OVERDRIVE- JV EFFECTS Honeycomb OD ...new company, quality handmade ...Cheap!

JV EFFECTS| HONEYCOMB OD 

$85.00 USD

Like many small startups this company from Malta is on Reverb. It makes sense as perhaps it is often just one guy building pedals on his kitchen table and with no business experience. Both he and the customer have a 'store' to sell from that is trusted. Companies this small neither have the time or money to promote their pedals so except for reviewers they are invisible. 

It is however these small builders where 99% of the really cool pedals come from. The Klon is the best example of this. New builders have no choice but to sell as cheap as possible to temp t you to buy and to win your trust on your first purchase.

Everyone starts with clones. The best add something new or improve on the original.

The Honeycoomb is a take on the Beetronics Fat Bee OD which is a medium gain OD with a warm rich sound with a bit of mid 60's Brit Fuzz vibe. A pedal I loved when I heard it but like all their product it is pricey in a large part do to extreme ornamentation and hand art work on the casings.

The layout is a simple volume, gain and tone.

CONCLUSION

You get a standard 'B' style casing with simple but tasteful graphics and a handmade pedal using quality parts at a cheap and cheerful price. It has a very pleasing warm sound that is transparent in it's lower gain region. Pushed it is really full and warm but not muddy. Nothing wrong with the sound. I can not fault it for not fitting into my primarily aggressive music. I see it as more of an Indie/Alt, Americana type thing.

___ DAVID CROSBY ___ 1941 - 2023 __ DEAD at 81

DAVID CROSBY 

Founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Just last month he announced he would form a new band and tour.

No cause of death has been announced.

Although it was Bob Dylan that signaled the first move by going electric it was Crosby with these two bands that turned this approach into a new genre referred to as Folk rock.

COMPRESSOR- DRYBELL Module 4___ NEW ___ vintage Orange Sqeezer updated

DRYBELL MODULE 4 COMPRESSOR 

$315.00 USD

Dan Armstrong , the same guy that designed the lucite guitar also did pedals. Actually not pedals but little boxes. The plug shaft was attached to the box and you plugged it in your guitar. 

The little boxes sound great but they were often impractical let lone ugly.

The comp would follow the dynamics of your touch and both boost the overtones and swell your notes.

The layout is volume, tone and blend with your clean sound. Attack to swell in the note and release time to stop comping it and let it fade away. Preamp allows you to set the sensitivity.

CONCLUSION

It gives you a lot of tone 

shaping. The long even sustain 

is very impressive. 

It definitely has a very 

smooth and even effect on the signal like the best studio compressors 

OVERDRIVE- BEHRINGER OD300 Overdrive/Distortion ...not bad :-)

BEHRINGER OD300 OVERDRIVE/DISTORTION

$30.00 USD

A Boss OD300 is apparently a Boss OS-2 clone. Like most of the Behringer pedals the similarity is obvious and the difference is negligible. As for durability the only thing that has a short life is the switch if you have a board with a switcher it may outlast half the pedals on your board. Add to that if it dies it is cheaper to buy a new one than get your boss repaired. In fact you could buy 3 Behringers for the price of most repair guys minimum hourly rate, lol.

The layout is level, tone, gain and mode to switch from OD to scooped Distortion.

CONCLUSION

The OD is nice medium gain with a Marshall JCM 800 vibe. The Distortion is a buzzy and a bit thin. But WTF you could spend more on any night out at the whatever, lol. Not their best pedal but not bad at all.

 

OVERDRIVE- CARL MARTIN Plexi Tone ... is this still relevant?

CARL MARTIN PLEXI TONE

$265.00 USD

This is one of 3 pedals that bare the same name. The original 3 knob 'B'
box size one . Another 'Lo-gain' and the 3rd I would call deluxe but C.M. do not give it a name to differentiate it, WTF. It is now 12 years old, is it still still relevant. There are many very good MIAB pedals. This one still sounds Brit but in comparison not very Plexi. The only impressive thing for making it a still desirable OD is it's nice attack that gives clarity to every note in a chord.

The layout is boost,level, tone a separate gain for crunch and high gain.

CONCLUSION

Well the pedal as just an OD with a Brit vibe sounds very good and since the reins were pulled back on price increases it is very

competitive. It is much too big by today's standards.

OVERDRIVE- CARL MARTIN DC Drive ... don't you wish the Dumble's? were this good

CARL MARTIN DC DRIVE 

$140.00 USD

This is the current model that arrived in 2018. The pedal has been made for 12 years in 

3 forms. The latest is sleek and compact. The quality is impeccable.

