NEED TO KNOW___ and easy to follow

SOLDERING MADE EASY?

There are dozens of videos showing wiring up your guitar etc. The thing is we often have no interest until we have to and end up spend a lot of money letting others do it. I am the first to admit this. I ran into this video doing a Tele which is easy as you have one volume and one tone. more volume and tones are not harder but too busy to look at just to get the need to know information for any guitar. 

You already have as much dexterity from learning to play guitar to handle a soldering iron on your first try. So at least have a quick look at the video for an overview.

 

BOOST- VALETON FP-10 Loft Series Boost ...BOSS FA-1 FET Amplifier >>>rare clone

VALETON 

LOFT FP-10 BOOST

It is an exact parts clone of the fabled 1984 Boss FA-1 FET Amplifier. A 26 dB boost pedal with a tube like boost, and EQ It was the  first use of a high pass filter as a bass cut to tighten flubby overdriven amps or dirt pedals. 

It increased the treble before the gain stag to give you defined highs and definition. 

All this long before current Metal boosts that act like they reinvented the wheel,lol.

CONCLUSION ___

The Valeton FP-10 nails the whole deal.You get the same EQ, FET gain stages and the low cut highpass filter at the flick of a toggle. Robert at _Only Pedals told me that he scooped up a batch of these discontinued Valeton Loft pedals. A friend in Nashville tells me the Booster goes for double or more used there. 

$65.00 USD

OVERDRIVE- JOYO R21 Tornado ___ NEW ___ Jose de Castro signature pedal

JOYO R-21 TORNADO 

Jose De Castro signature OD

$100.00 USD

Joyo has finally crept past yet another clone. This is a signature pedal of grammy award winner for best Latin Pop. The layout is Bass,Treble,Gain and Volume. A separate control for Boost can be triggered by a footswitch. It is a low to medium gain pedal with a very glassy sound and a bit of chime in the high end. The boost is especially strong and punchy.

CONCLUSION ___

Very impressive for Joyo's first seriously original. It is very transparent with very defined string definition.   

It has a Fusion like sound that I find a bit thin at 

times but appropriate for a Fusion sound. 

The price is very good for a double pedal.

OVERDRIVE- STOMP UNDER FOOT Dire Wolf ...old school hard clipper

$200.00 USD

STOMP UNDER FOOT 

 DIRE|WOLF| 

 

This is an old school hard clipper. Probably based on Tube Screamer

topography. It is voiced using vintage germanium diodes. It is indeed 

done well. It has a low to medium gain thing with a Marshall JCM 45 

vibe. As expected it is just a simple Gain, Volume and Tone layout. 

 

CONCLUSION ___

It is a very pleasing 70's style Hard Rock, 

Blues or as a Fusion pedal. It also 

works well as a boost.

PREAMP- FRIEDMAN IR-X Dual Tube Preamp ___ NEW ___ to be use like a modeler

$500.00 USD

FRIEDMAN IR-X 

   Dual Tubeamp

 

A Preamp? Yes a tube Pre with IR's and not even a high impedance output to use in a pedal like way.

It has a clean/crunch Plexi channel and a lead high gain channel.

This is not an OD to put into the front of your amp. If your amp has an effects loop you can put into the return but not loop it with the amps pre output. In other words nothing should be plugged in the amps front so the only knob that should work on the amp is your master volume. It was designed to be used like a modeler not like MIAB pedal. Let me make it clear if your amp does not 

have an effects loop it CAN NOT be used with your amp. 

 

CONCLUSION ___

If used as it was designed for ...it sounds literally like you have a Marshall stack, and I do not mean dead close but totally like one. It is important to add that the 'feel' under your fingertips will have you convinced you are playing the real deal too. 

 

VIBE/CHOUS/VIBRATO- STRYMON Ultra violet ___ NEW ___ good but $ome what pricey

$260.00 USD

STRYMON 

ULTRA VIOLET

  VINTAGE VIBE  

One of Strymons new smaller enclosure pedals that focus on a basic sound. It is a modulation pedal. The elements are a vibrato and a short delay of the signal will cause it create chorus. Combined makes it do a Univibe thing.

The layout is Speed, Intensity and Volume. A toggle gives you three  Modes ...Chorus, Vibrato or Blend. A BIAS toggles in low, mid or high. this changes the waveform of the sweep. 

 _______

CONCLUSION ____

It does sound very good and with three sounds 

it is like having three pedals. I prefer analog 

for these pedals. So it is not on my short list.

MODELER- ST. ROCK Amperion ____ NEW ____ is this cutting edge ???

ST. ROCK AMPERION LIVE

$525.00 USD

A user friendly unit with some say the most natural and authentic Amp models. 

Add to that it is at the very edge of the curve with a total separate function. It accepts Neural Network Models that use NAM or Neural Amp Modeler sounds. An entirely new and unrelated to all previous  modelers using basically the same old kind of tech introduced by Line 6 decades ago.

NAM is a cutting edge FREE  tech but only available to go straight into a PC not a portable floor unit. Until now. The company's goal seems to be multiplatform and keep your unit from becoming redundant. 

