Effects Bay

The following is a guest post by Jeremy Cohen. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

In my role as a bass teacher, I often am asked, “what effects pedals should I get?”

The simple answer is that bassists really don’t need pedals, but then I follow that up by telling what the most useful effects for bass are. A an octave pedal  is definitely one of these. It is an effect which adds an octave below the note you are playing and it is a simple way to enhance the sound of a bass. Pino Palladino made a name for himself with extensive use of an octave pedal with a fretless bass. You can hear this most notably on the song, I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down, recorded with Paul Young. Here’s a nice live version (a little faster than the original). Keep listening to hear what he does at the end of the song.

Of course, in my role as a freelance bassist, I often bring a large pedal board with me. This usually causes the other players to groan, “oh, no, please don’t use those!” If I brought every pedal I owned, they would go into shock. However, once I start playing, I use the pedals sparingly. When I use the octave pedal, generally one of the other musicians will turn around and smile at me.

Over the years, I have owned a variety of pedals including the Boss OC-2 pedal and the EBS Octabass. Now that I have had the MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe for a while, I can say that this pedal gets the sound for which  I have been searching for years.

One of the features necessary in an octave pedal is good tracking and this pedal definitely tracks well, not only for single notes, but also for double stops (two notes at once). When using an octave pedal, just make sure you don’t play notes below A. The pedal may be able to produce those sounds, but your speakers won’t. I generally try to avoid going below C.

The next feature you need in the pedal is the ability to mix your straight bass sound with the octave sound and once again this pedal comes through using a control which is called Dry. Turning this dial all the way to the left will give you just the octave sound and to the right will give you almost no octave sound. You will want to start with the control and the middle and then adjust it to get the blend you want.

The unique feature of the MXR pedal is that it has two distinctly different octave bass sounds. MXR calls one sound Girth and this is a clean and smooth octave-below sound. The other sound is called Growl. This sound has more bite and to me it sounds very much like a synth bass doubling your notes. The two sounds have independent controls and can be blended together, giving this pedal a wide range of available sounds.

There is also a mid-range boost switch and the particular frequency and intensity of this boost can easily be adjusted with an internal slide switch and trim pot.  I like the sound of this boost the way it was set at the factory, but your mileage may differ.

Other features of the pedal are its extremely small size and internal circuitry which will keep the unit functioning properly even if the battery voltage starts dropping. The pedal is also true-bypass, which means that your signal completely bypasses all internal circuitry when the pedal  is switched off.

The instructions that come with the pedal include three sample settings: Sub Slap, Sub Rock, and …. Playhouse. (hmm…)

The price of this pedal is not out-of-line with that of other pedals of this type, especially since the Boss OC-2 pedal has now become collectible and prices for that one are going up steadily.

I strongly recommend this pedal for anyone who is covering songs on which the original recording had a synth bass part or a synth doubling the bass part You could also use it on a song in which the guitar is doubling the bass part. Then you will free up a guitarist to play a different part.  It also will instantly make any solo stand out. These are uses in which the pedal works for me and you will probably find some more uses once you have the unit.

One more feature I almost forgot to mention is that the pedal is blue so it matches my main bass, a Mike Lull M4V with a custom blue sunburst finish! Next time we meet, I’ll talk about other types and models of pedals which might be useful for a bassist to own. Happy bass playing!

Jeremy Cohen has been playing bass for over 40 years. He works as a bassist in the S.F. Bay area and is first call bassist for a variety of bands. He is known for tasteful, solid playing, sight-reading ability, the amount of preparation he does before gigs, and his ability to walk into any situation (with charts or not) and fit in.

He also has taught many students over the years and is extremely proud of all his students. Read what Matt Freeman of Rancid has to say:
http://www.jeremycohenbass.com/BParticle.09.pdf
Read, listen and see more about him at http://www.jeremycohenbass.com
His CD is on sale at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jazzexpress

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The first thing that catches my eye about Lotus Pedal Designs is their simplicity. It’s about what’s in the box, not what’s on the outside. With the exception of one pedal (Desire Boost) all of their pedals are single sized plain enclosures, and the pedals are named after the color of the knobs. No labels on the pedals with the exception of the Lotus name. I dig it!

