Two Animals of the Same Breed

What can I say? Those Danes over at T-Rex just know a good thing when they hear it. When I first heard T-Rex was going to be dishing out the T.C. Jauernig line I was absolutely stoked. What better way to bring some much deserved attention to one of the stompbox world's premier boutique builders. I had been aware of Tim's pedals for quite some time and in fact had had a chance to try some of his original builds. The difference between the T-Rex stuff and Tim's you ask? There isn't any, not to my ears at least. They are still the same kickass sounding pedals they have always been, with all the same mojo, finesse, and stunning tone. Below are two awesome examples of what T-Rex has done with the Jauernig line. And believe me, once you dig in you will be hooked!

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LUXURY DRIVE

Booster

It seems like every time I turn someone on to this little gold pedal it ends up being a favorite. Looking at the Luxury Drive one might not think there's much to it. On board you'll a single solo knob, a true bypass switch, and an LED. But this is exactly what makes this pedal so desirable. No matter whether combined with pedal or amp, this is a booster that comes through beautifully. The reason for this is the transparent and non-pirating nature of of it's tone. Instead of taking you back to square one (which many boosters can do), the Luxury Drive pushes your sound forward. Delivering size, volume, and the power needed to get you amp growling and howling. I dialed in some of my favorite guitar tones to see just how much this pedal was capable of. The end result was quite impressive.

I'll tell you right now, having a pedal like this around can really really come in handy, no matter what the situation. My run-through of the Luxury Drive consisted of a handful of gigs, band practices, and even recording sessions. In each and every one of these applications I could not have been happier with this little monster. One of the setups this pedal really did wonders with was with my 7/15 watt head and 2x10 cabinet. I am a huge fan of rocking out to small wattage amps, but the drawback of small amps of course is once you've pushed them to their limits they're done. Here is where a sweet sounding non-coloring booster like this comes in to play. We can all agree there is nothing better than the sound of a vacuum tube being pushed over the edge. If I can help it I never try and get in the way of that. There's something about pure uncut tube tone that just makes things sound and play that much better. With my little amp I was able to dial in an awesome sounding rhythm crunch, get semi-clean tones by rolling back the guitar's volume, then by stepping on the Luxury Drive take the amp's tone into lead tone territory. Perfect for small gigs, bedroom rocking, and sessions. Another great mash-up was the Luxury Drive pushing my Deville's huge clean tone and overdrive pedals. I very rarely push my Deville past 6-7. I've actually modified it with tighter bass, thicker mids, better volume roll-off, and have it stacked with four 100 watt 10" Jet Series Jensen's (2 Blackbirds & 2 Tornados). Let's just say I've got more than enough headroom on tap. When playing through this amp I always rely on pedals for my dirt tones. I used the Luxury Drive first to boost my clean signal. At the time I was playing with another guitar player who did not know the meaning of tailoring his sound. I was able to boost my signal so that'd it cut through and become more focused. Pushing my overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals was another great way to use this pedal. With some pedals you can't take them too far or else they start frizzing out. With the Luxury pushing my pedals I could dial in the sweet spot then take it further by boosting it. I was also able to boost other effect like chorus pedals, vibes, and delays without screwing up their vibe. Last was pushing this baby through some big wattage. A 100 watts of Super Lead muscle did the trick beautifully. Here the Luxury Drive really worked it magic. Whether pushing the fierce sound of the amp's drive, amp's dirt mixed with a fuzz box, or using the Luxury to push me into distortion tones. It was all a okay. Guitar wasn't the only instrument this pedal sounded good with either. So whether on the gigging or recording trail, band practice or solo session. The Luxury Drive will do you solid.

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DGTM

Overdrive

Here is definitely an overdrive pedal in it's own class. The Diabolical Gristle Tone Manipulator (or DGTM) has an ability to shape and mold some tones all it's own, while also capable of bringing you to some of rock's most memorable dirt tones. On board this pedal you will find a Gristle (Overdrive), Tone, and Gravy (Volume) controls, and a 2-way voice toggle switch. With these four little controls this pedal will do a lot let me tell you. Many overdrive pedal you're lucky to get one golden tone from. With the DGTM you'll come to find more than a handful. For me the mojo from this pedal definitely comes from it's wide range Gristle control and 2-way voicing switch. Don't get me wrong, it's Tone control has the ability to match up to any amp or pickup, and the Gravy control has more than enough output to drive anything you throw at it. But it'swhen combined with it's two other trinkets that this pedal really comes to life.

