There is nothing like the sound of a Marshall stack, particularly a vintage one, perhaps of the Plexi variety, with the classic 4 input configuration. Those in the know have discovered a special secret about these amps: using a patch cable to connect two of the inputs together. This results in the Volume controls from both channels becoming active, and able to be blended at will to produce gorgeous, soaring crunch tones. If...
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If you’re a fuzz lover, when you hear the words “Tone Bender,” an instant smile creeps over your face. Used on countless classic rock recordings and live shows by everyone from Pete Townshend to Jeff Beck to Paul McCartney and more, these gray boxes from Sola Sound defined the latter half of the 1960’s. The MkII Professional version of the Tone Bender was made popular by Jimmy Page, having used it on the first...
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If you’re on the lookout for nice, simple, run-of-the-mill overdrive/distortion effect, today’s featured pedal is definitely NOT for you. The Kismet from Ramble FX houses everything you love about dirt pedals, from clean boost to almost heavy metal, into one enclosure, but adds a ton of options and features as well. Four presets, toggling/cycling, expression pedal control, even MIDI and more, this blue tank can easily...
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The sheer force of impact that Joel and the Chase Bliss crew have had on the musical world over the last 7 years really says something to their creativity and innovation. They keep the train that brought us the Tonal Recall, Thermae, MOOD, Dark World, Generation Loss and more a-rollin’ with their latest endeavor, the Chase Bliss Audio Blooper Looper. With the signature CBA tech stamp firmly planted on it, this baby blue wonder...
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Pedal that are hard to describe, explain or wrap your head around are usually some of the best. The Ottobit Jr from Meris fits squarely into this set of rules, possibly breaking some along it’s sonic warpath as well. Part pitch manipulator, part sampler, part sequencer and all bitcrusher, this little black box will expand your mind and everything you thought you knew about how music is supposed to be created. Inspired by vintage...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Corey F. – find him on Instagram (@ScrambleTheFitz), Facebook (Cantharone) and on his band’s website (Cantharone). An extremely interesting and versatile take on bucket brigade type analog delay. The Lunar Echo from the now non-operational DMB Audio will keep you tweaking its knobs for hours on end. To start, it is a fairly normal analog delay with a max 500ms delay time. Within...
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Last fall, we reviewed a reverb pedal from an up-and-coming company that was really taking off – that pedal was the Cloud 9 from Sky Pedals. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sky Pedals is no longer creating gear for us to enjoy, but passed along the basic concept and design of the Cloud 9 to our friends at JHS Pedals, and a new reverb was born from the ashes. That pedal is the subject of today’s review, and it’s...
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Hudson Electronics in the UK are all about the Fuzz. Really, these guys make retro-styled fuzz pedals for fuzz players, and that’s it. And boy, do they do them well. I was lucky enough to get a couple sent my way to review, and I have to say I was pleasantly blown away by the sounds these guys are generating. Today, we’re going to take a look at a pedal they like to simply call FUZZ. This pedal is based around fuzz...
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Another Boss Delay? Well, if they would make a bad one, then we wouldn’t have to keep reviewing the good ones, would we? And, at least we’re not reviewing another overdrive pedal… All kidding aside, the DD-6 Digital Delay is a stripped-down version of their DD-5 model, which had a TON of options, too many for some folks. Going from 11 Mode choices to 6 simplifies everything, but still leaves all the options...
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