Since 2015 NEW PEDALS EVERY DAY! Over 3400 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
$?00.00 USD sorry no price it is probably shut down because of the C19 thing
From Greece come yet another small gourmet pedal builder.Their flagship is this OD. The layout consists of volume and 2 gain controls and a switchable 3 way selector for clipping diodes An active high and low EQ are cleverly positioned on sliders going horizontal under the volume and gain. A second footswitch kicks in a boost. It is a hard clipping 70's style pedal using a high end OpAmp. Done right you end up with a great balzy aggressive pedal with a lot a character.
CONCLUSION Woah!!!! This couldn't get more in your face! It is a love it or hate kind of pedal.Warm it is NOT! BUT...even if you have a nice warm Marshall-in-Box OD This would make a great second pedal to use on it's own or stack on your Plexi pedal! One thing is for sure... pedals just do not get cooler looking than this!!!
In 2006 MI Audio brought out the Crunch Box the OCD came out 2 years earlier and both are still around in one form or another. The OCD is said to be based on the Tube Screamer and the Crunch Box on the Marshall Guv'nor. A lot of OD's since have been based on the Tube Screamer since and quite a few on the Guv'nor. But still more have designs that started by modifying the Crunch Box because it took the Guv'nor to a whole new level. The original Crunch had several versions until it morphed into the Super and now the Super has taken it yet another step. Do not get me wrong all pedals build on what went before them since the Maestro Fuzz tone of '63. It is just the way it is. There are only 4 basic designs to start from using analog parts. Fuzz, hard clipping, soft clipping, and amp simulation using FETs. There are multiples of variation and small additions that change the outcome but the heart of the design will be one of these. Yes you could make a hybrid but it would in effect be the sum of two or more of these circuits.
VERSION 2 The layout is simple but comprehensive. Presence and 3 way EQ and the standard volume and gain. A switch lets you select more clipping. It gives you a low gain sound or switch it to a mid heavy medium gain. A second switch controls compression and saturation.
CONCLUSION It always was impressive. It still can do its famous Marshall wall of sound thing and a lot more. It was and still is a contender. It can hold it's own with any new contender . Finally many other choices are great but are they twice as good? They should be as they are twice as much and sometimes even more.
TC ELECTRONIC MIMIQ MINI DOUBLER
It is not hard to figure two guitars playing the same part in
$80.00 USD
unison sounds damn big. Two guys can play close enough in time so it sounds tight but the reason your ear can hear two guitars and not one is the fact is the same note by both guys is plucked either slightly before or after the other guys guitar and randomly changes throughout a phrase. Studio's found years ago if you delay one guitar by just hair and run the guitar in stereo with a delay you get a usable dual guitar sound.The original full size stereo Mimiq did a great job. Unfortunately not too many of us use stereo in our rig. It does work in mono but obviously not near as well. Think of it giving you the fatness of a Chorus but without the sweep.
CONCLUSION A chorus will do nearly as well a job and a lot more. It will however sweep. I have a couple of Chorus pedals but I use them as a Chorus not a fattener first. I do not like a sweep on a dirt sound but if my dirt sound can be made much fatter then I am all for it.
This is the kind of pedal that from the get go seems like an exotic luxury. Many guys may use it as an always on pedal and I do not blame them. After awhile you will get numb to it and your sound will seem to be not so fat at all. You will then turn it off and find it really does work! Yes you can use a single repeat on a delay. I use it a lot. I do find it is very coloured sounding and can get a bit in your face. This is one pedal that an excellent Chinese clone for $35.00 would be a must have. The price is not crazy but our perceived value for money is low.
Two things. First the name says it all. Secondly this is not the new kid on the block ...this Russian amp and pedal maker has been around since 1988. They make a series of these preamps. If you pop open the box there are two full size circuit boards. One is for a clean channel which is the same for each model and second is for the dirt channel. The clean channel will push in to a very low gain OD. The clean channel is not bad, It as as good as something like the pre in a Quilter. It is designed to be used for a legitimate pre to go into a poweramp, studio board or house system. It even has an effects loop. If used for a straight forward pedal the clean channel is useful as a second EQ or to use for a low gain OD.
CONCLUSION I do not have to tell you it is their take on a EVH sound. The closest I have heard is Tone Freak Effects Severe that came out in 2007. It is still available. You have to love this company because they have never sold it as an EVH pedal, but just as an OD. All others, even the MXR one that dishes out royalties to call it that is a farce! In short it a high gain OD Plexi pedal. A term useful for communication but since there literally hundreds all sounding different newcomers might want to know which one actually sounds like a real Marshall amp.