To see just exactly what kind of power this pedal had behind it I first ran it through a series of different clean tones. The amp's of choice were a Twin Reverb, a Deville Hot Rod, and a AC 15 clone. Guitar for the job were a humbucker equipped Hagstrom Viking, 60's Strat build, Junior copy, and National Lap Steel. The Twin/Strat combination was definitely one of my favorites. By setting the DGTM's toggle switch in the vintage position I was able to get some spot on "cut'n'dry" SVR tones. The pedal oozed with aggression, clarity, and warmth. The more I rolled up the pedal's Gristle the more the Strat bit. Cranked to the max I got one of the sweetest classic rock/blues lead tones I have ever heard come from the Twin's clean tone. This is exactly what makes this pedal such a winner. You can't tell the difference between the amp being pushed into overdrive vs the pedal creating an overdrive tone. Another tone through the Twin was the lap steel. The syrupy tone of the lap steels strings blended beautifully with the DGTM's creamy/smooth tone. The ultimate was adding in just a hint of the pedal's drive with the toggle set to modern and the tone set super warm. The subtle compression of the modern setting really came through nicely without being overpowering. Really no matter what eq setting I threw at the pedal I got great results. Next up to bat was the Vikings mean buckers and the Deville. Here I started with everything on the amp set to noon, except for the reverb set at 2-3, and presence at 5. I began with just a bit of the DGTM's gristle, the tone at noon, and the gravy set to match the amp's outout. The humbuckers powerful output grabbed on to the little bit the pedal was dishing out and I got a great semi-clean tone I was able to bring in and out of grit with just the touch of my strumming. The string articulation even at this low low setting was spot on and the amount of clean string action I was able to get was fantastic! It didn't take much to get the humbuckers singing. With the gristle at about 9'o'clock I was already getting some pretty interesting grit and grime. The medium overdrive with the four 10's in the amplifier really punched through with lots of force and definition. Switching back and fourth from vintage to modern modes I could either get a super steady compressed rhythm tone, or a loose in your face vintage rockin' tone. It seemed like the more overdrive I cranked from the pedal the more control over my tone I was able to get. At full blast I got a straight up heavy rock overdrive that worked great for everything from metal, punk, alternative, classic rock, and blues. Again the option of the modern to vintage switch gave me tons of variety and flavor. Last I rocked the Junior copy through an AC 15 clone. The combination of the P90's power and cutting AC tone ended up being a perfect candidate for the Diabolical one. There was thing I wanted to try before I got into anything else, and that was cranking the AC 15 into screaming overdrive on it's own then adding in the pedal to see what kind of sounds I would get. Just like I expected it was all gravy! With the amp I got a slicing good dirt signal, and with the DGTM I leveled it out by introducing in a warmer/tighter sound. This too ended up being great for gigs and recording sessions. I never like to get too much stage volume from my amp and enjoy a nice well balanced mix from the monitors. This pedal and this amp ended up being a perfect choice for this. After this there really wasn't much left to do, other than blend both the Luxury Drive and DGTM together. Like two birds of a feather they sounded stupendous together. Both with the booster i front or with the DGTM in front I got sweet sweet sounds. The Luxury pushing the DGTM handed me an entirely collection of tones to play with, leaving me with my jaw on the floor. I give the T-Rex just as much props as I do the original DGTM. It don't matter if you play hard rock, metal, blues, country, or punk. This pedal does it all.

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For more info on T-Rex pedals go to www.t-rex-effects.com or click the direct link on our sidebar. We have more awesome goodness coming at you from T-Rex in the near near future so make sure to tune in.

The Sweet Sound of Verb

I like reverb, you like reverb, we all like reverb! It is amazing what a little bit of verb will do for your sound. It's like the secret ingredient in a special sauce. Only luckily for us reverb is no secret, most times you can find it in just about any amplifier out there. So what do you do when your amp doesn't have reverb though? Hmmm, let's see. Well there are many many pedals out there that will do the job and do it well. T-Rex is known for producing some of the best sounding pedals the gear scene has had the pleasure of playing. The T-Rex line consists of everything from boosters, overdrivers, distortion boxes, compressors, modulation pedals, delays, power supplies, switchers, and of course reverb pedals. In fact they are responsible for one of the best reverb pedals to ever hit the streets, the Room-Mate tube based reverb pedal. Just recently T-Rex added another verb pedal to their line, it is part of their Tonebug Series. The Tonebug Reverb pedal. A simple yet effective reverb pedal with a huge sound and sweet surf mojo.

T-Rex Tonebug

Reverb

Talk about retro cool style, man oh man that is one sweet looking pedal. The first pics I saw of these pedals had me drooling for them, something about their look just said "The James Dean of guitar pedals". A few months back T-Rex unleashed these little sweeties, which are now known as their Tonebug Series. A collection of simple, no frills, great sounding pedals. The pedals are meant to work with anyone making it easy to get the sound you want. When I discovered that there was to be a reverb pedal in the line I was stoked! An affordable, killer sounding reverb pedal with a hip new look?! You can't beat that. You guys don't know how many times I have walked into a shop looking for a reverb pedal only to shortly after walk out disappointed. Reverb is a tricky effect, it is one of the few effects that can work great at both mellow and extreme settings. If you don't design this pedal the right way though your tone will suffer and suffer madly. The Tonebug Reverb's layout is not complicated and is very easy to work. The controls go like so, the Decay knob controls the amount of tail or whisper I like to call it. The Decay control works great for when you have to match it to a new surrounding, club, studio, room, etc... The Depth knob controls the amount of effect you want from the pedal. With this knob you can pull out an endless collection of reverb tones from the Tonebug reverb. The Modern/Spring toggle switch let's you pick the flavor or style of verb you want from the pedal. If your thing is a sharp clear verb set it to Modern. If you like a more classic vintage style verb set it to Spring. Last is it's on/off switch. Simple enough with a sound you can stand up against any spring reverb unit. The pedal is very easy to dial in and works great for bringing any dull, flat sound to life. This pedal made possible to get the sound I wanted at the snap of my fingers, it has never been so easy to get a great usable reverb sound. A little verb goes a long way like they always say. This pedal not only works great to liven up your sound but is small and sleek enough to save on some much needed pedalboard space. I actually tried this pedal through my amp's effects loop and it sounded great. So if you're really desperate for some pedal space you can always do that. What makes this pedal such a hit and so hit is it's two modes, the Modern/Spring toggle switch. These two modes combined with the the pedal's two knobs can deliver an army of different verb tones. From extreme hall settings to subtle room tones. In the Modern mode the reverb becomes more defined and in your face, great for space rock and abstract sound effects. You can also get some mellow verb sounds in the Modern mode by laying off on the Decay and Depth knob. There is a sound I discovered while recording a sessions a few years ago, I call it the Screaming Banshee tone. It is a combination of some off-the-wall compression, a nice chunky fuzz, and a crisp bright reverb. I was able to attain this sound with the Tonebug Reverb, and was amazed just how spot-on I was able to dial it in. The fun doesn't end there, there are a handful of cool things you can do with a modern style reverb. Add in one part long delay with short repeat, a bit of modulation (vibe or chorus will do fine), and some extreme decay on the reverb. The end result is a really cool haunting echo perfect for picking out chords of all sorts. If your thing is more on the vintage vibe side of things the Tonebug Reverb can also meet your needs. Here is I believe T-Rex really outdid themselves with this pedal. The quality of the verb in this little pedal's Spring setting is out of this world! I sat and ran a few amps with reverb, then compared it to the pedal. When I blind tested the amp's reverb and pedal for my partner they could not tell the difference. Strap on a Strat, Jaguar, or Jazzmaster and you're on surfside heaven baby all the way! The Spring mode produces a warm yet clean defined reverb that sounds great at both high and subtle settings. If you're missing a bit of swing in your tone this set the pedal to just shy on nine'o'clock on both knobs and you got yourself a little fresh jive in your sound. Once my main overdrive tone is dialed in I like to the set the sound of my reverb, roll it back all the way off, and slowly turn it up until I get that just barely there sound. This is one way to be careful when playing reverb pedals in clubs, all clubs have some sort of natural delay and reverb in their rooms. Dial in too much verb from your pedal and your sound is ghost my friend. Having that decay knob on the Tonebug Reverb really comes in handy at times like these. I have been playing guitar for a long long time and to have access to a reverb pedal like this that makes it so simple to use is a huge plus. The music playing world has been waiting for a simple and effective reverb unit like this. Beginners and seasoned cats alike will dig this pedal. Whether you're looking for a slight verb or all out spooky sound, this pedal will deliver and do it with style.

For more info on T-Rex Engineering products go to www.t-rex-effects.com You can also click the T-rex logo in our links for direct access their website. We are proud to be a supporter of T-Rex's awesome products and we'll continue bringing more as long as they keep producing it. Let's hope it never ends. Can I get an Amen!!!?

