Monday, December 31, 2018

UNI-VIBE- VODOO LABS Micro Vibe... one listen to Paul Gilbert and I had to have one!!!

$150.00 USD
 VOODOO LABS MICRO VIBE 
The classic Uni-Vibe that Hendrix put on the map
started life as a Leslie in a box pedal.
The Leslie being an organ speaker cab with a rotating drum open on the side being driven by 15" speaker and a horn rotating by a pulley. A mechanical device meant to create the chorus effect of the acoustics in a cathedral.

They failed to copy it but created an interesting chorus like effect with a cool sound of it's own.
The very best clone is the Unique-Vibe is a part for part
duplicated clone. At $900.00 USD all but a few purest.
buy them. They are not only expensive but unreliable
as like the original work from a photo-cell.

The unit is in fact a multiple stage phase shifter.
The design created enough of a shift in time for it to produce a chorus effect. The photo-cell creates a rich warmth and tends to break up like a tube amp when over driven  into rough and gutsy sound.



CHOICE ?
There many company's offering a UniVibe wannabee in every price range. The big deal about the Voodoo Lab designed it what functions are used by nearly all the users. It is used like a chorus by 99% of it's users.
So it is smaller, cheaper, reliable and has a huge analog sound.
One of of the few pedals Paul Gilbert uses is a real Uni-Vibe. On a recent tour he borrowed one from a friend when he forgot his. It was the Voodoo Lab.
The next day he went out and bought his own!!!

CONCLUSION
If you play it with a clean sound it sounds very similar to really
great and thick chorus.
It is amazing pushed by a Fuzz as it fattens the sound and adds a
tube like breakup.
I heard Paul Gilbert use his. He drives it with a high gain dirt pedal.
Hendrix pushed his with a Fuzz Face.
So note the the last minute of the video when some serious dirt is going thru it.
With both the sound and price this pedal is a winner!!!.

Saturday, December 29, 2018













OVERDRIVE- MUGIG Hot Chili Distortion ...surprisingly good and dirt cheap!!!

$25.00 USD
 MUGIG HOT CHILI DISTORTION 

A Boss DS-1 'Wanna-bee'?
It isn't.

BUT ...not a bad crunch pedal. Aggressive and balzy.
Standard volume, tone and gain. The bright switch adds a
nice bite. Cut back the highs and switch it on and it has
a decent full sound. It is at its best with it on.
It even looks good.

Reverb has the best price.
Amazon is greedy.











CONCLUSION
Nothing to loose at the price. It does sound pro!
There are pedals 6 times as much that do not sound better.

                                                            

Friday, December 28, 2018

OVERDRIVE- VS AUDIO Straight Flush ...a King of Tone with attitude!!!

 VS AUDIO STRAIGHT FLUSH OD       
                           
$200.00 USD
&
$265.00 USD
A simple set up with volume, tone and gain. A switch lets you choose a rich chunky organic high gain. It is fat and punchy and aggressive. The lower gain is King of Tone sounding with very wide and even mids ...smooth from low mids to high mids making it very full.

The Straight Flush is half of VS Audio's big seller The Royal Flush
There is a full Post on it with a full review. Both are KOT pedals.
It is a little cheaper ($60.00) and it takes up a lot less real-estate on your board. Except for an overall higher gain the sound is about the same.

Check them both out on the video.





SPEAKER- LINE 6 Powercab 112 ....go direct from a pre on your board or a modeling rig



 LINE 6 POWERCAB 112 
$600.00 USD

The main focus is for a raw power amp with speaker emulations in it to team up with a modeling set up to eliminate a conventional amp all together.
It however does an admirable job going from a pedal preamp on a pedal board simplifying your whole rig.
They offer a Powercab+ (4800.00 USD)
with midi etc. for the modeling guys.

Both are rated at 250 watts but is a C type amp so expect about 50 watts of 'loudness' from it.

It does a good emulation of a all the popular Celestion, Eminence and Jensen speakers.
If you are a Fender or Marshall guy you are covered with every classic choice.

Line 6 is owned by Yamaha so with their years of amp and speaker tech I think we can expect a well made and designed product.

