Imp
New member
'lo guys, had my new toy for a few days now, figure i'd share my thoughts on it...
i'd been buying and selling pedals on ebay (big muff, HM-2, MZ-2, etc) and went through phases, never really sticking with one for more than a couple of days.. i wasn't too sure what sound i was looking for.
plugging this one in and playing with the knobs for a while, and i havn't adjusted it or switched it off since :laugh2: the whole distortion pot is one big sweet spot! as the clean boost lew discussed in an earlier thread, it works great as a 'set and forget' pedal.. about 3 quarters up, you start to get nirvana type levels of gain.. the rest is up to which guitar you use, and your tastes, of course.
at the moment, i've gotten a very potent lead tone with a bridge lil '59... i overdrive the preamp valves, so they start to mud *very* slightly, and set everything to halfway, gain sometimes a bit more.
this results in a lovely santana/slash solo type tone.. very round, ballsy and soulful. it's not really meant for rhythm (just knock the gain back) - but jesus, its a beautiful tone.. one of those ones which keeps you playing the same riffs over and over, just because you love the sound of it :laugh2:
as for the lower gain ones, you've got a range from franz ferdinand's 'percussive' tone, to one which isn't unlike the one travis use on 'turn'.. im using a 5/2 middle pickup here though, and its got the dynamics and feel of a typical humbucker through this pedal, so responsive to the volume and tone pots..
for the clean tones, gain wicked down (texas hot neck), you have an unusual, 'raw' chilis-esque tone... if you think of the 'dry' sounds AC/DC used to get, mixed with the fullness of a neck singlecoil, you're about there.. it reminds me of janes addiction.. a bit.
i might post more about this pedal as i get used to it a bit more, but as a last remark, i'm practicing more, i'm trying new styles of music and i'm enjoying practicing more, and the arrival of this pedal kicked it off. considering my amp uses EL84's, to get some of the sounds you expect from good EL34 amps was a nice surprise as well.
i'd like to thank john, and recommend his work to anyone who'll listen :laugh2:
i'd been buying and selling pedals on ebay (big muff, HM-2, MZ-2, etc) and went through phases, never really sticking with one for more than a couple of days.. i wasn't too sure what sound i was looking for.
plugging this one in and playing with the knobs for a while, and i havn't adjusted it or switched it off since :laugh2: the whole distortion pot is one big sweet spot! as the clean boost lew discussed in an earlier thread, it works great as a 'set and forget' pedal.. about 3 quarters up, you start to get nirvana type levels of gain.. the rest is up to which guitar you use, and your tastes, of course.
at the moment, i've gotten a very potent lead tone with a bridge lil '59... i overdrive the preamp valves, so they start to mud *very* slightly, and set everything to halfway, gain sometimes a bit more.
this results in a lovely santana/slash solo type tone.. very round, ballsy and soulful. it's not really meant for rhythm (just knock the gain back) - but jesus, its a beautiful tone.. one of those ones which keeps you playing the same riffs over and over, just because you love the sound of it :laugh2:
as for the lower gain ones, you've got a range from franz ferdinand's 'percussive' tone, to one which isn't unlike the one travis use on 'turn'.. im using a 5/2 middle pickup here though, and its got the dynamics and feel of a typical humbucker through this pedal, so responsive to the volume and tone pots..
for the clean tones, gain wicked down (texas hot neck), you have an unusual, 'raw' chilis-esque tone... if you think of the 'dry' sounds AC/DC used to get, mixed with the fullness of a neck singlecoil, you're about there.. it reminds me of janes addiction.. a bit.
i might post more about this pedal as i get used to it a bit more, but as a last remark, i'm practicing more, i'm trying new styles of music and i'm enjoying practicing more, and the arrival of this pedal kicked it off. considering my amp uses EL84's, to get some of the sounds you expect from good EL34 amps was a nice surprise as well.
i'd like to thank john, and recommend his work to anyone who'll listen :laugh2:
