Press Release: New Effect Pedal - Cinnamon Drive from Aclam Guitars

Aloha!

I know there are a million pedal makers out there, but I dig Aclam, a Spanish company that is run by music fans and professional musicians. Their new Cinnamon Drive pedal is set-up for Smart Track pedalboards, and I look forward to trying one out in person.

www.cinnamondrive.com

“Barcelona -

After a few years being an innovative pedalboard manufacturer, Aclam has started to expand its catalogue with a pedal line. This first unit named Cinnamon Drive is a dual stage overdrive pedal, inspired by the tones of the greatest 60’s and 70’s guitar players like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. Created to have the tube saturation characteristics inside its DNA, it is highly dynamic and touch responsive, you can play it like your favorite vintage tube amp. It features a custom enclosure designed to fit Aclam Smart Track pedalboards and other major brands. Available worldwide from our website and authorized dealers this summer.

‘Our goal was to make the ultimate riff machine. With an amazing tone and offering new possibilities with an enclosure designed to take the most advantage of the Smart Track pedalboard, and making it easy to place onto all other boards.’

The Cinnamon Drive has a dual stage engine, featuring both soft and hard clipping circuits, starts from a clean preamp to a light overdrive, leading to a highly saturated distortion to cover a wide range of tones. Its simple controls let you dial two completely different tones thanks to the “Boost” section, which gets activated via footswitch. It also features a gain knob and independent volume control. It has internal fine-tuning controls for the most demanding players.

Take advantage of the patented enclosure using the two side thumbscrews on Smart Track pedalboards or attaching it to your pedalboard through the holes using standard screws or zip ties. It also comes with a super-strong Velcro® pad for classic boards.

Assembled and tested with care, one by one in Barcelona with the best components available.”

Mahalo!

BOSS CS-2 Compressor Sustainer Guitar Effect Pedal Review

Aloha!

Awhile back I reviewed the BOSS CS-3 Compressor Sustainer pedal, and recently lucked into a Japanese-made CS-2, so I thought it would be cool to do a comparison between the two. There is a bit of derision towards the CS-3 so this is also a good chance to see what all of the fuss is about.

Effect pedals come in all price ranges, all the way from total junk on up to You can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, and the choices include boutique pedals with prices so high that they must use unicorn hair for wiring. Somewhere in between are BOSS pedals, which are reasonably priced, good quality, and the mainstay of many working musicians. The BOSS CS-2 we are looking at today is a perfect example of this.

What exactly is a compressor sustainer pedal? Well, this one compresses louder signals and boosts softer signals, resulting in more even output. At the same time it can sustain your notes, making them sound longer. Putting these two features can result in a smoother sound, and this will work with either guitar or bass.

The CS-2 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2-7/8 inches wide by 2-3/8 inches tall by 5-1/8 inches long. Take that, metric system! In that same vein, it weighs in at around 15 ounces. This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter. It draws 4 mA at 9 volts (vs. the 11mA of the CS-3), in case you are thinking of hooking it up to a pedal board power system.

By the way, if you run the unit on battery, make sure you unplug the input when you are not using it, as the input jack acts as the power switch. It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a lovely shade of blue. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a single 1/4 input, a single 1/4-inch output and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter.

The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include Level, Tone, Attack, and Sustain, so it is not too complicated. Here is what they do:

Level: adjusts output level, not input level

Attack: enhances the intensity of each note by controlling how quickly the compression activates.

Sustain: adjusts the sustain time. If turned counter-clockwise it acts as a limiter.

Note that there is no Tone knob on the CS-2, on the CS-3 this controls high frequency boost and cut.

My old CS-3 pedal is at its best when it is asked to provide a high level of compression, and combining it with the right guitar/amp combination (think Les Paul and a Marshall). It certainly can squish things down, and there are definitely usable ranges, to be found though I would avoid anything outside of the 9:00 to 3:00 range as there is too drastic of a difference in tone when the unit is switched on. Increasing sustain seems to enhance the compression effect, so I usually keep it below 10:00. The tone control is very useful, and it helps dial out most of the muddiness that comes bout from the compression. With these settings the attack can be spot on without a ton of mush. But, I found that the pedal is best used for hard rock and metal, as this pedal clouds the sound with a lot of gain, which gives out a very edgy and uneven tone.

The older model CS-2 is a LOT smoother, and is better suited to the country and classic rock that I am mostly playing these days. Also, I do not have to get as extreme with my amplifier settings and am able to dial in less bass and enjoy a bit more treble. Also, it does not add nearly as much noise to the signal chain. My other effect pedals work better with it, and for classic Telecaster sounds this pedal really delivers the goods.

There is only one downside, but this it is common to pedals in this price range. Like the CS-3, the CS-2 does not have true bypass, which is something that everybody and their brother wants. In truth, there is some color added to the straight tone when bypassing the pedal, and gear nuts are fanatical about this.

So, there really is a difference between the two pedals, and if you are not looking for an extreme sound the CS-2 is the better choice. These pedals were discontinued years ago, but there are still tons of them on eBay with reasonable prices that range between $60 and $100. They are the real deal, and I heartily recommend this pedal! If you get a chance to try one out, be sure to let me know what you think!

Mahalo!

tc electronic Spark Mini Boost Pedal Review

Aloha!

As a guitarist, sometimes there is need for a little extra oomph when soloing or reaching a dramatic passage in a song, so a boost pedal or volume pedal can be a wise choice. But these things usually take up quite a bit of valuable real estate on the pedalboard. This is where the tc electronic Spark Mini Boost pedal comes in handy. Mini, as in 2 ¼ by 2 ½ by four inches, or about half the size of a normal effect pedal.

