Thursday, February 24, 2011
What is it?
What's a "Patch of Shades" and why should I care? Indeed! In the early 1980's, Emmett Chapman wanted a wah style effect to use with the instrument he invented in the 1970s, the Chapman Stick. He got together with a pedal designer (whose name I do not yet know - there's a story there, too), and came up with a very unique controller for this effect. It consisted of two pieces of magnetic tape, similar to the tape used to record records at the time, in close proximity to each other that the performer pressed on with a foot or shoe or toe. This varied the resistance of the circuit and altered the sound. The effect had three functions - wah, double wah, and envelope wah. Also designed into the unit were various inputs and outputs for effects loops, dry outs, aux inputs, etc. All in all, a cool-bomb of a stomp box. I believe I read somewhere that it was introduced at the 1982 NAMM show with much fanfare and excitement (but I can't find the original web page I found that on). As I retrieve stuff from my lost archives, I will post it here to try to be a repository for all Patch of Shades information. If you are one of those rare people who actually know about who designed and manufactured the pedal, and any other details about it, please email me or comment here. My next few posts will be about my adventures taking apart, repairing and successfully putting my own Patch of Shades back together.
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Greetings David,
ReplyDeleteI own a Patch of Shades in good working order that I had purchased from the estate of Brian Dorr. Brian and I played together a bit back in the early 90's prior to his untimely death from a congenital heart failure. (His album, Firestick, is quite striking and remains one of the more melodic and pioneering stick albums to date). Anyway, I'm looking to part company with this effect. Do you have any ideas what I might do with it? My name is Scotty, and I can be reached at bearzchoice@gmail.com Thanks!
Hi there, I have an older version of this pedal and a chip is broken. Unfortunately, the chip was sanded so it is impossible to find a replacement one. There are only 3 chips with 14 pins on the board, and only one was sanded. Could you check if you have 14 pins chips on yours, they might not have been sanded on newer models.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, any help could be enjoyed...
I do have a photo of the chip, tell me if you need more info.
Philippe Beaudoin
p.beaudoin@pobox.com
As it turns out, my assertion that the foot controller "consisted of two pieces of magnetic tape, similar to the tape used to record records at the time, in close proximity to each other that the performer pressed on with a foot or shoe or toe" is not really an accurate description. The next blog post on this blog provides a much more accurate analysis.
ReplyDeleteHi there
DeleteI too have an early model patch of shades that isn't working. Does anybody know the names of the 3 sanded chips? Your help will be greatly appreciated.