Top Finds of 2009 / EP Booster

Xotic Effects never seizes to amaze us. I can look back at each one of the Xotic Effects pedals I've ever had a chance to try out and remember them all as being top-notch. The thing that makes Xotic pedals such desirable pieces of gear is their simplicity. If you've ever had a chance to plug into any of their dirt boxes you know that they're all about getting straight to the point, quickly, and painlessly. While many of the bigger companies are floating towards designing complex and multi-function effects pedals, Xotic has taken the simplest of ideas to create one of the most useful tone tools to hit the streets in a long time. I mean how many different classics does Mr. Mathews plan on playing off of? It's a circus of tasteless, gimmick ridden, trinkets and knick-knacks out there. So when you find yourself lost in a sea of maddening bright boxes and need a straight no chaser, no-frills stompbox that will get the job done and done right. Look towards Xotic Effects.

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Xotic Effects USA

Van Nuys, CA

EP Booster

Features

* Gain Control Knob

* On/Off Status LED

* True Bypass Switching

* Input Jack (nominal input -20DB)

* Output Jack

* DC Jack 2.1mm x 5.5mm / 9-18vdc Negative Center

* Internal DIP Switches: Bass Boost / Bright

* Battery Power: 9V

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The EP Booster is an absolute amazing little pedal with an unbelievable capability to enhance and push your sound. I gotta hand it to Xotic Effects for one of the coolest little pedals to come out last year. The idea for designing the EP Booster came from mighty pre-amp section that can be found in the classic EP-3 Echoplex's. I don't know about you guys but I've had a chance to plug into a handful of different EP-3's in my time, and every time I have I've been blown away by how killer of tone their pre-amp sections are capable of. The EP-3's pre-amp is a little trick I've seen many studio cats use to enhance and give their guitar tracks some edge. Amongst the many engineers and everyday cats like myself who have fallen in love with the Echoplex preamp sound, there have been many heavyweight professional's who have also counted on it for their signature and root tone's. Cats like Brian May, Tommy Bolin, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Page, and the man himself Mr. Hendrix have all used Echoplex preamp's to give their tone some mojo. Xotic Effects has now taken this wonderful tool and shoved into 3.5"x1.5"x1.5" enclosure. This way you get all the killer tone without having to sacrifice much space on your pedalboard, lord knows we can use all we can get. On the EP Booster you will find a true bypass switch and solo knob used for controlling the gain amount, but there's more! Inside the EP Booster is a whole nother story. In the pedal's guts you will find a couple of DIP switches, one for boosting the bass, and another for flat or bright eq. This gives you the ability to match or give your sound a little color, and if you're looking for a little something extra take it from me, use the pedal's magical little color.

Like all of our demos we like make sure we use as many different scenario's as possible. We try and pull out as many amps, guitars, use different style pickups, and even run the gear we demo through other pedals to see how they react. The EP Booster came through with flying colors, working beautifully with everything we used it with and sounding magnificent on it's own. The scenario we worked with EP Booster was Strat, Twin Reverb, and two Bullet Cables. We set the amp with all eq at 7, volume at 3-4, reverb at 2, bright switch off. The EP Booster was set in it's default setting with the Bass Boost off, and Bright on. The sound of the Twin Rev alone of course sounded damn sweet, full of richness and boom. With the EP Booster engaged things got even better! It's kind of hard to explain if you've never heard what a EP-3 Echoplex sounds like when driving an amp. It's not so much that it works to boost your sound into an overdrive, which it can do, the magic is on the hint of color that it throws on your sound. It covers a wider, rounder frequency range for the bass, and shines a little light on the highs and mids. The result is a tone that's a bit tighter, richer, and able to cover more ground. At first you don't notice much a difference, then you start hammering away at some chords and begin to feel the sound around you becoming much nicer. I always say the best guitar tones are the ones you feel and not so much hear. I did the same thing with an overdriver set after the EP Booster and got the same results. The creamy overdrive setting I had dialed in went from great to greater. There was more definition in the grit and a lot more flavor in the overall sound. Before I moved onto the vintage setting in the DIP switches I decided to plug my guitar into a 100 watt Super Lead, dial in some natural overdrive, and boost the signal with EP Booster's default setting. I set the amp fairly crunchy, with lots of mids and lows. Once I kicked in the pedal I could hear the everything tighten up and become a bit more complex. It was apparent this pedal was going to work with just about anything I threw at it. Next I kicked in the pedal's vintage setting, which is both DIP switches in the off position. Here the tone was able to maintain all of the character I had work into the amp only with a warmer and fluffier feel. The overdrive had more of a classic rock vibe to it, some where between a Page and Townshend tone. Not too shabby hey? The pedal worked great with everything, other boosters, overdrivers, distortions boxes, fuzz pedals, and best of all on it's own through an already dirty tone or clean sound. Xotic's mission to build a simple way to achieve the EP-3's preamp sound is a definite success. With the EP Booster's DIP switched it makes things even that much better. This simple little box turned out to be much more complex than I though it would be, and created a handful of tones that some multi knob pedal's aren't capable of. I'm proud to say the EP Booster now lives on my pedalboard, in front of everything else, and always on. It makes shaping things after it much easier and more precise. If you guys get a chance to plug into one go for it, grab a nice guitar, plug into a decent amp, and watch it add life to any signal.

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For more info on Xotic Effects go to www.xotic.us or click on the logo in our sidebar for a direct link. Also go down to our Youtube search engine and type in "EP Booster" for some cool video demos from the Xotic Guitars Youtube channel. Stay tunes for more form this awesome company in the near future. Peace!!!

Top Finds of 2009 / Killer Guitar Components

You want to see quality, class, and killer looks? Look no further my fellow gear junkies. For those of you not hip on them, let me introduce you to Killer Guitar Components. KGC specializes in the building of exquisitely high quality, top notch tremolo blocks. If you've ever heard the sound of a proper, cream of the crop Stratocaster. You know that a lot of it's golden tone comes from it's components, attention to detail, and overall build quality. Now, in today's gear market there are lots and lots of insane products claiming to do this, that, and everything under the sun to improve your sound. As players our guitar's sound is the first thing we pay attention to, and the one thing thing we spend most of our time trying to perfect. Like many of you I'm sure have done throughout your entire lives as musicians, I too have been on a hunt to seek out as many great guitar tones as possible. I've tried many different amps, pedals, pickups, guitars, speakers, components, and tons of so called magical electronics. When I took on the task to put together my own 60's style strat, the job turned out to be a lot tuffer than I thought it would be. Finding the right parts and components to get an authentic vintage Strat tone is definitely an art form not easily mastered. Then I swapped in one of KGC's tremolo blocks, and things started falling into place. It became the perfect starting point for mapping out the rest of the guitar's tone. It's funny, sometimes the things you least think will make a difference end up being the most important.

