Effects Bay

At Winter NAMM 2011, VHT debuted their VHT V-Drive Overdrive pedal. This is a highly customizable overdrive.  The overdrive has a ‘select’ control which allows you to switch between 10 different diode configurations and allows for a 11th option which is a straight OpAmp boost (Clean Boost). Additionally there is Texture, Depth, Tone and Voltage controls.

This pedal will be available for purchase next month (9/7/2011) and might be a great overdrive for your board.

Here is the official description of the VHT V-Drive Overdrive:

From clean boost to creamy-smooth sustain to raging harmonic complexity, the new VHT V-Drive overdrive pedal’s unique controls offer an amazingly wide range of tones and textures at an awesome value. In addition to standard Drive and Volume controls, the VHT V-Drive offers four more unique controls.

Select
The V-Drive’s 11-position Select switch provides ten different clipping diode configurations plus a clean-boost diode-bypass mode. (Clipping diodes are the heart and soul of nearly every classic overdrive pedal design, and the type and configuration of these diodes defines the overdrive texture and dynamic response character.)

The V-Drive’s Select switch replicates the diode type and configuration of the most popular overdrive pedals of the ’80s and ’90s as well as some of today’s most sought-after boutique designs. The V-Drive also offers several new diode types and configurations for some fresh tones for the future, enabling players to make their own unique contributions to the advancement of the art of overdrive.

Texture
The V-Drive’s Texture control adjusts the overdrive texture and harmonic content. Working in conjunction with the Select switch, these two controls provide an unprecedented range of fine-tunable overdrive choices. Warm and smooth or bristling with harmonic activity, the choice—and voice—is yours.

Depth
The V-Drive’s unique 11-position Depth control fine-tunes the low-end response to perfectly voice the overdrive depth to suit a wide range of guitars, pickups, and musical styles.

Tone
The V-Drive’s Tone knob is voiced higher than is commonly expected. Unlike most overdrive pedals, it adjusts the treble content without altering the midrange. The V-Drive’s Tone control works in conjunction with the Depth control to provide a wider and more useful EQ-shaping range than conventional overdrive tone controls.

Voltage
The unique Voltage control uses a special voltage multiplying integrated circuit to increase the pedal’s operating voltage for a tighter, punchier, crisper, quicker-responding and more authoritative tone—ordinary 9-volt pedals can’t match this new level of dynamic response. The Voltage control can also reduce the V-Drive’s operating voltage to as low as 5 volts for a softer and spongier attack.

Like a box full of pedals in one, the innovative, revolutionary—and surprisingly affordable—VHT V-Drive introduces the next chapter in the quest for the ultimate overdrive.
Features

* Wide range of tones and textures
* Volume, Tone, Drive, Depth, Texture, Select controls
* Select control offers 11 settings that replicate the most popular overdrives of the ’80s, ’90s, and beyond
* Voltage control adjusts the operating voltage for tighter sound

Here is a video by premierguitar at NAMM where VHT talks about VHT Amps Special 6 Ultra Head and the VHT V-Drive Overdrive. I skipped the amp part. His guitar is out of tune, but you’ll get a good sense of what this pedal is all about.

As I mentioned above, the VHT V-Drive Overdrive  is available 9/7/2011. You can pre-order this pedal via Amazon.com for $99.00

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I’m currently running a give away to win this particular pedal – T-Rex Tonebug Booster. For those of you that are interested in the T-Rex Tonebug Booster, we put a quick demo of what this guy does. I like clean boosts. They’re simple and designed pretty much to do one thing – increase your guitar input signal to the pre-amp or to pedals. This can be especially great if you’re playing through a tube amp to get some nice natural amp break up. Normally clean boosts have just a single knob to manage the input gain, but the T-Rex Tonebug Booster also has a mid-scoop control to help contour the mid-range, which can be useful.

Here is what T-Rex has to say about their T-Rex Tonebug Booster:

You know the problem… When it’s time for you launch into another brilliant solo, how do you make yourself heard above the rest of the band?

Basically, you’ve got to turn up the volume, but that’s easier said than done. You can keep the volume knob on your guitar down when you’re playing rhythm and turn it up for leads – but that takes half the tone and all the shine out of your rhythm sound.

Or you can turn around and crank up your amp in the middle of the song – missing bars, losing your audience and – let’s face it – usually forgetting to turn it down again when your solo is over.

Introducing T-Rex Booster
Booster is the perfect solution when you want to turn your volume up or down on the fly – without losing your tone. The way it works couldn’t be simpler: You set the right volume for your solos compared to rhythm parts, and then you stomp on the box when you take a solo.

Added SCOOP control
Sometimes, tweaking your equalization can also help you rise above the rest of the band. That’s why Booster comes with a cool SCOOP knob, which lets you fine-tune your solo tone in addition to boosting your volume.

Part of the T-Rex Tonebug series
Booster is part of the T-Rex Tonebug series, a growing line of pedals that combines the classic T-Rex tone found in our high-end pedals with intuitive, uncomplicated controls – all at a price that any guitarist can afford.

Once you’ve give Booster a try, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to add one to your pedal board.

For this demo, I again asked Jimmy Rolle to help out. He’s playing his Les Paul Custom Shop Elegant into a Rivera Knucklehead 100w head through a Marshall 4×12 cabinet. The audio was recorded with a Shure SM57 and Fathead Ribbon Mic. There is nothing between the guitar and the amp besides this pedal.

You can listen to the high quality MP3 clip via SoundCloud

Now, if you’re liking what you’re hearing, and as I mentioned, I’m giving this pedal away! I’ll be accepting entries for a few more days, so be sure to get your entry in before it’s too late! You can find full details about the T-Rex Tonebug Booster Give Away here.

Popularity: 4%

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A few days ago I received an email from David Fisher who I believe does the video production on the Tibbon videos featuring Taylor Barefoot. David, if you’re reading this, please correct me if I’m wrong. In his email, he mentioned a few videos they have available. For one, I’m a fan of these video demos. They’re high quality, and I prefer the method used by Taylor of playing the same riff/guitar line between comparisons of pedals. His gear is pretty sweet as well. If you haven’t I would highly recommend subscribing to Tibbon’s YouTube channel to be notified of any new videos. I’m tellin’ ya.. they’re great.

This video is a demo of a few Diamond pedals, including the Diamond Memory Lane 2, which is a great analog delay pedal.

Here is a listing of all pedals featured in the video:

Diamond Boost-EQ Clean Boost
Diamond Fireburst
Diamond Halo Chorus
Diamond Phase
Diamond Vibrato
Diamond Memory Lane 2

Popularity: 5%

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I’m not familiar with Hao pedals, so when I saw this mentioned on Twitter, I wanted to take a closer look. Apparently they’re hand built in Japan, and are quite popular over there. Hao also makes a Rust Driver that is coined as a ‘plexi in a box’.This is the Hao Rust Booster III. I was able to find a video on the Hao Rust Booster (non-III).  It looks like they changed the boost to drive on the label. I’m sure there is some circuit modifications between the two.

Here is the official description of the Hao Rust Booster III Shred Booster Pedal:

The Hao Rust Booster III Pedal gives you an instant signal boost with no tonal coloration. The Rust Booster III Shred Booster Pedal is simple, yet versatile with both Boost and Level knobs. When the Boost knob is cranked, the Rust Booster stompbox produces crunch overdrive without sacrificing your guitar’s original tone. Clean or dirty, the Rust Booster effect will surely be a “must-have” on your pedal board. Bass players will also love the Rust Booster for its ability to boost bass signals without sounding thin and muddy.

Here is a video posted by grindingmass:

You can pick up the Hao Rust Booster III Shred Booster Pedal for $142.50 at Musician’s Friend. This pedal also ships for free in the lower 48 States.

Popularity: 4%

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Last week I posted about the T-Rex Luxury Drive. I’m not sure about the history of how it came from TC Jauernig to T-Rex (if you know, please comment or email me). A few of you asked if there were any differences, and some who were familiar with both had opinions (either T-Rex was better or the TC Jauernig was).

I found a video by Gearmanndude where he does a comparison between the two. I thought it was interesting so I’m posting that video below:

Which one did you think was better? If you’re looking to pick up the T-Rex Luxury Drive, it’s available for $149.00 at Amazon.com. If you’re liking the TC Jauernig Luxury Drive, you can find it via PedalNerd. You still may be able to purchase one direct from TC Jauernig’s web site as well.

Popularity: 4%

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Today I wanted to bring up the T-Rex Luxury Drive. Originally The Luxury Drive was originally designed by TC Jaurenig (who also makes the Gristle King effects). I’m not sure what the deal if he sold the rights/circuit of the pedal to T-Rex or let’s them produce it.. not sure, since the Luxury Drive appears to be available at TC’s site still.

I’m a big fan of clean boosts. I love the simple concept / circuit, and loves what it does to tube amps and pedals in front of the boost.

Here is the official description of the T-Rex Luxury Drive:

Boosts your pedals and amp for a trebly, slightly compressed tone.

The T-Rex Engineering Gristle Luxury Drive is based on simplicity, durability, and most of all tone. This pedal is designed to serve as a boost to drive your overdrive/distortion pedals and your amp harder. The T-Rex Gristle Luxury pedal’s increase in signal offers you an added edge of “treble-licious” tone with a slight bit of touch-sensitive compression that won’t fail in the low end.

I found this video by wildbabydragon where he uses it as a boost on a gain channel (actually, how I would use it as well).

If you’re looking for a clean boost, this might be a great to check out. You can pick up the T-Rex Luxury Drive for $149.00 at Musician’s Friend.

Popularity: 6%

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I just noticed that Musician’s Friend has a good deal on the BBE Boosta Grande Clean Boost. It lists at $129.99, and is usually available for $79.99, but is currently on sale for only $50.98. That’s 60% list price. This items also ships for free in the lower 48 States.

