The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. We recently had the chance to check out the FIVE newest pedals in their Original Collection, and today we’re heading back a bit to check out one of their earlier releases. The Fuzz-Tone FZ-M features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite vintage and modern fuzz tones to perfection…sounds pretty fun, right??...
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The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. We recently had the chance to check out the FIVE newest pedals in Maestro’s Original Collection, and today we’re heading back a bit to check out one of their earlier releases. The Ranger Overdrive features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite distortion and overdrive sounds...
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We’ve had a blast checking out the lineup of pedals from the newly-revamped Maestro brand, and have a BIG surprise for you all today. They’ve just released FIVE new units, and we have got them all in one place for you. Today, we’re looking at the Orbit Phaser, Mariner Tremolo, Titan Boost, Arcas Compressor Sustainer and Agena Envelope Filter – 5 effects building on the first 5 pedals they initially released...
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The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. The Discoverer Delay and Comet Chorus were both a joy to explore, and we’ve got the third pedal in this impressive lineup for you today. The Invader Distortion features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite distortion and overdrive sounds perfectly…let’s see what it’s all about! The...
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The looks and sounds produced by vintage Maestro effects units have wowed musicians for decades – the Fuzz-Tone, Phase Shifter, Echoplex and more set the sonic bar high long ago. With those older effects being rare, expensive and full of maintenance, Gibson and Maestro have teamed up to release the ‘Original Collection’ of pedals, 5 different effects that lay the foundation for any rig or recording setup. Today, we’re going to look at...
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The looks and sounds produced by vintage Maestro effects units have wowed musicians for decades – the Fuzz-Tone, Phase Shifter, Echoplex and more set the sonic bar high long ago. With those older effects being rare, expensive and full of maintenance, Gibson and Maestro have teamed up to release the ‘Original Collection’ of pedals, 5 different effects that lay the foundation for any rig or recording setup. Today,...
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We’re always excited to test out new gear from our friends at Universal Audio, and they’ve just sent us their four newest UAFX creations! We’re going to start this run off with the Orion Tape Echo, which takes a vintage sonic dive into the Echoplex EP-III musical pool. Three modes, a ton of control and beautiful echoes surround this pedal, just as it will engulf your sound and your entire rig… Thanks to the...
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We had the pleasure of checking out the new Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb from Universal Audio, and were (as usual) pretty blown away. Today, we’re looking at the next unit in their latest lineup releases, the Del-Verb Ambience Companion. Similar to the Galaxy in ways, but also a unique beast on its own, this pedal combines algorithms from UA’s wonderful Golden Reverberator and Starlight Echo Station....
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Top Ten Iconic Guitar Pedal Effects Moments By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. There are so many guitar pedal moments to choose in songs, especially in hits starting in the 1980’s. Once pedals increased in popularity they became mixed...
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Amp emulator pedals are always a delicate topic of conversation amongst guitar players, and while some of these pedals can be hit or miss, the three we’re checking out today from Universal Audio are completely legit, and more. Drawing inspiration from three classic amps first released many decades ago, the Dream ’65, Ruby ’63 and Woodrow ’55 allow you to easily lose yourself in vintage tone, and save your back...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Message in a Pedal: How to Get Andy Summers’ Signature Sound By Steven Kendzorski for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. Andy Summers joined The Police in 1977, and quickly catapulted the group to international superstardom. With hits like “Every Breath You...
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It seems that whenever the word “Engine” is mixed in with the title or description of an effect, it’s guaranteed to be contain elements not thought of before. Today’s pedal, the Thermion Stone Age Fuzz Tone Engine, lives up to that stereotype, providing an options-laden fuzz topped with 2 other signal blends and a slew of controls to fit any rig. Powerful, bold and experimental, we love pedals like this, so...
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Greg Loiacono & Tim Bluhm Marin County, CA / Fairfax, CA The Mother Hips motherhips.com Greg Loiacono Band gregloiacono.com Green Leaf Rustlers Tim Bluhm w/ The Coffis Brothers timbluhm.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Greg Loiacono: I started playing guitar at age 11. I wanted to learn as soon as I heard “Purple Haze” for the first time. I stopped for a bit and got back...
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There are, apparently, still musicians out there who dislike the Phaser effect. Now, while we can’t necessarily understand why, it doesn’t stop us from bringing you all the best phaser pedals we can find, and we’ve got another new one today. The Mojo Hand FX Mister-O Phase Shifter is a modern recreation of a classic, the Maestro Phase Shifter, first released in the early 1970’s. With vintage tones and some...
