We love it when a well-designed, quirky, unconventional piece of gear arrives on our office doorstep, and today’s pedal definitely falls into all three of those categories. The Yellowcake Pedals Psychotropia Sample/Hold Filter is a bright, powerful modulation machine that falls into a million different effects genres and produces sounds that seemingly come from the vast reaches of another galaxy, far far away. With elements of...
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Designed by guitarist Paul Crowther of Split Enz back in 1976, the venerable Crowther Hotcake OD/Distortion pedal is all about crunch. Airy, satisfying crunch, like a warm basket of tortilla chips. Hand built in New Zealand, the Hotcake delivers that classic rock rhythm sound in spades, and produces a great old-school lead tone that will make it your first grab. According the builder, the Hotcake is different from most ODs in that it...
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It’s been a hot minute since we had anything from Yellowcake come through the office, but boy, was it worth the wait. The Lida Machine is an analog resonant filter, with hints of tremolo and vibrato, ring modulator, phaser and more jammed into an impressive-looking and sounding enclosure. With two footswitches and a lot of knobs, we’re ready to dive in and explore this beast immediately… Also known as a VCF (Voltage...
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The good folks at StewMac carry just about every item you need to make your musical dreams come true, from luthier tools to parts & hardware to amps and yes, even Pedals. Today, we’re looking at their latest pedal kit, the International House of Overdrive. You’ll step right into the world of classic overdrive tones, and learn a thing or two about what goes into making effects pedals along the way…c’mon!!...
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Ethan Miller Humboldt County Howlin’ Rain, Heron Oblivion, Feral Ohms howlinrain.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing music since about 7 years old when I started piano lessons. I took up acoustic guitar at around age 12. Electric guitar at age 14. I first got into playing non-classical music at a California State Summer School for the Arts that they used to...
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Scott Kannberg Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Spiral Stairs Preston School of Industry Pavement www.spiralstairsofficial.com/ pitchfork.com/artists/3389-preston-school-of-industry/ www.matadorrecords.com/pavement How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? 30 years or so… SM and I had a band in college, 1987 or so. Bag O Bones was the name. Instrumental jams. I bought a bass (red Ibanez roadster) at my...
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The effects company Montreal Assembly is an elusive entity in today’s modern world, with little to no online presence, just a basic website and little social media activity. Somehow, they’ve managed to make an incredible name for themselves, and we get to check out one of their now-discontinued creations today. The Positive Overdrive Distortion is just that: a driving force of gritty tone and crunchy distortion that leaves...
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Michael Parker Seattle, WA – The People’s Republic of the USA I play guitar & keys in the band Pickwick www.pickwickmusic.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar when I was in the 8th grade on a whim. I had a friend who was a drummer and needed some people to jam with. He recruited me basically because I was in the room and had nothing better to do. He...
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DEVON ALLMAN The Devon Allman Band: ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA, EARTH THE SLAYS: MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA, EARTH devonallmanband.com theslays.com (coming soon) How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? At 5, the vinyl bug bit me and it was love at first spin. At 9, the live music bug bit me when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick pulled out the 5-neck guitar at my first concert. But as for me playing…I...
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The Wampler Euphoria (formerly the Ecstacy, but the good people at Bogner took exception) is an extremely versatile overdrive pedal that pushes well into distortion-pedal space before it’s done. Wampler promotes it as their “Dumble Box,” a description I think their marketing department should give another once over. The dark green metallic case sports four knob controls – Volume, Gain, Tone and Bass, which all...
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How does one begin to review a legend? In part because of the difficulty of getting one, in a larger part due to its unique sound, a legend has certainly grown around the Hermida Audio Zendrive. I’ve just taken delivery of my second one, and can testify that it’s status is well deserved. First, the tone. No overdrive pedal I have owned or played through (and that’s a long list) does quite what a Zendrive does: a smooth, hairless...
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