Whirlwind is an American company (out of Rochester, NY) with a very American story: founder Michael Laiacona was one of the masterminds behind the original line of MXR pedals, and later left to found his own company, Whirlwind. While arguably best-known for their excellent line of pro audio products, the team at Whirlwind decided to go back to Michael’s roots and a few years back, introduced their own versions of the original MXR circuits (Phase 90, Dyna Comp, and Gold Box) in their Rochester Series of pedals, built in-house, in upstate New York.
Upgrades from the original boxes are what you might expect – LEDs, true bypass switching, and modern power adapter compatibility. But Whirlwind doesn’t stick to the past, as demonstrated in a newer design using their same MXR-sized form factor: The Bomb, a clean boost pedal which provides 26 dB of gain which you’ll be able to demo at our upcoming SXSW Stompbox Exhibit.
This pedal is designed to tickle the front end of your tube amp, making the preamp tubes sing. It’s especially good with single-coils, bringing out all the little nuances and upper-range harmonic distortion, while leaving the low end intact. We think this pedal would work well at the beginning of a chain (functioning as an “always-on” transparent overdrive) or at the end of a long signal path to bring out the upper frequencies often lost in translation. Either way, if you’re looking for the true-bypass boost of your dreams, The Bomb is a good place to start. (And yes, it goes to eleven). – Mya Byrne
