Janglebox 'secret' helper

[donnellbw]

Hello, All,

Wrote sometime ago about having trouble getting JBOX to 'do' its thing. Have an April '94 360 12 mapleglow with 'hot' toasters.Tried a couple of JBOXs and was just not 'hearing' it and returned them.

Re- strung with ThomasTik flats: getting closer. I use a used old BOSS EH2 ENHANCER (light blue- 3 knobs) which makes it sound like someone took a blanket off of your amp grill cloth (that you never knew was there untol you try it), I set the first two knobs, left to right, at 0 and the far right one full up.YOU DO NOT NOTICE A DIFFERENCE UNTIL, AFTER PLAYING A BIT, YOU TURN IT OFF!! You will immediately probably never want to play (any tube amp) again with it off, trust me.

Anyway, got a new JNANO and THIS TiME plugged into the ENHANCER and ran IT to the JNANO and into the amp, a nice tube 50 watt 2x12 AMPEG Reverberocket (love the jeweled blue ON light and the factory casters) with a touch of reverb.

It instantly tuned my guitar into a McGuinn signature model and the room was filled with THE EXACT sounds on "Back From RIO", "The Waiting" and "Free Falling". Believe me, if your JBOX is sounding a bit "shy", an ENHANCER (EBAY) seems to bring the best out in front like I have never heard before and cut through any band mix with lovely authority and extra presence.

Don't know why I didn't use both before getting this new one. It made all the difference, and I know will put a smile on your
face as well. It simply brings out ALL the horsepower: tinkling "crushed" treble and droning octaves.

Cheers, and keep the RIC 12 in modern music...

[Ram4]

I have scatterwound toasters on my 2004 660/12 and I love the sound through any compressor. I am not being very picky about it, though I know it's much better sounding than my friend's 360/12 with hi-gain pickups (his sound dull by comparison). Mine have clarity, chime and that jangle. Nice you found an Enhancer. I wonder if that is like a clean boost.

[jps]

IIRC, the enhancer is a treble booster, right?

[sloop_john_b]

IIRC, the enhancer is a treble booster, right?

Its sort of an "intelligent" EQ - it doesn't have to boost treble necessarily, but I think that is the best application for it. It's a great tool for brightening up guitars with humbuckers.

More of an "expander" than a compressor.

[donnellbw]

For anyone out there with 'hot toasters' or 'hi gains' on their 12 strings, even if you don't use a JBOX, get an Enhancer (used for around $75 on EBAY) and use the settings I describe above, and you will begin to hear MORE from your tube amp in terms of brightness and rich mid ranges. ADD a JBOX and you will be just about 'there' in terms of the JBOX website clips.

Now I am talking live out of the amp, not direct to a board or otherwise processed. My son showed me the Enhancer years ago and called it his "secret weapon", and i have used it ever since. Turn it off and you will wonder how you thought your amp ever sounded its best before using this odd little BOSS unit. It just gets rid of any tube amp's natural somewhat muffled tone in an instant - not volume wise, but in clarity and clean punch. You will hear MORE of what you are actually playing or fingering, without unwanted 'coloring' or tone changes. It really is a little 'sleeper' that I think most people are unaware of for sounding their best.

[jdogric12]

Late to the party!

The EH2 is great. I have one and love it. It's intended to add back some of the high frequencies that are lost when running through a lot of pedals daisy chained.

Found on thegearpage:

In the bypass mode, the guitar signal goes to a FET source follower (no gain), then to an inverting stage with a gain of 1, then into a summing amp (mixer) also with a gain of 1.

In the effect "ON" mode, the dry signal is still present; it's mixed in at the last stage. The source follower feeds the "wet" side, where it's split into two paths. Path A goes to a variable frequency filter (controlled by the FREQ knob) which feeds the audio input of a VCA (pin 4). Path B goes to a variable sensitivity rectifier which feeds the control input of a VCA (pin 3). So the input signal is being filtered and EQ'd and put through a VCA.

The output of the VCA (pin 2) feeds an emitter follower (buffer). The output of the buffer goes to another inverting gain of 1 stage. The output of the two buffers is variable from the MIX knob. By adjusting the MIX knob, some frequency cancellation takes place since the signals are out of phase. The output of the MIX knob goes to the final output mixer, where it's mixed in with the original dry signal. From there it goes on to the amp.

The EQ stage seems to be a simple gyrator based high EQ, like a graphic EQ - someone correct me if I'm wrong here since recognizing EQs is not my strong suit - centered around 2kHz.

I've always heard it was basically a very subtle high frequency phaser. That makes sense with this info.

So, OP, your problem, it sounds like, was more with the hot toasters than with the JangleBox. The JB nails it. I still have and use my original (black box, the old reverse polarity power, so I use batteries!) all the time. Although since I got a 370RM I don't use it quite as much.