Interchange Noise Works Introduces its Streamline Series of One-Knob Overdrive and Distortion Pedals
As something of a departure to the original and mainstay wood-facia series, JJ of Interchange Noise Works has introduced 3 x simple one-knob pedals - simply marked I, II and III. These are very minimalist looking enclosures in white, with white LED - and with the minimum of marks and labels.
In each case there is a single footswitch, and single knob - which is of the Master Volume type - raising both volume and gain as you crank it up. These gain pedals have been designed to work very well with your guitar controls - so you can temper volume and gain with the Guitar Volume knob, and also impact EQ via diligent use of the Guitar Tone knob. Each pedal is priced at a very reasonable $94.99 and available for order from the Interchange Webstore.
Type I - $94.99
The first overdrive is a Gritty Mid-Gain Overdrive with somewhat fuzzy overtones - and in fact a little like those earliest / primitive transistor overdrives. Cranking up the dial yields more gain and texture - which at a peak starts to approximate that sort of blown speaker timbre.
Type II - $94.99
Type II is the milder Low-Gain overdrive - still with an interesting breakup texture, but somewhat tempered and smoothed out vs the edgier Type I. Raising the single knob yields more gain and volume - while even at its peak - this is still somewhat comparatively restrained.
Type III - $94.99
The third variant ups things further into Distortion and more obvious Fuzz-like territory, particularly when cranked. A quite distinctive slightly raspy distortion - which gets increasing fuzzy too on further saturation. Here it's the break-up of the low-end signal which delivers most of the fuzzy overtones - so dialling in more Bass via your Guitar controls will result in more Fuzz!
Demo
Final Thoughts
When looking at these I seem to imagine them as a sort of sampling platter for different tones and textures - much as you get with any product with a range of complementary scents, flavours and textures. There is still something of a family feel here as these all seem derived from an associative circuit family - which means certain similarity in overarching textures and tonalities.
I typically prefer more tone controls myself - but there is a certain joy too in deploying such simple pedals - the idea is you can focus much more on just the core tonality and your style of playing in how you react and interact with that. This is distilled down to absolute essence - so you can get up and running pretty much instantly - no further actions or considerations are necessary.
Each of these has an interesting character - while they may not necessarily universally appeal to all. I've acquired a full set of these as I really like the symmetry of thought here. And of course I find each of those textures sufficiently interesting to warrant inclusion in the collection.
I'm not saying you necessarily need all 3 like me - but it certainly broadens the experience somewhat - like a Michelin Star Restaurant Tasting Menu. I find them slightly reminiscent of JHS's 3 Series - in that same minimalist white treatment. While all those are really clone circuits largely, where the three on offer here are rather more distinct and unique.
How do you like the look of these? And are any of you tempted by any or all 3 of these like me?
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