Strymon El Capistan = "Frippertronics" Looping Beast! (Demo)

[@stewartkeyes2511]

I remember hearing Robert Fripp on one of the 80's "sound pages" Guitar Player Magazine included. It was a tune called "Easter Sunday". Hauntingly beautiful music that touched a teenage kid who was only reading the Magazine for rock and metal players. Bless you for this!

[@cmath8577]

"Let the power fall" by Robert Fripp is just outstanding.

[@chordsoforion]

indeed!

[@nine9whitepony526]

Jesus dude you have an amazing voice to your sound. I've been playing for a little over 30 years and I'm still refining and redesigning my sound. You sound awesome.

[@WysteriaGuitar]

The Bob Ross of ethereal guitar strikes again!

[@benink5690]

Before Strymon he made a pedal called Woman Beater I believe

[@ramencurry6672]

Stop.

[@ramencurry6672]

@@WysteriaGuitar because the joke gets repeated so much. It’s stale

[@Joldrath]

wonderful as always. bought the el capistan on a whim yesterday. seems that was a good idea. have a great summer ❤

[@Colin454]

I believe that Fripp used a fuzz box (possibly a Vox and later a Big Muff) merely to add gain. His sound was coming from a Hiwatt two-channel amp - he fed his (gain-increased) sound into one channel and then out of that channel into the second channel.

[@circuitousvibes5226]

One of my favorite ambient "tricks" on one of my favorite pieces of gear. Often employed at the end of segments or sets to create a hazy wash of mellow, slowly fading crinkly tape goodness.

[@DisVietVetUSA]

I just love the Bill-Chill videos, keep up the good work

[@scottm121]

This is so cool. I own this pedal !!! Been using a carbon copy on my board as of late.. el cap is comin back off the shelf .. Thankyou!

[@matt_freund]

I love your videos so much, such calming tones, and voice, keep doing the good work ❤️

[@chordsoforion]

thanks very much!

[@alexanderdavid8441]

I have no interest in ambient guitar for personal playing, yet I love this channel, cheers man!

[@ernestbuckley8671]

The El Capistan is my favorite delay pedal. This video shows another level of what it can do. Truly a great pedal. Thanks Bill.

[@diabetespotato5388]

I had one, then sold mine. Immediately regret it, and bought another one. Such an amazing pedal

[@ramencurry6672]

Never sell anything. Elvis kept everything he bought.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Absolutely my fav delay pedal so many secret parameters on this thing.. emulates tape like no other. I recommend Saving a couple bucks and pulling the trigger

[@MerrillSnowden]

i wanted to hit the like button for the second time when the solo kicked in 🙌

[@WrathPassion]

Awesome, thanks!

[@bluepedalsrock9271]

Funny timing with this. I was just looking into the El Cap as a relatively smaller pedal to do frippertronics with. I wound up going with the TC Electronics Flashback 2 because it’s smaller and gets up to 7 seconds delay time.

[@Xammblu_Games]

You pretty happy with the TC FB2? I'm also contemplating getting one. So many options out there.. Hard to know what will be the right fit

[@timothybedwards5440]

Thnx for all your videos

[@keeponpainting]

Nice technique, thanks for sharing.

[@LauraSquirrel]

That is awesome! The El Capistan is on my list.

[@agerven]

Simple and clear Bill, thank you!

[@aljen9611]

This is awesome. Thank you, Bill, for this kind of "missing manual". My El Capistan shows more and more its secret sides to me. Kind of reverse box of chocolates: the more you eat, the more you get. I am so glad not having sold my El Cap having been a bit disappointed at the beginning. Obviously, some pedals are just musical instruments - it takes time to learn to play them. This applies to Strymon pedals, especially for this one. For example, I had absolutely no idea that you can splice in and out actually not playing anything, just as a template.

[@chordsoforion]

I agree in general with all the Strymon pedals I own - the more you work with them, the more depth you find.

[@daniele_dopesmoker]

Your videos are a big inspiration for me. Greetings from Italy.

[@chordsoforion]

Glad you like them!

[@Larry30102]

Many thanks Bill. Your instruction is always inspirational.

[@TheLostHarmony]

I've been dying to get an El Cap... and I'm sure I will be getting it now!

[@ricardoraulino-guitar]

Incredible

[@freeelectron8261]

Sounds pretty dam close to the original reel-to-reel Frippertronics. Nice work.

[@timbaugh1944]

I've had an El Capistan for years and never thought of trying that - thank you Bill .. I'm going to try that now. It never occurred to me that it could be a 'Fripp box' .. :-) And as far as I know, Fripp used a Big Muff and RAT if anyone is interested.

[@chordsoforion]

yes! you will love it for sure!

[@lanceholland]

My El Cap is the one pedal that never leaves my pedal board. It’s just my sound. The SOS feature is a ton of fun but I like setting it to degrade quickly. That lets you evolve a chord progression over time.

[@freeelectron8261]

Sounds pretty true to the original Frippertronics. Nice job Bill!

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks!

[@freeelectron8261]

@@chordsoforion Loved your "Solo over top of" at the end. I am about to buy either the El Capistan or Time-line and its hard to decide. My budget is limited so I'm leaning towards the El Cap - any expert suggestions would be really appreciated? Thanks Bill love your work.

[@-Atmos1]

Nice demo

[@CarstenGoeke]

Fantastic demo of a fantastic pedal. Thanks ✌🏼

[@philh27]

Indeed Bill. Still my favourite delay pedal, but the Sound on Sound options and simplicity makes it truly special. I seriously considered upgrading to the Volante, but the SOS/ looping was just not the same. I'm glad I resisted.

[@pyropedals5553]

Please can you explain the differences, I am looking to get one of these machines, for some reason I thought a volante would be better, but I have not tried either machine, very interested in this frippertronic application, thanks .

[@philh27]

@@pyropedals5553 Hi. It is a few years since I made the decision, but in a nutshell the problem for me regarding the Volante's SOS features was that there was not an option - at least on board- to instantly change from half speed to full speed, which I use quite often on the EL Cap, simply by turning the delay time knob with my foot. The volante has far, far more tricks up its sleeve, both as a delay and as an SOS machine but it is also a much larger footprint, which again came into my decisio n process. The El Cap is pretty basic by comparison, but sounds great and the simple SOS functionality is also great for me. I should say that I always run at least 2 delays on my board ( El Cap and SA Nemesis for quite a while) so I'm covered for everything I need to do. I'm sure you'd love the Volante, but because I needed that feature it wasn't for me. Good luck.

[@pyropedals5553]

@@philh27 great, thanks for the reply.

[@robertlewis5439]

I was inspired yesterday by one of Bill's older videos to do Frippertronics-y stuff with my TC Electronic Alter Ego 2. I can vouch for some long delays, though I wasn't able to get a tape-style delay to go 7 seconds, probably due to my lack of familiarity with creating/modding toneprints in the app. I created a long analog-style delay, which sounded fantastic with a Way Huge Fat Sandwich for dirt. This video didn't pop up in my feed until today, for some reason.

[@chordsoforion]

Cool!

[@robertlewis5439]

@@chordsoforion Thank you for the inspiration and education.

[@ivana1755]

I’ve had a bunch of boutiques and non boutique delays but nothing tops El Capistan for me. It’s just so unique in its degradation. Nice to see some love for Captain

[@edugc5372]

👌Great tutorial, thanks

[@SFolkes97]

Thanks for the deep dive into this El Cap function - kind of layered looping. Man, I miss Carvin guitars. Yes, I know Kiesel is still going, but I still miss some of the Carvin offerings.

[@chordsoforion]

Oh I hear ya. I really want to get an old Carvin H2 to complement the HF2.

[@ScottHz]

@@chordsoforion Set up a saved search on eBay - I watched for my HF2 for over a year before a nice ‘player’s’ HF2 came up - already ‘roadworn’ for me ;) I love it, except that it’s really neck-heavy. Might start looking for the AH headless Carvin. ;)

[@johnpowell3767]

I have been listening to demos on the Strymon El Capistan and Hologram Microcasm. Nobody demonstrates the potential of these 2 pedals than you do. I also have checked out these pedals on the company's websites. They are good too, but yours is better. I contacted them and told that if it wasn't for you I would never have known these pedals existed nor their potential. I hope that it is okay with you. Just spreading the Love, you know? Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@waltimedes]

Fripp used the Burns Buzzaround Fuzz in KC, not sure if he still was by the Frippertronics era. Arc Effects made a Crimson King pedal similar to it. Shoe Pedals made one called Robert. One has a pretty serious noise gate on it which sounds interesting.

[@masonkanterbury3007]

Sounds great. And you've got a Flintstones guitar.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

I have the GFI specular Reverb version 3 and it's awesome but I don't think anything beats the big sky cloud setting Definitely buying a big sky as well as soon as I can

[@murrayhardie8025]

Thanks!

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks so much for the support!!!!

[@hanksmith4315]

I don't suppose I can do something similar with a Timeline, or maybe my Pigtronix Infinity?

[@chordsoforion]

I can't speak for the Infinity, but here's a video I did a while ago about getting up to a 20 second delay with the Timeline: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d37GpZuvnLFpg5I

[@andrefranca96]

is it possible to this on the flashback x4 and change to another preset without cutting the fripptronic tail off?

[@chordsoforion]

I assume you mean the original X4? Does it have a buffered bypass setting? If so, try that to see if you can get delay spillover when switching.

[@arrigoaxia]

André França on my flashback triple, changing preset over delay trails does cut them off, even with the buffered bypass and the pedal turned off

[@josephfelice601]

5:20 for the loop part.

[@ianbarber2937]

The mosquitoes next to me when I camp

[@DocTaTech]

Something I just discovered: El Cap models made after 2012 has TRS stereo option (see Strymon "How do I enable the TRS stereo input on El Capistan")?

[@chordsoforion]

yes indeed. I've set mine up a couple of times like that.

[@digitalramyun]

I recently got a TC Flashback 2 x4, and I’m wondering whether it has a similar “bypass” feature to the El Capistan (so I can “freeze” a loop in place and solo over it)?

[@chordsoforion]

Yes - put it in buffered bypass mode. mediadl.musictribe.com/download/documents/tcelectronic/FLASHBACK2X4DELAY_M_EN.pdf

[@digitalramyun]

@@chordsoforion Many thanks - I'll give that a try! 🙏

[@willowsmutt8313]

Question if I may? Have first tube amp head being delivered tomorrow, it's a bit on chilly side. Should I let amp acclimatize before jamming on it? If so how long? Thanks in advance...

[@chordsoforion]

if you are feeling cautious, let it sit in the box for an hour or 2 before unpacking - then have at it!

[@willowsmutt8313]

62 yrs young, first hall stack... yes I'm a bit nervous, don't want to break it first day. Lol

[@bluepedalsrock9271]

I know with Sweetwater, they put a sticker on the box (for new guitars) that says to let the box sit for 24 hours. Amps could be different, but I just wanted to throw that out there as a suggestion.

[@willowsmutt8313]

Thank you., don't know if I can keep it for 24hrs without trying it. But will look to see if box gives any info.

[@willowsmutt8313]

Finally got hold of company and was told same. Matters more for guitars more then amps. Still a bit nervous but will let sit for a bit first.

[@henkehakansson2004]

I like this. But if you crank the Repeat button up full will it over-oscillate or will it do infite repeats without fading gradually away? I think you're using the bypass switch as a substitute for a hold function/or button. Would love to have that external tap switch available as a hold button... so one doesn't have to think, and be afraid of overloading. Thank you for great videos again.

[@johnslater154]

If you have repeats up at about 5oclock it will gradually get louder and louder til it’s all over oscillated which is cool if you’ve let your loop/delay get too quiet you can bring it back

[@danielzdziarski7017]

Can't....stop....looking...at...the....loose....hair....in...your.....beard. XD Sounds great, Bill. Funny...I'm actually thinking of selling my El Cap to put toward one of the new Starlight delay pedals from UA. These secondary functions on the El Cap, having to remember what all five knobs are in both modes, not knowing what each knob is set at just by looking at it, and having to hold two buttons with one hand and turn knobs with the other (not exactly easy when you're holding a guitar or have one hanging around your neck; who at Strymon thought THAT one up?) are making me a little crazy. Too bad, since it's otherwise a great pedal.

[@chordsoforion]

yeah - sorry about the beard. I did not notice until too late in the editing process. Anyway, Starlight looks very cool, but can it do extended time delays like the El Cap?

[@danielzdziarski7017]

@@chordsoforion Not that I know of. For something like Frippertronics, the Starlight definitely isn't where one should go. For me, as a general tape delay, the first thing I noticed was the sound and that "vibe" that the Starlight has. I hear it in pedals like the Boss Space Echo and the Belle Epoch, but I haven't quite gotten that out of the El Cap. Yeah, I know that the entire point of this video is the El Cap's usage in the Fripper realm, but hey....this video popped up on my Subscribed feed and that's where my mind has been in terms of the El Cap and Starlight ("Should I sell the El Cap to get the Starlight? Should I not?"). Haha, sorry for the tangent. :D

[@nashos]

Watching this. Started excited, a couple of mins in thinking this is a bit meh. By the end I'm like holy fkin strymon I'm buying one now and I'm going to make these sounds for the rest of my life

[@cfibanez]

Hello Bill, I seem to remember that you posted once a video with a hack to extend the SOS looping time of El Capistan beyond 20 seconds. I am unable to find that video. Was I dreaming? Or did you really find a way to do it? Thanks in advance for your reply. Greetings, Carlos.

