TREMOLO- ANANASHEAD Effects Optotrem...the old Magnatone magic trem in a box. YES!!!

$125.00 USD

 ANANASHEAD OPTOTREM 
There are a lot of companys making tremolo's these days with a features never before used
in tremolos including timing that they borrowed from elaborate delay pedals. I have said this often except for guys making ambiance music and film scores etc. they have a very limited use for live bands. Drummers are forced to work to a machine dictating the timing.
About 99% of the time it just is not practical.

What a gigging player needs is a great sounding tremolo with the best of the modern waveforms
that sells for a reasonable price.

Ananasheads always sticks to the basics in proven design principles that produce the best in analog sound.
To start with it is an optical tremolo with its great warm sound and unlike it's slick competitors you are not left with those really annoying volume drops.  You have the basic controls for depth and speed and the 'magic' knob that sweeps from a Square to Triangle waveform between a sine wave rounds the corners so you can zero in on what 'you' think nails it.
It is very amp like and totally old school. It reminds me of the old defunct Magnatone amps that started it all in the first place. The amps took off once a few imaginative players put out some recordings and everyone jumped on board. Yes ...one of the first was Fender. They made a better amp but it's tremolo was not even close.
In short check out a 'real' tremolo ....check out the Ananashead.

If like me you own Ananashead pedals you will know just how well they are made. Yes hand made too! Stellar workmanship
with the best parts even NOS parts if nothing 'sounds' better!!!

I am still amazed at the value of the products since the prices are so low it's nuts!!!

CONCLUSION
One listen and the damn thing sells itself. Definitely a gotta have. I see Guitar World has jumped on it.
So others will not be far off. A great time to get yours before the guy gets nuts with orders!!!
It was not so long ago I can remember getting my much loved Byrd Song treble booster just before the damn burst with orders.
In fact I love the Byrd Song so much I bought a guitar to go with it. I digress and it is a long story. But I did buy that guitar. I would die to not have the Byrd Song!
Ananashead pedals can do sh@t like that to you. LOL
Go ahead listen to a few of the big boys then come back here and whip out your flexible friend and get yourself the real deal!!!!

SWEETWATER SOUND'S BEST!!! ....KEITH OWEN The Seymour Duncan PAF Story

Keith Owen
King of Sweetwater

The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates PAF Story

Good ol' Keith was instrumental in getting the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop to make me a
a custom wound Seymour Duncan 'Pearly Gates'
the ones made there for Billie Gibbons. Billie
gets a few every year to have put into crazy custom made guitars he uses for touring. His fan's expect something new and totally off the wall every year.
But he has have 'His Sound.'
The short story is the Custom Shop only makes
a list of PU's with several mods you can choose from.
I wanted a truly custom made one for me only and me, and 'Keith' made it happen!!!!

So I not only get a 'Billie' PU ...I am getting it in red.
for my Lace Cybercaster. I have matching knobs coming from the UK
and a matching high end 2" wide thick quality leather coming too.
Another one of my 'deals' It is only $20.00 USD

So if you want anything online from Sweetwater do not hit the dot com ...go to the Fort Wayne store and talk to Keith and the guys.

OVERDRIVE-THERMION Heart Breaker ...it was never meant to be a breakthrough in a low gain transparent OD

 THERMION HEART BREAKER 

$180.00 USD

Thermion are a small company in Spain that makes a couple of tube amps and a few pedals. The Heart Breaker came out in 2014. It is a preamp type Marshall voiced medium gain OD. It has 3 voices Vintage, Raw and Modern. The Vintage voice is spot on ...simply excellent. The raw does add a bit of bite but the Modern isn't. 
It has a 3 way EQ ....Pre, Master and Level.

One thing I would like to get out of the way. The Heart Breaker as a great medium gain OD is as good as the best. If it was nothing better then an excellent Plexi OD it would be on my list!

...so what's the Big deal?

