Crazy Tube Circuits has Released 3 Killer Pedals This Year Including the Brand New Magnatone-Inspired Killer V Vibra-Drive
It seems like Crazy Tube Circuits have saved the best to last this year with a pretty special rendition of the 1962 Magnatone Custom 460 Vibrato amplifier. In essence pairing a dynamic JFET gain stage with a dual phase shift modulation - which really captures and takes you into those sort of vintage harmonic tremolo / whirling phaser / vibe sounds.
You get 8 controls on the pedal:
Volume (Gain) | Master Output | Depth | B/N/M Bright/Normal/Mellow | Wet/Dry-Wet | Bass | Treble | Speed
And dual footswitches where the Bypass activates the Gain Stage, and the Vibrato adds the Vibrato on top - you alas cannot deploy the Vibrato independently of the Drive - albeit you can dial the Gain of the drive down courtesy of the Volume knob.
The Killer V pedal also has an internal Gain Mode Switch for selecting between Normal or Modified (More Gain) Modes.
This is just a fantastic pedal all-round in concept and execution and seems to have that perfect balance of features and tonality, and all in my favourite dual-footswitch compact format enclosure style.
I’ve long been a fan of Crazy Tube Circuits, and should really have more of these pedals in my collection - I obviously love my Constellation and Starlight Fuzzes and will most definitely be acquiring this Killer V (€185/£175) sometime in early 2020 - this is a really unique and special drive pedal at a very reasonable price.
Crazy Tube Circuits Cyclone 4-Mode Tap-Tempo Analog Phaser - €189/£179
I've already featured this fantastic new 4-Classic-Mode Phaser in a separate 4-way article on analog tap-tempo phasers. Where I indicated that this would very likely be one of the next two phasers I add to my collection along with the MXR Phase 99 - oh and I may still get a Spaceman Explorer at some later stage.
The Cyclone is just a really smart simple take on the format - with my preferred dual-footswitches and 4 elegant controls - Mix | Feedback | Depth | Speed
As well as most players' favourite vintage phaser types:
- 45 (MXR Phase 45 2 Stage Phaser)
- 90 (MXR Phase 90 4 Stage Phaser)
- ST (EHX Small Stone 4 Stage Phaser)
- LT (Lovetone Doppelgänger Dual LFO Phaser)
It's another great example of CTC's knack for finding the best mix of features and format - I feel there should be plenty who will love this,
Crazy Tube Circuits Limelight Maestro and Tone Bender Inspired Fuzz - €189/£179
I kind of slept on this one I'm sorry to report - when it appeared shortly before this year's Winter NAMM event. I'm obviously quite inundated with Fuzz pedals on pretty much a daily basis as it's a fairly major hobby of mine. The Limelight Fuzz is one of those that alas slipped through the net - but which I will try to make amends on early next year.
The Limelight is Crazy Tube Circuits' take on the very first fuzz circuits - the American Gibson Maestro, and the early British Tone Benders inspired by it. Unlike those early versions though this Fuzz benefits from a third 'Beam' knob which is a sort of Bias / Voicing dial which takes you from Gated tones CCW to more full-bodied Saturating tones when dialled CW. There's a good deal of versatility on offer here - as expertly demonstrated by two of my favourite Fuzz demo masters - RJ Ronquillo and Alberto Barrero :
