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gear giveaway

Author Archive

Azar Swan: about Gear and Recording

Emerging from the ashes of previous incarnation Religious to Damn, Zorah Atash and Joshua Strawn have spent the last few years creating a compelling new sound and image as Azar Swan. Their recently released full length album “Dance Before the War,” available from Handmade Birds Records, presents a technically modern sound that at times pays homage to the 90’s goth rock canon. We asked Joshua a few questions about the band's recording and creative habits.... Click on the title for more

Azar Swan: about Gear and Recording

Pedal Review: BOSS MO-2

When Boss introduced their line of new pedals last year with “Multi-Dimensional Processing” (MDP) technology, I admit I was a bit skeptical. The technology, created in tandem with Roland, sounded like flashy marketing but based on the verbiage alone it wasn’t entirely clear what MDP actually did. To paraphrase Boss’s description, “MDP analyzes audio signals in many dimensions and applies ideal effects to each to create bold, all-new sounds with a previously unattainable range of expression.” Sounds interesting, sure, but is that a real innovation or just jargon?... Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: BOSS MO-2

Lo-Fi in a box: Penny Pedals Radio Deluxe

Radio-like effects have been incredibly popular on vocals for quite some time now - I think it all started with Beck's debut album O-Delay. Guitarists interested in a unique lo-fi filter effect that isn't just a modded fuzz or scratchy vinyl emulator should check out the Penny Pedals Deluxe Lo-Fi ilter. The sound you get is more telephone-like, reminiscent of an old Bakelite AM radio. With a switch adding either a high or low resonant midrange tone (telephone to megaphone quality), the four knobs help you dial in the exact lo-fi sound you want, whether haunting or gritty. ... Click on the title for more

Lo-Fi in a box: Penny Pedals Radio Deluxe

Seen at SNAMM: Outlaw Mini-Pedals

Sometimes you don't need to go too far to see new and unexpected things... completely unannounced, a board of mini-pedals showed up at our Summer NAMM Stompbox Exhibit. We were expecting two T-Rex boards, but the US distributor of the Danish manufacturer (Musiquip) actually sent us one board full of these tiny Chinese stompboxes called Outlaw.... Click on the title for more

Seen at SNAMM: Outlaw Mini-Pedals

Seen at SNAMM: Übermut’s changing diodes

When I attempted to translate “Ubermut” from German, Google told me the word means “high spirits.” However, when I look at this new mod-ready overdrive, what immediately comes to mind is “super mutt”, which I think is a pretty fitting moniker. ... Click on the title for more

Seen at SNAMM: Übermut’s changing diodes

SNAMM 2014 Stompbox Exhibit: all the boards

The Stompbox Exhibit at SNAMM 2014 in Nashville featured nine boards (of which one for bass, for the first time). Check them all out (and Facebook-like the ones you dig) here.... Click on the title for more

SNAMM 2014 Stompbox Exhibit: all the boards

JHS Colour Box review

Unless you have Dave Grohl kind of money, you are probably only familiar with the charms of the Neve console indirectly. Used on famous recordings by artists from The Beatles to Nirvana to Daft Punk, Neve consoles are a big part of analog recording mythology. ... Click on the title for more

JHS Colour Box review

New Pedals: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

In the eternal search for the ideal distorted guitar tone, Groveland, MA based Amzel Electronics definitely belongs to the group of manufacturers who choose to try new paths rather than limit themselves to recreating vintage circuitry. ... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

Pedal Review: The Fulltone Clyde Deluxe

Not too many people actually know the history of the wah pedal. Most folks think it starts with Jimi Hendrix and his iconic Voodoo Chile tone, but the story actually begins with Clyde McCoy - a white Dixieland jazz trumpeter from the thirties who couldn’t sound less like Hendrix. The original Vox wah pedal that Hendrix made famous actually strove to emulate McCoy’s ability to make his trumpet cry in a “wah-wah” sound by fluttering his playing with a mute in the bell of his instrument (see this video).... Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: The Fulltone Clyde Deluxe

Pedals Highlighted in The Deli’s issue #39

JHS Pedals Colour Box, T-Rex Vulture Distortion, Red Panda Particle, Wampler Latitude Tremolo Deluxe. The full issue of The Deli can be read online here.... Click on the title for more

Pedals Highlighted in The Deli’s issue #39

Dwarfcraft Devices Memento

We saw Dwarfcrat Devices Memento's prototype at Winter NAMM 2014 and immediately liked it and blogged about it, maybe because one of our favorite effects when we were kids was to switch the guitar's pick up on and off to create some kind of controlled square tremolo effect, and this pedal does pretty much the same thing (and beyond) - they call it "Intelligent kill switch"! We are happy to report that the pedal is finally ready and Dwarcraft's Benjamin Hints has released this demo video of the unit - he seems pretty excited about it!... Click on the title for more

Dwarfcraft Devices Memento

Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl

We continue our look at interesting if not bizarre pedals that try to push the limits of what a stompbox can do. The next one on the list is the Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl, an analog pedal that promises to fulfill all your analog, vibrato and chorus desires. For starters the sheer number of controls on this pedal merit its inclusion here: 6 knobs, 4 mini-toggles, 2 footswitches (one for tap tempo) and an astounding 16 dip switches - all in a regular size case! Once you start dialing in tones you can achieve everything from subtle chorus to rhythmically complex vibrato, where all matters of pitch, attack, decay and depth can be twisted and deformed. ... Click on the title for more

Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl