NOISE GATE- REVV G8 Gate ... simply the best!

 REVV|G8 NOISE GATE 

$200.00 USD  

I use 5 gates. If set carefully all do a very good job. None do a hard gate where the second you stop playing everything shuts off. A hard gate is not needed for the kind of noise you get from Fuzz or OD or you just want to clean up PU hum. It is perfect for Modern Metal styles like Djent or a lot of chugging or anything where you want super tight 'stops' The rule of thumb is the less noise you want to remove at one time the better. That's why I use 5 gates so I can isolate very noisy pedals on one gate, medium noisy pedals on another and even small budget gate to grab the noise from the PU's before they even get to another gate.

CONCLUSION

There is nothing new going on with the G8. However it makes sure to cover all the bases and do as well or better than all others. It is priced the same as any of it's best competition. Gate pedal quality should never to compromise on. Get the best or don't get one. You do 

not want to trade the headache of a lot of noise for a gate 

with limited response.

HOW A GATE WORKS

If you play your guitar thru an amp, even clean, a dB meter might say you are putting out a factor of 10 while you are playing but when you stop playing the hum puts out a factor of 1. The gate simply gets set to turn off your guitar signal at a factor of 1, and turn it back on if the signal coming in is louder than 1. The noise is not removed when you are playing it is simply drowned out.

In a hard gate mode it is designed so if you stop playing it shuts off your whole signal instantly as complete as if you cut your cord were cut in two.

A smart gate, which mode it also has, will never start to gate as long as the clean signal going in is still ringing. 

Furthermore if you have the gate set to at a factor of 1 your sound will start fading the volume at a factor of 2 so the notes do not get hard gated at a factor of 1 but just have a natural fade to off before it gets there.

You can use the gate knob to deliberately kick in the gate just a tad early. Doing this tightens the sound between ever chord change and sounds killer. Even with good palm muting moving your palm at high gain still gets amplified. Especially when you move your palm at high gain and fast tempos to leap over a string or 2 for high riff from a low power chord. The gate can take most of that out.

All these tricks of using a gate are used on recording so if some clever ass Star boasts they don't use one then see them live. They may sound hot on record but live without a band drowning out their sloppy playing you would cringe. Their sound is actually total sh@t.

My 4 main gates are 2  SMG Cock Blockers that are killer but were limited edition and no longer available. I also have 2 TC Electronic Sentry gates that are quite effective but are not transparent like the REVV G8. I wanted to replace one of the Sentry with something as good or better than my SMG's. I also have the Boss NS2. I think I will sell the Boss and one Sentry to offset the expense of the REVV. 

It is the only gate that addresses both seamless lower noise gating and hard gating and at the same time never colors your original signal. I bit a big bullet and am going to have the luxury of owning one.

HANDS ON

I have had it for a couple of days. It really earns it's keep when used with stupid levels of gain. You can push Metal pedals so hard they would be totally unusable without it.  

I prefer My 2  SMB Cock Blocker gates with just a single knob on a lot of noisy Fuzz pedals and any average gain pedals. They are beyond easy to set up for average noise situations. But for serious Metal needs this is not just the right one but a priority pedal to own. Finally the pedal makes your sound bigger clearer and gives it a near 3 dimensional vibe. It is like the difference between looking thru a dirty window or looking thru an open window. 

 

A FEW NEW BUTS 

October 2023  and I have second thoughts that are not about sonics but practical application. First some info about a runner up. 

In second place the winner would be ISP Decimator II G-String at $235.00 USD. It sounds very clean though slightly colored but it has a wide breadth to the sound . In other words it sounds good I would not hesitate to use it. I feel my SMG's are very much clones of it both having one knob. 

Recently  DEMONfx has made a clone, the Filtation 2 G-String, lol. At $50.00 USD. Without any damning reviews about its performance I am very tempted to get one. 

As dead laser accurate as the REVV is it is not user friendly in dialing in the right setting. In fact it is bit of a pain. For many they can set and forget in which case it is perfection loveliness. BUT ... if you need to change because of constant variation caused by different choices of dirt pedals or stacking it is on some days torture. 

GUITAR- I have 12 but if it were two..it would be these :-)

MY BEST FRIENDS

I have 12 guitars, but I play 10. I pull down 4 to play over a several hour period every day.

GIBSON STANDARD SG LTD. ED. 

It is a 2017 I bought from a Estate Sale. Never played, even the high end hard shell case was mint. It was still in the plastic bag that had a sealed top.

I bought it to flip. I paid $800.00 USD. Sad but I only guess the guy was too ill to play it. His family just sold it as a used guitar and could have seen it like all they were selling as used consumer goods like an fridge or TV. If so they would see it as 3 years old a depreciated item like a 3 year old lawn mower. 

When a manufacture makes a run of a particular guitar statistically one out of forty is exceptional. Damned if this was not the 'one'. 

Best sounding guitar I ever owned and have owned 2 vintage LP's, a V, a Firebird, an SG Special even a '63 Strat.

LENARD F-4G

It is a long story going back to 1976 when I got interested in what makes a great guitar ...great. I visited factories and the early gourmet builders and spent time with many as a free 'go-for' I made friends with both Gibson and Fender old timers. All had much to tell and one even had a giant bundle of photo copied research papers. Only one is still alive, semi retired and a very close friend of 'Leo'. I studied Industrial design and with my hands on guitar knowledge I got work redesigning guitars for production.

A few years back I decided to create LENARD Re-Inventions to make my own guitar line. My first guitar is meant to be a second guitar, a Fender for for a Gibson guy. After a lot research the consensus was a guitar that looked Fender like but not a clone. A Tele neck PU and a Strat PU for the neck and center. The best of both Tele & Strat. Gibson guys are not whammy guys so it had to have a hardtail bridge and the neck had to 'feel' like a Gibson. For the look I got access to drawings Leo made in '53 for a new guitar. He had just finished the first P Bass a double cut and so he drew a Tele body added the the bass horn and cut off the treble horn. He had finished designing the hardtail bridge, his first bridge with 6 saddles. The bridge PU was a Tele but a second PU at the neck looked like what became a Strat PU. The neck looks Fender. But since it is for a Gibson guy from the nut to the heel it is a '59 Les Paul spec. Covid virtually killed all plans to manufacture the guitars that had been set up and in motion in 2019.

Only the prototype remains.

Last words

These are my 2 favorite guitars. A classic Gibson and a Fender that was never made with a Gibson neck.

OVERDRIVE- ...several ...UNDER $50 ...and totally Pro!!!!

   POOR MANS  PRO    

Many know I have 72 pedals on my board and 35 are OD's. I also sold well over 100 pedals in just over a year. There were expensive OD's in those sales. My point is the OD's here are as good as the others on my board. 

$35.00 USD

FULLTONE OCD (MOOGOO)

Who hasn't heard of the worlds biggest selling MIAB Overdrive? Well the good news is this is what it appears to be, an OCD. BUT! It is counterfeit. Both cloned inside and out. Moogoo make Mosky and also Demon FX which is borderline counterfeit, but they also still do a few genuine fakes. You can buy one on AliExpress, $35 & Free shipping :-)

$50.00 USD

NUX PLEXI CRUNCH

Some feel this is a Ramble FX Rumble Drive. If so they sound different. Oddly enough the Nux controls are so flexible and you can dial at least 3 very different sounds. 

Marshall sounds tend to be dark, not bright but with the Nux you can get it brighter than you are likely to use. It is killer with a Tele.

$40.00 USD

NUX METAL CORE v.1

In this case they stole the name but not the pedal. 

These have been technically replaced by the the new V.2. The new one is a Boss clone. The original is an excellent MESA Dual Rectifier pedal. So good I sold my Boss Metal Core, lol.

