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mooseherman
Published on 03/02/10 at 14:59
This is a vibrato pedal, one of the more interesting ones out there, surprisingly. This is a straight analog pedal designed for use with electric guitar, though supposedly it can be used with other instruments as well. It only has the standard 1/4" ins and outs. It's not rackable and is not MIDI compatible.
UTILIZATION
The effects editing on this pedal isn't too crazy, as it only has a handful of controls. There are knobs for depth, rate, rise time, and a mode knob.The latter knob switches the pedal between three different basic configurations, which are named unlatch, bypass, and latch. It's difficult to describe in words the differences between each of those modes, and since I don't have a control manual I can't get too technical about it either. Basically, experimenting with the sound is the best way to figure it out, and it won't take long. The depth of controls actually makes this a pretty versatile pedal for a relatively underused effect.
SOUND QUALITY
This is the only vibrato pedal I've played that actually produces vibrato and not tremolo (everybody seems to confuse those terms to no end). The sound is pretty interesting, as it gives each note and chord played a drastic (or not so drastic) pitch bending. The range of the pedal's effect is rather refreshing too, as it doesn't affect the signal too strongly unless set to do so. It can be refreshingly subtle for softer leads, like those on Wilco's Sky Blue Sky album (I checked this pedal out after learning that Wilco's Nels Cline uses this pedal quite a bit). And it can also give wilder solos a warped, surreal edge that is quite compelling. It's not a pedal for everyone, in fact, the effect isn't heard much anymore, but I think the range of sounds that this pedal is capable of producing is quite nice. One note, however, is that this pedal tends to only sound as good as the person playing it. An inexperienced player isn't going to sound that great on this unless he knows how to use the effect well.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the range of effects that this pedal is capable of producing. I also think that the sound quality is very good and that it is remarkably clear and not distracting. I know that it's hard to find nowadays, but I'm sure that any experienced player of blues/rock and other similar styles will find some use for this. Jam band aficionados would do well to find one of these.
UTILIZATION
The effects editing on this pedal isn't too crazy, as it only has a handful of controls. There are knobs for depth, rate, rise time, and a mode knob.The latter knob switches the pedal between three different basic configurations, which are named unlatch, bypass, and latch. It's difficult to describe in words the differences between each of those modes, and since I don't have a control manual I can't get too technical about it either. Basically, experimenting with the sound is the best way to figure it out, and it won't take long. The depth of controls actually makes this a pretty versatile pedal for a relatively underused effect.
SOUND QUALITY
This is the only vibrato pedal I've played that actually produces vibrato and not tremolo (everybody seems to confuse those terms to no end). The sound is pretty interesting, as it gives each note and chord played a drastic (or not so drastic) pitch bending. The range of the pedal's effect is rather refreshing too, as it doesn't affect the signal too strongly unless set to do so. It can be refreshingly subtle for softer leads, like those on Wilco's Sky Blue Sky album (I checked this pedal out after learning that Wilco's Nels Cline uses this pedal quite a bit). And it can also give wilder solos a warped, surreal edge that is quite compelling. It's not a pedal for everyone, in fact, the effect isn't heard much anymore, but I think the range of sounds that this pedal is capable of producing is quite nice. One note, however, is that this pedal tends to only sound as good as the person playing it. An inexperienced player isn't going to sound that great on this unless he knows how to use the effect well.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the range of effects that this pedal is capable of producing. I also think that the sound quality is very good and that it is remarkably clear and not distracting. I know that it's hard to find nowadays, but I'm sure that any experienced player of blues/rock and other similar styles will find some use for this. Jam band aficionados would do well to find one of these.