BOOSTER- BLAMMO Voltage Booster... a beefed up Colorsound Power boost!

$170. 00 USD

 BLAMMO VOLTAGE BOOSTER 
The original was designed by the Gary Hurst who designed the original Tone Bender Fuzz. The first model had an 18 volt with  huge headroom and the second model was 9 vot that gave the pedal a lot of saturation and an OD crunch. The Bammo does both. Like the original it has 2 band/treble and bass Baxandall EQ.

CONCLUSION

At 18v it is good but other really clean boosters are as good. With the 9v setting it has a killer crunch that is beautifully nasty on the lows.

REVERB- FLAMMA FC02 Reverb ...very high spec ...very, very low price ...$40 !!!

$40.00 USD

FLAMMA FC 02 REVERB

Basics in a box thanx to Flamma or should I tip my hat to Mooer since they own the company, lol.

Verbs have got to point that you can hit one chord and they will ring out 

a series on tones that will entertain you for a half hour. Such a fascinating circus is not cheap. The bottom line is when you are at the gig plodding away on tunes that you audience wants to hear all those pedal pyrotechnics are useless. In short in the real world the spring reverb in that old Fender amp collecting dust in the corner is ALL you need.

In a survey of 'buying pedals you don't need' a pricey reverb was number one.

CONCLUSION

Since a verb is often an 'always on' pedal ideally you need a rich clear but very, very uncluttered voice. Even a spring can get messy. 

The perfect answer is a plate reverb (just ask Dave Gilmour)

Throw in a studio reverb (which is a man made room sound that is idyllic) and maybe a church sound for those couple of ballads. Make it a modern high spec digital unit and give it 

to me for less than the cost of picking up the tab for dinner at McDonalds with my band. :-(

Done.

FINAL WORD

In a blindfold test beside a pricey Strymon or similar you will be forgiven if you can not hear a difference.

OVERDRIVE- SOBBAT Drive Breaker DB-1 ... uniquely clean and transparent

SOBBAT DRIVE BREAKER DB-1 Distortion

$185.00 USD

This pedal has been in production in Kyoto Japan since 1995. 

Sobbat make 12 OD's and 2 Fuzz pedals all very old school handmade. They have made pedals for Eric Johnson, Ritchie Kotzen, Steve Vai, Doug Aldridge and others only because these artist sought them out. They are not just under the radar but near invisible.

All there pedals are uniquely transparent and are in

most respects only slightly lower and lower gain from the DB-1. They are all about subtleties in tone.

Nothing sounds like a Sobbat just like before all the clones nothing sounded like a Klon. They are not a copy or derivative of any pedal.

CONCLUSION

It has a Klon like vibe but the mids seem nearly flat. The harmonic contain of signal become boosted and the signal smoothly compressed but there is not the slightest fuzz or fizz in the signal. Impressive.

OVERDRIVE- DOLAMO D9 MK IV DISTORTION ...a better Boss DS-1 ?

 DOLAMO D9 MK IV DISTORTION

$23.00 USD

I have no idea what this is truly based on. Going by the sound it is a hard clipper that started life as a Boss DS-1 schematic but it is fatter than the Boss and it does not have the annoying Boss fizzy fuzzy. I think they kept experimenting with clipping diodes and trading out the OpAmp until it got an acceptable sound. Well maybe it is an unacceptable sound but that can be good too.

Having a volume. tone and volume is the OD basics but the presence is unusual. It acts like a bright switch on an amp to give the pedal a bit of bite very useful on HB PU's.

The graphics have a great vintage vibe. The pedal looks bigger than it is. It is like a standard Hammond B box but with about 3/4 of an inch chopped off the top.

CONCLUSION

It has a nice airy yet assertive sound. It does not to try and tear your face off and has a lot of breadth. It is very good medium gain OD.

OVERDRIVE- MASTER EFFECTS Misanthrope ...the classic ...Ampeg VH 140 C-in-a-Box ...vs. VHD SNK

MASTER EFFECTS MISANTHROPE PRE

$200.00 USD

As luck would have it I discovered MM a little while ago and did their Sodano and had plans to check out their other pedals. 

This is of course by coincident one of them. I just finished doing SNK's version which is damn good so why not compare?

It is enough to say that the Ampeg VH 140 C was the hot amp 

to have for Hard Core and Death Metal in the 90's. Check the SNK VHD Post for all the history.

