UNIVIBE- JAM PEDALS Retrovibe V.4___NEW___same ol' Jam box but more features :-)

JAM PEDALS

$525.00 USD

 RETROVIBE  V.4

JAM Pedals have always nailed a pedal they cloned 

and then fixed the bugs of the original and/or added 

new features. So if like me I believe if a pedal is NOT broke than do not fix it then if I keep my thumb 

off the 'magic' toggle I will be happy.

           CONCLUSION __

So there is nothing new in the sound 

of this pedal. It just has more functions 

added. It is like all their stuff ___pricey. 

BUT?

The stuff seldom shows up use and  

when it does the guy gets what he paid 

for when he bought it a few years ago.

For the majority of buyers this is a keeper. 

OD/Pre- DSM & DUMBOLDT Dumplifier Overdrive Special___NEW___arguably flawless ?

D S M  &  H U M B O L D T 

$570.00 USD

DUMBLIFIER 

  Overdrive Special  

An analog Dumble-in-a-Box rigged out to use as Modeler replacement, with verb & Cabs, both low and high imp out. The Pre and Amp section has controls to fine tweak both just like a real amp.

CONCLUSION ___

I will skip any detail. You are paying for real amp feel and expression which can not translate. Even with high gain settings it is as free of any noise yet it hasn't a gate.

All that takes the best parts you can by and endless days and hours prototyping over 

& over etc.  

 

FUZZ- FRUIT FX Melon Cube ___NEW___ unexpectedly impressive!!!

FruitFX

melon cube

$150.00 USD

This is a digital Fuzz. The only other of note is the BOSS FZ-5 which has a take on a Fuzz Face, an Octavio and a Maestro Fuzz-Tone. 

The 'Melon' does an octave thing too but like the DOD Gonkulator Ringmod it too has a ring modulator.

The gate and velcro tone of the BIAS setting on this plays a big part in the sound. The layout has Level, Tone and Gain. Another control for the Gate and still another that takes Fuzz square waveform and squeezes it into a rectangle.  

CONCLUSION ___ 

The 'Melon' can do much the same but but it 

is focused on being more of a useful Metal sound 

that can slip into many genres. All and all impressive.

In short it is fairly priced factoring in all the extras. 

 

  thefineprint

The now 15 year old BOSS FZ-1 is worthy of a 

look at $110.00 USD.

The DOD Gonkulator Ringmod is $135.00 USD.

Add to that a dead on part for part copy of it 

The Ginean Modulator is a tempting 'Why Not' 

at $30.00 USD. 

HAS THE QUAD CORTEX SOON TO COME ...ACTUALLY ? ...ACTUALLY ARRIVED

QUAD? 

   Four times better or same old?  ᐧ 

Four years ago when it came out we expected a user friendly unit. We got that,😇. 

We also expected convincing 10 out of 10 sounds. We got passable sounds that 

were better than other makes but they were not killer. We were told we could 

easily make our own sounds. We could make sounds but it's grindingly slow both 

in processing time & execution. It was made more frustrating as we had to be 

lucky to nail what we wanted or go through the entire process again & again & 

again. The fact is trying each 'again' helped but the end result was always 

disappointing and a compromise.

DELAY- IBANEZ Layer Delayer ___NEW___ multi head delays

$280.00 USD

Ibanez 

LAYER 

DELAYERㆍ

It covers Tape, Analog and Digital based sounds. It is stereo and has 8 preset panning effects. It comes with 20 presets 

but has memory for 30 of your own. Yes it 

does but I am not writing a manual, 😇 

 

      CONCLUSION __

It is U2's Edge on steroids. The learning curve will take awhile 

but it will be half the time of 

the competition. 

The overall tone is exceptionally appealing it 

does not have any of that digital glassy near 

metallic gloss. It sounds very warm yet not 

muddy and hasn't any annoying artifacts. 

All that said I hope and would prefer if it 

came out in a standard Ibanez pedal size 

with a few 'best of' sounds. 

