PREAMP- BENSON (little box.) Benson Portable Dist.424 MKII___NEW___ WTF !!!

$200.00 USD

 Benson 

PORTABLE DISTORTION 424 MKII

This is there take of the preamp in a Tascam PortaStudio.

The layout has the pretentious labels that in plain pedal 

talk are Volume, Gain, Treble and Bass.

CONCLUSION __

Your friendly neighborhood tech would tell you you had a basic overdrive pedal. You get a $180 paint job with a $20 sound. 

It is thin, wimpy, nasal, muddy and lifeless and above all 

mediocre. I own a $23 Chinese Timmy Overdrive that in

a blindfold test you would pick over this as a far, far,

far more pleasing sound.

 

thefineprint

P.T. Barnum is touted as the worlds best con artist 

who got obscenely rich by convincing others night 

was day and black is white. When asked how he 

did it he said ...

                 "There is a fool born every minute"

OVERDRIVE- CAROLINE GUITAR CO. Aaron Graves OD___NEW___ best of the best ???

C A R O L I N E    G U I T A R  C O M P A N Y

AARON GRAVES OVERDRIVE

$200.00 USD

The company was formed by Phillipe Herden in Columbia South 

Carolina in 2010 when not so unlike today the economy had ...tanked?

I can not help that think this pedal that has borrowed from the best 

bits of his discontinued earliest pedal the Haymaker is more than coincidental. The pedal has a very organic Bluesy Americana vibe.

The layout is Volume,Tone and Gain with a toggle for more gain a 

second tightens the lows.

            CONCLUSION ___

This pedal sounds like the best of the old late 50's 

early 60's amps. In fact much more like them  

than nearly all of of what's out there which are far

too distorted and lack the excellent definition of

this pedal. In short this pedal has nailed it!!! 

thefineprint

Aaron Whales recently passed. His music was very late 50's folk oriented 

that spawned the folk rock of the 60's. It was more often very  

whimsical and celebrated all that is positive and inclusive. 

FLANGER- MASK AUDIO ELECTRONICS Alone ___NEW___ MAE-be or MAE-be not?

 Mask Audio Electronics  MAE 

A L O N E  |||

$265.00 USD

A not so classic Flanger. It is definitely as clear and clean as it 

gets.

The layout is Speed and Depth with a toggle to switch between 

a classic Flanger to modern Chorus mode. 

Holding down the footswitch recycles the signal into some 

occasionally useful glitches and other sonic noises.

     CONCLUSION __

It sounds good and is dead easy to use. But???

It is digital and therefore basically a modelled sound. 

I prefer an analog for all the reasons you by know 

have heard a thousand times. Add to that, why not 

just get a whole pedal of modeled modulation sounds??? 

The Wampler Terraform does it all and for $300.00 USD 

and you get a lot more for just another $35.

FUZZ- PEDAL PAWN Freaky Fuzz ___NEW ___ impressive Fuzzy-Drive

$275.00 USD

Pedal Pawn

FREAKY FUZZ

Not earth shattering but impressive all the same. 

The graphics have bang on 60's vibe.

It is very much a Fuzzy Drive. A 3 transistor blend 

of a hardclipper Overdrive and a beefy Muff.

The layout is a simple Level and Gain.

            CONCLUSION ___

It sounds damn good. It looks even better. 

You definitely play for the high end parts 

and hand wiring.

OVERDRIVE- OVERKILL EFFECTS La Creame___NEW ___60's Blackface Fender-in-a-Box

OVERKILL EFFECTS O

La Creme 

$185.00 USD

Getting a Fender sound in a box is all but impossible. Think of a Fender 

as a sheet of clear plastic and Marshall as a blanket. Put the blanket over the clear sheet and you see only a blanket. Put the clear sheet over the blanket and zero. It does not hide the blanket. So the best vintage Fender pedal can work but your amp needs to be a Fender too. Yes a very clean amp of another make can be OK but you get my pont. It is why the opposite is true MIAB pedal done well can be so damn convincing and 

the FIAB a wash

The layout is Volume, Gain, Treble, Bass and Sat which adds bit of compression.

                  CONCLUSION ___

I like it but would not buy it. The old Fender sound is naturally dark and thru my Marshall it would turn to 

mud. I have owned both an old Fender Super Reverb 

and a Fender Bassman so I have to admit they did 

a reasonable job getting the vibe. 

 

thefineprint                                                                                                      The DemonFX Jan Ray is a very similar sound but these days it sells for $90.00 USD.