HomeBrew Electronics

Sturdy metal housing with a nice sparkly finish Fuzz, Level and active Tone controls Vintage/Modern Switch: Vintage Mode-Classic Fuzz, Modern Mode-Aggresive, more output and low end. True-Bypass switching. 1/4" in and out. Stomp for pedal on/off, stomp for octave setting on/off Handmade in the USA! UTILIZATION This pedal is easy to set up and use. One stomp controls if the pedal will be engaged or not, and the other controls whether or not the sound will have the octave setting. The Vintage/Modern switch is handy to experiment with different tone settings. A side note - this pedal has the best knobs ever - big triangular shaped knobs. I wish more manufacturers would put some quirky features out there like these knobs to make their products more interesting. SOUND QUALITY This pedal is amazing! The fuzz tone is huge and warm, and can get quite distorted if necessary. While rolling off the volume on the guitar, the sound gets to be more like an overdrive - very round, with gobs of sustain and note bloom. The octave setting is fantastic - like Hendrix, or Queens of the Stone Age, the octave up fuzz is a very dramatic-sounding effect that can be very inspiring! This pedal can nail tones from either of those artists or anything in between. Only if one found "the" perfect original Fuzz Face and "the" perfect original Octavia, it could sound better. But it would be much less convenient, and loads more expensive! OVERALL OPINION This is the best combination fuzz/octave pedal I've ever tried. I think it honestly blows the more expensive Prescription Electronics Experience pedal out of the water. The nice people at HBE make some fun, quirky pedals, and they are all top-quality designs and craftsmanship. Anyone jonesing for some "Purple Haze" should just buy one of these UFO pedals and call it a day. I'd absolutely buy another one of these if I had the chance.

HomeBrew Electronics' Germania is a very simple booster pedal that is designed after the Rangemaster Treble Booster, a pedal which I'm not familiar with. I've used the older version of this pedal, but the newer one comes with some added features. However, this review will be for the original Germania. The pedal has 1/4" connections for input and output and requires a nine volt power supply. It has a single button and is just about as compact of a pedal as you'll find. It isn't rack mountable in any way since it's a foot pedal. UTILIZATION The configuration of the HomeBrew Electronics Germania couldn't possibly be any simpler. The only knob that it has it for gain and the only switch that it has is for choosing between either a hi-fi or lo-fi setting. I'm not exactly sure what the new parameters are that the newer version of this pedal has in addition to these. A manual shouldn't be necessary either way since it's such a basic pedal. SOUND QUALITY While the HomeBrew Electronics Germania is a booster pedal by nature, it's definitely capable of getting some heavier distortion sounds if desired. Having said this, I wouldn't recommend getting the pedal for this only, as using this as a distortion pedal isn't really it's intended use although it's certainly possible. I recently tried the pedal out in a recording studio that had one, but we didn't end up using it on any recordings. It does have a very good sound, it just wasn't what we were looking for and is kind of limited in what it's able to do. OVERALL OPINION For a simple booster pedal, the HomeBrew Electronics Germania is an awesome little pedal. It doesn't offer up much flexibility, but for what it can do it's one of the best that I've heard. I do like that it's able to get some heavier and thicker distortion when needed, but as I stated before this is really just a bonus to having a nice booster pedal. I haven't used a Rangemaster before, so I can't say how well this matches up, but it's certainly a nice pedal on it's own.

The Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer is a boutique overdrive pedal that I've used with electric guitar. I don't know how well this would work with other instruments, but of course like any pedal it can be used with anything that has 1/4" connections to plug into it. Homebrew advertises the Power Screamer as their flagship pedal - and for very good reason. The pedal requires standard nine volt power and has 1/4" connections for input and output. It isn't rack mountable in any form. UTILIZATION After playing with the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer for only a few minutes, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on using it. Of course it took a little bit longer to learn how to get all the different possible tones from it, but it's typical functions and basic parameters are easy to understand and manipulate. These parameters include gain, level, and tone, which are pretty standard for overdrive and distortion pedals. However, it also has a three way diode selector, which is basically different types of tone modes, two of which have built in compression and one of which is for a classic overdrive sound. This selector is huge as it bumps the versatility of the pedal up a whole lot. It also has two foot switches for boost and for engaging the effect. I don't believe that users will need a manual for this. SOUND QUALITY I really can't think of a bad thing to say about the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer in terms of tone quality. It just doesn't get that much better than this one. It's extremely full and crisp sounding, with a tone of room for control and versatility. I've used the pedal in the recording studio where I was the engineer and not the player. The guitarist was using a Gibson Les Paul Studio and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The result of the tracks was really an incredible thing, and to date are some of my proudest work in terms of guitar sound quality. It was really a mix of the player and the equipment involved, but the Power Screamer absolutely had a major roll in this. OVERALL OPINION I was honestly expecting the price of the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer to be much more than it is, but to my delight it really doesn't cost much. It's in another world from many overdrive pedals out there that are this price, lower, and higher. IT will of course conjure up comparisons to the Tube Screamer, but I honestly like this pedal better than your standard Tube Screamer. If you're looking for a versatile overdrive pedal at a price that is impossible to beat for the quality, go no further than the Power Screamer.