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Killer Guitar Components

Gloucester, MA

Design Team: Rick & Sandy Peek

KGC-V

Tremolo Block

Customized for Vintage & Vintage Reissues

* Maximized Vibration and Sustain

* Less Harshness and Improved Tonality

* Dramatically Improved String to String Definition/Clarity

* Powerful Lows/Clearer Midrange/Detailed Highs

* Increased Sensitivity and Stability when Playing

* Detailed/Focused Note Projection

* Purer Intonation

* Mirror-Polished Finish

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So here I am, absolutely stunned at how beautiful these tremolo blocks are. Never in a million years did I think such a random piece of gear would be so important, but here I am, and this has been one of the best moves I have ever made. The difference in my guitar's tone was instant! I noticed my clean tone was brighter, richer, and much more focused. As if I'd fine tuned a nice eq layer over my root tone. The guitar's lows became stronger and tighter, midrange sat smoothly in the mix, and highs became glassy and bell-like. My overdriven sounds also became a lot sweeter, with tons of bite and definition, and no muddiness or harsh corners. I've had good results from using brass parts on my guitars before, but never anything like this. Even when unplugged the guitar rang out with lots of character and power. You can literally feel the strength of the strings vibrating through the guitar's body. With most stock parts you get trem blocks made up of low quality pot/zinc or crappy molded steel. This causes a dead, flat, and not too exciting guitar sound. KGC on the other hand took it to the maximum when designing their trem blocks. To make sure their products produce the best sound possible they use the most musical brass alloy available. Through spectrum analysis KGC sonically tests all of the brass alloy used to build their tremolo blocks. The end result is brass alloy capable of filtering out undesirable harmonics and frequencies. You might hear some cats claim that things like this don't make much of a difference, but once you have a go at something built from high quality love I promise you'll never turn back to the norm.

For our KGC demo we broke out every amp and pedal we could muster, and a bone stock MIM Strat for comparing to. To keep things strictly on the trem block side of things we equipped both guitars with a set of boutique quality pickups. The first setup we rigged up was a 4x10 Deville, a handful of Core One Bullet Cables, and a A/B splitter with both guitars feeding into it. The amp was set straight up the middle, with the volume at about 4-5, and reverb 100% dry. First up to bat was the MIM Strat in it's bridge pickup, both tone and volume knobs all the way up. I rang out a handful of big chords, ran through some blues licks, and really dug into the strings as hard as I could. The sound was all there, good highs, nice mids, and beefy lows. Everything you would expect from a solid, nice sounding Strat. Then we switched into the KGC equipped Strat and did the same thing. I played the same chords and licks, and dug in to get an idea of what kind of natural grow I could get from the guitar. I was stunned at how much of a difference there was, this was the first time I had a chance to plug-in and play and it was beautiful. There wasn't just a change in the tonal quality, the sustain and resonance of the notes was also much more intense. Notes rang-out and held on to the wind as if they were equipped with hands. It was having a subtle amount of high quality compression on the sound, the kind you can barely notice is there until you start hammering away and notice everything sounds much nicer. I played out a handful of different position harmonics and also got some lovely results. Everything I played through the clean tone became clearer and more defined. I knew I was in for a real treat once a little overdrive was thrown into the mix. For the next test I pulled out a few different dirt boxes that ranged from boosters, overdrivers, distortions, and fuzz pedals. Again we started with the action with the MIM Strat, only this time flipping into the bridge pickup position. The pedal we kicked into the mix was a simple 15db clean booster, enough to send the amp into a subtle, natural overdrive. I rode the neck up and down, strumming here and there, and pulling off double stops along the way. The sound again was pretty damn sweet, nice and full with a healthy amount of under/overtones. Then it was the KGC guitar's turn and everything became much clearer, literally. Again my string projection was much tighter, even ,and more defined. The quality of the overdrive seemed to take on an entirely different light. The kind of difference in tone you get when you've mastered your guitar tracks and put all the finishing touched on them. Next I kicked in a bit more grit by plugging in the overdriver and putting down a strong attack unto the strings. I could feel my guitar shaking violently against my body and left hand. The string transfer you get from these trem blocks are like nothing I have ever experienced. The character of the KGC trem block's sound adapts itself to whatever you throw at it. Creating a root tone that works beautifully at any level, through any amp, and with any stompbox. I reached down and switched out the overdriver for a distortion pedal with a ton of gain and grit, set it to a howling lead tone and got to work. The air exploded with thick/rich harmonics, overtones, and undertones. Every little nuance in my playing came through sublimely! I rolled off a bit of the guitar's volume and noticed it was still full of sparkle and pop. Last I plugged in the loudest, baddest fuzz box I could find, and still I heard a positive difference in the sound. Even when I maxed out the fuzz's gain level I could hear the trem block doing it's thing. I could take my guitar's tone knob all the way back and still get a sweet'n'rich sound. We did this through a handful of other amps and got the same results with each one. It was damn near impossible to get a bad sound through the KGC tremolo block. I highly recommend anyone looking to upgrade their guitar start with one of these first. It make everything standout to the max, which makes even tuning and setting your guitar' intonation a spot-on job. To top everything off, make everything just that much sweeter. All of the cats at Killer Guitar Components provide some of the best customer service you will ever come across. I want to take this time to and say thanks to Kevin and everyone else at KGC for being so cool and taking the time to work with us on this. You guys gotta take the time to check out their website, they offer a bunch of different tremolo block models for different style guitars and appointments. Besides their own trem blocks KGC is also an authorized dealer of Graph Tech products, another awesome product make to enhance and give life to your strings. We're gonna stay close to all the progress and updates from our friends at KGC, and make sure to bring you guys all the info. AWC is diggin' on the KGC products big-time and hopes everyone else gets a chance to experience the same lovely results we had.

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For more info on Killer Guitar Components products you can go to www.killerguitarcomponents.com or click the KGC logo in our sidebar for a direct link. We will try to bring you guys some more awesome features from this killer new company so make sure to stay tuned. Keep on rockin'!

