Sublime Military Spec Ordnance - A ThorpyFX Full Range Sitrep

Controls - always on!

The simplest and cutest of Thorpy pedals is this baby-sized FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared scope) Buffer pedal. It's sole purpose to fortify and maintain signal strength. It is of course an always-on pedal, best placed near the front and end of your chain to ensure an even and consistent signal - and maintaining full frequency profile throughout! I have long intended to get one of these - where I would deploy it in the rear section of my extensive pedal-chain - everyone should have one of these! Great too as a novelty paper-weight!

Controls - Theble, Sustain, Balance, Mode : Blend (Parallel Compression / Dry) / Juicy (90% Compressed / 10% Dry).

I'm obviously firmly attached to my JA Bloom compressor currently - while this Thorpy Fat General is every bit the equivalent in quality of output - with the most elegant of control topologies. These Parallel compressor types are perfect for preserving playback dynamics via dry signal path - where the compression occurs on a parallel wet signal path. You have two different playback modes in Juicy and Blend / Blended - where the latter is really where this pedal shines. It's so effortless and potent to use - select Blend Mode, and all you need to do is adjust Blend, Sustain and Treble - a really elegant take on this genre. Because I use every bit of my 3-in-1 JA Bloom - it's very unlikely that another compressor will fully unseat that - while I would love to have a Fat General for occasional rotation. Lots of players swear by this compressor! And there are few that are as elegant and effortless to deploy!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Boost / Boost+ Left Footswitch, Effect Engage Right Footswitch, Internal True Bypass / Buffer switch.

Super component selection here as always - including a particularly articulate Burr-Brown opamp. This is a superb utility pedal - combining two boosts essentially, an onboard Buffer and EQ. At one stage I though it could replace my JA Prism in the chain (I also tried the Chase Bliss Condor) - but this renders quite different texture and tonality - it's highly articulate and superb for fine-tuning your signal and deployment as a balancing EQ. The one thing it doesn't do is that soft and gooey analog preamp timbre / output - it's rather more surgically precise than that. A super tool for signal enhancement and optimisation overall - and yes you can deploy it as a sort of low to mid-gain overdrive too - while it's forte is chiefly in frequency profile enhancement.

Controls - Left Boost Level, Left Boost Lows, Right Boost Level, Right Boost Lows, Left Germanium Boost Engage Footswitch, Right 'Dane' / Linear Boost Engage.

Still my favourite texturising boost - where the Germanium diodes site is pretty much permanently applied. I do use the smooth Dane-style Linear Boost too, and occasionally combine both sites as a sort of germanium-style overdrive. For me this really excels at delivering extra harmonics and timbre / texture at relatively low output volumes. It really enhances the tonality of my fuzzes and overdrives and makes everything sound much richer and more full-frequency. It's a current essential and irreplaceable part of my pedal-chain - and has been permanently deployed since launch! Just a really smart 3-in-1 boost - again superbly calibrated by Thorpy and use exceptionally useful for my rig. This does everything it needs to do and does such in so elegant a fashion - just 4 knobs give you an incredible range of tones.

Controls - Gain, Treble, Volume, Presence, Bass.

For sure my favourite Low Gain Overdrive pedal and one that I deploy frequently as a soft pseudo-Klone! It really has an amazing range of tones via those 5 dials, and while it can be a little bit of an effort to extract my favourite soft overdrive tones - involving minute adjustments of controls - there's not doubt that the output is extraordinary. As mentioned - I deploy this mostly as a 'Soft Klone' while it's capable of a lot more. It's often highly coincidental on how I land on my favourite tones / settings on a pedal - and it's not always the intended usage profile for such a pedal - where I often deploy high gain pedals as lower gain variants and vice versa. Here I landed on a really smooth and warm timbre and tonality in quite a serendipitous manner - and that's where the dials remain pointed on most occasions. I have often questioned the use of Presence, Treble and Bass verse Treble, Middle and Bass - but it for sure works superbly here. Thorpy really is a genius at selecting just the right sort of controls you need for maximum versatility and impact.

Controls - DRIVE } Volume, Drive, Tone; BOOST } Boost, Lows, Left Drive Footswitch, Right Boost Footswitch.

I have always favoured compact format overdrive pedals, and so when this was originally released for whatever reason I wasn't overly enamoured with the larger form factor. However, and as always there is a meticulous method in Thorpy's approach here - and the Drive side is superbly derived from the Peacekeeper - but with sightly different and fewer controls and a subtly different core / default profile. Where the secret sauce here really is the sublime smooth linear Boost that Thorpy marries to the main drive circuit. This same boost is the right-hand side of the Heavy Water, and I often refer to the combination of Peacekeeper and Heavy Water as the 'Turbo Dane' - while there are some subtle differences. I realise no Thorpy collection is complete without The Dane - while it will always likely play second fiddle to my Heavy Water + Peacekeeper combination and my new favourite Scarlet Tunic!

Controls - Master, Presence (Amp Voicing : Hiwatt / Selmer / Vox), Gain, Bass, Deep : 1 / 0 / 2, Bright : 1 / 0 / 2, Sens : 1 / 0 / 2, Treble.

My new favourite Thorpy Overdrive - this is just instantly appealing and so lively and dynamic in use that it can't but help put a smile on your face when you deploy it. Covering off Selmer, Hiwatt and Vox preamp territories - this Analog Amp Emulator is just superb. You often hear mention of a pedal being amp-like - and this has it all - with just the most incredible responsiveness and dynamics - volume clean-up and under-the-finger feel! The ability to rapidly upscale and sweep the core voicing is simply inspirational. I am always intrigued to see which controls Adrian decides to go for on each pedal, and how powerful those are in smartly accentuating all the appropriate core parts of the frequency profile. Everything about this overdrive just seems inspired - down to those three 3-way toggle-switches. Every control effects the most magnificent of changes in an entirely predictable, even and reliable manner. This is every bit a professional journeyman tone-machine - precisely and masterfully honed to its purpose!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone, Calibre.

This was my very first Thorpy overdrive and remains one of my favourite MIAB types. It is also the first time I encountered Thorpy's superb 'Calibre' control - a sort of texture and voicing control and somewhat adjacent to a bias control - here adding thickness and girth to the core voicing as you dial it up. You could also call this a 'Texture' control really - and it's very interactive with the Gain control - such that you can use each to temper the other - depending what level of gain you are going for. Thorpy says this MIAB leans more into JCM800 territory - where The Bunker is more Plexi - while I actually deploy these exacly the other way around. For me this is capable of a softer and warner output than The Bunker - and I typically use this more for a Plexi style output, and deploy The Bunker as a somewhat sharper, hairier, and more aggressive JCM800 type. It takes a very short time to fully figure out the interplay between Gain and Calibre - where once you get the knack of it - then the Calibre becomes one of your favourite knobs ever - perfectly applied here on the Gunshot as well as the Warthog.

Controls - Volume, Drive, Texture, Tone, Mode - High-End Focus / Neutral / Low-End Focus, Bypass Footswitch, Sauce / Tone Bypass Footswitch.

As just mentioned - I rather see this is my preferred JCM800 deployment as it's somewhat sharper and buzzier to my ears than the Gunshot. This of course very much depends on where you set the Texture / Inttermodulation control - which was the key control for the original Brown Source inspiration - no doubt derived from EVH's Brown Sound moniker. I tend to have the Texture dial deployed for maximum breakup texture - while conventionally that was more of a tempering control - and where the pedal was rather deployed into an already somewhat distorting amp. I obviously deploy more of a clean pedal platform approach - so I rely on more aggression coming from the pedal. At those settings this indeed feels and sounds more like a JCM800 to my ears! Generally the Gunshot has a wider gain range, and is able to go much lower gain - while The Bunker can have a much sharper and more aggressive profile! This is of course one of several Dan 'Lovetone' Coggings collaborations - before he joined forces with Thorpy!

Controls - Level / Attack / Feed / Mode : 3 Transistors / 2 Transistors, Tone, Tone Bypass Footswitch, Engage Fuzz Footswitch.

And so to probably my favourite Germanium Fuzz - the superb Boneyard Multi-Bender - which genuinely can replicate all the key Tone Bender types. I've seen some odd demos of this pedal where it's been totally incorrectly dialled in - while if you follow my above crib-sheet you really can touch on every part that makes a Tone Bender supreme. Including of course the most difficult to achieve - MKI Tone Bender variety. Thorpy has really done a superb job here - selecting just the right transistors that can give you that wide range, and exactly the controls you need to get you there. There is some delicacy involved here - and you really need to tune the pedal in with your ears - where tiny micro-movements are needed to hit each sweet-spot at its sweetest. This really is every Tone Bender you need in one elegant enclosure.

Controls - Boost (Level), Range, Smooth (Impedance), Fuzz, Volume, Bias, Boost Footswitch, Fuzz Footswitch.

A really cool take on a Fuzz Face plus Boost - Silicon variety. Again just the perfect combination of controls here for maximum impact. The Boost plus Range controls deliver prime RangeMaster Treble Booster territory which is just the perfect complement for the Fuzz Face circuit. The original Germanium limited edition Veteran ran on AC128 Transistors, while the standard Silicon Veteran runs of 2N3904 varieties. 2N3904 and BC183 Silicon Transistors are considered to give you the most 'Germanium-like' Type III profile - with more warmth and slightly less aggression than the typical Type II BC108/BC109 varieties. The Formula B Fuzz Rangers is a somewhat more compact version of this - while the Veteran delivers more granularity and range. I love them both - and of course the larger Veteran with more controls is somewhat wider-ranging.

Controls - Volume, Sustain, Treble, Bass.

