I did some research for cary chilton recently and thought I would share the info here, also a YJM interview and some YJM Strat setup info:
An other element is the settings of the DOD250 pedal... In the '80 he set GAIN on MAX and LEVEL on 9 o'clock... You can see all the settings pedals on the final of the '85 live video.
Ah yes...but maybe we have just stumbled upon the secret to Yngwie's Alacatrazz tone ---> The Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble.
If it is gone from his rig during the '85 tour, and all else being equal...then perhaps the CE-1 was giving Yngwie that high sustain, thick tone which still cut thru the band's mix. On all the Alcatrazz recordings (including the live concerts recordings / performances...Yngwie's guitar tone is like a laser beam in how it cuts thru...yet is warm and musical.
Also, as for the be all, end all, in re-creation of the original Boss CE-1...check out the Retro-sonic Chorus Ensemble:
http://www.retro-sonic.com/index.php?op" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... &Itemid=31
There are around $ 279, and there is a waiting list. I have one already back-ordered.
This seemed like the best place to put this post as it details information about the Boss NS2.
A little background...
The NS2 is a noise REDUCTION unit and not a simple noise gate.
All this really means is that the NS2 is a noise gate that does not simply cut OPEN/CLOSED at a certain threshold, but instead smoothly glides in and out of gating depending on the the signal levels present.
Boss has a proprietary logic chip in there that controls this.
Instead of a hard and abrupt on/off, it is like having somebody sit beside you with a good ear and a quick hand sliding a volume fader up and down really, really fast to match your playing volumes.
It's kind of the way DBX SoftKnee Compression is smoother than Hard Knee compression.
There are two ways to use the Boss NS2 with a DOD overdrive.
First you can run it in simple series so that the path goes guitar >>> DOD >>>> NS2 >>>> Amp
Secondly you can use the Loop of the NS2, meaning you plug guitar >>> NS2 >> (Run DOD in NS2 loop) >>>> Amp
There are advantages and disadvantages to both and over the years Yngwie himself has done it both ways.
IN THE LOOP:
When the DOD overdrive is in the loop, the threshold of the Boss NS2 is gating open/close based on the weak signal it gets from the guitar pickups only.
This mean that the DOD overdrive (which is in the loop here) only gets the signal if the note you play on the guitar goes over the threshold setting.
This tends to allow fast passages to sound cleaner with better note separation.
Yngwie would normally have the threshold around 1 oclock position and decay at 10 oclock position when used this way.
The decay is needed to insure notes dont' get cut off too soon.
So what is the negative of using the loop ?
There is some tonal difference.
Most notably people say the tone is thinned out just a little and seems a little more hi-fi sounding.
These are minor effects but are noticeable.
Probably the cause is the impedances of the extra circuitry the signal goes thru inside the pedal.
IN SERIES:
So now we look at the simpler in-series hook up where you simply plug your guitar directly into the DOD overdrive and then the NS2 is the last thing you go thru before the input of the amp.
This hook-up hardly affects the tone at all.
This way you will probably have the threshold maxxed and the decay in the minimum position.
Here the pedal has to gate open/close based on the amplified distorted signal from the DOD output.
Need to test for yourself the tone differences ?
Simple......... alternate between using no NS2 at all, the NS2 loop, and the NS2 in series and play some palm muted low note riffs, some 3 string arpeggios and run some scales up and down and listen to the TONE.
I think you will find that.....
guitar >>>> DOD >>> amp
and
guitar >>> DOD >>>> NS2 >>>> amp
sound virtually the same in terms of fullness, bass response and crunch.
While having the DOD in the NS2 loop will allow your scale runs to have sharper note seperation. but the tone will be thinner and less "organic and alive".
So the NS2 in series gives you more of the real tone like you were not using the pedal at all, but the notes will "smear" together more when playing fast because you don't have the gate working to silence low level random finger noise or misfingerings before they get to the DOD to be amplified.
So which is best ?
Well like I stated above, I know Yngwie has done it both ways over the years...
To my ears (and based on some photos as well as personal knowledge)...
It seems Rising Force and Marching Out used no noise reduction in the guitar path but simply Studio Noise gates for recording.
Listen close, you can hear the amp hiss in between passages when Yngwie is coming in and out of duals with the Keyboards.
