Since 2015 NEW PEDALS EVERY DAY! Over 3300 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
This Komet's first pedal. It has a variable gain from
light to high gain.
Komet have been making various tube amps for decades based off of Kenneth Fischer's famous Train Wreck.
It boasts an output stage the mimics the sound and tube type expression of an amplifier.
It has a simple EQ setup of treble and bass but there is the addition of a high cut. It has both pre and post gain with the gain and drive controls. This is where the magic happens.
A very good sounding pedal but there a few great ones in this price range that have popped up lately.
Surprise Sound's HVO for one. The HVO has drama plus!
It can not be ignored.
YES THEY WILL !!!
Now there is a 'catch' you will need a half decent OD ...minimum. If you are a regular SBS reader you know as little as $35.00 USD will get you one. The system will work on any amp.
BIG BUT.
It will improve immeasurably with ANY tube amp big or small.
Ideally as I have often mentioned the two cheapest bullet proof amps are the... 40 watt ...Fender Hot Rod.
Used ones are abundant. I just saw one on Kijiji in Tweed for $550.00 USD.
if you are like me and a Marshall addict get the .... 50 watt...Marshall Origin OR150C. Both are compact single 12" combo's. The price is $800.00 USD for either one new.
These companies have really nailed your real NEEDS and the price.
Both can keep pace with the loudest drummer so at a gig either mic up the whole back line or mic up nothing but a vocalist. Either amp is a keeper. They are pro enough to take and use anywhere no matter how high you climb the musical ladder.
TURN A COMBO AMP INTO A TONE STACK !!!
A/DA GCS-2 GUITAR AMP SIMULATOR
So you have a combo amp either a very small practice amp or maybe even a 30 or 40 watt jobbie that can pull it's weight in a band. Why not turn it into a Marshall tone stack. The A/DA gets passed off as a needless toy for home recordings but the damn thing can be put on the tail end of your pedals wired out to your amps input and turn your single speaker into a Marshall 4x12 cab. $120.00 USD new ...and there are usually a few used ones out there too. Once you have one it is simple to set up ...JUST click on these switches... -VINTAGE -12-INCH -SEALED -IN next move the... -MIC PLACEMENT ...to between 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock and tweak in that just right fatness for your rig. Why use this brand ...there are others???? The damn thing is all analog! It eats the others for breakfast!!! _______________________________________________________________________ AMPTWEAKER DEPTH FINDER A pedal with a goofy name that performs two little classic miracles. In the 60's Marshall brought out the stack. The amp had huge lower mids and cleaver cutting highs. It did however produce a massive and rich tone. Players eventually found if they bought a Rangemaster Treble Booster ...another silly name because it mainly pushed up the upper mids so your mid problem was gone!!! Well you grab the Depth Finders Presence knob and 'bingo' same deal!!
$90.00 USD
Now the Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinet sounded big indeed. The curious thing is the closer you get to it the more balz it has. It is like a low end musical fist is smashing your face in. LOL Well it was all about bad design. LOL When you close in a speaker box you 'must' cover the wooden sides with something to absorb the sound or it will reflect off it's opposite sides and turn the box into something like the 'bell' on a Tuba and create a loud thumping honk!!! The Marshall cab had NONE. Absolutely nothing to absorb the resonance of the cabinet. So the closer you get to the cab the louder it can blast you with what is in effect an acoustic honking thumping sound. Enter the Resonance knob. Turn up the honk ...exaggerate the thump!!! ______________________________________________________________________ THE BUGERA PS-1 POWER SOAK ATTENUATOR
$100.00 USD
A pedal with an oddly perfectly appropriate name. You put it between your amp and it's speaker. First find out where your amp sounds it's best. Which is probably damn F.ing loud!!! Now turn off the amp and wire the PS-1 in Grab the big knob on the PS-1 and turn it down to where it is appropriate for the environment you are using it in. BINGO!!! again. You now can play as quiet or as loud as you need and not F. with that great sound your amp can make at tinnitus levels. _______________________________________________________________________ CONCLUSION
What you get with this setup is a huge powerful sound.
The kind of sound that made thousands of us want to play an electric guitar in the first place.
Even most of the players that prefer something that they consider 'more refined' when they hear a tune on the radio with this sound ...they turn it up.
I find every time I flip the the switch on my amp and hit that first chord ...I still get that adrenaline rush!!!
This rig is the most fun you can possibly have ...and still keep your clothes on. LOL
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$70.00 USD
LUXURY EXTRA's NUX NRV OCEANIC REVERB A cheap reverb with studio specs that puts that post production icing on your cake. You can download many sounds but it comes loaded with a 'plate' FLOYD's Dark Side of the Moon was swimming in reverb. It was large plate. Every note and every chord rang out as clear as a bell ...zero muddiness. Perfect! So just crank it up to taste!
