Saturday, June 27, 2009

Shout at the Devil

:::Cool Pedals:::

Bavaria, Germany

Builder: Andreas Ziegler


There is only one real way to describe this pedal...Overdrive & Beyond. There are many pedals out there that promise multi-drive voicings but usually that means having to mount some oversized not very user friendly stompbox onto your already crowded pedalboard. Cool Pedals has found a clever way to give us classic, modern, and everything in betwen in a small killer looking guitar pedal. Inside the Dirty Devil you will find some very recognizable dirt tones and at the same time discover some new ones you'll be proud to add to your arsonal of sound. Selling your soul to Satan never sounded so good.




Dirty Devil

OD/Dist/Etc...


Look at this pedal!!! It screams badass, and it delivers like no other. This is one pedal I was more than happy to put through it's paces, it's very user friendly and every setting you dial-in sounds like fantastic overdrive overdose. The Dirty Devil was built for the player in need of one pedal that can do it all. When I say "it" I mean overdrive & distortion. Need a vintage TS-808 tone? You got it! Want to go a bit heavier into the DS-1 realm? No problem. And it doesn't stop there, this is not a pedal that will bore you easily. It responds really well to your guitars volume knob and the amount of compression is damn near perfect! There is a warm yet slicing quality to the sound it produces, it is rich in harmonics, and will have both humbuckers and single coils howling like a beast. The Dirty Devil is handmade, sports high quality components, and is built to last. It's builder and designer is Andreas Ziegler. A passionate and hard working cat with a mission to give us players choice and killer tone in one amazing pedal. I'd have to say he pulled it off, the Dirty Devil kept me busy for quite some time. Let's look at the Dirty Devil's layout, which is very clever I must say. You have the traditional Volume-EQ-and Gain knobs, which all work together when you step on the On/Off switch. The Boost knob is there to give you a little more and is engaged by the Boost switch. Now here's where this pedal gets exciting and where Andreas really came through, the Voicing and Mode mini-toggle switches. To the right you have your Voicing switch gives you Classic/Turbo/Devil tone options. In the Classic mode you'll find all your vintage, boutique, light overdrive tones. Turbo gives you a bit of a jolt and boost, the tone is much hairier and dirtier. Last is the Devil, this incorporates LED clipping and sets the eyes on the devil to blink in and out depending on how you strum. The Devil voicing is probably the strongest and most original of all the voicing tones, there is a rich and thick Plexi like sound to it, but it also gives you a hint of modern undertones. A very cool voicing. The fun has just started cause from here we go into the Boost section of the pedal. When adding the Boost switch you get to choose the level of intensity you'd like your boost to sound like. There are three modes, TS-NT-DS. I told you this pedal was no joke. Now, in the TS the tone stays true to that old school booster sound, kind of the way a clean boost would work, it doesn't add much much grit but makes your tone louder. The NT, which stands for "No Teeth", here I found to get a vintage type boost sound out of the Dirty Devil, combined with the right Voicing this mode really stays true to classic rock heaven. Last is the DS mode which drenches your sound with a boost of creamy, heavy distortion. The possibilities are endless, dialing in the sound that works for you is as easy as pie. The Dirty Devil most definitely falls into heavyweight category of effects pedals. There are many overdrive pedals swarming the pedal scene right now and if I had to put together a top 10 list the Dirty Devil would easily make the cut. This is one of those pedals that once you get your hands on will stay with you forever.  


For more info on Cool Pedals go to www.coolpedals.de or click the logo in our links. Look for more features on Cool Pedals in the near future. Cool Pedals also offers a handful of killer mods, check them out!!!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Set the controls for the heart of the tone



This my fellow addicts of the tone, this is by far one of the coolest and most useful stompboxes to come across since the legendary Tubescreamer. I think of a great vintage amp, an amp that just delivers that beautiful and spot-on tone. That sound that works so well with your picking dynamics, you know the one I'm speaking of, it stays clean'n'crisp with a brush of your pick and screams out natural overdrive grit when you dig in. This is the sound I've found in the Thinman OD, and it's been a long time coming.