The point is like all styles and genres are after years of fading away are discovered by new players that come along and breath fresh life into them. Someone remembers about old the gear and new 'old' tools are reintroduced. This is such the case.

CONCLUSION

I find the Misanthrope a bit brighter and a tad tighter and the SNK is a bit more open ...and fuller for it.

The Misanthrope definitely has a resonant point with a lot of punch and balz.

The SNK has a very rich wall of sound thing.

They both do a killer capture of the Ampeg vibe.

 

In the real world the bass player owns the low end. For example if you are doing a riff in unison the benefits of the Misanthrope may blend in so tight they disappear

and the less punchy SNK will fill the the room with it's richer and creamy mids and create a wall of sound. There is simply no bad choice. BUT ...damn it! You have to choose.

I am sure working on a tune would be a joy with the SNK. Hearing all that thick warm sound will be heaven.

When playing in my band if the Misanthrope removes the back wall will be an equal

unequalled thrill.

Please check the box if that was helpful. LOL

The video compares the amp and both pedals.

$225.00 USD

Update 

OVERDRIVE- SMK PEDALS VHD ...the classic ...Ampeg VH 140C-in-a-Box

SNK PEDALS VHD PRE

$225.00 USD

In the 90's when the genres of many Metal styles started to blossom Ampeg made the Ampeg VH 140 C solid state amplifier. It was quickly adopted by Hardcore and Death Metal players. These styles have a very good following but they never has been a band that has crossed over into the mainstream Pop/Rock market so Ampeg like others abandoned serious solid state amplifiers.

SNK has come to the rescue with the SNK.  The amp is solid state and a pedal is solid state by nature so getting good replica is reasonable goal. The layout is simple enough with volume, high, mid and lows. The mids have a very healthy cut and boost. 

CONCLUSION

The box is lot bigger then what most players want. To be fair there is a lot of old tech in the original and the parts were easily 4 times larger than a modern equivalent. 

SNK say they just took the original dirt pre from the original amp and duplicated it. It is definitely in the 'Chainsaw' pool with all the Boss Metal offerings and the many hot rodded equivalents. I tried the obvious but only kept my Boss Metal Zone. I play a Prog Metal style that these pedals are a small part of that. In fact all the sounds I use play equal but a small part. I am damn fussy though. I actually find most Metal Fuzz, Distortions and OD's not fat or punchy enough. I have a trio and as such I can use a lot more lows than a larger band.

I am general impressed with this pedal. It is both Brutal and balzy. The price is reasonable especially since a lot of the serious competition is easily a third more.

VERDICT 

With 82 pedals on my board and 2 more coming. I use a lot of pedals! I also use everyone on every gig to cover just 25 tunes. 

Before C19 I had it at a manageable 70 LOL. I would love to get back there. LOL I at least give my purchases a very serious thought. At minimum what I buy now MUST bump a pedal off my board.

HEADS UP

Check out the MASTER EFFECTS MISANTHROPE ...Post

It too is a Ampeg VH 140C-in-a-Box 

...Compare!

OVERDRIVE- GOD CITY INSTRUMENTS BJR ...'new' Metal OD ...in fact Cadmium comes to mind

 GOD CITY INSTRUMENTS BJR OD 

$175.00 USD

This company for several years has focused on kits of their original Metal pedals.
The biggest for a long time was the Brutalist followed eventually to the Brutalist Jr. The BJR has taken the smaller Jr. and beefed it up and added the 'edge' feature which is a high pass filter that tightens the lows. Great to tighten your whole rig and areal bonus when drop tuning. It of course has the usual tone, gain and level.

CONCLUSION

Even though we do not have a demo of the pedal but of the

kit models they alone are impressive!

I really like this ...it has a really heavy bass but the lows punch.

I think I will wait for a serious demo of the actual BJR pedal.

OVERDRIVE- ANIMALS PEDALS Tioga Road Cycling Distortion ...better Rat? ...Shootout?

ANIMALS PEDALS TIOGA ROAD CYCLING DISTORTION

$100.00 USD

This Japanese company started up with the idea that a few basic pedals could be made at a Pro standard yet kept at an entry level price. They indeed achieved just that. Most of their pedals not unlike other makers world wide are hot rodded classics. In this case it is a Rat pedal. Other pedals like the Major OD were designed by Skeddy who do indeed make the same pedal but as a handwired. They even got Wren & Cuff in to beep up their Rat design.

