FUZZ- MYTHOS PEDALS Positron ___NEW___ Muff & Colorsound Tonebender

MYTHOS PEDALS

|POSITRON

$200.00 USD

The pedal has both a Big Muff Ram's head Fuzz and a Colorsound take on it known as the Supa Fuzz Tonebender in the U.S. but the Jumbo Tonebender Fuzz in Brit.

Colorsound unlike many Brit pedal makers were eager to get into the American market so thy often renamed pedals for the U.S. market. The Brit version was in an orange graphics and the American in a pink graphics. They all share a similar topography but the Brit pedal is noticeably fatter but the Muff much tighter. They are different enough to justify owning both. Or maybe Mythos has the answer.

The layout is volume, tone & gain with a switch to change the 2 voices.

CONCLUSION

My second Fuzz was a Ram's head and I played right up to when the MXR Distortion+ pedal cane out. I also now have the Big Knob Coloursound Jumbo which is a faithful clone of these Tonebenders. I love both.

But just to get into a Big Muff this is very clever way because the Colorsound 

does have very Tonebender vibe so you get the 2 most classic sounds in one pedal.

OVERDIVE- NUX Queen of Tone ____NEW____ Bluesbreaker & Klon in a Box

NUX| QUEEN of TONE 

$135.00 USD

Nux are the latest of the Chinese clone pedal makers to push their way into the mainstream.  Eight years ago they sold very few pedals under their own name but did well selling them under the Donner brand when all Donner mini pedals were all made by Mooer and the digital things were NUX. 

The analog pedals they made in the early days were very good probably because they spent more effort in getting a perfect match to the tone of the pedal they were cloning, not just the topography and a few are exceptional. They have re-released some as the Reissue series. The Chorus, Delay and Plexi Crunch are all on my board. Each is $60.00 USD and easily sound as good or better than many pedal $200.00 USD or
more. 

Since then it is hit or miss. They have had years of making digital gear long before others so they had an edge for a few years but young players with an engineering degree from the West have got into the industry so companies like JHS have closed the gap on price. These engineers and programmers being immersed in the culture that create Rock music have better 'ears' at what cuts it with the 'tone' and what is merely good hardware.

WHAT IS IT?

The Queen is their Horseman Klon and their Morning Star, a take on the
JHS Morning Glory which is the JHS version of a Marshall BluesBreaker pedal in the same enclosure.

Many knobs are shared so I will let the video take you through the confusion, LOL

CONCLUSION

I find 95% of the Klons do not sound like a real Klon. I also owned the Morning glory and was shocked that it too did not sound like the B.B. and worse still the extra gain made the pedal sound like crap. Other B.B. pedals often do not sound like a B.B. either but at least they have created their own very good transparent sound.

So this pedal to me is a combination of a clone of a crap JHS and a budget Klon when even the pricey Klons miss the bulls-eye.

I hate double pedals. Once you get a switcher pedal you no longer have practical access to both sides separately in a tune. Or to be blunt you bought the switcher to stop having to turn off one pedal before turning on the next. With Double pedals 9 times out of 10 you end up only using the better of the two. 

In a case where you have at choice at $60 each, you are better off buying them separate. 

Better still you can then buy two different brands. Keep in mind the only really big exception is the King 

of Tone. It has duplicate circuits for each side and you are basically setting up a Crunch and a Lead setting.

the fine print

Note: The pedal was released today and this is the only video on the planet. In the video the pedal is going through a Marshall set to Crunch. My point is it is using the pedal as a booster. In short I own a Marshall Plexi I can make any crap pedal sound good just by turning up the volume high, even better if I turn the gain low. In other words what we get to hear might even sound better on a $30 Tube Screamer. 

Put the Marshall on clean and set the volume on the pedal to be same loudness on as it is turned off so 'ALL' the sound is coming from the pedal and surprise. The difference is night and day. That's how I test a pedal if it sounds killer when I do that it goes on my board.   

PICKUP- CURTIS NOVAK Classic Firebird ....just a mini Humbucker ...total myth!!!