Thinman OD




*Volume: Sets the output level


*Bias: Bias Limiter-clean blend to starved bias


*Limit: Med to Hard limiter-clean to med limit



Three controls...the magic number of the overdrive pedal. Drive-Tone-Level. Anyone who knows anything about overdrive pedals or anyone who's ever built one has used this formula, And for good reason. Less is more! The Thinman OD has also been designed with three controls. only these three puppies give you a whole new method on how to get that golden grit out of your amp. A few hours after recieving the pedal I had to call it's creator, his name is Dan Simon. This is a man with a true love for great tone, his passion for tone jumps out of the phone, you can hear it in his words when you speak with him. It's that talk you get out of any die hard, cut throat, axe slangin player. I get why and for who he built this pedal for, it's a pedal that you'll either get or you won't. Which by I mean, if you're a player you'll love it, if you're an eye-candy collecting pedal junky you won't. You'll notice by looking at the pedal that it definitely doesn't fall in with the trend of bright colors and many buttons and knobs. I love it for that! There's no where for your tone to hide, the original sound you push through the pedal stays intact and easy to enhance. I'm not one to buy pedals for their artwork and hype, like a certain bullshit company who builds small hand painted pedalZ and sellZ them for and arm and a leg, but that's a topic for another day. When you hold the Thinman in your hand you will notice that it's quality all the way, it's like a mini tank. The little light-up knobs are an extra cool treat as well. I've never seen knobs like that on a pedal, they make for easy control on dark stages and add a signature look to the pedal. This is the perfect pedal for those of you looking to lower the pedal count in your setup, with the right touch it does the work of two pedals and delivers two wonderful sounds. That's not all either, the Thinman works especially great in front and behind other boosters, overdrivers, distortions, and fuzz boxes. This is where this pedal really shines! Imagine being able to get a little bit more magic out of those already great sounding and favorite boosters and drivers of yours, a hint more grunt, and a tad more balls. The overdrive'n'dirt this pedal produces is very organic and natural sounding. It lives in that realm of overdrive we love to get out of our amplifiers, only with this pedal no longer do we have to set the controls to overload hell. I play a pretty big amp, 4 x 10 Fender Deville. If you know these amps you kow how wonderful a clean tone you can get out of them, and with a little mod to the eq section you have a damn near perfect clean tone. But these also get very loud once you set them past 2 on the volume knob. That is no longer a problem for me and now I can set the level where I want it and get the perfect amount grit and growl out of it. I like to palm chords like no one elses business, with the right amount of overdrive it's just rock and roll heaven. I can get my palmed chords to ring out even longer and stronger now. They're full of rich, thick, harmonic bliss and ring with tight, clear, overtones. I amost wish I could come up with a whole new category to place the Thinman in but I can't, it's something you have to experience for yourselves. Those of you tone freaks and will most definitely get where Dan is coming from with this pedal design. It is a pedal that dances and plays around your touch, and dishes out amazing dynamics. Dymanics... probably thr most important thing in music, if not one of the most important. To have a great song you need your melody, your hook, your tone and sound, and dynamics. This is one of the best ways to describe this pedal, dynamics and great response. The way I've set up my pedalboard is like so: Tuner-Clean Boost-Overdrive-Thinman-Fuzz, and so on into the modulation pedals. This is the best way to get the most out of your Thinman, actually to be honest I could really scratch my Overdrive pedal if I wanted, only I love it too much and it works so damn well the Thinman. Overall, this is a pedal that players will appreciate, a pedal that will work with you and not steal the style you've worked so hard to perfect. That is what effect pedals are for, to help us shape and get the sounds we dream about. The pedal is a tool, at least that's the way I've always looked at them. The DDyna Thinman OD has to be one of the best tools I have come across in years. The hunt for that holy grail tone has been something us players have been on the trail of ever since we were first bitten by the sound of that favorite tune. When I said that it's the most useful pedal to come along ever since the Tubescreamer I meant it. Not that it's here to replace it or that it even does the same job. When you sit down with this pedal you'll know where I'm coming from. Enjoy.