Magnum Opus and Inspiration definately sound like the DOD is in the Effects loop of the NS2.
Great note seperation on those fast scale runs, and I love the tone but it is a more processed and thinner tone.
I would even wager there was a yellow DOD being used on some of those tunes.
For the sound of the DOD and NS2 in simple series..... I think 7th Sign, Attack and Unleash the Fury were recorded that way.
7th Sign sounds like a gray DOD250, while Attack and UTF sound like the YJM308 overdrive.
Obviously for example, Yngwie plays equally well on both Magnum Opus and 7th Sign with the same technique.
But compare both the TONE and the NOTE SEPERATION on fast scale runs on these 2 albums and I think this best shows the difference between the DOD250 used in the NS2 loop -or- the NS2 placed in series after the DOD.
On 7th sign, the tone is heavier, but fast notes tend to "smear" together a little on fast runs.
On Magnum Opus, the tone is great but a bit thinner, but fast scale runs are like a little machine gun.. great distinct seperation.
Since I don't play as well or as fast as Yngwie , I personally find myself using the in-series way most often to get the fuller tone.
I'm one of those "minimum signal path" guys who likes to use as few effects as possible between guitar and amp.
In fact, I'm experimenting now with a Drawmer Studio Noise Gate for recording so that perhaps I can skip the NS2 altogether and simply be....
guitar >>>>>> DOD250 >>>>>>> Amp
Sure for practice the constant noise will be annoying (so I will probably need the NS2) .......... but for recording, the Studio Noise Gate will cut off the signal as soon as I stop playing.
So this may be the most pure way to go and would be like Yngwie was doing it in the early days.
(Note: I remember old interviews where he would complain about the only thing he disliked with his rig was the constant noise..... this was early-mid 80s before he discovered the Hush units and the Boss NS2).
The problem with using the DOD and the NS-2 in series is that you can't turn the DOD off without having to adjust the threshold on the NS-2. That's why I use it in the loop. I also put my Cry Baby and sometimes a compressor in the loop. Works very well
Yes, threshold on max, eats tons of tone. There is only one possible answare to that question: Samson wireless boost the guitar level before the Boss NS-2, in fact in all pictures of the rack you can see the pot of the OUT level of the Samson unit, set to MAX.
There is a second possibility, but for me it isen't the correct answare... When he play clean switch OFF the loop of the CAE unit with the BOSS NS-2 and DOD250. I think it isen't the correct answare because he set the volume guitar pot hundred of time in a live and in every stage position not only in front of the MIDI pedalboard. Moreover very rarely I can see Yngwie step on the pedalboard in is show.
Personally I don't find indispensable set the threshold on max for muting the DOD250 in the loop, but if Yngwie set the 2 NS-2 in the rack so high there is a reason, but I don't know which. Maybe set the threshold so high
reduce the noise of the DOD, beyond gate the suond in the pause, but
for make this surely NS-2 needs a pre-boosted in the INPUT. Whitout pre-boosted signal NS-2 eats all the signal.
That'd be great! Since you like yours so much, I'd like to see which version you have. I know that there's at least one other guy here that would really like to see the innards as well.
I've been experimenting with this circuit, and just starting with the diodes, there's a world of difference with 1N4001 clipping diodes, which are allegedly confirmed for the '77 version. I also have a jpeg on my computer which shows 4001s in a grey 250.
Even amongst the 1N914-type diodes, there are clear tonal differences. This may depend on manufacture, perhaps in the same way in that there are sonic differences between, say a JJ 12AX7 and an old Mullard 12AX7.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but again, this idea that, well, all ya gotta do is go get this one mod and you're set . . . I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. The popular mod attempts to duplicate one particular 250 circuit. How can anyone guarantee that it's a match for an Yngwie 250 without seeing it or for ALL '70s 250s with so many documented and documentable differences in circuit over the lifetime of production?
The 250s have all manner of different manufacture of caps, even some ceramic caps showing up in some. All of this effects the sound.
Plainly, we just cannot know for sure if the mod is The Be All End All Mod... That said, if it works for you, that's all that matters!
And of course, the 308 is said to be modeled after his 250, but I have yet to run across or learn of any 250 that had a .001
after that no issues so far.
clips: