Hatsubai « Very versatile boost pedal »
Published on 11/27/11 at 19:25Ever want to have a boost pedal that had that old school classic tubescreamer sound but could also go into some modern saturation when you wanted it? If so, this is the pedal for you. Keeley decided to create a bit of a mix of new and old all in one pedal with two different switches to select between them. The pedal features knobs for volume per channel, intensity, toggle switches for "eras" of boosts and a warp drive switch to really bring this thing into a new dimension.
UTILIZATION
The housing on this is a bit big for my liking, but I can see why he needed something like this. It's almost like two pedals in one, and you need to have the foot switches spaced far apart enough to where you can switch them without accidentally hitting the other. The switches on these are high quality and should last for years and years. Speaking of years, the pedal itself is housed in a crazy strong enclosure that can withstand an atomic bomb. It's super reliable, and I doubt you'll ever experience any failures or issues with this thing. The paint on this looks fantastic as well.
SOUND QUALITY
The vintage side is basically a germanium booster. These are old school boosters that work great for amps like Voxes and Marshalls. They can also help give Fenders some new life. You also have two different types of germanium style boosts you can choose from, so it's not like you're limited like the old ones were. The modern side, however, is the real reason to buy this, in my opinion. It's a FET based boost, and it adds this harmonic richness to your tone that is almost unbeatable. It's almost like having the Katana built into this pedal, but it's slightly different. Very cool sounds!
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a very versatile pedal that can mix both new and old all in one pedal, this is for you. Its combination of germanium and FET style boosts is a genius design, and it can really give you tons of versatility with a low to mid gain amp. With a high gain amp, it's not really necessary, and I find that it only adds to the compression instead of changing the actual tone. I don't like this as a booster like tubescreamers, but that's just me.
UTILIZATION
The housing on this is a bit big for my liking, but I can see why he needed something like this. It's almost like two pedals in one, and you need to have the foot switches spaced far apart enough to where you can switch them without accidentally hitting the other. The switches on these are high quality and should last for years and years. Speaking of years, the pedal itself is housed in a crazy strong enclosure that can withstand an atomic bomb. It's super reliable, and I doubt you'll ever experience any failures or issues with this thing. The paint on this looks fantastic as well.
SOUND QUALITY
The vintage side is basically a germanium booster. These are old school boosters that work great for amps like Voxes and Marshalls. They can also help give Fenders some new life. You also have two different types of germanium style boosts you can choose from, so it's not like you're limited like the old ones were. The modern side, however, is the real reason to buy this, in my opinion. It's a FET based boost, and it adds this harmonic richness to your tone that is almost unbeatable. It's almost like having the Katana built into this pedal, but it's slightly different. Very cool sounds!
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a very versatile pedal that can mix both new and old all in one pedal, this is for you. Its combination of germanium and FET style boosts is a genius design, and it can really give you tons of versatility with a low to mid gain amp. With a high gain amp, it's not really necessary, and I find that it only adds to the compression instead of changing the actual tone. I don't like this as a booster like tubescreamers, but that's just me.