OVERDRIVE- FORTIN AMPLIFICATION Kali___NEW ___ Plexi/JCM800-in-a-Box

FORTIN  AMPLIFICATION

  Kali  | |

                      $300.00 USD ??           

It started with Friedman and soon after other Amp companies

like REVV made a very serious attempt to capture their best

selling amp into an Amp-in-a-Box pedal. A bit late in the 

game but we now get the Fortin Kali. 

The amp they modeled it from was started using Marshall 

topography, and then was hot rodded into half 

Plexi/half JCM 800.

   CONCLUSION ___ 

Impressive. Even so a lot of MIAB pedals are even 

some less than a 3rd of the price. The price is not

yet published. I simply borrowed from their most 

recent amp-in-a-box. It could be more. 

 

LOOPER- WALRUS AUDIO Xero Polylooper ___NEW___ no dancing required

WALRUS AUDIO 

XERO POLY LOOPER ..

$300.00 USD

It's basic thing is to give you 2 separate tracks that can run in

stereo for up to 3 minutes but you can dub over them endlessly.

You can create polyrhythms by running them against and across

each other. It has many other cut and past features that are easy 

to learn and work with. Even so much of all this can be done live without getting confused or learning to dance.

     CONCLUSION __ 

Basically a highly creative piece of gear that is 

aimed at a player not a rocket scientist. Even if 

used very simply it takes the aggravation of 

learning to dance. It has great specs so great 

things need not be lost if you want to transfer

them in real time as part of a permanent

recording. 

    

 

FUZZ- THORPY EFFECTS Peace 2 Keeper GE ___NEW___ Germanium low gain edition

Thorpy  FX

$375.00 USD

 PEACE  2 KEEPER GE 

Version one came out 9 years ago and is a high gain Fuzz. Like all Thorpy pedals any little extra is added and all the parts are either rare NOS or the best of the best new parts. I bought and used 

the guys Comp for a couple of years. It was early days and I

thought it would give me endless sustain. Wrong, LOL. 

The layout is Gain, Level, Presence, Treble and Bass. 

        ___

   CONCLUSION ___

It sounds killer but one pays for a lot 

of extras that are not needed for a 

good basic build yet an equally 

impressive sound. 

 

FUZZ- SPRUCE EFFECTS Jr. Ranger Series Saguaros ___NEW ___killer ...$ LOW

Spruce Effects 

$120.00 USD

SAGUAROS

The company has been around for 8 years making handmade

dirt pedals especially Fuzz pedals. They were made of vintage 

and often rare NOS Germanium transistors and other antique parts. Needless to say dead cool but expensive. The Jr. Ranger series uses new parts & the more accessible Silicon transistors. These pedals are based off of his best gourmet jobbies. 

They are NOT clones.

CONCLUSION ___

The damn pedal speaks for itself. It is not a subtle Fuzz. 

It can tear your face off. I have heard many Fuzz boxes 

at twice the price that do not come close to sounding 

this good!  

OVERDRIVE- iSET Grim Heavy Metal ...good ...but surprisingly cheap

$25.00 USD

 iSET     

GRIM HEAVY METAL

Mooer make pedals for 35 companys & this is one of them. Nothing changes 

but the knobs, paint colors and graphics. This has been sold by Mooer as 

their Blade for years. 

The layout is Volume, Gain and Tone. A toggle triggers Low or High boost 

or leave it centered on off.

___

                        CONCLUSION ___ 

Ten years ago there wasn't a 'go to' modern Metal pedal to clone. Most were really a Fuzz with unusable buzz and fizz. Like the EHX Metal Muff that some say the Blade is. If it is, where is all the mud the Muff version has, lol.

Mooer did a respectable job. They even wisely put a gate in it. 

If your whole thing is modern Metal genres you might want to 

give this a pass. On the other hand if it is only part of your 

thing this has a good sound and is a cheap fix.

       

I ordered one ...😎

OVERDRIVE- TOKETONE Manticore___NEW___ better than a Klon ???

$130.00 USD

TOKETONE 

MANICORE

This pedal is a clone of the ProAnalog Manticore. 

I have found a few 2024 originals but for $625.00 USD!!! Since Andertons has ceased to carry the line I suspect it is defunct. I can not find a Home site for ProAnalog either although I have a vague memory that they had one when the 4 knob V.1 of the Manticore was sold as a Klon clone.

Designed by J.Palike and someone called Scotty?

Version 2 of the Manticore was keep what was good about

the Klon which is their secret sauce pre-boost that fades out

at 9 O'clock on the Gain and a more Tube Screamer like circuit 

fades in and replaces it. What replaces it in the Manticore V.2 is impressive!!! 

    CONCLUSION ___ 

The TOKETONE is so new that there are 

no videos. If the pic of the guts was not 

published I probably would not have 

Posted this. No one who makes junk wants 

anyone to even peak inside their pedal, LOL. 

OK... the real Manticore will have to surfice.

One hopes the Toketone sounds as pro.

....................

OVERDRIVE- WESTMINISTER EFFECTS Edwards Overdrive V.2 ...8 years later and ???

WESTMINSTER EFFECTS 

Edwards Overdrive V.2 

$170.00 USD

When this came out 8 years ago a Bluesbreaker wasn't a 'thing' we all 

had or even knew about. More of us new about the King of Tone and it is simply 2 B.B's in one box. The layout is Volume, Tone, and Gain. A toggle lets you choose a standard or more aggressive diode or simple bypass 

any diodes for a bigger open sound. The high cut lets you add chime or remove harshness on higher gain settings.

      CONCLUSION ___ 

It is not a better choice but simply another. 

Some makers are giving you a dramatically

transparent pedal and others are turning 

them into higher gain pedals that are heading 

into Rat territory. They are all ice cream so

just pick your favorite flavor.

_____ OZZY OSBORNE DEAD ____

GOODBYE OZZY  

I know nothing. I will be back ASAP when I do.

FUZZ-DPO PEDALS Buzz Tone... Sid Barrett/Floyd Fuzz

$170.00 USD

DPO PEDALS

BUZZ TONE 

This was sold originally as the Selmer Buzz Tone back when all Fuzz pedals used germanium transistors.

It is a low gain Fuzz with a near mellow sound to a sound with a bit 

of bite added. The layout is Volume and Gain with a toggle to switch between from 9v to 6v or 3v. This gives it more grit when using 

less voltage. It uses NOS vintage transistors. 

   CONCLUSION __ 

It is in a different way like a low gain transparent OD. No

it is a Fuzz and will never be dead clean but it creates a 

very similar vibe as a low gain OD. Great sound for

accompanying a vocal.

        

OVERDRIVE- STOLL EFFECTS Half Horse___NEW___ Klon? hard to tell, lol

STOLL

 HALF HORSE 

$350.00 USD

Outside of stating "That sounds good to me" the best way to judge a Klon is to know how it works. Think of having 2 pedals. One is a nearly clean Boost with a touch of very, very pleasing harmonics popping thru the sound. The other is very close to an average Tube Screamer. You turn up the Boost and when you get 25% up you turn it slowly down as you turn the Tube Screamer up. Once the the Screamer is about 60% up the Boost is on zero. So you have 2 sounds to judge. The STOLL is bit above average with its Boost part but it is in my opinion much better than a real Klon in its medium OD part of the pedal. Yes I said much better. It is very rich and very smooth in a way imposible to dismiss. 

   CONCLUSION ___

It does indeed sound excellent. As for me I have got over picking any pedal by 

its type or label. I would love to have a pedal that had the real Klons boost part 

on its own. Having the OD part of it is of zero interest to me. 

The only Klon I have heard that does impress me is the new SONICAKE Trio-Rider. 

It has 3 voices of the 3 real Klons. The (silver), (gold) and the so-called version 

2 the (red) KMD. The $50.00 USD price is...

.....