Users say they would have bought it without tomorrows 

functions as what you get out of the box is killer. 

CONCLUSION ___

First the unit covers 9 out of 10 out of the average guys short list of amps and effects and gives you dead killer versions. It then makes them easy to program for your taste and use, Last and very important is the sounds have a real amp feel and response when playing them.

Yes there are many, many convincing sounding cheap units but St. Rock I chose to 

mention as they make robustly built best of todays tech but also cutting edge NAM.

in a user friendly package and affordably priced.

FUZZ- STOMP UNDER FOOT Vilolet Menace ....Rams Head Muff clone ...re-release

$200.00 USD

STOMP UNDER FOOT 

   VIOLET MENACE

Yes a good old best of the Muffs Rams Head complete with an 

added mid boost. The layout is the standard level, gain and 

Tone but with an added mid boost.  

 

CONCLUSION ____

What's to add. The price is $50 less 

than most of what has been on offer  

of late and it even looks dead cool. 

The Ram's Head is to Fuzz as a Tube 

Screamer is to OD's ...ya gotta have, lol  

Bulletproof choice !!! 

OVERDRIVE- STOLL EFFECTS Mullet Drive ___ NEW ___ preview ???

STOLL EFFECTS| MULLET DRIVE 

$380.00 USD

A new company from Germany with a site not yet ready for prime time, in short under construction. Surprise, surprise it appears we get a handmade pedal with the cliche German thing overkill quality build no matter what the cost.

This just may be STOLL's first  offering? A double channel OD with 

a low/mid gain and another more high gain with a Brit vibe.

CONCLUSION ___

It does have it's own sound with loads of character. I do love that approach. 

If each channel had its own controls it might merrit the price. The price may be valid but there are well made pedals with arguably a different sound with more features or indeed if it were me I would be thinking of buying two 

pedals to cover the same ground. 

FUZZ- VOLTA CUSTOM ELECTRONICS Firedirt ... clone free :-)

VOLTA CUSTOM ELECTRONICS|

FIRE DIRT 

$200.00 USD

A young Italian Salvatore di Pietro took apart pedals at 14 wanting to know what made them tick and find out how he could improve on them. He never gave up and once an adult started Volta .

The Fire Dirt is a Fuzz for guys that tried a Fuzz and hated that you had no control over making the spicy out of control characteristics usable. The object was to give you the best traits we look already zeroed into their sweet spots.

The layout is Volume, Gain, Tone and BIAS. A toggle lets you big in some sparkle for those dark heavy settings that tend to turn to mud on too many Fuzz pedals.every control is meant to push it to the edge but not go over 

it and crash and burn.

CONCLUSION ___

It succeeds in exactly what it set out to do. One may think they prefer something with the spit and sputter and gating of the classic's but once you are playing tunes and not jamming especially in a band context you end up trying to get the damn things to sound like the Volta, lol. 

Besides you can always ave another Fuzz for bizarro-world extras.

FUZZ- FFX Ark of Tone ___ NEW ___ 1977 Tube Sound Fuzz, clone???

TUBE SOUND FUZZ

Back when Noah got off the Ark in 1977 and even before the WWW existed or a PC to put it on we had Guitar Player Magazine. If they did not tell you, you went without knowing because your other choice was your local Music Store that could only field a question about an Accordian. They had a guy Craig Anderton that did a pedal DIY column. In fact pretty much all the the original gourmet pedal makers like Brian Wampler and Josh Scott got started via Craig. In 1977 he gave the world his Tube Sound Fuzz. The much praised George Tripps Way Huge Red Llama is literally Craigs Tube Sound Fuzz design.

FFX ARK of TONE

$250.00 USD

Surprise, surprise you guessed it this is a Tube Sound Fuzz clone. In fact it is two of them in one box, lol.

So not much to add. The layout is Volume, Gain, a low pass filter and a BIAS control for each channel. 

 

CONCLUSION ___

It has an interesting OpAmp medium gain Overdrive sound that has a Boss OD vibe we are all familiar with.This design predates even the Tube Screamer and Rat so you now know Grandad Craig was first. The pedal does sound very good. You can get really heavy lows yet it still sounds Overdrive/amp like not Fuzz. I can not think of anything current like it

REVERB- COLORTONE PEDALS Spring Reverb II ___ NEW ____ a Spring Verb even I like

COLORTONE PEDALS  

     SPRING REVERB II   

$200.00 USD

A basic Spring Reverb as your always on acting as an ambient frame

around your music has been part of thousands of players signature sound for decades. As a verb sound on paper it is very simple it has only 2 reflection's when any actual real word reverb has thousands and at least dozens that are perceptible. 

In spite of that those springs create a very complex sound travelling thru those springs at very random speed that causes a rich sonic output. In short it is very hard to nail. A giant cathedral reverb is easier.

This one uses a Fender Vibrolux as its candidate to clone. It is generally considered Fenders best.

