Since 2015 NEW PEDALS EVERY DAY! Over 3000 REVIEWS!
I use other reviewers vids & then critique from them __ If a pedal appears killer I buy one __ I try it out & update the Post__ If the pedal is SH@T I literally say so!__ I publish the street price a no brainer but few do. __ I save you time finding the best pedals & you get a second opinion. __OVER A MILLION VISTORS__
NO ONE OWNS ME___ I MAKE ZERO $ FROM THIS
Based off of the BJFe FUZZ 1 from 2000. A combination
of a dynamic OD and a Fuzz circuit.It uses hand picked components.
it is designed by Bjorn Juhl and he hand makes every pedal.
It has a wide range and many of the best tones can often be
from 9 to 12 o'clock on the drive knob.
One Drive's many many mini pedals can be found on Reverb
the latest pedals seem to take ages to show up.
Distributing seems to be lacking. The US does not have a distributor they deal with a company in Canada. Japan seems to have all the pedals but they do not cater online in English.
It is not clear but it looks as though One control is Japanese.
The designers are world wide and the manufacturing is ?
The ONE CONTROL product is hot and cold... some are quite interesting while other pedals are neither very good or over priced. Using One control sounds very clever but for the most part it is a joke. In fact the whole line and its fans seem to be dripping with pretension. I just do not get it. The Baby Blue is neither in my opinion comparatively great nor do I find it to have a novel quirkiness to fascinate me. In short I find it a modest medium gain pedal. Not very exciting but at lower volumes perhaps its boasted dynamics could be useful.
The name sums it up. By using some new high tech diodes for clipping the sound the 25v gives it rediculous head room.
I would not call it fat only because it in some ways makes you think of massive bass and balz. It is more in the way of an incredibly huge mid rang curtain of sound.
It could even be used in a tune to create an orchestra like sound like the big pads that keyboard players use, Great for an indie band with an upbeat pop like flavour to their tunes.
But it not a really aggressive sound. It could be stacked though.
It needs more grit and some chunk in the lower mids.
Disappointing as the hype on this pedal was over the top!
Okko from Germany are famous for their dirt boxes they have made some of the first Metal OD ever made.
This pedal lives up to it's name. Very American sounding
very much like old Gibson, Fender and especially Velco products.
A simple layout of bass and treble with the standard drive and level controls. Dead easy to tweek as there is no perfect sweet spot. The pedal sounds good no mater where you set it. It sounds great on a Strat. It has plenty of balz and keeps the Strat chime in tact. No doubt a Tele or soap bars would sound as good.
Nothing to dislike. It really does sound amp like. I haven't heard better in a medium gain blues sound. Most rock styes would find this pedal excellent. Not many bands these days do not need a bit of crunch here and there and this one as the name says is King!
ONE WEEK LATER
I can not get this pedal out of my mind. There is not a tune in the world that needs a great medium drive pedal that this can not be tweaked to work. Yes on 3 different tunes I have 3 different pedals that I may prefer. BUT ...none of them would work on all 3 tunes. THIS WOULD!!!
I just bought a PLEXI and I have a PRS coming in a week. When I get over the the $hock... I am sure to give this pedal another look!
Not surprising a very nice box from Emma Electronic in Denmark.
It's all in the bias control that lets you control the harmonic
content to emulate a smooth sounding type A amp right up to a type B with that classic A/B beteen in the middle. A brilliant idea and it works!
Pushed it has a very Marshall JCM 800 sound.
Otherwise your standard level and gain with hi & low EQ.
This is v.2 but it has been around for awhile hence the big box. Just as well because if it 'ain't' broke don't fix it!
The tone is more of a Fender Bassman or even it's sister a Marshall JTM 45. But not a Plexi ...the upper mids are too sweet for that.
Oddy enough it really reminds me of a late 50's Kay Model 703 with a 25L6 power tube ...affectionately known as the 'Widow Maker' Though the name rightfully belongs to the Model 503.
Some reviewers are convinced it is a Tube Screamer on steroids.
the ts used a JRC4558 chip as the nucleus for its sound but now there are 11 other chips used as well ....so? When is ts a ts?