Well this is where it gets interesting. It is a true amp in a box.
The pre is like a pre in an amp push it hard and you get some classic OD. The level/volume is for setting how loud it is actually going back out to your amp. BUT the MASTER ....awwww ...this is new and killer.
The Master actually imitates the distortion and compression created from cranking up the power amplifier part of a Marshall. The Marshall's transformers are inadequate to reproduce
all the power that the big EL34  tubes can create. So if you turn it up it acts like a compressor.
The positive result is that it makes very low gain and even near clean sounds huge!!!
Even with the pre on low you can get real 'amp' distortion'

(Note: the whole point of creating a Klon pedal was to replace 'a power amp cranked' affect. Designer Bill Finnegan was forced to take his beloved silver faced Fender Twin and turn it down at the gig which msde the sound man happy but wrecked his tone. He vowed to find a way of doing that with a pedal and spent years working until he came up with his Klon. The Klon is a substitute ...but Thermion have captured the real thing!!!!! This is what for me makes this pedal unique and in my book a total killer)

If you listen to Hendrix play The Wind Cries Mary it is 'that' sound that it beautifully nails.
What you get is a low gain transparent Marshall sound. Yes a low gain Marshall sounds like a total misnomer of a description. LOL As strange as it appears it is correct in application on this pedal. You get a clean Marshall sound!

A German reviewer claims he runs this pedal direct into a recording studio board with spectacular results.

Of the hundreds of OD's I have reviewed no other pedal successfully pulled off a real power amp distortion and 99% simply ignore amp distortion as a separate entity.

THE VIDEO PROBLEM There are several vids for this pedal and all crap. In fact if I only heard them I would not even have wasted your time with a review.
However there is what You Tube calls an unlisted video
____________________________________________________________________

HOW TO SEE THE VIDEO
YES THIS A TOTAL PAIN BUT TRUST ME IT IS REALLY WORTH THE HASSLE

....Google You Tube Video ...click on the site
....type  Thermion Heart Breaker First Teaser in the 'search' box
....the 3rd video on the list is  Thermion Heart Breaker ....at the bottom of the little write up it says  VIEW FULL PLAY LIST click it on and go down to the very last video 
       click it on...
Thermion Heart Breaker | Review  .......It is made by Guitar Interactive Magazine.
                                                                         the vid. is from Apr.26/19
____________________________________________________________________

Go to 4:45 on the video and view until 6:50

You will hear what I would call a low gain Marshall Plexi sound. 
You can make out every note and chord and easily hear your guitar's natural sound coming through. 
The sound is huge and clear with beautiful sustain. KILLER !!!

The readers that have followed me thru my buying then selling of low gain OD's know that I have described the sound I wanted as that of a  Marshall Super Lead 100 Plexi amp with the volume just a hair less then Crunch. This pedal does it and does it very, very, very, well!


CONCLUSION
If you need a great medium gain Marshall dirt box this pedal is second to none!
It has balz ...bite and a rich tone. You can make it sweet or make it growl. It can be set as fat as the best. 
If you want a Marshall style clean sound that makes the Tubes Screamers, Klons and other wannabee low gains sound lame and whimpy ...that is thrown in with the pedal with not an extra penny spent. 
Staight up! It simply has no peer!!!
I ordered one!
I have never felt such anticipation!!!

If you want one the only place in the world I could find one is at Hot Rox UK.
Most of the referred store on the Thermion site seemed to have even discontinued carrying the line. Others show other Thermion pedals but not this one. The only other choice is out of stock and since the price is the same you end up at Hot Rox UK.
The U.S. stores listed were a dead end!!!


NOTE: Both S&K and Rothwell make an OD pedal called Heartbreaker ...the Rothwell is very good but they are NOT the THERMION!!!
___________________________________________________________________

HANDS ON_____
Is it as good as the video sounds?
YES!!!
I left the EQ at 12 o'clock ...the Master on 4 ...the pre on 10 and the level on unity gain.
It was just Strat ... pedal and amp and I jammed for about 2 hours. I was pulled out of a dream like state and reminded of the time.
WOW with no extra this that and the other pedal to help prop up the sound I have never played a Strat and heard such a great sound coming back to my ears.
I have been looking for this sound forever!!! 

Remember I am playing at bedroom levels. I expect if I pushed my amp up to kick out 20 or 30 watts it would be totally over the top!!!!
Definitely the best low gain clean sound I have ever heard. I have yet to expore it cranked ...nor have I tweaked the EQ. 

If you are a Strat nut then...
Check out the POST ...HOW TO- get the very,very best Strat sound!
Especially take note of the Thorpy The Fat General Compressor!!! 
Yes check that Post too.

FUZZ/OVERDRIVE- PIGTRONICX Disnortion Micro ...gutsy, balzy & in your face!!!

$130.00 USD

 PIGTONIX DISNORTION MICRO 

Pigtonix has made the full size of this pedal since 2005.
It is a Fuzz an OD and a Octavia octave effect. You can run or all the effects separately. Once the novelty runs out the best bits make a great OD/Fuzz. These you get in the Micro. You can save both money ad board space as well.
You can always get the Octavia in a separate Mini pedal later if you want.
The fuzz and OD can be blended together to get a Proco-Rat like
rip your face off tone. but unlike the Rat this pedal has dynamics and touch sensitivity.
Even if you are happy with your Brit OD or any of the sweet sounding FET type dirt pedals have this little terror is fun to spice up your sound. Especially for the price!

OVERDRIVE-SELAH Scarlett Love 3 ...Fusion sounds from the past and present in one pedal

 SELAH SCARLETT LOVE 3 

$230.00 USD

A lot of players are into a Fusion type sound

The sound of a Dumble amp like the Zen Drive was the first of these.

Selah a gourmet pedal maker from Australia have been around for years and their main focus has been this and other pedals that would interest the Fusion type players. They have taken the approach of giving you the 3 pedals that capture the guts of the sound over the years

that have put 'the' Fusion sound on the map.

Selah voices the pedal to how each of these pedals or amps were typically set by past Fusion players.

They have added  a very good 3 way EQ so you can tweak them to both your rig and your taste.

So at the heart of the pedal is a Tube Screamer ...a Plexi... and on v.3 a Klon has been added.

You can change to any of the 3 sounds thru midi but I suspect most will get thru them by using the 'hold' function on the footswitch.

Conclusion
I tend to go from medium gain to near modern Metal sounds. I can not help but be impressed by Selah because they are very passionate about creating the perfect pallet for this type of sound. This is their flagship pedal that they make a very big effort to improve over the years. No not just arbitrary changes for price or profit. They want the best Fusion pedal a player can buy. I think they just might have it too.

OVERDRIVE- CLINCH FX Blue Drive ...old school blues based players love it!!!

$200.00 USD

 CLINCH FX Blue Drive 

It is really an alternative to a Tube Screamer. The range is more like a King of Tone where it is more even across the mids.
It is made in Australia. It is not hard to note that it is built like a tank. It is old school so it likes you to push the level up to clip your amp.
If you run your board at unity gain I would not recommend this pedal. If you are into old Fender
amps or a blues thing ya just gotta love it.
Beautifully hand made and can be bought direct.

CONCLUSION
I love it but with 66 pedals on my board I have to go unity gain.

OVERDRIVE- NOAH SARK Distortion M ...cheap Japanese hand made Marshall Guv'nor

NOAH SARK DISTORTION "M"

$50.00 USD*
used

Cool idea. In Japan collecting old pedals is a mania so prices got stupid. Two young engineers figure they could get a few and try and capture the best ideas from all of them. So the pedals are not clones. Since it was price that got them started they wanted to make their pedals cheap. Even so they are hand made with quality Japanese parts.
Like many Japanese makers they are content to sell through the local market so they do not post a site. In short they are often impossible to track down. Some go out of business and after endless hunting I end up having to assume that.
My best guess is if new they sell for about $100.00 USD or less.
I only am reviewing this because I found a lot of used ones and they sell for about $50.00 USD.
They make more OD's with just an initial to to tip you off
"B" is Boogie, "T" is Tube Screamer etc.
So what do you get ?
Actually a nice Plexi of the Marshall Gov'nor wannabe genre.

