Top Finds of 2010 / Jam Pedals Tube Dreamer 72

One pedal all us players can agree is a must on our pedaboards is the OD. As simple as these pedals are they can be used to achieve an enormous palette of tones, for just about any style of music. Overdrivers get along with anything from the cleanest of signals to the dirtiest and muddiest. Since the beginning of the stompbox revolution players have been hunting down, experimenting with, and hoarding many different breeds of overdrive boxes - All in the name of taking their sounds to the next level. It is the OD that is responsible for many of the signature tones of yesterday and today, and the favorite of many'a stompbox builder. Google overdrive and you will be sure to come across an endless sea of boutique, mainstream, and one-off creations. But of all these creations there is one circuit that is copied and tweaked far more than the rest.... the mighty TS808. If you've ever had a chance to run a proper old school Tube Screamer through it's paces you know just how and why these pedals are so special. Only problem with many of the modern designs is they come off more as distortion boxes than actual overdrives. A proper TS style pedal is subtle and pushes out a signal that works with your tone instead of  against it (which is where many builders miss). Well, here is a company that hasn't steered me wrong yet, and with this here design has been able to take the mighty 808 to rockin' new levels. I promise you one thing - you won't have to worry or be confused about what is or isn't an overdrive here. 

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Tube Dreamer 72

Vintage Overdrive

* Controls: Level, Tone, Gain

* High quality components

* True Bypass Switching

* Power: 9V battery or standard 9VDC adapter

* Uses only 6mA of power when On

* Custom artwork available

* Point-to-Point version available

* Bass version available

* Lifetime warranty

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The Jam Pedals Tube Dreamer 72 is a spot-on true to heart classic sounding overdrive pedal with some characteristics of it's own - and a look to die for. This baby was designed specifically for achieving that cranked tube amp tone at both high and low volumes. You won't have to worry about this pedal taking your tone hostage or coloring anything you stack it up on top of (thanks to a special secret chip). These pedals are hand built in Greece with the finest parts and components, and added upon each one is a bit of artistic flavor. The Tube Dreamer 72 sports true bypass switching for the ultimate in tone preservation, and like all Jam's pedals carries a lifetime warranty. A LIFETIME WARRENTY!!! But it's gets better? There isn't only one version of this pedal available, no siry Bob. Besides the 72 version which we will be looking at here, Jam also offers a 58 version based around the famous JRC4558 chip, an 88 which stacks the other two version together and adds a high gain switch, and last there is a + (plus) version which is a heavier version of the 72. Each one of these pedals can be built point-to-point and come with an array of different custom art works. And so the bass playing cats don't jealous - there are also bass versions of the Tube Dreamer ready at the helm. Pretty nice huh? Now for some tones.

