NAMM 2017: Earthquaker Devices
A new delay and some upgrades from the prolific pedals producers
Known for their sheer volume of new pedal releases, Earthquaker Devices have announced 6 brand new models at NAMM 2017.
Space Spiral
The Space Spiral is an analog-voiced digital delay pedal with a variable waveshape LFO hitting the repeated signal for a world of warm modulated echo tones. Perfect for those who want vintage warble with digital control. With 30ms – 600ms of delay time and a variable waveshape LFO, the Space Spiral is designed to create dark and dreamy delay sound.
Levitation V2
The Levitation V2 is a natural upgrade of the first version of Earthquaker's psych rock reverb. Its vintage-voiced algorithm offers lo-fi sixties verbs, splashy springs and huge reverberating plates. The V2 includes upgraded op-amps for better performance and lower noise, a true bypass circuit, silent soft-touch switching and top-mounted jacks.
Organizer V2
Organ emulators for guitar have become all the rage in the last few years and Earthquaker's The Organizer V2 is the cream of the crop. Capable of generating two octaves up and two down, the Organizer has a warm feel, with a hint of Leslie warble not found on other organ sims.
Hoof and Cloven Hoof V2
Two of Earthquaker's most famous fuzz pedals also receive an upgrade this year. The Hoof V2 is based on a classic green Russian fuzz and is built around a blend of silicon and germanium transistors. The Cloven Hoof starts with a similar template but adds copious amounts of gain for a gnarly fuzz with tone mashing capabilities.
Bit Commander V2
One of Earthquaker's most well know pedals, the Bit Commander is a monophonic guitar synth that offers four octaves of crazy square wave tones. The V2 offers analogue dry-through, top mounted jacks and silent soft-touch switching.
NAMM 2017: Dunlop, MXR and Way Huge
Jim Dunlop have been rather busy!
Jim Dunlop have announced a whole host of new pedals under their Dunlop, MXR and Way Huge brands.
MXR return to the well, with some new iterations of classic pedals, including the Dyna Comp Mini, a smaller version of the classic compressor with an added attack speed switch, six and ten-band EQ pedals and the Sub Octave Bass Fuzz, which offers two switchable fuzz tones and a sub octave mode. Rounding out the MXR lineup is the Il Diavolo Overdrive, a brand new hot-rodded designed in collaboration with Italian pedal designer Carlo Sorasio.
New to the Dunlop brand five new Hendrix models. The classic Fuzz Face, Univibe and Octavio Fuzz are joined by the Gypsy Fuzz and a Mini version of Hendrix's signature Cry Baby Wah. All of the pedals (minus the Cry Baby) feature art from rock artist Gered Mankowitz.
Way Huge complete the Jim Dunlop lineup for 2017 with two new fuzz pedals, the Conquistador and Russian Pickle, giving players two new go-to noisemakers.
NAMM 2017: Victory Amplification V40 Deluxe and V130 Super Countess
Victory's new models are natural evolutions of their award-winning amplifiers.
Victory Amplification have announced two new models for NAMM 2017, the V40 Deluxe and V130 Super Countess.
The V40 Deluxe is is the next evolution of the V40 The Duchess head. A 2 x 6L6-powered all-valve amp with classic American cleans through to ’60s British drive, the Deluxe offers a lot from its single channel. Features include high- and low-power modes, a hard-bypassable series effects loop, plus footswitchable valve-driven tremolo and spring reverb. The reverb has controls for level and tone, enabling you to have a relatively darker or brighter toned reverb. Available in two formats: a 1 x 12 widebody combo with Celestion G12H-75 Creamback speaker and a head in a traditional wooden sleeve, the V40 Deluxe is part of the Victory Heritage Series.
Specifications
- Type: Single-channel all-valve 1x12 combo or head, with valve-driven spring reverb and tremolo
- Power: 2 x 6L6: 42 watts high power / 7 watts low power
- Size (mm): Combo: 598(w) x 453(h) x 250(d). Head as V130
- Weight: Combo: 24kg Head: 12.5kg
- SRP pricing, Jan 2017: £Sterling / €Euro / $USD
- 1 x 12 Combo: £1,569 / €1,799 / $1,849
- Head: £1,249 / €1,439 / $1,449
V130 The Super Countess is evolved from Victory's best-selling V30 The Countess model. Upgraded for 2017, features now include an up-scaled, wooden-sleeve version, with a mighty 100-watt 6L6 power section and four footswitchable modes, two per channel.
The high-headroom Clean channel has footswitchable ‘clean’ and ‘crunch’ modes, the latter providing on-the-edge breakup tones to full-on classic rock drive. (V30 The Countess does not have the ‘crunch’ mode.) The Overdrive channel has two voice settings; Voice II is the classic V30 OD sound, while Voice I is new and offers tighter bottom end and slightly lower gain.
Specifications:
Type: Two-channel / four-mode all-valve head
Power: 4 x 6L6: 100 watts high power / 30 watts low power
Size (mm): 480(w) x 235(h) x 235(d)
Weight: 16kg
SRP pricing, Jan 2017: £Sterling / €Euro / $USD
Head: £1,329 / €1,529 / $1,499
NAMM 2017: Black Country Customs LA100BL and TI-BOOST
There's cool, and then there's Tony Iommi cool...
Black Country Customs have announced the LA100BL, an recreation of the amp used by Tony Iommi on the first Black Sabbath album. Alongside the amp, the Laney-owned brand have also unveiled the TI-BOOST, which takes its inspiration from the Rangemaster pedal favoured by Iommi.
The LA100BL head & LA412 are a faithful, hand built, point-to-point wired, reissue of the original amp and cab Tony used at the beginning of his Black Sabbath career. Everything in the amp is as it was in the original. From the hand drilled turret board, the parts list, the authentic hand wiring process and the original box frame styled output transformer. It is as close to the real thing as buying an original LA100BL.
The TI-BOOST functions in the same way as Iommi's legendary modified Range master – with a significant bass cut and mid boost, but Black Country Customs have included a little more gain and EQ options to make it more appealing to more players looking to find their own sounds.
Check out Laney's demo of the rig below:
NAMM 2017: Ibanez 30th Anniversary JEM
The iconic Ibanez gets a celebratory model for 2017.
Ibanez have announced a brand new JEM model to celebrate 30 years of the iconic axe.
Originally announced at the summer NAMM show of 1987, the JEM has evolved into one of the few iconic superstrat-style electric guitars. Steve Vai's signature model has become so legendary, that it is has become an icon for the Japanese brand.
Now, Ibanez is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their relationship with Steve Vai, and the creation of the legendary JEM guitar, with the release of the new JEM777. The JEM777 is crafted with a basswood body, for a fat, well-balanced tone, and is fitted with a slim, 5pc JEM maple/walnut neck. It also includes Prestige fret edge treatment for a smooth, professional feel, traditional Disappearing Pyramid inlays, jumbo frets (scalloped from the 21st – 24th) and Vai’s signature DiMarzio Evolution pickups.
Features:
- JEM 5pc maple/walnut neck
- Basswood body
- Maple fretboard w/ Disappearing Pyramid inlay
- W/6105 frets w/ Prestige fret edge treatment
- Edge tremolo bridge
- Back Stop equipped
- DiMarzio Evolution (H) neck pickup
- DiMarzio Evolution (S) middle pickup
- DiMarzio Evolution (H) bridge pickup
- Cosmo black hardware
- Ultralite Tremolo Arm™ included
- Certificate of Authenticity (Tour Pass) included
- Special picks included
- Hardshell case included
- Finishes: Desert Sun Yellow (DY), Loch Ness Green (LG), Shocking Pink (SK)
NAMM 2017: New Reverend signature models
Three new Reverend models for three great players.
Reverend Guitars have announced a whole bunch of new signature models for 2017.
First up is the Shade Balderose model (above). Shade is the guitar player in Code Orange and has been playing an original Reverend Bayonet for years, and his signature model is sleek, yet sturdy, with a solid neck joint that still maintains good upper register access. The included Railhammer Pickups offer aggressive tones and the Ebony fretboard is tight and focused. Available in Shade’s original Satin Army Green or Midnight Burst, the guitar is topped off with a black reverse headstock.
As the guitarist in The Sword, Kyle Shutt has become known for playing a Reverend Manta Ray with Railhammer pickups. So, Reverend Guitars founder and designer Joe Naylor started thinking about creating a Signature Model for him, and the new Kyle Shutt Signature (above) is the product of their design work. The resulting guitar is a sealed semi-hollow complete with diagonal “diver down” block inlays, Kyle Shutt Signature Railhammer pickups, and a Reverend first 4-knob control layout to deliver a broad range of sounds.
Rounding out is batch of great new signature models is the Mike Watt Wattplower. The Wattplower is the result of a four-year exploratory between Watt and Reverend to produce a bass guitar with the perfect balance of sonic explosiveness, supreme playability, and ultimately looks uniquely Watt. The bass player in the Minutemen, Watt is always modifying his vintage basses, so Joe Naylor built the Wattplower with all of his favorite mods on board, some of which are: an adjustable Hipshot A Style bridge, a brass bridge spacer for sustain and balance, and a front mounted output jack with an oversized, heavy-duty jackplate. On the fretboard, there are extra dots at the fifth and twelfth frets for increased positional visibility, with an anchor inlay at the first fret and “Wattplower” at the seventeenth. Luminlay dots are on the side of the neck that glow in the dark to help with excellent visibility on poorly lit stages.
As with all Reverend Guitars, these three new models feature a Boneite nut and locking tuners, Reverend’s Bass Contour Control, and a dual-action truss rod – all for maximum performance.
NAMM 2017: Atomic Amplifiers Ampli-Firebox
Atomic's new box of tricks utilises technical wizardry from Studio Devil
Atomic Amplifiers have announced the Ampli-Firebox, a collaboration with software geniuses Studio Devil.
With its familiar amp controls, the Ampli-Firebox distills the world's best amp modeling into an incredibly easy-to-use package in the form of a traditional guitar pedal with no display or menu system to navigate. Ampli-Firebox also includes great-sounding reverbs and extremely accurate speaker-cabinet simulations. Three toggle switches allow access to nine amps and three cabinets covering the entire spectrum of guitar tones from the beginning of electric amplification to the present.
For players seeking deeper tone-shaping features, the pedal can connect to a Mac or PC via USB to customize amp slot selections from Studio Devil's entire patented AmpliFIRE series library of models, upload third-party cabinet simulations (1024-point impulse responses) and access more advanced tone-shaping tools.
"Studio Devil Founder, Marc Gallo, and myself are especially excited to reach a whole new audience with Ampli-Firebox. We feel that many players have not yet embraced modeling because either they didn't like the 'all-in-one' approach of traditional modeling processors, the complex menu systems, or lackluster sound and feel. Ampli-Firebox solves all these issues and makes it simple to sound amazing," remarked Atomic Founder Tom King.
Ampli-Firebox will be available in the Spring of 2017 and will have an MSRP of $299.
NAMM 2017: Digitech FreqOut and DOD Rubberneck
Two brand new pedals from haus Digitech.
Digitech have announced two new pedals already this week (with more on the way, apparently!) and oh boy do they look excellent fun.
First up is the FreqOut Natural Feedback Creator. Feedback generators are an effect that we’ve not seen a huge amount of in the coming years. Boss released the FB-2 a few years back but not to huge acclaim, this looks far more interesting than that one.
The FreqOut appears to offer a number of different frequencies that you can highlight, plus a gain control and the ability to turn on and off your wet/dry signal. Personally I think the coolest thing about this is the momentary option.
Plus apart from everything else, who doesn’t like a pedal with loads of lights and switches?
Next up we’ve got the DOD Rubberneck Analog Delay, with even more knobs and switches than the FreqOut. Digitech have done some of our absolute favourite pedals of the last couple years under the DOD name so we have full confidence that this is sure to fall in line with what we’ve all come to expect.
Real exciting! This week is getting better and better!
NAMM 2017: Electro-Harmonix Blurst
It was the best of times, it was the Blurst of times...
Electro-Harmonix have announced a brand new modulated filter, the Blurst.
Described as a radical modulating filter, the Blurst takes its inspiration from an effect often used on synthesizers, but with some features that make it especially suitable for guitar players and bassists who want to explore new sonic territory.
Featuring an analog, low pass filter with adjustable resonance, three modulation waveform shapes, tap tempo with tap divide and EXP control over Range, Rate or Filter, the Blurst offers a huge range of out-there tones.
Designed with experimental musicians in mind, the Blurst works with an expression pedal, the EHX 8-Step Program and other control voltage sources. Check out EHX's demo to head exactly what it can do!
NAMM 2017: Supro Americana and Island series guitars
Supro's 14 new models seek to recapture their 60s glory.
Following the successful reintroduction of their classic amplifier range, Supro have announced a new line of electric guitars.
Supro’s Dave Koltai, master-designer Trev Wilkinson and virtuoso luthier Glenn Sweetwood have teamed with vintage pickup expert Ken Calvet to produce 14 new instruments with period correct electronics and the unique construction details of the original Chicago-made models.
With two lines distinct new lines - the Island Series and the Americana Series - the Supro guitar range takes 21st century playability and performance and mates it perfectly with retro looks and iconic tones.
Based on the Vintage 1962 Supro Ozark body design, the Island Series guitars offer the player a choice of three pickup configurations - the single pickup Jamesport, the twin pickup Westbury and the triple pickup Hampton model. All three models have solid alder bodies, with set maple necks. Each sport Gold Foil pickups based on the units designed in the 1950s and are found in many desirable vintage Supro, National and Airline models. Since there are no pole pieces, this is a “field coil” pickup. It provides a huge, wide-open sound that is best-described as broadband, due to the rather wide frequency response, with big fat bottom and crystal-clear treble. These pickups work very well with overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals, as well as vintage-voiced amplifiers.
Meanwhile the Americana Series employ the vintage Supro body design with Acousti-Glass top matched to a semi-hollow mahogany back and uses a redesigned two bolt neck joint for the mahogany neck. Featuring the single pickup Sahara, Dual-Tone and Belmont models, and the Holiday, Coronado II and Martinique twin pickup models, the vintage-correct Vistatone pickups accurately replicate those sought-after tones often found in Supro, National and Airline guitars of the period. The 50’s wiring captures the design developed for Valco by Ralph Keller in the 1950’s whilst the Coronado II, Martinique Deluxe and Belmont Vibrato guitars all feature a period correct fulcrum vibrato tailpiece.
Also included in the new Supro Guitar collection is the Jet Airliner Lapsteel. Using a vintage Supro body design, the Jet Airliner has air deco fingerboard design with a string through body hardtail bridge and features vintage Gold Foil pickups with authentic 50’s wiring and volume and tone controls.
Supro Island and Americana Series guitars will be available across Europe in January and February 2017 respectively. Check out the Supro demo playlist here below:
NAMM 2017: Vox Launch 3 new MV-50 Amps
Vox reveal the all new MV50 series.
2017 has dawned, and with it Vox have launched three whole completely new magnificently teeny new amplifier heads, and a pretty sweet cab to compliment the range.
Introducing the MV-50 series; a truly original and revolutionary series of micro-amps. Weighing barely one single pound the MV series utilises Vox's new Nutube technology to provide a whopping 50w of power to rival the tone and volume of all your favourite roadie worthy valve amps.
Partnered with a carefully matched analogue pre-amp to preserve all the richness and warmth of an old school amp, along with a modern, light weight class D power circuit to guarantee enough face melting volume to make this range of tiny devils capable of anything!
The range consists of three amplifier heads, each providing something different. The AC head offers all the tonal characteristics of the legendary AC-30. Perfect for traditional players, or just for the many millions of players in love with the legendary sound of the AC-30...but not so in love with the idea of lugging one around.
The Clean offers a Fendery sparkle perfect for the player demanding all the headroom, and minimal break up.
The Rock is geared up towards the heavier player. Emulating the ageless tone of British style overdrive.
Each Amplifier is available solo or partnered with a specifically designed 25w 8" Vox cabinet, classically styled to perfectly accent the gorgeous looking range.
NAMM 2017: Black Cat Stereo Black Cat Vibe
Black Cat's latest release innovates on a classic formula.
Black Cat Pedals has announced the new Stereo Black Cat Vibe ahead of NAMM 2017.
The original Black Cat Vibe has garnered a reputation among many players as the best Univibe effect ever made, and has been used by Trey Anastasio, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, Michael Landau, Elliott Randall, and many others.
The new Stereo Black Cat Vibe uses the same circuit as its predecessor, with the addition of a second output jack for true stereo operation, and enhanced power supply circuitry to accommodate 12V DC power, or 12V AC.
The Black Cat Vibe uses a flashing incandescent lamp and four photocells to create its distinctive sound. This essential part of the unit accurately recreates the authentic Univibe effect. The new Black Cat Vibe features a custom 3D printed Black Cat Dome to shield the lamp and photocells and create the proper environment for optimal response.
Features:
* Same circuit as the original Black Cat Vibe
* Custom fabricated Metallic Silver enclosure - Made the USA
* Custom 3D printed Black Cat Dome lamp/LDR cover - Made in USA
* Second output for true stereo operation
* Expression pedal jack for manual speed control
* Comes with 12V DC power adapter
* Hand-wired, Boutique quality, Made in USA
The new Stereo Black Cat Vibe retails for $325. Check out www.blackcatpedals.com for more.
NAMM 2017: Mad Professor Effects unveil the Twimble
Mad Professor Effects announce The Twimble!
As the countdown to NAMM 2017 continues Mad Professor grace us with the unveiling of their wonderful new, completely genius Twimble Overdrive/Predrive.
In the words of Mad Professor their new wonder pedal lets you to be the foundation of the tone. With Twimble pedal your picking attack, your guitar and the pickups you have chosen will retain their character, keeping your valuable original sonic footprint intact.
Designed for those who want their tone 'organic', the Twimble has two separate footswitchable functions the first is the predrive; designed specifically to work with your amplifier tone and guitar volume control, to bring out the best in your overall sound. Think of the predrive as a subtle but delicious pallet sweetener before the main event of the drive.
The Twimble drive function offers some brilliantly unique controls to make sure you get the best out of this pedal. The Accent control allows you to pan through frequency sweet spots so you can focus your drive harmonics on the exact area of your tone that you want. The sensitivity function controls the amount of gain, and the contour function allows you to further modify the overall tone of your output signal.
COULD THERE BE ANY MORE TONE SHAPING!!!!!
A brilliant pedal by a brilliant effects company, fresh and ready for an awesome NAMM 2017!
NAMM 2017: Mooer micro preamp pedals
Mooer announce ten new amp-style pedals in tiny boxes.
Holy moley what do we have here? Mooer have dropped a HUGE pre-NAMM announcement on us here with 10 (ten!) new pre-amp models which really appear to have a few interesting little features on them.
First up, just have a *look* at the line-up, there’s been a huge step-up on the aesthetics from what we’ve been used to from Mooer. Secondly, you’ll notice that there are five micro-knobs, as well a single “soft-switch” which is something we’re pretty sure we’ve not seen on a Mooer pedal before.
This soft-switch actually has two functions. Press once, and you switch between two assignable EQ’s, effectively giving you two channels. Press and hold on the soft-switch and you can turn on or off a built-in cab simulator which allows these pre-amps to be used directly into a PA or audio interface.
The actual footswitch on the pedals can be assigned to either turn the pedal on/off, or to switch between the two channels in a more gig-friendly manner than having to press the soft-switch.
Now, Mooer haven’t officially announced what each of these pre-amps are based on (not that we’d expect them to!), but based on the aesthetics it looks like there are models that’ll be designed to sound like Diezel, Marshall, Vox, EVH, Fender, Mesa Boogie and Engl among others. Obviously we’re not going to know for sure what each of these pre-amps are based on until we hear them all, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Dumble hidden away in there somewhere, especially given the company’s relatively heavy cult following that’s emerged recently.
This really is a pretty big statement for Mooer make in 2017. We’ve not seen anybody release such a comprehensive line-up of “modelling” pre-amps since Tech 21 released their Character series at the start of the decade. Now, no pricing has been released as of yet, but we’re pretty certain these are far more likely to be around Mooer’s sub-£100 price point than the £150-200 that you’d expect to pay for their Tech 21 counterparts.
NAMM 2017: Outlaw Effects announce two new pedals
A new micro tremolo and overdrive for 2017.
Outlaw Effects have announced two new mini stompboxes, the Rocker Box Tremolo and Deputy Marshal Plexi Distortion.
The Rocker Box is an optical tremolo pedal that offers players rich and natural sounding tremolo effects. A Bias control adjusts the tonal complexion of the sound wave delivering everything from smooth and polished trem to the looser, non-symmetrical waveforms of vintage tube amps. Depth and Speed controls offer the ability to further fine-tune the effect.
The Deputy Marshal captures the sound of Plexi-era British tube amps that defined the classic rock era. Standard Gain, Tone and Volume controls allow the player to dial in his or her distortion tone with precision. A Bright/Normal toggle switch offers even more versatility, with beefed-up highs just a flick of a switch away. As with the Rocker Box, the Deputy Marshal offers true bypass operation.
Both pedals retail for $60 and will begin shipping in February 2017.
Shergold Guitars return!
A legendary British brand is resurrected for 2017.
After years in the wilderness, Shergold Guitars are being relaunched in 2017.
With a British legacy reaching back as far as 1968, Shergold Guitars enjoyed their heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s when bands such as Genesis, New Order and Joy Division chose the guitars and basses as their go-to instruments. Now, luthier Patrick Eggle and distributor Barnes & Mullins have joined forces to resurrect the legendary brand.
The first model to return to the market is based around a single Masquerader model shape, and is available with three pickup configurations and in four colour finishes. A solid mahogany body and solid rosewood neck are paired with a custom-designed bridge and Patrick Eggle's personal choice of genuine USA-made Seymour Duncan pickups.
Prices are £765 for the P90 equipped Masquerader SM01SD, £835 for the 2 Single Coil Humbucker equipped Masquerader SM02SD, and £809 for the 3 Single coil loaded Masquerader SM03SD. All three variants will start shipping in early 2017.
TC Electronic announce 13 new pedals
Thirteen new pedals all under £50? TC are on fire right now!
It’s easy to forget that it was only six years ago that TC Electronic exploded into the mainstream pedal market with the release of their first run of compact pedals. With three drive / distortions plus a delay, chorus, reverb, vibrato and flanger, they brought out an entire pedalboard in one hit and it really made us all sit up straight and go “hang on, what?”. TC appeared to be mounting a real challenge and they were looking Boss / MXR / Electro-Harmonix straight in the eye. This was some proper Game of Thrones stuff and left us intrigued to see where things would go next.
Over the years, TC have brought out compacts for almost every style of effect going. But not only that, they’ve constantly brought out cool and interesting pedals to go alongside the core line (the Triple Delay and the Alter Ego were particular favourites here at GNHQ).
Fast forward to 2016 and an even bigger shakeup to the range. Earlier this year it was announced that Music Group had bought TC Electronic. As they also owned Behringer, I think a lot of people were expecting TC to release some more “budget” pedals, but I don’t think anybody was expecting this announcement. And what an announcement it is too! Thirteen pedals all topping out each under £50!
EchoBrain Analog Delay
The first thing anybody should notice here is the fact that this delay contains a Bucket Brigade chip; a firm sign of quality for any analogue delay. This has fairly simple controls; a wet/dry blend ‘Mix’ control, plus the regulation ‘Time’ and ‘Repeats’ you’d expect on an analogue delay. With up to 300ms of delay, this pedal offers versatility alongside bags of vibe and cool. Definite one to watch.
Afterglow Analogue Chorus
On the subject on Bucket Brigade chips, you’ll also find them in the Afterglow Chorus! A fairly standard set-up of wet/dry ‘Mix’ plus ‘Rate’ and ‘Depth’. Those chips really sound so earthy and lush. Simplicity is the key here.
Thunderstorm Analogue Flanger
The Thunderstorm also has a neat Bucket Brigade set up. Along with the standard ‘Rate’ and ‘Depth’ controls, you also have ‘Manual’ which controls the centre delay point of the effect, and an active ‘Feedback’ control. The the ‘Feedback’ to the left and you’ll find yourself with glitchy extreme flange sounds, turn right and you’ll be surrounded by a warm, dark resonance. If you leave the control in the centre your effect is more natural sounding. A very cool couple features.
Tailspin Analogue Vibrato
The final Bucket Brigade pedal in the lineup is a nice, simple analogue Vibrato. With just ‘Rate’ and ‘Depth’ here, TC are letting that chip do the talking and for me, I think that’s the right decision. I can see the Tailspin giving the Shaker a right run for its money.
Blood Moon Phaser
OK this sounds absolutely fantastic. Another fairly simple design with ‘Rate’ and ‘Depth’, but with a nice ‘Feedback’ control that allows you to reroute part of the signal of the four-step filter back into the circuit (literally feeding the signal back to the start) to open up a chasm of phase. A really lovely budget phaser.
Rush Analogue Booster
I’m always a little bit skeptical about any pedals that claim to be “clean” boosts. The TC Spark Booster has always been marketed as a “Clean Boost” which I’ve never really understood. Personally I think it’s a great clean *overdrive*, but it adds too much gain for it to be a clean boost. Really keen to see how this one sounds, but all the samples TC have published so far don’t show a transition between on and off. Jury’s out on this one.
Cinders Analogue Overdrive
Regular listeners to the Guitar Nerds podcast will know we’ve always had a huge soft spot for the transparent Mojo Mojo overdrive so this has a lot to measure up to. Simple controls in ‘Tone’, ‘Volume’ and ‘Drive’ offer a familiar set-up and I have to say those preliminary demos sound really promising!
Grand Megus Distortion
In a similar way to how TC handled their initial range of gain pedals (gain, gainier, gainiest), they’ve done the same here. The Grand Megus takes it up a notch at the expense of a bit of transparency from your sound. Everyone is after that “amp in a box” sound right now, and if you want to get that “up to 11” sound at a budget, you could do worse than look at the Grand Megus.
Fangs Metal Distortion
My word, there’s nothing subtle about this one is there? The thing that’ll set the Fangs aside from other Metal pedals is the mid-switch that allows three mid-shaping options that essentially cut from fierce high-mids through to a harsh scooped V sound. You still have full control over bass and treble frequencies plus your gain and volume with standalone knobs. It certainly looks the part too!
Rusty Fuzz
As it’s based on the iconic Silicone Fuzz Face you should know roughly what you’re expecting here. Raw, gated fuzz in a pedalboard-friendly housing. Dynamics are the name of the game here.
Forcefield Analogue Compressor
Like Boost, Compression is another effect that you really need to hear in context to the dry sound to know what you’re getting here. By the sounds of the initial demos, this is more centred around vintage compression rather than a glassy rack compressor. Compression is an effect that TC have done really well in recent years (the HyperGravity was a real surprise for us!), so I’m willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt for the time being!