CURTIS NOVAK |CLASSIC FIREBIRD 

Gibson was losing a lot of sales to the Fender Stratocaster. The Strat was considered to look total SciFi space age when it came out. You loved it or you not only hated it but it was ridiculed and dissed by 9 out of 10 players at the time, even Tele Players made fun of it. Hendrix put it on the map and turned it into a serious Rock alternative.

By then Leo had at a NAMM show said to the 

$180.00 USD

media that Gibson lived in the past. They had 

no modern ideas.

Gibson decided that they needed to compete with it. 

It had to look more radical than a Strat ...more SciFi not less. It had to have a similar bright and chimey sound but they would have to do that different too.

From much trial and error they changed the the Fender idea of 6 barrel shaped magnets nested in a bobbin to one long magnet sitting on its edge like a 

Hum-Tbird
fits a standard
HB cavity.
$180.00 USD

blade and like the Fender magnets it is nested in a bobbin.

They used the Humbucker idea of in effect putting a second single coil attached beside it that acts as a hum cancelling unit.

A mini Humbucker is the same design as the standard Humbucker merely made smaller. It is uses one single large flat magnet laying on its side with both bobbins sitting on top. The magnetic pull on both the Strat and Firebird are vertical. The Humbucker both standard and mini are horizontal. 

In short the Firebird is more Strat than Humbucker. Unlike a noiseless Strat PU where an extra coil is 

attached to the bottom it doesn't lose all those chimey highs.

WHY WOULD YOU WANTONE ???

if you got a the bridge in a Gibson EQ'd to sound huge then when you flip to your neck PU you get a muddy mess. Sure you can compromise with the tone and fix it 'Underline compromise'.

If you had a Firebird in the neck you get a a great chimey near Strat sound that is bright and not so thick but can match up with the bridge PU.  It can even give you a kind of Brian May Burns PU vibe. Think about it? EVH ended up in the beginning only ever using the bridge PU. Ask yourself why???

CONCLUSION

Ol' Curtis has been around since the 80's. He has a rep of getting vintage right. In fact his big clients want PU's for all those defunct guitars from the 50's like Kay, the old Harmony and Mosrite. 

You can't do better for vintage Firebird.

GUITAR- YAMAHA SG20 ....bring back the '72 ....Please :-)

YAMAHA SG20

In the 70's Yamaha made a serious effort to get in touch with what was it players in the West really demanded from their guitar. The company was founded on making quality products at accessible prices. In short Pro and the best value for money. Unlike the U.S. the focus for customers was always international hence the tag SG which like Gibson simply means 'solid body, guitar'. This way it relates to any language. 

For a few years Yamaha made inroads especially when Carlos Santana started playing the Yamaha SG

In the last few years Yamaha even reproduced the '73 RSP 20 as the Revstar with much success due to it's value for money. 

The SG-20 like the Gibson Les Paul Jr. is dead simple with a single PU and a volume and tone control.

1972 YAMAHA SG20

The spec was Katsura body,Rosewood fretboard, bolt on neck, single Humbucker pickup, hardtail bridge, die cast Yamaha tuners and a choice of black or red solid color.

CONCLUSION

I would love to see it brought back. 

Made in Indonesia to bring the price 

down and with better spec. 

A mahogany body and a fixed glued 

in neck. Full sized Yamaha HB pickup 

from the Revstar which sounds excellent.                                                                                                        

If it can be kept under $400.00 USD I think it would sell well. It would be a Pro choice for guys wanting to have a Gibson LP Jr. vibe without getting a non prestigious Gibson clone. In short, cheap but still 'cool'.

 

OVERDRIVE- SOLAR GUITARS Chug PreAmp ____NEW____ Ola's dream pedal!!!

$200.00 USD

SOLAR GUITARS| CHUG PREAMP 

Yes Mr. Solar Ola Englund makes a pedal. It does one thing and does it
very well. Basically the trademark rhythm 'Chug' thing sound of mainstream Metal.