The Spark Mini Boost is a simple piece of equipment, with a Level knob, footswitch, and LED on top, single input and output jacks on either side, and a socket for an AC adapter in case you do not want to use a 9-volt battery (the power supply is not included). The footswitch uses tc electronic PrimeTime feature, where a quick tap of the switch will turn the boost ON or OFF, or if you hold the switch down a little longer it will only stay ON for as long as it is pressed. This feature is pure gold!

This pedal will boost the signal from your guitar up to 20dB, and depending on where it is in your signal chain, you can use it to provide extra volume or extra volume. For more volume position it before your drive pedal(s), and for more gain place it at the end of the signal chain.

In the real world, the Spark Mini Boost works very well. It is a purely analog boost, and it has a very natural tone that is a little bit fuller, and does not sound processed. And it has true bypass, so there is no coloring of the signal at all when the boost is off. I did an A.B test and this there is no difference in tone with the pedal plugged in until the boost is activated. Just in case you were In case you were wondering, the normal-sized Spark Boost has 3 more knobs: Mid Boost, Treble and Bass, and it costs twice as much

I think the tc electronic Spark Mini Boost pedal is a winner as it has a clean sound and does what it is supposed to do; I like having it in my signal chain. It is not terribly expensive either, coming in at around $50 on sale (list price is $137, and normal stet price is $80). Try one out and see what you think, it might be just what you are looking for.

Mahalo!

Memory Lane: MXR 6-Band Equalizer Pedal Review

Aloha!

My son and I enjoy heading to the Long Beach Antique Flea Market each month as it is nice to spend some time together poking around through piles of treasures, and we usually find something cool to bring home. He seeks out old coins and vintage video game gear, and I am always on the lookout for music equipment, old Zero Halliburton cases, and vintage skateboard crap. I have had a good run the past few months, bringing home a 1960s Acoustic brand 260 guitar amp (Jaco!) and a super clean Yamaha BB bass (not to mention a cool od Viking board). Well, I did ok this month too, as I found a neat old MXR equalizer pedal!

Judging by the logo, this one was made in the mid to late 1970s. It is on the smallish size for a pedal, measuring just 2 ¾ x 4 ¼ x 1 ½ inches, but it certainly is solid as it weighs in at just a half ounce under a pound.

This MXR unit is about as simple as they come, with single ¼-inch input and output jacks, and six sliders. The sliders each provide 18 dB of cut or boost on these frequencies: 100Hz, 200Hz, 400Hz, 800Hz, 1.6kHz, and 3.2 kHz. There is no bypass switch on these vintage pedals, so just plug it into your signal chain and you are good to go.

And this 6-band EQ is a product that does exactly what it is supposed to. It provides a lot of flexibility to your tone that you might not be able to get with your guitar or amp settings, and it does not color the tone – it is very transparent with no added buzz. It works well for guitars, and passably for bass and keyboards due to its lack of lower end.

This pedal works fine, and it is in reasonable shape for its age with some scuffs and scratches and some flaking of the original silkscreen printing. Amazingly it still has all of the little rubber slider tips, which are often missing on these. It certainly works fine, with not much of anything in the way of added noise to my signal chain, and it is definitely worth the sawbuck I turned over to get my paws on it.

If you need a basic EQ to clean up your guitar tone, you do not need much more than the MXR 6-Band EQ to do the job, and you can find nice ones on eBay for $75 to $100. Or you can buy the brand new updated ones for around $80, but they are a bit more complicated as they added a bypass switch and a clipping circuit, so you have to deal with batteries or an AC adapter.

Mahalo!

Memory Lane: BOSS OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion Pedal Review

Howdy!

It seems like a month does not go by when I do not review some sort of BOSS effect pedal, so today we are looking at the good old OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion pedal. It is probably one of the most popular crunch pedals on the planet, and that is because it is a pretty good pedal that comes in at a reasonable price.

Roland’s BOSS division makes effect pedals for the everyday working musician. These are folks that cannot afford the boutique pedals, or more realistically, they realize that good is good enough (sort of a Voltaire attitude). You have seen that you pay whatever you want can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, with the choices include crummy junk for twenty bucks all the way up to hundreds of dollars for stuff that was put together by people in first-world countries. BOSS pedals fall in the middle, as they are reasonably priced and good quality, making them a good value.

What exactly does an overdrive distortion pedal do? Well, this one is a combination of two other popular BOSS pedals, the DS-1 Distortion and the SD-1 Super Overdrive. It lets users blend these two effects to provide sounds that are appropriate for blues or metal, and most everything in between.

The OS-2 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2.9 inches wide by 2.4 inches tall by 5.1 inches long, and it weigh in at a touch under one pound. See? The metric system will never catch on as long as I am on watch! This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter.

It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a gaudy yellow. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a ¼’ input and output jacks, and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter. The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include LEVEL, TONE, DRIVE, and COLOR. Here is a quick and dirty rundown of what they do:

- LEVEL: adjusts the sound level when the effect is applied. It should be adjusted so there is no volume change when the effect is turned ON.

- TONE: adjusts the tone of the modified sound.

- DRIVE: adjusts level of distortion.

- COLOR: adjusts balance between overdrive and distortion.

That is it, and after a quick look through the manual you can put it away and never need it again. About two minutes of knob twisting will get you the tone you are looking for and then you can move on with your life. It might be one of the easiest to use pedals I have come across.

The OS-2 works really well for guitar and just ok for bass due to the frequency range it is tuned to. I have used it with my Strat and Tele through my Twin Reverb, and was able to get a very bluesy tone with the COLOR knob more towards the overdrive side of things. Cranking the COLOR knob the other way with My Les Paul through a Bugera, I got a very crunchy hard rock/metal tone. It is surprisingly capable of working well with both single-coil and humbucking pickups. I did get a little hiss and hum when the distortion is cranked all the way up, but it was only noticeable when not playing. The COLOR knob is the magic part of this effect, giving it a tremendous amount of versatility, and it is the pot I fiddle with the most.

Mahalo!

Memory Lane: BOSS OC-2 Octave Pedal Review

Howdy!

The month would not be complete without a review of some sort of BOSS effect pedal, so today we are looking at the good old OC-2 Octave pedal. This is a darned good effect that was replaced in the BOSS line-up with the OC-3 in 2003.

Roland’s BOSS division makes effect pedals for the everyday working musician. These are folks that cannot afford the boutique pedals, or more realistically, they realize that good is good enough (sort of a Voltaire attitude). You have seen that you pay whatever you want can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, with the choices include crummy junk for twenty bucks all the way up to hundreds of dollars for stuff that was put together by people in first-world countries. BOSS pedals fall in the middle, as they are reasonably priced and good quality, making them a good value.

What exactly does an octave pedal do? It lets users fatten up their sound by adding up to two additional tones: one and/or two octaves below the original note.

The OC-2 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2.9 inches wide by 2.4 inches tall by 5.1 inches long, and it weigh in at a touch under one pound. See? The metric system will never catch on as long as I am on watch! This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter.

It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a subtle dark brown. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a ¼’ input and output jacks, and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter. The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include OCT 1, OCT 2, and DIRECT LEVEL. Here is a quick and dirty rundown of what they do:

- OCT 1: adjusts the level of the one octave down tone.

- OCT 2: adjusts the level of the two octaves down tone.

- DIRECT LEVEL: adjusts the blend of the original tone and the effect.

That is it, you don’t even need a manual to figure this thing out. About two minutes of knob twisting will get you the tone you are looking for and then you can move on with your life. It might be one of the easiest to use pedals I have come across.

The OC-2 works really well for both guitar and bass. If you want it to track chords, it will not, and it is not always perfect when tracking single notes either, which is part of its charm. It allows for a more organic and less processed tone, and it really thickens things up nicely. Everybody should have something like this on his or her pedalboard. It is not something that will get used on every song, but when you need a fatter sound the OC-2 will deliver the goods. As a bonus, if you throw a phaser pedal into the mix, you can get some of the most awesome 1970s tones imaginable!

If you are searching for a good quality and effective octave pedal, the BOSS OC-2 fits the bill, and it is certainly simpler and easier to use than the four-knob OC-3. It will get the job done and is certainly reasonably priced with nice ones selling for around $60 to $100 on eBay. They seem to be holding their value well, so if you buy right it should always be worth what you paid for it.

Mahalo!

BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter Guitar Effect Pedal Review

Howdy!

The month would not be complete without a review of some sort of BOSS effect pedal, so today we are looking at the P-3 Phase Shifter. This is probably the main competition for the venerable MXR Phase 90.

Roland’s BOSS division makes effect pedals for the everyday working musician. These are folks that cannot afford the boutique pedals, or more realistically, they realize that good is good enough (sort of a Voltaire attitude). You have seen that you pay whatever you want can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, with the choices include crummy junk for twenty bucks all the way up to hundreds of dollars for stuff that was put together by people in first-world countries. BOSS pedals fall in the middle, as they are reasonably priced and good quality, making them a good value.

What exactly does a phase shifter do? It performs comb filtering by splitting the input signal, introducing a very short delay on one of the signals, and then recombining them. That delay is also modulated (varied), and so the phase of one of the signal (relative to the other) is shifted. Remember the bass part on Nugent’s “Stranglehold” – that is a phase shifter. Do not confuse it with a flanger, which works in a similar manner but with a longer delay.

The PH-3 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2.9 inches wide by 2.4 inches tall by 5.1 inches long, and it weigh in at a touch under one pound. See? The metric system will never catch on as long as I am on watch! This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter (which is a good idea as it burns through batteries like crazy). It draws 50 mA at 9 volts, in case you are thinking of hooking it up to a pedal board power system. By the way, if you run the unit on battery, make sure you unplug the input when you are not using it, as either input jack acts as the power switch.

It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a shocking shade of chartreuse. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a ¼’ input and output jacks, an input jack for hooking up an external footswitch or expression pedal, and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter. The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include RATE, DEPTH, RES (Resonance), and STAGE. Here is what they do:

- RATE: adjusts the speed at which the filter changes. It you crank it all the way to the left (MIN) the filter is OFF.

- DEPTH: adjusts the depth of the filter change. The filter effect turns OFF when turned all the way to the left unless the STAGE knob is in the RISE of FALL positions.

- RES: adjusts the strength of the filter effect. The more it is turned towards MAX, the more distortion will be heard.

- STAGE: selects the number of phase steps and the phase type. The 4, 8, 10 and 12 steps increase in depth the higher the number goes. RISE, FALL and STEP do exactly what they say: the sound will emulate rising, falling and non-consecutive tone effects.

A little more info about the external switch input is probably in order here. This jack allows the user to control some of the PH-3 functions in a hands-free mode with the EV-5 expression pedal. RATE can be changed with an EV-5 pedal expression, which sounds like a great idea – but I did not have one to try out the feature. Tap tempo can be controlled from a regular FS-5U external footswitch, which I do have, and it worked very well. You can do tap tempo without the footswitch, but it is way easier with one, so spend a couple of extra bucks to pick one up if you do not already have one.

The PH-3 works really well when you put it to work, and it does not take very long to get a good tone out of it. It has the ability to get classic tones (Step 4) and modern tones, and the unique rise and fall modes give a great unidirectional phase effect that is more modern and very usable. The ability to match it to tempo is a godsend, and there is not a lot of noise or hiss added to the signal chain. Pretty much it is a winner no matter how you look at it.

If you are searching for a good quality and effective phase shifter pedal, the BOSS PH-3 fits the bill. It will get the job done and is certainly reasonably priced with a list price of $208.50 and a street price of $129. They hold their value well on the used market, so you are better off buying new and getting the BOSS 5-year warranty.

Mahalo!

