Ok, so does it even exist such a thing?
I mean, what is the "transparency"? For some is like having a "clean signal" blending with the ouput. FOr others is like a pedal that pushes "more" of your amps natural sound.
what do you think?
I think the term is a little silly, but the essential interpretation I've understood thus far is: I turn 'it' on and it doesn't change the sound of my amp or guitar, it just adds more.
For example, a transparent delay would be a delay that still sounds like your original signal, but then repeats. However, it gets a little tricky when people apply it to a distortion/overdrive box. I'm not sure how you could ever call something like that a 'transparent' effect.
Jacob
Hmmm ... picking up where Jacob left off: I guess I've always interpreted a transparent overdrive as one that reproduces the sound of my guitar into my cranked amp, but at a lower volume. I guess that would only apply to non-master volume amps (that's all I have) where I need a pedal to push the initial gain stage? Distortion? That's something I always use a pedal for. I don't play well enough to crank my amp that loud and I'm usually after a specific distortion tone (e.g. muff). Just my thoughts.
Isn't a transparent OD just a marketing term developed after an overdrive was developed with less of a mid hump than a TS (thanks Paul C, though I'm pretty sure it's Danelectro's fault for marketing their Timmy clone as the Transparent OD)?
Like Jacob said, to call anything you build to change the sound of your guitar running to your amp "transparent" is moderately laughable.
Funny that boutique builders define the tonal properties or characteristics of their product refering to a term brought by a company selling 40$ pedals... Marketing is a beast on it's own, use a term that you can't really explain but that most people will acknowledge to it... and you got a hype.
In that vein of terms to describe the sound of effects, «Organic» is one that makes me laugh... never thought that a jar of earth would sound good if you plugged into it... ::)
It all depends on the terroir of that jar of earth!
Quote from: mattc on April 24, 2014, 12:28:26 AM
It all depends on the terroir of that jar of earth!
Agreed.
A TS-808 in an acrylic enclosure...
I have come to the conclusion that trying to describe effects is like describing wine or a cigar. We use words like overtones, undertones, oaky, woody, earthy etc.. I think for us humans to describe something we need to use other senses and words we are familiar with. I have talked to a lot of people from players to builders and engineers and they all have their choice of "buzzwords" they use to describe a sound or feeling with a piece of hardware. I do find it funny when people use words like "amp like" or "transparent" but have no idea why they used that word. I once had a player tell me he loved ** pedal because it was so transparent. When I asked him what he meant by that it followed with 5 minutes of "well, umm, you know, umm" kind of talk.
I have described fuzz as harsh, broken, buzzy, smooth, face melting, baby making etc...
Cody
Quote from: selfdestroyer on April 24, 2014, 01:31:02 AMbaby making etc...
Hahahaha!
Wich one was that?
One term that i find nice for fuzz, is the Velcro Fuzz... FY-2!
Quote from: selfdestroyer on April 24, 2014, 01:31:02 AM
I once had a player tell me he loved ** pedal because it was so transparent. When I asked him what he meant by that it followed with 5 minutes of "well, umm, you know, umm" kind of talk.
I get this all the time. A little while ago I was talking about records with a client, who specifically mentioned that certain albums sounded "analog" to him. When I asked him what he meant, I got a similar response.
Quote from: lincolnic on April 24, 2014, 05:44:29 AM
[...]
.. who specifically mentioned that certain albums sounded "analog" to him. ...
Those with pops and scratches.
Quote from: GrindCustoms on April 24, 2014, 12:08:15 AM
...
In that vein of terms to describe the sound of effects, «Organic» is one that makes me laugh... never thought that a jar of earth would sound good if you plugged into it... ::)
Whenever I hear "organic" used to describe something I instantly think "what's a carbon atom got to do with it." There's also the fact that I hated my organic chem class, so calling something organic doesn't exactly bring up nice associations for me.
For me, "transparent" is basically a clean boost (when it comes to "drive" circuits). I don't know how it could mean anything else and stay within the realm of reality.
Quote from: GrindCustoms on April 24, 2014, 12:08:15 AM
Funny that boutique builders define the tonal properties or characteristics of their product refering to a term brought by a company selling 40$ pedals...
To be fair, the Timmy was never marketed* as "transparent". The fans of the pedal started to describe it as such, ant the term sort of took on a life of its own.
* Really, the Tim/Timmy were never really marketed at all. 100% of the "marketing" I've seen for those products has been customer testimonials.
I think the term Organic is sometimes used in lieu of 'analogue' sounding.
I can agree with someting sounding 'analogue'. Eg. an analogue overdrive pedal sounds miles different to a digital approximation (to my ears anyhow).
I don't understand the transparent term for overdrives either. A buffer could (and should if its doing its job) be described as transparent.
An overdrive? It's distorting the sh*t out of your nice and clean waveform dude. Its about as far from 'transparent' as you can get ;D
Quote from: zedsnotdead on April 23, 2014, 10:48:45 PM
Ok, so does it even exist such a thing?
I mean, what is the "transparency"? For some is like having a "clean signal" blending with the ouput. FOr others is like a pedal that pushes "more" of your amps natural sound.
what do you think?
LIES that's what 'transparent' is.
It's also one of my little pet hates.
I feel a rant brewing...
Transparent overdrive my arse... (it's what they're always described as lately) When it's cutting frequencies and creating a mid humps, it's not bloody transparent. When it's clipping the signal it's not bloody transparent. I dislike this term immensely.
Wooosahhh...
Quote from: raulduke on April 24, 2014, 02:25:03 PMI can agree with someting sounding 'analogue'. Eg. an analogue overdrive pedal sounds miles different to a digital approximation (to my ears anyhow).
Yeah you're talking about the technology behind it and the result rather than the sound. Same goes for delays.
Analogue is sometimes used in lieu of smooth vs digital being harsh (a throwback to when CD was new), noisy vs clean, old vs new. Clarkson and the like like to describe cars with manual boxes and no driver aids as analogue, vs ones with flappy paddle gearboxes as digital. Though there have been computers in cars for at least 20 years.
Quote from: culturejam on April 24, 2014, 01:18:43 PM
For me, "transparent" is basically a clean boost (when it comes to "drive" circuits). I don't know how it could mean anything else and stay within the realm of reality.
Quote from: GrindCustoms on April 24, 2014, 12:08:15 AM
Funny that boutique builders define the tonal properties or characteristics of their product refering to a term brought by a company selling 40$ pedals...
To be fair, the Timmy was never marketed* as "transparent". The fans of the pedal started to describe it as such, ant the term sort of took on a life of its own.
* Really, the Tim/Timmy were never really marketed at all. 100% of the "marketing" I've seen for those products has been customer testimonials.
Agreed with you all the way, my reference to hype created around the term transparent was related to Dano Transparent OD wich as served to popularise that term in the gear jargon.