Here is the official description of the BBE Boosta Grande Clean Boost:

The Boosta Grande delivers up to 20dB of clean gain without changing the original signal’s sound. Use it to drive your preamp tubes to the max, or as a line buffer/driver if you’re experiencing degradation from other effects in the chain.

The Boosta Grande is built to last, and features hardwire bypass, single op-amp design, LED operation indicator, non-slip rubber bottom, and an easy-access 9V battery compartment. Includes AC power supply!

BBE Boosta Grande Clean Boost Effect Pedal Features:

* 20dB of clean gain boost
* Hard-wired bypass
* Single op-amp design
* LED indicator
* Nonslip rubber bottom
* Easy-access 9V battery compartment
* Includes external AC adapter

Here is a product video by BBETV:

Popularity: 4%

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The other day before getting ready for shooting our next pedal review, I stopped over at a friends house, and we were talking gear. One of the pedals he had on the board was something I wasn’t too familiar with. It was the Keeley Electronics Katana Clean Boost. I’ve been talking with people about clean boosts and they’re a great tool to have in the pedal arsenal… especially if you’re playing through a tube amp. The basic concept is that it increases your input signal to the preamp of the amp, overdriving and saturating the tubes. This could be used to effect the overall guitar tone, or used to punch leads, or too overdrive specific pedals in the chain, etc.

I was familiar with the ZVex Super Hard On (SHO) and adjusting OD pedals to act similar (drive down and gain up) to achieve a similar effect.

Here is the official description:

The Katana guitar pedal by Robert Keeley is a fat, harmonically rich boost. It operates in pure clean and high gain modes. With the speedo knob pushed in, it’s a volume control that goes to 20. With the knob out, it’s a cutting boost with just a touch of gritty edge.

Keeley Katana Pre Amp Guitar Effect Pedal Features:

* 9-volt DC jack or battery operation
* Internal Power Supply Boost turns your 9 volts into 18
* JFET design – clean tones that are tube like when they overdrive or clip
* Push-Pull Speedo Knob side mounted so it can be adjusted with foot
* Metal film resistors and caps for ultra low noise
* Blue LED, a Keeley trademark!
* Silver soldered and teflon coated wire
* True-Bypass
* 5-year warranty

I wasn’t able to find a good demo on this pedal… which is unfortunate.. and surprising. I’ll keep my eye peeled, and might even put it on the ‘review’ list for the future.

You can pick up the Keeley Katana Pre Amp pedal for $199.00 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 4%

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I’m little hazy this morning. Ended up hanging out with the other guitarist in the band I’m in last night. PBR was flowing like wine as they say. But it was great just geeking out about gear. Conversation bounced around from guitars to cabs to speakers to amps.. and finally to effects.  He just picked up the Electro-Harmonix Nano LPB-1 Power Booster, and I was excited to check it out. I’m really into simple signal boosters that pushes the preamp of your amp, while NOT altering your signal. There are a few out there, but for the price, this is pretty hard to beat at only $39.00.  There are some interesting things you can do with this, use it to drive a pedal, use it to drive your input, use it in your effects loop, etc. Simple to use, one knob and go switch.

Here is the official description:

The Electro-Harmonix Nano LPB-1 Power Booster is a spot-on reissue of the original LPB-1 circuit that introduced overdrive in 1968. Put this little monster in line before any effect to provide boost and definition. Improves the gain and saturation of your amp. The Nano LPB-1 Power Booster gives your sound presence! Housed in a compact, die-cast box with rounded corners to save valuable pedalboard space. 9V DC power jack.

I found two videos that I’d like to include. The first is the official EHX video:

The second is by mordecai52005. He goes into the effects loop, etc.

Like I mentioned earlier, the price is cheap for this thing. You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix Nano LPB-1 Power Booster for only $39.00 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 3%

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Today I wanted to talk about the Devi Ever Year of the Rat.  Devi Ever is definitely pumping out a variety of cool fuzz pedals. This one is a little interesting since it’s a clean boost with fuzz.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

The Year of the Rat Boost guitar effects pedal from Devi Ever is a clean boost with a chunky fuzz undertone. With this boost pedal you can achieve some meaty blues tones that would sound great in a multitude of genres or musical projects. It works well with bass, guitar, vocals, synths, drums, and anything else you can run through it.

The Volume knob controls the outbound gain of the fuzz circuit, and there is a lot of gain on tap. Use the YOTR boost pedal loud to push an amp into overdrive or boost lead parts. Be careful though, it can get very loud on a clean amp. The control knob changes the effect pedal’s intensity and character, so you can control the level of fuzz pumping through your amp for a dirty fuzz tone that would suit the rodent in all of us.

I found this interesting demo by tdal1706:

You can pick up the Devi Ever Year of the Rat for $97.50 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

Popularity: 4%

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