BOSS DD-7 Digital Delay Pedal Review

Howdy!

I have been on a pretty steady roll with BOSS pedal reviews, and this month is no exception as we take a look at the DD-7 Digital Delay pedal.

Roland’s BOSS division makes effect pedals for the everyday working musician. These are folks that cannot afford the boutique pedals, or more realistically, they realize that good is good enough (sort of a Voltaire attitude). You have seen that you pay whatever you want can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, with the choices include crummy junk for twenty bucks all the way up to hundreds of dollars for stuff that was put together by people in first-world countries. BOSS pedals fall in the middle, as they are reasonably priced and good quality, making them a good value.

The BOSS DD-7 Digital Delay pedal provides up to 6.4 seconds of delay, and can also function as a looper with up to 40 seconds of recording time. It is a neat piece of work and is fairly easy to use (for a delay pedal, anyway).

The DD-7 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2.9 inches wide by 2.4 inches tall by 5.1 inches long, and it weigh in at a touch under one pound. See? The metric system will never catch on as long as I am on watch! This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter (which is a good idea as it burns through batteries like crazy). It draws 55 mA at 9 volts, in case you are thinking of hooking it up to a pedal board power system. By the way, if you run the unit on battery, make sure you unplug the input(s) when you are not using it, as either input jack acts as the power switch.

It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a striking shade of white. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a two 1/4 inputs and outputs (in case you are going stereo), an input jack for hooking up an external footswitch or expression pedal, and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter. The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include Effect Level, Feedback, Delay, and MODE. Here is what they do:

- Effect Level: adjusts mixture of delay effect and input. It you crank t all the way up you will only get the delay effect sound with no input sound mixed in.

- Feedback: adjusts the number of times the delay sound is repeated. The Feedback knob does not work HOLD mode.

- Delay: adjusts the delay time based on the position of the MODE knob. This knob also does not work in HOLD mode.

- MODE: provides 4 different ranges of delay times, HOLD (looping function), MODULATE (a chorus effect), ANALOG (a more natural sounding delay, similar to the BOSS DM-2), and REVERSE (a whacky space-age reverse tape sound).

The stereo output are pretty cool, as they allow panning to create spatial audio sweep effects or separate dry and wet signal paths, which is handy for the studio and the stage.

A little more info about the external switch input is probably in order here. This jack allows the user to control some of the DD-7 functions in a hands-free mode. Delay time, feedback, and effect level can be changed with an expression pedal expression, which sounds like a great idea – but, I did not have one to try out the feature. Tap tempo can be controlled from an external footswitch, which I do have, and it worked very well. You can do tap tempo without the footswitch, but it is way easier with one, so spend a couple of extra bucks to pick one up if you do not already have one.

The DD-7 works really well when you put it to work. It is easy to use with only a little bit of a learning curve, and the delay is clear but not too sterile. And I love the ANALOG mode, which provides a very warm tone that is pretty darned close to that of a non-digital pedal. The MODULATE function gets kind of close to a chorus sound, and if you do not have a chorus pedal this one will work in a pinch, but it is not your best solution. And the REVERSE function is pretty much not worth using.

The HOLD mode is a pretty good looper, and if you have not used one, this BOSS pedal would be a good opportunity for you to see if you would really want to buy one. Keep in mind that there is no save function, though.

If you are searching for a good quality digital delay that is affordable digital delay, the BOSS DD-7 is the right pedal for you. It will get the job done and is certainly reasonably priced with a list price of $264.50 and a street price of $149.99. They hold their value well on the used market, so you are better off buying new and getting the BOSS 5-year warranty.

Mahalo!

BOSS CS-3 Compressor Sustainer Guitar Effects Pedal Review

Aloha!

You can pay anything you want for guitar effect pedals, and the choices include crummy junk for twenty bucks (probably put together by little kids in sweatshops) all the way up to boutique pedals with prices so high that they must use unicorn hair for wiring. Somewhere in between are BOSS pedals, which are reasonably priced, good quality, and the mainstay of many working musicians. Today we are going to take a closer look at the BOSS CS-3 Compressor Sustainer pedal.

What exactly is a compressor sustainer pedal? Well, this one compresses louder signals and boosts softer signals, resulting in more even output. At the same time it can sustain your notes, making them sound longer. Putting these two features can result in a smoother sound, and this will work with either guitar or bass.

The CS-3 is a standard single-space sized pedal, measuring 2-7/8 inches wide by 2-3/8 inches tall by 5-1/8 inches long. Take that, metric system! In that same vein, it weighs in at around 15 ounces. This pedal runs on a single 9-volt battery or it takes the optional BOSS PSA adapter. It draws 11 mA at 9 volts, in case you are thinking of hooking it up to a pedal board power system.

By the way, if you run the unit on battery, make sure you unplug the input when you are not using it, as the input jack acts as the power switch.

It has the same general style as other BOSS pedals, but this one comes in a lovely shade of blue. The outside of the sturdy metal case has a single 1/4 input, a single 1/4-inch output and a jack for the aforementioned AC adapter. The expected BOSS high quality is to be found here, with a smooth finish, clean wiring, and knobs that have a nice feel. These knobs include Level, Tone, Attack, and Sustain, so it is not too complicated. Here is what they do:

Level: adjusts output level, not input level

Tone: high frequency boost and cut

Attack: enhances the intensity of each note by controlling how quickly the compression activates.

Sustain: adjusts the sustain time. If turned counter-clockwise it acts as a limiter.

The CS-1 was one of BOSS' first mass-production pedals, and it has changed quite a bit over the years as the model name has changed to CS-2 and then later to the CS-3. There seems to be a bit of hate out there for the CS-3, particularly with the changes in the circuit and the addition of a tone knob. That being said, I like having the tone pot on the unit so that no changes are needed to my guitar settings when I switch the pedal ON.