Skysurfer Reverb
Until the Hall of Fame came along and ruined the party, the EHX Holy Grail really had the compact Reverb market sewn up. Nowadays you’re far more likely to see one of those now iconic firetruck red chassis on your mate’s pedalboard than the old stalwart, so we know TC have form with Reverb. The Skysurfer (I wonder where the idea for the name came from?) offers just the three core reverb sounds in ‘Hall’, ‘Spring’ and ‘Plate’, and the controls may seem a little backwards at first, but I think this is a cool set-up. The ‘Reverb’ knob controls the length of the effect whilst the “Mix” control is actually more of an effect volume, as opposed to a wet/dry blend. I think this could easily become a go-to for people after a more subtle reverb rather than the more extreme splashy verbs that have become popular in recent years.
The Prophet Digital Delay
This is inevitably going to get compared to its older sibling in the Flashback and I think that it does stand up to it as long as you bare in mind you’ve only got the one algorithm in there. Like the Skysurfer, the ‘Mix’ control allows you to adjust the volume of the effect as opposed to a wet/dry blend, which I think it quite a neat little control. You have a three-way micro switch to cut between three options for the subdivisions plus ‘Time’ and ‘Repeat’ knobs. This sounds great!
So there we have it. Thirteen new budget-friendly TC Electronic pedals. It’s worth noting that all of these are True Bypass, and more excitingly they all boast increasingly popular top-mounted jacks. These pedals have certainly been designed for people looking to put together a budget-friendly pedalboard and, honestly (and surprisingly?), there are some pretty great sounding pedals in the range. For me, the standouts are the Echobrain, the Afterglow and The Prophet and I’m really looking forward to spending some time with these to see whether any can live up to the classic TC compacts and become household names.
PRS Release LTD Edition CE24 Satin guitars for UK and Europe
PRS announce some incredible limited edition finishes for their revered CE24 series!
The CE24 has been a welcome addition to the PRS line up since its introduction in 1988, offering 'Fender' enthusiasts a bolt-on version of the classic PRS body shape and build quality. The CE series brought that snap and sparkle to the traditional PRS double cut, and it has continued to be a popular model year after, receiving constant tweaks and upgrades to keep the series moving forward.
This year PRS have taken this one step further by granting the CE24 Satin three separate, mesmerising finishes unique to the UK and European market. These finishes come in the complicatedly named, Grey Cherryburst, Grey Purpleburst, and Grey Blueburst. Each instrument features a beautiful maple cap, elegantly capturing the nuances of the fading burst, gorgeously satin nitro finished mahogany body, slim and comfortably tapered maple neck, and thick wedge of deep chocolate brown rosewood fingerboard.
Topped off with the PRS 85/15 humbucking pick-ups to capture all the sparkle of a bolt-on instrument with extended low end response to maintain the instruments classic PRS tonal girth, and of course PRS' legendary and revered trem system.
Hitting the UK shelves at less than £1,800 these are surely contenders for guitar of the year!
Gretsch release loads of new Players models for NAMM 2017!
Victory's new models are natural evolutions of their award-winning amplifiers.
There's cool, and then there's Tony Iommi cool...
PRS unveil the new and totally incredible sounding J-MOD, John Mayer signature amplifier!
Fredric Effects announce The Accomplished Badger
This Germanium preamp is rather sophisticated indeed.
Fredric Effects have announced the Accomplished Badger, an original two stage boost, with an opamp buffer/boost driving a Germanium transistor gain stage.
Tested for optimal gain and low leakage, the Germanium transistors used are individually selected vintage new-old-stock components. Because of the nature of these two gain stages, the Accomplished Badger can be used as a sparkly clean boost, to just push an amp to breakup, or for a grittier saturated sound like a torn speaker or an overloaded recording desk tone. More versatile than straight clean boosts, the Accomplished Badger promises to be a fantastic "always-on" effect.
The Accomplished Badger is available now for £95.
Electro-Harmonix release the Wailer Wah
A traditional wah from the geniuses at Electro-Harmonix.
Electro-Harmonix have announced the Wailer Wah. Featuring all the tech and tone of the award-winning Crying Tone, but in a more traditional housing, the Wailer Wah promises expressive sounds but in a housing that weighs substantially less than other wahs available.
Check out EHX's demo below: