OVERDEIVE- MENATONE Ms Foxy Brown ... underground classic returns!

 MENATONE Ms. FOXY BROWN 

$140.00 USD

Brian Mena has been making pedals since 1996. When he started the guys buying them were 99% players in bands doing clubs and bars. There were no bedroom players. The point is if your stuff was killer or the word got around it was crap because it had to 'kill' live. There was zip all on the web. Just chat sites, YouTube was less than zero help. He was the first to do a MIAB. His King of the Britons was tie with the King of Tone in popularity. The Ms Foxy brown was in a big casing and was the first and arguably still the best of the Vintage Fender-in-a Box.

CONCLUSION

It is voiced with a very transparent sound which acts more as clean boost and can get a bit harsh unless you are pushing it into a bit of crunch from the ampor if you stack it on another OD.

Used in a classic Tube Screamer it gives you more bite and character than a ts. In short this not best for going into a clean amp.

OVERDERIVE- DEMON FX Precision Drive ...the only clone ...it's this or the original ... $45

 DEMON FX PRECISION DRIVE 

$45.00 USD

Mogoo make pedals under different brands, Mosky is their 'Public Image' brand. On the other end of their pedal offerings are flat out forgeries. 

On the bright side the forgeries clone the guts of the pedal.

but their OCD pedal was branded Fulltone :-) That's a wrist slapper for sure.

On some pedals the circuit board with the original brands name is right on the circuit cards. The Demon brand stays in the legal limits.

The P. Drive real or clone starts with a Tube Screamer blueprint. It increases the gain, allows you to add extra clean sounds to give the 'attack' some definition and most important gives you a high pass filter to chop off any muddy lows. Then throws in a gate to clean and tighten it up.

Both the original and clone are all about tightening an already dirty amp. They will however work stacked on dirt pedals. Overdrives, distortion pedal and silicon or OpAmp Fuzz pedals also benefit.

CONCLUSION

The original of all these pedals is the Pro Tone Pedals Attack Drive

used by Misha Mansoor who was the guy behind Horizon Devices.

So it appears what 'goes around, comes around, lol.

Since it is NOT a stand alone device but a specialized boost you

would have to have them all to know what is what. I have the 'Attack' 

but at this price this is on my my short list. 

FUZZ- DIAMOND FBR2 Fireburst ...punchy, fat Op-Amp Fuzz

 DIAMOND FBR2 FIREBURST FUZZ 

$155.00 USD

It has been around since 2008. It shrunk a little. Well, the box shrunk but not the sound.You can get a Billy Corgan thing

but it does much more.

The layout is Gain, Volume, Bass and Treble and a mid boost.  I have a Diamond OD and the tone controls are deceptive. The voice changes with the sweep. It is not just a way to add or remove some highs or lows. It seems confusing but in practice you get more and better choices. Handmade in Canada, great quality and ridiculously good value for your money.

CONCLUSION

Very versatile since it can easily fit into many Metal genres

yet can be dialed into to be a killer high gain OD that fits just about anything.

ROCKS ROOTS -COUNTRY MUSIC 1920's ... Blues + Country = Rock ...a need to know video

 ROCK MUSIC ...WHERE, WHY AND WHEN

No matter what kind of music you play it comes from the roots of Blues and Country that in the 50's was blended into Rock. Recording was only a commercially viable media from tech from the 20's. I have touched on Blues before so Country is only natural to follow.

 

Check it out 

THE FINE PRINT

It is notable that Black, Mississippi Delta Blues was a big part of Jazz and Country from the start. Blues moved to Chicago and other Northern cities after WW2 and the back porch and small Bars in sheds from the South became bigger bars. Simply to be heard guitarists went electric. Rock has borrowed from every culture on the globe but the guts of it is always Blues. The aggressive grooves, and electric guitar dirt sounds are even more predominant then ever.

WHAMMY BAR- FOMO FX- Virtual Jeff Pro ...a whammy pedal? ...that sits on your guitar

 FOMO FX VIRTUAL JEFF PRO 

I will not get into the pedal aspect of it but basically it is a DigiTech Whammy pedal but instead of a treadle you work with your foot you get a whammy bar that sticks to your guitar behind your bridge.

CONCLUSION

The $500.00 USD price tag will block even the most adventurous. These days $500.00 USD can still get you a decent guitar with a whammy on it. Sticking things to a guitar are never popular. Then there is another catch  ...Unless a player with a high profile jumps on it even the hobbyist will not feel comfortable getting one. It might have a better chance built into a guitar. Then it is really meant for a guitar with a hardtail bridge. Last but not least why not get one of the many DigiTech pedals? 

There are many players who do not or even have decided that any band or live performance are not their thing. There are thousands of players who already feel very comfortable with a whammy and working things like the DigiTech with your foot is awkward at the very least.

These days with the simple growth in population there are now quite literally millions of players and thousands who can afford it. So it could could find a niche big enough to keep it going.

Above all else what we all hear coming from it is damn cool! ...that could be enough.

REVERB- JOYO JF-20 Moist Reverb ...it looks like ...it smells like ... and it tastes like ...

 JOYO JF-20 MOIST REVERB 

$70.00 USD 
Stdio, Church & Plate?

This company has been around for years making affordable well made clones. 

A few of which are as Pro as pedals at 4 times the money. Over the last few years some of their new things went up in price but the pedals got stuffed with parts many of the 'big boys' use. So a 'NEW' pedal is always worth a listen.

Joyo have traditionally designed and still make their own product. But, this pedal has a bad smell. Mooer are owned by 'one guy'. Mooer's factory and it is literally state of the art. They can produce 2000 pedals a day. Mooer also owns Flamma. The Mini Flamma verb, has the same layout with Studio, Church and Plate the same 3 choices of verbs even in assessed in the same order.

Now Joyo is owned by a woman. The same woman who is married to the guy who owns Mooer. 

CONCLUSION

Daaaaa, maybe the shade of blue is better on the Joyo or the bigger box costs $30 mooer more, lol. 

Nothing wrong with the pedal ...except perhaps charging nearly 

double the price of the Flamma FC-02. WTF !!! 

$40.00 USD
Studio, Church & Plate?

THE FINE PRINT

Give me a break! It is very good sounding pedal with totally pro spec no matter which box they put it in. I have the Flamma. On some live recordings of rehearsal I did it sounded as pro as my MXR and more notably my Neunaber Immerse. 

Look ...for the price of take out snacks for a week you can buy the Flamma. Trust me it's a keeper. 

If you move up to some big name wonderbox later you will always find a buyer for 30 bucks!

LOOPER- LEKADO Auto Looper ...easy to use ...high spec ...cheap

$45.00 USD

 LEKADO AUTO LOOPER 

This company has been around for awhile but because their main products are tuners, metronomes and budget wireless systems they are under the radar. 

They however make a mini looper. At a $45 price you have good cause to be skeptical about the audio quality. 

To my surprise it has specs as good as all the brand names. 

It has a sampling rate of 48K/24 bit. It is easier to use than the classic 

TC Electronic  Ditto. Add to that it has a very respectable tuner in it. 

CONCLUSION

I have the old TC Electronic Ditto but if I were buying today I would get

the Lekado. I use it often but 99% of the time is to set up sounds and 

levels or compare my pedals. It has paid for itself endless times.

FUZZ- BSRI FZZ | Hyper Octave Fuzz ... massive octave Fuzz ...Bass player rejoice !!!

 BALTIMORE SONIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE FZZ | HYPER OCTAVE FUZZ 

$230.00 USD

Yes it works on guitars! The thing with bass dirt pedals unless you add cleans the notes have no definition. OR ...you have use pick or you get a muddy attack.

The layout has an input & output volume, hi, mid and low EQ and a blend control for clean/dirt mix.

CONCLUSION

It is more than just impressive. Killer even?

WAH- DUNLOP QZ-1 Q Zone Wah ... the ultimate cocked-wah

 DUNLOP QZ1 Q ZONE WAH 

$150.00 USD

In the 70's there were as many guys that own a Cry Baby wah that used it as a tone control as those that used it to 'Wah-Wah,' lol. David Bowies guitarist Mick Ronson is probably the most notable.

I got a Cry Baby Wha as soon as they came out. At the time I had the Wha and a Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone. I had seen Hendrix but there were no Fuzz Face pedals to be had at the shops. I next pedal that finally showed up was the Big Muff. I had both on pretty much all the time. I was constantly moving my the Wah to alter my tone.

CONCLUSION

It is still a great tone control. Better than a boost if

you need to make your solo cut thru the mix.

OVERDRIVE- ANASOUNDS High Voltage OD ...a 'PURE' Marshall-in-a-box?

 ANNASOUNDS HIGH VOLTAGE OD 

$250.00 USD

If you have ever played a real classic Marshal Super Lead 100 amp. Yes Malcolm Youngs of AC/DC's only amp you would shocked at how little gain it has. Even dimed by today's standard it has a very light Crunch. Players in those days usually used a Rangemaster treble booster to give the upper mids a Tube Screamer like punch in the upper mids and always, always a Fuzz. Usually a Tonebender or a clone of one. Builders who make a MIAB usually shoot to give you the sound you hear on those old recordings so they build both the missing mid boost and added Fuzz pedal right into their box by increasing the gain and shaping the EQ.  I have no problem with this but it is nice to have a choice. Malcolm Young's amps are set up with the volume on '4' so they are damn clean. He gets his sound by sear volume of using a pair of them. It is more about the feedback that level creates thus creating a feedback by all the level going constantly back thru his pickups.

CONCLUSION

If you have a modern MIAB I feel this pedal could be a better value than

if you do not. Why??? Well the trouble is it is not unusual to play a MIAB

thru a very clean amp. When you switch from that clean to all that screaming 

distortion and turn it off it sounds weird, unnatural or even jarring. In short

this pedal could be your low gain OD or even your clean sound.

THE FINE PRINT

I quite like this pedal but to be honest it has a focus on 

the integrity of the clean bottom half levels of the Plex's 

spectrum. Most buyers are going to crank a MIAB pedal. 

When it comes to that you are concentrating on a perfect 

Crunch. The pedal that has the most 'authentic' Crunch 

is the Columbo Audio Electronics Plexi Breed.

If you really want to totally nail that classic sound as 

close as realistically possible you would get both. 

BIG BUT!  

Otherwise I would get the Columbo.

Check out the Post, and listen to the videos.

FUZZ- TEFI VINTAGE LAB Gege Germanium Fuzz ...classic & broken speaker effect

$250.00 USD

 TEFI VINTAGE LAB                  

GEGE GERMANIUM FUZZ 

This company has made it to that 'magic' 5 years where small gourmet companies become visible or vanish. It really gets down to excellence. Great pedals for what we perceive as good value for money. Some do the obvious classics with enough respect to the originals and a fair price. Others come up with fresh ideas that transfer to great new but very usable sounds often in a very appealing casing.

This Fuzz is based on the best of '50s germanium Fuzz pedals with tricks to the bias to bring in a nicely controlled sputter and spit that suggests a torn speaker or a messed up amp. The simple volume, tone and gain and a switch to bring in the destruction and another for a nice mid boost. Internally it gives you 'dip' switches to revoice the pedal to a standard to a deeper mor lower mids voice. That voice gives it a lot of heft. In standard mode it has upper mids with a lot of poke. One look at the graphics and I am in love.

CONCLUSION

It is definitely my kind of Fuzz. It is not a gimmick ridden pedal that is fun at home for awhile but is useless in a live band gig. You get a OD like control like you get with a Muff but you get that fat grainy germanium sound with any downside in it's tendency for the self destruction under control.

These days the the 'gotcha' price on any dirt pedal is $200.00 USD give or take $25, for me it is a 'do not need'. 

If you do not own a Fuzz it is very good value as it will cover anything where ideally you had a Tonebender, a Fuzz Face and a Big Muff. It can even squeak into Super Fuzz territory.

OVERDRIVE- TC ELECTRONIC Cinders Overdrive ...literally ...a Boss Blues Driver ...compared

 TC ELECTRONIC CINDERS OVERDRIVE 

$50.00 USD

It is a clone of a Boss Blues Driver in my book it is more than good enough to substitute it. Obvious less money but better than others that are only a little less or indeed more money. It is an odd pedal that can be used for just a boost to a low gain or medium gain which it is famous for. I am not finished. If you dime it is a reasonable sub for a Plexi. 

Perhaps an oxymoron but it quite metallic sounding but warm at the same. Last but not least it has a laser like treble so you could use it as treble booster.