February News & Updates

February

2010

Another month in the books, and what a month it was. I hope you guys have been digging our Top Finds of 09 articles and hope you've had a chance to check some of the gear out for yourselves. In all my time as a musician I have never seen so much cool gear, it's as if the Gear Gods are smiling down upon us nonstop. Every few weeks another killer amp, beautiful guitar, unbelievable stompbox, or killer set of pickups gets thrown at us as if it's Christmas. Oh how I love it! It's been a blast looking back at and sharing with you guys all of the great gear that came through here last year. We've had a chance to check out some killer speakers, pickups, cables, pedals, pedals, and more pedals. Well we have a surprise for ya'll.... we're not done! Nooooo sir we're not. We still have a handful of amazing, mind blowing products to get through. The next few weeks will be put aside to bring you guys another run of what we think is some of the most awesome gear available today. We've got pickups, guitars, hardware, totally new products, and yes, more pedals! Another mission on the horizon for Analog War Cry is getting to some of the new and exciting products that were let loose on the world at NAMM a few weeks back. We will work our hardest to get out hands on as much new gear as possible and will make sure to keep ya'll up to date on any happenings of the gear world. With that said, let the fantabulous gear continue.

Top Finds of 2009 / Jensen Jet Series

Jensen really needs no introduction of any kind, they walk the walk and have been doing so for quite some time now. Many of the first amps I fell in love with had Jensen speakers in them. No one can deny these people know what they're doing when it comes to loudspeakers and great tone. As the years go by and things change Jensen follows close beside, always on top of the changes in music, and always building innovative and special speaker models. One of these unique and amazing products Jensen has produced in the last couple years is the Jet Series, a collection of pure tone pushing speakers with a killer look that says "Here I am!" The one thing I love the most about the Jet Series is that Jensen decided to build some 10" models. I have always been a lover of 2x10 and 4x10 cabs and combos. There is a punch and definition you get from a 10" speaker that you won't hear in many other speakers. We will take a look a few of the Jet Series speakers, put them through their paces, and push them to the limit. Come along and ride with us the speakers won't bite.... or will they?

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Jensen Speakers

Ce Distribution

Tempe, AZ

Jensen Jet Series

Blackbird

JP10-100BB

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FEATURES

* Nominal Overall Diameter: 10 in

* Magnet Type: Alnico

* Magnet Weight: 29oz

* Voice Coil Winding: Aluminum

* Cone: Paper

* Basket: Pressed Sheet Steel

* Nominal Impedance: 8Ω

* Rated Power: 100 W

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If you've never taken the time and performed a speaker mod on your amp you are missing out. It is one of the quickest and easiest ways to enhance your sound and bring some life into your tone. All in all the guitar speaker is a huge part of your tone's end result, of course there are many more elements that make up one's overall tone, but with just a little investigating the right speaker choice will get you closer to that dream sound you've always wanted. A few month's back I swapped out two of my 4x10 Deville's stock speakers for two Jensen Blackbirds, I wanted to see just how much of a difference the speakers would make. Well, the difference was noticeable instantly! As is the Fender Deville is actually a really decent amplifier, you'd be surprised how many professionals choose this as their stage and studio amp. You can get the cleanest most beautiful guitar tones from this amplifier. With the Jensen Blackbirds the whole picture just got that much better. I'm the type of player that relies on overdrive pedals for his grit and distortion tones, which means I have to have the best sounding clean tone to get the best results. This means I have to have the correct balance between highs, mids, and lows. I noticed tight away that Blackbirds added this rich, punchy, and dynamic sound to my overall eq that gave my root tone a boost of character and articulation. The bass frequencies somehow jumped in size but didn't become muddy or overpowering. I was able to dial in much more bass from amp without the fear of drowning the rest of the tones underneath it. The highs were also a real treat to listen to out of these speakers. I got that bell-like tone from the highs but with a modern type clarity that created a perfect balance between the old and the new. Both clean and dirty tones rang out in a springy, sparkling howl which made my tone stand out beautifully. It is like having the best of both the vintage and modern feel all wrapped into one. The absolute magic in the sound of the speakers lay in the mids though. Many stock speakers get this area of the frequency spectrum wrong. Either they use speakers that dish out mids that are too sharp, or mids that clash with the lows. The midrange in a sound is a tone that has to be able to separate itself without getting lost or sounding weak. You want your mids to hit you in the gut and snap back with authority. Jensen's Blackbirds handed me this vibe and much more.

Before the Blackbirds landed in my 4x10 Deville we had them in a beautiful 2x10 cabinet. This gave us the chance to run the speakers through a bunch of different amp heads. We tried everything from low to high watt amps, and used a handful of different guitars, pedals, and guitar cables. Along with this we also tried a bunch of different microphones and mic techniques. One of our favorite combos of gear was an Orange Rockerverb 50 watt head (on loan to us from our good buddy Rich), a custom Tele, and couple of Bullet Cables. We started with the amp's clean channel, kept the treble at noon, bass at 1'o'clock, just a hint of reverb, and volume up to a nice practice level. The sound that came out of the cabinet shot out like a cannon, full of attitude, power, and clarity. The richness in the speakers delivery was enough to keep me stuck ringing out of beautiful jangly chords. Each guitar string came through evenly and full of sparkle. I went ahead and picked out a few big, fat harmonics and just like I expected they rang out wonderfully. While dialed into this great sounding clean tone I pulled out a few dirt boxes and put them through their paces. First I grabbed a typical 808 style overdriver and dialed it in to take the clean tone and push it into a healthy overdrive. First I knocked on a bunch of thick'n'meaty barre chords. The Blackbirds took to the overdrive pedal's grit like a kid to candy. There's point when a tone sounds so good that it is nearly impossible to get it to sound bad. Every setting I put the overdrive pedal in hung onto the speakers and created a huge sounding tone. It was time to put the speakers through some naturally overdriven tube-grit. I flipped the amp into it's dirty channel and started turning things up. I wanted to test the Blackbirds frequency range so I started with some intense eq settings. I rolled the treble back close to zero, mids at noon, lows close to 100%, gain at 75%, and volume at about 30%. Believe me, things got loud real quickly. The Jensen's were able to handle the huge amount of lows and lack of treble without creating an ugly, muddy tone. The Blackbirds were able to adapt to the setting just beautifully! I set the Tele in it's neck pickup, rolled off some of the guitar's tone, and BOOM! I was swimming in the most monstrous woman tone you could ever hear. Kicking in the lead pickup made things even sweeter. I created a mix between a Gilmore lead tone and Clapton rhythm sound, a stunning work of great speakers and amps. I also played my semi-hollow body and Strat through a 7/15 head. We pulled out some of our favorite fuzz pedals and put the speakers to the test. The first combo was a mighty silicon fuzz, semi-hollow body, and amp set in it's 7 watts. Cables were our trusty pair of coily Bullet Cables. I cranked the amp as loud as I could get it before it started getting dirty. Once I added in the fuzz things got very very interesting. The Blackbirds became creamy, boomy, and became loaded with gobs of sustain. It didn't matter how much or how little gain I threw at them, the articulation of the notes all came through full of character and definition. I had mic'd a few of the guitar tones and recorded them to hear how they were coming through for session purposes. I was stunned I didn't need to give them any compression and very little if any equalization. Through the 15 watt setting I plugged the Strat in and pulled a germanium fuzz box. It made no difference what I plugged into, the speakers did their magic and came through like champs. I got all the pop, spank, and bounce one would expect from a set of Strat single coils. The warmth of the germanium fuzz box worked wonders with the clarity of the Blackbirds. There are guitar speakers and then there are guitar SPEAKERS. The Jensen Blackbird 10's are definitely a professional grade speaker and work wonderful in all settings. Anyone looking for an upgrade or quick mod job would benefit highly from a pair of these badboys. As someone who gigs regularly the Blackbirds have given me a much tighter, brighter, stronger, and wider range set of tones. I don't see these speakers going anywhere for a long long time. Unless they wear out and them it will be time for more. Go black!