CALINE MELLOW DRIVE

This is very,very good clone of the Vertex Ultraphonix which

$40.00 USD

when introduced did a video 'Amp vs Pedal' with a Dumble Amp. Yes ...same, same, same! Other Dumble pedals are not even close! Well ...exception being the Caline, lol.

THE FINE PRINT

I own all these pedals and use them equal to my brand name acquisitions of which are in the $200 to $300 range.The Plexi Crunch is to die for on a Tele bridge PU. The OCD is a real OCD. I do not need a MESA Dual Rectifier a lot but when I do it its for frantic temp things with a 'chug' thing.Tone matters but fat and tight together is critical and the Metal Core delivers. I am a Metal guy so on the whole Dumble pedals are for Blues and Americana. But there are spots in a tune especially with a semi they fit perfectly. The Mellow is a nobrainer choice.

LESLIE- TC ELECTRONIC Vibraclone Rotary ...perfect choice???

 TC ELECTRONIC VIBRACLONE ROTARY

To make sense of what this pedal and the dozens like it does I feel knowing what it is cloning can help.

In 1935 the Hammond Organ company made the B3 organ. Evey note was produced mechanically with a small spinning mechanical disc called a tone wheel.  In short the sound is mechanical not electronic. Churches and theatres bought them. By the 50's Jazz discovered them followed by Rock shortly after. Keith Emerson of ELP and Rick Wakeman of Yes made them the Strat/Les Paul of organs. They have not only killer tone but balz and punch!!! 

By 1971 production ceased as by then this nearly

LESLIE 122 

handmade organ was $10,000.00. You could buy a new car for 

$2000. Keep in mind that this organ weighed 500 pounds too.

In 1940 the Leslie 122 Speaker arrived. The idea was to emulate the sound of a pipe organs sound in a cathedral when the sound echoed and reverberated off of the walls arches and ceiling. It was done by having a spinning pair of horns and a 15" speaker pushing the sound down into a wooden spinning rotor.

The horn spun in one direction and the Rotor in the other. 

The Rotor is a wooden drum covered in black cotton that you see in the pic.

Eventually guitarists discovered the Leslie but it was used 99% of the time in the studio :-)

__________________________________________________

It can now be accomplished digitally. The very best is the 

NEO Venti 122. But at $500.00 USD a pop it may be more than you need, lol.

VIBRACLONE ROTARY

$90.00 USD

The TC version is a clone of the old defunct Fender take on a Leslie. It has speed to emulate the motors driving the real Leslie. And a switch for the two effects Chorale and Vibrato. On the real Leslie you had 2 speeds and you could create a cool effect by playing while the spinning horn and drum slowed down. Cool sound. A bit of drive is added because you could purposely overdrive the B3 organ and it became part of the sound. Keep in mind that the old Uni-Vibe was meant to be a Leslie but it failed. No one cared because it was cool just being its own thing. That is how I see a pedal like this. It does not have to clone the real Leslie like the NEO does it just has to sound good. It does without breaking the bank. Cheaper ones tend to lack clarity crispness and a nice fat sound. Others I find are not necessary better or have more features. This is the 'goldilocks' choice.

PREAMP/OD ...BLACKSTAR Dept.10 Dual Drive & the Dual Distortion ...well executed tube pre amps

BLACKSTAR  DEPT 10 DUAL DRIVE 

either $350.00 USD

Tube preamps are not new in a pedal form. The voice of a tube amp is mainly in the pre. The power amp stage does make a difference but to all but the owner/player not a lot. The problem for most of us is that these items have been in the gourmet domain. When you can afford one you have to ask yourself why you would not just buy a whole new amp.

You can put the Blackstar into any amp and make a huge difference. You could get just about any used bargain basement tube amp and turn it into a serious Rock amp.