So as it goes the Tioga has the usual volume, gain and tone but also a switch to bring in a choice of diodes. 

Rat wires their tone backwards and calls it a filter. Keep in mind Rat were the first and neither name nor approach is wrong. It changes the tone in no way whatsoever. The Rat is the first ever OpAmp OD. Hundreds followed the Tube Screamer being the most famous.

The idea is you take an OpAmp which is a chip with a tiny amplifier in it then attach clipping diodes to it and out comes distortion. Although OpAmps are meant to just be very clean little amplifiers it is argued they all have a 'sound' They scientifically do indeed but 98% of the tone is all about how and what is used to clip the signal.

I have a faithfully produced clone of the original Rat which I will always keep. BUT I love the current and often despised Rat II. LOL  I bought it after already having the prized original clone.

CONCLUSION

The big deal is the Tioga has a very fat mid boost. There is nothing wrong with that.

It does not have balzy lows of the Rat II and it sells for $70.00 USD.  Both are very good. 

It is all about what you want the pedal to do. I have a sh@t load of OD's with fat mids so 

I wanted the Rat II for its very raw and gnarly scooped sound. You could even get both :-)

But compare ???

AMPLIFIER- FRIEDMAN BE-OD MINI 30 watt amp .... $330.00 USD ........yes I said $330.00 USD

LEAK

A store accidentally published an add for a new BE Mini Friedman amp. At the price it is almost guaranteed to be made in China.

A DAY LATER
The first video's are out. We new it would be small but perhaps not microscopic. lol It is quite obviously a toy. Do not let the 30 watts fool you. It is not 30 watts RMS into 8 ohms. It is 30 watts into perhaps 4 ohms. Trust me you do not have and will not find a guitar speaker that is 4 ohms outside of the exotic, unusual and eye poppingly expensive. It will sound more or less like what you would expect from a 5 watt tube amp. Keep in mind it does not clean up if you turn down and it does not have a clean channel. It is not a grab and go to the jam amp. In fact it a totally 100% bedroom level amp.

 

CONCLUSION

If you do not own a speaker cab why by it? If you do you probably have an amp too

so once again why buy it ...just get the pedal. It is not even a really usable practice amp ...it does not have a clean channel nor can you back off the gain enough to use it clean. 

If it was a little combo it could be fun to be able to tote it around and amuse yourself. As is WTF!!!

You would be far better off buying a Fender Champion 20 and the Friedman BE-OD pedal. It cost the SAME as just buying the Friedman amp head.

You can hall the Fender around and still have the pedal to use with separately. A quality pedal is good for decades and a small practice amp is always handy. 

Fender does not make unusable amps. They will get the job done just fine.

If you tire of either ...both are easy to find a buyer.

OVERDRIVE- TORTUGA EFFECTS Death Adder Metal-Stortion ...10th anniversary celebration

 TORTUGA EFFECTS DEATH ADDER METAL-STORTION 

$200.00 USD

The company or to be precise Matt Johnson is celebrating 10 years by introducing new pedals and a V.2 of others.

Mind you I just got a heads up that they have been 'new' for 3 years. Regardless I am sure to do a revisit and check out the others I have not reviewed. 

The short story is the Death Adder caught my attention.

Not this one. lol They make two. The Shred-Stortion is the V.2 'new' one but I did the first one in an old Post and there aren't any new vids for the V.2 yet. 

But, Big BUT! The Metal-Stortion though not featured grabbed my attention. It is a classic Trash Metal, Death Metal pedal with controls for volume, high, and lows, and a much needed scoop which also oddly enough will boost the mids when pushed past 12 o'clock and an attack/high pass filter to tighten the sound for those fast moving rhythms and is heaven for drop tunings. 

There are definitely shades of the MESA Dual Rectifier in the sound. MESA just released a new Rectifier model the 50 watt Badlander which sold out instantly so young guys looking for a new sound have taken things full circle.

CONCLUSION

It is impressively chunky and thick and is free of any nasty fizz, fuzz or buzz. 

I love its low grainy distortion.

It ticks the 'tight box' while still staying really heavy in the 'fat box' 

That box has stayed blank with my other Metal pedal choices. 

It is not the latest hot new pedal but has been around for 8 years. 

These days that means a lot of word of mouth sales.  

A very good sign that the thing actually delivers!

I sold a pedal on Reverb and found this one used

for $119.00 USD Soooo...I will give you heads up

when it arrives for a  HANDS ON! 

OVERDRIVE- MUSIC BOX PEDALS Lyla Drive- ...Timmy meets Arnold

$170.00 USD

MUSIC BOX PEDALS LYLA DRIVE

It all started for Rob Farrel with a Timmy schematic. What if? 

What if you through in a couple more clipping diodes and a generous sprinkling of pixie dust.

It has the Timmy layout of volume, drive, low and high EQ and a toggle.

CONCLUSION

Well it seems all rather bland at best. Another Timmy?

If you have the patience you can get a real Timmy Yes

it is a long wait but it is still is priced at $225.00 USD.

BIG but! The Lyra is NOT a Timmy! It does not sound like Timmy even at it's lowest setting. It has shinny metallic sheen and cuts like a razor. Every note of any chord jumps out with a shimmer and sparkle like no other pedal. You can switch to a very aggressive medium gain or even a near high gain that takes all this to a level that is hard to imagine. You simply NEED to hear it.

OVERDRIVE- JOYO Uzi Distortion ...update on it's 5th year

 JOYO UZI DISTORTION 

$50.00 USD

When you think of this brand you immediate think of 'clones'. Yes Joyo did indeed make clones but for $30 you got a pro quality build and a pedal that was scary close to the original. If you were not familiar with the original and in a blindfold test had to pick which was a copy of which you could easily like the Joyo better.

In 2018 Joyo started releasing pedals with a build and parts that are at minimum average world class. They still start with a classic. In this case a Friedman BEOD but it does not disappoint.

The price is still very affordable at $50 but that extra $20 pays for high end parts and more off them because no shortcuts were taken on things like the noise floor, headroom or better EQ etc.

Unfortunately for Joyo the big name stores have given Joyo a cold reception. The old $30 specials still sell well at all the familiar places. They only recent change is there is an Joyo Audio UK that has an excellent and totally pro site that sells there pedals direct much like Wampler's and JHS.

BEOD or not they added extras' BIAS control gives you a choice of a Brit open sound or 

tight American sound with axe chugging definition. Hard left takes it full Brit and right 

to a US sound. Impressive!

CONCLUSION

Like all OD it has its own vibe on what nails a sound. The devil is in the detail.

But I really can not fault it.

FUZZ- Solasound MKII Tonebender vs. Boss Waza Craft MKII Tonebender clone

BOSS TONEBENDER vs. MACARI'S TONEBENDER

Boss took a team to the UK and to the Macari's store where the Solasound Tonebender was invented and for a very long time made one at a time. The present Mr. Macari pulled out the best of the best of the original Tonebender Mk.II's 

for them to clone.

In March the Boss Waza Craft TB 2W was released Fuzz ltd. Ed. was released.

So lets see how it turned out?

$350.00 USD

OVERDRIVE- BEHRINGER M300 Ultra Metal ...the great sounding pedals we love to hate :-)

 BEHRINGER UM300 ULTRA METAL 

$25.00 USD

Yes good ol' Mr. B. is back with yet another of the famous

clones. The guts of these pedals high quality industrial parts 

which do not break down. No they are not audiophile parts

so there is a difference ...but they are definitely not low fi slapped together junk. These pedals are manufactured in China in Behringers own ...and it must be noted 'state of the art' factory. You can not sell pedals this cheap having them made in some north east corner of China in a glorified shack. That my friends is a myth. If you did half of what is made would go to the dump. You could also not boot out hundreds a day. It is all about volume of sales !!! The pedals must electrically sound. Yes if you send them sailing to the concrete they will break. So if you velco them on a board no problems.

CONCLUSION

Yes it is a quasi Boss Metal Zone. Does it sound like one? No!

Does it sound worse? No I have a Metal Zone. The Boss is more scooped and the EQ on it is very narrow and very spikey.

The UM 300 has a broader EQ. In short the  M300 is not as 

tight but you can actually make it fatter.

Is Pro. YES! If a good player used it a band you may love or 

hate the tone but you would not think is was an amateur tone.

LAST WORD

I would love to see a blindfold test with some top YouTubers with 9 high end metal pedals

all over $200.00 USD and the Behringer. I bet $200.00 USD myself that the the UM 300 

will not come last !!!