I've long said that the Triangle varieties of Big Muff are my overall genre favourites. And I have a few pedals right at the top of that tree - including this Fallout Cloud (previously Muffroom Cloud). My favourites also include the Basic Audio Tri/Ram 5K, BTMP Triangle Fuzz, Modded EHX Triangle Big Muff Pi Compact, JAM Pedals Red Muck Fuzz, Skreddy Mayonaise II, Stomp Under Foot Red Menace, and VFE Fiery Red Horse Fuzz - to name but a few! The Thorpy Fallout Cloud really benefits from the added granularity of separate Treble and Bass controls - which are married to an extensive Gain profile - which really helps take you to places where few other Triangle fuzzes can venture. I believe over Thorpy's whole history - this pedal has garnered the most accolades. If you only ever get one Big Muff type fuzz then this will do the job exceptionally!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone, Calibre.

The Warthog is very much Thorpy's take on the ProCo Rat - benefiting here from the same sort of Calibre Texture control as featured on the Gunshot. The Calibre of course helps you impart more flavour lower down the Gain scale, and temper the output at its extremes. The end result is that this 4-knob Rat delivers you into areas far beyond the typical example of that kind. Lots of people use this as a general all-rounder overdrive / distortion - so vast is its range. While of course purveyors of Rat distortion tones can get some serious extra sauce here. It's amazing what one smart extra control can do here - but that is very much part of the ThorpyFX MO!

Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Tone, Balance (Cheese Leve), Mode : Gated / Flat Mids / Enhanced Mids, Bypass Fooswitch, Cheese / Tone Bypass Footswitch.

Of course based on the Lovetone Big Cheese circuit - this is actually a really surprising everyday all-rounder fuzz. It makes the JHS Cheese Ball sound anaemic in comparison - where the Field Marshal has far more potency and range. Thorpy and Dan Coggins have modernised the Big Cheese and imbued it with more flavour and a far greater output profile. So you can match the original with ease, but then push past that significantly in every direction. The different Modes here are largely what make this pedal so versatile - and the Tone control works really rather exceptionally here too - as does the 'Cheese' Tone Bypass - and Balance Level - which really acts as a sort of boost really. So the end result here is just a superb wide-ranging fuzz with all manner of different applications. It also really rounds out Thorpy's Fuzz offering which has incredible coverage via these 5 pedals - pretty much with a representative for near enough each of the classic fuzzes - bar octavia! We have the Sub-Octave Redbeard Honey Badger, but I'm not aware that Thorpy has done an upper octave fuzz yet!

Controls - Volume, Depth, Treble, Blend, Rate.

This was actually the first of Thorpy's Analog Modulations to be released - while the last that I personally acquired. I did have some hangups about pedal enclosure sizes for a while - and considering there were so many superb compact edition choruses - I aways thought that the larger form factor would be some sort of encumbrance. However there is no denying the Deep Oggin's superior output - and it is far superior to the other medium box Chorus I own - TC Electronic's Stereo SCF+. The Deep Oggin has a wonderful aquatic shimmer to its modulation and is the very epitome of the perfect classic Chorus. Just one of the very best sounding Choruses out there and with really elegant and easy to apply controls. The embodiment of modulation elegance!

Controls - Harmonics, Treble, Blend | Manual (Delay Time), Depth | Rate.

I've waxed lyrical about this pedal since its first release. In my opinion still the very best vintage type Flanger you can get your hands on. When I wrote my review I said that Thorpy had mastered the Mistress High Frequency Sparkle - and I still stand by that. This totally delivers on those original Electric Mistress tones in the most elegant of ways. The combination of those 6 controls just produce the most wonderfully nuanced flanging - in proper hi-fidelity. The PastFX Reticon Flanger is also exceptional - while based on a different chip-set type. If you want something to come as close as possible to an original EHX Electric Mistress - then indeed this is the droid you are looking for!

Controls - Enhance / Resonance, Manual (Phase Shift), Depth, Blend, Mode : Bi-Directional / Dual Phase, Type : Inverted Phase / HPF Tremolo / Additive Phase, Rate.

The Pulse Doppler is a modern take on the Lovetone Doppelgänger in a comparatively much more streamlined enclosure with fewer but smarter controls. It's fairly unique as a phaser in being able to deliver a pulsating tremolo too. In fact its combination of Modes and Types takes you into territories that no other analog phaser can. For sure this is the King of the Analog Phasers as far as I'm concerned and is the most capable 4-Stage Analog Phaser there ever was. It's palette of flavours and textures is simply incredible here - and it does all the classic stuff with aplomb as well as cool bubbly, burbly and shimmery effects. It's also far easier to deploy than some of the reviewers would have you believe - It took me no time at all to figure out what impact each control has - and the different textures you can achieve via the two toggle-switches. Thorpy and Dan have really done a superb job on this - and as with all these Thorpy pedals the combination and impact of the controls is superb.