bluesholyman
Friend of Leo's
Ok, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this pedal and while it can go from colored boost to all out raucous germanium dirt, this has got to be one of the best boost pedals I have ever played. I am typically critical of pedals that don’t have an even spread across the range of controls. What I mean is that as you increase “drive” one would expect the amount of dirt to increase evenly. This pedal does not do that. In every review, its widely stated that drive does little to nothing between 1-7 except a very slight coloring - hardly noticeable at volume. Then between 7-9.5 you start to feel the germanium clip and then between 10 - 11 all hell breaks loose. Normally [in my mind] I’d deride a builder who does such things but it does what it does so well I’m like “who cares, it sounds awesome.” Boost Range and “highs” switches are self explanatory.
The feedback control is a 5 position selector that changes the amount of feedback going into the circuit and it affects the volume level as well as feel of signal - almost like its getting compressed as you go from 1-5. To maintain unity one has to futz with drive and the volume knob, unlabeled and conspicuously above the power jacks on the top side of the pedal. Another inconsistency I am willing to overlook (as though anyone cares.)
The last bit of weirdness I’ll cover are the two required isolated power feeds which cannot be fed from a daisy-chained supply. Two supplies, or two isolated outputs from the same supply. What is going on internally is that the pedal is run at 18v and one supply is inverted to reach 18v (+9v - -9v == 18v) A lot of pedals use charge pumps to do this instead and maybe this is how they did it in the “olden days” or how its done where the case allows room for components, etc., such as the kind of equipment Chandler typically builds (studio rack gear.)
For as much oddity as this thing has, it is the best colored boost I have ever played (comparing to likes of 65 Amps Colour Boost, Aluminum Falcon (chapter/verse klon clone) and maybe something else I am not remembering.
I have put this at the very front of my signal chain and it does delicious wonders with the guitar signal - zero regrets on the purchase. I will probably use it more on single coils and not on ‘buckers unless I want a bit of extra kick there - it kicks nicely, depending on how it is set.
I doubt this is most peoples cup of tea because of price, 2x power requirements, and size. However, if you want a killer boost with some germanium goodness, I cannot recommend this thing enough.
The feedback control is a 5 position selector that changes the amount of feedback going into the circuit and it affects the volume level as well as feel of signal - almost like its getting compressed as you go from 1-5. To maintain unity one has to futz with drive and the volume knob, unlabeled and conspicuously above the power jacks on the top side of the pedal. Another inconsistency I am willing to overlook (as though anyone cares.)
The last bit of weirdness I’ll cover are the two required isolated power feeds which cannot be fed from a daisy-chained supply. Two supplies, or two isolated outputs from the same supply. What is going on internally is that the pedal is run at 18v and one supply is inverted to reach 18v (+9v - -9v == 18v) A lot of pedals use charge pumps to do this instead and maybe this is how they did it in the “olden days” or how its done where the case allows room for components, etc., such as the kind of equipment Chandler typically builds (studio rack gear.)
For as much oddity as this thing has, it is the best colored boost I have ever played (comparing to likes of 65 Amps Colour Boost, Aluminum Falcon (chapter/verse klon clone) and maybe something else I am not remembering.
I have put this at the very front of my signal chain and it does delicious wonders with the guitar signal - zero regrets on the purchase. I will probably use it more on single coils and not on ‘buckers unless I want a bit of extra kick there - it kicks nicely, depending on how it is set.
I doubt this is most peoples cup of tea because of price, 2x power requirements, and size. However, if you want a killer boost with some germanium goodness, I cannot recommend this thing enough.