For more info on DDyna Music Company you can go to www.ddynamusic.com or click the DDyna Music logo in our links. Look for more features from this wonderful pedal company in the near future.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Gear Giveaway Contest #1

The
"Help us spread the word"
Contest
Hello friends, followers, and readers of Analog War Cry. Yes it's time to give away some killer gear! We'll be giving away a pair of brand spankin new AIRLINE® Vintage Voiced Single Coil Pickups from Eastwood Guitars. These babies ain't no joke, they look, sound, and play freakin great. The pickups will go to any new subscriber who signs up and emails us letting us know they are interested. We will pick a random email address at the end of the contest, contact that person and ship them the pickups. We're looking to reach out to as many people as possible and now you guys have shot at helping us out. Our main focus here on Analog War Cry has always been to keep the music community informed about all the killer gear that out's there. We're stoked to have the chance to work with all the people featured on our site, and always excited when a new piece of gear comes through for demoing. These people work their asses off to build us some of the best gear available today and it's all about you guys having a chance to try it out. We ourselves been blessed to have had to chance to try out so much cool gear this year and we'd like to continue keeping you guys informed as it comes through. The more people we can reach, the more gear you have a shot at checking out. Email us with the info at analogwarcry@gmail.com The contest starts the minute the post is up and will continue on through July. We will announce the winner August 1rst. Below is a little info on the pickups from Eastwood Guitars. Good luck!


*PRIZE*
AIRLINE® Vintage Voiced Single Coil Pickup
Have you ever wondered what makes those old AIRLINE guitars sound so wicked? How can a Humbucker sound like that? Well, it can't. The original VALCO pickups were SINGLE COIL, not Humbuckers. They looked like a Humbucker, but that is where the similarity ends. The VALCO pickups were found in all AIRLINE®, SUPRO and National Guitars in the late fifties and early sixties. We dissected the originals and have now re-created that famous tone in a new SINGLE COIL design that is housed in a Humbucker format. These are made specifically to replace your Humbuckers and give you that oh-so-nasty growl that is familiar from the likes of Jack White, Hound Dog Taylor, J.B. Hutto and Jimmy Reed.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Rock and Roll is proud once again

Pete Biltoft and Vintage Vibe Guitars Pickups...Nothing but absolute heavenly tone, spot-on builds, and a hell of a pickup spread that offers up just about any style pickup your mind can imagine. Let me also mention they offer an impressive selection of pickguard assemblies and will build you pickups to your specifications. With the direction players have gone in these last few years, tweaking and hot rodding their guitars like it was the 80's again, there could be no better stop for upgrading your axe. When Pete Biltoft first started building pickups the main focus was to make sure his builds consisted of carefully selected high quality materials, to give players the ability to dial-in and shape the tones they needed. This goal has been met and then some, and along the journey Pete has been able to take his own ideas to build pickups that have revolutionized the game. There are a handful of "What if's" that have been floating around in my head ever since I first started playing, like "What if you could get that killer P90 tone out of a Stratocaster style single coil pickup?" Well sure enough Pete has achieved this and the results are some you must experience for yourselves. In this article I will be introducing you guys to the VVG H540-SW Humbuckers and the ever so popular SP-90 Strat sized P90's. Can you dig it?



SP-90

*Adjustable height nickel plated pole pieces
*Calibrated strength twin bar magnets

*43 gauge magnet wire, 10,000 turns/bridge - 8,500/neck and middle position

*DC resistance: bridge/10.3k-ohm - neck and middle/8.4k-ohm

*Scatter wound coils * Vinateg style cloth covered output leads
*Grounded shielding surrounding the coil/reduces noise...

*Potted under vacuum to eliminate microphonics

*Middle pickup is reverse polarity reverse wound

*These pickups are handmade in the USA



I have seen, heard, and played a lot of cool pickups in the last few years. Many of them good ideas, but somehow they've always ended there, just a good idea. To me, if a pickup doesn't cut it when it comes to tone, it just don't mean squat, no matter how genius the design. Let me assure you, the VVG SP-90 is no gimmick! That authentic P90 tone that has done so much for rock'n'roll can now be heard screaming from your favorite Stratocaster. You can only imagine how stoked I was when I soldered these puppies in and heard all that good midrange-tone crunch come howling from my amplifier. The SP-90's give you the ability to tune in a signature sound to fit your style, and give you a handful of unbelievable tones to add to your arsenal. Every set is shipped with two extra sets of magnets. Available magnet types include Alnico-II, Alnico-III, Alnico-V, and ceramic-8. This along with the adjustable pole pieces give as many possibilities as you will need to keep things fresh for a long time. Through my favorite overdrive and fuzz pedals these pickups sounded like nothing else I have ever heard through a single coil pickup. There is an aggressive yet round and vintage tone that comes from the SP's that aren't usually heard through standard sets of P90's. The tone is much more in your face, much more defined, the harmonics are rich'n'hearty, and picking dynamics sound-off how ever you'd like them. Whether you're looking to build your own unique Strat or up for some good old fashion hot rodding, these pickups will not let you down. Absolutely the most excting thing to hit the Stratocaster since it's birth.


VVG H540-SW Humbucker

*Exposed coil hum-canceling pickups give the fat humbucker tone and are available wound to vintage or modern specs
*These pickups allow the user to exchange the bar magnets with ease. Pickups ship with complete sets of magnets in both Alnico-V and ceramic-8
*Adjustable height nickel-plated pole pieces
*Both the neck and bridge position H540-SW pickup adjustable poles have North up magnetic polarity
*Complete easy to follow wiring diagram and installation instructions are included
*Scatter wound coils
*External braided shielded output leads
*Grounded shielding surrounding the coil effectively reduces noise from external electric fields
*Wax Potted under vacuum to eliminate microphonics
*These custom pickups will fit in all guitars routed for standard size humbuckers

The humbucker, the one pickup I've probably tried the most flavors of. A killer sounding humbucker will give you tonal, class A, heavenly bliss. A not so hot bucker just messes things up, scrambles up your chords, and everything gets lost. When I discovered Vintage Vibe Guitars I was in the middle of upgrading one of my guitars. I was on the hunt for a pair of buckers so when Pete offered to send out a pair of the H540-SW's I was open to checking them out. When they landed on my doorstep I could instantly see all the time and hard work, high grade materiels, and knowledge that was put into building them. All of the VVG pickups that I have had the chance to checkout look and play like works of art. They're put together so slickly, they just look soo damn cool! I'm huge on playing 335's and other semi-hollow body style guitars. One thing I've mentioned before is that as amazing as those guitars sound, they can sometimes be limited to just one tone. When you play an array of different styles of music like I do it is important to be able to pull off many tones/sounds with whichever guitar it is you're playing. I put the Zebra color VVG H540-SW's in my Hagstrom Viking and they have not left it since, and I don't see them going anywhere for a long long time. I'm still able to maintain that classic semi-hollow body tone, and can now get some more aggressive tones as well. The pickups gave my Hagstrom the ability to sound as powerful as a Les Paul, it can now cut right through when chucking away at rhythm guitar parts, and scream and howl like the best of them. Probably the coolest and my most favorite thing about these pickups is how well they work with effects pedals. I rely on my stompboxes to get my overdrive, fuzz, and distortion tones. When you play through Fender amps and set a clean tone that you're going to be building all your dirty tones from, you use pedals. If the pickups you're using can't adapt to the stompboxes you're using, it doesn't matter how nice a pedal you have. I actually discovered something with these pickups that I'm not used to doing...playing straight through without the need of any boxes. We had them down at the studio (which is always the best place for putting any gear through it's paces) and was able to get some of the meanest tones. I was surprised at just how much power these buckers actually have. Cranking the clean tone I was able to get a sweet sweet hairy grit, and backing off on my picking I was back in Fender springy clean tone heaven. I almost wish I didn't love these pickups so damn much so I can tell you what they sound like through some other guitars. I imagine the tone would be just as beautiful and dynamic. The way I see it, once you got a great sounding pair of pickups it won't matter what you put them through, these are that breed of pickup. Overall I am blown away by the H540-SW's. I have never been so quick to give a set of pickups a permanent home, have never heard a humbucker sound so killer through a semi-hollow body, and have never loved a pickup so much without the use of effect pedals. Hey, these babies were able to open my mind enough to some new ways of playing, enough said.
For more info on Vintage Vibe Guitars go to http://www.vintagevibeguitars/ or click the VVG logo in our links. Look for VVG pickup demos and an interview with Pete in the near future. Dig it!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Godlyke releases the TWA Little Dipper


A few months back we mentioned Godlyke would be releasing their own effects pedals under the Totally Wicked Audio brand. That time has come, and what we'll soon have access to will surely quench your pedal junky needs. The first model to hit the streets will be the LD-01 Little Dipper/vocal formant filter, which will be shipping in late June. What exactly is a vocal formant filter you say? Hmmm, well I had a chance to play with one at NAMM last Winter. Imagine your auto wah/envelope filter, only much more expressive, organic sounding, with crystal clear tone, and human-like qualities. The Little Dipper also has the ability to hit the extreme and can create some knarly spaced-out sounds. This is all I can say from a quick demo of it, but that little bit of time spent with it showed me a revolution in envelope filters. Below is some more info on the TWA brand from our good friends at Godlyke. Keep your eyes peeled kids, Analog War Cry might just be demoing one here shortly.