PARAMETRIC EQ
$200.00 USD
You can never have too much EQ to tweak with. The best two I've heard are quasi parametric. The Empress Para EQ and the Wampler EQuator. The Empress is made to solve problems and reshape any instruments. The focus of the Wampler is to beef up or tame the electric guitar.
$250.00 USD
OK... YES ...I have the whole
rig including the Marshall.
Best money I ever spent. I
kept trying to find an OD
to cover all this. Bad idea!
With this rig you just get
what OD's you like and this
THE TONE STACK 3-SOME
gives you all the muscle.
I have the Wampler
and my bass player has the Empress So obviously I recommend the Wampler.
Ryra are in the business of making clones.
For awhile they were 'King' of the Klon crowd. Guys that owned the real ones bought them so they would not risk having the real one ripped off at a gig.
The original Triangle Big Muff was the very first muff and was a big breakthrough in dirt pedals.
Although it was still a Fuzz it managed to
have near modern OD characteristics.
Their 808 has been a big seller for them.
They seem to have a nac of capturing the very best of the original then removing the warts and getting rid of the bugs without loosing the magic that attracted us all to a classic pedal in the first place.
CONCLUSION
The damn thing just sounds great!!! A winner!!!
With such a killer OD with the ....
Surprise Sound Lab HVO ...(High Voltage Overdrive)
I was more then curious with this one.
Wren and Cuff with silly levels of hype brought out the the 25 Volt OD just recently and it sucked!!! So I was apprehensive but
optimistic. The cheaper price tag was a bonus too.
I could go into chapter and verse on it but I thought
I would let the video do the talking.
CONCLUSION
I quite frankly find the sound mediocre! On further investigation I found out that when it was introduced it was $345.00 USD! It takes more then high voltage to make a geat OD.
The Surprise Sound Lab HVO blows it out of the water!!! Check out the HVO!!!
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With this much voltage ...in fact 250v this pedal has some serious headroom. It has the ability to produce a high gain that breathes just like a real tube amp. All the harmonics and dynamics of a real tube are there !!!
In fact it acts 'exactly' like a channel in a big bucks gourmet amplifier because it has a power source equal to one.
At full gain in fact ...stupid level full gain the
transient response is immediate.
ALL other OD's have a split second delay on your attack and you end up with if not mush but a bassy sound. With this pedal the attack is immediate!!! F.ing zero delay!!!
The genius behind this pedal is Kim Hardee.
who in 2013 hated transistor dirt pedals as he found them muddy and lacking in dynamic range. He has and still makes good tube OD's.
Other makers have used high voltage but quite simply have not given the kind of attention and effort needed to give their pedal the voice, EQ or tone shaping control that the HVO has.
You get 3 voices, 3 way EQ, 3 bass roll off settings and
3 gain settings. All the controls deliver big time none are window dressing to sell pedals.
A lot of pedals boast about what this pedal boasts ... But the HVO delivers!!!
This one blows me away!!! I can recommend a few others as good in a totally different way ...BUT ...but none are better!! SO I ORDERED ONE!!! I was told it would be ready in 2 weeks.
If you order one ...you must first apply with your statement of intent then wait a week or two to pay and get your order inline to be made. It is a bit pricey so you might want to wait for my 'Hands On' review!!! With all the Xmas mail etc. I may well wait to near Xmas to get my toy! DEC.22/18 Do to a PayPal screw up they did not 'E' Surprise Sound that my pedal order was paid for. If they looked on their Pay Pal account they would have seen that they had the money in their account. It is now on it's way so it should arrive in the next 10 days ____________________________________________________________________________ . I set up the video of the HVO so I could go back and forth between Rockett Retro Amplifiers (this company makes old Plexi clones) and the HVO. How close is it ??? I will wait until I get it. But if what I heard is accurate .... I will sell off about 15 or more of my OD's and buy 2 more HVO pedals. I will use one for a nice backed off Crunch ...one for heavy power chords and ...one for shredding!!! I will only keep a couple of transparent low gain OD's
HOW BIG IS IT? YUP... It comes in the same case as the Empress. LOL
Personally I find this comforting for two reasons...
If you legitimately want to get any seriously high voltage you need the room for the parts.
Perhaps even more important you need the room to do a spec that is safe because this kind of juice can
kill you!!!! easily kill you!!!
This box is built like a tank!
I have both of these pedals!
This is an early Way Huge effort ...a beefed up Pro-Co RAT???
The object was probably to restore the fat lows of
the original RAT.So say many reviewers.
I find it a totally different pedal. Not a bad sound but
it's own thing.
Check out the 2 very different demos.
OVERVIEW
Actually I find it has a lot of it's own personality. It is not a Fuzz but it makes a great substitute if you are not a Fuzz guy but want a bit of unruly overkill.