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For more info on the Jensen Jet Series Blackbird's go to www.jensentone.com or www.cedist.com You can also click the direct link in our sidebar. The Jensen website has a bunch of great info, audio demos, and speaker models to choose from. Analog War Cry will be taking a look at more of these awesome speakers in the near future so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.

Top Finds of 2009 / Guyatone Mighty Micro Series

Some of the absolute best sounding, easiest to use, and best bang for your buck stompboxes we came across last year were Guyatone's Mighty Micro Series effect pedals. This wide range of tuff as nails little guitar boxes absolutely blew us away with their huge sound and never ending capabilities. Guyatone has always been known for knocking out some of the world's best sounding and most interesting gear. With the Mighty Micro Series they have taken all of the skill, expertise, and experience they could muster to create one of the most interesting collection of stompboxes to ever hit the pedal scene. Analog War Cry had a chance to take a close look at each and every one of these little boxes. We dissected them, tweaked them beyond belief, and ran them till no end. In the end we were left with the most massive collection of guitar sounds you could ever imagine. Guyatone definitely thought of everything and left no stone unturned when they designed these pedals. We're gonna be sharing with you what ended up being our most favorite pedals of the entire bunch. We had a blast with each and every single one of these little demons. Here are a few we think you'll really enjoy, so dig in!

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Guyatone

Clifton, NJ

Mighty Micro Series

Effect Pedals

* Cast aluminum "Stomp Guard" protects controls and settings

* Ultra bright status LED is easily visible on dark stages

* Mechanical true bypass switching via custom Guyatone switch

* Glow-in-the-dark washer offers improved visibility on dark stages

* Battery "Load Scope" allows user to see into battery compartment

* Additional controls with improved functionality provide greater tonal options

* Top mounted jacks save space on crowded pedalboards

* Lightweight, ultra-durable cast-aluminum chassis reduces noise level

* "Smart Screw"= less turns and stays connected to the battery lid

* Top-mounted, no-tools battery compartment allows battery change without removing pedal from pedalboard

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ODm5

Overdrive

This little monster was designed after the award-winning OD-2, offering the same intensity, feel, and tube-like grit. Only the ODm5 Overdrive is loaded with a wider amount of capabilities which makes it one of the most versatile little OD boxes to ever hit pedal world. The ODm5's knob layout is Level-Tone-Gain-Mode (switch)-and Input Attenuator. We ran the ODm5 through 7/15 watt head and 1x10 cabinet. We set the amp at 7 watts and dialed it in semi-clean. I set the ODm5's Level slightly higher than the amp's, set the Tone straight up, Gain at about 15%, Mode switch at 1., and rolled the Attenuator knob all the way up. The sound was a dead-smack, perfectly overdriven tube tone. Brushing down on the strings gave me a mellow semi-clean sound full of clarity and slight crunch. The harder I pushed the more grit I would get, and the more I dug in the longer the notes would hang in the air. I pushed the Gain up to about half way, rolled the Tone back to 3'o'clock, and switched the Mode switch to it's second position. Here the ODm5 produced a smooth, hairier overdrive which sounded really nice through blues and mellow rock. Taking the Gain knob up all the way produced a great all-out rhythm overdrive tone which stayed rich and creamy. This setting also worked great with the guitar's volume knob. I was easily able to get another handful of great sounding usable rock tones by rocking the volume back and fourth. To get a screaming lead tone out of the ODm5 I switched into the pedal's third Mode setting, took the Attenuator knob back half way, Tone up 75%, and rolled the Gain up full blast. All of a sudden this little 7 watt amp sounded like a massive 100 watt plexi. The sustain was thick'n'rich, and grit amount just an inch before distortion. I switched the amp into 15 watts got the perfect recording and small gig overdrive sound. Along with the handful of other amps and guitars we ran this pedal through we ended up with a pretty massive amount of dirt tones. With the pedal's three dirt modes, sensitive tone knob, and attenuation knob you can plug this pedal into whatever guitar or amp you want and surely end up with whatever tone you want. These Micro Mighty pedals also save on much needed pedalboard space which is always a big plus for anyone suffering from G.A.S. Check one of these pedals out, I promise you'll be surprisingly pleased.

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SVm5

Slow Volume

Anyone familiar with the unique and lovely sound of the Slow Volume effect knows that once mastered can be one of the most useful tools of all the different effects out there. Guyatone's SVm5 takes this all-time favorite effect even further and to the extreme. For a long time I was stuck to dialing in delay pedals, reverb units, and volume pedals in order to get this sound. The work that one has to put into perfecting the art of volume swells is not an easy one, I say this from experience. The SVm5 makes this a thing of past and puts it back where it belongs, into an authentic, great sounding slow volume pedal. The SVm5's control layout is Level-Threshold-Rising-Attenuator (switch)-and Release. You can get everything from violin sounds, eerie ghost howls, and subtle/intense volume swells. The SVm5 works great with other pedals, and sounds stunning through a big'n'bright clean tone. For this demo we used a Twin Reverb and Hagstrom semi-hollow body guitar. I set the amp to the most sparkling clean amp tone I could get from it and added in a nice helping of reverb. I set the SVm5's volume output at noon, set the Threshold between 11-12, Rising knob at noon, Attenuator at unity, and release at 3'o'clock. This produced a great sounding universal slow volume sound that worked great with everything. I picked out a handful of favorite chords and they bloomed out softly and beautifully. Single notes whispered out, rose then fell. I also added a bit of delay to make the effect hold a bit longer which sounded killer. The SVm5 also works great with overdrive and fuzz. I threw one of my favorite fuzz pedals before it and cerated these great synth-like sounds. There were a handful of other settings that sounded equally as good as this one did but the best way to get this pedal with you is by diving in and playing with the knobs. Everyone has a different touch, and once you master how to strum and set the pedal to your liking you will be in Slow Volume heaven. I was able to get extremely dramatic volume swells, subtle, and everything in between. This probably became my favorite of the Mighty Micro pedals, you don't know how long I have been on the hunt for a great sounding SV pedal. Go out and try to find and original Slow Gear and see where that lands you. You'll end up forking over close to half a grand or more. Of all the many similar effects I have had a chance to try this is by far one of the best sounding and most versatile.