The HomeBrew Electronics THC is a high quality chorus pedal designed for use with electric guitar, but suitable with any electronic instrument. The pedal is standard in make up, consisting of 1/4" TRS connections for input and output, and nine volt power supply requirements. It isn't rackable as it is an effects pedal that is controlled by your foot. UTILIZATION The overall make up of the HomeBrew Electronics THC is quite easy to follow. It has simple parameters that are often seen on chorus pedals, so if you've got some experience with pedals like this, everything will be pretty self explanatory to you. If not, everything is really basic anyway and you should be able to figure it out without any help from a manual. It simply has parameters for depth, width, and speed... SOUND QUALITY Like all of the pedals I've used from HomeBrew Electronics, the THC pedal sounds absolutely stellar. It has a super clean sound quality, and there is a good amount of versatility available between the three parameters, each of which can greatly effect the signal depending on which way you set it. I've used the pedal with a Fender Telecaster and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and the sound that I get within this chain is clean and realistic. Definitely one of my favorite sounding chorus pedals currently on the market. OVERALL OPINION While this is a pretty straight ahead chorus pedal, the HomeBrew Electronics THC offers a lot that most chorus pedals do not, and that is with sheer, clean sound quality. It doesn't have any extra noise added to the mix, as it has true bypass. Nothing about using the pedal is hard, making it easy to zero in on the exact tone that you're looking to achieve. While you're going to pay a bit more for the THC than you would let's say a Boss pedal, the difference is clear, both in build and sound...

The Homebrew Electronics Compressor Retro is a simple compressor pedal suitable with any electronic instrument, although I've only used the pedal with electric guitar. The pedal is powered by a standard nine volt power supply and also has standard 1/4" connections for input and output, just like most pedals will. This is an analog pedal that isn't rackable in any way. UTILIZATION Even if you don't have much experience with compressors, the Homebrew Electronics Compressor Retro is extremely easy to follow. If you've got the basic concept down of what a compressor is and does, you'll be able to catch on quickly. You've simple got parameters for sustain and level, and that's all that there is to it. Having the sustain parameter is a huge plus as I find it hard to get the sustain I'm looking for sometimes with more standard compression parameters. A manual certainly is not needed to operate the Compressor Retro pedal. SOUND QUALITY I've used all sorts of different compressors, both in the form of outboard gear and pedals, and have to say that the Homebrew Electronics Compressor Retro is one of my favorite compression pedals out there in terms of sound quality. It not only has a great overall compression sound, but the sustain lasts for days and I don't find that I get the same level of noise that I get with other compression pedals. I've used the pedal with a Fender Jazzmaster and a '76 Fender Twin Reverb, and within the configuration I'm able to get an overall awesome tone and is perfect for helping me beef up my lead tones or for getting that tight sounding rhythm sound. OVERALL OPINION While the Homebrew Electronics Compressor Retro isn't the most available pedal out there, you can definitely find them at a number of online retailers. I haven't seen this in any stores, which is the only downfall as you can't really try it out without getting one. However, if you're in the market for one of these, read up on this pedal and I think you'll find a pretty unanimous decision on it. I was lucky enough to have a friend who had one of these that I got to try out before hand, and I feel in love instantly. This is definitely one of the best compression pedals on the market and is also one of the best kept secrets.

The HomeBrew Electronics Big D is a distortion pedal designed for electric guitar.<span> </span>The pedal is pretty standard as far as its characteristics, as it has the standard ¼ inch connections for in and out and is powered by a 9 volt power supply.<span> </span>The pedal is also pretty compact and isn’t rack mountable as it is a stomp box. UTILIZATION <p class="MsoNormal">The HomeBrew Electronics Big D pedal has an interesting make up, as it isn’t too much like other distortion pedals out there.<span> </span>It has somewhat standard parameters for gain, tone, level, and ‘bigger,’ but then it has a diode selector and a switch to engage a ‘bigger’ sound. <span> </span>However, after playing with the pedal for a little bit I was able to get a pretty good idea of how to use it.<span> </span>I do have a lot of experience with different distortion and overdrive pedals, but I believe that even those who don’t have much experience should be able to figure out how to use it on their own without the help of a manual. SOUND QUALITY <p class="MsoNormal">I’ve used the Big D pedal in tandem with a Fender Strat and a ’76 Fender Twin Reverb, and I was definitely happy with the sounds that I was able to get within this configuration.<span> </span>The tone of the HomeBrew Electronics Big D can be described in a word as huge.<span> </span>While it is definitely possible to get more subtle overdrive sounds, this pedal’s bread and butter is in its thick and fat distortion tones.<span> </span>The Big D works for both rhythm and lead tones, but I would say that I like it best for lead sounds… OVERALL OPINION HomeBrew Electronics is a company that I’ve only recently started using their pedals, but in the short time that I’ve used them I’ve become a big fan of them, especially the Big D.<span> </span>This pedal has some seriously huge distortion tones that are great for a variety of circumstances and situations.<span> </span>While this isn’t the cheapest distortion pedal on the market, if you’re looking for something a little more substantial than your average distortion or overdrive pedal, definitely investigate the Big D.