Lightning Boy Audio is a company I’ve been interested in lately. I recently posted an interview with Mike Congilosi II who is the owner/operator of Lightning Boy Audio and it really provided some great insight on the company and his quest for ultimate tonage!
We just received the Lightning Boy Audio Soul Drive to demo, and man, was I stoked to see this. First item that caught my attention is the preamp tube sticking out of the pedal. First off, it’s a 12AU7 preamp tube… and it’s a NOS (New Old Stock) General Electric tube. Pretty cool. The pedal also uses some some interesting components like NOS paper in oil capacitors. There also is a custom Lightning Boy Audio hand made paper in oil tone cap. Any other builders you know that are making their own tone caps?? They use hand wired point to point teflon insulated silver wire and silver solder. Only the best inside this box!
Here is the official description of the Soul Drive by Lightning Boy Audio:
Soul Drive is an extremely versatile pedal that can be used with guitar, bass, or even keyboards. Use it in any musical situation involving electric instruments and amplifiers, where the player is interested in getting a warmer and more detailed sound. Add or remove some high frequencies from your signal in a buttery smooth fashion with our paper in oil-based tone control. Use as a clean boost, a treble booster or dial in some gain and get some super creamy tube breakup.
For this demo, we have Jimmy Rolle playing is Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Elegant into a Germino Lead55 Head through a Germino 4×12 cabinet. There is nothing between the guitar and the amp except for the Lightning Boy Audio Soul Drive. It is important to note that the Germino Lead 55 is a non-master volume amp. Audio was recorded with a Fathead Ribbon Mic and a Shure SM7B, both close mic’d.
You can listen to the high quality MP3 clips via SoundCloud
Here are a break down of features for the Lightning Boy Audio Soul Drive:
– NOS (new old stock) JAN (military grade)12AU7 vacuum tube.
– NOS paper in oil capacitors.
– LBA signature hand-made paper in oil tone cap.
– Extremely low noise metalized film resistors.
– Hand wired Point to point with teflon insulated silver wire & silver solder.
– Reliable Switchcraft 1/4″ jacks for superior signal transfer.
– True Bypass.
– Limited lifetime warranty card and Soul Drive users guide.
– Power supply requirements: 9-12v DC @ 350mA min, tip (-)
This is an absolutely great sounding pedal and something worth taking a serious look at. You can purchase the Lightning Boy Audio Soul Drive directly from their site for $249 (click here to purchase). Also, be sure to check out their site for their other pedals (Olympus and Bolt Bender). Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for any news regarding Lightning Boy Audio!
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