The CS-3 is at its best when it is asked to provide a high level of compression, and combining it with the right guitar/amp combination (think Les Paul and a Marshall). It certainly can squish things down, and there are definitely usable ranges, to be found though I would avoid anything outside of the 9:00 to 3:00 range as there is too drastic of a difference in tone when the unit is switched on. Increasing sustain seems to enhance the compression effect, so I usually keep it below 10:00. The tone control is very useful, and it helps dial out most of the muddiness that comes bout from the compression. With these settings the attack can be spot on without a ton of mush.

In a nutshell, the CS-3 is a pretty good pedal for a reasonable price, which is what BOSS is all about. This pedal would be good for hard rock and metal, but if you are playing jazz, country or blues it will not make you very happy because it is hard to get a clean sound out of it.

Unfortunately, there are a few downside to this unit. For starters, it does not have true bypass, which is something that everybody and their brother wants. In truth, there is some color added to the straight tone when bypassing the pedal, and gear nuts are fanatical about this. But more importantly, is that, no matter what the manufacturer says in their sales literature, this pedal is pretty darned noisy if the controls (Level and Sustain) are used very aggressively.

By the way, there is a considerable number of folks out there modifying these pedals to reduce noise and improve tone, but I have not had the opportunity to try one. If you have, please add a comment to let us know what you think!

If these are the features you are looking for and if you can handle a little extra noise in your signal chain, the BOSS CS-3 Compressor Sustainer may be the pedal for you. It will get the job done and is certainly reasonably priced with a list price of $154.50 and a street price of $99. They are way cheaper on the used market, but you will be giving up the 5-year warranty if you go that route. Check one out before you buy to make sure it is really what you want, and let me know what you think.

Mahalo!

MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal

Hi there!

I have tried out more delay pedals than I can count over the years, and have only found a few that I like. The digital T-Rex Replica is my all-time favorite, but it costs an arm and a leg, and the MXR M169 Carbon Copy analog delay pedal comes in a close second for a fraction of the price.

MXR is part of the Dunlop Company, which also sells all kinds of stuff, including picks, strings, accessories, and the Cry Baby Wah pedals. Using my unofficial count, there are over 50 different MXR pedals that you can stick on your pedalboard, and generally they are very well regarded.

The Carbon Copy is one of the more simple delay pedals that you will run into, and there are only three knobs (Regen, Mix, and Delay) and a modulation ON/OFF switch on its tiny chassis. Regen controls the amount of delay repeats, Mix controls the wet signal level, and Delay sets the delay time. The MOD switch controls the up and down pitch shift of the delayed signal, and this is adjustable for rate and duration internally (screwdriver required). It does not say this in any of the literature, but it appears that the lettering for these controls actually glows in the dark a bit. Between this and the nice bright LEDs, it is ready for the stage!

There are also the expected footswitch, input and output jacks, and a jack for a power supply. By the way, the footswitch provides a true hard-wired bypass, in case you were wondering. If you choose to go the 9-volt battery route, you will have to pop the back off to change it periodically. This is not terribly convenient.

As I said earlier, this is an analog pedal, and with its bucket brigade technology it can provide up to 600ms of delay (0.6 seconds for us non-math types). This is obviously less than what you can get from a digital delay, but it makes up for this with an awesomely warm tone and natural decay without undue muddiness. I was able to get a lot of really useful sounds and tones from this pedal when used with either a bass or guitar, though none of them had the crisp hi-fi character that you can get from a digital pedal. The MOD switch adds a notable depth to the tone, so you can try to emulate your favorite prog rock sounds.

I found that it is good for blues and country, but I found that it shined the most when used with a Stratocaster for straightforward rock or funk with my Precision Bass. It is a blessing to have such simple controls, and changes on the fly are very easy.

The Carbon Copy has a quality feel to it, and the pots and switches do not feel like they are going to break any time soon. I am amazed that they could cram so much goodness into a normal-sized pedal, so it leaves plenty of room for other stuff on the pedalboard. The true bypass switching is exactly what they say it is – the signal comes out just as clean as when it went in. In my usage I found no added noise from this unit and the Replica would be equally at home on the stage or in the studio.

The MXR M169 Carbon Copy delay pedal is a winner, and you are not going to find a better analog pedal for the money. These pedals have a list price of $254.61, and street price of $149.99. Check one out if you get a chance.

Mahalo!

T-Rex Replica Delay Pedal Review

Hiya!

I have tried oodles of delay pedals over the years and have had some fun with them but never found one that I really liked. Mostly because they did not work terribly well or sound very good, so they ended up being more trouble than they were worth. But, the T-Rex Replica delay pedal has made me a believer in delay pedals again.

The Replica is made by adults in Denmark, not by little kids or giant robots in a third world country. It is very sturdy, and it is not as big as these pictures would lead you to believe. It measures about 4” x 2 ¼” x 5”, and it weighs about 11 ounces.

On the face of the unit there are four switches: ON/OFF, Subdivision, Brown and Tap Tempo. There are also four knobs: Volume, Tempo, Echo and Repeat. On the sides of the Replica you will find ¼-inch Input, Direct out and Output jacks, as well as a 5-pin DIN MIDI in and a 2mm power jack.

You can probably figure out what the knobs and jacks do, but a little explanation of the switches may be needed. The Subdivision switch toggles between quarter note and eight note triplets. The Brown switch provides a high-cut filter that makes the Replica sound like a tube tape echo. The Tap Tempo switch might be the coolest feature of the unit, in that it allows the user to follow the beat and tap-in delay times with the footswitch, and track the changes with an LED. This is very valuable for having the delay stay in time while changing tempos on the fly.

The Replica is a digital delay, and it uses a 24-bit Burr Brown AD/DA converter. This allows up to 2000ms of delay (that is 2 seconds for us normal people), and it samples at rate of 200kHz, which is ungodly fast. It has true bypass switching which seems to actually be a true bypass of the input signal -- it comes out just as clean as when it went in.