Running the Tube Dreamer 72 through all of my amps was indeed an absolute dream. This was also true of my guitars, through every type of pickup, and with many other pedals. It sounded best with my tube amps of course but I was surprised to hear how well it sounded with a few solid states as well. When you got a pedal of this caliber in your signal path things are just bound to come out sounding awesome no matter what you plug it into. I began using the TD72 through a few different low watt amps, from 5-22 watters. I started with some super mellow pedal settings to see what kind of use I could get as a booster. With it's level at unity, it's gain at about 5-7%, and it's tone at noon - the TD72 let the amp's characteristics shine through beautifully. My root tone's nice'n'warm signal was converted into a more powerful version of itself, which let me dial in many more tones on the fly. I noticed that by turning up the TD72's level I could get plenty of punch and grit from tubes. Then with the pedal's gain rolled up even further things would only get sweeter and much much smoother. Something else you'll find quite nice about this pedal is it's tone control. With most overdrive pedals you get decent gain controls and even plenty output on some occasions - but when it comes to their tone controls they come off a bit too weak and unresponsive. What ends up happening is the builder either has to choose one sweet spot amongst the sweep spectrum. With the TD72 I was able to both maintain my amp's key tones and also help them into new grounds. Cranking the tone low I was able to hear a huge difference in the amp's tone, a difference that was usable and created a sweet and warm overall feel. The TD72 was able to kick out lots of sweet spots within every one of it's controls, giving all my amps new territory to walk upon. Another amp that worked quite well was a Fender 22 watt Deluxe Reverb. Completely dry with no verb and it's tone controls at noon, the Deluxe Verb was able to dish out some of the smoothest and meanest dirt sounds when combined with the Tube Dreamer. Being such a simple amp, all you really need to do is roll everything to noon and you're home free. Highlighting the Deluxe Reverb's capabilities was really something that brought upon some impress classic rock and blues guitar tones. An overall great match. From here I began exploring with higher gain amplifiers - first with some clean character amps, then with the big crunchy bad boys. My modified 4x10 Hot Rod Deville was a great place to start. Having a ton of clean headroom to play with really came in handy for dialing tons of different dirt tones at all levels. I was able to go from an inkling of grit to the smoothest grittiest growls. Alone it is damn near impossible to get an overdriven tone from my Deville - thanks to it's four 100 watt 10" speakers (I did do this on purpose though). With the pedal in the mix I had any dirty tone I wanted. I noticed that the louder I'd get, the more my picking attack was accented. This brought upon some very tasty sounds, harmonics, and wildness. As I'd push the 72's gain control higher, the grit would become dirtier yet the output would stay the same. And it sounded great at low volumes! With the gain at around 15% the pedal began tossing out these really nice mildly crunchy blues tones that brought my amp to life and had it singing like a little devil. Then there was converting the Deville into a true machine of dirt of growl - a very easy task when setting this pedal just right. Last came a Super Lead, one of my favorite amps of all time. Here the TD72 once again did things that sounding awesome. Taking the Suepr Lead's tone and accenting it, really brought to the amp to life in ways I thought were not possible. I found myself able to dial the pedal in in many different settings, leave it be, to have access to tons of tones on the fly. Working my guitar's tone and volume controls came in handy here, which made for some great tone shaping on stage. Semi-clean tones I was able to take to rich'n'thick overdrives, leaving me with a wider collection of overall dirt tones. At higher gain levels the TD72 was able to convert the Super Lead into an absolute beast! The sustain that came to be was very nice to play with and gave me new textures to play with. By the end of my demo with this pedal I had plugged in a handful of different single coil guitars, semi-hollow and solid humbucker guitars, and an array of others. Same went for amplifiers, from the lowest gain to the meanest. The TD72 got along beautifully with every piece of gear I through at it and gave back a killer results. We've had a chance to put a handful of Jam Pedals through their paces and are yet to be disappointed, and doubt we ever will. If you suffer from the same tone seeking sickness that I suffer from go out and grab yourself one of these Tube Dreamer versions, you're amps and guitars will thank you for it.

If you need more info on these hand made Greek masterpieces go to www.jampedals.com or go to our direct links. We will continue bringing you guys more and more of these magical pedals as they come and keep giving you the best possible insight. Stay tunes for more from Jam Pedals. Pictured above is another version of the Tube Dreamer, the TD88. Just another of the cool and crazy creations from our friends at Jam Pedals.

Jammin' and Jammin' Along

Dyna-ssoR

compressor/sustainer

Tech/Specs

• Level: Controls overall output
• Sustain: Sets compression/sustain amount
• Powered by 9V battery or 9V (-) adapter
• Uses only 6mA of power when on
• Dimension: 111 x 30 x 32 mm
• Custom paint jobs/version available
• Bass Dyna-ssoR also available
• Limited lifetime warranty

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You're only ever going to come across the words "lifetime" and "warranty" when dealing with an exceptionally high quality product. This is exactly the quickest way to describe the Jam Pedals company. These pedals are handmade in Greece with the highest of high parts and components, and with the best possible designs. Earlier this year in our Top Finds of 2009 posts, we had a chance to look closely at the Jam Pedals Fuzz Phrase vintage voiced fuzz box. Once again we will be looking into another one of this talented company's creations, and once again we were impressed beyond belief. With today's stompbox market being as flooded as it is many players strive to hunt down not just top quality great sounding stompboxes, but also stompboxes with some style and originality. After all, who wants to look down on their pedalboard only to find the exact same lay out as the next guy? Not me. Jam Pedals has perfected the art of combining classy builds with hip looking finishes. Another way to describe Jam Pedals would be " Avant garde crafted artwork mixed with vintage voiced designs". The Dyna-ssoR which we will be looking at here came from blending the famous Dyna Comp and Ross Compressor of days ago. Take these two timeless designs and throw in a cool finish and you have one of the raddest compressors to ever see light. I've know many players that have found themselves torn between choosing a Dyna or Ross compressor. With the Dyna-ssoR you get the best of both worlds, equaling on awesome sounding compressor/sustainer.