SURE YOU HAVE!!! Well I played in a 5 piece all my life and I finally had the guts to do the whole deal. All original tunes that I wrote and though I do not sing my bass player is a Jazz singer, tenor sax player that switch to bass. Keep in mind that Noel Redding showed up at his audition for Hendrix with his guitar ...not a bass! I think fate was smiling on me. First you got to have the guts to throw out tunes you worked hard on but they quite frankly suck. One way to tell is you find you are already not quite happy with them. If you find yourself rationalizing about some other band getting away with less ...then you are making an excuse for hanging onto to a sh@t tune! Write 5 of the best tunes you can come up with. Then cherry pick the best parts and use them for one tune. That should be your standard! You can improve everything you do by learning a little theory. For example the Dorian scale. Do not cringe you might already be using it. BUT once you know what it is you can apply it the very next day. Go back to your finished tunes and change a note here and there and then smugly smile because in seconds you have quite simply moved yourself into a different league. NO sh@t this works that easily! I write, practice, and rehearse every day. I have done this for 2 years. I expect it will take 6 more months minimum before I unleash my efforts at a live gig. I intend to present a no excuse band when I am done. 3 RULES TO LIVE BY 1. The word BUT...should not be in your vocabulary. 2. You only have one life! 3. You only get ONE chance to make a first impression. ...so do it right If the word BUT has already come into your head ...then read rule #1 <>^ duck
GARLAND FX ZERO DISTORTION FUZZ A strange name for this little box of fun! It is a take on a Tonebender MK4 ...it was the last Tonebender that unlike all the others it switch from germanium to silicon transistors to compete with the new kid on the block ...EH with their Big Muff. Volume, Tone Gain and Bias and a bright switch. I am always pleased to see a bias control. Most Fuzz pedals simply fix the bias to one voice. I like to tweak my own. I dial it in to be very smooth & OD like and then I drop it back just a hair. You get a nice snarl and and a fat sound. Pat is a one man show and has been making pedals for ten years. He has 13 on offer. I have been a big fan of his Pink Drive. It is a 70's style hard clipper. Check out the Post. CONCLUSION Nice and nasty! It nails the sound of the late 60's and early early 70's. Stacked on a Plexi or even a Plexi-in-a-Box OD pedal and you have a to die for combination! Pat makes great pedals and always at a more than fair price.
RED BEARD EFFECTS HONEY BADGER OCTAVE FUZZ This is about the dream of Mikey Dimrus of Skindred who for years has had a big and solid following for his take on Hard Rock, Classic Metal and anything that is about a highly charged aggressive emotion packed music. Like many of us he created his sound with an odd collection of new or redundant pedals and amps. He got frustrated that he could not get 'his' sound with just a couple of peals. He Started with an OD first the Red Mist now the Red Mist MKIV. The fuzz is his second pedal. The layout consists of the usual volume and Fuzz/gain, treble and bass of EQ. There is a 'divide' control that lets you blend between one and two sub octaves that can be brought in with a footswitch. CONCLUSION OK ...it is what it is so like it or no! I thought the Red Mist OD was better pedal it is a cross between a 70's hard clipper OD and a Fuzz. It fits into a broader range of playing styles. Check out the post on it.
YOUTUBER OR NO??? So for a very long time I have been toying of taking SBS onto Youtube. NO! I would not discontinue the Blog. In fact you would be able to simply open a new Post right here only to find both my write up and my Video and the others on the same post. What tipped me into doing some homework on what to get to start up was that like many who got locked down with the C19 thing I got a total kiss off from my employer. At 73 there isn't a new well paid day job waiting for me! I have to get whatever to bring in a buck or two from wherever. GEAR TO GO ONLINE Well for a start you need a PC of some sort with Windows 10 or a Mac.(for most) Editing software. A webcam or DSLR camera. A decent mic. Some lighting. A small mixer. Misc. stands, cables etc. The good news if you never have got into this is that compared to a few great pedals it is damn cheap!!! Of course if you need certain mics you are stepping back into Guitarville with it's big OUCH factor. So you can get camera made by Logitech which is the Squier Strat of cameras or you can get Canon the American Strat of cameras. best of all unlike a guitar you do not have to get trapped into needing to impress your friends that you have a Cannon because they don't give a f*ck what camera you use! KEEP IT SIMPLE So I found what great video which covers not only the camera but all the bells and whistles that you need. Best of all the guy uses the stuff and it's dam cheap. A second video shows you a few of the most popular camera options. Best of all you get to see them on a 4 way split screen. CUT TO THE CHASE On the first video start at 7:34 to nail down the must haves. On the second the whole video is worth a peak. <>^ duck
CONCLUSION If you are thinking about getting into Youtubing this is it. Or alternatively you can scour thru the camera buffs video's. If you choose any further research I recommend a large bottle of Acetaminophen with Codeine . LOL JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE Well the general thought is that the best value for a webcam is the Logitech C920 Walmart advertises them for $30.00 USD so OK ...lets go!!! BUT WAIT!!!! Because of the C19 lockdown thousands of workers are working at home and touching base with this camera with their boss. In fact most were told via the workplace to get this exact model. Makes sense? Yes indeed. BUT everyone is sold out and... Amazon is posting prices of $300.00 USD A DAY LATER I have friends in China I can hit on some are even wholesalers. They told me a few weeks ago it was $17 and is know $300. WTF! UPDATED -New Video
SPRUCE EFFECTS THE GALE This is Fuzz for players that love OD's that players that love OD's that often get grouped under the Dumble label. It can appeal to even a hard core fuzz hater. lol The current Gale is the new improved pedal board friendly model. Yes I know 'improved' does not always been improved. To my ears this is more like the Big Muff history. We did not get improvements but we certainly got new choices of equally great pedals. It took a year of trial and error to nail this sound. Time well spent! CONCLUSIONS It does not hide it's germanium fuzz roots but it does bring out all the warmth. It does remind one of the many Fuzz pedals that Dave Gilmour managed to pull out all those warm sounds from. But in this case it is the Fuzz doing all the work not all the post production that was on a Floyd record.
