FM radio limiter effect

[Jagg76]

The FX pedal addiction continues...

I am now looking for something that will give me that squashed (some might say overdone) radio effect. Don't know really how to explain it otherwise. I am hoping for your expertise on this one. Thanks!

-Jagg

[mal paso]

This pedal has been discontinued, but it sounds like what you're after.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ampli...i-filter-pedal

To be honest though, you could probably just use a regular EQ pedal to get a similar sound. Maybe mix in some compression and a real light touch of dirt.

[bossking7]

Ibanez Tone lock Fuzz will get you there

[Cameage]

Dial out all the highs and lows, crank the mids, and drive it a bit. It's not too hard to fake that sound.

[Twangasaurus]

Radio Havana
http://www.heavyelectronics.com/RH.html

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by mal paso

....just use a regular EQ pedal...

...Maybe mix in some compression...

...a real light touch of dirt...

That sounds like it, if you want to mimic RF.

To keep the noise down, I wouldn't really boost much beyond 3dB with the eq - the focus would be more on cutting other frequencies. I don't think an upside down smiley face would really give what you want in this case, either. More of a "hard shelf" at some of the bass frequencies would probably be closer to the real thing. The only boost that I would think would be necessary is one just a little bit above 1KHz, but not really at 2KHz. So with a graphic unit, depending if it is a 5-band, 7-band, etc.

And for an AM radio thing, there is usually some artifacts up in the 3K+ range, but I would probably avoid those (very hard on the ears). Besides...

...Squashing with a comp is a good next step, since you want to homogenize the signal level a bit, just as a radio signal is compressed. This is also a good way to tweak things from making you want to rip your ears off in pain and...

Going into just a slightly clipping effect will simulate how these signals are typically "compromised" in the transmission process, unless they are very strong, and your receiving device is very good (and maybe even uses phase-locked loop processing). So a slightly overdriven signal with a flat-ish eq response that will not add appreciable noise would be preferred. I would think any jFET or mosFET type boost would be appropriate, but maybe just a low-tech LPB-1 or Micro Amp would work equally as well for this.

...Actually, studying PLL mentioned above might give you some ideas as to how to combine these 3 effects to your best advantage, or even take advantage of different "phenomena." But most PLL articles are probably really verbose.

While an all-in-one box might be practical to save board space, it would probably be limited in what it could do, and may or may not be the best option for that reason.

[Jagg76]

Thanks for the advice guys...I will start experimenting with EQ as that's the easiest solution available to me.

- Jagg