It does have a transparency like a ts and it lets the sound of your guitar thru. I also noticed it does not override the sound of your amp. If you have a great guitar and amp it is a bonus. A lot of us
are better off with a great Plexi. A good Plexi pedal can be 'all' the sound. In short an average guitar or amp is enough as the Plexi sound is front and center.
But this does things no other ts can do.
It chops like an axe. It is aggressive plus some. In spite
of that it is not harsh.
It is very impressive!!!
It has the standard arrangement with gain level and tone.
The switch gives you a choice of different clipping and gain
structures. This lets you back it off and sweeten the mids
...or push it hard enough to rip your face off! LOL
It is very close to being a low, medium and high gain pedal.
All three of it's sounds are uncompromised and as usable as 3 separate pedals.
I can easily see using the different voices on completely different sounding tunes,
Designed and built by Chad Mathews. He is proud of this one!
He should be too.
The pedal has magic in the voicing that only an artist can give you.
This is not 'just' a great tool by a skilled technician.
The big boys could never make this pedal. They design by committee.
If this pedal became the next Analog Man 'King of Tone' phenomenon
It would not surprise me.
All CMATMODS pedals are robust with pro parts.
They also blow away a lot of pedals that are a hundred
or more of your hard earnt cash.
...as I said impressive ...and so is the price!!!
...So it's just a week later and during the week I became the proud owner of a Plexi and a PRS ! I intended to give this a pass for a month or so! Not possible! This pedal is in a class of it's own! I just ordered it!!!
CONCLUSION
A lot of good OD's have been popping up lately but nothing special.
This box is a breath of fresh air!
I just shot off an E thanking Chad M.
We have to support the smaller guys or we will get
nothing but the same old tired crap from the big guys!!!
This pedal is a keeper! You won't get tired of it.
It is just that kind of pedal!
HANDS ON
Well fate must love me with 7 guitars including a 59 LP special reissue and a Fender Strat Custom Shop ....
a new old stock 2017 PRS SE 245 ....LP wanna-be showed up yesterday.
If you want a 2018 Les Paul Traditional ($2700.00 USD at Sweetwater ) and ya got no bucks ...then PRS at $560.00 USD will do just fine.
How fine? You would not want to bet your life ...you could tell which is which in a blind fold test! Then throw in the fact that the PRS has a fit and finish easily as good!
So today the Signa showed up!
Plugged both into my Plexi!!!
So can a LP into a Plexi be improved on!!!
APPARENTLY SO !!!!
This one of those pedals that you are going to take for granted in a week Why!
Because when you turn it on you will never say "great pedal but if only ....." :-)
LAA Custom are a Italian company that make both amps and pedals.
This OD is unique as it runs on a discrete IC with an output transformer driver.
This is the most raw sounding OD I have ever heard.
It is unlike any other OD. I suppose it could be affective to add a vicious edge to another dirt pedal.
It ain't your beloved Marshall Plexi simulator.
A completely hand wired point to point dirt pedal made by a small Canadian company that
have not so much a crew but a group of individual designer makers that only make what turns them on.
They have a league of fans that are for the most part hobbyist that buy their pedals regardless of genre. The result is many of their pedals may not fit a style you play in.
There are hours of very refined and exquisic hand work.
Cool but if the pedal doesn't sound great? If it does not fit the parameters of your style you
will be cutting the vid short and off to the next Post!
Fortunately it sounds good. Very good!!!
This is 'the' place everyone comes for OD's
and this is a winner!!!
The EQ looks simple and it as simple to use as it looks. But internally the circuit leaves in the highs and the upper harmonics in the sound no matter how much bass you want. Even though the sound has a giant ball of fat, fat harmonic content around it ...it never gets muddy. A Strats bell like tone is left in tack even with a mass of tone surrounding it!
With this pedal you don't choose a great sound.
You just choose a tone in the range you like.
In short every bit of the gain sounds good!
How cool is that ?
Odd the Australian SKS Musiwewe Orange OD
is a budget pedal and a poor man's version of this!
Then!
... read all about a guitar designed intentionally for guys that play Gibson's
that want that 'other' guitars sound ...yes a Fender Strat or Tele ...probably as a second guitar.
How about one with a Gibson neck?
...and the best sounds of both a Tele and a Strat from the same guitar??
True ...not some BS hype! ......I would not waste your time ...check it out
Pro quality ...but cheap!!!