And though this pedal is digital, it is not a one-trick pony and it sounds marvelous. The delay is clean all the way up to two seconds, and it can sound hi-fi or fat and sassy like a tube preamplifier. It really is the best of both worlds, providing either a digital delay or a tube echo tone. In all of this it does not mask the original tone, but enhances what is already there. The knobs and switches are easy to figure out an manipulate to provide just the tone you are looking for. There is no added noise from this unit and the Replica would be equally at home on the stage or in the studio.

In other words, the T-Rex Replica is a winner, and the best delay pedal I have ever used. An, of course, it is priced accordingly. It has a list price of $539 and a street price $399, so start saving now, or maybe you should ask Santa Claus to bring you one for Christmas – it is just that awesome.

Mahalo!

Peterson VSS-C Stomp Classic Strobotuner Review

Howdy!

Everybody and their brother makes a tuner pedal these days, and you can pick up most of them for under a hundred bucks, and clip-on tuners are so cheap that you can usually get one thrown in for free when you buy a new guitar. So when I saw the price of the Peterson VSS-C Stomp Classic Strobotuner, I was taken aback. It has a list price of $299 and a street price of $205. That is a lot of simoleons for a man of simple means, but it is one gnarly tuner.

You have probably seen the old Conn ST-11 strobotuners before – I remember the day our school orchestra got one back in 1980 or so, and it transformed my ideas about tuning. The Conn tuner uses a wheel that shows different octaves and the strobe effect of the tuner will make one row of the wheel appear to stop for the octave that is being played, while the overtones for other octaves will move about depending on how far they are out of whack. The advantages of this are incredible accuracy (within 0.1 cent), along with an intangible coolness factor. The Peterson VSS-C Stomp simulates all of this with a nice bright LCD display that is a little simpler to look at and use.

The pedal itself is normal sized, measuring 5 ¼ by 3 ¼ by 2 ¼ inches, but it is a brick, weighing in at around a pound. The die-cast chassis had built-in lugs for secure pedal board mounting, which is good as a strip of Velcro might not hold it in place. There is also a built-in cable guard to keep them from getting damaged. It has a very sturdy feel and Peterson backs it with a 3-year warranty, which I would expect at this price point. It uses one 9-volt battery, or you can use an AC adaptor (it draws 80mA).

This tuner has the usual Switchcraft ¼-inch in and outputs, but there is also a balanced XLR output, so the pedal can be used as a mutable active DI with user-selectable 3-stage attenuation. A USB port is provided to download new presets, if you find that the 23 preloaded ones are not sufficient.

The specs look really good on paper, with 100% true-bypass circuitry and a tuning range of 8Hz (go III-X!) to 8000Hz. The accuracy is guaranteed to be within 0.1 cent, and A 440Hz is adjustable from 390Hz to 490Hz. The Stomp Classic delivers on all of this, and it is easy to use for conventional tunings. It adds no noise to my signal chain, and there is no pop when the switch is pressed. Not to mention that the display is plenty bright for most any environment, and it will hold notes for longer than any other tuner I have tried. It is the best tuner pedal I have ever used. No doubt.

As an added bonus they include the 23 preset “Sweetened Tunings” (terrible name, by the way) that include specific programming for less common instruments such as the electric violin, 7 string guitars and mandolins, that take into account string deflection and unique harmonics to make tuning as accurate as possible. I use almost none of these presets, by the way.

So, I guess I am saying that the Peterson VSS-C Stomp Classic Strobotuner is worth every penny of the $205, but I would happily give up the programmability and the DI to get a tuner that was this accurate and well-built, for a few less bucks. Even in its current configuration you will not go wrong if you purchase this tuner – it is the best one on the market, and they guarantee it.

Mahalo!

T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon Power Supply Review

Good day!

Ok. I do not have any powered pedals on my pedalboard (except for my Boss tuner), as I endorse Cave Passive Pedals, but if I did have some I would be first in line to pick up a T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon power supply. This is the best-looking and most versatile/flexible portable power supply assemblies I have tried, and is also one of the more spendy ones. T-Rex offers a few different power supplies, and this is one is their best offering (in my opinion), even though it not the top of their line.

The Fuel Tank Chameleon It is not as big as it looks in the photos, but it will still take up a few spaces on your pedalboard, measuring 6.3 x 1.6 x 3.2 inches. It is solidly built with a green-finished steel case, and come in a bit over 3 pounds. Their products have always been bulletproof, and this one also appears to be made to last.

Let’s look at power. This T-Rex product comes with an industry standard removable IEC power cable, and it is switchable from 115V to 230V. So you can take this to Europe, switch out the input cable and still be in business. It has the capability of 1500mA of total power output through its 6 isolated outputs (only 5 can be used at a time) which should be plenty for most any pedalboard setup. Keep in mind that those outputs can be daisy-chained, so you can run a lot more that 5 pedals off this thing.

And you can run a bunch of different voltages from this unit at the same time. Outputs 1 through 3 can be individually set at either 9V DC or 12V DC, and output 4 can be set to either 9V DC or 18V DC. Output 5 is switchable for 9V DC or 12V DC and output 6 is solely for 12V AC. Outputs 5 and 6 cannot be used at the same time. All voltages are switched via little tiny dip switches.

These outputs put out 300mA at 9V or 12V and 150mA at 18V, so read the directions carefully, and do you math if you are going to daisy-chain things together. You don’t want to overload any of the circuits…

So, you can pretty much get the correct power for any of your pedals, and chances are also good that T-Rex provided the cables you will need to attach them too. This product came with 9 DC pedal link cables between 8 and 40 inches long, a 30-inch 5-pedal daisy chain cable, a blue AC cable for Line6 pedals, a 30-inch DC to mini jack cable and a red AC cable for the T-Rex Replica Delay. That is a huge wad of cables, and I have not found any pedals in my stash (or my friends’) that this thing will not power up. All of the outlets are center negative, BTW.

