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You remember the '80s, dontcha? Big hair, overstated eye-makeup, leopard print, mountains of blow, cheap groupies, and who could forget the image that has been burned into a minds and psyche (for better or worse):  painted-on hot pink unitards with what looks to be a malformed potato bursting from the nether-regions of the lucky guy who shoe-horned himself into that unitard. Lets not forget one of the most popular (and new for the time) effects of the '80s:  the chorus tone. This edition of Straight Jive will cover a little about the chorus sound, but most of all, we're gonna...

Don in Portland, OR asks: "What is the difference between additive and subtractive flanging?" On the surface, this seems like a quick and easy question, but there's a lot more to flanging than meets the ear.  This edition of Straight Jive will be pretty in-depth, so if you're looking for a quick answer here it is: "Flanging" is the practice of mixing at least two identical signals, with a small delay applied to one or more of the signals.  This process creates a complex and incredible, albeit sometimes cheesy sound:  the swept comb filter. As their respective names suggest, additive...

Steve in New Zealand asks: "Why does my Hardwire Phaser pedal reduce the volume when I turn it on?" Well Steve, there's a number of things that could be happening here. The first thing that comes to mind is how a phaser works. Essentially, a phaser creates a series of related notches in the frequency spectrum, similar to a flanger pedal like the TunnelWorm TZF, but the "mechanical" operation of the effects' are different. In short, what is probably happening here is not a actual reduction in volume, but a reduction in perceived volume due to the frequency response of the...