  

TUBE PRE- EARTHQUAKER Devices ZEQD-Pre ___NEW___ real tube Pre

$400.00 USD

EarthQuaker Devices

ZEQD-Pre

It is tube Boost pedal with a solid state EQ that you can run with the EQ in or out. It goes out an analog faux speaker sound either high or low impedance out. You can use it like a standard pedal or straight out to the house etc. like you would with a modeler. 

CONCLUSION __

The tube is an EF86 like you find in a Dr. Z amp.

Not that it isn't pleasant sounding but the industry standard is a 12AX7. For a start Marshall, Gibson, HiWatt, VOX, Laney, Supro, Orange and Fender use them for their Pres's. The 12AX7 is giant part of the sound of 99% of all Rock tube amps. There are 2 in the Friedman preamp pedals. The Friedman is $500.00 USD.

If budget is the problem, check out the $260.00 USD Hagarman

12AX7 Overdriver.

 

SOLDANO AMP vs. ALL the Modelers

ARE REAL AMPS BETTER ? 

LEO GIBSON takes any piece of gear and finds everything down to the tiniest flaw with it one thing EVERY modeler had in common is it dead easy to tell it did not come close to the real amp...  

1.) The real amp has more balz, more punch and richer harmonics

2.) The real amp has more balz, more punch and richer harmonics

3.) Most important I found that the real amp has more balz, more              

punch and richer harmonics, LOL

FUZZ- COLLISION DEVICES Snack Series Fuzz ___NEW___ overhyped DOD Gonkulator?

CD COLLISION DEVICES   SNACK SERIES FUZZ

$225.00 USD

The look and marketing is hype laid on 

with a trowel to convince you that pedal 

is the work of genius design. What we 

have here is a dark and bassy sounding 

Fuzz with a ring modulator. The layout 

is Volume, Gain and Filter. Filter? On a 

Rat is simply a tone control that is wire 

in counter clockwise. On a Ring Modulator 

along with the Magic knob it Filters out noise 

& blends in some ring modulation. 

CONCLUSION __ 

DOD make their $135.00 USD Gonkulator 

Ringmod and Ginean do a near duplicate 

of it called the Modulator Ringmod that is 

$30.00 USD. WTF $225.00 !!!  

I don't think so.

OVERDRIVE- HAGERMAN AMPLIFICATION- 12AX7 Overdriver ...impressive for the $

HAGERMAN AMPLIFICATION

12AX7 OVERDRIVER

$260.00 USD

Jim Hagerman from Hawaii has been around forever. 

In fact since 1982. Stereo HiFi buffs have been buying his very high-end Preamps for decades. Jim is also a player and as a kid he was frustrated he could not get pedals for a reasonable price. in short his HiFi things are pricey plus but his pedals both transistor or tubes are reasonable especially as they do 

not cut any corners. 

The layout is simple with Volume, Tone and Gain.

CONCLUSION __

An original clean channel type pre. you can boost it or indeed boost your amp with it. the price is dirt cheap 

for a handmade tube pre. 

     

NEED TO KNOW ___ A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNIVOX SUPER-FUZZ

   SO  YOU'RE  NOT  FUZZY  ABOUT  YOUR   

   FUZZES  

________________________________

 

OVERDRIVE- APOLLO APPROVED Buckartie-Boo ...boutique Nobels OTR-1

apollo  A P P R O V E D  

BUCKARTIE-BOO     

$385.00 USD

 The current darling of Nashville. Players are shelving their 

 antique and unreliable Nobels ODR-1 for this apparent gem.😲 

 The layout as expected is Volume, Tone & Gain the toggle 

 is a Bass cut. 

           CONCLUSION __

According to Mason Marangella of Vertex Effects 

the difference big between this and the new 

Nobels ODR-Mini 2 is primarily $300,LOL. I found 

a very noticeable difference ...in the size of the

enclosure, 😇.

Seriously guys I checked out 4 real ODR-1 pedals 

& in a blindfold I found the mini a nano bit cleaner 

and an equally nano amount tighter.