It has been a while since we featured a compressor, and with this one next in line I couldn't be more proud or excited. The Dyna-ssoR is a compressor that can do things for tone that you've only dreamed of! This pedal's level and sustain controls were more than enough to hand me a world of fluffy compressed signals, spanky squased rhythms, and forever ringing notes. If you're like me I'm sure you've tried time and time again to get all of the great sounds that a comp is supposed to be capable of providing. You've tried compressor after compressor only to end up confused and with weak results. The Dyna-ssoR is your answer! I ran this baby through every type of pickup imaginable, lots of differently voiced amp (both modern and vintage), and up against clean, dirty, and stompbox tones. I started this adventure through a bone stock Twin Reverb and a custom built Stratocaster. I set the amp up to a signature blackface clean tone, first dry with no verb, bright switch, or vibe. The sound came out big'n'clean, and sparkling'n'mean. I introduced the Dyna-ssoR with a mild comp setting and level at unity. The pedal created a sweet light but present compression that added just enough compression to my signal to bring it further into life. Just behind the strum of each note I could hear and feel the pedal's bell-like, warm, and snappy sound. I added a little more of the sustain control and the compression signal became stronger but without eating away my amp's characteristics. This setting worked great with the clean tone, with a little grit, and with a lot of grit. The notes hung onto the air creating a fluffy, natural compression effect. Running licks up and down the neck and several speeds never sounded so good. Each note bloomed with life and definition. I've played studio quality compressors that didn't sound as good as this pedal. My Strat was the perfect companion for this pedal, accenting the single coil pickups in a way that made them even more appealing. Here I started messing around with a bit of overdrive. I plugged in a TS-808 style pedal and used it to push the Twin Reverb into nice'n'healthy light crunch. The sound was wide open and floated beautifully. With the pedal I was able to tighten up everything, making the harmonic content much richer and flavorful. With the Dyna-ssoR set a bit stronger I was able to give the tone even more overdrive and still retain the bit of semi-clean feel that I had. It wasn't hard dialing in and finding the sweet spots for each tone that I worked with. Jam Pedals designed this pedal to work so well and be so user friendly that you can work into pretty much any type of sound you can imagine. Both controls on the pedal are so responsive that you can almost see what each turn does to the sound. It's literally that on point. The Strat wasn't the only guitar that worked beautifully with this pedal, no no. I also plugged in a Tele and did the whole country twang thing. I will just only this... You chicken picking freaks and clean tone blues monsters will absolutely fall head over heels for this compressor. I myself have always been into country rock and country blues playing. One thing that makes this style of music sound so good is a great sounding compression on top of a great sounding root tone. It did not end there though. I also broke out the humbuckers and P90's. With humbuckers the Dyna-ssoR was able to add an enormous amount of size and body. My clean tones became thicker and clearer, my overdrive tones beefier and tighter. Digging into a nice run and holding the last note sounded like heaven. The pedal made the notes burst with mojo and stretched them far beyond their natural capabilities. The thing with compressors always lies in how you use them, how you set them, and how you play them. The key is to dial in the compressor just enough to let it do it's magic. Or if you're going for a big dramatic sustain sound you must make sure the quality of the compressor is top-notch. Because if it isn't you're just ruining your root tone. The problem with many comps out there today is they're only capable of doing maybe one thing really well. I will tell you right now, many of the comps out there right now that are supposed "the best of the best", when you stack them up against something simple or ordinary like a Boss CS-3, they're not much different. You must do your homework and play as much stuff as you can get your hands on. Only then will you see what can do what, and what the big dogs really are. This pedal here can do and did all I expected a great compressor to do. I run it side by side with a bunch of boutique and mass produced comps. In the end the Dyna-ssoR stood way out in front. Jam Pedals really did their homework here and created an entirely new monster. One with the characteristics of some of your old time favorites, but with the abilities like no other. Above is pictured only the stock version of the Dyna-ssoR's artistic layout. You should see what Jam Pedal's is capable of doing with their art before you order one of these, it's amazing! Make sure to visit the Jam Pedals website custom gallery to check some of their killer designs. Also make sure to stay tuned for more from this brilliant company, we are not done yet.