The 'Drive' model is voiced with a basic Clean & Crunch sound on one channel and Crunch and Shred on the other. It has a definite Brit vibe. 

They also do the same pedal called the Dept.10 Dual Distortion (black) for the high gain player who wants a JCM 800 and beyond. 

You get level, a simple 3 way EQ with 2 channels & each with gain and level. It has outputs to go to a board, or direct in to a PC. I will dispense with the detail as a video with 'show and tell' is a must.

CONCLUSION

Yes it is a single tube and not an all tube preamp. Big But Ever since Fuzz arrived in the 60's transistors became part of the preamp stage. It is yet another option. Of late I have even become jaded with digital delays over analog. I do use both and probably always will. My point is that pedals like this connect to the digital world but are keeping your actual playing experience in the analog domain. There are those that say all this analog stuff  is just purest nonsense. If analog is nonsense why do these guys not play a plastic or aluminum guitar ???

DELAY - ELECTRO HARMONIX Nano Deluxe Memory Man ...NEW released today!!!

ELECTRO-HARMONIX 

NANO 

DELUXE 

MEMORY MAN 

$200.00 USD

In the last couple of years EH has gone back and and took their classics and has gone to great lengths to reproduce the originals that if are not identical twins but so close you have to put them beside the originals and listen over and over just to find some lint to pick.

The unique thing EH had with their original delay was a very chimey sound that on record might have you thinking it was digital. Being analog it still had it's analog warmth. The Deluxe added vibrato and chorus long before it was in digital pedals.

It uses the new Xvive MN330X chips which are repro's of the totally defunct Panasonic and Reticon chips. The result is startling as any difference in sound is imperceptible.

CONCLUSION

I am impressed with what I hear in the comparison demos.

I have had everything from the original Echoplex tube model tape delay to the high end literally state of the art chips Empress Echosystem. If tech made a better sound 

then no one would want a Stradivarius violin they would want a carbon fibre one.

New tech can, will and does come up with new pedals that neither better or worse than the old pedals. boss continues to make what technically low fi Digital Delays just because they sound good. So my point is owning all 3 types of delays, analog, digital and tape simply gives you 3 great but equal choices.

In nature if you hear echos the space between them is not equal neither is their tone the same. My point is a delay from a pedal is artificial from the start. How you make it is irrelevant. If it sounds good  ...it is.

WHY ANALOG ANYWAY ???

On the whole I prefer analog delays since the highs and overtones are muted and do not make a noticable clash with the direct signal. The problem with any delay is the note or chord that being repeated is landing on top of the following note or chords you playing after it.  For example, if you play a 'g#' then play 'g' the sound of both hit your ears at the same time.

CHOICES 

On most tunes I have an analog delay in the background all the time much like using the reverb on an amp. It sounds killer but with a digital sound ...NO! If digital is used to mimic tape delay then I find it also works very well as tape delays are also very limited with highs and overtones.

For tape I can fully recommend the Dunlop/MXR Echoplex and for analog the NUX DCP-03 Analog are both exceptional. The NUX $60.00 USD and is literally the classic Ibanez AD-80, chips and all.

DELAY-BOSS DM-2W ...is it worth the big bucks ???

 BOSS DM-2W ANALOG DELAY 

$155.00 USD

The original Boss was an excellent sounding analog delay. In the 80's the bucket brigade chips most popular were ones like the Panasonic. They were cheap and had a very warm character and pleasing  character. Keep in mind the object of Panasonic was never a nice warm tone but a transparent and clean sound. The chip was meant for consumer products. More chips were found in Karaoke machines than pedals. In short the chip was stepping stone and was guaranteed to be discontinued.

The original was a much loved pedal. BIG BUT. So was the MXR, the Ibanez and others as they used the same tech and often the same parts. A few years back Panasonic agreed to re-release the original Panasonic 3201 and 35002 BBC chips.

It allowed Boss to take on a Waza Craft variation. They nailed the old sound added another and did the whole thing in stereo.