This is what he says about keeping it simple:

I design Lotus Pedals to be simple, because I want to keep your focus on playing guitar, not fiddling with your gear. Turn the knobs, find a tone that suits your style, and play. It’s as easy as that.

We received the “Red“, a dark overdrive that uses the TS-808 Tube Screamer chip. Very simple pedal – Drive and Gain are the controls. It’s basically similar to a Tube Screamer but you’re able to get some really great low gain fuzz tones as well.

Here is the official description of the Lotus Pedal Designs Red Overdrive:

A dark, dirty overdrive pedal that uses the same chip as the original TS-808 Tube Screamer. Deep, rich tones with more gain than you’ll ever need. This pedal will make your solos hotter than a urinary tract infection.

For this demo I again enlisted the help from my good friend Jimmy Rolle. He’s playing his Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop Elegant into a Germino Lead 55 through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. Everything is mic’d with a Shure SM57 and Fathead Ribbon Mics. There is nothing between the guitar and the amp besides the Lotus Red Overdrive.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

The Lotus Pedal Designs Red Overdrive is available directly from their site for $199.95. It’s a great sounding overdrive!

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The following is a guest review by Donny Silva. If you are interested in writing a guest review, please contact me!

My Name is Donny Silva. I play bass in a band called Defy Tolerance. We are a rock band out of Phoenix, AZ. I play Spector basses and Gallien Krueger amps/cabs.

www.defytolerance.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Defy-Tolerance/102358636468140
www.facebook.com/roskotheworshiprocker

Coming from being a guitarist I wanted to use effects. I really wanted to “grunge” up my tone. I soon bought the MXR M80 bass DI+. Here are the features from their website:

- Distortion channel with gain, volume, and blend controls
- Color button
- 3-band EQ
- Phantom power
- 1/4″ and XLR outs
- Parallel output jack

I will keep this simple. The EQ is great. Even though it is only Bass, Mid, Treble, you can get a lot of tone out of this pedal. There is a separate volume control for each channel and a “color” button. This “color” button enables a preset scoop. I think it has a traditional Ampeg tone to it, real middy.

The EQ transfers to the distortion channel when engaged. This is possibly the only downfall of this pedal. The distortion channel has a gate and a blend knob. The gate is nice, you can set the trigger point with a trigger knob. The gain is a little harsh on this pedal. It is very gritty. But what makes it very versatile is the blend knob. This will blend in the distorted signal with the clean signal. I drive the gain at about 2 o’clock and have my blend knob at 7 o’clock. I get a very clear grit to my tone.

There also is a Phantom/Ground button. This is a great feature if you have phantom power from a mixing board.

As a bass player you it is nice to be able to send a direct signal to the front of house engineers. With this pedal you can send the FOH guys your tone and also send the signal to your amp. There is a third “parallel output” . I imagine this is most useful to send to a tuner.

I am loving this pedal, It can really liven up a cheap practice amp or give a great live tone for any performance. I highly recommend it.

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About a month ago I was contacted by Jean-Luc of HEPTODE electronics based out of France. I did an interview with him and we talked about electronics and the company (read full interview here – Interview with Jean-Luc of Heptode Effects). Jean-Luc also sent over a couple of pedals that he wanted to demo, and we got around to demo’ing one of those pedals. This is the HEPTODE Heavy Tone. The Heavy Tone is inspired by the Soldano SLO-100 overdrive channel. He wanted to create a hi-gain sound and developed his dynamic hi-gain preamp called the Heavy Tone.

Controls are broken down to the following: Gain, Level, Bass, Middle and Treble. Additionally there is a CabSim (cabinet simulator) toggle if you plan to use this direct to a console or to a computer interface.