When the this first came out there was no such thing as a 'Dumble'. Dumble now means a clean OD with a lot of headroom with a smooth glassy sound it has zero to do with cloning an amp. These day makers try to voice their so-called Dumble to beep up the average buyers less than great gear. Carl's goal was to give you an even sound across the guitars whole range so you get very smooth mids so primarily your amp/guitar tone was not f.d with. Even the boost on it it is a smooth linear curve and not a bump in the upper or lower mids. If nothing this pedal is the ultimate boost. Even if stacked it will push or fatten but never mess with your sound. 

CONCLUSION

What can I say about a pedal without pretense that blows most Dumble pedals out of the water and has a robust quality yet attractive build and killer specs. Totally hype free. Designed to improve your sound not wallpaper it over with bullsh*t.

 

Strat at 1:08. 

A Strat is a 'transparency test. 

If if smothers the chime on a Strat 

it simple means it fails.

OVERDRIVE- EARTHQUAKER Sunn))) Octave Life Pedal ___NEW___ Amp-in-Box ...Plus

EARTHQUAKER DEVICES SUNN))) LIFE PEDAL 

$300.00 USD

The original of these is a discontinued collectors pedal sold for the big bucks. Even set beside the original this is scary close and the extras are usable to those into a Doom, Death Metal or related genre. It starts by giving you a very good Sunn Model-T amp-in-a-Box then adds a Rat which was what one did back in pre-history when these genres were invented. This version adds an octave Fuzz and boost into the mix as well. I will let the video's do the layout as this gets nuts.

 

CONCLUSION

I can not fault it for being nuts as it set out to be the perfect Doom etc. pedal and does a great job. BUT for most of us you can get the 'best-of' with the Earthquaker Acapulco Gold which is just a cranked Sunn Model-T amp-in-a-Box for $130.00 USD and add a Rat II at $70.00 USD and save a hundred, the space on your board and you will find that Rat being used stacked or in it's own on a lot of tunes. 

___ A MUST WATCH ___ GEORGE GRUHN SPEAKS HIS MIND ___

GUITAR HISTORY & MORE

Check it out. The guy that put vintage guitars on the map.  

 

FUZZ- JOHNNY ROCK GEAR Octofuzzy ...classic Tycobrahe Octavio?

JOHNNY ROCK GEAR OCTOFUZZY

$140.00 USD

J. Rock are a Canadian company in Montreal Quebec where the working language is French as you will see in the videos :-) Not even the painting and silk-screened graphics are farmed ot everything is done in house old school.

If you heard the original that Hendrix used you would be amazed how damn close this is. It has all the rich harmonics without most modern pedals that smear the harmonics.

The layout is simple with just volume and gain. A toggle tames the octave so you can use the pedal more as a old school hardclipper distortion pedal. It is not dumbed down either. A lot of pricey hardclippers do not come close.

CONCLUSION

Ideal pedal to get into octave Fuzz. Great sound and for a handmade  pedal & more than fair price. I would expect $200 or more for a 

pedal this good.

OVERDRIVE- POLY EFFECTS Josh Smith flat V ...freelancers fly rig

POLY EFFECTS JOSH SMITH FLAT V 

$400.00 USD

The pedal only makes sense when you know what Josh Smith is all about.
For years he has been known all across the U.S. studio's as the go to session guy to add that perfect touch of Blues based Americana to a tune. His life is all about hopping on a plane with his ancient Tele and 

an old Love Pedal's defunct take on the 70's Electra circuit. 

That said since now using a signature Tele style Ibanez this is the logical replacement for his ol' Love Pedal as it fits in his gig bag and has any extra sound required by any producer.

CONCLUSION

If you are a freelance player getting some serious gigs 

or have a good paying lounge gig even a wedding band 

thing then this could earn it's keep. As for all others it 

is yet another ...WTF!!!  

 

 

the fine print

If you want 'the' Josh Smith Tele sound

all you need is a '70 Electra Distortion.  

The killer is cheap. 

The Ananashead FX Cream Amp $100.00 USD.

OVERDRIVE- FUZZ IMP Shroot II (Deluxe) ...Rock's golden rule ...if it sounds good, it is

$160.00 USD

FUZZ IMP|SHROOT II DELUXE 

The original 3 knob in a 'B' box is impressive enough. The basic topography is that of a Tube Screamer. 

This however takes Boss's version the Boss SD-1 to the next level. You get that upper mid poke of a ts but you can control it. You also get some needed lows.