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For more info on JAM Pedals go to www.jampedals.com or click the direct link in our sidebar. JAM Pedals North American Distributor can be found at www.toneconcepts.com They offer a handful of stunning effect pedals that will leave you with your jaw on the floor. Stay tuned for more from this awesome pedal company. More to come soon!

Top Finds of 2009 / Jam Pedals

This was a no brainer for us, we took one look at these pedals and knew these were going to be some of the most splendid stompboxes we'd ever come across. Whenever anyone puts this much creativity into their work it's bound to touch the heart and soul of the player. Besides the fact that these pedals look insanely cool riding your pedalboard, they sound equally as amazing and deliver a vintage tone unmatched by anything other than a handful of originals. JAM Pedals builds their analog works of art with the highest quality components available, using rare NOS chips, carbon comp resistors, and hand selected matched transistors. I'm the kind of cat that can easily be satisfied with a blank box as long as it sounds good. Throw the right components into an enclosure, close her up, and I'm ready to go. With the cats at JAM Pedals it is apparent there's more going than just building a great sounding stompbox. These are people that are crawling with artistic fever. The vibe, look, and sound of their pedals all point to one thing and one thing only... Rock & Roll! JAM Pedals; Avant-gard, retro, classy, and lovely musical tools. All wrapped into a sound that will bring your soul onto it's knees.

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Jam Pedals

Handmade in Greece

Fuzz Phrase

Vintage Germanium Fuzz

* Controls: Level, Gain, Internal Bias Trimmer

* High quality components

* Power: 9V battery or 9VDC adapter (positive ground)

* True Bypass Switching

* Uses only 5mA of power when On

* Custom artwork available

* Point-to-Point version available

* Bass version available

* Lifetime warranty

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I come across and am probably most addicted to the all mighty fuzz box. It is the sound that was captured on classic rock albums that first planted the love for the sound. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge in rock and roll knows that a good fuzz tone can go a long way. When JAM Pedals took on the task of creating their version of the famous Fuzz Face they sure as hell made it a point to capture it's character and soul, but there's more. The Fuzz Phrase is well capable of producing the tones of any great sounding original, and can also take the sound to create a special voice of it's own. The collection of rare and high quality components that go into building the Fuzz Phrase have a lot to do with it's overall vintage sound, but it is the heart of this pedal that gives it the sound and feel of an original. At the heart of this pedal lies the almost magical Mil-spec OC44 germanium transistor. Hand picked for gain and leakage this transistor can shape it's sound into some of the smoothest, grittiest, and even cleanest fuzz tones possible. On the Fuzz Phrase you will find Level and Gain controls for dialing in the overall volume and fuzz amount, but there's more. On the inside of the pedal is a Bias trimmer for a wider range of tones, flavors, and colors. With these three controls I found the Fuzz Phrase capable of more than some pedals with twice the amount of knobs. The sound of this pedal can go anywhere from brutal screams to light'n'fluffy grunts. Incorporating your guitar's volume knob into the equation also helps to capture the exact sound you're looking for and will help with those on-the-fly dynamic changes in live situations. Easily one of the best fuzz boxes I have ever plugged into.