For this demo, we have Jimmy Rolle taking the Heavy Tone out for a drive. He’s using his Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Elegant into a Germino Lead55 Head through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. There is nothing between the guitar and the amp except for the HEPTODE Heavy Tone. Audio was recorded with a Fathead Ribbon Mic and a Shure SM57, both close mic’d.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

For more information about the HEPTODE Heavy Tone, please check out their website. HEPTODE pedals can be purchased via the Mad Ape in the US. There are 34 dealers in France, UK and Belgium (please contact HEPTODE for listing of dealers near you).

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A little while back Pigtronix contacted me asking if we’d be interested in demo’ing a pedal of theirs.  I’ve definitely highlighted their products in the past. They make absolutely great pedals, so I was very interested in what they wanted to send over. About a week later I received the Pigtronix Tremvelope.

The Pigtronix Tremvelope is a tremolo on steroids… and really thought out. First off it’s a optical stereo panning tremolo. For this demo we did not demo the stereo or panning capabilities but focused on the tremolo and the envelope aspect of it. The envelope portion of the pedal is what really caught my ear and what separates this tremolo from others. By adjusting the sensitivity, the tremolo will affect your signal as your signal fades, so it reacts to how you play. The speed and depth are affected by how hard you play. Pretty cool!

Pigtronix set the Tremvelope with all the controls to manage all points of the effect. You can turn the envelope feature on/off, as well as controlling the speed, depth, sensitivity and waveform.

Here is the official description from Pigtronix’s web site on the Tremvelope:

Tremvelope puts a new spin on a classic effect. This tremolo pedal allows the dynamics of your playing to change the speed and depth of the effect. The result brings traditional sound to a whole new level that is intuitive, engaging and totally addictive.

Tremvelope is a versatile, high fidelity optical tremolo with stereo panning outputs. The Tremvelope’s fat sounding audio path is modulated by SPEED, DEPTH and WAVEFORM controls. When the envelope is switched on, the tremolo effect is influenced by what you play. The SPEED and DEPTH knobs can each be assigned to increase or decrease in response to the strength of the signal coming from your instrument. These changes start from where the knobs are set and independently move in the assigned direction.

The ACCELERATION switch adjusts the response time of the tremolo to changes in your playing and the SENSITIVITY knob provides control over the amount of increase it takes to create changes in the tremolo settings. Expression pedal inputs for speed, and vol / pan add external foot control to this animated beast of a pedal. There is also a TRIGGER input for running the Tremvelope late in an effects chain but still allowing your clean signal (or even a different instrument entirely) to control the envelope directly.

Go forth and modulate!

For this demo, we have Jimmy Rolle and he’s using his American Fender Standard Stratocaster into his Germino Lead 55 head through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. There is nothing between the guitar and amp except for the Pigtronix Tremvelope. Audio is captured using a Fathead Ribbon Microphone and a Shure SM57 Mic, both close mic’d.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

As you can hear, this is a great sounding tremolo that takes the tremolo effect into a new direction. I can see some guitarists going nuts for this thing. If the Pigtronix Tremvelope is something you are interested it is available for $249.00 at Amazon.

Please check out Pigtronix’s site for their other great products, as well as liking them on Facebook to see what they’re up to.

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I’ve brought up the EHX Bass Blogger in the past. It’s an interesting dirt box for bass guitar. One thing this pedal needs is a really good demo, unfortunately there isn’t much out there, but I came across a decent one by 13th Street Guitars. First let’s talk about what the Bass Blogger is all about.

Here is the official description for the Electro-Harmonix Bass Blogger:

The Electro-Hamonix Bass Blogger’s ultra-subtle distortion creates the perfect dialog with your drummer. Dial in your ideal fuzz with the effect pedal’s no-fuss, three-knob design and fuzz/drive selector switch. Dry/effect outputs.