The layout is Decay, Blend of dry wet, Tone and modulation to let the pedal double with a touch of Sci Fi dreaminess. a toggle give you classic spring, studio and tank reverbs.

CONCLUSION ____

I can not fault the quality of sound and the graphics have a bit of old school industrial Steampunk I like. Considering it is an always on kind of pedal I find the price fair. Even if one wants a modern all the bells and whistles shoegaze verb it can be added to a rig without making this redundant. In fact the all bells and whistles pedal may only have a half life because a new one comes along with a louder bell and more shrill in the whistles.

OVERDRIVE- WAMPLER Tweed '57 & the Black '65 Ltd.Ed. ____ NEW ____ Fender-in-a-Box returns

YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER BUT A PENCIL MUST BE LEAD

Let me first deal the big, big problem with these kind of pedals. Think of the average Fender amps sound for decades. They are basically famous for a scooped sound with bright crisp highs and a tight low end. The really old Fenders had much more dirt and softer highs. You can turn a new Fender Hot Rod amp into a Tweed sound since it fills the scoop with mids etc.

An amp with a basic Brit sound has a fat mid sound. think of a MIAB put into a Fender is like putting a mountain over a valley so your Fender really sounds Marshall. But you can not put a Fender pedal sound which creates valleys over a Marshall mountain sound amp. That mountain just fills in the valleys and you end up with a mess not a Fender sound coming out of your Marshall. Do I exaggerate, can you tell me exceptions? Yes but if your goal is to fool me you own a Marshall when it is just a pedal it will not be hard and I own a Marshall. Big but?  Convincing me you have a Fender sound coming out of your Marshall will be a miracle and if true I will buy that pedal. 

WAMPLER

TWEED '57 

$200.00 USD

Yes Wampler has brought back their discontinued Fender Tweed in a Box. Nothing new but as I pointed out is you own an amp with 6L6 or 6V6 American power amp tubes or a solid state amp voiced to sound Fenderish then these pedals can be very impressive. The layout is Volume, Teble, Mid, Bass and gain with a toggle to add a Fender bright Link has no info but it sounds like scoop?  

 

CONCLUSION ___

Well it has a good hard clipper like Hard Rock Blues Rock vibe. 

But as for sounding Tweed???  WTF!!! 

I can see why it was discontinued. As an OD, OK but as a faux Tweed, give me a break!!! 

 

$200.00 USD

WAMPLER

BLACK '65 

I had both a Blackface Super Reverb and a Bassmen head. I had a classic blues gig playing Chicago Blues doing Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf etc. tunes. So the amps worked just fine. No pedals and to be honest the sound was OK not thrilling. A few years later and I had a Marshall Plexi and that sucker was f-ing exciting.  

 

CONCLUSION ___

It is a nice beefy hard rock pedal but 

it doesn't sound anything like the Fenders I had??? 

Does it sound SRV??? It should. But ????

FUZZ- TONE CHARM AUDIO 1966 Fuzz ___ NEW ___ MK1.5 Tonebender using NOS transistors

$185.00 USD

TONE CHARM AUDIO

AUDIO 1966 FUZZ

Literally a Tonebender Mk. 1.5 using NOS germanium transistor. It was later used with a few mods and sold as the first Fuzz Face. You have to be impressed with the price and the hand built using period correct NOS germanium transistors. It is made by Adrian from Wroclaw Poland since 2013. He has a second brand Occvlt pedals aimed at the Metal guys with the Doom vibe look etc. 

CONCLUSION _____

Nothing is like the real deal with vintage spec and parts. This is pedal that can disappear at any time for lack of parts. So considering, price, quality and even 

a great old school industrial looks, it is best to give it some serious thought.

OVERDRIVE- BOLT & FORGE Bad Hoss Harmonic Sustainer ___ NEW ___ an original?

BOLT&FORGE 

BAD HOSS HARMONIC SUSTAINER

$250.00 USD

At its roots this is a JFET OD which means it will have a tube sounding vibe. It blends in a high gain circuit with a low one and perhaps even some clean boost to give you a transparent tone when either set at low or high gain. The beauty of this is unlike most pedals cleaner sounds do not force you to live with little or even all but no sustain. You also get good definition throughout the pedals whole range. Chords notes spring out they do not mush together.

The layout gives you Volume, Gain and Tone. A toggle allows you to scoop mids and another kicks in a second gain stage.

CONCLUSION ___

They achieve their goal. It does all it claims. It does however give you 

it's own original sound. It is not a clone of a famous amps tone. It is refreshingly unique enough to give the daring their 'own sound'.

I find it different than any sound I have and I try and have at least 

one amp-in-a-box of every real amp, including, Laney, Orange and 

SUNN as well as the obvious Dual/Rec, Marshall, Peavey, etc.

It has a warm grit that gives you good definition without having 

to use a biting metallic like thing. The low mids are fat but

never get muddy. It is kind of like the combination of a Muff

Rams Head Fuzz blended with a Brit amp and well stirred, lol.

Dead impressive pedal. Worthy of my short list 😉