CONCLUSION

First a purist does not need or want stereo. The pedal was 

designed in the first place to sound killer thru the front end 

of a single amp. The only pro using stereo live these days is

usually using a modeler for their whole rig. The price is not crazy

but for half you can get a NUX Reissue Series Analog Delay. 

It is the twin sister to Ibanez AD-80 an equally coveted vintage

delay. The NUX is $60.00 USD.

FUZZ- IBANEZ 850 Fuzz Mini ...a not so Big, ...Muff

 IBANEZ 850 FUZZ Mini 

In 1974 Maxon borrowed The 4 transistor topology of the Big Muff Rams Head and modded the EQ a bit and brought out the D&S Distortion and Sustainer pedal. Since Ibanez had world wide distribution with their guitars they found it easier to slap on the Ibanez 850 label and do what they always did was sell the Maxon brand virtually only at home.

Most of you know by now that there has never been an Ibanez pedal ever. The first Ibanez guitars were rebranded Guyotone guitars. Ibanez has never designed and made anything. Everything is farmed out. Yes they have for years used the same designers for the guitars but they are contracted. A few years back there was a limited edition of the pedal. 

$90.00 USD

It was followed by the mini. 

The layout is the usual level, gain and tone. Overall the sound it is very well done. You get a cheap price and save real estate space on your board.

CONCLUSION

Fortunately you can find them at a shop and try one. I recommend you also try The $110.00 USD Electro Harmonix Rams Head Big Muff. 

Having owned the original Rams Head I can tell you that the

new reissue is as close as it gets. It blew me away!!!

IBANEZ

Where it all started.

IBANEZ JET KING JTK30

A reissue of the first Ibanez 
which is a Guyotone LG130T
Do not let the Retro look fool you.
It has P90 PU's. I use it for modern Metal. It can make
most modern shred guitars sound wimpy in comparison.

TRANSISTORS- A miracle invention.

 TRANSISTORS

They changed the future more than 

any single piece of tech. Check this out! 

A 'Need to Know' video for any pedal lover.

DISTORTION ...why even a little does a lot.

A HEADS UP ON DIRT  

Some of this is a bit dry but at least watch the

first 2 minutes even if you skip past bits 

later. Watching some random 

things here and there will still give you 

a few things that are really 

worth knowing.

OVERDRIVE- ORIGIN EFFECTS Deluxe 61 ...a 61 Fender Deluxe-in-a-Box

 ORIGIN EFFECTS DELUXE 61 

$375.00 USD

Origin made a serious OD the Rival Drive that if your patience could
endure it you could either mimic any guitar amp on the planet or invent your own. It was large very expensive and a headache to program. 99% of those who got it got a good Plexi sound and left it at that. Origin wisely made the 'Compact' which made getting that Plexi faster. they then did the "hot' version' to mimic all the gourmet hot rodded Plexi amps. The obvious thing to do is to simply clone popular amps which seems to be just what they are doing. The new pedal is a vintage Fender.

The voicing is fixed to nail the sound so you can mainly only effect the level and drive. A big part of the Fender amp was there Vibrato which has been nailed with equal aplomb.

CONCLUSION

The pedal will only pull is weight with a very good and clean amp sound. Ideally a Fender tube amp.

MIAB pedals have a sound that literally pretty much buries any amps tone in so far as it is easy to get an acceptable sound. If you were to put this thru a Brit amp of facsimile you would simply have profoundly ridiculously expensive boost pedal It is expensive but if I were a Fender guy I would have ordered one before I even wrote this Post,lol.

THE FINE PRINT

There are no details yet but Origin are going to make

Signature pedals. The first is the Tony Iommi OD.

DELAY- GEKO PEDALS Geko-Plex EP-5 ...King of faux Echo-Plex tape type delay pedals???

 GEKO PEDALS GEKO-PLEX EP-5

Yes another Echo-Plex wannabe. I owned E-Plex in the 60's in fact I had V.1 which had a tube preamp in it.

I know have the Dunlop Echo-Plex. For a classic no fuss killer echo? I have found nothing better.

I had a high end digital and it is NOT better. Why? Analog devices both pedals and tape etc. lay in behind you guitar. Digital sounds are tiny recordings of your actual guitar and compete for attention with your actual guitar. All delays create noticeable discord. Take for example you pluck a 'g' note and play a 'g#' right after it. your delayed "g' lands on top of your 'g'. In the real world this actually does not sound that bad but the mellow sound of analog devices hides this very well.

$540.00 USD

OK ..Having said that is this the best or indeed closest to the original pedals tone. It does not sound distinctly better than the Dunlop but

but I doubt I could give it less than a tie. 

It gives you 3 presets which is useful. the layout mimics the E-Plex. you even get a slider to mimic the moving the actual tape head of the E-plex.

They added modern features like 'tap tempo' and thru in a Delay.

CONCLUSION

If you do a Rock-a-Billy thing or anything 50's or 60's it might be worth the investment. For all others no. If EVH is the primer for your tone I would get the Dunlop. I actually bought my Dunlop on advice from Dave Friedman who swears they nail the EVH sound and guys he knows who  have the original tape E-Plex have switched. He is beyond right.

Then there is the price and the real estate. The Dunlop is $200.00 USD.

OVERDIVE- ZANDER CIRCUITRY Cranium ...the Rat to end all Rats? ...quite possible :-)

$200.00 USD

ZANDER CIRCUITRY  CRANIUM

Even Rat offers a half dozen variation of their Rat. Most gourmet pedals put one or two distinct options in their Rat. But what if you put every damn one in one pedal?

Let's start with the layout. First you get gain and tone, Next there is a variable resistor control, add a 'Body' knob which gives you a serious boost of gain on the lows. Level of course, then Blast which is boost level of output. Rotary which gives you multiple choices of clipping diodes, Dead cool as every click covers one or more of the other makers Rat pedals. Putting all these functions on pots lets you dial the amounts of anything & everything instead of switches with a fixed amount.

CONCLUSION__

I am impressed that unlike other builders the whole reason to get a Rat is not buried in pointless features that are often dumb downs that that try and send to turn the pedal into a Tube Screamer. If it is called a Rat it better be in your face or why not just buy the $60 Ratt II that is.

REVERB/TREMOLO/OD- VALCO Five-o ...David Lynch-in-Box :-)

 VALCO FIVE-O 

$385.00 USD

Eastwood guitars makes Valco. A very big part of their market are Retro guitars that are popular in the Alt. Music scene that play various eclectic mixtures of Americana. Rock-a-Billy and Surf often thread thru this music. For the millions that love David Lynch soundtracks especially Twin Peaks then you know what you are in for.

You get a faux exaggerate Spring Reverb. I suspect it is the Accutronics Digi-Log chip. Accutronics have forever been in the Spring Reverb biz most notably used in in all Fenders tube amps. 

The Tremolo is a modern one with a choice of waveforms. The probability of the overdrive not being the usual twist on a Tube Screamer is zero.

CONCLUSION

The reverb chip is a $35 part. The Tremolo is not some vintage optic circuit but a chip. A good killer Tube Screamer clone is $35. You can buy a Tremolo from $25 and up. Several brand names are $100.

The pedal looks dead cool and Eastwood products are well made and robust. BUT!!! WTF ...I need say no more.

FUZZ- RAMBLE FX Twin Bender ...classic Tone Bender Fuzz cleaned up

 RAMBLE FX TWIN BENDER 

HISTORY

$200.00 USD

There are 4 Tone Benders. The V.1 was bumped up Maestro Fuzz tone the granddad the granddad of all
Fuzz pedals. The V.2 was serious and unique upgrade. The V.3 added EQ and actually change the voicing to be be more like V.1. Next was  V.4 which abandoned the germanium transistors of the others for the Silicon Transistor that the Big Muff put on the map and was taking their market share. The V.4 was generally ignored.

The most popular was and always has been V.2. For a short time there was V1.5 that was shipped as a V.2 even though there were great many real V.2 models had been solid for some time. The V1.5 is consider by some to the king.

Germanium Fuzz pedals have many problem with changes in the signal path by anything but a guitar plugged into them and also any pedal that follow them.  It was not a problem when they came out as there were virtually no other kinds of pedals had even been invented. 

They also can become unusable by temperature changes. Add to that they hate buffers and radio signals. 

THE TWIN

Well Ramble took on the problems.If not solved they are all lessened. Things like giving you a BIAS control let you match the transistors if one drifts from the other.

You get a choice of the V1.5 and the V2.0. You also get a switch to boost the mid or fatten the pedal with a few lows. you can control the impedance on the input so you can use a Wah, buffer, wireless or active PU's without the Fuzz taking a F. off pill.

CONCLUSION

Great build and reasonable price. You definitely get a true Tone Bender sound.

without a Tone Bender price :-)

BUT! The best I have heard to catch the full vibe of the era is the Tone Cloud Pedals Jaffa Fuzz. At $250 it is more. You you should check the Post. It is a 10 out of 10 in my book. True it is NOT a Tone Bender but as noted it has the full vibe without all the fixes in the Twin Bender that are very helpful but not bullet proof. The pedal may not be happy with your rig or be free of hassle at some gigs.

OVERDRIVE- RAMBLE FX Marvel Drive 3... classic MIAB get's an update

 RAMBLE FX MARVEL DRIVE 

$180.00 USD

About 8 years ago this was a little miracle box. One of the first MIAB
pedals and it was the must have OD for years. NUX produced one of the first clones not long after. The NUX has been reissued.The NUX sounds different but one reviert who owned the Ramble felt it was as good.

I have NUX myself and it really is damn good pedal. Needless to say a bargain.

The layout is unusual with High Treble, Normal, Master & Presence. Although it runs on 9v you can hit a that an internal circuit boosts it to 18v. You even get a choice of colors.

CONCLUSION

It is still a contender. Very much a JTM45 vibe. Keep in mind that when you hear a guy on record that has killer sustain etc.that uses a Marshall it does not matter if the record is late 60's or yesterday the guy is boosting it. In the early days it was always a Fuzz but it changed when the Tube Screamer came out. I use a ts myself even on JCM 800 pedals.

MORE RAMBLING

RAMBLE FX also do the Kismet OD. It takes the basic idea of the Marvel but gives you active EQ and boost that takes the marshall vibe into gourmet Amp territory. or if you wish something in the medium gain OD territory. Although it is ALL analog it has 4 memory patches to store your faves and MIDI if you wish to store more.

It is a very,very impressive pedal. It would be worth the $250.00 price even if it did not have the memory thing.

OVERDRIVE- CALINE Mellow Drive ...a Dumble? ...a Vertex Ultraphonix for sure!

 CALINE MELLOW DRIVE 

$40.00 USD

Everyone does a Dumble. The original Dumble amp was very much a Fender Deluxe with Tube Screamer built into it. The one he called the Overdrive Special is the one that gets all the focus was more Fender Bassman like. If that is vague than good. The problem is a Dumble amp was like a signature guitar. You picked one of the the basic amps and it was customized for the buyer to the extreme. The buyer would come to the shop once the amp chassis was up and working and any kind of change was made whether it was big or just tweaking. So when you hear that no two Dumbles are alike it is hardly an exaggeration.

On the whole the first Dumble pedals were very smooth sounding with no bass and weak lower mids as well. in short  they were to me wimpy and balzless.

Vertex makes the Ultraphonix. They had the luxury of hearing several Dumbles ...but better still they had one on loan to work from. 