We put the Fuzz Phrase through a handful of different amps and guitars, lots of different volume levels and gain settings, and stacked it with a bunch of pedals. Each time the pedal came through with flying colors. I found the Fuzz Phrase's character changed when played through different pickups, which was a big help for achieving the most tones possible. I first plugged the pedal into a 70's spec Strat and Twin Reverb. I set the amp to a med level so that I could easily control the sound's grit with my pick attack. The Fuzz Phrase's Level was set at unity with the amp and Gain set just passed 9'o'clock. The snap and bounce of the Strat's pickups came through beautifully while the pedal produced a light to medium fuzz that rose and fell as I dug in and held back. This made for great semi-clean and gritty overdriven fuzz tones, great for blues, classic rock, and everything in-between. The sound brought me a spot-on Hendrix tone, like Castles in the Sand, Ain't no Telling, and Little Wing. Opening up the pedal and playing with the Bias control gave me the ability to match and dial in the exact feel I wanted. This led me to plugging the Fuzz Phrase into a Super Lead and 4x12 cabinet. I tell you, I couldn't have dialed in a better Hendrix tone if I tried. Cranking the Super Lead to a slight overdrive and pushing it with the pedal's light fuzz created an even hotter classic rock tone. The Marshall was able to go from a crunchy tube overdrive to wailing smooth lead tone. I could literally feel the thickness and creamy sustain shaking in my fingers, as if it were coming directly from my hands. Again the internal Bias control took the sound even further, giving me an entirely new playing field to roll around in. I noticed the higher I'd set the Fuzz Phrase's Gain the more control I had over the sound's sustain, and where I'd set the Bias control would help with my pick attack style. This is something you won't find possible with many modern style fuzz boxes. These days fuzz pedals have taken it to such an extreme that it is literally impossible to grab a hold of the sound, or even play chords through it. This was not an issue with this pedal, in fact I found every type of chord sounded wonderful through this baby. Next I plugged the Fuzz Phrase into a Hagstrom semi-hollow body and Les Paul Studio, both guitars sporting duel humbuckers. First on the scene was the Hagstrom plugged into a 7/15 watt head and 1x12 cab. The amp was set at 7 watts cranked to a healthy crunch, and pedal dialed in to take the sound to the most extreme level possible. Here I set the Fuzz Phrase's Level higher than the amp's and Gain at around 2'o'clock. What came out of that little head was to be one of the biggest sounding rock tone's I'd ever heard. This ended up being one of those few tones we jot down and store in our "tone book" for a later day. Hey, you can never have too many guitar sounds when it comes to recording. Imagine a 100 watt Marshall pushed to the limit with a fat vintage fuzz tone thrown on top of it. This is what came from the little amp only at a lower volume. With the rhythm pickup I got a thick and velvety fuzz tone. Chords rang out evenly with each string perfectly in sync with the next, creating a balanced and defined sound. Single note runs sounded huge and became more interesting the higher the fret number. Depending on where you set the Bias control would land you some mellow octave up effects, a very very cool option. Through the lead pickup I got all of the same characteristics only with much more bite and intensity. I was able to get that beautiful warmth that semi-hollow bodies produce only with all the sting and aggression of the bridge pup. With this pedal setting alone I was able to get just about every tone needed simply by rolling off some of the guitar's tone and volume levels. I could roll down the guitar's volume and get a mild hairy fuzz, or shave off some tone to warm up the overall sound. With the Les Paul I got just as amazing results only with a tighter, meatier sound. Cranked up to 15 watts I dialed the amp up to 10 on every knob. First I pushed the amp with a light fuzz, setting the Fuzz Phrase's Level to unity and Gain at about 10%. I got a fluffy, airy overdrive type fuzz that worked nicely with everything and all styles of playing. The higher gain setting I dialed the pedal with it Level almost maxed and Gain at around 80%. Here the Fuzz Phrase took the 15 watts into buck wild frenzy of fuzz overtones and undertones. In the end it was all about one thing, authentic vintage fuzz tones. Everything about this pedal bleeds the classic and mystical feel of an old time favorite. This is a pedal that can take any guitar or amp and turn it into a classic rock warrior. There is not one pedal from this company that I found to be shy from immaculate. JAM Pedals has a talent and passion not easily attainable or found in today's boutique market. If you're looking for something truly special, with vintage sound, and immense feel. Turn to these cats, your setup will thank you for it.

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For more info on JAM Pedals go to www.jampedals.com or click the direct link in our sidebar. JAM Pedals also offers amazing custom artwork on their pedals which you can check out on their website. They offer a handful of stunning effect pedals that will leave you drooling! Stay tuned for more from this awesome pedal company, we are not done in the least. More to come soon!