FOR THOSE THAT ARE FOLLOWING THE GOODWOOD SAGA
May 1/18 I am waiting on the results of a meeting of the manufacturer to overcome some issues that at present are slowing the progress. I expect more news in a few days.
Well it is a straight forward set up with bass, mids, and treble with presence. The usual gain and volume. It has nice boost that you can use on gain or volume or both.
The general tone is chunky rough and aggressive.
This thing has punch and balz ...big time!!!
It has a couple of switches inside to move the OD up into even more gain.
A little pricey but with a far from average set of features and a track record for quality.
ProAnalog area strange company which appear to be mostly about Fuzz pedals. They tend to display what they have in stock. So if they make a pedal that is not in stock you would not know they even made it.
The pedal has a sound of it's own. It is old school
when pedals just made some interesting dirt. Unlike modern pedals that try to make their take on a Marshall amp etc.
It could be their take on a Klon???
I quite like it though ...it is definitely unique.
EARTHQUAKE DEVICES GREY CHANNEL
They started with the '70's DOD 250 Preamp OD and then put every possible type of clipping diode type in it.
From the very first transistors ...Germanium
to the Silicon to a modern FET even an LED.
If nothing else you can hear the difference each type makes
with all else being the same. The pedal makes a great reference tool.
Oddly the warmest is a tie between the germanium and the
FET.
You have gain and a level control for each.
I find the concept exciting but there are many OD's with just
a single choice for clipping that have a more desirable voice
and with at least some EQ to shape your tone.
Virtually an analog delay with modulation to imitate the wow and flutter of real tape delays.
It does have a very long delay time. A great choice for a bit of analog delay, faux tape echo and a bit of craziness FX without much investment.
Behringers acquisition of TC in 2016 brought with it Behringers own pedals ...cheap crappy plastic boxes. A few had a reasonable sound some were just junk, The staff tweaked the good ones and overhauled the junkers. They were all built into bullet proof metal boxes. A good idea as it gave some credibility that Behringer was not going to turn the company into a cash cow and kill TC's brilliant innovation. The 'Smorgasbord of Tone' pedals when released were all under $50.00 USD each. This certainly got everyone's attention. They started with 13 pedals from the old Behringer line and are now adding new pedals .
This is a 'new' unit . It is one of four introduced this year. The clever designers at TC were I am sure happy to start from scratch. I expect so are you. :-) The price is creeping up with the newest ones but better that then an unusable pedal. The Gauss is $70.00 USD .
If you don't need the long delay or modulation then the little miracle delay ...the Mighty Sound mini M5 analog delay at $23.00 USD is still your best bet. YES...you read that right. When it came out it won a BEST FIVE DELAYS award. Keep in mind no matter what analog delay you get starts with a Panasonic delay chip. It gets down to a few filters & some EQ to voice it. It sounds excellent.
J. ROCKETT ANIMAL OD
A few years ago I was just getting into buying some serious pedals
$190.00 USD
and like many of you I wanted a deadly lead sound from my first OD.
Oddly enough I tried the Animal and just thought it was Ok but not exciting. This is true ...but once your lead sound is sorted you will at some point need that perfected 'tamed' OD to accompany a singer.
The trouble with all OD pedals is that the best they have are FET's to capture a tube sound. They can be designed to capture a distortion range beautifully to either do a nice medium or high gain but they do not ...like an amp run smoothly from one to another starting with dead clean then smoothly move up to crunch and beyond.
Unfortunately we are all guilty of loving some great dirt so no one does a focus on capturing the low gain on the edge of breakup sound.
Worse still it is very hard to get smooth so those that try usually in my opinion not only fail but the nice chunky area between clean and breakup is unusable.
This 68 Plexi sound has it nailed. I am very impressed!
It gives you that sound just before breakup where it has a very, very smooth creamy fatness but your guitars tone is so clear and clean with a touch of the twang of the steel in your strings you could even do finger picking and wonderful arpeggio's.
Nothing I have heard does this so well.
I have often pointed it out that in a band we spend most of the night playing an accompaniment role and yet our dirt boxes that are 'light' enough to do this so well and are a joy to play are near non existent.
This moves up very high on my 'Gotta Have' list!
A perfect ten!!!
I can not afford it right now.