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VTm5

Tremolo

The tremolo. It is one of the most useful and sweetest sounding effects of all the stompbox world. Having a good sounding, versatile tremolo unit on your pedalboard can not only provide you with a handful of great uses, but can also dish out some of classic rock's most memorable tones. I was able to take the Guyatone VTm5 from vintage to modern tones, and everything in between. Of all the tremolo pedals I have come across this past year this was by far one of most versatile. With all the features the VTm5 has on board finding the exact sound you're looking for is a cinch. The control layout is Level-Intensity-Speed-Wave Switch- and High Roll Off. Inside this pedal is also an Input Attenuator which is controlled by a -14db and 0db DIP switch. The attenuation option lets you adjust the correct input from the output level of different instruments. This means you can use the VTm5 with bass guitars, keyboards, and a handful of other gadgets. We went for a straight up vintage voiced, warm, and lush tremolo tone at first. For this demo we pulled out the Twin Reverb once again. I set the amp with it's Bass and Treble at 7, and pulled my Tele out and flipped it into it's neck humbucker. The tremolo was set with it's Intensity at noon, Speed between 1/2'o'clock, High Roll Off at 11'o'clock, Wave in it's triangle settings, and Level nice and loud to help push the amp a little bit. The result was a genuine vintage tube amp tremolo tone. The beating of the tremolo was smooth'n'lush, not too powerful, and just behind the amp's root tone. This setting worked great as a universal tremolo tone. Chords lightly rose and fell giving the overall feel just the right amount accent and character. Licks and bends also sounded absolutely beautiful. With a bit of overdrive mixed in to the sound I was in blues rock heaven. The sound of the Twin's bright/clear clean tone mixed with the VTm5's tremolo created a pretty cool sound, but now it was time to take this little pedal into more extreme settings. To get a sharp, cutting tremolo effect I had to do was turn the Intensity up a bit, and flip the Wave Switch to square wave. To give the sound a little extra bite I just set the High Roll Off knob back to about 9'o'clock. I started with the Speed at a slow setting and moved up from there. I was able to get perfectly mellow choppy sounds to insanely crazy helicopter sound effects. For a pedal this tiny the VTm5 will absolutely blow your mind. It was able to produce both classic and modern tremolo tones with absolute ease. This is a great tremolo unit for gigging or lugging around from spot to spot, and it's size will do your pedalboard right nice.

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SSm5

Sonic Shaper

Here we have a pedal that has become one of the most useful stompboxes we have ever come across. So what exactly is the Sonic Shaper? Well, Guyatone had produced a pedal called the EX-2 Exciter pedal that was only released across seas. The pedal was designed to take certain frequencies and bump them to create a finely tuned, spic'n'span guitar tone. The SSm5 takes this idea and pushes it even further. With the Sonic Shaper you can zone in on that one frequency that makes your tone magical, and enhance it to make the sound even greater. This helps your guitar stand out from the mix, helps you separate guitar from others, and makes dialing in the exact eq feel you're looking for an easy task. The control layout on this puppy is Level-Color-Shape-Color (switch)-and Input Attenuator. I dialed in a few of my favorite guitar tones, both clean and dirty, and tested them to see if I could make them better. We pretty much stuck to the Twin Reverb for testing all the Mighty Micro pedals. I broke out the Les Paul, tweaked the amp into a naturally overdriven dirt tone (which means things got loud), and rang out a few lick and chords. I payed close attention to what made the tone sound special and got to working in the SSm5. I matched the pedal's level out put to the amp's, rolled the Color until I found a spot I dug, and once I found a setting I was happy with I took the pedal's Shape to fine tune exactly what I needed. really the best way to jumped into this baby is to hear it for yourself. It's hard to explain what it does, but here I go. The pedal was able to take my favorite spot of the tone's character and brighten up by making it stand out but not actually boosting the level of it. It's a pretty cool effect pedal if you ask me. It's like the next level in EQ stompboxes. I gotta give it up to Guyatone for coming up with such a killer idea and making it such a useful tone tool, literally. Another awesome use for this pedal is puling out sounds from your other pedals that you have a hard time getting. Ever get close to that perfect overdrive tone? You have the right amount grit, right level, and perfect response. Only there's a spot on the tone knob that the pedal won't let you dial in. This is a nightmare. With the Sonic Shaper this is no longer an issue. I worked it into my favorite overdrive, fuzz, and distortion pedals. I was able to get an handful of other tones I didn't think were possible. The SSm5 is by far one of the coolest of all the Mighty Micros. If you get a chance to rock these pedals make sure you plug into this badboy, you'll be glad you did.

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STm5

Compressor/Sustainer

Every can use a good sounding compressor or sustainer in their setup. Not too long ago I was alien to the world of compression and left it up to friend's, engineers, and presets to get the sounds I wanted. All that came to an end when I finally had enough and just jumped in, educated myself, and got my feet wet. Now compression has become one of my favorite effects and is one of the key ingredients of my sound. The Guyatone STm5 absolutely blew my mind! Everyone knows that compression units can round up to be some of the most expensive of all stompboxes. I have played lots of vintage, boutique, modern, studio, and even DIY comp pedals. I think it's safe to say I have payed my dues and can separate the good sounding units from the not so good. The STm5 consists of a Level-Sustain-Attack-Color-and Input Attenuator. I was able to dial in spanky country tones, violin-like long sustain, and smooth overall great sounding compression effects. For the squashed comp tones we of course broke out the Tele and dialed in the Twin Reverb to a holy grail clean tone with lots of reverb and balance. I struck down on the few chickin' pickin' links I knew how to play and got an awesome sounding compression sound. With a bit of delay thrown into the mix things got even better. The notes all stayed tight, defined, and beautifully bright. Next I took one of my favorite OD pedals and dialed in a fat sounding overdrive tone. Alone the sound was already lush and spot-on. With the STm dialed at just the right setting I was able to take the sound and stretch it out into a lovely, balanced, singing sustain. With my fingers I would dig into fretboard, hold a note in mid air, and let it loose when I wanted. The further I pushed the overdrive sound the more intense the sustain became. I grabbed the Les Paul, plugged into a Super Lead, and dialed in the pedal for perfect balance between spank and sustain. I rolled out some of my favorite Santana licks and was stuck in rock and roll heaven. Compared to the many expensive and vintage compression units I have tried the STm5 definitely held it's own. Anyone looking for a great priced, great sounding, versatile and easy to use compressor will dig plugging into the Guyatone Stm5 compressor/sustainer. This makes for one of the best ways to achieve the sound you're looking for. Whether it be an all-out smashed compression or subtle universal sustain.