CONCLUSION

Hand made by Justus Gash who for years was in demand by many for his in house Demos of new product for other makers. He has an 'ear' for what sounds great and a very fluid style of playing on both bass and guitar. Add that all to being simply a'nice guy'. He has the knack of making something 'same old' sound fresh.

DELAY- BLACK COUNTRY CUSTOMS The Different Engine ___NEW ___ a players delay

BLACK COUNTRY CUSTOMS A DIFFERENT ENGINE

$480.00 USD

This is a players delay. designed for the guy who wants more than an
audience of one. In short not for SciFi or Shoegazers. You get tape, analog and dynamic digital delay. It sounds great in stereo but is designed to be the no excuses delay in mono.You can tweak to infinity but do so via a very,very easy to watch screen and above all ...in a user friendly way.

You can save all your settings and call up your 'patches' as needed.

I will not go into all the features as the video demo makes it clearer.

CONCLUSION

I can not fault it in any way. Yes it is pricey and out of reach for most of us including me. BIG BUT. It may arguably have an equal but nothing I have heard is better at doing so much and ALL of it killer!

FUZZ/OD ...ANALOG ALIEN Fuzz Bubble-45 ...surprisingly good

ANALOG ALIEN FUZZ BUBBLE -45

$245.00 USD

The pedal has been around since 2011 so its staying power says a lot. 

It combines a classic Fuzz Face with a basic late 60's 70's Marshall vibe. The layout is different but self explanatory and simple to use.

On the OD side you get overall volume out and a gain knob. You then get an input control that can boost or indeed be pulled back to starve the Fuzz and make it give you those classic cleans Hendrix got by pulling back the volume on his Strat. The Fuzz side gives you your standard gain and volume. Finally there are 2 toggles to cut some lows to tighten the sound if you use heavy gain settings on either Fuzz or OD.

CONCLUSION

The pedal is meant to catch an era and does a great job of it. These sounds are still great especially for Blues, Americana and many Alternative genres.

FUZZ- WONDERFUL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY Fuzz Lands ___ NEW ___ one size fits all?

WONDERFUL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY| FUZZ LANDS |

$190.00 USD

Most and indeed many of the best Fuzz pedals tend to take a specific type of Fuzz and try and tweak it's raw design to something exaggerating it's best things and taming down it's worst. Often this rips the soul out of it but done really well it can make the pedal literally more usable.

The approach to this Fuzz to do none of this but to build a Fuzz from the ground up. The idea was to borrow all the most notable features of the different types of Fuzz pedals and let you you blend these elements like spices in a meal to get your own dish of Fuzz.

The layout is volume and gain and 3 switches with these fixed parameters.

The first is 'Vintage Mode' which is a low gain with more of an OD vibe. The second is 'Modern Mode' with highly saturated tones and some broken up spit and sputter. The third is 'Earth' with a choice of a tight focus or a more open sound. The fourth gives you three sounds, Gated, Smooth or Nasal. It is basically a BIAS control with 3 fixed voltages.

CONCLUSION  

Is it a bit too much like the Jack of all Fuzz and the Master of none? It however could never be anything but. Seen as it's own thing like a cook making a sonic

meal and adding different Fuzz sounds to make his own special dish is not unfair. 

You will have to decide is it gourmet burger or is it a Big Mac??? It is definitely  

not a Muff, a Tonebender a Fuzz Face or an Octave Fuzz. 

 

 

___ JEFF BECK ___ 1944 - 2023 ___ DEAD at 78 ___

JEFF BECK  

He suddenly caught bacterial meningitis and 

passed away in his sleep. 

I saw him in his first...  The Jeff Beck Group  

May 13,1972. 

I just had my 76 Birthday Jan 3rd so this is all 

both chilling and profoundly sad  at the same time.

 

Beck when I saw him.

FUZZ- JAM PEDALS Eureka! ... Muff and Fuzz Face in one box

JAM PEDALS EUREKA! FUZZ

$220.00 USD

The company has been around for over 10 years combining NOS vintage parts with creative but well engineered design. The shop has grown over the years but it is open to visitors that all come back whether famous or not telling of how they were treated like royalty. The only down side is their pedals had a rep of being pricey. They were 

but unlike 99% of other brands they did not increase prices so others pedals are now the some or more.

The layout is simple with volume, tone and gain. You get a 3 way switch to choose its response. It is voiced to give you the character of a Fuzz Face blended with a Big Muff.

CONCLUSION

The voices are well chosen but indeed fixed. It falls between a sound of near out of control yet it never goes over the edge. Ideal in a band as it behaves itself. Never dropping or choking out. I feel they really nailed it but pedals like the the Stone Deaf Fig Fum give you the ability to tweak a sound not just to taste but to fit in a band. Once the drums and bass guitar start Rocking often the best pedals can sound like crap without some serious tweaking.  

To be fair most of my pedals do not need much adjustment but many 

represent the 3rd replacement for 2 others I bought that just did

not gel with my rig and/or band.

FUZZ- STONE DEAF FX Fig Fum ...hard to believe ...actually 'IMPROVED' Big Muff

STONE DEAF FX| FIG FUM 

$165.00 USD

The Big Muff is a scooped Fuzz so adding mids to Gourmet jobbie are obvious. 

The Fig does this but it has parametric EQ so you can pick where and how much or if you want massive mids or you just want an aggressive poke in the upper mid or a punchy thump in the lower mids. If you add an expression pedal you can use the Para-EQ as a Wah. Add to that you can go for a fat open boost or you can tighten it up. Better still the sweet spots to this are on a rotary switch which makes it dead simple and fast. All Fuzz make noise so you get a gate to fix that.

It has the usually volume and gain along with the thorough mid controls. 

You do not get and pay for unusable extras that are only good for 

SciFi movies or Shoegaze. You get only what is usable for any genre.

CONCLUSION

It covers all the bases from heavy, heavy sounds to doing near OD sounds the way Dave Gilmour uses in Floyd. Best of all you get the sound you want without any 'buts'.Killer!!!

REVERB-NUX NRV-3 Damp Reverb___ NEW ___ great sounding basic transportation

NUX NRV-3 DAMP REVERB

$80.00 USD

The company has come a long way. Actually longer than you think. For years they were the first to sell digital pedals but nearly all in China. If you got one at all it said Donner on the casing not NUX. This a new pedal as they continued their fist mini the Oceanic after several years. The old one had only one sound that could be replaced with a download but like me most guys hated the hassle and new chips have made it that they can give you 

3 pro sounds so we now get the Damp.

The layout gives you decay, level and tone. You get their excellent Plate verb based on the famous EMT 140, a Spring and a Hall based on the classic Lexicon 224 which was also in the Digitech pedal but alas the company was bought but we do not have any pedals yet.

CONCLUSION

This pedal sounds good and indeed hangs onto the first row of the Pro ladder. Both the Fender Hammertone and the JHS Series 3 are worth the extra 20 or $30 more so they are worth comparing. 

 

OVERDRIVE- TC ELECTRONIC Magus Pro Distortion ...their v.2 Rat

TC ELECTRONIC MAGUS PRO DISTORTION

$80.00 USD

This is their second take on the Rat. They downsized the enclosure and added a switch to give you the voicing of the Turbo Rat and the Fat Rat.

The layout is volume, gain and filter. The filter is really just nothing more than a tone control wired backwards so your knob sweeps from highs to lows. It is a pointless pain in the butt. The original ProCo Rat I expect did this as a marketing gimmick. The big deal with the original Rat was the LM308 OpAmp which is said to give the Rat a smoother distortion. It does I have one but it sits on a shelf because the Rat II that has remained the same for the last 20 years has more balz. No one buys a damn Rat for it's 'pretty sound'.

CONCLUSION

Well the pedal sounds as good as any of the so-called Gourmet versions. 

I think none of them have the balz, punch and aggression of the Ratt II. 

On the other hand the basic topography of this and all the others is a hardclipper distortion. The Magus is indeed that and a good one as well.  

The Rat II $80.00 USD, Yes, the same price. WTF!

 

FUZZ- BROKEN AUDIO DEVICES Lazy Drones Fuzz ...sort of ...Colorsound Fuzz Box

BROKEN AUDIO DEVICES    LAZY DRONES FUZZ  

$85.00 USD

The Colorsound Fuzz Box became a 'go to' after someone decided to invent Doom Metal. Since then there have been countless one knob Fuzz pedals to add all their clever bits and pieces to make even bigger sounds and to handle the ever lower and lower drop tuning. The original is more about heavy low mids than bass and it uses germanium transistors that are all gnarly, hairy and full but they have all the problems germanium transistors have, Including shutting right off if the room is too hot.

With the 'Lazy' they have been swapped. We get silicon transistors that are headache free with more poke ...but, not as warm or full sounding. I like both so I have no problem. 

CONCLUSION

Not a bad sounding Fuzz. It has a cool 'up market' look. 

It definitely has a Brit vibe but also a bit of a Muff thing 

going on. Great for any guy just wanting  a good Fuzz 

for countless genres of music. But ...it ain't no Colorsound 

Fuzz Box. It is doomed for Doom 😳 ...Cheap for a made in UK pedal