It was finished 3 years ago after which they did a Dumble vs. Pedal video. 

It has a nice chunky organic sound with some punch.

The Caline is in the ballpark. 

The mids are fatter but the basic voice is damn close.

CONCLUSION

I have no complaints. The Vertex has more overall presence. BUT WTF !!! The Vertex is not 5 times better? Then there are other pedals not near as close to the $200 Vertex that are not even close to the Dumble amp that want a lot more.

Check it out!

the Vertex vs. the Dumble amp

Then note the Caline on the first video at 8:15

even with a different guitar and amp

if not an identical twins ...still a twin!!!

HANDS ON

Well my pedal arrived early. After trying it for several tunes and several guitars. I found I like using it best with the gain low at 8 o'clock on my Semi. It it is very full and warm but at the same time a every note in a chord I am playing rings out clean, clear and dined.The harmonics are rich and nearly all even order so nothing ever gets muddy or worse yet sounds out of tune even though it isn't. I found on my Gibson SG Std it gave the guitar a Gibson ES 335 Semi vibe to it. It definitely blew my mind when that happened.

It replaced 2 other OD's and one was stupidly pricey. I have a  Bluesbreaker style OD. that I am reassessing if it could not cover what it does. The Bluesbreaker has a much brighter and assertive sound but it too I only used for flatpicking.

I have zero complaints. The damn thing is big league sounding and incredibly useful for

so many things where one usually gets a Tubes Screamer or a Timmy or some high priced gourmet MIJ offering for. I should know I owned them all only to be totally bummed out over another needless waste of money.

OVERDRIVE- LUNASTONE Deep Metal... Trash, Death and Black Metal-in-a-Box ?

 LUNASTONE DEEP METAL 

$200.00 USD

This Danish company has a loyal following of players who talk about Steen Gonved's pedals in hushed tones. With names like Smooth Drive, Drive One and Drive 2 they must be sacred. Nothing could be more pretentious than being so pretentiously,unpretentious. To me theses pedals should be called Wimpy 1, Wimpy 2 and Old-man Smoothie Drive. 

I was quite surprised by a Metal pedal. The idea was to capture the general vibe of the sounds of Trash, Death Metal and Black Metal. Which in the early days was still mostly a Marshall pushed by a Tube Screamer. So you get some JFETS in the box to 'Marshall up' the amp sound and an OpAmp for the Tube Screamer

CONCLUSION

Well the pedal definitely catches that sound. You get the highs and lows with a definite bit of scoop.This is not a MESA Dual Rectifier type sound and is not meant to be. The tone is quite detailed with a reasonable amount of rich overtone. A big bonus is 

it is fizz free. There is't any serious EQ sso tweaking is a non starter. You do not get the grit and balz of other Metal pedals. 

It is meant for a specific sound and does it very well. 

OVERDRIVE- SPUN LOUD EFFECTS The Litagator OD ... JTM 45-in-a-Box?

$150.00 USD

 SPUN LOUD EFFECTS THE LITIGATOR OVERDRIVE 

The 'Beano' tone? well it was the aim. It is NOT a Marshall Bluesbreaker, or BOSS pedal but a shot at the real deal. The idea is not new as Keeley has the El Rey Dorado pedal. It is a serious JFET overdrive not another OpAmp/Tube Screamer

design. It has the classic volume, gain and tone. This works well if the fixed EQ of the pedal is nailed. When set bright this pedal thins and set low it gets murky and is not saved by

harmonic richness. It sounds best with healthy amount of highs. Used that way for flatpicking or some dirt on a semi 

like a Gibson ES 335 could be effective. 

CONCLUSION

The intent is there. The video's are lame and these are the best of several. The Keeley is the obvious comparison.

I have one and it sits in with I feel are 15 of the very best MIAB on the planet.  I have easily bought and sold a dozen others that got bumped by these pedals. The Keeley is same price. So compare!