Monday, March 25, 2024

OVERDRIVE- CALINE Pure Sky ... a second look at the best Tube Screamer???

CALINE Pure Sky  
  OVERDRIVE  
$23.00 USD
AliExpress Free shipping
I reviewed this 4 years ago but was brought back to it to give it a second
look because of a friend. My friend has a very well paid gig as a sub player in several Pro cover bands. They do everything from Dinner Clubs to Weddings etc. 
He has at least 20 or more pedals he grabs from depending on the band. 
I asked him what was his #1 pedal. Without hesitating he said a years old Timmy. 
He said many of his gigs he has to play unrealistically quiet or through equipment provided by the band. In all cases he uses the Timmy set at a low gain to compensate for thin scratchy amp sounds due to having to set the volume at very, very low levels.
The Timmy is literally a modified Tube Screamer. The Vemuram Jan Ray is a 
      gourmet cork sniffers Timmy and the Caline Pure Sky is a scary good Jan Ray clone. 😟WTF!!!
In 2020 I heard a shoot out and I thought the Caline was the Veruram only because it was just a tiny bit tighter.  
Well my friend has convinced me that I need a 'Timmy like' tool for an 
'always on' at the end of my board to make bedroom volumes have 
the same tone as louder volumes when or if needed.  
CONCLUSION ___
Yes I know about the Lightspeed which is so much of a rip off 
of a Timmy they put goop on the circuit board to hide it. 
I also know of several other Jan Ray clones. Two things. They all 
cost considerable more than $23 and could be worse not better. 
Secondly I would buy it to be stacked on.  
I simply want it as part boost, part EQ and part tube amp like 
Bright switch to put between my pedals and my amp. Add a bit 
of bass if needed, some treble and push up the gain just enough  
to kick in its clipping diodes. The idea is to get the sound of my 
amp a bit pushed even when at bedroom levels but back it off 
when playing louder and turn it off for the whole session in 
situations I can play fairly loud.

thefineprint 
The second video where you hear the pedal as a clean boost used between   
just on to about 10 O'clock is a convincing clean sound. I think it is worth 
a try as an always on at the end of the chain . 
                  ....yes folks I spent my $23 and ordered one, lol.   
                              ______________
        Trivia???  
The Caline is 9 years old the Vemuram is at least 11
and the Timmy is a full 20 years old !!!  The Caline and  
Vemuram are based on a Timmy v.2. Same as v.1 except 
with a better material for the actual circuit board. 
The newest is v.3 with a boost and more gain. 
It sucks!!! ...LOL.

4 comments:

  1. The DemonFX Gan Ray is a brilliant option for... a Jan Ray

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    Replies
    1. I heard the Caline do a shoot out with the the real Jan Ray. I also heard another recently with the Demon FX and my ears after many times re-listening gave both clones a tie. But the Demon FX $37.00 USD and the Caline is
      $23.00 USD.
      I only like Jan Rey type pedals for either their ability with the gain barely on to fatten the sound while adding a bit of bite. ___99% of why people buy a Jan Rey is to get some transparency but to be able to push them into some classic but not so transparent Crunch. For those sounds I feel a BluesBreaker type of pedal has a more pleasing tone :-) ___To my ears the Jan Rey sound is a bit muddy in the lower mids and very muddy in low end unless the gain is nearly turned off. I will only use it as a clean boost with a bit of lows and treble and minimum gain.

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  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JL6qcvuwOQ

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  3. This Is exactly the way I use the Jan Ray: Gain barely on. I adjust the trimpot inside to get the right level of definition.

    ReplyDelete