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« Transparency »
Published on 12/08/14 at 10:20
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Anyone
American analog boost and overdrive pedal. Made in China.
Two 1/4" metallic jacks for the input and output.
One connector for an external 9V PSU with negative center. It can be operated with a 9V (6F22) battery (located under the pedal).
One 9V Danelectro "Vintage Power Source" battery included.
Electric current measured by myself: 4.52 mA inactive and 5.80 mA active.
One True Bypass switch.
One LED (blue).
One gain knob, one volume knob and one concentric control to adjust bass and treble.
Analog built-in circuit: One wide bandwidth dual JFET input LF353 op-amp.
4 DIP switches inside the battery compartment to activate blue or red clamping diode and JFET-type clamping pairs. The last one provides 6dB of additional boost (12dB in total).
Surface-mounted components (SMC) (see pictures under "Media").
Cool Cat series: Aluminum case.
The bottom of the pedal is covered with rubber.
User manual.
USE
It's relatively easy to use, except for the DIP switches. It won't take you hours to find THE sound.
The concentric control for treble and bass is a very bad idea and it's very unfortunately placed (between the gain and volume pots), making it difficult to set.
The small DIP switches at the bottom of the battery compartment can be adjusted with a pick.
The housing seems sturdy.
SOUND QUALITY
Light and effective overdrive that responds well to string attack.
6dB or 12dB boost with DIP switch 4 engaged.
I use the boost with a bit of gain (the knob set to 11 o'clock or less) to get a light crunch with a solid-body equipped with single-coils and plugged into a solid-state amp.
I don't use DIP switches 1, 2 and 3 right now.
The pedal's major strength is its transparency. The output doesn't lack anything, from the lows all the way to the highs. Not being a fan of TS-like pedals, it was precisely this characteristic that made me go for it (besides the price).
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using it for six months.
I hate the design of the Treble/Bass knob.
I love its great transparency, which makes it worthy of its name.
I really like its '50s household-appliance look and I think it's much more original than the usual square boxes.
Truly UNBEATABLE value for money!
If it ever breaks, I'll get another one.
Two 1/4" metallic jacks for the input and output.
One connector for an external 9V PSU with negative center. It can be operated with a 9V (6F22) battery (located under the pedal).
One 9V Danelectro "Vintage Power Source" battery included.
Electric current measured by myself: 4.52 mA inactive and 5.80 mA active.
One True Bypass switch.
One LED (blue).
One gain knob, one volume knob and one concentric control to adjust bass and treble.
Analog built-in circuit: One wide bandwidth dual JFET input LF353 op-amp.
4 DIP switches inside the battery compartment to activate blue or red clamping diode and JFET-type clamping pairs. The last one provides 6dB of additional boost (12dB in total).
Surface-mounted components (SMC) (see pictures under "Media").
Cool Cat series: Aluminum case.
The bottom of the pedal is covered with rubber.
User manual.
USE
It's relatively easy to use, except for the DIP switches. It won't take you hours to find THE sound.
The concentric control for treble and bass is a very bad idea and it's very unfortunately placed (between the gain and volume pots), making it difficult to set.
The small DIP switches at the bottom of the battery compartment can be adjusted with a pick.
The housing seems sturdy.
SOUND QUALITY
Light and effective overdrive that responds well to string attack.
6dB or 12dB boost with DIP switch 4 engaged.
I use the boost with a bit of gain (the knob set to 11 o'clock or less) to get a light crunch with a solid-body equipped with single-coils and plugged into a solid-state amp.
I don't use DIP switches 1, 2 and 3 right now.
The pedal's major strength is its transparency. The output doesn't lack anything, from the lows all the way to the highs. Not being a fan of TS-like pedals, it was precisely this characteristic that made me go for it (besides the price).
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using it for six months.
I hate the design of the Treble/Bass knob.
I love its great transparency, which makes it worthy of its name.
I really like its '50s household-appliance look and I think it's much more original than the usual square boxes.
Truly UNBEATABLE value for money!
If it ever breaks, I'll get another one.