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Godlyke, Inc. is proud to announce the launch of our new line of boutique effect pedals, Totally Wicked Audio (TWA). Consisting of dedicated analog stompboxes, TWA line features unique and esoteric effect types that will help set the discerning player apart from the masses. All TWA models are 100% made in the USA using the highest quality components and offer all the features and construction quality expected from a high-end analog device.

The flagship model of the TWA brand, the LD-01 Little Dipper will be released during the 2nd quarter of 2009.

The Little Dipper is an envelope-controlled vocal formant filter based on a classic 70's circuit. It's dual filters react to playing dynamics, crreating peeks and notches that simulate the vowel sounds of human speech. The Little Dipper allows the user to emulate talk boxes, auto-wahs, filters, and phase shifters, as well as creating strikingly vocal wah-sounds. A built-in fuzz circuit emphasizes harmonics for a more dramatic effect while dry blend and noise-gate trim pots offer a full-frequency response with ultra-low noise operation.

The Little Dipper features a 16-gauge bent steel chassis with heavy-duty powder coating and eye-catching LED display. The Little Dipper also features mechanical true-bypass switching and comes with a three-year manufacturer's warranty.

-Godlyke Distribution, Inc.


For more info on Totally Wicked Audio products as well as other products distributed by Godlyke, go to www.godlyke.com or click the Godlyke logo in our links section. You can also reach them toll-free at 866-246-3595 (international dial 973-777-7477)






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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Dark Side of Tone

It was just another day of surfing the web (or so I thought). I hit all the regular forums for talk of strange, new, and upcoming gear. I also visited my favorite Youtube channels for new effects pedal demos and did some browsing hoping to come across a unique find. Then there in the Related Videos section I noticed a video labeled The Great Destroyer!!!! Hosted by a channel called theonetrueaen. This turned out to be the video home of Dwarfcraft Devices, an underground operation specializing in against-the-grain designs and non-traditional tone boxes. This discovery was made a few months ago, since then I have made contact with them and have had the chance to demo not one, not two, but three of their off-the-wall builds. I should also say that these last few months with these pedals were nowhere enough time to pull out the sounds they're capable of. I should also say that when I say "them" and "their" I mean him, as in Ben the twisted mind behind these freakishly original effects pedals. Before we try and dissect the mind of this mad creator let's take a look at the...

The Great Destroyer

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To try and compare or describe this pedal in the "normal" sense, with the same old analogies would be sacrilegious. When Benjamin Hinz threw himself into the world of pedal building I'm sure his first thought wasn't "Hmm, I wonder what I can do with a TubeScreamer..." Plugging into the Great Destroyer for those of you who aren't ready for it can be both mind blowing and scary, the sounds that come out from this little box are beyond just creative noise and experimental. The Great Destroyer for me definitely delivered some much needed new colors to paint my tunes with. It's capabilities range from the "norm" all the down to the damned extreme. It is a very good idea that you get yourself some starting point settings from Ben before diving into the madness that is the Great Destroyer or you might just be discouraged and end up missing out. Let's start with some of the more traditional fuzz tones the Great Destroyer produces. If your thing is the Fuzz Face or Big Muff this pedal isn't for you, but if you're into more modern, fatter, and sharp cut right through the mix version of these pedals you will be right at home. The four knobs read Volume, Tone, Gain, and Starve. Other than the Volume knob these controls don't respond like your everyday run of the mill control knobs. The Tone knob once you start to tweak it automatically freaks out and begins to chirp and cry like a robot having the life beaten out of it. The Gain knob delivers such a massive boost of freakout that the first time I turned it I was thrown back, and the fact that my amp was at 6 didn't help. Then there's the Starve knob, I would imagine it's job is to starve the pedal of power to create interesting and wild fuzz tones, which it does! Combining it with the rest of the knobs is where this control really begins to get interesting. When I think of the tones this pedal creates I think of bands like Godflesh, Jesu, Low, NIN, QOTSA, and Fantomas just to name a few. The Great Destroyer creates tones perfect for rhythm guitar playing and chucking away. There is an element to this pedal that screams CHORD HEAVEN! There is a war going on out there, a war between builders who everyday send their creations out to the masses to see what new circle of sounds can be created. We plug our sonic weapons into our amps and try one way or another to invent the next signature sound. Dwarfcraft Devices and the Great Destroyer are on the frontlines of this audio warfare and with their weapons you will turn heads, shake things up, and hunt down the sounds only heard in your dreams and nightmares.

