2022 August Pedal-Chain Update - Episode VIII - Summer Flange Fling

All excellent additions to the reference collection and all sound great - where the only niggle is how the Broker's Screamer Channel has vastly less output that the Blues Breaker Channel  - the disparity is really very noticeable :

• Drunk Beaver Trainer TS-100 Preamp
• Matthews Effects the Broker Duality Overdrive
• MI Audio Super Blues Pro Overdrive
• Snouse Electric Co BlackBox 2 Stage Pro Arctic Black (White!) Gold Hardware Edition - #8 of 40

I had one left to get from my Unsung Boss Gain Pedals selection (per above visual) - which was the Adaptive Distortion - which is a pretty cool sustaining distortion - but it really doesn't play well with other pedals - including modulations - so it's of somewhat limited use. Interesting texture and again different to the usual core Boss flavours - has a touch of a feel of Muff with the long-tail sustain - but it's not exactly that though - and is not as good or as much fun as the PW-2 which is actually a very decent Boss muff-sound-alike - albeit I'm not sure that was entirely intentional. I would say the DA-2 is for Boss completists only! I think I have most of Boss's gain pedals now - still a handful remaining - next on the list for me will likely be a pristine HM-3, and and OD-3 at last - which I've been meaning to get in - but it's not happened yet!

• Boss DA-2 Adaptive Distortion

I had been meaning to get Anasounds FX Teacher Feed Me MK3 - so it made sense to get it at the same time as my Collector's Edition Full Story Modular Muff. Other fuzzes of interest this month include the V2 Compact Edition of Black Mass' First Herald Extended Range Ram's Head, the Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium Edition, and the excellent Fjord Fuzz Uni-Vibe Preamp powered Freia Uni-Fuzz!

• Anasounds Feed Me MK3 Fuzz
• Anasounds Full Story 7-Card Modular Dual Channel Modular Multi-Muff Fuzz / Distortion
• Black Mass Electronics The First Herald V2 '73 Ram's Head Fuzz
• Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium Edition
• Fjord Fuzz Freia Fuzz

Here we have the other end of the Freia Uni-Fuzz - both share the same warm and vibrant Uni-Vibe style Preamp. Also the superb Bright and Sparkly PastFX Elastic Mattress Flanger, and Thick and Greasy Hot for Flanger (based on the MXR M117).

• Fjord Fuzz Frei Vibe
• PastFX Elastic Mattress Flanger
• PastFX Hot for Flanger MXR117 Style

In advance of my landing my OBNE Float Dual Filter - I felt I should have both Limited Edition Expression Ramps and Slider to match - so I ordered them in advance. I already have a Screen Violence edition of Ramper and a Stanard White Slider :

• OBNE Expression Ramper - Float Edition
• OBNE Expression Slider - Float Edition

So there are 13 Updated slots for August - Numbers #5, #10, #12, #15a, #15b, #15c, #19, #21, #23, #24, #30, #31, and #32.

The usual complement of Fuzzes and Overdrives - some from last month, mostly new though - including the cool Ford Fuzz Uni-Vibe Preamp Pair, a preview of the Decibelics The Reverend, and of course those 3 magnificent PastFX Flangers.

I had hoped that the Meris LVX would have landed by now - but there is still no whiff of it - surely it has to be soon as it's currently heading for 3 month overdue - but then again it's an extremely complicated pedal - so for sure there will be a lot of fine-tuning to do - in among all those ongoing parts supply issues too.

Really potent gain section this month and a fairly unusual Modulation Trifecta for those to be all in the chain at the same time - each one is distinctly different!

Here follows the breakdown of the new runners and riders.

Readers should know that I like collecting pedals in matched pairs - so it was a no-brainer that I got in the Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium Edition to complement its former 2016 Silicon sibling. It's an improvement every which way for me - particularly in Modern mode - it delivers a much more elegant warmer and beefier harmonic texture - just sounds superb - and is the perfect partner to the spikier and punkier nature of its predecessor. They're easily sufficiently different to warrant owning both. Both sound super - while the Germanium Edition is a touch more my sort of thing. I like my fuzzes to be full frequency and bassy - and this one is perfectly balanced - also has really decent volume which I properly approve of - a great fuzz for sure! I should probably to a feature soon on my favourite pedal pairs - I seem to have amassed quite a number by now. Possibly also time is due on another article on pedal Trifectas - there are for sure several more of those since I composed my one solitary article on that subject some years ago!

The Heather Brown Sensation Fuzzdrive is one that I was unable to fit in and feature last month - as so much landed in July. I think I would have preferred the 3-position rotary to be a fully variable pot as even on the lowest setting on lowest gain - it's still pretty potent, Would have been nice to have a fully variable pot - or even one more lower gain notch. In any case it sounds superb - beautifully textured and the 3 x 3-way switches work brilliantly. So far I've mostly been playing with notch one on the Rotary - that is already pretty formidable - and you have a glorious thick harmonic texture - just how I like it!

I have 3 killer harmonic fuzzy-drive overdrives in the chain - all in a row - the Heather Brown Sensation, the Hamstead Subspace Ge (rapidly shaping up to becoming my favourite overdrive), and this also superb OKKO FX Holy Grit - which is rather more a Fuzzy Drive than Fuzz - it's 5 front-facing controls give you all manner of variations on the fuzzy drive theme - it never really becomes a full out and out fuzz for me as such - but it's certainly a champion Fuzzy-Drive. Each of the Sensation, Subspace and Holy Grit have something of a different core character - with the Subspace overall the most versatile and most singing, the Sensation the most gritty, and the Holy Grit sort of sitting in between the two in some ways - while it goes much lower on the gain scale than the Sensation. I'm really loving having these 3 all deployed in a row - and all will get regular rotation - while the Subspace is the most obviously long-termer!

I've already waxed lyrical about the two recent Fjord Fuzz Pedals - the perfect Frei and Freia paring of two pedals derived from the same Uni-Vibe Preamp - obviously the Frei is a full-on analog photocell Uni-Vibe - while the Freia is a beautifully matched warm, smooth and sustaining fuzz. They sounds glorious together - where the preference combination is Uni-Vibe into Uni-Fuzz rather than the other way around - you get the most sublime modulated fuzz output!

As everyone seems to be featuring this apart from me - who was actually involved in the project - I thought I should at least share one of the early demos - which represents this pedal superbly. Guillem and I have been involved in this project since April 2018 - the full details and official launch date / orders coming very soon!

I'm delighted to complete my Black Mass Electronics Trifecta of 1312 Distortion, Missionary Fuzz, and now The First Herald V2 Ram's Head Extended Range Muff with Boost. I was even considering the First Herald in its former larger BB-size enclosure as I do make concessions for extended-range Muff pedals of that nature. While of course I much prefer the compact enclosure format - so this is a must have for me. Needs to be deployed with its Boost applied for me to get the output range I like - while this replicates exactly the larger edition - it's the exact same circuit just squeezed into a smaller box. The most noticeable thing that seems to be missing is the Order Toggle switch - but that is now to be found on the left-hand side of the pedal as a slider switch. I should really do a roundup of these extended range compact big muffs as I feel I've already got enough for and extensive rundown.

Both Vitalii Bobrov's Drunk Beaver Trainer Preamps are great - each based on the equivalent solid state combo - where the 8" speaker TS-15 is more midsy and punchy to reflect that smaller cabinet. While the TS-100 had full size 12" speakers with relatively sizeable cabinet - giving it a lot more heft and bottom end - so beefier in short. Also with a wider range of gain and tone-shaping - while the TS-15 captures exactly that low-to-mid gain small speaker sound. So I deploy them at quite different levels of gain and with slightly different EQ profiles. For the TS-100 I like it pretty full-throttle and massive sounding - with all that low-end heft it's so capable of. I also prefer this pedal with the boost pretty much permanently applied - you seem to get a more 3D sound that way!

I've said enough about this pedal really - one of the best Blues Breakers of all time - and in its most appealing format in this very particular edition. I feel very lucky to own one of these White with Gold Hardware ones - I've wanted it for a while - and wasn't sure I would ever get my hands on one!

I've probably said enough about this one too - great functionality on how you switch over the order. Blues Breaker side sounds brilliant - but this pedal is slightly marred by the fact that the Tube Screamer side has a somewhat feeble output - I for sure need more volume there. Both channels work well in combination - it's just when the Tube Screamer is on its own that it's not fully usable for me unless I apply the Strymon Sunset too (Treble Booster Voicing). There's much to love about this pedal - but I'm scoring is as slightly flawed for my preferences!

Along with the ThorpyFX Camoflange - this Trio / Trifecta are certainly my favourites to date. I have described the Reticon as Bold and Searing - and with its 7 controls it's the more versatile of these three - and with the Level, Treble and Blend raised you can get a laser-like beam out of this device that cuts though any mix.

The cleverly punned Elastic Mattress delivers exactly that Bright and Sparkly shimmer so beloved from the earliest EHX flangers. If you want a more elegant and light-touch flanger then this variety is perfect - it has quiet a different sort of brightness to the Reticon - here it's a much lighter touch typically - while the Reticon can get much more cutting if you want it to.

This is based on the original 70's edition of MXR M117 rather than the later EVH signature editions. Of course this was the version that EVH used at his prime supposedly and has that amazing thick and greasy texture - again quite different to the Reticon or Elastic Mattress. And even though the Clock Capacitance Timing Switch is named 'Waldo' it as nothing to do with EVH's signature 'Unchained' flange sound - it just delivers a sharper / more accentuate modulation - almost like the EQ has been bumped up a touch while the stock mode delivers a somewhat fuller lower register. Each of these tree is magnificent - it's distinct and properly versatile within its core character and tone profile. My only issue with my Hot for Flanger prototype was a lack of a Level control - which Verlie has since added - and that will very much be part of the production release which is due within the next couple of weeks or so.