I broke out all of my old pedals, and borrowed a few more, and ran them together in all different configurations using the T-Red as the sole power supply. Pedal types included delays, distortions, a wah pedal, tuners, choruses, octavizers, and god knows what all. Brands included Boss, Ibanez, Dunlop, DOD, and Line6, among others, and they all worked fine with this unit.

The Chameleon was nice and quiet and did not make any interference that manifested itself as noise in my signal chain. It also did not seem to get ungodly hot, so pretty much it did everything it was supposed to while providing a level or versatility that most guitarists with big setups would appreciate. A winner, in other words!

The T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon power supply is a great product, and is priced accordingly. The list price is $249, with a street price of $149.99. If I was running a larger pedalboard with a ton of power needs I would be all over one of these, even at a bill and a half.

Mahalo!

Korg Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner Pedal Review

Como estas?

Everybody and their brother is making tuner pedals nowadays, and they are amazingly cheap for the performance you can get from them. So why buy one instead of another? It comes down to features, not catchy names, so Korg wasted their time naming their latest pedal the “Pitchblack” (get it?), when they could have spent their energy making a little more usable tuner.

The Pitchblack is a compact-sized pedal with a modern-looking sturdy cast aluminum case that is finished in stylish black. There is not much in the way of controls – just one beefy stomp switch on the front, and calibration and display switches on the back. It runs on a 9-volt battery or you can attach an AC adapter to power it up. There is an extra power output jack on the back that allows you to use this pedal as a power supply to support up the 200mA of other pedals. None of these cables are included, of course.

This Korg unit will tune between E0 (20.60Hz) and C8 (4,186 Hz), and the calibration can be adjusted easily with the switch on the back to change A440 between 436Hz and 445Hz. People might actually use that feature, but I don’t think I ever have. The accuracy is certainly good enough for me – I compared its reading to my Peterson and my Boss and it was the same. It’s rock and roll anyway, so how accurate does it need to be?

This stuff is all pretty standard, and about what I would expect any nice tuner pedal to do, but Korg tosses four different display mode into the mix, which really caught my interest. These modes can be selected by pressing the “DISPLAY” switch on the back of the unit. Here is a quick summary of each:

Meter: Almost like an analog meter tuner. The goal here is to get the green LED in the middle and both of the amber arrow LEDs lit up. If you cannot figure out how to use this mode, maybe you should be a singer instead.

Full Strobe: This kind of simulates my Peterson, and it immediately seemed familiar to me when I tried it. With this mode when you are in tune the eleven LED meters stop streaming and both of the amber LEDs illuminate. The LEDs stream from left to right if sharp, and right to left if flat. Steve Perry’s meter always streams from left to right…

Half Strobe: This is a hybrid of the Meter and Full Strobe modes, and I do not get how it is any better than either of those modes. The idea is to tune so that the LED meter no longer stream and so that the green LED in the middle and both of the amber arrow LEDs are lit up. Meh.

Mirror: This mode is the worst of the bunch. I am not going to waste brain cells trying to explain it.

The Korg tuner works well. It has true bypass, and in monkeying around with it I did not notice any change in tone with it plugged wither directly in line or in my pedal board. The LEDs and note indicator displays are bright enough to use outside, and they were viewable at all kind of angles. As I said earlier, it is plenty accurate as well.

I mostly used the Meter and Full Strobe modes, and liked the Full Strobe mode best of all. It reacted very quickly and it was quite intuitive and functional for me.

But, as always, there are a few things that I do not like. The Pitchblack mutes the signal when tuning, and the display turns off when the switch is pressed. So there is no provision for the tuner to work while you are playing. I like being able to watch my tuning sometimes as I am playing (especially on fretless) so this is a deal-breaker for me. My guess is that they designed the pedal this way to save battery life, but they should have checked with some end users before finalizing their design.

The list price for the Korg Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner pedal is a ridiculous $150, with a very sensible street price of $69.99. It comes in about $30 cheaper than my trusty Boss TU-3, so this could be a great deal for someone who does not mind that it mutes the signal when it is in use. But not me.

Mahalo!

Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue Guitar Pedal Review

Hiya!

In the world of guitar effect pedals, there are true legends, and one of them would have to be the Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedals that were introduced back in the early 1980s. These are blues and rock guitar staples, with players like Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Lynch having a fondness for them.

There were a few different models, but my favorite of these would be the TS808, which has spawned many imitators. These have become very collectible (i.e. expensive), but fortunately Ibanez has re-issued them so anybody with a small stack of cash can pick one up. Supposedly this unit uses the same circuitry and electronics as the original version.

The basic purpose of is to simulate the tone of a tube amplifier that is being overdriven, but at more reasonable volume levels.

This Tube Screamer reissue has a sturdy case with the distinctive green finish and square switch of the original. The controls are simple, with three knobs: overdrive, tone and level. Drive is for the level of distortion, tone is a treble cut and level controls the output.

And this Ibanez pedal works very well, providing super strong sustain and mids that really help a guitarist stand out in the mix, but without being a full-blown gnarly distortion pedal. I have found that it really is not going to take the place of a tube amp, but certainly does augment a tube amp’s natural tone.

The price of the Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue is a bit steep, with an MSRP of $257.13 and a street price of $179.99, but it is worth every penny. If you are only going to have one guitar effect pedal, this is the one to get!

Mahalo!

Cave Passive Pedals Furry Tongue

Hey everybody! I have a Furry Tongue! Well, I have one in my pedal board, anyway. This is the latest bass effect pedal that I have received from Cave Passive Pedals.

