Since 2015 NEW PEDALS EVERY DAY! Over 3300 REVIEWS!
I use other reviewers vids & then critique from them __ If a pedal appears killer I buy one __ I try it out & update the Post__ If the pedal is SH@T I literally say so!__ I publish the street price a no brainer but few do. __ I save you time finding the best pedals & you get a second opinion. __OVER A MILLION VISTORS__
NO ONE OWNS ME___ I MAKE ZERO $ FROM THIS
Signature pedals are not new but lately the guys getting them are having 'go to' extras in them. In this case a basic analog delay. TJ is best known for his YouTube channel. He makes his home in Nashville where he works as session player both in the studio and on tour. He can cover anything from Country to Hendrix with authority, including Jazz bottleneck classic slide, authentic Rock-a-Billy etc. etc. He is not just a tech player who knows his theory or can read some charts.
The guy plays with a feel and right in the pocket.
The pedal is a basically a small analog fly rig, lol.
Give him an average rental amp and away he goes!!!
CONCLUSION
It is not for everyone, including me, LOL. I can't however fault it. The tone is incredibly rich and the delay replace a verb
and beautifully enhances the sound but never competes with it.
Yes they have a few new features. They sold for their simplicity but in the end in they aren't cheap so it was their sound. So did they say "It's not broke don't fix it" ...or ???
Version 1 of them and have for the most part third generations old chips so it is possible to at least give them better detail and clarity. These days there are a lot of great sounding digital units with better spec and even cheaper prices.
If you are going to offer up a new Bluesbreaker Pedal it better be a good one! Surprise, surprise my sacred cow for a BB is the Browne Amplification Carbon because of its killer clean gloss headroom and actually 'real' transparency. Lawrence has nailed all this and thrown in a toggle for more headroom great for using as a boost or for an always on to die for clean sound.
CONCLUSION
As always LPD Pedals have been known to sell out in even a day. My BB is my most used OD ...period! I use it not only for low to medium gain things but I use it as my 'clean' sound.
It is quite simply a delay pedal full of algorithmic 'best of's'. This covers both what most players find useful including clone's a few classics.
A good idea for all those who play tunes as opposed to create soundtracks. Arguable you can do both with it. The point is this pedal is aimed at the guy who performs live.
I'll let Brian himself take you through it.
CONCLUSION
In the real world most of these pedals are beyond overkill to what most people need or can use in their chosen genre.
If you want a bottomless pit of options head for the 'modellers'.
Over the last year the classic 1983 Rockman X-100 has become a real 'thing'.
Tom Scholz guitarist for Boston, composer, engineer and producer was also a qualified electronics engineer and inventor the first Amp-in-a Box.
It was his take on a modded Plexi Stack with a cocked wah. It was on hundreds of records and every studio had one. It only died when Grunge took over the scene
with a much rougher tone in '89.
The layout is a simple volume, tone and gain and switch for edge or distortion.
CONCLUSION
You love or you don't. Having played the original many times the '83' has
nailed the basic sound but is a bit fatter, has twice the sustain and the harmonics and overtones are much better. In other words the real one
There are many pedals some quite accurate others are bit more impressionistic of the defunct SUNN Model-T Amplifier. An amp synonymous with the 'Doom' genre sound. Zander are definitely in the impressionist camp. In Fact the whole point was to give you 'that' sound then pump it up to an exaggerated level.
The layout is gain, tone, body ...which boosts both bass and those super fat low mids, anther knob is an 8 voice voice selecter allowing the use of germanium, silicon, LED and MOSFET diodes or bypass them all for pure preamp boost. A second footswitch provides a boost in level at any setting.
CONCLUSION
It definitely does the trick. There are others that nail the amp but for far more money. The Earthquaker devices do the Acapulco Gold. It has just a single knob for 'more'. It's $130.00 USD but you do get a hell of lot more control and choice with the Zander.
If you are new to NRG I am not surprised as it has been for years totally under the radar. Word of mouth from guys that often own things like a King of Tone or an original Tonebender etc. buy them.