The original Fuzz made by Gibson's the Maestro Fuzztone is a very simple device. It took less then 10 parts to make one. lol
The basic concept was to stack one transistor on another and overload the crap out of it. lol The original Fuzz boxes used Germanium transistors that are by design very unstable. Changes by input from your guitar, small changes in current from the battery even room temperature made them very unstable. In fact even made them to temporarily shut down. They also had to be carefully matched in their values to even work together. Finally they are like an old battery and can leak. They were eventually replaced with silicon transistors that did not have all these problems. They did react to input changes and fluctuations in power. These things were addressed with stabilizing circuits. BUT! Many feel they stabilized the soul out of the Fuzz. Not me!!! LOL But having recently scooped a few old Fuzz pedals I have been converted to something like the 'Meatboy' which by care selection of parts and a minimum amount of parts give you a killer tone. Fat and rich, touch sensitive with just the right control over your input by the variation of your guitars volume knob. they offer a 'light' version that which is bright and airy and a 'dark' that is very dense and thick. Since there are only about 5 basic schematics for the early fuzz pedals I suspect this is was based off of an Arbiter Fuzz Face. For a start although the fuzz face has two control. Anything less than having the'Fuzz' knob dimed is pointless. In short one does need more than a level control on a Fuzz Face. NOTE: labels on the pedal are for fun. There are several to choose from so the pedal in the picture is not called Steam Hams. It is just a Meatboy with a goofy label.
CONCLUSION Gojira are a small Scottish maker with a loyal following of addicts that want great classic sounding Fuzz and other traditional pedals that simply work in a band context. Aimed at Pro's not hobbyist. In short, at home a spluttering and farting fuzz are great fun and I will be first to admit that ...but at the gig NO. I can not have a disintegrating sound while trying to accompany a singer etc. They offer a lot of options with the artwork for about $15.00 USD You can even get custom artwork that of course will vary in price. Finally ....the is price fair for a quality product.
Yes you can use this as an audio replacement for a herd of Wooly Mammoths charging thru your back wall or.... You can set it up for a high gain OD. OR ...in between! Maybe Hard Rock or... Pick ... dirt sounds from any decade and dial it in! CONCLUSION I hate versatile pedals because they may do everything even quite well but they can never nail one thing perfect! BUT? I got to admit this sounds damn good on a lot of settings.
J. ROCKET DESIGNS BROVER DRIVE Just released ? Yes the paint is wet! I find this a fascinating medium gain overdrive pedal. Twist it's few knobs and something different every time. You get anything from a what is loosely called a Dumble sound to something that is pushing to Marshall territory. It has a simple volume, tone and drive type of set up. But moving even the tone knob alters and changes the voicings. CONCLUSION If nothing else the tone comes across very rich and warm. Carrot ...dangle, dangle ...carrot.
Although J. Rocket does a good job on both Klon clones their other pedals have been OK but unimpressive. In many ways this pedal is very understated but it is damn impressive in it's expressive abilities.