* Volume, tone, drive controls
* Fuzz/drive toggle
* Dry out
* Effect out

Here is the video demo posted by 13thStreetGuitars:

The Electro-Harmonix Bass Blogger is available for $74.10 at Amazon.com

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A few weeks ago, Brandon from Elevation Boutiques contacted me letting me know of a new company called GOD BOX and wanted to get a pedal over here for a demo. Of course that’s always a great idea. Next thing you know the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz arrived. First thing that struck me was the Wardenclyffe Tower (aka Tesla Tower) on the face. Very cool graphic and I have to admit, I’m a big Tesla fan.

Okay, back to the pedal. GOD BOX refers to this as the Tesla Edition God Complex Fuzz Series. I’m not sure if they’re planning to issue different versions of this pedal, I’ll let you know once I get more details. The GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz is a hybrid germanium and silicon circuit (inside there is a vintage NOS germanium transistor paired with a high quality silicon transistor).

There are 5 basic controls for the Tesla Fuzz:

INPUT – Input controls the input signal, but it also stabilizes the circuit. “Offering subtle shades of fuzz”
TONE – The tone knob is a 6 way rotary switch (I like this) which gives you set tonal options from a bump in the midrange and almost no lows to full range thunder. The #6 position is an “homage to the classic FF”
DRIVE – Controls the drive level
OUTPUT – Controls the output signal level
NPD – Toggle switch to control the NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). This drops in distortion diodes which slightly compresses the signal.

For this demo, I again asked my good friend Jimmy Rolle to see what the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz was all about. This time, he’s not using his Les Paul and went with the Standard American Fender Stratocaster. Guitar is still going into a Germino Lead 55 through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. Everything was mic’d up with a Shure SM57 and a Fathead Ribbon Mic. Nothing between the guitar and amp besides the GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz.

This first video goes through the various tone settings with Tone, Drive, Input and Output

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

We included a second video to focus on the NPD tonal changes.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

As you can see and hear, this is a great sounding fuzz with a lot of tonal variety. If you’re interested in picking up a GOD BOX Tesla Fuzz, you should contact Brandon at Elevation Boutiques (the exclusive dealer of GOD BOX) and he’ll hook you up (Looks like it’s available for $219). If you want to learn more about GOD BOX, please check out their Facebook page. Their website is currently being developed, but the GOD BOX Facebook page is a great way to see what they’re working on!

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I was excited to receive another TONEbUTCHeR pedal in the mail. The PocketPus was a really exciting demo and give away so it’s great to follow up with something new. Huck at TONEbUTCHeR sent over a new ‘micro pedal‘ called the WeeWah demo.

As with all of TONEbUTCHeR pedals, no instructions are provided. It’s about experimentation and creativity. Letting your ears and imagination guide you instead of the instruction.  In a nutshell, this is an envelope filter (vactrol based). The pedal is very reactive and sensitive to how you play the instrument. Basically two knobs and toggle switch to manage the sweep direction. These *micro* pedals are TINY for sure. The PocketPus has a very small battery, but the WeeWah has an adapter.

Here is the official description of the TONEbUTCHeR WeeWah:

We are excited to pre announce a new micro pedal in our line – The Tonebutcher Weewah -  a Vactrol based envelope filter – the same used in the classic MuTron.  The Weewah has a switch that controls a reverse sweep on the envelope from low to high or high to low.  This pedal sounds excellent by itself and takes the Pocketpus to another level when chained together.

For this demo we again have Jimmy Rolle taking the pedal through it’s paces. Jimmy is playing his Les Paul Elegant Custom Shop into a Germino Lead 55 (on a side note, I’m sort of in love with his Germino Lead 55 – it’s now officially on my want-to-buy-list) through a Marshall 4×12. The whole thing is mic’d up with a Shure SM57 and Fathead Ribbon mic. There is nothing between the guitar and amp besides the WeeWah

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

Huck also sent me an EffectsBay incentive offer on the WeeWah:

Just let your readers know – if they purchase the Weewah pedal to Add Instructions to Seller on checkout – and put “Effects Bay Incentive”

PURCHASE INCENTIVE – NO SALES TAX  + FREE SHIPPING!! + Adverb Sweepstake Entry
Existing Tonebutcher customers can purchase a Weewah for $139.00 and will receive free shipping and no sales tax (international customers are responsible for duties and taxes levied by their country)  on a Weewah purchase prior to the end of the year ($20 value – shipping and tax are refunded upon cleared payment -Make sure you let us know you are an existing customer when you purchase by making a note in the Add Instructions to Seller on checkout.)

In addition to the Free Shipping No Tax Purchase Incentive we will put your name in for a giveaway on our next release The Adverb, a sick reverb just out of development which will retail for $199.00.  This sweepstake is available only to our existing customers.

REFERRAL INCENTIVE – REFER A FRIEND – They get the incentive you get the Adverb Sweepstake entry!!
Don’t have the $$$ to buy before the end of the year?  Refer a friend who buys a pedal, and we will extend them the same free shipping no tax incentive and will put your name in our sweepstake for the Adverb Giveaway – Just make sure they let us know that you referred them by adding your name as a referral in the Add Instructions to Seller on checkout.

Be sure to check out TONEbUTCHeR‘s other pedals. Let your imagination go wild!! Also, check out their Facebook and YouTube pages as well!

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I first have to say the Loud Button Electronics WTF pedal is one of the craziest pedals to come through EffectsBay. Initially I was expecting a distortion box, but noticed the low-frequency oscillator label on the enclosure and thought it might be a little different. When we plugged that thing in… it was like WTF!

In a nutshell, the Loud Button WTF provides synth/noise tones, but you can dial it in to be quite playable as well, or you can adjust to get to the insane/crazy/lazer world. I think your imagination will be your guide with this pedal. How to apply it for that special something in a lead, rhythm or intro/outro section of the song, etc. If you’re looking for that WTF type of pedal.. this could be the one.

Controls are very straight forward. We have Attack, Gate, Volume and Frequency. The Gate does some interesting things. All the way counter clock wise will choke the signal, but all the way clock wise, you’ll get full low oscillation when no signal is present.

For this demo, I called up Jimmy Rolle, and he ran it through the paces. He is again playing his Les Paul Custom Shop Elegant into a Germino Lead 55 through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. Guitar is mic’d with a Fathead Ribbon Mic and a Shure SM57 mic. Nothing between the guitar and amp besides the Loud Button WTF.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

For this demo, I had a chance to send a few questions to Shawn at Loud Button Electronics, and this is what he had to say:

So how did the name of “Loud Button” come about and become the name of the biz?
In the grand tradition of suggestive guitar pedal names, I wanted to choose a risqué name for the business.  One night, my wife and I were tossing around various business names and when one of us pitched Loud Button, it stuck.  There’s a button and the circuits provide amplification so it’s a fitting name.  For more information on the pop culture reference, please see the online urban dictionary.

How long have you been building pedals as Loud Button?
Loud Button was founded in June, 2009.

What inspired you to start working on circuits/electronics?
It began in early childhood.  I’m a throwback DIY-infused “space age”,(1950′s & 60′s).  I’ve been a tinkerer all my life and was always mesmerized by electronics.  I’m a former motorhead – focusing on the shortcomings of most things mass-produced.  Over the past 20 years as a guitar player, I’ve thrown untold thousands at hyped claims and celebrity-endorsed equipment.  Moving into modifying effects was a logical move and it led to building “from scratch”.  I’ve spent the past couple of years doing nothing but experimenting and reading.  I have a huge appetite for learning and electronics is such a challenging discipline.  It’s my passion.  It’s so satisfying to help someone find the sound they’re looking for.  That excitement is compounded by seeing the pedals proudly shown off on albums or at a live show.

With pedal names like “Balls Deep”, “Bongwater Fuzz”, “Trem-o-fo” and “WTF” do you have a hard time coming up with the names for future pedals? Or do they just come out naturally?
The risqué and in some cases downright obscene names spring from my mind as well as close friends who are also customers.  For the record, I didn’t name the “Balls Deep” overdrive pedal.  But I ran with it.  If it makes me blush, I know I’m onto something.

Are you working a new design now? If so.. what is it?
I love the design phase and I tend to get caught up in development and tweaks so I have to strive for balance.  I have around twenty circuits in development and I’d love to release them all to production.  Based on popular demand, I’ve got a clean blend mod for bass players.  There’s also a sample & hold circuit that’s just getting out of control in terms of complexity.  I’ve got a high-quality, transformer coupled A/B/Y switch that I offer by word-of-mouth as a one-off.  Basically, I can build anything to customer request.  People come to me with really imaginative ideas for effects and I love the challenge of pulling it off.  I’m not interested in offering more of the same.  In order for a circuit to make it to production, it has to offer something special.

What type of musician are you trying to reach with your pedals? Meaning is there a specific style or genre that these pedals are ideal for?
Ideally, I want to appeal to musicians of all styles and genres.  I do have a wide variety of customers in terms of style.  Minneapolis has a very vibrant music scene.  My pedals are on the boards of country players, indie rockers, noise-pop, shoe gaze, classic rock and death metal.  Bass guitar players are a massively under-served market and I spend a lot of time modifying and developing circuits that serve their needs.  For example, Loud Button pedals are designed to work well with guitar or bass.

I see you have handmade circuit boards. Do you etch your copper or do you a CNC to cut the traces?
The boards are etched 1 oz. FR-4.  We do it the old fashioned way with Ferric Chloride.  I solder all of the traces – that’s another throwback to the 1960′s.

What would you say is your “flagship” pedal? And why?
The WTF certainly put me on the map.  Everybody loves that thing – no matter their playing style.  I built the prototype for a close friend who wanted a noise/synth effect.  I still get carried away playing through them as I test every one before shipment.  There are so many possibilities with the WTF.  Every setting yields an inspiring and unique effect.  It’s come to my attention that the WTF does “Dub Step” bass tones.  I had to look it up on YouTube because I’m aging but I understand it’s a very popular genre.  I get a lot of feedback from customers raving about audience members asking, “WTF are you doing to get those sounds?”  The music business is all about standing apart from the crowd and the WTF can help that happen.  I mean, who doesn’t want a pedal on their board that makes their guitar sound like a laser and says, “WTF” in large block letters?

What is one thing that absolutely pisses you off about other pedals? Something you try to avoid with yours.
I respect the differences between different manufacturers.  Whatever they want to do is none of my business.  I’m honored to be a part of the musical instrument marketplace.  There are many impressive pedals out there.  If someone’s product doesn’t measure up then it won’t survive in the marketplace.  And then the discontinued product becomes rare and sought after by future generations who will pay obscene amounts of money just to have one.  Lol!

I see you also do Pedal Modifications. Are there any modifications that you specialize in?
Most often, customers come to me with a pedal and a wish list.  I just take it from there.  I’ve done some amazing things for bass players in particular.  Loud Button offers everything from the obligatory but cool DS-1 mods to Post-Phase Inverter Master Volumes on tube amplifiers.

How is the future looking for Loud Button?
The future looks very bright.  I recently left my job to focus on Loud Button on a full-time basis.  Loud Button also offers repair and modification of amplifiers, rackmount effects, mixing consoles and just about anything electronic that’s worth fixing.  I also specialize in vacuum tubes – particularly testing and selection.  The repair side alone is a constant flow with only word-of-mouth and I’m currently negotiating service deals with some major retailers.  I’m just beginning to focus on marketing.  It’s just my wife and I building the pedals.  We’re a natural team and she burns circuit boards like nobody I’ve seen.

Can I buy your pedal direct from your site.. or do I have to find a dealer?
Direct from the website is currently the only way to get a Loud Button pedal.  I’m currently working with dealers to get Loud Button into really great guitar shops.

Be sure to check out Loud Button Electronics on the web and on Facebook. They’re making some great stuff, and be sure to check them out!

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This is one of the pedals I was quite excited to see come through the EffectsBay office. It’s the Spaceman Effects Aphelion Harmonic Overdrive. Brandon at Elevation Boutiques (Spaceman Effects dealer) arranged for a unit to be sent here. Spaceman Effects has really been getting some buzz for their pedals. High build quality. High tone quality, and some big names are starting to be seen with Spaceman Effects. I’ve definitely been seeing them pop up on boards. In fact, when I just had a chance to see The Appleseed Casts, I saw the Aphelion on one of their pedalboards.

So, let’s talk about the Aphelion. Checking out Spaceman’s site, this is their official description of the Aphelion Harmonic Overdrive:

Introducing the Aphelion Overdrive, the latest Spaceman tone machine, built to inspire.   The Aphelion is a harmonically rich overdrive pedal, with an emphasis on even-order harmonics.  It has a wide gain range from light sparkle, to overdriven tube-amp bliss.  The pedal is wonderfully transparent and extremely responsive to playing dynamics.  To our ears, it’s the most realistic tube-amp overdrive tone we’ve ever heard in a pedal.

In standard Spaceman fashion, we’ve come up with an exciting, unique design that makes it truly one of the most organic and dynamically responsive overdrive pedals on the planet.  The Aphelion creates unique drive tones and with a sea of cloned overdrive circuits out there today, this means so very much.

The drive possibilities of the Aphelion range from a sparkly, shimmering boost to high-gain overdrive, with plenty of boosting power on tap.  The tone control lets you balance highs and lows, with full range at 12:00.  Use your neck pickup with high gain settings for singing, harmonic-laden lead tones.

Completely hand-soldered and handmade in Portland Oregon, the Aphelion utilizes true-bypass switching via the heaviest duty mechanical footswitch available.  Open one up and you’ll see an unparalleled display of craftsmanship.  Thick, high quality PCB along with detailed military-spec wiring, using vintage US made heavy-gauge stranded wire.  On top of the USA-cast aluminum enclosure sits a durable, engraved vinyl faceplate and clear jewel indicator with turquoise LED.  This overdrive is built to last a lifetime.

My first initial thoughts when playing the overdrive… it is damn organic, with great tonal range/options. For this demo, I called my buddy Jimmy again… who in fact already owns an Aphelion (blue) and was quite familiar with the pedal. He’s playing his trusty Les Paul Elegant Custom Shop guitar into his new Germino Lead 55 head through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. He mic’d the cab with Fathead Ribbon Mic and a Shure SM57. There is nothing between the guitar and amp besides the Spaceman Aphelion Overdrive.

For this video, I was able to gear up and get a better camera/lights for the shoot. I shot Jimmy to prove he’s not a artificial crazy rock robot I built.. but an actual person!

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

Since Jimmy was quite familiar with this pedal, I asked to send me his thoughts on the Spaceman Aphelion Overdrive:

Aphelion is smooth and thick sounding across the gain spectrum.  The even order harmonic content gives chords a dense and complex sound, single notes and lead lines are fat and juicy.  The midrange is even and balanced.  The tone control allows for gentle shaping of the lows and low mids, with noon on the dial sounding neutral.  Counterclockwise of noon, the tone control shaves lows and low mids letting the true mids punch through more prominently.  Full clockwise on the tone knob produces chewy low mids and extremely fat lead tones with an explosive low end quality while maintaining clarity.  The Aphelion has plenty of gain for use with a clean amp, but also works equally as well pushing a gained up amp into big time gain approaching EH “Muff” tones, but with a refined voice and musicality. – Jimmy Rolle

As you can hear, this pedal sounds absolutely great. If you’re interested in getting your hands on one, they range in price depending on what particular model you get. They range in the $269 – $279 area. Head over to Elevation Boutiques and contact Brandon and he’ll treat you right. Also, you might want to follow Elevation Boutiques on Twitter and like them on Facebook. They often announce great deals on awesome pedals. Be sure to check out Spaceman Effects as well!

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