Two beauties from Denmark

In the midst of all that is going on with the underground pedal building scene, there are a handful of cats in the mainstream circle who have kept things real fresh, and real real. There is I'm sure not one of you that has not heard of T-Rex Engineering's effects pedals, and for good reason too. What once was a small unknown company from Denmark has grown into a worldwide, heavily respected powerhouse of stompbox building madness. T-Rex's success has landed there pedals worldwide, become the favorite sellers of many shops, and have been seen on many famous pedalboards. They have recently taken on producing the all mighty Gristle pedals of Tim Jauernig and guitar player Greg Koch, which will now be known as the T-Rex Gristle Line, I can think of no better company to take on the job. T-Rex has also introduced at Winter NAMM the Tonebug series of effects, first to hit the streets will be the Tonebug Overdrive and Tonebug Reverb, but the focus of this article/review is not on the new Gristle Line or Tonebug Series, which we are all more than ready for. I am here to bring to the plate two classics in the making, the Viper vibe pedal, and the ever expansive Tremonti Phaser. So sit back and get schooled on two wondeful tone shaping tools.

THE VIPER
vibe pedal

When it comes to vibe pedals you better make sure you're playing the right one or the crowd, your tone, and the tape will all suffer. A killer sounding vibe pedal will work wonders for your tone, it's subtle frequency floats in and around your sound like no other effect and opens up both clean and dirty tones. When I first came across the T-Rex Viper I was pleased to find all the classic voicing effects I have had the pleasure of listening to throughout Rock and Rolls history. It's three knobs and mode button deliver and endless collection of sweet and lush swirls, getting lost in it's delivery is very easy. The Depth knob controls the overall effect, the range starts way down in an almost non-existent whisper, and goes all the way up to an in your face frequency of peaks and lows, without ever overpowering or weakening your base sound. The Speed knob...well it controls the speed of the effect. It's ramp is easy to control and even more important easy to dial in. The Level knob controls the Viper's output, combined with the right set of stompboxes you can get some killer sounding gritty vibe tones. The Mode button bounces between the two classic settings of a rotating speaker effect, and signature vibrato tone, both of which we all know so well, and the perfect combo for any musical type. Finally we have the Trim dial which is located on the back of the pedal, to me this being the secret weapon of the Viper. The Trim dial lets you shape the face of the vibe effect, pull out a small flat head screwdriver and create your own signature vibe tone, it's wonderful. Like many of the vintage vibe effects we have grown to love, the Viper holds that sound that works so well with both blues and rock, but the difference here is it's ability to open up whole new worlds of musical layers. I play lots of psychedelic influenced rock music and found many many ways to layer, expand, and experiment. One thing I must point out before I forget is the Viper does not run on the standard 9 volts, instead it runs on 12 volts which keeps the effect cleaner, more pronounced, and very defined. When you plug into the Viper you will definitely hear how upfront it's bite can get. One thing is for certain, you will not find yourself becoming easily bored with this pedal, The Viper owns an ocean of useful and magical tones.

Tremonti Phaser
phase shifter

Welcome to the next level of phase shifting, all in all...this pedal says more than the average bear. I have to be honest with you guys, I've never been much of a fan of the phase shifting effect, one side of it being how difficult it is to inject it into a song, the other side of it being how hard it is to find a good sounding pedal. Even the vintage stuff has never impressed me much, I know saying this can seem like blasphemy to some people, but hey, that's been my experience. A lot has changed though in the last few years, and with the open minds that builders carry these things have been looking good for the phase shifter. One example of this being the Tremonti Phase Shifter, if you've plugged into one you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't then you have something to look forward to. The first run in with the Tremonti pedal was in a local shop, it only took me a few minuted to decide this was a phase shifter I could live with. There was one thing that really stood out and probably the main reason this pedal won me over, I clearly heard lots of Pink Floyd out of it. Swirling, swooshing, and flying is the name of the game here folks. All of it's controls behave and respond exactly how you would imagine them to, what you hear in your head you can easily dial in. When using it with clean and overdrive tones the effect rose and fell in all the right places, playing it through distortion and metal tones would satisfy any shredder or old school rock and roll head. With stereo outs, 4/8 stage phasing, the traditional controls of Depth, Rate, and Level this covers lots of ground, throw in the mighty Bite knob and you have not only an extremely versatile pedal but a phase shifter with balls. If your thing is the vintage low-fi thing you will easily find it in this pedal, if you prefer the more modern hi-fi phase effect you will also fond it here. One thing the pedal did and did very well was blend in with other effects to help create new textures, whenever I can find a pedal that plays well with others it is most definitely a big +. I thought finding the words to explain this pedal would prove harder than it has, which is always a sign of being blown away, of discovering something new, and expanding your mind. There isn't much to be said about the Tremonti because this is one of those pedals that talks the talk and walks more than the walk. When it comes down to it it's simple, just take it from me, from someone who had been hunting for the right phase shifter for a long long time. Plug it in and let the 60's, 70's, and all the modern madness you can handle flow right through.

For more info on T-Rex Engineering you can visit their website at www.t-rex-engineering.com or click the T-Rex logo in our links.