The Foxgear KOLT45 (45 watts) at $125.00 USD and an Egnator Rebel 112 with a real Celestion at $280.00 USD might be better for the pedalboard guy. Total ...$410.USD

                                                          

EMULATOR- KEYZTONE The Exchanger ...turn a Humbucker into a Strat or a Tele into a LP etc.

$240.00 USD
 KEYZTONE EXCHANGER 

This is a great idea! BUT ?
It is an analog emulator of all the popular PU's. You can turn your Les Paul into a Strat or make your Tele sound like it has
P 90's etc.

Reviewers are raving about it and is selling really well.
On video I find it is unimpressive. They went analog to get the the naturally expressive nature of a guitar which digital won't do.

Two years back a company showed a prototype of a digital modeling one the SIM1 using the Kemper  approach of cloning the whole guitar but it disappeared after that but is now scheduled for the ....Winter NAMM on Jan. 24/19


It was very, very convincing but it could not follow all that detail in dynamics of hammer ons and bends etc. They should have only put the acoustic guitar sounds in it as for the average electric player would use only some finger picking or strumming which would have transferred quite well.
...but for now

Check out the Keyztone and decide for yourself.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

OVERDRIVE- GREER AMPs Little Sampson ...not another Plexi? Yup! BUT ;-)

$200.00 USD
 GREER AMPS LITTLE SAMPSON 
Well what can I say about a Plexi ? What can I say that I haven't
said before?  Not much.
Oddly enough I never get tired of the Plexi pedal. The only think that
pedal makers sell more then these is another Tube Screamer.

So it is easy to see this is a simple rig. Just volume, gain' and tone.
A Plexi should have adequate lows, enormous lower mids and be just a little weak in the upper mids but have some nice defined highs.
The actual amp can give you highs that rip your face off. No one gets to silly with that because tends to thin out the overall sound. It also must give you good note definition even dimed. The best ones have the best definition and a really nice sustain ...not so much as in length but in the tone of the sustain. If you slam down hard on the strings the sound should almost make a gasp ...followed by a swelling in the level.

If you want a good laugh I have at least 10 Plexi pedals and I love and use them all ...I have sold as many to get these as I kept finding better.
I run them at unity gain through my amp set to just under breakup. In other words pretty clean. And what amp is that ???  A 50 watt Plexi of course.  LOL  LOL LOL 

So give it a listen and check off the 'must have' list.

                                                             

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

POLYPHONIC REVERB- FLUX Liquid Ambience.. the ambiance reverb for those that hate them ????

  FLUX LIQUID AMBIENCE 
$300.00 USD
If you are a song writer you have probably wanted from time
to time to add some strings or orchestrated effect to your tune. So when you heard some of the larger then life digital reverbs you thought ...
...."Alright that will do it." .......NO IT WILL NOT !!!!

The problem is that you play your little gem of a tune and the
reverb sustain runs into the next chord etc, and turns your tune into discordant mush. You quite simply have to write a tune bobbing and weaving around the damn things limit.

Flux gets around all this by tracking each string separately. It is like having a separate reverb for every string. The effect becomes more like a duet with your guitar.
It defiantly gives you a synth like string or choir vibe to the sound.


CONCLUSION
Well it is the very best of it's ilk. The problem is it can not do the impossible. I would like it to hold a chord while I played a few notes of ornamentation ...then when I hit my second chord it would change to the new chord. So once again it becomes writing a tune to fit some limits.
                                                            

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

DELAY- ELECTRO-HARMONIX Canyon Delay Looper ...Pro quality digital sound & all the features. CHEAP!!!

$140.00 USD
 ELECTRO -HARMONIX CANYON DELAY LOOPER 

In seconds of trying it one is impressed. It has it all ...tap function
modulation to get both spacey effects, or use it to sub as a 50's
tape, disc, or drum style mechanical echo. It has all the trippy
crazy stuff too.
The down side is small. There are a lot of sounds you will unlikely use in a band. The looper is a toy.













CONCLUSION
Nothing to bitch about it does everything you could want and few crazy things you can use or ignore.
The looper can be handy for practice or song writing so it is nice to have even if is really a toy.
It even has a tap function.
Bottom line anything you would really need is covered. The sound is probably a 9 out of 10 but you would have have 10 beside to compare to even tell. It will not let you down in the studio. In short it sounds and responds Pro all the way. At the price you can not loose. Even if later you find some quirky but expensive delay that you love like an analog or tape you can put both on your board for variety. In short there is not a down side!
This product is a game changer in value for price.
                             ...it has a total Pro quality sound & features.
                             ...It simply will never NEED to be replaced by an upgraded unit !!!





OVERDRIVE- LOLLYGAGGER Canaglia Overdrive....medium gain, an exquisite organic sound


 LOLLOYGAGER CANAGLIA OVERDRIVE 

$279.00 USD
The first think you notice is that the casing is wood.
In fact wood with a stunning look and finish.
Then the high end aluminum knobs finish the prestige look. You even get to choose one of several colours.

But how does it sound. It has a low guttural sound which sounds very organic and 'real' the harmonics and and highs are very, very rich and full of detail. It reminds me of a few low gain designer amps. The ones with the $3000.00 to $6000.00 price tags.
Stacking it into another OD may make it's magic rub off. By using it to overdrive a crunch sound on a good tube amp may be to die for.

The controls are not typical. It has Post, Gain and Pre.
This should mean you are boosting the signal both before and after the gain. The only other pedal that does this is the T. Jauernig Grisile King. It too has that organic thing but it has a very sweet tone instead of that low guttural thing. The only concern I have is  it does not have a good ol' level control to be able to create unity gain with your other pedals.

I love it. It reminds me of my Celmo Pimento Sardine pedal in that it has total personality
dare I say it has a soul?


CONCLUSION
The guys that buy this are out to please themselves. They are not trying to follow this years fashion. The pedal has incredible character. Other OD's do too but none have such a deep assertive tone.

This pedal is going to haunt me. 

OVERDRIVE- REVV AMPLIFICATION G Series G4 ...NEW ...a companion to the killer G3

 REVV AMPLIFICATION  G SERIES G4 


Another pedal from Revv ...the Blue G3 that came out a few months ago the was a killer. It was  based off the channel of one of their amps. This one is the same. The difference is this one has an even higher gain.

It is also fatter but it is a bit less tight,
To me it is neither better or worse. If I was serious metal player I would want both. This one to shred and the other to back up the vocals.

But if you have neither and this one is blowing you away then
I really think you should compare the Blue G3 to it before
you pull out your flexible friend.                                                                                          



CONCLUSION
The G4 to me is a companion pedal to the G3 ....if you have both you have the G3 for your crunch and the G4 for solo's and the like. 
The Blue being tighter and the Red much fatter your single notes in a shred will be as fat as chords!!!
It is like a good dirt amp with a separate Crunch and Distortion channel.

I would not be surprised if one day they make the REVV G Series Deluxe with both in it.

NEW VIDEO FROM NAMM 2019





DELAY- STONE DEAF Syncopy...digitally control analog delay...impossible not to like

 STONE DEAF SYCNCOPY 
$300.00 USD

It is technically an analog delay but it is digitally controlled
and the voicing and modulation makes it sound like a the tape,metal disc and metal cylinder mechanical machines of the 50's.
I can not help but to laugh at myself. It is like designing a modern car to feel like you are at the reigns of a horse and buggy

Of course if you like the end results why not just get a pedal made to copy that 50's sound. If on a budget the best is the Foxgear Echosex Baby Delay for $125.00 USD.
I like delay for ambiance not for creating creative U2 or Pink Floyd type tunes.
You do not need much if you just want to enhance a solo with a bit of echo.


LET ME DIGRESS ?
I do not need anything more elaborate then even a Mighty Sound
 M5 analog delay for $24.00 USD with a Panasonic MM3205 BBD chip. The chip that is probably in the Stone Deaf too. 
Only guitar pedals use this kind of chip which is decades old ....and was out of production until reissued a few years back. It is cheaper to use digital for consumer products so other analog chips have been defunct out of production for decades. 
The chip sounds excellent and to buy a single chip online is only $7.50 USD. So it is possible to make a pro sounding delay dirt cheap in China

This damn thing sounds so good I use it more then my digital delay which quite literally cost me 20 times more.



CONCLUSION
It has endless features and it sounds wonderful. At the moment Stone Deaf sell it direct with another $100.00 off!!! ...Good deal??? ...only if you love it. 
Keep in mind at the heart is an analog chip that they bought for five bucks. The digital chip is not for sound so it is probably not expensive.

I think it is a well made well designed pedal. But at perhaps a $175.00 to $225.00 USD price it would a fair deal to all. ....BUT.                                                                                 

Monday, December 24, 2018

OVERDRIVE- WALTERTONE EFFECTS Superdriver OD ....a fat round sound with nice definition and articulation

 WALTERTONE EFFECTS SUPERDRIVER 
$175.00 USD
Yet another Venezuelan company. Oddly there are a lot of pedal makers there but the popular music is still very heavily based on traditional music so the local Rock scene is indeed very small.

Waltertone is a small one man show. He makes 3 or 4 dirt pedals that seem to be very closely based on the Superdriver.
The Superdriver TX, Supersat and DualAmp Driver.

The Superdriver is a medium gain transparent OD a bit like a Tube Screamer. Unlike a ts it has a very fat round mellow sound that is quite different. Two toggles give you 9 voices to choose. You can make it more typical sounding or even very bright. The 9 voices allow for a lot of variety of tones.
The attack of the guitar comes through clean enough to keep a very nice definition through the entire range of the pedal.











CONCLUSION
The 9 voices are a nice touch. The magic for me is how you can back it off to an even mellow sound but not loose it's fat round sound or it's definition.

DISTORTION- JPTR FX Gainsaw Distortion ...punishing gated distortion ....impossible not to make you smile !!!!

 JPTR FX GAINSAW DISTORTION 

JPTR JPTR FX are a German pedal maker
famous for quirky, novel & often outrageous 
effects. Most of it can never be turned on
 to add a little colour for a tune you play. 
It is all about soundscapes or just having fun.
The Gainsaw is a an exception.

Although called a distortion I think technically it is a fuzz. 
It has only one knob and that seems to only alter the bias.

This pedal produces the most excessive wall of distortion you ever heard!
It suggests the odd proposition of stacking it, not for more gain but a smooth low gain pedal to sweeten the sound.
For a handmade gourmet pedal 
$115.00 USD is an SBS price for sure!


Sunday, December 23, 2018

OVERDRIVE- IBANEZ What-the-F. Overdrive ...Sneak Peak

 IBANEZ VEMURAM OD 



So Paul Cochrane designs his famous Timmy (still $125.00 USD)
Vemuram clones it ...and calls it the JanRay (a what the F. $375.00 USD)
Ibanez teams up with Vemuram to make a collaborative pedal.

Not out yet. It will debut at the 2019 NAMM Jan24-Jan27


Saturday, December 22, 2018

TUBE AMPLIFIERS- a big purchase... my 2 choices to get it right.


TUBE AMPLIFIERS

To keep things simple I am going to ignore exceptions.
To those that are new to the game it only causes confusion.
It seldom changes anyone's choice.

It is important for the amp to handle pedals well but it is equally important they just damn well sound great with nothing but your guitar plugged into them.

There are not so many choices as you think.
Because we are so picky about detail in our tone we are targets for every new amp that comes along.
BUT... compared to thousands of electronic gadgets out there a tube amp is damn simple design!!!

The two biggest differences are power amp tubes.

.... the Brits use EL34 and EL 84   .....Marshall    Fat Mids
.... the Yanks use 6L6 and 6V6      .....Fender       Scooped Mids

Yes a few others tubes are used... but those amps are irrelevant to all but a very few amps and players.
The EL84 and 6V6 is primarily for lower powered or practice amps

The preamp tubes are primarily 12ax7 in all amps. 
Tubes like 12au7's etc. are just lower powered 12ax7's etc.
Everyone uses these.

Bottom line is ...are you a Fender guy or a Marshall guy ???

Every hot new amp no mater what logo is put on the amp starts life on the drawing board as a Fender or a Marshall. LOL
For pedals we need a great clean sound. We all have one or more OD's so picking the amp for it's dirt is counter intuitive.
Even so how an amp sounds pushed to the edge of breakup but not over is critical.
For a lot of styles this is what is used for a clean sound.

For a live gig or a band since a drummer can put out about 100dB of sound.
A 40 to 50 watt amp is ideal and a 30 watt would be minimum.
For anyone there is a budget to consider.
BUT... my 2 choices are about $800.00 USD ...they can be the last amp you ever have to buy. The sound would not embarrass the worlds biggest stars no matter what the gig.
The only reason to get another amp is ...because you can! In short they are all about what you NEED.


FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE

First they have a very long track record of doing a serious Pro sounding job of both volume and tone for the gigging musician. They have a classic Fender clean sound. A bit scooped and with the famous Fender reverb. It is voiced somewhere in between a Deluxe black face and a Silver so with a bit of tweaking the sound will suggest either.
They have a dirt channel too but it is generally considered crap. One nice thing is there are always lots of used ones to buy.
You get a basic 40 watt combo with a single 12" speaker




MARSHALL ORIGIN 50

 This amp is a new comer but a much needed choice. Nothing is more Brit or more Marshall then a Plexi. It is a single channel amp without reverb. But like all Marshalls it distorts beautifully when cranked.
It puts out 50 watts into a 12" speaker.

















I took the liberty of using a video of the head because it sounds the same as the combo and this is the very best demo out there. If you buy the head and a used cabinet you can keep the budget the same.
I did just that. I love keeping my gear 'pretty' LOL. It is a lot easier to lug around a head and not smack it into door jambs. lol
NOTE: It comes with the foot-switch included.

CONCLUSION

Which is the best???
Both!!!!
I prefer the Marshall but I could live with either. I have been tempted every time I see a bargain price on the Fender to buy it, Yes I would love to have both.
Both amps are a bit heavy but not stupid heavy.   :-)

Both amps have the 2 classic sounds of all time, Both are reasonable priced, Both are well made.
Both sound equally great !!!
Both are neither over doing it ...or under perform. They simply do a totally pro job right!!!

In other words ...bullet proof choices!!!


The advantage to both these amps is they are first a foremost designed to give you a classic sound .....if I recommended a third it would be a Vox AC 30 ...but they are considerable more money. They do not sound better ...neither do they sound worse ...they too are classic.
The best thing about all three of these amps is they never really disappeared.

There are amps made right now by these companies that may even sell more. Why! Because they are focused on the flavour of the moment. Within a few years at most they will likely disappear in favour of a different amp.
If you see your music as being in a tight defined style especially something like modern Metal where you prefer to get 90% of your tone from the amp you may make an argument for an amp with literally ONE sound.

The trouble is unless you are very successful with the music you love in a very short time ...then the probability that you will not out grow the hot new amps is a given. With the classics you need merely to change your choice in dirt pedals.

Friday, December 21, 2018

FUZZ- ANANASHEAD DS308 Fuzz ...not a clone but a replica!!! ...others sell Bull ...not Rat

$90.00 USD
 ANANASHEAD DS308 FUZZ 

This is 'it' the Rat of Rats!!
A faithful hand made reproduction of the
RAT 'BIG BOX' right down to the
 coveted NOS ...DS 308 Chip.

This is an original spec  pedal with the heavy low end that
sets it apart from all those new ME TOO Rat's like
the new Electro- Harmonix Flatiron that just came out.

Just check out the comparison.
DEAD ON !!! KLONE!!


The closest thing is the Fat Rat at $160.00 USD and then you have to both find,  then buy the DS 308 chip. 
You get the socket but not the chip!!!
and ....close is not exact! the Ananashead is ...it is 'IT'


Pedro Garcia 'IS' Ananashead and the accuracy of his clones is reknown !!!!
Why get some companies take off of a lame copy of a Rat 2 pedal when you can get the Big Box Rat for a fraction of the cost of an old used vintage one. 
The originals are now going for $1200.00 USD !!!!
You can have the 'actual' sound right there under your foot. Click on instant magic !!!

Sunday, December 16, 2018

OVERDRIVE- MHP Evelyn Mark II ...flying under the radar ...sumptuous tone with articulation :-)

$168.00 USD

 MHP EVELYN MARK II 

Kieth Aviles 'is' Machine Head Pedals. He has been flying under the radar making his 4 OD's and Fuzz in Australia. Word of mouth has kept his orders high ...so new product and more customers is never an issue.

His pedals have always been about transparency even before we were using the term. Even with the Evelyn dimed you do not have your pick attack turned to mush!!!
All his pedals are very organic sounding.

The Evelyn is incredibly full due to a very huge lower mid range. In spite of not a hint artificial presence it has an uncanny definition and
not a trace of mud. There is such detail in the tone that the sound he goes for seems like an unrealistic goal for a pedal yet he pulls it off.
The sound is sumptuous! It is definitely in the King of Tone vein but
is much fatter and a hell of a lot more aggressive.


FUZZ- ELECTRO-HARMONIX Flatiron Fuzz ....the EH take on the Pro-Co Rat

ELECTRO-HARMONIX FLATIRON FUZZ

So not much to explain. It is clone of the Pro-Co Rat ...so it gets down to how good and how much.
EH want $80.00 USD and Pro-Co want $70.00 USD. So it is not looking good from the Get Go! lol



I had a listen to both. They both sound about as fat and I do not hear any real difference in sustain. BUT ...The Rat has more balz!!!
















Saturday, December 15, 2018

OVERDRIVE- JOYO UZI Distortion ...this is so new the paints wet! First impression? WOW !!!

 JOYO UZI DISTORTION 
This is another in Joyo's new 'R' series that came out just weeks ago. At the time this one wasn't ready so it wasn't in the line up. It is clearly aimed at the Metal players.
The EQ is nice with both low and high ...and best of all they have not left out the critical mids.
It has a 'BIAS' knob which gives you a lot of control over the grit. Joyo claims it lets you focus the sound from Brit to a more American sound. I find it is more like a Marshall JCM 900 that can be tamed into a JCM 800.
The pedal is very tight and unlike most really high gain cheapies it does not have that annoying fizz they all have.

This is the best thing I have heard from Joyo since their OCD clone ...the ULTIMATE DRIVE.

Once again we have only the'official video' to go by. BUT
this looks promising.
The price should be around $50.00 USD


CONCLUSION
It is not quite in the REV v.3 league but it is in the ballpark. If it is as good as I expect it may well be on my short list !!!!

OVERDRIVE- JOYO Tauren OD ...an up market look ...but is the sound in that league ???

 JOYO TAUREN OD 

Joyo have really moved upmarket with their new line. Without a
doubt they have always made the best of the clones and online
direct from China pedals. I have been using the OCD clone ...the
Ultimate Drive for years. I once had all the 'straight from China' clones ...long gone now.
The Tauren is one of several of their new 'R' line of pedals. The look is really upmarket. I found the past pedals looked bland or they had busy, messy artwork. The naming was always obvious or hackney. Perhaps they hired someone who knows marketing better.
They are definitely trying to get into the bricks and mortar market like Mooer have done.
So what does it sound like?
A medium gain OD with more of an American sound. If Marshall then a JTM45 would be the closest but a very refind ts could sound like this. It has some reasonable definition but there isn't the detail in the sound of a high end pedal. Compare to a tone mad maker like Lawrence Petross and it is simply not in that league.
Joyo claim it is a 'transparent' OD with dynamic gain. Which means it should have headroom?
It seems a bit transparent in the vid but nothing is obvious. Put a good player in a band context and any OD can sound good. lol
The Tauren is predicted to be in the $50.00 USD range.
So far only this official video is out. There is a bootleg ...oddly enough ...but is sh@t. I am not out to crucify Joyo with such an injustice. lol


PEDALBOARD- JOYO Pedal Carpet... a bit goofy BUT !

JOYO PEDAL CARPET B' BAG
So here is the deal. You get a piece of carpet that you stick the pedals on that includes the Velcro.
You cut some slits in it to poke your cables thru then you flip over the carpet with the pedals on it and wire it up. You then ...blah blah blah!!!
Oh Hell just watch the video. LOL

So the carpet with the Velcro is $25.00 USD
and the Rucksack is $70.00 USD (ouch!!!)

BUT...you can buy the carpet pack with velcro
cheaper then buying the velcro at the hardware store.
Soooo... you can just get a piece of plywood cut and
tack the carpet to the wood. It will look fairly pro
and be both easy and cheap.
As for the bag??? At $70.00 USD...give me a break!!!


OVERDRIVE- FULLTONE Plimsoul from Tube Screamer to Metal it does it all ...but how well???

$135.00 USD
 FULLTONE PLIMSOUL 
If it's not broke don't fix it. this pedal has been with us since 2010.
in pedal world this is an antique. lol
Basically it has both a hard and soft clipping function and you can blend the two.
To do everything it can do you would need 3 pedals. One for low gain one for medium gain and one for high gain.
I find 2 things that keep me away from it. No pedal that I have found does 3 perfect sounds ...and I often want all three gain type sounds in a single tune.
So why is still popular???  Many players find that one sound they love on it and simply buy more OD's.
Then there are the hobbyists that will set it to a different sound every time they use it and just have fun with it.
The price is damn cheap so it can easily have a place in anyone's arsenal and only represent one of several choices.

CONCLUSION
I find the overall sound to be mediocre. For high gain you can get a Giovanni Axcess Mystic Drive, a Joyo Ultimate Drive (perfect OCD clone) medium gain crunch and any of a number of good cheap Tube Screamer type pedals for low gain. You get all three for the same total price of just the one Plimsoul.
You then have 3 pedals that are better at doing the one thing each excels in. 
Best of all you have three pedals!!! :-)

Friday, December 14, 2018

DELAY- FOXGEAR Echosex Baby Delay ...how close to the Echosex 2 and the Binson Echorec is it?

$110.00 USD
 FOXGEAR ECHOSEX BABY DELAY 

In the 60's if you wanted delay/echo you either used a machine that recorded your signal to tape with one tape head recording and the another playing it back.
...or a machine that recorded to a disc or drum.
The Binson Echorec used a disc and was the most sophisticated.
It was state of the art at the time. Dave Gilmour put it on the map!



Gurus painstakingly recreated the original and made about 25 that were pre sold.
They then set out to make a modern substitute that captured the sound of the original. In the end they kept all but the mechanical disc. So the price was a fraction of
the disc model but it is still a cool $700.00 USD.

Recently they teamed up with Barolini the 'other' famous Italian amp and pedal maker to bring out a complete line of budget pedals.
The best of which is the EchoSex Baby.
Listen to them both. There is nothing dumbed
down with the 'Baby'!!!
The original Binson used a small rubber wheel to spin the disc. When it began to wear out it would cause wow and flutter or in short modulate in speed. Players loved the tone better with a worn wheel.
So having a pot to control this modulation is a very big part of the sound. So even the 'Baby' has it covered.
In other words this pedal is a real bargain. Definitely a SBS!


CONCLUSION
A damn good job of capturing the tone. The price is so good that if you have a high end digital wonderworks machine you can justify a second delay. It even looks great!
JAN. 7/19
Well I got one.  It was shipped in a box big enough for small pedalboard! . LOL
It took about a minute to dial in a good sound and then I played a whole tune with it on.
It sounds excellent. I am glad I bought it.

FEB. 14/19
Well it has hit State side! I got mine from Briton.
& we have Pete Thorn to take us through the paces. It sounds great in this video ...just like 
how my sounds on my rig. LOVE IT!!!




May 5/19
TIESCO:DELAY
If you can go for $150.00 USD this is well worth a listen. It has a few more really useful features and is unuseably full sounding ...more so then things $225.00 USD and more!
So check out the Post!

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

AMPLIFIER- FOXGEAR Kolt45 ...a 45 watt amplifier in a small pedal for $125.00 USD!!!!

 FOXGEAR KOLT 45 AMPLIFIER 

Finally someone got it right. A simple amp with just a great clean sound to go on a  pedal board and get any other 'channels' you want by just using your your pedals. Overdrive for a crunch channel, overdrive for a lead channel, a reverb pedal for reverb a graphic or parametric EQ for any extra tone controls etc. etc. It is a small pedal ...2 1/2"x 5" ...with just a basis channel of bass, mids. treble and volume.

BEST OF ALL IT IS ONLY $125.00 USD

It has a very nice clean crisp sound. Fender-ish.
It is louder then a Fender Hot Rod and the Fender has been used for years as a standard pro amp for both tone and volume.
The best pedal amp so far has been the Baroni-Lab and they are in partnership with Gurus who are best known for their award winning Echo Sex repro of the Binson Echolec.
Together they form Foxgear.  Both company's have been around for years making gourmet tube amps. These guys are both heavy hitters! They have more then enough tech skills. They definitely KNOW what makes a great sound and a reliable product!!!
They got together to make this 3rd company Foxgear that has a whole line of quality budget pedals.



CONCLUSION
As a back up amp alone it is worth buying.
I cannot get the crazy idea out of my head of buying two of these and two of the new 8 inch high wattage speakers put the speakers in a couple of small boxes and run stereo reverb and echo thru them yet keep only my dry signal thru my Plexi.





Sunday, December 9, 2018

OVERDRIVE- KEELEY OXBLOOD OD ....a Klon on steroids


 KEELEY OXBLOOD OD 


Yes folks it had to happen. Just like the Tube Screamer
and now the Klon one just takes the designs and add
enough gain and tweaks in the EQ and ya got a brand new pedal to sell!!!



OVERDRIVE- Wampler Tumnus & Tumnus Deluxe OD/Booster...more Klon or less Klon but a Klon more or less! lol

 WAMPLER TUMNUS OD'S

It all started with the The Tube Screamer. They nailed down
an OD circuit that benefited nearly every rock player and then
every pedal maker in the biz copied it. Soon it became necessary
to try and improve it. Much later it became the bases of something unrecognizable. A ts with enough gain and EQ can pass for a 
Marshall wannabe.
Now the same thing is happening to the Klon.

Wampler in his wisdom saw it was primarily what the design does to the lower mids. It fattens them but leaves your basic guitars sound reasonably intact.
So he fattened those mids up even more and then gave the pedal more gain keeping in mind not to loose too much headroom and 
kill the Klon sound. More gain? Why? Because we all moan that 
no one ever gives enough gain. lol It saved him the trouble 
of doing v.2 to stop the wining.


On the Deluxe he increased the gain even more ...damn the headroom!  He then threw in some good EQ to let you shape the whole thing to best fit the guitar and amp you are using and to accommodate your playing style.




With entry level Klon clones less then $20.00 USD ...and the inventor making a good buck on his KTR I hope the debate of what's the best is finally over.
The best is the one that makes 'your' music sound great.
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Well I find that the mini gain nails what it is all about. Fat warm  lower mids but a reasonably good transparency letting your guitar's natural sound come thru.
The Deluxe is almost a Plexi wannabe. LOL It is not that it doesn't sound good  ...it sounds great. BUT I own lots of Plexi's.

I just need something to take the metallic edge off my clean sound, give me some sustain and let the sound of my overpriced gourmet  PU's thru. 
Especially my Hendrix Strat and my 55 Tele bridge.

So it's thank you Brian and order a Mini Tumnus for this guy!



Go to 29:00 and check out the comparison!

The next video's is what ...too me ...this pedal is all about. The Tele  keeps its idenity even when the dirt is pushed up.



CONCLUSION
So I got one. I stack it on my LovePedal Super 6 SRV pedal. Bingo! I have that Stevie Ray V. sound.
I can not imagine using one pedal without the other. Single coil heaven!!!