Sorry for the out of focus pics but that was how we took them back in the 70’s
The pedal that changed your life !!
- Thread starter BFT Gibson
- Start date
jtcnj
Ambassador of the Crossroad
Well since it veered this way:
Used Schwinn Scramber, traded something for it.
The fork nut had been cross threaded, but just the start, and was kind of beat up for only a couple of years old.
My moms boyfriend at the time cleaned up the threads with a die and i had the best bike I had ever ridden.
Great balance point and wide sweet spot for wheelies; I could ride a wheelie for as long as I wanted including making turns around street corners.
I jumped a skateboard ramp that was about 5' tall, no vertical but it was steep.
almost all up then straight down.
Snapped the right pedal off and might have caused the crack or ankle fracture that plagues me to this day.
Good times.
Looked like the one on the right in metallic copper color.
Never had the chain guard.
Brings back memories of a wet stripe on the back of my shirt.
Used Schwinn Scramber, traded something for it.
The fork nut had been cross threaded, but just the start, and was kind of beat up for only a couple of years old.
My moms boyfriend at the time cleaned up the threads with a die and i had the best bike I had ever ridden.
Great balance point and wide sweet spot for wheelies; I could ride a wheelie for as long as I wanted including making turns around street corners.
I jumped a skateboard ramp that was about 5' tall, no vertical but it was steep.
almost all up then straight down.
Snapped the right pedal off and might have caused the crack or ankle fracture that plagues me to this day.
Good times.
Looked like the one on the right in metallic copper color.
Never had the chain guard.
Brings back memories of a wet stripe on the back of my shirt.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
Here's the Westclox "vintage tone pedal..."
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
oh yeah and when it comes to Analog pedals, the kind that you crank with your feet,
I'll tell you that the pedals that changed my life were attached to a Raleigh three speed
narrow tire bike. Made in England for sure. When I was a kid, we didn't have the coooool
bikes shown above, we rode one speed wonders with fat tires. My dad bought my first
bike at the GoodWill, which was a "used goods" store. It was a real dog, but I didn't care
because it was mine. I'd steal the jokers out of my parents' bridge decks, and attach them
to the rear strut of my bike with clothes pins, so it made a "motor" sound.
My buddies and I used to play 'Spitfires and Messerschmidts" in the church parking lot on
Saturdays. We'd steal some rags out of our moms' rag bins, and tie them together to make a
tail like we'd hang from our kites. The object of the game was to get on your opponent's tail
and run over his tail with your front wheel, tearing it off. This means he was shot down.
"Curse you, Red Baron!"
It was a great game when you're nine years old and your imagination runs wild, but your
funds are limited. There were no video games then. The closest there was to a video game
was the pinball machine at the In & Out Burger. But those were usually played by hoodlums
in black leather jackets who'd push a grade school kid into the wall if he got too close.
I always hated those guys. I still do.
So we rode our bikes too glory. But the one bike that always inspired G.A.S. on my part was
the "English Racer..." OMG, it was steeped in glory... it was a Performance Machine...
The three speed Sturmey Archer transmission seemed like the ultimate cool to me,
because my bike had only one speed: Forward...
So when I was about 13, I "bought" a paper route from a neighbor boy. I needed money, and my dad was a
cheapskate of legendary status. So I paid forty dollars to my "friend" to take over his business. Forty dollars was
a lot of money for a 13 year old teen in 1962. I borrowed it from my mom, because I didn't have it. My dad was
such a cheapskate that I still owned my childhood bike, the Spitfire... I tried delivering papers riding it, and I did
all right for a few months until the snows came. Then when I tried to ride my bike with newspapers packed into
the two saddle bags, the snow got packed into my fenders above the fat (bald) tires, and I came to a halt.
There were no cell phones in those days, and my route was in a "ruburb" which means partly rural, partly suburban.
Which means no pay phones, even if I had a dime. So I walked home and begged my mom to help me finish my
route. She drove me around in the 1960 Chevy Brookwood, and we delivered The Pontiac Press to all my customers.
My parents both informed me that driving a car to deliver newspapers was not a good business plan, because of the
gas, and the insurance, and the upkeep and the FACT that I didn't have a license.
So I went to the GoodWill... my mom drove me of course. And I bought my fantasy bike for $10.