OVERDRIVE- FUZZSIMP FX Shroot ...a Muff? could be

FUZZSIMP FX SHROOT

$110.00 USD

This pedal is in the Tube Screamer via Boss SD-1 but with more gain and low end.

CONCLUSION

It has a very fat and very full sound.

Cool graphics and very reasonable price.

This guy has several pedals and I was generally impressed. There is very little info. I will try dig a little deeper and get back to you. 

I expect like all of the better builders he is running an unintentional 'Non-Profit' company. We will have to

change that :-)

FUZZ- PHILLY FUZZ Heretic... it goes from a kind of Green Russian to Sludge

PHILLY FUZZ HERITIC

$200.00 USD

I can not find any background on the company? But!

Following the breadcrumbs led me to John Dyer Baizley of the Sledge, Alternative and Prog Rock band Baroness.

The Fuzz is a germanium Fuzz. According to John every knob does it's thing and there are good sounds from low right up to being dimed. Every pedal is numbered and comes in a hand done and different finish.

CONCLUSION

It does exactly as it claims. You can go to a light nearly pleasant sound to flat pick to a Rat like hard clipping OD kind of sound to a full on Sludge Metal syrup. It has a monopoly on that. I would need 3 pedals to do that. Mind you. I prefer using 3 pedals that do their one thing better. If however your music is primarily into a Sludge, Doom etc. then Hell this could be perfect.

ALTERNATIVELY

On the other hand if you are looking for a that super heavy Fuzz which this this is mostly about than I would wait to see how the Chicago Stompworks Fat Bald Guy works out once I get it and do my 'Hands On.'

At the moment my money is on it. It is half the money and half the size. Add to that it is OpAmp based and will not have the problems associated with germanium transistors. 

FUZZ- CHICAGO STOMPWORKS Fat Bald Guy Fuzz ...maybe YES!!! ...maybe not :-(

CHICAGO STOMPWORKS FAT BALD GUY FUZZ

$90.00 USD

After listening to an original Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal I was convinced that it was my answer for a low gain OD. I had bought many even a super pricey MIJ jobbie.

Originals are headed into Klon territory prices so in the end I settled on the JHS Morning Glory. It is the biggest selling pedal JHS offers. 

It gets glowing reviews lots of blah, blah, blah. It did the job but has really annoying overtones. Nothing substantial but overtime I hated it. I stumbled onto the the Chicago Stompwork Blooze Maker a $75.00 USD clone of the B.B. It like most of their pedals has very few video's and the ones they have are made by amateurs often using nothing more than the mic built into their laptop.The company sold primarily by word of mouth in the Northern States to guys that play the local clubs that are not willing to spend squat on gear. After years of happy customers it always had a good stream of sales. As usual I digress. My point is I had to take a leap of faith and jump in. It arrived, 

I plugged it in, I played it for hours. I finally stopped long enough to 

put my JHS Morning Glory on Reverb. lol

THE FAT FAX

I am a really big fan of Billy Corgans dirt sound which is a vintage Big Muff OpAmp Fuzz. I have the reissue and find it quite excellent. Big BUT it does not get the crazy overkill lows I here on the old Smashing Pumpkins recordings.

AND?

It is a leap of faith again. There are no videos bad or good just a rant about how this is 'that sound.' It has been months and months since the pedal has been available ....when it was early last year it was gone after a couple of weeks.

CONCLUSION

Conclusion? There isn't one. 

I ordered one just before writing this Post. Come back in a couple of weeks and see how it all turns out.

HANDS ON

Well it arrived at my door 11 days later.

I did the obvious I compared it with my E-H Big Muff Op-Amp

The Baldie definitely has the massive lows I wanted. BUT it does not have that important bit of aggressive rasp. In fact from the upper mids up it is very OD like.

It does NOT replace my Muff.

 

BIG BUT!

The big 'Oh Wow!' finally came when I stacked my Rat II on it. The sound from the Rat added all the snarl you could want and the Rat has reasonable tight but fat lower mids. With the the Baldie added to the sound the combination is totally massive but surprisingly controllable. The Baldie does NOT splat out!

SO ...

Great pedal but it needs more nasty. Stack it with an aggressive Fuzz or OD and

you will have a monster on your board!!!

Think of it as a Bass booster.

Damn now I have 73 pedals that are keepers!!!