CONCLUSION
Great pedals for chord work or a bit of riffing. A medium gain pedal with out much sustain but with a really warm, rich and generally pleasing tone. At $50.00 USD and well made it could be a real asset to scoop one up. BUT you better get on it as thousands will read this Post.

OVERDRIVE- ZenZero ELECTRONICS Habu Metal Dist. ...KILLER ...I BOUGHT ONE!!!

$215.00 USD

 ZenZero Habu HEAVY METAL DISTORTION 
Is this the fattest sounding OD on the planet?
Well yes ...but no. lol
The fattest is the Goosoniqueworx Cult, BUT!
It seems too have quietly evaporated ...in short it is out of business. So the Habu perhaps is a close second. 
Better still you can actually buy one. YES!!!

Zen Zero to be specific is Giulio Motta ...an Italian guy living in Toyko Japan. 
A devoted gourmet pedal maker that not surprising is all about using quality parts and his pedals build quality is stellar. 
The Habu has a 3 way EQ and your standard volume and gain. Nothing else needs to be said as this pedal 'speaks for itself.' 

Metal pedals have got more and more distorted.
They have more gain. BUT ...in order to play modern Metal with it's capacity to keep a constant pulsing quarter note rhythm going it requires killing the fatness to get more definition and a very percussive attack. The Habu is massively fat but the attack is not soft or muddy yet it maintains a massive and rich tone. It is nothing near that of a dgent pedal. But you are rewarded with an OD where the harmonics are not smeared and there is a great texture to all it's mass. Z.Z. have done all this without any annoying fizz!

Drumming  your audience on the head with a hammer like attack is one thing but dropping the entire Chrysler building on them with one power chord is a lot more fun. lol

CONCLUSION
 I just couldn't get this pedal out of my mind. So over a few days I came back to this Post
and listened again and again.
Since retiring my Fuzz pedals I miss having a stupidly aggressive wall of sound especially on 3 particular tunes I wrote. 
I am using a couple of Plexi pedals that are exceptionally fat but no where near the massive slam of the Habu!

Bottom line?
I PAYPALED some coin to Giulio to get him back to his shop and make me a pedal :-)
Actually Guilio sent me an E. just a few minutes past me making my order with a thanx and telling me that my pedal will be shipped immediately!!!!
I think I am going to start checking out his other pedals. lol

HANDS ON
If you are like most players these day you do not have a $3000.00 plus Metal stack to take to the gig. You have a 30 to 50 watt combo amp with a single 12" speaker.
Even if you could afford a jumbo rig you couldn't get it the in your beat up van with the whole bands crap to get to the job. 
I got this pedal and it went smoothly into the songs I bought it for. I got a nice fat sound on a few songs that needed power chords that made a statement but did fight the vocals singing over them.One thing I find that right out of the box like other Japanese gourmet pedals the fit and finish and hardware on the exterior  of the box grabs your eye because you are looking at the best money can buy! Even the art work that seems less then exciting turns to dazzle you buy it's attention to detail.
 The other thing I find is the Japanese pedals are often not as dramatic as perhaps an American equivalent. BUT!!! A few months after you have them they turn out to have a hundred detailed subtleties in the tone that do not show up on day one. Secondly they simply do the job to the point you become complacent at how damn well they do it. In short they become a KEEPER. A pedal that does not need and will not be sold to buy an upgrade!
Highly recommended!

FINAL WORD
Well I have been using it at my daily band rehearsals.Perfect!!! I am getting the sound I want 
and it is not fighting the bands mix. It has sound that contrasts with the the P. Bass and the drums and keeps out of their way. The band loves it!
So guys check out the Zen Zero site. 
Gulio is a great guy to deal with. He really gives a sh@t that you are going to like his pedals.
I will most certainly be going back to Z.Z.
Remember if you don't support guy's like him ...they will go and you will end up with the big guys and their deep pockets that can sell you junk and will if you have no choice!!!

OVERDRIVE-BOGNER Ecstasy Red Mini ....RED VS. BLUE

 BOGNER ECTASY RED MINI 

$200.00 USD

Because this was meant to go from ultra dirt
to Stupid it's tone features are actually much less.
Straight from the get go you only get passive EQ not the dead cool detailed active EQ of the Blue.

If you only bought this one I would yawn at the thought.
BUT if you bought both I would flash you a 'two thumbs up.'
Using both as two channels in one amp would be killer!

CONCLUSION
Balzy yet it sill gives you some real Marshall tone.
Excellent

OVERDRIVE- BOGNER Ecstasy Blue Mini ...better then the big Blue pedal? YES!!! & $200.00 USD

 BOGNER ECTASY BLUE MINI 

$200.00 USD

The big and classic version was 3 times the size and damn near 3 times the money. LOL
The Red and the Blue were based on amplifier channels of the gourmet Bogner Ecstasy amplifier. The Blue is the Crunch and the Red the Shredder. Under it all is a Marshall Plexi pedal.

The big pedals were not very responsive to lower settings where as the mini pedals are.
There is more detail in these settings and a head to head comparison with a Marshall Plexi against the Blue shows they have that Marshall thing NAILED!!!

The Blue has 3 way active EQ. The pedal is capable of a lot of nuance and active EQ is allows you to refine that even further.

The Blue has bite, tone and balz!!! It is definitely a classic late 70's sound. It marks a transition from the old that started with the Plexi to the new that became the JCM 900 and Marshall had to share that market with Bogner and several others by
the time the 80's kicked in.

The Red being higher gain simply by the nature of an any very high gain pedal or amp will loose some tone. This is natural with modern Metal sounds. It needs a much less variable tone so the EQ is passive.
The Blue is a medium gain pedal by modern standards for Metal.
We will check out the Red in the very next Post.

I am using 20 plus OD. After months of every day band rehearsal I have found what 'works' and what does not.

A HEADS UP TO HELP CHOOSE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
For a start I find a pedal like the Blue is in the tight controlled sound category ideal for fast and busy rhythms using full chords. I do such chord work on only 2 tunes.
Others are more in a warm full and rich zone sustainers. I use this on tunes that have a melodic single note theme that is only punctuated with a few short power chords.
There are others that are in the near out of control zone ...these need all the palm muting you can muster to not start squealing or making microphone like feedback.
There's more?
Another type is the wall of sound pedals. Those big power chords that may ring out thru 4 to 8 bars. They are thick with mids and sustain well.
Let's not forget the rip your face off shredders. The best shredders also have a long sustain.
It is fairly common for me to use 3 types of OD's in one tune.
Note: I mentioned 5 Types.
Some styles of music only demand one or two. Like Blues or Modern Country. Flat out Modern Metal
needs mainly one but sometimes two.
Different types contrast to create a very intense drama by the different amounts of light and shade. Many players feel they should be able to get one pedal that does it all. To them I say ....
"Have a nice day." lol

Conclusion 
I bought the Uberschall years ago. It was expensive and very noisy and only slightly good when it was pushed into a heavy boost. Even then it was thin with no mids and a weak low end.
 I needed unity gain and at unity gain it was a joke ....a very expensive joke. I was devastated at the time and felt totally ripped off!!!!
But the Uberschall was a flat out Metal pedal. Not a beefed up Marshall like the Ecstasy.
I quite like the Blue. Not least the price. It will certainly be kept on my short list.

OVERDRIVE ACLAM Dr. Robert ...a clone of a Vox UL730 amps preamp. Useful ? Cool YES.

 ACLAM DR. ROBERT 

$325.00 USD

In the 60's bands like the Beatles and Stones were using Vox amps like the still famous and stellar Vox AC30. Later they switched to the UL series. Only about 100 amps were made. It was very short lived.
It had a tube power amp but the preamp was solid state. Aclam has reproduced it using NOS transistors so it literally is the same as the original. They have added a bit more gain if you need it but cloning the original sound is a given.