I ordered one. LOL
If like me every order you make you get nervous because you have had too many bad days with pedals that you soon found are OK but do not really 'cut' it. Good news ...this pedal has been around since 2010 and with the new Tour Series we get v.2 that lets us control the 'snarl' from our volume control instead of the switch that was an either/or. I don't think it will be disappearing soon. Considering their popularity used ones are hard to find. Could it be that the owners see no need to dump them? Perhaps it is because there isn't any new and improved take on it by the competition? I think so. There are very few OD's on the whole planet I have not checked out. There are well over a hundred on this Blog alone.
HANDS ON
Well first the bad news. The Tour series does not have the 'boost' switch and to be honest the pedal
can not put out the aggressive distortion that the old v.1 does.
This poses me no problem for me as I wanted it for the classic Plexi on '4'. this is a clean but incredible fat sound with rich compression that when the attack of your note or chord makes the compressor sag. Then in just a half a moment later the transformer recovers causing the note or chord to sustain and the to bloom.
If on the other hand the old v.1 does this too. So I recommend v. 1 for most of you. You will even find a few NEW old stock ones around but no one is discounting them.
In the same territory is LOVEPEDALS Purple Plexi ....check out the post
A Japanese company that has been around since '04. This is v.2 of the early monster v.1 pedal.
It is a very aggressive high gain pedal with a bit of low end OD thump.
It has more highs then you can use but you can cut either lows or highs and are left with punchy mids.
Ir can fatten up single coils and still let the pedals natural tone seep through.
It is quiet, balzy with loads of headroom.
It is not quite identifiable to a specific amp but overall it has an American vibe.
Providence has a long record of well made pedals that stand the test of time.
It is a really medium gain pedal but can move into a bit of high gain.
It's voicing and EQ are excellent. It is very much in the 6L6
camp. In short ...very American. One of the best American sounding OD's yet!
It has endless features but as for me in the end it is always about the sound.
So give the video a listen to see how sounds and how it works.
The sound overall is a very nice chunky gutsy with biting highs that never get strident.
SUBDECAY VECTOR ANALOG PREAMP
Nothing totally new but still it is good sounding Dirt box with 11 choices of OD.
All are good, some are quite credible on their own a couple are
impressive. I especially liked Modern 2.
$180.00 USD
I will not go thru all 11. Soooo .....just give it a listen ...this can be a highly usable pedal for anyone. If you are in a weeked cover band you can cover a lot of diverse material.Sometimes it's just great to find if your main OD is not working in a tune odds are something here will do the job If you see yourself as a hobbyist then bingo!!! You can have a lot of fun with this unit.
ALEKS K Production MAPLE LEAF ROYAL DRIVE
It is no secret I am a big fan of of the Aleks K product. First
the fact that the build quality and the parts are all state of the art
gives them a 9 out of 10 without even hearing the pedal. No it is not a figure of speech. Name a product that you think is a 10 out of
10 for build and quality and buy an Aleks K and you will in a minute have to give them an 11 or create a new yard stick.
A feature of all there pedals is to use two gain stages and give you a knob for both. This is an idea all pedals should have.
OK this is a new sound for them. To simplify or even over simplify this pedal has a Fusion sound. jazz Rock,rock Jazz call it what you like. Will Dumble tone do?
The difference with their pedals as you start with a great voice in the pedal and can take it into any sub category of 'that type of sound' you want.
Just do not do what I have done with their pedals.
Buy what's HOT that 'everyone' is buying. Then I keep the HOTpedal and and buy the Aleks K.
I use the Aleks K. then within a couple weeks I find I wasted my money on the "HOT' pedal. Yes I find I now own a redundant "HOT" pedal.
I reluctantly sell the 'hot pedal' at a loss.
Worst of all I deserve it by being one of the "SHEEP"!!!
Save yourself the grief just get an Aleks K!!!
When you buy your AleksK you will find yourself with the pedal sitting in your hand staring at it amazement because the quality of the pedal's casing in flawless. You would normally give a new pedal a once over look and head at great haste to your amp. Don't feel stupid. All new owners do this ...the exceptions being those who refuse to admit it. LOL
Being a rough and edgy distortion guy this is not normally a pedal I
would gravitate towards.
I could not help admiring this pedal because it is creamy but it is done better than any I have ever heard.
It is just so rich and smooth, Quite simply sumptuous. If that's your thing.
If it is journey to find the perfect creamy sound then you have arrived at the end of your quest. This is the Gothic Cathedral of dream like OD's.
It is sound that if there is even a trace of mud you have sickening mushy blurred sound.
One control have given you the exquisite detail in the harmonics
this pedal is firmly on dry ground.
If you are into an etheral smooth tone and have found one of the better Fusion type pedals that has nailed that then this could make you pull out your flexible friend in your wallet quicker than you could ever imagine...because one thing your pedal is not is massively FAT... this pedal is fatter and fuller than a Fat Fuzz even with single coils.
Just when I though. No it is amazing but I don't need it ...I saw the price,
Whoa!!! This is just too cheap to believe!!! Made in Japan too!
Orange release their pedals very slowly. They tend to go for the obvious but they love to exaggerate it past even usable.
You have to love their fun attitude.
Not only do they go for caricature in the sound and definitely always in the graphics.
Who could not smile when looking at an Orange pedal.
The sound was meant to capture their amp sound which means massive dirt and if you want a clean sound the crunch will have suffice. LOL
They have a headphone out with a cab sound built in so you can use it for recording.
The thing has arguably more lows than any pedal out there.
The bite control is the tone control but it blends in some presence gradually as you move it up from it's massive lows.
It is at it's best on simple power chords. It is a medium gain pedal with lots of tone but not much sustain. It does the 9 volts in but internally turned to 12 to give you a lot of headroom.
PRO GUITARS ARE NOT ABOUT FIT FINISH AND HARDWARE ...OR ARE THEY ??
I keep seeing reviewers basically putting down any guitar
under about $800.00. .
I also see the same people rave about Guitar Star Mr. X's guitar as wonderful when in fact it is a 50's
Harmony or Supro or Kay etc. that when new it was a budget or entry level guitar.
Those guitars by today's standards could be blown away by a Squier bullet Mustang for $150.00 USD.
In my opinion those old guitars are pro because when we
hear their unique sound used to complement a great tune written to fit with their voice they blow us away. It is a struggle to play many of them with tree trunk necks and much higher action then a modern guitar ...but it is the sound that makes them Pro.
We are now getting a few guitars with some decent pro tone-wood. You can not 'FIX' bad wood.
EVERYTHING but the wood can be addressed with very Pro after market hardware ...and there is some great stuff out there ...some of it made by company's you have never heard of.
Amazing Korean hardware and PU's if chosen wisely can be cheap.
I got a pair of Korean made Seymour Duncan OME ...SH-1 '59 PAF's ....NEW each only ...$15.00 US!! It is an exact duplicate of the US made one right down to the nickel silver base plate! In short zero difference!
Duncan supplies these PU's for Asian made guitars that are the entry level guitars of American brands or they are American companies that simply manufacture offshore. The Duncan USA factory is not set up to handle the volume or the price. So Korean company's like Artec which are set up for high volume do. The PRS SE models are a good example.
Are all Artec PU's great, NO...you send them your design and they make it. If you want high end parts lt costs more.If however you want a cheap PU you will get it ...a ceramic magnet fewer turns of cheaper wire and steel base plate. $5.00 Each.Oddly enough it will look great because quality control for the build is stellar.
I got my PU's from a Chinese on-line store. I expect they are grey market. Some company that can not afford the volume buying from Duncan sells the excess inventory out the back door.
The playability of most necks can be made as good or better then $1200.00 USD guitars for about $100.00 USD by a half decent repair guy.
BOTTOM LINE
If the guitars has good 'bones' meaning good wood and a passable neck and an accurate and tight fits at the heel where it fits into the body you have a winner. You will then need just a bit of work on the frets and a decent pickup. Done!!!
It should not slowdown your playing. It also needs 'one' great PU. A good pickup is like a car motor ...no matter how good a driver you are you can not win a race with a lame gutless motor.
So guys.
Think it over ...do not let yourself get emotionally crushed by not having $1200.00 plus sitting in your wallet.
I own a Fender Custom Shop Strat ($4200.00 USD if you want one.) I had made to my spec right down to the wood and colour. I also have a '59 reissue LP Special.
I like having them.
To be honest it so I can say with 'AUTHORITY' that they do NOT sound better then a used Korean guitar that cost me $160.00 USD
So do not forget used!!! There are great used guitars made in Japan from Ibanez and Korea even unpopular or guitars meant for entry level that merely could use a better PU!!!
CASE IN POINT
I got a Fender Korean made 1998 DeArmond/Guild Bluesbird it was frightfully dirty and looked majorly neglected ...in fact the fretboard grunge looked lke it was home to a bacteria factory ..LOL It looked like crap!!! BUT!!! It came with the action on it is lower then my Fender Custom Shop Strat. The neck has never been touched since it was made. In fact when I got it home I put on a new set of strings and checked the intonation with a strobe tuner. It was bang on ...I have to tell you I almost sh_t my pants!!! The wood is all solid Honduras mahogany!!! The exact wood used for Gibson LP's. The fit and finish was not compromised! I cleaned and sanitized it! I paid $129.00 USD. I put in a pair of Seymour Duncan Korean made OME PAF's. $30.00 USD THIS GUITAR SOUNDS LIKE A 60's GIBSON LES PAUL CUSTOM I USED TO OWN. IT BLEW ME AWAY!!! (NOTE: Guild brought this guitar out in 1970 with a deliberate attempt to make it sound like an LP custom. It originally came in black with gold hardware just like the LP Custom)
With the PU's changed to Duncan white PAF's and new white knobs the total price to put this guitar up against any gutar under $2000.00 USD was $160.00 USD trust me ..I aint bullshitting you!!! THIS GUITAR KICKS SOME SERIOUS BUTT !!!! I will get a new picture up with the finished guitar soon!!! * * * * *
SOME VERY GOOD NEWS
These guitars have JUST recently caught the eyes of the serious collectors SO you can still find decent ones for under $200.00 USD. Be sure to first look for the M-75 model it is the same as my M-70 but it has block neck fret markers and some nice binding on the body and neck. They came in Sunburst ...a nice red and some came with sparkle finishes others had tail pieces even a Bigsby.. but the price goes up with this stuff.
DO NOT get distracted by the other "M' models. They were made in Indonesia and are CRAP!!!
(not all Indonesian guitars are crap ...the EVH guitars are quite good) LOL
$229.00 US reasonably priced! since for this you get a stelar sound and a premium build quality
REVV famous for their hand made gourmet tube amps
have got into the pedal thing like Friedman and others.
This a take off of the Purple channel on their REVV 120 amp.
Right now they are taking Pre-Orders for a May 8th
delivery.
Two thumbs up as it appears they are making this pedal themselves and the build quality shows no compromise!
It has nailed their impressive Metal sound. It appears to be a one trick pony. One trick is great if it is the exact one you want.
I only use this kind of sound in a limited way so my
$100.00 CKK Destruction Drive is just fine ......for now. LOL
I can't say a single bad word about the G3. It is just not pushing my go get one NOW button.
FINAL NOTE
They have made a very impressive sounding pedal. It was never their intention to make a diverse sounding pedal. It is meant to be a one trick pony for those that love this very excellent sound. If you do not need a pedal where it is capable of a dozen sounds that you have to explore for hours just to find this sound anyways then this pedal is an excellent choice. If I walked into a club and heard a guy wailing away with this sound I would be impressed. Very impressed!
It is arguable the best Metal pedal available for those that already have a great Metal amp. I would argue if you are using just a clean sound for your amp/pedals set up it is not perhap the best choice.
I recommend in that case to check out the Goosesoniqueworx KULT for its massive overkill.
GOOSEONIQUEWORX KULT
The KULT unlike the G3 is going into a dead clean sound.
The G3 is going thru a tube amp set to crunch.
______________________________________________________________________________
OK MAYBE YOU WOULD LIKE A HUGE MASSIVE SOUNDING
METAL PEDAL CHEAP?
how does $125.00 USD sound?
Best of all it does not sound cheap
this is a serious sounding pedal
no BULL!
built like a tank too. SINE EFFECT ELECTRONICS DISPHORIA
This will work on ...or with anything from clean to crunch on your amp.
Some guys are using this stacked with a dirt pedal they already have to use the lows and heavy mids
that the Disphoria produces abundantly to fatten up their sound. Their present pedal is just adding a bit of 'nice' to the overall tone.
at $125.00 USD you got to check it out!