I reviewed the full size Purrer last December and was damn impressed. All the NRG are hand wire point to point. Nothing is more difficult or time consuming. The best of these pedals have exquisite detail in the harmonics of the sound. Add a creative builder with an 'ear' for that just right sound and one is instantly won over. All this particularly comes across in what we refer to in general as transparent OD's. Some of the best of these are not so transparent that they don't stamp on definite beautiful coloration to your sound. This pedal does. Actually you can push it into some quite high gain without killing it's soul. At low and medium gains it has no equal in a world of guys using a Tube Screamer to cover it's territory.
CONCLUSION
There are 2 things missing from the big one.
It's $400.00 USD price and it's bass.
Fortunately you can pull off the base of the pedal
and tweak back the bass with its trimmer pot.
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the fine print
I simply have to keep my pedal count down to seventy-two pedals.
Seventy-three is at my Post Office and seventy-four is at Customs, LOL
So until I find out what 2 pedals will go I can not even think
Another delay in TC's new budget range that really does shoot for Pro quality. With Analog delays ever since Panasonic re-released their defunct but killer BBD chips there is no reason a great Analog Delay can not be made for a reasonable buck. The layout is the basic depth, volume, delay and feedback. A switch lets you add a chorus effect. They have doubled the delay time from the classic 300ms to 600ms. It all sounds good but the sound on such long delay times can sound a bit too dirty and I have never found I need that as I use delay as an ambience not a special effect. The modulation is not a pitch type where a little can give the sound a Tape Echo vibe. On the surface I found that disappointing. It is a chorus. Once again too much makes the sound compete with the guitar. It is is like the tail wagging the dog.
CONCLUSION
I must say I am surprised. No 'buts' I am damn impressed. It is warm full and the chorus adds a very pleasant vibe that works very well and doesn't fall into that 'Star Wars' overkill which I hate. It is half the price of the world's most popular the MXR Carbon Copy and at minimum is as good.
the fine print
Zero wrong with the TC as a choice especially if you don't have any delays.
On the other hand the 300ms no bells and whistles $60.00 USD
NUX Analog Chorus in their Reissue Series nails the classic Ibanez AD80
get somewhere where the only spot your amp can sit is on a floor or even a riser is where it either wants to wobble or lean unsafely back or worst of all forward.
I discovered that a safe and easy to use cheap and cheerful rubber pair of door stop wedges that solve it all. They also can make it so the speaker faces up a bit. They can stop the speakers sound from 'coupling' with the floor that can add an annoying resonance. One really bad scenario is if you use a head and cab the head can slide off.
Finally, if you stack them you can get more height to lean the amp back.
You can get them on AliExpress best price was just under $5 ea. with free shipping.
Back in the days when there weren't any gourmet pedals there was Frantone Pedals.
A young lady that made Fuzz pedals. Not only made them but reinvented the wheel with designs that exist only by using hers. When Mike Matthews was able to buy back the the rights to Electro-Harmonix a few years after going bankrupt he had to start from scratch. He brought in Fran Blanche as a one man, oops lady show. She was head of design and managed the whole operation.
She even trained the employees. Nothing less excellent soldering was acceptable.
E-H without a Muff is not E-H.
The NYC is often called the Jack White Fuzz. Needless to say this has pushed the used price into 'Klonsville'
One reason that hurt E-H before bankruptcy was pedals were gradually becoming cool but the new thing 'Overdrives' were thought cool a fuzz was passe. She felt the old Muffs were not going to cut it in this new world of Tube Screamers and Boss pedals.
The old Fuzz was harsh and had no mids so in a band it could sound thin and abrasive. She made the new NYC Fuzz massive. A total wall of sound. gave it some headroom and
rich overtones and all this free of any mud.
The 'Scar has the usual level, tone and gain. Access to the BIAS and 3 fixed voicings on a toggle.
One totally flat from bass to high mids flat then a scooped and the ever popular mid boost
You can mix in clean which is mainly there for Bass players.
CONCLUSION
It certainly delivers and then adds more. A Muff is never a bad idea to have in your
kit and this is a damn good one.Damned if it doesn't even look cool!!!
OCTAVE FUZZ This is not your Grandpa's Fuzz with a manual transmission and that nasty clutch. Which is a very good thing. Or not?
It is a basic OpAmp Fuzz. The layout has a basic level, gain, tone and color/compression for added saturation.
A switch lets you choose either symmetrical or asymmetrical distortion.
The asymmetrical distortion is odd if nothing else because it means that the unit is more or less an ultra high gain Tube Screamer. In short it is depending on your view fascinatingly mellow or lame and wimpy.
The Fuzz aficionado would cringe!!!
CONCLUSION
If you are a OD guy who sees all that spit sputter and gasping drop outs and squeals of a Fuzz nothing but a pile of junk then this is your Fuzz. There is no doubt the pedal has that square waveform Fuzz sound. In fact it has good definition and a nice fat sound.
If you are passionate Fuzz lover skip the video and check out another post.
After my endless problems with a much loved germanium Fuzz with super
squeal anddrop outs at inopportune times this is looking good.
the fine print
You really should check out the Keeley Moon It too is an OpAmp Fuzz but it covers much of
the Siteck teritory but can even drop down into a Doom thing. You can add some classic spit
and sputter but it is easily controllable. in short it acts like spice and does not became the entire meal, lol
The 'NEW' is for the color a Ltd Ed in gold. It is otherwise the black one released
in late December 2021. Yes it's another $30? for a gold paint job. WTF!
Back in 70's TC were mostly noted for their affordable studio rack mount gear. Dave Gilmour used most of it both in the studio and live. They decided to make
the SCF a pedal version 1976. The new one is voiced to have 'that sound' but uses update parts. It has higher headroom and is quieter.
The layout is basically speed, depth and blend of you dry signal. A switch gives
you the choice of Flanger, Chorus or Vibrato. A small knob sets your input to optimise your guitars input.
CONCLUSION
The Chorus and Flanger have the classic basic kind of sounds. The Vibrato is not like a single delay slapback which can be squeezed out of this kind of circuit but more of a light chorus sound. It is however very pleasant and could fatten a distorted tone. All the voices are dead clean and very full. Modern digital clarity with old tech analog warmth.
I can not argue it. You get a lot of pedal for the price. Arguably youget two $75 pedals.
New kids from Devon UK.are bringing us their Marshall Silver Jubilee-in-a-Box pedal. The actual amp was a JCM 800 but tighten up and with bit more gain. Mods Marshall borrowed from the 80's California modders,lol. All that in a mini pedal. We get the usual gain,level
and tone.
CONCLUSION
Well, maybe it's the amp in question? The original is tight, a bit glassy and with only modest lows so the arrow was aimed on target. This pedal could be described that way. Mind you 'Slash' owns a Silver Jubilee amp and still records some if not all the tracks with it and ...
It is a good sounding OD though a bit thin. Great if you you have a lot of tunes where strumming out tight rhythms. It would actually work well with a semi as it would tame the bit of mid honk they have. It is in my book a problem solver not a punch balzy wall removing over boosted Plexi.
To be fair it wasn't meant to be. The price is excellent for a Brit made pedal.
It was this that caused investors to pour money into signing the bands that you love, that created all the tech that improved recording industry. It put struggling small companies like Gibson, Fender and Marshall where they are today.
Before the Beatles no one cared a sh@t about the 'band' only the vocalist. Members could change at every gig, no one would even notice. Now hundreds at a performance can be there just to watch the guitarist.
You wouldn't be here checking out pedals if they never existed. As Einstein said everything is an endless chain of cause and effect. In short the Beatles created the 'Big Bang.'
Yes another one. Andy Timmons put the original on the map 10 years ago and at the time it was the 'must have' OD. Clones were inevitable. Some have come and gone but at the moment the Caline Orange Burst is King because it has all but duplicated the sound.
Like the original you get a level, gain, treble and bass. So how does it stack up?
The Caline and Xotic have a kind of lightly scooped sound and the Mosky has fat mids.
CONCLUSION
Judged on it's own it sounds great and is not a bad choice. The BB is famous for it's transparent vibe, especially with the gain pulled back. I went for the Caline as I wanted it for that. It seems to be the safer choice. Both are built well and the
Mosky has the small factor that some guys not only want but already have a boardwith zip room left.
The company makes this and the Warm Drive which is a Mad Professor Amber. A low
gain drive with a big mid boost that is meant to act almost ambient like but in my book it is muddy. They have since gone into a dozen digital 'Shoegaze' pedals that are all but unusable special effects and full of bugs like bad latency.
This is a clone of the Mad Professor Fire Red Fuzz. The layout is volume, tone and gain. A toggle lets you choose between LED or a Silicon clipping diodes. Which is sure sign
this is OpAmp pedal.
Having heard the Mad P. this is indeed in the ballpark. What baffles me is it doesn't sound like a Fuzz at all. It sounds like a hard clipper. In fact a Rat is a hard clipper
and comes closer to a Fuzz than this.
CONCLUSION
So much for the total Fuzz B.S. By today's standards this is a medium gain OD
with the ability to move into a bit of high gain. The lows are weak which it inherited from it's Tube Screamer granddad. It has a nice openness and bit of a transparency with a hint of a Vemuram Jan Ray vibe when using the LED diode and
keeping back the gain. So it is what it is. But it sounds good. Totally usable.
BUT? The BOSS SD-1 covers much of the same territory. It does not have the quasi
transparency thing but it is tube amp sounding which is good or inconsequential to
your needs. At $60.00 USD it is more but $15 is not much of a deal breaker.
The company does a handful of pedals that seem to lack any direction. They have a mini Fuzz with a dozen different graphics, a Harmonic Tremolo and an exact clone of a REV 4 OD, WTF. Oh, and they sell a random collection of parts and a very pricey 'digital pedal' at $359.00 USD. What it does is not clear, because it literally doesn't say.
It all points to a love of recreational pharmaceuticals, but we will put it down to 'Artist Licence'.
It is a 4 transistor Fuzz. The layout is the volume, gain and tone with a switch to match your input to create a wooly open or tight sound. There is an internal BIAS control to set the pedal to a Fuzz with spit and sputter to OD tight. The tone control is fixed to both a high and low pass filter which in one direct tightens the lows and the other end cuts any spike highs.
CONCLUSION
The pedal is very comprehensive and the internal switches make it the easy to set it up to a real world sweet spot. It is damn impressive.
It all started with a design pulling out the basic topography of the classic Rat. A Rat is actually an excessively high gain overdrive not a Fuzz. Boosted hard enough the signal becomes a square wave so it sounds like Fuzz but it allows for more control of the signal. In short you are not fighting against drop outs and uncontrollable spit and sputter like you do with a Fuzz. That said getting a great tone out of it takes a lot control over the EQ to make the basic voicing give you usable tones.
The lay out is volume, gain, and the tone is controlled by filter and tilt. Which is double speak for a standard tone control for cutting the top end and a quasi parametric mid control. In short it can dial in the sweet spot. A toggle gives you a choice of
Germanium+Silicon, LED or MOSFET voices.
CONCLUSION
As many readers know I have a power trio that play my 30 odd tunes borrowing from Metal approaches to composition from every genre blended in a single tune. I may use a half time whole note riff with Doom sound for the middle 8 but go into something with a Sabbath vibe for the verse but then a Prog Metal thing on the chorus. My point is you
don't have to be in a Doom genre to use a Doom pedal. What I love about the Alleborith
is its precise control. As I explained with my middle 8 reference I am in then out in a
hurry with a pedal. It has to be tight and deliver. The pedal does all the above and
sells for a very reasonable price.
Alleborith Distortion, playing starts at 6:00
the fine print
All considered any Rat is indeed a OpAmp dirt pedal as is the Keeley Moon.
The 'Moon' is has a raspy rough sound as opposed to the smooth organ like tone of the
Allelborith. Both are trying to cover the same territory. At $150.00 USD it is
in the ballpark for your outlay. I just ordered the Keeley as I find that rasp gives it a lot of
definition and will contrast rather then get lost because of my bands bass guitar.
To the point both are good but a comparison is prudent.
A new one in their series of synths, organs, etc. in a box. Each has 9 voices real or synthetic and 4 knobs to tweak them. Easy to use and very dramatic. If you do not have a keyboard player in your band it allows for a great break from guitars banging on all night.
CONCLUSION
I have the Synth 9 I have even set it up for a faux Synth string sound and it is killer. The trick is listen to what a string player plays. It is nothing like a guitar.
It is actually easier in many ways. Yes if you played it clean with just guitar it might even sound flat out childish. BIG BUT! In a band hearing a whole string section is a total thrill!!! I would love to add this.
THE FINE PRINT
E-H has a policy of only putting out in house videos.
They do not send anything out to reviewers. If a
reviewer does a video they buy the gear like you and
I and then show it. Great gear but management are a bunch
a pensioners still trying to get their IBM PC working and
figure out DOS.
I'm 75 and even I think its time for them to climb back up
It is a Mooer Blade Distortion that is rebranded with the Rowin label. It is Mooer's take on the Electro Harmonix Metal Muff. The layout is volume, tone and a switch for two levels of boost.
There isn't any rich detail in tone on even the most pricy flat out Metal pedal but the raw harmonics are so prevalent they can't get muddy. Mooer pedals have on the whole lost any serious fullness by having to dumb down pedals to meet a price point. Oddly this is a plus for this pedal. The real Metal Muff is ancient and went for a big sound so the lows are a raw mushy mess where the Mooer is much tighter. It is what it is so expect it to be noisy.
CONCLUSION
Keep in mind this pedal is all about being a chunky aggressive chugging machine and it does it's job actually really well. Like a lot of Metal OD's they sound best the harder they hit. Roll back much gain and you see that the seams may sound a bit unstitched.
In short it sounds as pro as many pricy gourmet efforts as long as you slam it! 😇
The maker said this pedal is totally it's own thing. All these pedals tend to start with the basic Tube Screamer or Marshall Blusebreaker topography and by manipulating EQ and using an endless choice of clipping diodes come up with a sound that if it were a color you are only getting a different shade of it. On one hand just like a pair of denim jeans we all prefer one over the other. One may be as well made as the other but cost considerable more. The bottom line is it's value to you not it's price.
The layout is volume, gain, bass and treble. A toggle gives you a choice of clipping diodes for more or less dirt.
CONCLUSION
It sounds like it is headed into the Xotic BB Preamps territory. For those with a healthy budget for 10 years the Xotic BB Preamp has been a big contender. The BB covers the same territory in general. The Caline Orange Burst has nailed it's voice and for $30.00 USD. It has to be weighed out as an option for any similar applications from a just into crunch boost to some serious higher gain sounds. At the moment Xotic have their $215.00 pedal on sale for $173.00 USD. The Old Blue is not my shade of Blue.
Joe Harby is a Brit who in 2020 went to Idaho and set up shop. He makes a the BMF Russian Muff and a Klon. Yes there are a hundred plus Klons. From $30 to having to mortgage your house to get an original. The very best of them have 'some'! Note I said 'some'. Some of it's famous glassy ethereal chime. The chime is almost like the sound of high end Plate reverb that hangs over the mids. Even some of the most popular have nearly none. There are a couple like the Decibelics Golden Horse who track down every single NOS part to duplicate the original and Limestone Audio in Japan who make two that have captured that chime. These of course are from very pricey to stupid. Bargain pedals can not produce the chime.
BIG BUT!! This pedal gave me a WTF moment, and when I looked at the price I had another WTF moment!!! Joe calls it a very accurate take on a Klon. I say ___YES! it is.
CONCLUSION
So when I say 'not different' I am saying it sounds like 'the' Klon. I am sure if you took 5 Klons. An original this one and 3 of the best clones this one will not sound out of place or finish last guessing which is which.
Is it 100% dead on. NO that's why you make a pact with the devil to get an original Klon.
It is definitely one of 'those' second best. If you are going to buy second best, why pay more, LOL.
Yes that was a low blow, LOL. Without a doubt it comes in tie with all those that want double or more.
I have gone thru three and hated them all and just figured it is probably not my thing. BUT ....
I recently did their The Eliminator a Billy Gibbons-in-a-Box pedal. The big seller is their Peacock OD which is a Duane Allman-in-a-Box. in fact they offer 4 of them. They even sell them as a set for $780.00 USD. No kidding one 'can not make this sh@t up, LOL.
The Hot' is supposed to be a 'best of'. So WTF why not review it.
The layout is simple enough with volume, tone and gain. It's secret sauce is the knob labelled 'voice' which clones the sound of a JBL D12O F 12" speaker. It was part of ol' Duane's sound. He used a Plexi with the 4x12 cab having the back pulled off and Celestions replaced with JBL.
CONCLUSION
The pedal is a MIAB with JBL's. The pedal was designed with the lows rolled off. Even the lower mids are a bit weak. I think it sounds very good but the bass/mid thing for me is a deal breaker.
In a band those lower mids and bass frequencys dampened would literally be an asset with them being covered with the bass guitar, drums and if you had a keyboard guy even more so. I am in a power trio so loss of lower mids especially does not always work as