Ol' Dano is famous for borrowing entire circuits from defunct pedals and selling them cheap. On the Cool Cat they didn't wait. They stole the Frantone Peach Fuzz. They even painted the damn thing peach! Frantone was quite simply one person designing and making Fuzz Pedals. Fran Blanche! Fran is as feisty as they come and she sued. So unlike most Dano cheapies there are not thousands but there are still a few hundred Cool Cat Cf-1 or version one's left. Fran's pedals are killer ...every damn one! When Electro-Harmonix started up EH after bankruptcy and moving back from Russia back to the states they gave Fran the big money to close Frantone and she became both the head designer and in charge of running all of EH. The current Big Muff referred to as the New York Big Muff is all her design. Frantone pedals are only now found used and are heading into Klon territory for the prices they go for. THE SOUND With the famous Rat is was all about the LM 308 OpAmp with the Peach it is the LM 386 that is the 'secret sauce.' Both are all about dynamics. Substitutes do little to alter the sound but they definitely alter the dynamics. In short this Fuzz follows every nuance you express thru your playing. Keep in mind that it is not unusual for a Fuzz made in the 60's to have less then 10 parts!!! Yet they sound killer. The exact make and manufacturer of a part matters. Go 5:40 on video and check it out!
V.2
CONCLUSION This a already a collectors pedal to those that are early adopters. I got mine for $50.00 USD. Seeing prices of $200.00 USD are starting to happen. DO NOT mistaken V.2 as V.1 check the pic below. V.2 is labeled between Cool & Cat.
NOV.4/20
I have had mine 6 months now. I still love it. This Fuzz is a keeper other pedals may come and go but not this one.
MENATONE KING OF THE BRITIANS Having dealt with Brian in the past I was surprised by a few new/old pedals he recently released. They are the result of guys wanting a smaller box for their board. He gives me the impression he works to live. He does not live to work. He actually has 2 businesses he makes tobacco pipes. Both are all about hand made quality. Years ago this was the the 'Must Have' OD probably tie with the King of Tone. At that time the KOT did NOT have any waiting list. If you ever owned a vintage Marshall this what it sounds like. Today most Marshall's are voice from what you hear on old records which includes a hell of a lot of Post production going thru killer analog state of the art EQ's on old neve boards etc. So if the pedal sounds bit strident even trashy then ...welcome to the real world. ( I play a Plexi, my third one) This is what the sound of a Plexi is like played in a small club with the amp a few feet away. When listen to it at the back of the club after the sound bounces off a few walls the tone is killer.
These are not NOS parts Fuzz pedals but they are not modified modern versions. They are close replicas made with new parts meant to be played ...NOT for stay at home collectables. There are 4 pedals. the Smiley is a Fuzz Face, the Supreme which is a Univox Super Fuzz, the Bender which is a Tone Bender V.3 and Crimson that is a Russian Big Muff. If they prove popular others will follow there are already 6 more designed. I have two excellent video's to give you the whole picture.
It is double gain stage high gain pedal. Backed off it has a bit of that classic Marshall thing going on pushed hard you get more of a 90's vibe. The layout gives you a 3 way EQ, 2 gains one of which is switchable between 2 levels and a volume for both channels. The channels are foot switchable. CONCLUSION It covers a lot of ground from the hard clipping OD's of the 70's to the late 80's early stabs at a modern metal thing. Great pedal to do everything from blues to hardrock creeping into Metal especially for a cover band doing several styes.
Designed by Lee Jackson who in the 70's & 80's hot rodded every Marshall that showed up on everyguitar gods album that either was a gold or platinum seller. He designed for Fender, Ampeg and started up Metaltronics Amplifiers. It would take a book to tell you every really cool thing he started or was part of. Name any Rock Guitar god that is in or came out of California and they are among his personal friends! A big part of every sound on any classic guitar recording is the preamp on the recording board that the the mic's from the guitar cab went thru has been built in to this box. It can be used as a pre to push your amp but nearly everyone who buys one, turns and leaves it on with the knob on zero!
CONCLUSION No I do not expect you will buy one. BUT ...... if one day you find that perfect sound with the right, guitar, pedals and amp you will remember this and relize that you are at 99% there ...you are not 100%.
JHS TWIN 12 OD This is an original OD by JHS. Unlike other JHS pedals it is NOT based off of some old classic pedal. The idea was to build a pedal that literally clones an amp. The Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve Amplifier. This was a workhorse for thousands of players that gigged a circuit and quite a few made it to the big time then and moved up to the big boys like Fenders & Marshall. Good ol' Josh thought in 2014 the time have come for something new. IT TANKED !!! CONCLUSION Recently companies like Mythos Pedals who have made the Lark an OD based off an old Gibson practice amp are finding OD's need not just sound like Fender and Marshall amps can sell very well. Players are not tossing out their Marshall-in-a-Box but are looking to add something fresh to their board. Timing is everything.
HAGERMAN EF86 TUBE PEDAL BOOST Based around an early 50's EF86 a tube designed for high end audio it's main feature is a really low noise floor. So it was a great idea to use for a boost as it is very quiet and transparent. so it can act as a second channel pushing a tube amp into crunch or more. CONCLUSION Well made and for many styles this is the ideal answer ...especially for a lot of Fender amps. considering the quality it is really a great price.