Those that have followed my escapades in finding such a box will
$200.00 USD GCS-5
know this is not my first Post on such an animal.
Many of you are aware of the ease of getting a great recording by using pedals and and recording with amp simulator and speaker simulator boxes or software.
That has never been my first interest.
Lets face it ...99% of you use a combo amp. Often 30 to 50 watts with a single 12 inch speaker. The amount of players playing in a band using a Marshall type OD into that combo are in the thousands. Who hasn't been impressed by favourite recordings of artists that are playing a stack.
My point is a pedal that could turn your combo sound into a Marshall stack is invaluable.!!!
The sound makes you OD twice as fat and 10 times as exciting!!!
A/DA do 4 models ... GCS-2 and GCS-3 are the same
except 3 has a volume control for the headphone output and
a 30db pad for high outputs from your pedal board.
$120.00 USD GCS-2
GCS-5 has the American/British switch and GCS-6 is a stereo version of 5.
They all have AD/A's Natural Resonance Responce' The natural
resonance of a speaker cabinent with a closed back is a big deal ...period. The Marshall 1960 A with 4 x12 celestion speakers is the loudest and fattest. This is either neglected by the competition or poorly done!!
Oddly enough by moving the mic placement on 2
the Marshall type cab sounds fuller and more in your face then 5 The 5 does gives you a switch to choose a Brit sound to start
with? Tecnicially It is probably slightly more accuate to the actual sound of a Celestion as the GCS-2 is trying to give you
an Eminence/Celestion hybrid sound. The Vintage is quite simply the sound of an old Jensen in all of the models.
The Jensen has less highs and a chunky mid range.It sounds great with an open back cab especially when using the 10 inch
and a clean sound.
On the other hand I think AD/A did a truly Rock &Roll thing!
If it sounds good ...it is good. They let you exaggerate the sound
on the GCS-2
Result? A fatter sounding pedal.
On the other hand unless we had a side by side comparison
who knows?
So ponder, ponder, ponder ...which should I get???
Well I decided that first I really want this to use live not to record. The GCS-2 does this as well as the the GCS-5 from what I can hear on-line. New it is the cheapest and since it was the first unit on offer the possibility of buying one for a good price used is possible.
So I bought one. I got it used for $84.00 USD as apposed to $200.00 new.
Be sure to return in 2 weeks for my 'Hands On'
The pedal is shipped and I should have it written up about here by ...Apr.14.
The cab simulators I have sounded passable on-line but not this good! So I have guarded but high hopes for this effort.
Hey...at the price of a SM57 this could be a good deal in many ways!
____________________________________HANDS ON
I have had the pedal now for about 5 minutes.
my first impression is F__KING WOW!!!
So let me take a breath and tell you the whole deal.
First when I took it out of the box and gave it a visual once over the first thing I noticed was the build quality. It majorly exceeded my expectations. It is so solid and well made I quite simply do not know how they can sell so cheap!!!!
Next I plugged it in ...it was dead quiet!
My pro equipment is in the city. My only amp is a very dirty old no-name brand made in China little practice amp. I found it in an underground garage covered in garbage.
The tone is brite, harsh and brittle.
So turned on an old OD I have been meaning to sell ...it is at least voiced to give me a Marshall type sound.
I set up the ADA for there take on a Marshall 1960a 4x12 cab with V30 Celestion speakers.
SO WHAT DID IT SOUND LIKE ????
It Sounded like a Marshall 1960a 4x12 cab with V30 Celestion speakers!
NOTHING MORE TO SAY!!! :-)
EXCEPT MAYBE ..."GET ONE!" IMPORTANT UPDATE MARCH 2020 Well I am retiring my A/DA Yes ...there is something new and significantly better the ....SHIFT LINE A+CABZONE LE II ...cab simulator It gives you a selection of cabinets and they are all excellent. It is an 'ir'....yes it is digital but with a very high sampling rate If you are new to the 'ir' thing it not only simulates the speaker but even how the speaker changes its sound following the dynamics of your playing. It is 100% convincing! At $100.00 USD it is a steal. It is even smaller then the A/DA So check out the Post. .... CAB SIMULATOR SHIFTLINE A+ CABZONE LE II
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