The layout is comprehensive with Bass, Depth, Mids, Treble, Presence, Output, Gate, Gain and added Gain for just Lows and added and Gain for just Highs.

It can be uses in the loop of a pedal to act as a Pre-amp on it's own or as a boost. It can work as well in the traditional method or running thru your amp input.

CONCLUSION

From the get go you get get genius of Swedish design for the enclosure with distinct look and Bauhaus mantra the 'form follows function'. More about that later, lol.

Pricing is like Solar guitars with good value for money. Any other company would want $250 or more.

It does one thing but does it better than anything I've ever heard. For leads or for any style that requires some serious sustain, forget it. If like me you switch constantly between passages of rapid busy riffs and phrases filled by long 

sustained notes it is not going to happen by the pedal itself.

I only ask a pedal to one thing really well. This does one thing killer plus!! 

 

Guitarist Stool by Solar Guitars

l

the fine print

Have a look at the knobs.There are no clock like markings 

around the knobs and the pointer is a tiny dot that you 

need binoculars to see. I think we need to put Ola 

on a dark club stage when he leans over to 

change a setting between tunes.   😇 

ALTERNATIVES?

I stumbled on this and is a very good comparison between The REVV G3 and the APEX PREAMP. It includes the Boss Metal Zone which has a much weaker attack which  I can not see why it is in included unless to compare to an old school choice that was instrumental in starting 'chugging as conscious technique. 

The idea of creating a rhythm on the lower notes was instigated in a very similar way by Country Blues players in the 40's that would drift from village to small towns playing street corners and house party with a lot of drinking and partying and it took the place of a drummer so people could dance. 

 

GUITAR- HARLEY BENTON JA60CC__NEW__100% Pro play, look, sound, sound & sound

HARLEY BENTON| JA60CC 

As I have pointed out before this is not a guitar Blog. I have however always tried to give you a 'NEED TO KNOW' when there are significant change in the industry with anything related to the guitar. Innovation, trends and above all 'Value for Money'. In short are you getting a killer deal or are you getting ripped off ??? 

Both Gibson and Harley Benton are taking their guitar to a new low but in entirely different ways.

In the last few years entry level guitars have improved every year and a very few lower priced guitars were heading into into the $500 range territory where one could with about $200 work by your local tech compete easily with 95% of any guitar you have heard on a famous recording for decades. In short $700 got you Pro. But not right out of the box. That is radically changing.

QUALITY OR QUANTITY, YOUR CHOICE

Harley Benton have done what even the big names could have done but didn't to make guitars that cutting cost is done by keeping the priorities in having the end guitar have pro play-ability and sound. 

You get what is a take in a Fender Jazzmaster guitar. 

First for a start you get a slightly smaller body, The alder has been replaced by basswood. Basswood is cheaper but it is indeed a wood used in guitars that cost a couple of thousand plus. The fretboard is laurel not rosewood though it has not only the look but similar property's with density unlike pau ferro which is harder than rosewood and doesn't have a rosewood 'feel' or sound.

Gone is the elaborate whammy from the Fender. 

Many players do not need or even want a whammy and the Jazzmaster whammy design has tuning issues.

Gone are the 3 little blade switches from the 'classic' model of the Jazzmaster. Added expense and even Fender does not use them on their standard models. All the hardware is of a good quality not dumbed down. There are no tuning issues with the tuners. 

Incredible value for money

The PU's are HB's own and the sound is closer to an exceptional P90 then a standard Fender Jazzmaster which are weak, thin and piercing. In a blindfold test beside even a high end U.S. Jazzmaster made 90% of anyone comparing them in a blindfold test would pick them. They sound noticeably excellent even on a video.

The finish is poly not lacquer. But you can find it on 60's Strats that are to die for so in my book lacquer being better is such a nano improvement to tone that it is smaller than inconsequential.

CONCLUSION

A total steal!!! Pro guitar for the price of the average pro guitar pedal???

