Hand-built with love and care in Newfoundland, Canada, by Mr. Mark Bennett, who completed his engineering studies at Montreal’s prestigious McGill University, the Bennett Custom Audio Lighthouse is a high-quality tremolo pedal for the tweaking-inclined.
It’s also a preamp, since it features a Gain circuit that can deliver edge-of-breakup, overdriven pre-amp tones, and even heavier saturtion.
The tremolo circuit, placed after the preamp, has Harmonic and Bias modes voiced after the effects found in vintage tube amps.
In “Harmonic” mode, the signal’s bass and treble frequencies phase in and out of each other to produce a rich and vibey sound.
Switching to “Bias” mode introduces an extra layer with a long-tailed pair and push-pull amplifier stage. This setup modulates the volume of your entire signal, with the Low-Frequency Oscillator dynamically pushing the amplifier into and out of distortion, reminiscent of the characteristics found in vintage tube amps.
?The Presence and Tilt EQ controls allow for a fair amount of sculpting, while the Mix knob lets you set the balance between wet and dry signal.
The Tremolo circuit can be controlled via the right section of the pedal, with the expected knobs for Rate and Intensity and toggle switches controlling the mode, 3 subdivisions [quarter notes (1x), eighth notes (2x), or triplets (3x)] and 3 LFO shape options (square, sine and triangle).
The two double-function footswitches deal with on/off and Tap Tempo duties, and a momentary Ramp Up/Down effect when held.