CONCLUSION

I fail to see it's Blues name. It is really too nasty.

I suppose if you were to use it as booster on a Fender Deluxe type amp to push out some warm dirt with an edge. The same thing as a one size fits all. It does everything quite well but nothing perfect. Do not get me wrong I really quite like it. It could be the perfect problem solver as we all find that no matter how many great 'Drives' you own there is always that tune or two that nothing fits. This would!!!

$90 vs. $50 ...or

How to save $40

MODELER- BOSS IR 200 Amp and IR Cab Simulator ...Pro sound, but no amp downloading ...JUST RELEASED!!!

 BOSS IR 200 AMP & IR CAB SIMS 

$400.00 USD

A typical Boss product, basic but both Pro and affordable. You get 8 amps and cabs,with 8 mic types, and 4 reverbs. It can be use as self contained set up for the studio, live, direct to the frontline or as conventional pedal. You can download others ir's but not the verbs or amp sounds.

CONCLUSION

Simple, workable and pro. The major down side is you can not download more amps but in this price range it is not unexpected.

It definitely sounds pro!

OVERDRIVE- DEMIURGE DOOMY O ...the old Sunn amp transistor amps pre

 DEMIURGE DOMMY O))) 

$245.00 USD

Not a new idea.There are a few takes on this. The most notable is Earthquaker Devices. A few claim to be clones of the circuit this one doesn't but the vibe is all there. Besides it is cheaper, lol. 

Sunn amps was going from 1965 to 1985. They started in garage and got Dynaco to build their transformers. 

The power amp was based on a Hafler who made Hi Fi tube amps. They moved to transistor amps the Concert and the Coliseum that were budget high gain high volume amps favored by up and coming Metal bands. Fender bought them out in '85 and discontinued the Sunn amps and simply made small Fender entry level cheapies.

Early Doom, Death and Thrash and other Metal guys soon found used ones and the sound helped to invent their genres. The Melvins still use them.

CONCLUSION

It is an impressive interpretation perfect for the present 

clash and collection of multi genre Metal.

Which includes ...ME!

FUZZ- FJORD Fenris Fuzz ...crazy octave Fuzz sounds that are controllable

 FJORD FENRIS FUZZ 

$180.00 USD

Fjord are a Norwegian gourmet pedal maker.

This Fenris all started with a classic Super-Fuzz but oddly enough the Roland Space Echo got pulled into the mix. Yes it has that Super Fuzz huge low end massive sound but it is as tight as a good OD.

It has 6 controls. 

You get get the usual gain and level but 2 controls for mids & another for boosting the sub octave and a gate for chopping or cleaning.

CONCLUSION
I just recently ordered the Occvlt Pedals tomb grinder half

Super-Fuzz and half Muff. Same but different. Both are tight. 

The Grinder is more aggressive but its sub will not go as deep. 

I expect the Grinder will stack well but the Fennis is more about going it solo. Both are excellent. 

Not often does someone make an old idea fit into the present 

indeed this moment like Fenris does!!!

OVERDRIVE- 76OWL Owldrive ... Klon? ...Why?

 76OWL OWLDRIVE 

If you do not know what a Tube Screamer or

a Klon Centaur is you probably are not even
reading this. 

$130.00 USD

In short they both are pedals that are meant to act as a boost with a bit of primarily even order harmonic distortion to give a clean amp just enough distortion to warm up the tone and a nice poke in the mid range to 

cut through the mix of a band. The Tube screamer gives 

you that mid range poke at around 1 k where the Klons are more evenly across all the mids. The charm of the original Klon is it's glassy overtone across those mids. Primarily accomplished by a clean boost mix with the dirt. 

This is the signature of a Klon and most budget Klons all 

but loose it. The '76' is typical of a budget Klon in that it 

too is not overly glassy. it does however give you a very 

big mid boost that really fattens the sound.

CONCLUSION

It is reasonably robust and well made. It is needlessly big and wastes board space.

Trying to look Klon like by being big does not entice me to want it. Big pedals went out with high button space boots. It is not even in a proper Klon casing just a standard large Hammond box. The price is reasonable but first it is made in China and a smaller box it would be cheaper.

It does have a very big enticing mid honk. From the demos I don't hear a nice edge in the highs so in a band you could get buried or your tone could get very muddy. It could be do to using a Brit like amp for the demos. Thru a Fender like amp which the real Klon was deliberately designed for it might work better.

...CONSIDER ?

I ordered a Fuzz IMP TopJack HorseMan. This pedal replaced the medium gain OD part of a Klon circuit with a Fuzz. It is half Klon glassy clean thing added to a Big Muff OpAmp Fuzz. The beauty of it is the Fuzz bit can make it cut. Yes it is a really different thing and arguable meant to fit a different niche. BIG BUT! It is defiantly not just another Klon with F. all new to offer.

COMPRESSOR- KEELEY Compressor Mini ... NEW ...Killer! ...just released !!!

$140.00 USD
white is a Ltd. Ed
only 500 pc. made for
total worldwide
sales

KEELEY COMPRESSOR MINI

You name it and except for the ORIGIN Cali 76 comp and the BECOS CompIQ Mini based on similar tech, I have owned it. 

My board is wired up as 4 boards and so I use 5 compressors. Each has one (one has 2 for special effects). None are bad but if you asked what to buy I would say the Origin is best the Keeley Comp+ is reasonably close second. 

The Mini uses smart tech to eliminate a couple of knobs but basically it's a Comp+.  

Since you asked the older Comp+ is $10.00 more than the Mini. I have one and it stays.

The Comp+ has a switch to match the different inputs of HB of single coils. 

It also has a pot for tone and blend so you can add some cleans to retain clarity and have some poke. 

All this is automated with the Mini internally 

so your signal on has the same clarity as it 

has off. Using it is dead simple. 

Dial in how much comp then turn up the level

to match the off level or crank it for a boost.

CONCLUSION

All you really need. If you really want more than the BECOS or Origin is your best bet.

. . . I put my Xotic SP on Reverb & ordered  the Ltd. Ed white one.

HOW I USE FIVE COMPRESSORS

My pedal board is wired up as three separate pedal boards but I am building a new rig set up wired as four.

(Channel#4) ...I prefer using the Pigtronics and Mooer that are both Optic compressors. I have one comp set before and another after my a series of effects, like a the DigiTech Mosiac 12 string pedal and a E-H Synth9. I also use Neunaber Immerse ambient verb and an analog and a digital delay.These two optic comps on together are killer for giant dreamy orchestra vibe things. 

(Channel#1) ...this channel is for my low gain pedals and is mainly used for Fender Strat & Tele sounds where I use low gain OD's that leave the chime in the single coils. They sound best thru my Keeley Compressor+ but it is used on my medium gain setup so since the new MINI is virtually the same so it will go there.

(Channel#2) ...Is my medium gain channel so I will keep the Keeley Compressor+ there where it has always been since I got it.

(Channel#3) ... This is my booster, high gain and Fuzz channel. I have a Seymour Duncan Vice Grip Compressor/Limiter. The Limiter allows for massive compression great for Doom like dirt pedals using really long sustains. 

HARMONIZER- MOOER Pitch Box... is it EVH in a box???

 MOOER PITCH BOX 

$42.00 USD

There are many pitch related pedals. Octave pedals which give 2 or 3 fixed choices. Others are built into a volume or Wha casings that can sweep through an entire range. Others even let you fix what key you are playing in so the harmony's are related and not just a fixed parallel harmony. 

The Mooer lets you dial in any parallel pitch over a 2 octave range. If you are into this there are many choices including high end high spec pedals. 

But I am focusing on the Mooer because of it's ease to create a doubling effect with it's detuning option.

EVH is famous for putting himself on the map by playing live off the floor in the studio and not doing additional tracks. It caused a problem when recording because when you put out a stereo recording the drums, bass and vocals are traditionally in the center and there is usually one guitar on the one side of the stereo image and a second guitar of keyboard on the other. They got around this by using the Eventide Harmonizer by slightly detuning it. In other words if you played an A440 pitch from the guitar they could tune it to A438 etc. It creates the illusion of one guy playing the same part twice. The real guitar on one side and the detuned guitar on the other.The reason it works is no mater how tight you play the same part both the timing and the pitch of the notes you play are different. No one plays with machine timing and you finger will always move the string up or down a tiny bit every time you press it down.

The Mooer may be only on the first rung on the pro ladder but you not asking it to do much. If for example had a problem getting perfect tracking it would actually make it sound even more convincing as it would have a more human like control of a strings pitch.The bottom line as it punches a way past it's weight ...in short it does the job!!

CONCLUSION

Ideally a box to do this right would be just a 'Detune' pedal with a knob to give you a setting for both -2 and +2. as that is what the Eventide provided. But to be fair the Eventide ran in stereo. Running 2 signals may cause phasing issues since both signals would be going into mono. 

If you have a digital delay with a modulation setting the delay to a short single repeat could work as well. 

$36.00 USD

OPTION

ROWIN HARMONIZER

Mooer make pedals for over 25 different companies. Most are Mooer pedals with just the paint and labeling changed. No they do NOT dumb down the parts.  Mooer owns a super high tech factory that do 2000 pedals a day. Often it is the same pedal.

Except for control over your wet and dry it has identical functions. It is one of Mooers standard predrilled casings they do many other pedals in this same box.

In short the Rowin is Mooer.

_____________________________________

NOTE: 

All my pricing is from AliExpress.

A lot of Bricks & Mortor stores sell Mooer products

so if one is in your area check it out. You can also

check out any of the other pedals in this line, then 

compare the price with the re-brands on AliExpress 

Often the re-brands are 30% less or even cheaper.

Mooer do not rebrand very recent additions to their

offerings or in this case a very big seller like the

Pitch Box. The Harmonizer could be as good or better

but outside of buying both???

OVERDRIVE- BECOS FX Ziffer Overdrive ...Jordon Ziff of Ratt, signature pedal

 BECOS FX ZIFFER OVERDRIVE 

$175.00 USD

Yes it is another new and improved Tube Screamer, lol. To be fair it really also a Boss SD-1 as well.

Becos pedals have been all variations of their award winning compressor that like the Origin Cali76 is based off of the famous UREI 1176. 

You definitely get an equal or better comp a lot cheaper. The company is all about quality product. It is quite a departure to do an OD but a welcome one.

BECOS worked with Jordon Ziff the guitarist with Ratt, who is minimalist and was only using a guitar a Tube Screamer and vintage 100 watt Pexi. A Tube Screamer is OpAmp driven OD that uses clipping did to create a light symmetrical distortion. The Boss SD-1 is very similar but creates asymmetrical (tube like) distortion. 

CONCLUSION

A Tube Screamer has been used as the only dirt for a 

clean amp, a booster on a dirty amp and for a boost 

stacked on another dirt pedal. It has been also used 

as a way to tighten a Fuzz by putting a Fuzz into it. 

It it is the ultimate 'Fix My Dirt' pedal.

OVERDRIVE- MR. BLACK Thunderclaw ...nasty, nasty hardclipper :-)

180.00 USD

 MR. BLACK THUNDERCLAW 

This is very nasty high gain hardclipper distortion.

The layout is simple with treble,bass gain and level.

This pedal has been around for at least 6 years. 

It has been a permanent fixture on Rabea Massad's board.

It is clearly an OD and not a fuzz but it has that near total disintegration type think going on.

CONCLUSION

I certainly would not recommend it as your only OD. 

A Tube Screamer stacked on it would smooth it out

Or stack it on Marshall Plexi pedal as a boost that will

add some extra grit and sustain.Still ya gotta love it!

OVERDRIVE/FUZZ- EXPANDORA PEDALS Squared OD ...Billy Gibbons pedal is back!!!

 EXPANDORA PEDALS SQUARED OD 

$235.00 USD

At one time Billy Gibbons alway had 3 or 4 of the original round boxes 
on his board all set to a different sound. You can get a lot of very different dirt sounds from the one pedal. The box is designed to have two Rat pedals in one box. You get 3 switches to pick how much basic gain you want. you also get a level, over all gain and a tone control. You can get it in several enclosures including the original.

CONCLUSION

A few years ago I went looking for one or even a good clone but I struck out. I would love one. You get distortion from medium light through to flat out Fuzz, The distortions all have great tough sensitivity but what I like is the their note separation a distinct attack. Realistically with 71 pedals already and zip cash I will have to give it a lot of thought. ...Damn!!!

FUZZ- BIYANG FZ-10 FUZZ ...13 years and Still rockin'

BIYANG BABY BOOM FZ-10 FUZZ

$38.00 USD

This Fuzz started out 13 years ago but was called the FZ-7 and it was modded Big Muff. 

It even came in the Big Muff oversize bent metal enclosure. Biyang are a family biz and have kept their biz fairly small and tight. Most of everything they make is handmade. They held out a long time but they now offer the same pedal in a board friendly type B enclosure. But for the purist you can still get the FZ-7.

CONCLUSION

They do a good job of capturing a Rams Head era silicon Fuzz pedal. The price is very reasonable for what you get. I found this pricing on AliExpress to be the cheapest.

I would say it definitely the very best of the of the import Muffs. I tried a few and for one thing this one is much fatter sounding.

$45.00 USD

CHORUS- TC ELECTRONIC 3rd Dimension ...it shouldn't sound this good?

 TC ELECTRONIC 3rd DIMENSION 

A LITTLE HISTORY

$45.00 USD

The company was bought out by Behringer a few years ago. The down side is the company no longer seems to aim at innovation. TC has brought out things like their Polytune that brought the quality and price of easy to use and great tuners to the market. They also made the Ditto Looper that was useful and created whole new thing of allowing recording to be used innovatively live with the player creating live but using recording as a performance tool. They also made a lot of flawed pedals or things that were too far from intuitive to be creative with. It of course lead to to their near demise. The company was easily bought out by Behringer.

Behringer have been all about making proven things cheap. They have also been fairly accused of marketing things with deception. I have no doubt they bought the company for its 'brand'. 

On the positive side they are such a huge corporation that they have many independent branches. The Synth guys have also taken classic designs to clone and sell cheap but have done so by creative, innovative design to maintain quality to manufacture a  a robust and reliable product. By not nickel and diming for just a little more money their Synths are still cheap but on no level disappointing. The CEO's keep out of their way because the Synth division is profitable and totally hassle free and with excellent reputation. 

The 'steel box' line of TC Electronic product were the very first Behringer product from the new owners. It has been the real money maker for the company. It too is based on the Synth marketing strategy. Make a pedal, built like a tank, highly functional, cheap but from totally tried and proven ideas for sounds.

Recently the newest units are come in a smaller pedalboard friendly small box but based on the great layout and build of the old enclosure. 

A CHORUS ?

A Chorus pedal is not new. Boss says isn't a Chorus.

It sounds like one. Dah!

CONCLUSION

Well the Boss was discontinued in 1985 but brought back as a waza craft recently. It sounds smoother but a Metal OD sounds smoother but is not unlike a some Fuzz pedals and many of us can justify booth. It is like saying MXR Phase 90 sounds better than a Electro Harmonix Small Stone. If I had both phasers I would use both. They both have a good but slightly different vibe. All I'm saying really is they both sound pro. On the right tune either could be on some big Stars next big hit and we would not know or care which was used. In short it could be a useful color to paint our tunes. The waza craft is the alternative at

$265.00 USD so at $45.00 USD the word 'alternative'

perhaps is in this case is ...perhaps ...F.ing Stupid!!!

.

BOOST- STONE DEAF FX QBoost ...Swiss Army knife booster ...impressive!

STONE DEAF FX QBoost

$160.00 USD

Unusually versatile. Killer for stacking other pedals for more gain 

and bite. You could tame down a spluttery spitty Fuzz without taming it. You could even turn a clean tone into a Brian May Vox sound.

Pushed really hard you get a Fuzz out of it. The layout gives you a level and a fixed boost that you can sweep through the entire range of what frequency you want to boost from 35 hz to 6 kh. A foot switch puts another fat mid boost over the whole spectrum. Another switch lets you choose between vintage and modern voicings.

CONCLUSION

Just today I had a great sound but when the band kicked in I had to mess with 6 knobs on my Marshall Super Lead Plexi pedal to try and capture what I liked but get some bite back. At other times I love 

the sound I had but want a bit more girth. A lot of boost pedals seem ok until the band plays and they just won't poke thru the mix.

On it's own it can capture those 60's OD's and Boosts

that colorsound made without their volume drops or other

foibles.