_________WTF its $220.00 USD.

the fine print

    F.U. Baily CEO of Junk Guitars

We often have ourselves to blame. We see and are told that the Jazzmaster is cool 

and buy with are eyes. If a cheap copy appears identical we want it.  At minimum half 

the guys who play a Srat do not ever use the whammy.  Half of them lose the damn bar. 

So when we get a copy guitar the maker could give us a pro bridge with great sustain or a

look-a-like whammy that is total garbage. 

But why would they do it? 

First you are smart enough to know better and once they sell you junk,

you are the perfect customer to buy the another guitar to replace it. 

You guys are not stupid so why do you keep acting like you are???

OVERDRIVE- Electronic Audio Experiments DAGGER... Genius, or Stupid ????

EXPERIMENTS| DAGGER OD 

$200.00 USD

This company is popular with the Shoegaze crowd and Ambience guys. So this OD walks 

a fine line since it depends on that just right Indie Alt guy to make something of it resembling a conventional tune to change a WTF to how cool!!!

The guts of the pedal is a classic hard clipper OpAmp  maybe even starting with Tube Screamer topography. Big but. It uses NOS germanium clipping diodes that gives a pedal a wooly warm sound. The EQ was added from another pedal but put in to work in real time to make changes to match with the circuit but it gave the pedal nasty but good tear your face off contrasting tone.

The EQ was left in and when turned up overloads the circuit and adds to the dirt. 

A switch was added to tighten it up but in its open mode it is a take no 

prisoners to those that dare.

The layout volume, gain, treble, bass & switchable voicing.

CONCLUSION

You love it or hate it. It is quirky but meant to be. 

OVERDRIVE- VICTORY AMPLIFIERS V.1 The Kraken ___NEW___ impressive, maybe very?

VICTORY AMPLIFIERS|

$250.00 USD

 V.1 THE KRAKEN 

This is a part of a series of pedals we are just getting a few reviews on though as a group they have been out for a few weeks. Each one being one of their amps made 

into an Amp-in-In-Box pedal. The Kraken amp is their take on a Metal amp that has a Soldano, 5150, MESA Dual/Rec vibe. They researched to see what common thread was with how guys with these amps set the controls and even what pedals they stacked in the amps for boosts. They even too into account most guys used an always on Ibanez TS9 or similar as an always on pedal to tighten the sound. So the amp was voiced accordingly. Case in point ...you do not need a Tube Screamer because the voicing 

is shaped the to boost the upper mids and cut the lows to tighten the sound. 

The pedal is voiced same way. The pedal is made by Thorpy hence the heavy duty casing and high end parts.

The layout is volume, gain, treble, mid and bass. 

.

CONCLUSION

I have many very good Amp-in-Box pedals but I find the best Metal pedals 

I have need added boosts or EQ etc. to get the best from them out of them 

depending on what tune I use them on. In short many pedals sound great 

on video but don't match well with your rig or fit in your band even though 

their basic voice is very, very impressive. The pedal definitely sounds killer.

But I have excellent Metal pedals. Is this one better? Or 'same but different?'  

COMPRESSOR- ____A Second Look ___ORIGIN Cali 76 Stacked Ed ... is it worth the $$$

ORIGIN| CALI76 STACKED EDITION

THE VERDICT

The Origin compressors have been the gold standard of compressors. This is there two in a box version derived from in the days of the UREI 1176LN the rack mount original all ORIGIN compressor pedals are derived from, was used at times with one stacked on a second.

This unit allows for long even sustain without the ratio's that using a limiter can give you without sounding excessively squashed.

$380.00 USD

Much is said about compression not being an effect but a tool. A high tech air gun style hammer may be state of the art but your great grandfathers hard wood handle old claw hammer is more then often the hammer you grab.

Many very inexpensive compressors often are all you need. They can sometimes highly color and change the overall tone but if they sound pleasing then WTF!!!