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MDm5

Micro Delay

I saved the best for last. Nothing beats a great sounding, versatile, and easy to use delay pedal. I was able to use this pedal at the end of my board, in my amp's FX Loop, and as a studio tool. In every application we used this little delay box in we were able to get awesome sounding delay tones. The delay is one of those effects that has to be used the in the right light in order to get a good sound. Getting a quick, professional delay tone from the MDm5 proved to be one of the easiest I've ever experienced. I was able to get similar delay tones from this pedal than I was from other more expensive, and bigger effect pedals. This goes to show all you need is a killer design to get you some awesome sounding delay. The MDm5's layout is actually pretty simple, and closer to a traditional layout than the rest of the pedals. From left to right you have a Level-Time-Repeat-Mode Switch-High Roll Off-and internal Input Attenuator DIP switch. We rocked out to this pedal with just about every guitar we had and plugged it into a handful of different wattage amps. The first sound we were able to get from this pedal was a universal delay sound that worked great with everything. I rolled the pedal's Level just underneath the amp's, Time at around noon, Repeats to about 3-4, Mode Switch to medium delay, and High Roll Off pretty sharp. We left the Input Attenuator at it's stock setting and went to work. This produced a perfect delay sound that worked great with chords, leads, and licks. The delay hung on just long enough to make itself known, and trailed off at the perfect moment to let the next lick or chords come through. We also dialed in one of the baddest sounding slapback delay tones we've ever heard. I took down some big fat country licks and listened as the delay quickly slapped the notes back and fourth. To make the sound a bit warmer and give it a more vintage tone I just rolled off some of the highs, and took the pedal's volume level back a bit to hide in the mix a bit more. Before we moved onto another setting I plugged the MDm5 Delay into a keyboard and got some really interesting sounds from it. Set correctly I was also able to get some mellow reverb tones from the MDm5. This gave me the idea to plug the pedal into a Rhodes keyboard and switch the delay into a longer, much more intense setting. Quickly I got some of the trippiest, most psychedelic delay tones I have ever heard. In no time at all I was able to go from mellow slapbacks, subtle delays, and all-out space madness. All through a handful of different instruments. Once you get your chance to try out the Mighty Micros make sure you get your hands on one of the MDm5's, you will quickly be drawn into it's wild collection of awesome delay tones. Again, this pedal makes for a great delay for the gigging cat, studio cat, and bedroom rocker. Like the rest of the pedals it saves much needed pedalboard space and looks killer. MDm5 baby!

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Those were the few of our favorite of the Mighty Micro Series line. There are a bunch more equally cool sounding models you must try out for yourselves. For more info on the rest of the Mighty Micro line go to www.godlyke.com or www.guyatone.com There is a handful of great info and audio demos of all the pedals on both websites. We will stay close to Guyatone's future creations and make sure to bring you all their updates. Stay tunes ya'll.

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Godlyke: Charity Raffle for Haitian Disaster

Our good friends at Godlyke Distribution are doing their part to help with the Hatian disaster by holding a charity raffle the next few weeks. Every dollar you donate will buy you a ticket for the chance to win a brand spanking new Hao Effects Omega Drive-16. There is no limit to the amount of tickets you can buy so make sure to give generously, our neighbors in Haiti desperately need the help. You can send your donations via Paypal to Godlyke@optonline.net Please make sure to include "Relief Raffle" in the notes of your payment, and your name/address if they are not updated in your Paypal information. If you do not have Payal and would still like to support contact info@godlyke.com for assistance. The winner of the Omega Drive-16 will chosen on 2/07/10.

For more info go to www.godlyke.com or click the Godlyke logo in our sidebar or at the bottom of our website. You can also visit www.doctorswithoutborders.com

Top Finds of 2009 / BMF Effects

Los Angeles as far back as I can remember has always been quite generous when it comes to supplying us with great guitar shops. It doesn't matter if you live down by the beach or up towards hollywood or downtown, LA has got it covered. It was in one of these shops that I first came across the BMF Effects line. Right there in my favorite shop's display case was a handful of simple looking guitar pedals I had never seen before. I looked over at the cat behind the counter as if to ask "How are these?" He gave me a nod as if to say "Oh yeah, very very nice." I pulled out the first BMF pedal, then the next, and so on and so fourth. One after the other they all blew me away. Then the shop clerk says "You ain't seen nothing yet, check out this prototype that BMF just sent us..." I took the pedal, grabbed a Custom Les Paul off the wall, plugged into a kickass amp, and let her rip. The most lovely rock distortion I could have ever dreamed of flew out from the amp and punctured my soul. I went home that day and emailed BMF Effects letting them know just how impressed I was with their gear. Later that night Scott Kiraly (builder/owner of BMF Effects) introduced himself and thanked me for my kind words. A few weeks later there's a package at my door, and what do you think that package was? That's right, the same magical distortion box that had knocked me on my ass back at the shop. Only now it was no longer a prototype, now that pedal had a name.

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BMF Effects

Hermosa Beach, CA

Builder: Scott Kiraly

Years in the Game: 6

The Great Wide Open

Distortion

This simple little stompbox is by far one of the most exciting effect pedals I have come across not just in the last year, but in my entire life. Looking at The Great Wide Open you wouldn't think there'd be much to it, or that it'd be capable of much at all. This is exactly what makes this guitar pedal so freakin' cool. The tones possible from this pedal will not only stun you, but turn your amplifier into a rich, harmonically charged raging box of grit and distortion. I don't know what kind of wizardry Scott Kiraly pulled to put together such a great sounding pedal, but whatever combination of components he did use they most cfertainly are the right ones. The Great Wide Open consists of a solo Volume knob, a true bypass footswitch, LED, and a heavy-duty enclosure sporting a killer looking yellow finish. "So how does this pedal work? ", you must be wondering. The Great Wide Open's single knob works by adding a beautifully balanced, thick'n'gritty rock distortion to your amp's root tone, all without eating away any it's natural character or feel. The eq projection all the way across the tone spectrum perfectly meshes together to create a full, even, and lush distortion sound. This eliminates the need for any bass, mids, or treble controls on this pedal which leaves all the tone shaping in your amp and guitar. The level of distortion that the Great Wide Open produces is fairly strong, living somewhere between a high overdrive and mid sized distortion tone. The pedal's sound can be used for both rhythm guitar or lead work, and can easily be manipulated by your guitar or other booster/dirt pedals. My favorite way to work this pedal was on it's own and using the guitar's volume to bring things down or blow them back up. All in all not one application we threw at this pedal sounded bad. It dug every pickup combo we played it through, and sounded swell with high, mid, and low watt amplifiers.

I happened to be doing some tone hunting for my band's next recording session when the Great Wide Open first arrived on our doorstep. If you only knew the mess of stompboxes, cables, and mic techniques that I was tangled in, it was like looking down on a sonic labyrinth. The gear created a maze made up of different colored dirt pedals, different styles and lengths of guitar cables, and every guitar we had. Everything leading to an amp in just about every room I thought would give me a good sound. If you've ever worked in the recording studio environment you know how much of a pain in the ass working out guitar tones can be. My partner says "Why don't we take a break and play around with this new pedal. It might even help us out with our little project here." I tell you, it was like one of those moments in rock & roll history that you hear about, where some killer piece of gear magically appears and saves the day. I took the Great Wide Open out of it's box and plugged it into the only amp still in the room, a '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue that was on loan to us from a good buddy. The first guitar to put the Great Wide Open through it's paces was a great sounding stock Les Paul Studio. The only thing besides the Great Wide Open, guitar, and Deluxe Reverb were a pair of coily Bullet Cables from Core One. I started with the guitar's rhythm pickup, plugged into the amp's Normal channel with everything set at 7, and dialed the Great Wide Open straight up the middle. I smashed down on a handful of huge sounding rock chords, and next thing you know an epic distortion sound came tumbling out of the speakers. I wanted to cry, literally wanted to weep like a little baby. The dirt tone had power, character, and most importantly a wonderful feel. The sound was spot-on exactly what I was looking for and hearing in my crazy head. The Les Paul and Deluxe Reverb alone already sounded pretty damn good. Without the pedal engaged I could easily get some naturally pushed thick/rich tube grit. Stepping down on the pedal in conjunction with the Les Paul and it's pickups was an entirely new beast though. The lows bellowed like ghosts, mids rang out like engines, and highs sliced through the air to let the distortion cut through clearly and evenly. It's as if Scott took a great sounding tube amp, dialed it in to the hottest sounding dirt tone he could think of, and somehow took it and shoved it into a little yellow box. Everything about the pedal's sound played and felt right, just like a overdriven vacuum tube. It doesn't end there though, there's more to the Great Wide Open than just a great sounding tone. The pedal has a character all it's own which separates it from other stompboxes. This is called a signature sound, something not easily achieved. This is a distortion pedal strictly for the tone purist, tone hunter, and tone hound. The more I played the better the sound got. I think it's safe to say this pedal works beautifully with humbuckers, I couldn't have gotten a bad sound if I tried. Another guitar that got to taste the Great Wide Open's fury was a Strat we had put together ourselves. For this we switched into the amplifier's other channel to have the option of using some reverb and vibrato. I dialed in a cleaner a tone, shaved off some treble, bumped up the bass, and flipped the reverb up to 3/4. I had the perfect signature blackface clean tone, a perfect starting point for a great sounding dirt box. Just like expected the sound of the Great Wide Open through the single coils was equally as exciting. All of the richness, chime, and bounce of the amp's natural sound, mixed in and blended with the pedal's distortion to create an explosion of rock and roll heaven. I was getting tones perfect for cutting through any mix, tones that bloomed with animation, and tones that made blues licks shake your spine and tickle your bones. The distortion had the same amount of grit'n'grime through the single coil as they did through humbuckers, only with an entirely different feel. I was able to play with the same intensity and attitude, only with a much more stinging and biting sound. I was getting this almost cocked wah color to the tone when playing up at the higher frets, maybe it's just the natural touch of my playing but I definitely heard it loud and clear. Even when playing softly and picking lightly the Great Wide Open delivers a strong amount grit. I was getting the same clarity I would have gotten from a clean tone only with a nice dose of overdrive and distortion. In the hour or so that had passed since I plugged in the Great Wide Open, I had more distortion tones than I needed to get started with our recording session. I mean it was all too easy, all I needed to do to get a good sound out of the pedal was turn it up. There was one sound in particular that really got my blood pumping, a sound that has become one of my main guitar tones. It wasn't a sound played through humbuckers or Strat single coils though... P90's was the starting point for this tone. It was by pure mistake that I came across this sound too, I had left certain things on when I went to step on the Great Wide Open. I had a A/B box that was switching In & Out two different amps. One amp being a Super Lead and the other being a dingy little Silvertone 1482 amp that we like to use in small closets and isolation cabs. The Silvertone has two channels, one labeled Microphone, the other Instruments. The amp's secret weapon and what gives it it's unique sound is it's cool sounding tremolo circuit. I went to step on the Great Wide Open when I heard what sounded like the most insane Robin Trower sound. At first I couldn't figure out what the hell was doing what, you have to remember I had a sea of gear laid out on the floor. The pedal's distortion along with the crushed sound of the little amp being in a iso-cab created this enormous sound. The tremolo from the amp pumped the Great Wide Open's furious sound in and out, making this monstrous breathing effects that sat perfectly through our monitors. I had the sound I wanted, and all it took was this one-knob little wonder. I can't imagine anyone not digging this pedal, not pros, bedroom rockers, or working players. It's just one of those pedals that creates a sound for everyone and every type of music. BMF Effects has landed way up on my favorite pedal companies of all time and it's all because of this little yellow box. Analog War Cry has more from this awesome company coming in the next few weeks so I suggest you keep an eye out and check out what we have coming up. Scott also has a new pedal in the works, a low to med gain overdriver called "El Jefe". We will make sure to try and bring some more news on this pedal and anything else BMF has in store. For now the name of the game is called the Great Wide Open, and oh what a tasty game it is.

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For more info on BMF Effects go to www.bmfeffects.com There is a bunch of info on where you guys can find their pedals and audio/video demos as well. Analog War Cry does have a some more killer sounding features from this stunning pedal company in the near future so please stay tuned.

Top Finds of 2009 / Son of Bee

Next up to bat is new comer Stomp Under Foot, a top quality, hand built effects pedal company with some very interesting little boxes. If you haven't heard of this talented little one-man operation.... well then it's time you did. The designer and builder of the Stomp Under Foot collection is Matt Pasquerella. Like many of the cats out in the stompbox scene Matt also came to be from a love and passion for gear. Today there is so much information one can take from the world wide web that will help them learn how to build and modify musical gear. It is those few heart driven and imaginative builders that end with the talent to create memorable, usable, and great sounding products. Matt most definitely falls into that category of builder, and boy does he have a knack for the fuzz game. Some cats dig the grit, others modulation. Matt? He's all about the fuzz, fizzy, and furry.

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Stomp Under Foot

Massachusetts

Builder: Matt Pasquerella

Years in the Game: 4

Son of Bee

Fuzz Pedal

Features:

* Works great with both lead and chord work

* Massive amounts of rich sustain

* Huge variety of tones

* Extremely responsive/sensitive to the touch

* Runs of 9V battery or 9Vdc power adapter

* Heavy-duty enclosure

* Top quality components

Controls:

* Level: Controls overall stompbox ouput

* Mids: Works to dial in/out amount of midrange bite

* Tone: Shapes frequency color of effect

* Gain: Controls fuzz amount. From gritty to massive

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Stomp Under Foot, here we go baby! The name of the pedal is the Son of Bee, and the name of game is fuzz, fuzz , and more fuzz. The Son of Bee's ability to knock out a world of different fuzz tones is stunning. We sat and were able to dial in everything from classic/vintage fuzz sounds to modern, and everything in between. The mojo of this pedal lies from it's control layout. At first look the controls don't seem like anything all that special, that is until you dig in. From left to right you'll find Level - Mids - Tone - Gain. The amount of output from the Level control alone is enough to send your amp into a wild dance of grit'n'gravel. The Gain can take the pedal from an overdrive type fuzz to an all-out storm of sonic assaults. The Tone control on this pedal I found to be very usable. I've found tone controls on other fuzz boxes to only have one, two at the most usable tone settings. On the Son of Bee you'll discover that the entire range of the Tone knob is capable of delivering a great collection of sounds. The Mids knob, this little knob is where things really got interesting for me. The Mids work to further shape the fuzz's character into whatever animal you need. The combination of the Tone and Mids together is where you'll find fuzz beasts of this world or beyond.

The first order of business was to see how many different fuzz tones we could get from the Son of Bee. We set it up at it's lowest gain setting and went from there. We broke out the mini-humbuckers and Deville amp for this first demo. I thought the mini's along with a powerful fuzz box like the SOB would make for a great combo. I set the amp to a spanking clean, with a taste of reverb for a bit of ambiance, and started with the guitar's rhythm pickup. I dialed the Son of Bee's Gain knob all the way back, set the Tone just behind noon, Mids at about 3'o'clock, and matched the pedal's output to the amp's. I reached back, struck down on a E5 power chord, and man was I stoked at the sound that came tumbling from the amp. It lived somewhere between a rich'n'lush distortion and classic rock fuzz. It was a dead-on Pete Townshend Isle of Wight guitar sound. That honking, screaming guitar tone that he played through his SG was staring at me dead in the face. What a great place to start right? I took the guitar's volume back less than a quarter and there it was... the "Young Man Blues" rock tone. The sound was that of a gritty/rich overdrive, and fat/bloomy fuzz tone. Perfect for heavier rock blues and traditional classic rock sounds. I was also able to tame the fuzz into that subtle, dying battery overdrive type sound. To get back into a straight out fuzz sound or lead tone I just rolled the guitar volume all the way back up. That's a lot of tone from one setting if you ask me. I noticed something unique when I rolled the volume back though, something that really appealed to me. You get a mellower version of the fuzz you have dialed in, only none of it's aggression or attitude goes away. It's kind of hard to explain. You still feel all of the same intensity only without as much of rumble and growl. These are my favorite types of sounds, the one's you can't explain and feel riding in your gut. Next I took the pedal's Gain up to about a quarter of the way, set the Tone and Mids both at noon, and left the Level where it was. Quickly everything became much more intense, the bite, the character, the projection, everything. I got this rounded out, warm, and fizzy undertone from the fuzz that sounded great with chords and even better as I slid into the higher frets. With chords all of the strings came through evenly and clearly. I was able to from triads to more complex chords without loss of definition, a huge plus there. Lead runs, riffs, and licks all sounded tuff as nails. Shaking the notes into a wild vibrato pushed the fuzz even further into a more exciting vibe. All the soul and signature touch of my pick attack came through beautifully through the Son of Bee. I could easily take my fretting hand and control the dynamics of the sound by digging or lightly massaging the notes. From here I began experimenting with the different combos of Mids and Tone settings. Rolling the Mids off all the way with the Gain about half way up, and Tone at noon created these great Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and early Soundgarden tones. It was that cross between distortion and fuzz tone that many cats back in the "Grunge" (boy I hate that word) days were using. Again I could easily manipulate the fuzz into warm and crunchy overdrive by shaving off some guitar tone and volume. Just for the heck of it I threw in some delay, and a volume pedal for some extra fun. The Son of Bee combined with the other pedals created a beautiful swell effect full of sustain and violin-like character. I could literally hold on to the notes as long as I wanted by turning up the SOB's gain and digging into the strings with some nice vibrato. This is something I really dug, I love me some vibrato and would say I have a pretty powerful B.B. King type style. A great sounding fuzz and a strong vibrato can take you a long way. It was time to break out the Strat and 100 watt Super Lead, and here things got a bit dangerous. I cranked the Marshall up to a steady helping of natural tube grit, fed it the Son of Bee with all it's knobs at noon, and set the Strat in it's bridge pickup. A sound that Hendrix would have drooled over came booming out from the speakers. The combination of the natural tube grit and pedal's fuzz assault created a sound so big it had the walls shaking. Everything I played through this setup sounded epic. Dive bombs moaned like wounded tigers, string slides sliced the invincible air, bends pushed and pulled magic from the pickups, and chords sat perfectly in my soul pushing and driving me to play more and more. That is the true definition of Rock & Roll my friends. For an encore we went ahead and dime'd the pedal's Gain and Mids knobs, left the Tone at noon, and pushed the Level up to about 75%. Unless you have some decent soundproofing I would not suggest you attempt this. A sound so vile and enhancing was what the pedal created when turned to an extreme level. Even at this knarly setting the Son of Bee still help it's own and sounded off like a true professional piece of gear. I couldn't find anything negative to say about this pedal. It sounded stunning, covers lots of ground, it's easy to dial in, plays well with other pedals, sounds killer through all pickups, and let's you create sounds that will inspire you. If Stomp Under Foot continues to knock-out more tone tools like these I easily see them becoming one of the elite boutique companies of the world. I am super stoked to have had the chance to bring you guys this pedal and hope you take the time to check one out. There are some new boxes on the Stomp Under Foot horizon for those of you who are curious. Matt has just released two new pedals, the Halo Bender, and the Hellephant. We will stay in touch with Stomp Under Foot and try and bring you guys some reviews on these pedals and anything else in the coming future. For now I say do some investigating of your own and if you get a chance dip into the world of the Son of Bee.

For more info on Stomp Under Foot go to www.stompunderfoot.com There are a bunch of killer pedals on the site with audio demos for you to drool over. Matt is always building killer deals and so make sure to check in with the site from time to time. We will be back with more news from Stomp Under Foot shortly. Thanks and keep rocking!