Surprise find

hippietim · June 29th, 2003, 01:40 PM

American Musical has been blowing out some Akai pedals so I took a chance and ordered the Intelliphase and Shred-O-Matic.

First the Intelliphase. Very nice analog phaser with true-bypass. It does the lush swoosh thing really well. If that was all it did that would be enough for $34.95. However, it gets better. It's got a touch sensitivity feature. On soft touch, the phaser only kicks in when you play soft. This is good for shimmering picking and not muddying up when you hit it harder. On hard touch, the phaser kicks in when you hit it hard. This is good for when you want swoosh on some big chord strumming but want to keep clean parts free and clear. The touch sensitivity threshold is adjustable.

Now the Shred-O-Matic. First, forget the name. It's not a "shred" pedal. Stupid name. What it is is a dual mode overdrive pedal. It has both tube and diode distortion. The tube mode is driven by a 12AX7 and is very fat and warm. The diode mode has a sharper edge like a typical distortion pedal. This thing sounds really good. Some folks recommend popping an EH tube in it to get an even sweeter tone. There is a variable pedal to control either the volume or distortion level. Like the Intelliphase, this pedal also has some dynamics based smarts. You can have it gradually or abrubtly switch between tube and diode distortion based on your playing. This is a very cool pedal for $49.95.

Brad · July 1st, 2003, 11:47 AM

I've always wondered about the Shred-O-Matic. Sounds like a great pedal for the dough.

June 29th, 2003, 01:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
hippietim Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Raleigh Posts: 2,082	Surprise find American Musical has been blowing out some Akai pedals so I took a chance and ordered the Intelliphase and Shred-O-Matic. First the Intelliphase. Very nice analog phaser with true-bypass. It does the lush swoosh thing really well. If that was all it did that would be enough for $34.95. However, it gets better. It's got a touch sensitivity feature. On soft touch, the phaser only kicks in when you play soft. This is good for shimmering picking and not muddying up when you hit it harder. On hard touch, the phaser kicks in when you hit it hard. This is good for when you want swoosh on some big chord strumming but want to keep clean parts free and clear. The touch sensitivity threshold is adjustable. Now the Shred-O-Matic. First, forget the name. It's not a "shred" pedal. Stupid name. What it is is a dual mode overdrive pedal. It has both tube and diode distortion. The tube mode is driven by a 12AX7 and is very fat and warm. The diode mode has a sharper edge like a typical distortion pedal. This thing sounds really good. Some folks recommend popping an EH tube in it to get an even sweeter tone. There is a variable pedal to control either the volume or distortion level. Like the Intelliphase, this pedal also has some dynamics based smarts. You can have it gradually or abrubtly switch between tube and diode distortion based on your playing. This is a very cool pedal for $49.95.

July 1st, 2003, 11:47 AM	#2 (permalink)
Brad Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 1,294	Thanks Tim! I've always wondered about the Shred-O-Matic. Sounds like a great pedal for the dough. __________________ We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old becasue we stop playing.