For the most part, multi effects pedals are pretty fun, and can be super useful if you are traveling a lot, or have a small pedalboard that you need to cram a bunch of stuff onto for gigs. The Rocket Train from Movall Audio covers the bases for three pretty common and oft-used effects, all in one relatively compact box that should fit on any pedalboard with ease.
I decided to go right to left on this pedal, as I usually like compression to be first in the effects chain. The Compressor section of the Rocket Train features Sustain, Attack and Level controls, fairly standard for any compressor. It really evens out any tone brought in, and works great for finger-pickin’, rockabilly-type string work, as well as taming the overdrive and boost sections a bit. The Overdrive has simple controls as well: Volume, Tone and Drive. Again, fairly standard fare for a drive pedal, but in these multi effects pedals, more often than not you’re looking for an easy setup, with not a ton of unwanted or unused option clogging up the face of the effect. Finally, the Boost just adds a big chunk of beef into your sound, propelling it into your listener’s ear holes faster than a speeding, well, rocket train. I noticed a little bit of distortion in this boost as well, nothing that you’d notice in a live setting, by any means, but enough that it might make a difference in the studio.
On the back panel, there’s a tasty little surprise for you from the Rocket Train, too. Send and Return jacks connect an FX Loop to this pedal, and place whatever you want to add in between the Overdrive and Boost sections, making for a whole slew of new possibilities to play with. As if all this wasn’t enough, there’s even a signal path direction toggle switch that changes which effect comes first, the Overdrive or the Compressor. That’s a whole lot of versatility in a pedal that only measures 5 inches across!
Utilizing three effects in one, and featuring true bypass plus an FX loop for more added sonic experiments, the Rocket Train may be the answer to some of your more complex pedalboard logistical problems. The fact that each effect is independent of the others makes for a wide array of mixing and matching as well, with each section supplying useful and good-sounding effects. Not to mention the price tag, which is extremely affordable for anyone on a budget. Cheers to Movall Audio for sending this rad 3-in-1 over to us for review, here’s hoping we come across some more of their gear in the near future!
Specs:
Three independent effects:Compressor,Overdrive,Boost
Three True Bypass
Order switch for Compressor and Overdrive
FX loop for connecting external effects between Overdrive and Boost
All metal casing
Measures 145mm*120mm*53mm
DC 9v adapter
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