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Ahh, the Phaser pedal. One of the most loved/hated effects out there, for some reason – I mean, people either LOVE phase shifting, or they HATE it with a passion. Not a lot of in between on this one – we, however, cannot get enough of it. From vintage units to complicated modern machines, adding in some phaser effect changes any rig or tone, and almost always for the better, in our opinion. The Hochstrasser Electronics...
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Although we’ve never had the pleasure of testing out an old Binson Echorec, Roland Space Echo or Maestro Echoplex, we sure love a good tape delay sound. Those machines, while classic and heard on thousands of incredible recordings, are now decades and decades old. This leads to a ton of maintenance, know-how and upkeep, and that’s if you actually KNOW what you’re doing. They can fail at any moment, usually requiring...
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Anyone who knows the band Fu Manchu knows they have a pretty signature sound, and the bass is a big part of it. What you might not know is that the bass player, Brad Davis, is also the mastermind behind Creepy Fingers Effects, and he was kind enough to send us a pedal to check out today. The Fuzz Nugget is just that: a tasty little morsel of fuzz wrapped in a big old gold box, Eatin’ Dust and just waiting to be unleashed on the...
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Continuing our recent trend of some amazing tape delay echo machines, we’ve got another brilliant pedal for you today. The Deluxe Tape Machine Delay from LongAmp not only re-creates some fantastic sounds from the delay-filled 70’s, but does so while offering THREE distinct options, emulating the best tones from three of the most revered and classic delays ever made. Influenced by the Binson Echorec, Roland RE-201 Space...
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We’ve all had a pedal, effects or vintage sound-making machine that has peaked our curiosity for years, but have never had the ways or means to acquire said piece of gear. One of the most famous of these is undoubtedly the Echoplex EP-3 from Maestro, a warm echo machine full of tasty modulated delays, and one responsible for many of the classic and iconic recorded tones ever put down on tape. These units, however, are...
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There’s a decent chance you’ve heard of the famous Echoplex EP-3 Tape Delay from Maestro, made popular in the 70’s and 80’s by Andy Summers, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, and Brian May, among others. You may also know that these older units are finicky, tricky to repair, costly at times and not always the most road-worthy for the touring musician. That’s where today’s pedal comes in: the Belle Epoch...
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If you guys have ever had the pleasure to play an effects pedal from the warped mind of Joe Anastasio from Lone Wolf Audio, you know what kind of crazy gear that dude creates. Today we’re going to look at one of the wackiest, awesomest pieces of musical equipment we’ve seen, a pedal that really can’t fit into just one category, but will revive your interest in how music and sound are created. The Acetylene Nirvana is...
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When it comes to delay in general, one of the names that instantly pops into your head is TC Electronic. From the famed 2290 rack units of the 80’s, to all of their newer models, most of which we’ve had the pleasure to review: Flashback, Triple Delay, Alter Ego, Nova Delay and Repeater and so on. Today’s featured pedal is also a delay, and a massive one at that. The Alter Ego x4 Vintage Echo boasts sounds from...
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Tim Bluhm San Anselmo, CA The Mother Hips www.motherhips.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been singing since I was a kid, in church choirs and in school choruses. I started playing guitar right after high school. In my second year of college I started the Mother Hips with Greg Loiacono and we started getting gigs really quickly. Who have been some of your major musical...
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Sometimes, pedals are labeled as one type of effect, when they maybe should have been labeled differently, with a title that suits what they do better. The PDF-1 from Stone Deaf FX is labeled as a distortion, but it really is so much more than just that. Dabbling in boost, overdrive, distortion and all-around sweet tone-shaper, today’s featured pedal is a true jack-of-all-trades in the effects department. Loosely based on the...
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With so many new effects with so many functions and big learning curves, it’s nice to come across an older pedal that has a couple simple knobs and sounds just fantastic, without having a bunch of bells and whistles. Today’s featured pedal, the FX96 Echo FX Analog Delay from DOD was produced way back in the ancient year of 1997, and was billed as a modern improvement on classic tape echo machines like the Binson Echorec...
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Don’t you just love to hear the sound of a good tape echo delay coming out of your amplifier, or stereo speakers, or a YouTube video? Of course you do, we all do! Problem is, to be able to get that authentic sound, you have to find AND be able to purchase a big, clunky machine, which may or may not even work properly, then take a short 6 week course on how to use it, switch tapes and keep up the general maintenance of the unit....
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Well, the Kings of Delay are back at it again. Ever since their famed TC2290 Digital Delay was released back in 1985, TC Electronic has continually been on the cutting edge of all things delay, and with their new upgraded version of the Alter Ego Vintage Echo, they steer us in a slightly different delay/echo direction. Combining elements from both of these genres into one compact package, the AE2 is loaded with options, modes, sounds...
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