FUZZ- GMR FUZZBITE ...the big nasty returns with atti-rude, handmade & cheap!

 GMR FUZZBITE 

The return of the Mosrite Fuzzrite garage band classic.

$85.00 USD

The first Fuzz the FZ-1 Fuzz Tone was released by Gibson's Maestro brand. In the UK the Solasound Tonebender was born out of the dissatisfaction of lack of sustain and in the US the Mosrite Fuzz was born from the unreliability of the FZ-1 from temperature changes.

Most of the early pedal makers were inventors first and business people second. So great pedals came and went nearly as fast.

Even reissues and pedals that started with one of the oldies and took them another step forward often come and go quickly.

GNR are not new but are best known for their DIY pedal kits. The most popular have been presented as a finished pedal for the 'solerless' masses.

    The layout is simple just level and gain.The sound is as ragged and savage as it gets.

CONCLUSION

It is without a doubt the so bad it's good.

Cheap and this is handmade!!!

OVERDRIVE- WAY HUGE Conspiracy Theory ...best Klon clone if you hate the others

WAY HUGE CONSPIRACY THEORY OD.

$130.00 USD

There are now as many Klon clones as the pedal companies which make them. They are as common as a Tube Screamer wannabe. Personally I have had a few as I was indeed impressed by the original. I found all were either a bit muddy or they had an annoying mid range honk that sounded like a reverb pedal set too high in the mix. 

The Way Huge is an exception. It has it's own thing and is indeed transparent.

CONCLUSION

Certainly one of the best transparent OD's out there.

It is definitely one of the best value for money pedals.

FUZZ- D.A.M. STOMPBOXES ...Maggot Brain MB-71 ...cheap at half the price ...if only

 D.A.M. STOMPBOXES MAGGOT BRAIN MB-71 

$445.00 USD

The company was started over 20 years ago by David Andrew who is better know now for literally doing clones for Sola Sound. He makes flawlessly accurate repro's of all the Tonebender Fuzz pedals. Not only is every single part dead accurate even a single piece of wire that on the original pedal is matched. If originally a worker randomly snip off guesstimated length of wire from a big roll ...that measures 1 & 14/16" then that is what is used. lol

Dave started his company repairing old Fuzz pedals before serious collecting became a thing. As much as he loved them he could see they could be improved on ...if nothing else but to make them more reliable and consistent. 

Dave's company and staff have been with him for years so Dave is semi retired and just makes a few of the  boxes for Solasound or is busy recreating a new old box from companies like Colorsound.

TheMaggot has a simple layout of volume and gain. I suspect it is loosely based on the last model of a Fuzz Face since it is uses silicon transistors. It is fatter than the FF and is a bit courser sounding like the old germanium Fuzzes. I know if I wanted to make a Fuzz I would start by taking the bottom off this and having a damn good look.

CONCLUSION

If you ever wanted a Fuzz that is headache free, covers all the bases and sounds killer. Stop here! You have it!

And take pride that yours will be #57. At $445.00 USD ...you will probably have lots of time to think about it :-)

FUZZ- DAZATRONYX Tsuchi Fuzz V.2 ... a gentle giant

$235.00 USD

 DAZATRONYX TSUCHI V.2 FUZZ 

This pedal comes from Daron Thornbury in  Australia who at first seems to do  'just another' type pedal ...in that he like nearly all makers pulls a classic out of the past and tries and give you the new and improved. The big difference is he is really all about the improved much more than the 'new'. What you get is a great sound based on a classic but without the annoying problems both big and small from those classics. You also do not get any useless knobs and switches that do either things that are gimmicky or in most cases unusable.

In this case he has taken a both the Brit and American late 

60's Fuzz classics of germanium as well as silicon style  Fuzz pedals and produced a Fuzz that lets you blend the warmth and thick rich sound of a Brit Fuzz with the cutting OD sound of the American Muff pedals. 

The layout is virtually volume,tone,gain a bass boost and my fave 

a bias control so you can have it all from a thick syrupy to a tight OD sound.

CONCLUSION

You get a rich and thick sound that never gets muddy and allows you to do articulate playing in tunes you might think a Fuzz in just too aggressive 

or adolescent to work. I can not even think of another Fuzz that can do 

this so well.

GUITAR- LENARD F-4G ....a Leo Fender guitar re-designed explicitly for a Gibson player.

LENARD F-4G

After a wait of one year to complete the prototype of this guitar and 5 months of it being lockdown in a warehouse at an airport in China my prototype was shipped. There may be more waits but it was lost for the last 5 months.

Lot of guys love Gibson guitars especially 

Les Pauls and SG's. They are even very vocal 

about how they think it is the only brand to play. 

In spite of that they admire and learnt how to play 

from many players that play a Tele or a Strat.

All of them have from time to time wanted 

the 'sound' of these Fenders for a second guitar 

but not the guitar. lol

It could have been
the 1952 Tele ?

I made a list of what Gibson Aficionados 

do not like about Fender Strats & Teles

-They hate the length and feel of the neck.

-They hate having a whammy.

-With a Tele they hate the neck pickup. 

 They find it bland sounding.

-On a Strat they hate the bridge pickup. 

 It sounds too thin.

-Finally they do not really wish to be seen 

 playing a real Tele or a Strat. 😠

THE ANSWER?

Keep the PU's they liked.

Replace the whammy with a hardtail bridge.

Make the neck from the nut to the pocket Gibson specs.

Give it a Fenderish look ...but not a clone.

WHY NOT GET LEO FENDER TO DESIGN THE BODY ?

I tried designing the body by borrowing from many different guitars but none seem to work.

I got a big break through. I met up with a guy that worked side by side with Leo Fender in the last 2 years of his life. Leo spent at least half of every day working on new designs for guitars, hardware and pickups. Leo kept every idea he had including notes and drawings going back to day one. In '51 he started working on a new guitar just after finishing his Precision bass. (sometimes referred to as a Tele Bass)

He made a drawing of a Tele where he drew the Precision bass upper horn over the upper non cutaway part of the Tele. He than chopped off phallic shaped horn from the lower cutaway.

It had a Tele PU at the bridge. The bridge PU was the one thing Tele players praised and never criticized. He had a new PU he was working on at the neck. It definitely looked like an early Strat PU. (No there wasn't a middle PU. I added that.) 

There were already prototypes of the hardtail. No one even thought about a whammy at this time. In those days the only whammy in the world was the Bigsby and they were custom order and handmade.

The body looked very much like the LENARD. I had to fill in the blanks. A Strat style pickguard made sense when I asked myself what would Leo do?  The top can be routed out as one separate task and all the electrics can be attached to the pickguard even the jack for the output. By having someone working away doing this task at a separate station you could dropped it in place on assembly and all but the bridge was finished in one operation. The headstock is Strat like but it is small and narrow just like the Tele.

In 1951 Leo thought his guitars should be like American cars where for example the 1950 Ford was replaced by a new 1952. The guitar that looks like mine would be the 1952 Tele. 

If this happened the 1954 Strat would have been the 1954 Tele. We all know that the '52 was delayed and by 1954 the new Fender was called the Stratocaster. The whammy was actually an 'extra'. It was a special order for more money. In fact the first run of Strats were shipped to stores with a hardtail. 

It was decided to phase the Tele out when the Strat caught on but sales were split and within a couple of years they could see the Tele was not going to be dropped.

In keeping with the Leo design all hardware and PU's are vintage 50's

The body is alder the neck is all maple. Everything Fender personified!

The whole point is to get the 'Fender Sound' Nothing is more Fender sounding than

everything used from 1950 to 1954.

CONCLUSION

You get the best sound of both Fender guitars

You do not have to change your whole technique 

to play a different neck.

Yes ...anything can be lint picked. Big But.

There is nothing in a band context or on record 

that will tell anyone they are not hearing a real

50's Tele or Strat.

LENARD Re-Inventions

Lenard Guitars will be an on-line direct to the buyer 

on a Reverb Store like most small companies.

The projected price of the guitar is $895.00 USD

Keep in mind every guitar is hand made with

Fender U.S. spec parts for wood, hardware and PU's.

If I get to a point that I can project sales to be

about 100 guitars per quarter the price has room

to drop by as much as $100.00 USD.

My long term aim is $750.00 USD

Less I can not be sure of a Pro guitar.

There are always exceptions but this is

going to be a second guitar for most players.

The guy may trade his SG for a Les Paul Standard. 

Big but!

He is keeping his Lenard!

GOOGLE

The Second Best Guitar on the Planet

There I have the whole story and more pics.