CASE IN POINT

Take the example of one of my favorite compressors.The Pigtronix Philosopher Tone. It has been around for decades in various versions and is an optic compressor pretty much the oldest method of compressing back when comps used tubes. It also has a germanium 

flavored pre for the output. It has a distinct warmth and is noticeably low tech. The same 

vibe of a very low gain Fuzz without the hair. I have had 3 pricey well respected 

compressors sit beside it, and each time I slowly found I was only using the P. Tone.

$120.00 USD

OVEDRIVE- DECIBELICS Angry Swede ... true to the original?

DECIBELICS| ANGRY SWEDE 

$155.00 USD

An ashamed hand made clone of the BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal. Version two adds a clean blend for a better cut on your pick attack.

Decibelics is famous for main the most accurate sounding clones and this is no exception. The inclusion of a clean blend is a welcome addition. It allows you to get a percussive and biting attack. Although not recommended as it changes the original sound you can run it 'true bypass' of the buffer.

The layout is level, gain , treble and bass.

CONCLUSION

I owned an original  first year, 'new in a box' condition'. I didn't like it. It has one great sound but does just one thing that doesn't transfer well to to busy high tempo playing. I can not condemn it for not being something it was never meant to. 

A Mack truck is not a Ferrari and would be crap 

truck if you used it for one, lol   As for a comparison 

to the original. It's an identical sonic twin. 

 

OVERDRIVE- ELECTRIC EYE AUDIO Swedish Steel ... more than a BOSS HM-2

ELECTRIC EYE AUDIO |

 SWEDISH STEEL 

I had an original BOSS HM-2, never played in a Box. I forgot I owned it and left it in a brief case for decades. A guy owed me money and owned a Music store. He offered me the pedal that had just come out. I intended to sell it back then but forgot I had it. Actually I couldn't find a sound I liked on it. I sold it. Yes, I got the big money :-)

The layout is level, gain, with bass, mids and treble. You get both a boost and 'tight' which is a high pass filter to tighten the lows

You can dial in an HM-2. The 'Steel' definitely has a Fuzz like quality that can give you different sounds.

CONCLUSION

I prefer a classic Metal amp in a box and adding a heavy Fuzz  or indeed just using a Fuzz for these sounds, but for a one size fits all it does a good job. Still it would be fun to add to my mix. 

I do prefer the Dazatronyx THX which is the same idea but approached differently. 

It gives you both silicon and my favorite geranium sounds. Check out the Post.

UNI-VIBE- NUX Voodoo Vibe ... unexpectectly great !!! unexpectively bad !!!!

 NUX| VOODOO VIBE 

$80.00 USD

The original Uni-Vibe was meant to sound like a Leslie with it's rotating drum over  15" speaker and rotating  high frequency metal horn. It failed. You could get a Chorus like Vibrato effect or a weird modulation we identify as the Uni-Vibe sound. Kind of a chorus but more discordant in a good way.

Used as a Chorus substitute was merely OK but with it's Un-Vibe effect
sound if carefully tuned and pushed with a Fuzz especially a Fuzz Face it was killer. When I say carefully tuned in I mean it. move the knobs slightly the wrong way you get Sci-Fi sound effects. Maybe OK for half a minute but not to play chords behind the vocals.

MXR own the brand name and make a standard B size pedal that they carefully copied 

the sound right down to the semi unusable knobs. It does a crap chorus effect but the 

just right Hendrix with a Fuzz Face they totally nailed better than the many gourmet repro's at $300 plus. It sells for a $130.00 USD. I give it 12 out of 10 for it's usefulness. 

It makes any Fuzz sound killer. 

WHAT ABOUT THE NUX ???

The Hendrix like thing with the Fuzz thing is ???

The Chorus like sound is $300 plus gourmet level. I would seriously look at buying it to 

use as a Chorus. The layout is Speed, volume and intensity and a switch between 

the Uni-Vibe thing and the Vibrato which they define as Chorus. I think  

it should be called Chorus.  

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CONCLUSION

If you want the Hendrix/MXR thing but be prepared to wrestle 

with it. If you want an unusually sumptuous Chorus the NUX 

is it. Having both is justified. It is more like choosing an apple 

or an orange then 2 company's making the same pedal.