An
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Interview With
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Benjamin Hinz
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Alfie Cruz:
Hello Ben, I'll start with a question I like to ask all effects builders. If you have one, your favorite all-time stock pedal? Favorite company?

Benjamin Hinz:
Well, I think that the old DOD Digidelay could be my all time favorite. You could do a loop, then twist the time knob and pitch it up and down, and it made gnarly noises as the battery died. My most used though is probably my Crybaby Wah. Bottom of the line, straight-outta-the-box crybaby. I don't know how I ever played without one.
You get such a huge dynamic range with YOUR FOOT, MAN!

My favorite company is definitely Devi Ever USA, I wish I could have all her pedals, because for a fuzz junkie like me, there is a perfect fuzz for every occasion, and between the two of us we've got it covered.

AC:
What did you grow up playing?

BH:
Telecasters, I still do. But for my beginning, my sound was four string Telecaster>Bad Monkey Overdrive>DOD Digidelay>Peavey halfstack. My rig kind of grew up around that, EHX ring mod, Line 6 DL4 being the two most important additions.

AC:
I had asked about your start in building and you said it was in the summer of 07. A buddy of yours had started building and turned you on by letting you know how simple it was. The book you read on Hardware Hacking. Just give me a bit more info on those early early days when you first got interested.

BH:
Ok, well I was spending a lot of time in the cold dark basement working on this electronic stuff, but nowhere near as much as I am now! Hardware Hacking (which I heard a nasty rumor is out of print?) by Nicolas Collins really jump started me into building my own stuff. First was the Thumping Double Squaresnakes, my main Squarewave Synth, and soon after the Great Destroyer. I was hoping that I could basically, sell the first unit, build another for myself, and put the "profit" what little there was, into new parts for more pedals for myself! But very quickly friends and strangers both wanted more and more and more! Luckily I lost my cooking job in December of 07 (Galloway Grill, eat shit!) so I had a little more time to build.

AC:
You said you had experimented with pulling apart Behringer pedals and what not. Exactly what was it you did? Do you take them apart to learn how they worked, to see what kind of components, parts, etc.. they sported?

BH:
Oh, haha! I had no intent on learning! Circuit bending is just poking around and hoping for the best, it's like anti-science. I took them apart and just stuck a wire between random solder joints on the circuit board, and marked the ones that were cool.

AC:
That's killer! I'm gonna have to start taking some unwanted gear apart and what freakish sounds I can get out of them. Your first actual original build was?

BH:
Thumping Double Squaresnakes

AC:
What goes into a Dwarfcraft Device? How do you go about creating your designs, do you have something in mind, jump in blind, or experiment?

BH:
A whole lot of blood sweat and tears!! But really, it's a really strong effort on my part and my wife's, who does the bookwork, and a lot of the enclosure work. She actually populated the PCBs for the last batch of Great Destroyers, that was cool. Louise (my wife) works 9-5, so I have 2 or 3 kids all day. Then she comes home and we make dinner, and put them to bed, usually by eight. Then we have to walk the dogs, some times I take a half hour or forty five minutes on my playstation or the internet. Then I usually work from 9-2, and it's winter now so I'm fucking freezing the whole time in my basement. Summer is much better, its nice and cool-ish in the basement and I have my drill press out in the garage, so I can listen to Boris and smoke while I drill. I'm thinking about moving a major portion of the operation out there when the thaw comes, you know, for smoke and Boris.

AC:
Launch of Dwarftcraft, where you offered them up first and who was of help to you? The first pedals you offered in your line?

BH:
First to help were a few people from offsetguitars.com, and especially a LOT of people from Shortscale.org buying Great Destroyers from me. They're like my other family, and probably 3/4 of my friends. The next big help was Alan Sparhawk from Low buying (eventually) 4 destroyers from me, and letting me shoot some video of him with it. I think he's using it with one of his smaller bands, The Retribution Gospel Choir, who are fucking great. Last and most importantly Devi Ever has helped me out in sooooo many ways soooo many times. I can't even begin to thank her. Just the other day she set up a sub-forum for Dwarfcraft on her website. Like she needs the "competition". But I think we have more "overlap" than competition. Our stuff sounds really different, so that helps. Mine is more "open" and "flappy" and hers is a lot tighter and grippier. I know, doesn't make much sense but let me say it this way. I use Dwarfcraft for rhythm, and Devi for leads. I guess where we overlap is the "noise" department, but you can never have too much of that shit, in my opinion.

AC:
I can see that the stuff you build aren't the everyday mainstream effects pedals (which I love and respect). What got you into building these rare designs?

BH:
Yearning for new sound. One of my main obsessions in music is making the guitar sound like it's no longer a guitar. Some of the new stuff is more specific like, a dude wanted a bass fuzz with a clean/dirty blend, and I thought the Big Muff could be a lot better, so those ones I had very specific goals in mind. Honestly, if I had come out with another Fuzz Face or Tube Screamer, nobody would have given a fuck. I wouldnt have given a fuck. Luckily, I have always been into noisy droney dangerous stuff, so when i make pedals for myslef, they are unlike someone elses.

AC:
With all the companies out there building pedals today where do you see the business going? What would you hope your effects do for people?

BH:
First, I hope that people get out of their Tube screamer, Fuzz Face, Big Muff rut. These are all great pedals, but SRV, Hendrix and Jack White already happened. I like to see the variety on pedal board shots, peopel developing their own "signature" sounds. As far as the business goes, well I think we're going to hit a plateau at best, and a drop at worst in the near future. There's a new guy every day putting boutique pedals in the world, and people's wallets are getting thinner and thinner, at least in the US. Unfortunately for the rest of the world that starts to affect them too. I know Analogue Haven has been seeing a drop in sales this year. Times are tough and we who build pedals build items that are non-essential to survival for most people. On the other hand, there will always be a core group buying gear, mostly people who never had much money anyway, and are used to saving up for a piece of gear. To those people I say "KUDOS!" If I could give you all a pedal, I would!

AC:
Where can players find your boxes?

BH:
Theres a few places now.

Madape.com
Analogue Haven
Tone Factor
Brickhouse Music (Eau Claire and River Falls Wisconsin hometown pride, woot!) If you can, definetly stop into Brickhouse, they are all cool guys, and most of them know Dwarfcraft's products, so they won't probably give you the evil eye when you start oscillating and whatnot. Also they usually have stickers and stuff.

And then In belgium we have Crush The Button
England is The Last Guitarist
Japan has 9volt audio, I think it's called. I'm not sure, it's a bitch to navigate, what with it being all Japanese and stuff.

AC:
What's next for you? If there was anything you could build what would it be?

BH:
I've always wanted to build a really big gestural instrument, kind of like a theremin, but more sounds and controls. Maybe with a footboard to switch some paramaters? Something where I can just wave my hands around like a wizard and control sounds. After that, a brainwave to audio converter. The you can just put the helmet on, plug it into the PA and do the whole show from your mind. I think I would sell a lot of those. I was thinking about that, and how maybe in heaven thats how concerts are, you just go into the club and theres a dude up there thinking his whole set. But then it woudl turn into some goddamn cleverness contest, and pretty soon everyone would have those little black glasses and tight jeans and $50 tshirts that look like they came from the dump, and it owuld turn out you were in hell. So Yeah, I hope the Hereafter has a plan for when i get there. Maybe just sex 24/7. I suppose then I wouldnt need to make music.

AC:
Anything else you would like to let people know about you and your boxes?

BH:
1)They retain low end. I mean, how the fuck did the ten thousand guys before me miss that? If your pedals sound GOOD on bass, you sell twice as many.

2) No, I'm not high.

AC:
I'm really stoked to have you on board and look forward to demoing one of your boxes. Please let me know once you have the chance to send one out, I'd like to do a two part article on Dwarftcraft Devices. One part with the article and interview and the other with a review and demo of a pedal. Hope to hear from you soon. Please feel free to call me anytime and if there's anything I can do for you to help further your quest I'm game.


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Look for more posts, demos, and podcasts on Dwarfcraft Devices in the near future.