So a number of readers had asked me to check out the NUX ’63 Diamond to see how it compared with my other favourites on the Brian May / Voxy slot. I of course decided to do a proper twofer feature - where I checked out the NUX Plexi Crunch as well. Both of those got a decent run in my pedal chain before I formulated my lasting impressions.
First impressions in terms of quality of manufacture and finish is very good - and I love how the Footswitches are slightly recessed into the enclosure -...
Devin Townsend’s signature Ocean Machine Ambience Workstation first materialised back in 2017. It was packed with features even then - with much the same format and layout as the new one - while the black knobs onto royal blue enclosure made it look a little congested and complicated and somewhat dark and confusing in appearance. The updated look has improved the pedal 100% - helping you to separate out and easily navigate the different sections of the device. The new look and feel really looks...
I had become aware of Fjord Fuzz really in mid to late 2018 onwards - it took me a little while to tune into the brand - in terms of its constant prototyping and iteration - and at the time where the only official retailer for that brand was based in Sweden. It wasn’t until 2019 that I was able to get hold of my first Fjord Fuzz Pedal - where I picked up the early version of the Bifrost Fuzz-Delay on UK Reverb.com - where a UK pedal builder had either bought or exchanged a pedal with Daniel, ...
Readers of this site will know that I’ve long admired the extraordinary sound-design talents of Cohen Hartman - who’s best known through his SpiralCaster Plays Pedals YouTube Channel. In my opinion he is one of the very finest pedal demo artists there ever was. He has a way of teasing out some truly unique tones and textures from most pedals - and taking them places where others just don’t or can’t seem to venture.
He did a slew of particularly brilliant demos in the lead up to my February ...
So I’m not always the biggest fan of Signature pedals - as often they’re simply a re-badged version of a standard pedal - like say the EHX J Mascis Big Muff or EHX Andy Summers Walking on the Moon Flanger - with little or no direct artist input for that actual circuit. At other times they’re too specific in their scope - like say Jack White’s MXR Double Down or Paul Gilbert’s JHS PG-14 examples. And sometimes they’re out-and-out cash-ins - usually priced a little higher and made available in ...
For us proper Fjord Fuzz pedal fans - that have been there since the early days, what attracted us first to the brand - apart from the original striking Copper and Black Enclosures - were those raw and full-fat properly unfettered and wholly unlimited and unrestricted saturated fuzz sounds.
The Måne is a joyride in pedal format - where you most definitely need an expression pedal - it’s an incomplete experience without one of those.
The controls are very simple here :
FUZZ SIDE } ...
So we’ve already had a Tube Preamp from Drunk Beaver before - the Ternopil from Pedal Drop #20 - that one was more of a tone-enhancer - added warmth and sparkle kind of thing - using a fairly unique Ukrainian 6Ж45Б-В Pentode Tube.
The Lutsk Deluxe Preamp is more typical fare in many ways - based that classic 5E3 Tweed Generation of Fender Amps. At its basic level it’s a reproduction of the Tweed Deluxe preamp section (Single Channel), while of course with Vitalii’s usual tweaks in effect. ...
I already teased this review in my recent Compact Rat Distortions rundown - where I stated that I much preferred the Alternative Rat setting - with the SD-1 Tone Stack. Often the distinction can be fairly subtle, but overall the SD + RT output profile is more punchy and articulate.
That said - that Rat setting is only my 3rd favourite voicing here overall - where the big surprise for me is the RT Tone Stack with the SD Clipping. That turns out to be a little like the TS808 with the ODR-1 ...
I would like to start my apologising that I got the previous One Knob Phaser article wrong - as I momentarily lapsed into thinking that the EHX Small Stone was a 2-Stage variant, where it’s rather the very first of the 4-Stage varieties. I’m so used to associating 4-Stages with the MXR Phase 90 - that it has always been my key benchmark, and until recently I’ve not been entirely clear on EHX’s illustrious phaser history - which I am now!
I still find it somewhat infuriating that you’re not ...
NOTE! - I made a mistake here - the EHX Small Stone is a 4-stage type - will need to re-do this article. Looks like I now have enough for a One-Knob 4-stage rundown - but so far can only find 3 One-Knob 2-Stage types - do let me know if you discover a worthy 4th!
I was originally going to focus on the Phase 90 4-Stage types, but could not find enough for a significant full house - while there seemed to be a lot more of the 2-Stage variety - which is what this selection consists of.
All ...