The very first pedal that some say is the first OD
because it that came out in 1978 proceeding the
Tube Screamer that arrived in 1979!
Designed around the Motorola LM308. Only switching to a Texas Instruments OP07DP in 2002 when the part became defunct.
The first enclosure was a large rectangle but in '83 they went with the one we have now.
.
In 88 they changed the name to the Rat 2
when they put in the on/off LED.
Small insignificant mods have come and gone
but the basic sound has never changed more than a shade of grey.
It is not like the Tube Screamer that has made big changes many times.
John Scofield has always had one. It was Curt Cobain's dirt pedal of choice! Even Slash uses
a handmade copy with the LM308 chip.
So not hard to hear but the original chip in the Big box is fatter! The older chip was still used for the small box from 1983 to 2002. NOS of the old chip have been used for very small runs LTD. Edition promo's on a couple of occasions. But 'fat' is all in the low end. In a band context that will disappear by being eaten by the drums and bass!! Still if you wish you can get a pedal that is part for part replication of the Big box by handwiring the whole thing wit NOS (new ols stock) of the exact parts. The Ananashead LM308 Fuzz has both the best build and the best price at $90.00 USD. CONCLUSION
The Sweetwater vid is really well done
you get a really good idea of the two or three useful sounds
that can really fit into a lot of players 'sound.'
I especially like the 'sweet spot' that gives
you a fat raunchy chunky sound
It works really well on rhythmic playing.
It has great definition, very full ...but tight too.
It is one of very few OD's that has
balz but can lay back behind a vocal
and not over power it.
There are about 20 OD's out there that get a 10 out of 10 ...if you have one ...even more LOL
and have some room on your board you may soon find it slipping into a lot of your tunes.
Another thing ...a lot of 60's and 70's dirt pedals had a great sound and when you hear them
you just gotta have one. BUT the down side is they are very quirky ...often noisy and very difficult to zero in on the sweet spot. The RAT has 2 or 3 sweet spots ...it is easy to use and it's cheap! If you can spring for the extra money the Ananashead LM 308 is the way to go. It is even built in a standard type B box so it takes up less space on your board.
<><><STONE DEAF WARP DRIVE><><> ___________________________________________ You just have to love it ...the sound of 50 fuzz boxes on at one time but with all the control and tone shaping of a great OD! There is even a video of instructions. DEAD COOL!!!
So maybe push that Fuzz you were thinking about aside and try on one of these for fit!
A classic echo given the stomp box treatment.
I have owned a few Catalinbread pedals & I love the accuracy of their clones.
The sounds are usually dead on. Well sort of ?
the problem I find is they somehow manage to make the sound thin or lack any exciting dynamics.
I owned an echoplex tube model in
the late 60's that I kept until 66 so I know
the sound very well. True it was the tube jobbie.
Even so no detail of the sound is missed.
CONCLUSION I would compare it to the Dawner Prince Booner ...Binson Echorec pedal. Yes Catalinbread make an Echorec too ...but when it comes to a vintage echo recreation this is the one to beat. I have it on my short list. $350.00 USD Note: You can order direct from Dawner Prince and Zoran is one great guy to deal with. These are guys you can trust!!! And while I am thinking of it check out their RED ROX distortion In a blindfold test it ate 35 of the worlds best alive!!! I got one and it crushes the Friedman BE-OD and that is one pedal to beat !!!
A medium gain OD with an American sound.
It has a switch for the asymmetrical diodes that gives it a serious
old Fender amp like tone. You can switch to symmetric diodes which
gives it a light but full sound for busy and light chord work.
Back off the guitar volume and it cleans up really great.
You can stack other OD's and it takes the signal really well
and boosts the sound.
This is very accurate sounding clone of the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer.
Many players from entry level to big time
Pro's still rely on a ts. or their fav gourmet upgrade.
Stevie Ray Vaughan used the TS10. The very first of the ts models that the critics say is majorly inferior to the TS9.
So even a superior clone is a big step up to a serious OD.
So if you feel the ts. is the way to go.
You should definitely put this on your short list.
There are a few clones of the famous Colorsound Power Boost
also known in America as the Overdriver and to be fair as long as they are using 4 BC109 vintage transistors they all sound damn good.
There is an actual licenced one by Macaris that even comes in the original style casing but it is not cheap $400.00 USD with a looooong waiting list!