[@chordsoforion]

Hi Carlos - I believe you are thinking of the "hack" for allowing a Timeline to extend out to 20 seconds. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d37GpZuvnLFpg5I

[@cfibanez]

@@chordsoforionOh I see. Yes, it must hav been that one. I must have mixed it up. Many thanks for your reply!

[@nx01craig]

I love your Frippertronics playing! Which album(s) of yours should I buy that have a lot of the style you played in this video? Thanks!

[@zoomanderson]

Bill, if you had to pick one delay to do Frippertronics, U2 style delay, long delay times, etc., would this be it? I bought a Keeley Caverns a few weeks ago and it’s a nice delay, but somehow it doesn’t really do anything I want it to. It’s going back today. In other words, is there a be all, end all?

[@chordsoforion]

A great all around delay pedal for that is the Strymon Timeline, as it can be set to do a 20 second delay. Also, any of the TC Flashbacks can fulfill the requirements, as they can do 7 second delays, which is long enough for basic "Frippertronics". Finally, The EHX Grand Canyon can do everything on the list, plus has a looper with a loop aging feature that allows for Frippertronics.

[@jbjb9691]

A philosophical question: how do you compare frippetronics with a delay like El Capistan with frippetronics with a decaying looper like Ditto X4? That would be, I think, a cool video. Not a hardware review, but more of a stylistic/composition video.

[@ScottHz]

HF2 Fatboy? I have one in a dark walnut finish with black hardware ;)

[@chordsoforion]

Oh man! I am jealous!!!!

[@sitaroutreachministry6289]

I keep seeing references to the El Cap in relation to reverse delay, is there a secondary function on this box that provides that? Love your channel, Bill, thank you.

[@chordsoforion]

No - there is no reverse delay on the El Cap. There is a spring reverb in the secondary functions though.

[@Laurasiana]

Well, I thought I was fine without an El Cap. Had no need of it. UNTIL NOW. [facepalm] I love your channel, Bill - great stuff!

[@lewislowrey2695]

Please make another version of this video where you run all the audio through the El Capistan

[@chordsoforion]

What...What...What...What...???

[@bazookahorse]

DOOT................................................................................................... DOOT

[@paulodecarvalho2209]

El Capstain vs Triple Delay ?

[@chordsoforion]

It depends. What are you looking to do with a delay? Do you have other delay pedals?

[@robertszymanski717]

What kind of guitar are you playing?

[@chordsoforion]

that is a Carvin HF2 Allan Holdsworth sig model.

[@TheArbiterOfTruth]

I have to ask, because I’ve wondered for years. Why is it not “El Capitan”? What is a “Capistan”?

[@chordsoforion]

It is a play on the word "capstan", which is part of the transport system of a tape deck.

[@TheArbiterOfTruth]

@@chordsoforion ah. That makes more sense, thanks! I probably could have just googled that in hindsight 😂 really appreciating your channel!

[@leftadrift3920]

Yeah brother that's pretty close to robert fripps tone.... I like ur sound there very warm and fuzzy

[@TimO-wt9sz]

Bill do think it would be possible for you to just do one episode of you playing in standard tuning i am so curious to hear you play in standard lol .i think it would be just fantastic thanks Tim from canada

[@chordsoforion]

This video was in standard tuning! ;-)

[@Manrock0]

Un acagada su demostración viejo

[@brettlemmings]

with full repeats horrible transients/spikes occured, could not use it, sold it. same with your specimen Mr Vencil ?

[@chordsoforion]

Are you referring to self-oscillation? If so, yes, the El Cap can get out of hand, just like a real tape echo machine. But if you keep repeats around 3 oclock or so, you can get super long decaying delays.

[@brettlemmings]

@@chordsoforion ok. but i doubt a real tape echo has those digital spikes el capistan generates when it goes into self oscillation, does yours do? it has those typical transients sounds like a data error, like having too low buffer on a soundcard, analog disting is another thing ;)

[@chordsoforion]

@@brettlemmings no mine does not behave or sound like that.

[@brettlemmings]

@@chordsoforion good to hear, mine was probably a monday specimen!? ^^

[@jrr832]

@@brettlemmings or late Friday afternoon

[@petjobedet4650]

That’s horrific.

[@bloodynin9757]

What guitar is you are using in this video?

[@lenmil8421]

Way to turn your guitar into a bag pipe.