Alexander Pedals Delivers The Superbly Executed Stereo Sugarcube - Chorus, Vibrato and Rotary Pedal

I have three Alexander Pedals to my name thus far - the now discontinued but still excellent La Calavera Phaser, the Hot Pink Drive, and Jubilee Silver Overdrive. I have always said that I really should have more of these creative and innovative pedals in my collection. Yet the latter half of my rig is all stereo, and up until now Alexander Pedals have been entirely Mono in output.

So I take great delight in the fact that this is Alenxander’s first Stereo output Neo Series pedal - even though it is via TRS Y-Splitter Cable - while I utilised similar arrangement for my Tech 21 NYC RotoChoir at the time. I have a number of TRS Y-Splitter Cables now - so this pedal is very easily accommodate in my lineup.

I’ve actually been actively seeking another Compact Stereo Rotary pedal - which are generally in very short supply. In fact the only one I know about is the DigiTech Ventura Vibe - which I have and quite like, while it’s not quite syrupy enough for my own preferences. I’ve very recently taken delivery of a JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk - and that has just the flavour of gooey syrupy modulation that I like. So hopefully this Alexander Sugarcube can get into similar territory!

As a Neo Series pedal this has all the smart controls associated with that range - including 4 onboard presets, MIDI control, USB Update Port, Alternative / Secondary Parameters, Expression control, Ramping Footswitch, Parameters Neo Morph and the like.

The 4 controls (and secondary parameters) are - Rate (Stereo), Depth (Ramp Rate), Mix (Volume), and Tweak (Clock Rate). While the 4 Effects Modes are as follows :

• Chorus - Classically voiced Chorus where the Tweak Control adds in an additional voice to Thicken and Widen the effect. Obviously the Mix control is also key here to Texture
• Dimension - The Classic Boss Effect with Two Opposing Delay Lines coming together for that killer Prince tone! Here the Tweak control adds in Feedback control for more flange-like chorus tones.
• Rotary - This is a somewhat simplified but really smart execution of the typically quite complex Horn and Drum Leslie Rotary Speaker Effect. Here Depth controls Mic Distance, Tweak is Horn Balance, and Ramp Rate is also a critical parameter control for this effect.
• Ice - Essentially a Chorus with a Crystalline Pitch-Shifter on top. Ice mode is really a two-voice Chorus effect that is mixed with a selectable pitch shift. The Tweak knob is the all-important control here - and determines Octave Down, Unison Detune, Perfect Fifth, or Octave Up settings.

Alexander Pedals really cram in the goods and added smarts into their compact Neo Series editions - and this looks like one of the most appealing executions. This definitely goes straight on my wishlist - and I will look to incorporate it in some rotational fashion within my chain a little later in the year.

The pedal is priced at the regular $199 level, and the first batch is already sold out! Further batches will be with dealers soon enough though. It is also available in a Saccharine Pink edition via the Rock’N’Roll Vintage Webstore.

Are you as excited about this new pedal as I?

Once again SpiralCaster Cohen Hartman and Devon Blue Whitaker in particular come up with the goods on the Demo front :