delay clean sound he, Dann Huff and Michael Thompson made so popular in the eighties and early nineties.  Landau apparently had a series of cute nicknames for his patches on his Bradshaw switching unit instead of conventional terms like distortion or delay.  According to Dann Huff, Lukather had pornographic names for his patches...but anyway.  

The Schmoo sound is basically a series of effects that begins with compression, tri or stereo chorus from Dyatronics unit, then dual micropitch detune from the SPX90 (symphony patch), a Lexicon based delay (PCM 70 - Lukather had dual ping pongs going on) and finally reverb (also Lexicon based)  The delays and modulation were parallel processed to avoid too much loss in definition and mixed at the end with a dry signal straight from the gain stages.  The result is well defined stabs of plucked notes in a broad, stereo field followed by an immersive stereo wash of moderated ping pong repeats and soft reverb tails.  In the case of Huff and Thompson, well timed, ambient volume swells that envelope the listener. 

 

I've also investigated pedal equivalents of rack units that Huff, Landau and Lukather were using and listed below along with some general settings that can be applied to rack or pedals.

Firstly, the signal from the gain section goes into a compressor and is then split three ways.  Yes compression after gain, rather than before to preserve how the guitar interacts with the amp (aye, no worthy gain pedals in them days).  The first line is dry straight from the gain section.  A second line is modulation only so trichorus then micropitch shift.  The other line is time effects so delay followed by reverb.  To recombine the three signal chains, some form of mini pedal board will be required,

Chorus/trichorus - Free The Tone Tri Avatar is probably closest to the original Dytronics rack units but there are a few to choose from by Eventide and TC Electronic.  Landau used a slightly defective Arion SCH1 chorus unit which has been replicated by Vertex and can be had for fairly reasonable money. 

General settings: 

Rate: 0.3 - 0.6 Hz (slow, subtle movement)

Depth: 20-40%

Width: 70-100% (wide stereo image)

Pre-Delay: 5-15ms (helps clarity)

Mix: 25-35%

(Alternative pedals: Strymon Ola, TC Electronic Stereo Chorus, TC Electronic Corona, Boss CE-2W, Vertex Landau Stereo Chorus, Free The Tone Tri Avatar, Eventide Tricerasaurus)

Micropitch - This is pretty much key to getting the right colouring.  The SPX90 symphonic patch was used exclusively and has a distinctive yet essential colouring. The only true SPX90 equivalent is the Yamaha Magic Stomp UB99 BUT...it runs off AC only making it less than ideal for pedalboard applications. Other alternatives are available from Eventide (Micropitch and Pitchfactor pedals) and Zoom.  The Zoom MS70CDR can be programmed with four effects to replicate the entire modulation signal path but I've found it can tone suck a little if the tone settings in each patch are not carefully managed.  Dimension D and the TC Mimiq double tracking effect are also worth exploring for the same potential.  None of the micro pitch effects are directly controllable via MIDI apart from the Pitchfactor.

 

General settings: 

Detune 1: +5 to +12 cents

Detune 2: -5 to -12 cents

Mix: 20-30%

Pre-Delay: 10-20ms (to avoid phase issues)

Feedback: 0% (unless going for a thicker sound)

Delay - Much like the SPX90, the Lexicon PCM delays are essential for their algorithms and distinctively nuanced modulation on the repeats.  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot out there which is a direct emulation due to IP.  However, Eventide offer close approximations in the Timefactor and the Pigtronix Echolution 2 can achieve similar levels of stereo immersion with some tweaking.   The pedal now favoured by Lukather is the Digitech DL8 Looper/delay which supposedly has Lexicon algorithms but it's not MIDI controllable like the Time Factor.
 

General settings:

Time: 80-120ms (short, for thickening)

Feedback: 1-2 repeats

Mix: 10-20%

High-Cut Filter: ~5kHz (to darken repeats slightly)

Pre-Delay: 0-10ms

Alternative pedals: Boss DD-500, Strymon El Capistan, TC Flashback, Pigtronix Echolution 2/3

Reverb - Again Lexicon provided the goods.  It's rumoured that the Line 6 Verbzilla is based on a Lexicon algorithm but I can't confirm it.  Next best alternative is the Boss RV500 which has a dedicated 294 patch but the Timefactor and Strymon Big Sky may offer some suitable alternatives if you want to keep MIDI implementation.

General settings: 

Type: Plate or Hall (smooth decay)

Decay Time: 1.8 - 2.5s

Pre-Delay: 30-50ms (keeps clarity)

Mix: 15-25%

High Damping: Slightly rolled off (~8kHz)

Early Reflections: Low (if adjustable)

(Alternative pedals: Strymon BlueSky, Neunaber Immerse, UA Golden Reverberator)

 

Finally, if you're recording some Post-Processing eq may add a final touch.

High-Pass Filter: 80-100Hz (remove mud)

Low-Pass Filter: 8-10kHz (smooth highs)

Small Mid Dip: -1dB around 800Hz (if needed)

[Kiwi]

Well, due to underwhelming demand, this is the finished pedalboard, got my schmo-jo working at last.  I dialled in a Lexicon style reverb on the Boss RV500 this evening and the Pigtronix already has a factory patch that emulates a Lexicon PCM so I'm riding with that for the time being. 

 

Signal goes into a Big Muff which is a guest pedal and takes turns with a Hot Cake but I'll probably put the Mosky Silver Horse in most of the time for boosting the Tight Rock.   The muff goes into an Amptweaker which has a side chain which I use for the Empress Para Eq to make the cleans a little cleaner.  The Tight Rock goes into a Keeley C4 comp and that then goes into a TC Mimiq which does a doubling effect.  The one gripe I have with it is that it drops the level when turned on.

 

The Tri parallel mixer is being used as a splitter, on the left are the time based  effects in a loop and on the right is the modulation.  I was going to get a Yamaha Magicstomp and then discovered they only run off AC which is a PITA for a pedalboard.  So I pressed into service the Zoom MS70CDR and set up a detune patch using three of the four slots.  Two for micropitch detune (+/-) and one for ambient chorus.  The Free The Tone Tri Avatar is a stunning pedal, studio quality sound and really easy to use.  There's also a dry signal going straight to the mixer from the gain block of pedals to preseve some definition.

 

At some point this week I will replace the whole gain section with a Marshall JMP-1 preamp and see which I prefer.  The Marshall should be more authentic but the Tightrock is my fave gain pedal.