A used English Racer, a Raleigh, with narrow tires and the three speed hub. I loved that bike instantly.
Even the ten dollars was a lot of money for a paperboy. But I had paid my mom back the forty I had borrowed.
And the Newspaper frowned on one of their former delivery boys extracting forty from me to "buy his route"
and they called his parents and shamed them into giving me my forty back. *grins
So I was in Business, man... And I bought me an "English Racer" which I had always wanted. The three speed
trannie made cranking the pedals up and down the hills and vales of my ruburb route a lot easier. It was a used
bike, but I didn't care, because I could ride it in the snow without the snow getting packed in my fenders.
I became strong in the legs and lungs (if not in the head) and a few years later I went out for Cross Country and
got a letter. By that time I had given my route away to a younger boy who thought I was cool. Nobody else did... *shrugs
But I couldn't try and "sell" it to him. He got it free.
I loved that bike, it changed my life, and I took it to college with me when I turned 18.
Some guys I knew received cars when they graduated from High School. One received a Corvette...
Me, I received a used Smith Corona type writer... the clickety clack kind with the ribbons and the carbon paper.
My dad said I'd need it when I went to Michigan in the fall. He gave me his old slide rule too. There were NO
electronic calculators then either.
So I rode my paper boy's bike to my college classes, and I dated girls who rode bikes too. I found out that
they were much better dates than the ones who'd look critically at what a guy was driving. If anything...
...until one night... one of the guys in my dorm borrowed my English Racer, and left it
unlocked somewhere, and somebody stole it. I made him pay me ten dollars for losing my bike.
...and he thought I was the aersling...
I'll tell you that the pedals that changed my life were attached to a Raleigh three speed
narrow tire bike. Made in England for sure. When I was a kid, we didn't have the coooool
bikes shown above, we rode one speed wonders with fat tires. My dad bought my first
bike at the GoodWill, which was a "used goods" store. It was a real dog, but I didn't care
because it was mine. I'd steal the jokers out of my parents' bridge decks, and attach them
to the rear strut of my bike with clothes pins, so it made a "motor" sound.
My buddies and I used to play 'Spitfires and Messerschmidts" in the church parking lot on
Saturdays. We'd steal some rags out of our moms' rag bins, and tie them together to make a
tail like we'd hang from our kites. The object of the game was to get on your opponent's tail
and run over his tail with your front wheel, tearing it off. This means he was shot down.
"Curse you, Red Baron!"
It was a great game when you're nine years old and your imagination runs wild, but your
funds are limited. There were no video games then. The closest there was to a video game
was the pinball machine at the In & Out Burger. But those were usually played by hoodlums
in black leather jackets who'd push a grade school kid into the wall if he got too close.
I always hated those guys. I still do.
So we rode our bikes too glory. But the one bike that always inspired G.A.S. on my part was
the "English Racer..." OMG, it was steeped in glory... it was a Performance Machine...
The three speed Sturmey Archer transmission seemed like the ultimate cool to me,
because my bike had only one speed: Forward...
So when I was about 13, I "bought" a paper route from a neighbor boy. I needed money, and my dad was a
cheapskate of legendary status. So I paid forty dollars to my "friend" to take over his business. Forty dollars was
a lot of money for a 13 year old teen in 1962. I borrowed it from my mom, because I didn't have it. My dad was
such a cheapskate that I still owned my childhood bike, the Spitfire... I tried delivering papers riding it, and I did
all right for a few months until the snows came. Then when I tried to ride my bike with newspapers packed into
the two saddle bags, the snow got packed into my fenders above the fat (bald) tires, and I came to a halt.
There were no cell phones in those days, and my route was in a "ruburb" which means partly rural, partly suburban.
Which means no pay phones, even if I had a dime. So I walked home and begged my mom to help me finish my
route. She drove me around in the 1960 Chevy Brookwood, and we delivered The Pontiac Press to all my customers.
My parents both informed me that driving a car to deliver newspapers was not a good business plan, because of the
gas, and the insurance, and the upkeep and the FACT that I didn't have a license.
So I went to the GoodWill... my mom drove me of course. And I bought my fantasy bike for $10.
A used English Racer, a Raleigh, with narrow tires and the three speed hub. I loved that bike instantly.