Cave Passive Pedals is a boutique guitar and bass effect pedal builder located in Australia. I heard about them from my friend Mark Deayton, and I have been very impressed with their products, as well as with Heath and Georgina Cave, who are super-involved with every facet of production, distribution and customer service.

I have previously written reviews of the Cave Passive Pedals Grunt and Grunt Mk. II pedals, and I loved them both. They have simple controls, and add a manageable distortion/boost to my sound.

As with all of their pedals, the first thing to note is that the Furry Tongue does not require a power supply, so there are no batteries, and no need to plug in an AC adaptor. All the power that is needed is provided by the output signal from the guitar or bass. Not only is this convenient for setting up your pedal board, it is nice for the environment to not have more 9-volt batteries going into our landfills.

The Furry Tongue is similar in appearance to the Grunts. It is a compact-sized pedal that measures about 2.75 inches wide, by 4.5 inches long and 1.75 inches tall. This is handy if space on your pedal board is at a premium. The chassis is powder-coated shiny white, with a nice overlay for the logo and control labels. There are no feet on the case, so it is easy to add the Velcro needed to attach it to your pedal board.

This pedal is equipped with true bypass, and I did not notice any difference in sound by putting it before or after my Grunt pedals. Just for grins, I put it in the signal chain before and after my VT Bass pedal, and again it sounded the same. It did not hinder the operation of the VT Bass, either.

The controls are simple: an ON/OFF footswitch and a 4-position tone switch. That’s it. Even I can figure out how to use it.

So, the four different tones settings are all very different. Turning the knob is almost like the variable tone switches on the Kubicki or Aria Super Basses. Here is a brief summary of how I hear the tones, from left to right:

#1 Makes it sound furry, almost like a mid/bass boost, with a loss of some top end

#2 A hollow/thin tone, with a little bit of a drop in volume.

#3 More aggressive and overdriven with a re-introduction of the high tomes. It seems to have a bit more output positions 1 and 2

#4 This position sounds the most processed of the four (to me). It is a cool hollow tone, and the one I would be most likely to use.

For this test, I used a very good passive Fender 57 re-issue Precision Bass strung with D’Addario Chromes. As usual for this bass, I had the volume and tone pots dimed. For amplification I used my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 through a Genz Benz Uber Bass 410 cabinet. I kept my usual amp settings with a lot of gain (12 o’clock +) into the tube pre-amp and not much boost to the low frequencies.

I did try a couple of active basses as well, and the Furry Tongue results with them were good, but not quite as dramatic as with a passive bass. Your mileage will vary, depending on your bass, signal chain and eq settings, of course.

Combining the Furry Tongue with the Cave Grunt pedals has given me a lot of new tonal options, and I am very pleased with how this has worked itself into my pedal board.

So, on to the administrivia…

The Furry Tongue comes in a sharp-looking eco-friendly waxed MDF box along with a microfiber cleaning cloth and some basic instructions. That is a lot of adjectives for a box, eh?

All Cave pedals come with a lifetime warranty, which I am sure you will never need. If something ever went wrong, though I am sure they would be happy to help if something went bad.

The Furry Tongue is priced at $129 AUD, or a mere $120 USD (as of today).

Cave Passive Pedals will soon be distributed in the United States through G Spot Music (http://www.g-spot-music.com) or you can contact the Caves directly (http://www.cavepassivepedals.com.au) and they can accept PayPal or bank wire transfers. Shoot them an e-mail for details of shipping costs.

I cannot forget my usual disclaimer: I am an endorsing artist for Cave Passive Pedals, but I paid for my first one, and was totally blown away. I would never represent a product that I do not 100% believe in.

Boss TU-3 Tuner Pedal

Tuners. Does it get any more exciting than this? Well, yes it does, but we all need one. Paul McCartney needed one for “Band on the Run”, and there must not have been one around. Meow.

For the longest time, the Boss TU-2 was the standard in tuner pedals for guitarists and bassists. It is a durable and easy to use pedal. Boss has finally updated the pedal a bit and re-named it the TU-3. It was introduced at the NAMM show this year.

I sold my TU-2 on eBay and ordered a TU-3 from Musician’s Friend. It was only about a $25 up charge if you consider what I sold the old one for versus what I paid for the new one. The TU-3 seems to be priced about the same as the TU-2. The list price is $160.50, and the street price is $99. Everywhere. Talk about price fixing.

It does everything the previous pedal did (such as tuning your instruments), and it still has a bypass so that your audience does not have to listen to you while you tune. The pedal is the same size, and has the same rugged construction and high production standards that everyone has come to expect from Boss (made in Taiwan, BTW). The battery is still located underneath the switch, which is accessed via a thumbscrew on the front. As before, the reference pitch is adjustable from 436-445Hz.

There are a few improvements, of course:

This pedal can help clean up your pedal board of pesky power adapters, as it is capable of powering up to 7 other Boss effects using the PCS-20A daisy chain. This requires that the TU-3 be plugged in with the Boss adapter, so you cannot use its battery to power-up everything else. Be sure to check the power ratings of the other pedals you are using, and do not exceed 200mA total draw.

The TU-3 uses 21-segment LED meter (10 more than the old one!). And there is a new high brightness mode to improve visibility in outdoor situations. This does raise current draw up from 55mA to 85mA, meaning the battery will not last quite as long.

The pedal now supports the drop tunings that all of the young folks use, up to 6 semi-tones lower.

There are guitar and bass modes, which visually provide a string reference for up to 7-string guitars and 6-string basses. A chromatic mode is still available, of course.

Boss says the TU-3’s accuracy is improved, and is now +/-1 cent over the range of the 21 LEDs. I have no way of verifying this, but it works for tuning my stuff. It is possibly a bit more sensitive (finicky?) than the previous model, which requires a bit more concentration on my part.

So, is the TU-3 really THAT much better than the TU-2? Probably not, but having the option to power additional pedals from it is enough to make the switchover worthwhile for some musicians.