The Tru-Sound is scary good and I would argue they have the sound nailed! It is reasonably price. Best of all it uses a 60's style casing. :-)
Check it out! The 'boys' are blown away big time!!! Mick now uses one on his 'live board? A guy who loves conservative pedals that are predictable & easy to control! NOTE: Have you ever wondered why '60's pedals are always so big. Well many people at the time had bulky tube radios and TV's so they would eye small electronic anything as not being of any value.Hence you can see how much room is really needed to house the Powerboost by the smaller Colordriver. ________________________________________________________________
A nice breakdown on how to create 'the' sound
___________)(___________
_______________________________ IF YOU LOVE THE SOUND BUT... By the time the COLORSOUND Jumbo Tonebender arrived the tech was better and it was easy to work with and get a great sound. It is as easy to use as a modern OD. Watch the Post ...BIG SOUND KNOB Color Jumbo ...they do a great clone of it for $130.00 USD As a pro I need no fuss gigging pedals ...yes they MUST sound excellent ...but be easy to use on dark stages etc. ...This pedal checks all the boxes!!!
A new compact version of their best selling pedal.
A fat, full, chunky very, very aggressive OD.
This ain't your sweet warm OD.
This is a pedal to take out the back wall with
one big slam of a power chord!
I like the top end and mid boost switches
a knob lets you zero in but switches are meant to tailor in sweet spots and can be instant heaven.
I have a Dawner Prince Red Rox
it the ultimate yardstick to measure any pedal to.
So best give it a listen to as well.
The V9 has the best chunk if that is your thing .
With features to spare and at the price
it certainly has my mouth watering.
This pedal is a bit of a mystery. It is listed as current product on Love pedal but there isn't any
info on it. There aren't any videos to choose from either.
Finally there isn't even a price????
Definitely Brit pedal inspired. Fat lush and warm
but with an incredible definition on every note.
Now those 2 things do not often happen in one sound but with the LP they do.
A medium gain OD with a very natural laid back tone.
Nothing about it is in your face saying 'listen to me'.
But then it must rely on the warmth and detail of it's tone.
Even when pushed it keeps it's tone which has a beautiful mid range.
This is not a tone stack sound. It makes you think of a small wattage tweed combo.
It actually does this very well. So it is not another ZenDrive.
It is what those that are attracted to the 'idea' of a ZenDrive should check out.
So do just that.
Give it a listen.
The Schaffer was a preamp receiver for adding life to a vintage really early guitar wireless. It was
a crude wireless but the preamp sounded so good
some guitarists would record using it as a booster/pre
It always sounded amazing on a guitar track.
The original referred to as 'the tower' is on
'The Wall Live ' recording. It is on most tracks of the
the first few AC/DC recordings and again on recent recordings.
It is an always on pre that adds a lot of 'spank' to your
sound.
$300.00 USD
The Storm The Storm is their budget model
A wannabe that uses an entirely different circuit ...and It sounds noticeably different.
I confess I was in on a small bit of R&D
on this one.
Pedal Pal always start by cloning a real Marshall only replacing the tubes with transistors. According to Johan Segeborn they are the only pedal makers that have nailed the sound of the real amps and he knows more about Marshalls than Marshall!!!
I certainly agree. I use a PLEXI myself!!!
That's why I got personally involved in the first place
Weeks and weeks of tweaking are required to get the sound right. They even tweak the pedal they ship you so you get one with the tone ...dead perfect.
I have all 3 of their other Marshall amp pedals and they are all killer PLUS!!!
The Pal800 is a personal fav!!!
Slash's Marshall is modded so they had to clone
not only the amp but the mod!!!
The mod is known in the gourmet amp biz as Mod #34.
This pedal has punch and balz to spare!!! Yes ...you can quite knock out walls with the sound!!!
It has switch to voice it for single coils. It's my fav. So if you have a Strat or Tele... go for it.
You do not have to be a Slash fan to get 'your sound' out of the pedal.
Considering the pedal is hand made and with all this attention to detail I am amazed they still are charging a 'give it away' price.
It has just been released so if you want one the line up has already started!
Take note of all the info on the video ...not a word of it is sales hype. I know these guys and they are just crazy fans of great tone and great pedals Just like you and me. Luis even gave me his cell phone number. Trust me this NEVER happens in the pedal biz!!! NEVER!!! Great pedals! An amazing price! Best of all made by great guys!!! NEW VID NOV 27/18
Well there are no end of Tube Screamer wannabee's.
I have owned a few. lol
My latest one is CMATMODS Signa Drive.
One cool thing is that this one has balz big time!!!
The little bass boost switch is a big plus.
As an electric guitar player it is a right of passage to buy one.
It is the Fender Strat or Les Paul of pedals. Not that they are
bad it is just they may never be right for 'your' music.
Keeley was reliving his youth on this one.
The Maxon SD-9 and the Boss DS-1 were really hot in '78
The Boss had higher gain but the Maxon had
more bass.
Both sold really well. In fact everyone had either one or the other.
Both are now classics.
In '78 Keeley bought them both at the time. So he has a great personal affection for them both.
They were very similar internally so they are a great candidate to build in the same box.