Even the ten dollars was a lot of money for a paperboy. But I had paid my mom back the forty I had borrowed.
And the Newspaper frowned on one of their former delivery boys extracting forty from me to "buy his route"
and they called his parents and shamed them into giving me my forty back. *grins
So I was in Business, man... And I bought me an "English Racer" which I had always wanted. The three speed
trannie made cranking the pedals up and down the hills and vales of my ruburb route a lot easier. It was a used
bike, but I didn't care, because I could ride it in the snow without the snow getting packed in my fenders.
I became strong in the legs and lungs (if not in the head) and a few years later I went out for Cross Country and
got a letter. By that time I had given my route away to a younger boy who thought I was cool. Nobody else did... *shrugs
But I couldn't try and "sell" it to him. He got it free.
I loved that bike, it changed my life, and I took it to college with me when I turned 18.
Some guys I knew received cars when they graduated from High School. One received a Corvette...
Me, I received a used Smith Corona type writer... the clickety clack kind with the ribbons and the carbon paper.
My dad said I'd need it when I went to Michigan in the fall. He gave me his old slide rule too. There were NO
electronic calculators then either.
So I rode my paper boy's bike to my college classes, and I dated girls who rode bikes too. I found out that
they were much better dates than the ones who'd look critically at what a guy was driving. If anything...
...until one night... one of the guys in my dorm borrowed my English Racer, and left it
unlocked somewhere, and somebody stole it. I made him pay me ten dollars for losing my bike.
...and he thought I was the aersling...
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LRT
Well-Known Member
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
The Boss EQ works great as a clean boost... and then let the amp
do its work...
do its work...
syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
I'm always impressed my your master storytelling skilz...
LRT
Well-Known Member
You thinking of running one up front to?
Like you on the 4100 just been using EQ took TS 808 and sd1 out of front. Have found that eather OD pedal works good in front with the EQ in loop on 2203x though
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Trelwheen
Well-Known Member
The only time I've had a pedal affect me THAT profoundly was eons ago....
In high school I was in a band in which the lead guitarist played through a Sunn concert lead. (I was lead vocals and rhythm guitar.) He was using an old beat-up Allen 4 x12 cabinet. Believe it or not he was getting pretty good tone and sustain with his rig and a Telecaster.
I needed an amp with enough power to keep up with him and the bass player so I went and bought a complete Sunn concert lead rig with the Concert 2 x 12 cab. It sounded kind of okay but didn't have the body or sustain of his rig.
Someone recommended that I try a Ross compressor in front of the amp so I did just that. The moment I hit the switch I felt like I had won the lottery. It was exactly what was needed....I easily dialed in the fullness and sustain I needed. It was like a different amp. I can remember thinking that this would be the rig I would play for all time. I was done looking at amps for good.
I didn't have another significant "aha" moment until I plugged into my first 2203. Goodbye, Sunn concert lead. Goodbye, Ross compressor. I'm in love with somebody else. All these many years later the honeymoon is still going strong.
In high school I was in a band in which the lead guitarist played through a Sunn concert lead. (I was lead vocals and rhythm guitar.) He was using an old beat-up Allen 4 x12 cabinet. Believe it or not he was getting pretty good tone and sustain with his rig and a Telecaster.
I needed an amp with enough power to keep up with him and the bass player so I went and bought a complete Sunn concert lead rig with the Concert 2 x 12 cab. It sounded kind of okay but didn't have the body or sustain of his rig.
Someone recommended that I try a Ross compressor in front of the amp so I did just that. The moment I hit the switch I felt like I had won the lottery. It was exactly what was needed....I easily dialed in the fullness and sustain I needed. It was like a different amp. I can remember thinking that this would be the rig I would play for all time. I was done looking at amps for good.
I didn't have another significant "aha" moment until I plugged into my first 2203. Goodbye, Sunn concert lead. Goodbye, Ross compressor. I'm in love with somebody else. All these many years later the honeymoon is still going strong.
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Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
Hard to say. I have a few including a Zoom G3n multi that I like. Change life? I suppose my first wah? A 1977 Morley Fuzz Wah. I've always had a Morley. I still have that one but it's huge.
Also really like buggering around with my old EH Micro Synthesizer. Such a fun toy!,
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Also really like buggering around with my old EH Micro Synthesizer. Such a fun toy!,
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