The preamp is virtually clean it is the power amp that gives the OD. So that has been emulated with a modern  FET  saturation and a 'Mach Schaul' designed circuit for both a crunch and higher gain that is switchable.

Sorry kids but there isn't a serious independent English speaking  review yet. So we will have to muddle thru in Polish.

CONCLUSION

It is a quirky hybrid of old and new but great fun. I always love having one or two OD's that give me some variety in my tone. BUT as a main OD most will find it limited.

BUT... it is damn unique and as a song writer I can see it could be very inspiring.

NEW VIDEO ...with all the features explained.

AMPLIFIER- REDSTUFF 1987 "Fat" ...New tech? ...Old tech? ...Better tech?

REDSTUFF 1987 "FAT"

This is not a new idea as Thomas Blug makes the Bluguitar. The idea is to make an amp with the preamp being based on the best OD pedals and the amp section is solid state. Between the pre and the amp are two tiny amplifier tubes so the whole thing gives you a feeling of using your best OD pedal going thru a normal tube amp.

Redstuff is a one man show so all product is priced as a custom piece where the price is agreed on between the customer and Redstuff as any amp can have more added or things removed from the basic model etc.

CONCLUSION
The basic idea is very good. BUT?
I think ideally the amp with a simple clean preamp and a single tube going into a 50 watt solid state amp in a small box is the way to go. I am sure such an amp can be kept under $500.00 USD. 
If built in the 'East' it could be $300.00 USD and it would be the perfect yet affordable pedal board base.

OVERDRIVE- HIGHWIND AMPLIFICATION Direwolf a ts 808 circuit modded into a near Metal pedal

$160.00 USD

 HIGHWIND AMPLIFICATION DIREWOLF 

What hasn't been done by modding a Tube Screamer circuit??
The basic knobs for Level gain and tone are there. Another
allows you to blend in some clean tone for definition.
The interesting thing are 4 toggles labeled ...Bite, Growl, Mode and Boost.
They seem self explanatory but ya just gotta hear them to know what they do.
The mode is dead cool ...when move lowest it creates a lovely 'splodge' when the pedal reaches maximum saturation!!! Gotta love it!


CONCLUSION
Well for a straight up Metal sound the REVV stuff blows it out of the water. For that grungy stuff I would get the MP Custom FX Gainiac Plus. At $100.00 USD it a steal!!
The reviewer thinks it is some kind of milestone????
What the F. is he thinking of???
It makes some interesting noises ...it may have some versatility ...but who needs a pedal that does many things just barely OK when other pedals may only do one ...but ya just gotta say WOW!!! when you hear them.
There is thrift and there is cheaping out.
Get a REVV and a Gainiac and all the bases on this vid are covered with pedals that will not let you down. Start with the Gainiac if money is tight. Save $60.00 USD instead of wasting it!

DELAY- TIESCO Delay ....How good? ...damn good! ...11 out of 10 !!! I just got mine!

$150.00 USD

 TIESCO:DELAY  
Yes it really is called simply DELAY.
Tiesco are in Singapore ...famous for building PC parts
and a meca for young engineers. 
It is a really great sounding analog delay. It has a clean crisp, full and bright sound.
The modulation can be used for interesting FX or set to mimic the wow a flutter of a tape delay or disc type mechanical delay.

There is plenty of delay time which means it has to use two chips like it's pricey competition. The feedback control can be set to feedback for loop like effects.
There is even a direct out to allow you to run a wet/dry effect using two amps.

They even had the wisdom to use graphic designer to do their artwork. In short the pedal looks both impressive and very up market!

CONCLUSION
It is more suitable for a player in a band. Hobbyist like to be able to stamp out the delay time to build soundscapes around. In a band this requires the drummer to keep time to a machine and it seldom works well. In my book forcing a drummer to do that is suicidal. So the point is ...it does not have that feature.
So setting it for a 'slap' works great for thickening the sound and/or creating a funky sounding room FX.
I use that myself often. Of course you can set it up for that classic larger then life echo 
...great for solo work ...yes a shredders delight!!!
My fav is to set it with a classic echo then put a very, very slow modulation with not too much depth. You get a very 'spacey' sound that meets the upmarket delays echo's head on but with this sound the echo does not take over forcing you to play less and less ...simpler and simpler. You can do a blistering shred from one end of the fret board to the other knocking out a triplet on every note and all that will not trash your sound...only enhance it!!!

Bottom line ...a very nice well priced delay.

I ORDERED ONE  ...and just minutes after completing this Post!

And just minutes later it arrived!!! LOL
Really it was shipped the next day and I got the day after that!!!

So how is it???
Amazing ....the sound 11 out of 10 and the build is 11 out of 10 !!!!
Seriously it is better then the demo! ....and the demo shows it off well.  
I can not believe any analog delay can be this clean.!!! It has the clarity of high end digital delay but the fullness and warmth of analog.
It not only looks great but is built like a tank! Just total overkill!
No matter what I say if you get one you will be surprised. 

AMPS- FENDER_VOX_MARSHALL The key differences can really help with a choice.

FENDER_VOX_MARSHALL

All of these amps use the basic 12ax7 as the fundamental tubes in the preamp.
In the amplifier section ... -The Fender use the 6L6 for there higher power amps the 6V6 for their small.
-Marshall use the EL34 for high power and EL84 for the smaller amps.
-Vox use the same as ones as Marshall.

In general the Fender 'sound' is scooped with the highs and lows louder then the mids.

Marshall is the opposite with fat mids

Vox are in many ways a hybrid of the two as the circuit in general uses a lot of Fender ideas but with Marshall's choice of tubes

So those in the know will find this an over simplification but it is meant to get at the heart of the differences. It is is often important when checking out other brands of amps because as a rule they start with the schematics to one of these brands and then modify the circuit to taste.

For pedals the 'classic' Fender sound is ideal as it is a very clean and clear backdrop for the actual sound of the pedals. I use a Plexi so I find having a grapic EQ needed to often scoop the sound especially when using single coil guitars.

THE 3 CLASSICS OF CLASSICS

 FENDER 
The Fender Deluxe Silverface  ...not the most coveted Fender as earlier models were much more warm and had a bit of dirt. BUT... the Silverface is the first of the dead clean super 
clean Fenders.

 VOX 
The Vox AC 30 it was a big deal as at 30 watts it was considered deafening at the time...
this is 'the' Vox amp. Nothing elase they make comes close. I would say that at least 95%
of players that love Vox have this. I am not exaggerating!

 MARSHALL 
This Marshall is the Marshall Super Lead 100watt It is the Plexi you see teamed up with a stack of two Marshall 1960 ...4x12 cabs in hundreds of pics all through the late 60's thru the 70's.

OVERDRIVE- BROWNE AMPLIFICATION Protein Drive ...not just another Tube Screamer & a Blues Breaker

 BROWNE AMPLIFICATION PROTIEN DRIVE 

$300.00 USD

Deja Vu? Yes you have been here before with the King Tone Guitar Duelist. Just take a Tube Screamer modify it to suit then take Marshall's Blues Breaker and do the same.

Both these pedal were preempted by the Analogman King Of Tone. lol
It started all this!

No two ways both pedals sound good. The Deulist has much more aggressive sound. The Protein has a fat rich smooth transparent mid sound. It is more about getting into the Tone King territory.

At the moment the VS Audio Royal Flush comes to mine. It is straight down the middle
halfway between the Deulist and the Protien.
It has always been labelled a King of Tone pedal.
The VS has balz and warmth at the same time.
It is $265.00 USD.
It has a little brother the Straight Flush at $200.00 USD. Same pedal but not switchable between the regular side and the boost sound. I have my eye on that one. lol
Or you can even check out the JHS Pantheon at $200.00 USD another KOT wannabe.

Many claim it gets a John Meyer Sound
His pedal of choice for his first record was a Marshall Bluesbreaker.
He however uses a Tube Screamer and sometimes a Fulltone Full Drive 2 which uses the original ts chip.  Sometimes he uses a real Klon.

Oddly enough the Fulltone Fulldrive 3 sounds more like the Protien

So the main point is that it is a transparent Drive that is favored by Strat players.
It also works best pushed through a mid to late 60's Fender amp ...or reasonable facsimile.

CONCLUSION
It does sound great but I find there are more then a few other very good and equal choices.
 I love it's nod to Steam Punk in that Victorian green and with an industrial style plaque.
Hard to not love this pedal if only by looking at it.

MOY- M&D Moy Deluxe....this is a unit too hard to explain here ..but it truly a killer

M&D MOY DELUXE

This is without a doubt the best thing you could
own...it is the only thing that can make a huge
impact.
l moved and am in a much different atmosphere then when I lived in the inner city surrounded by a lot of musicians. I came to realize that many if not most are totally vapid. Chasing after the perfect amp, the perfect pedal and the perfect guitar to buy.
They did not want these to become famous, they wanted them to be someone else. We all get in this trap!  Recently I have removed exactly 30 expensive pedals because they as they say in latin are not
MOY. Yes I need to be MOY or in English ...I need to be ME!!!

Why would I want to be cheap copy of the players I respect! I respect them because they decided at some point in their life to be nothing more and nothing less then themselves.
I do not love Hendrix because he sounds like Eddie Van Halen.
I can not be either ...I could copy every note they play and still only be a shadow!
I do not want a career as a shadow!!!

So guys...sure enjoy your gear ...get new stuff too. But pick gear that helps you develope your natural talent and especially the imagination that ONLY you were born with!!!

CONCLUSION
Oh the M&D Moy Deluxe ...well that's Mom And Dad's ...Me Deluxe :-|)

GUITAR- GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD ...'59 and '60 permanent reissue???

YES GUYS!
The first of these guitars are being shipped to the stores NOW! These are not meant to be the 2019 model. They are meant to be permanent models that never change year after year! If not perfect reissues they are about 98% close!!!
I for one applaud them! At $2500.00 USD the price is reasonable for a guitar that has as close to zero compromise as you can get!

OVERDRIVE- MP Custom FX Gainiac Plus ...I can not find a single reason not to buy one!!!

 MP CUSTOM FX GAINIAC PLUS OD 

$100.00 USD
WOW!!!

Milos Popovic has been making gourmet pedals since 1986. Not exactly the new kid. lol
Only lately have MP Custom FX been getting the some well earned attention.
When he finishes a pedal he gives it it's own graphics then sells 'that pedal'  His daughter does some of the graphics. The pic on the right is 'my pedal.'

The layout is straight forward. Gain, 3 way EQ and level. There is the standard on off switch but also a boost switch.
Even the casing is made from scratch!
The active EQ is excellent and allows you not only to tweak the voicing but quite literally change it. The gain goes from a low mid to very high. The sustain is excellent. It has a rep in Europe as a Shredders delight!!!

The thing that spun my head is it's basic voicing it has all the balz and girth you could want but it is original. It is not another pedal that mimics a particular Brit or American amp. Do not get me wrong I love those pedals and have 23 of them now. I was looking for an OD that did the job of a good Fuzz but is distinctly an OD. In short the balz, grit and aggression of a Fuzz but with that predictable smoothness of an OD. I heard this and instantly new I found it!!!

Henning Pauly says he is asking too little for such a well made and great sounding pedal. He is of course right. But I am glad I ordered mine. LOL

CONCLUSION
I do not know about you but my notes of criticism's and also the 'Why Not To buy One' list
are BLANK!

HANDS ON
OK folks I have it!!!!
Is it as good as it seems? Yes!
Henning is not a big fan of heavy bass so he would set  up any OD in the traditional
pro way of rolling back the lows to keep away from drums, bass guitar and keyboard lows.
BUT ....in a trio overkill bass works a lot of the time and this little f. er has bass to spare.
The damn thing is as fat as any Plexi style pedal out there!!! Sustain is amongst the very best!