Tone Report Weekly - Issue 74 - 2015 - May 8

TONE REPORTW E E K L Y

P L A Y T I L Y O U R F I N G E R S B L E E D

M A Y 8 T H , 2 0 1 5

100% analog signal path with unprecedented digital control.

This true pitch analog vibrato/chorus pedal features an all-analog signal path that can be dialed in to create limitless palette of vibrato and chorus. Since the control of the effect is digital, it opens up unprecedented effects and features that have never been heard or offered in analog stompboxes. chaseblissaudio.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ISSUE 74 MAY 8TH

40 DIGITECH OBSCURA ALTERED DELAY

44 MCCAFFREY AUDIO REACTOR BOOST

COMPRESSOR 48 JHSPEDALS

UNICORN UNI-VIBE 52 STRYMON

EL CAPISTAN dTAPE ECHO

8

16 24 32

5244 48

40

8 TONE TALK 5 FUZZES FOR TWEAKERS

16 TONE TALK THE EVENTIDE H9 MAX

EXPERIENCE 24 INTERVIEW

MISSION ENGINEERING: PAUL SHEDDEN 32 TONE TALK

MOVING IN STEREO: FOUR KILLER RACKMOUNT AMPS

8 TONE TALK // 5 Fuzzes for Tweakers

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As much as I can appreciate a deft, tasteful display of musicianship, a clever chord change or a slick scalar run up the neck, I also have an equally deep appreciation of less scholarly methods of making interesting sounds on the electric guitar. Guitarists like Gang of Fours Andy Gill, U2s The Edge, Justin Broadrick, David Torn, and the creative men and women of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine (among many others), have shown that approaching the guitar from a textural and rhythmic perspective can be just as valid and musically rewarding as spending all of ones time laboring over scales, harmony, and chord changes. In other words, if a cool enough noise can be made, sometimes the notes and chords become immaterial. One of the best tools for making cool noises with an electric guitar is a fuzz pedal (plus lots of volume). This has been true since Hendrixs time, and is perhaps even truer today. We are living in a golden age of fuzz, after all, and for those among us who find sublime joy sitting in front of an amp with a fuzz pedal, twisting knobs and hitting strings and whipping the air molecules into a violent frenzy, there is no finer time to be alive with a guitar in your hands. Its a whole lot of fun, and can result into some very inspiring musical experiments. What follows are a few of my favorite fuzzes


for tweaking and general noise making. Z. VEX FUZZ FACTORY Its impossible to discuss fuzz pedals for noise-mad tweakers without first mentioning the Fuzz Factory, the pedal that nearly singlehandedly ushered in the modern era of fuzz. Invented by Zachary Vex way back in the mid-90s, the Fuzz Factory starts with a classic sort of germanium fuzz circuit, expanding its capabilities to an extreme level through use of internal feedback loops, and allowing the user to have control over component bias adjustments with external knobs on the face of the pedal. The result is a fuzz that can be as friendly or as batshit-crazy as the user wishes, providing theyve mastered the sometimes-touchy panel of controls. The learning curve necessary to wrangle the wilder tendencies of the Fuzz Factory has gained it a reputation for being an untameable maverick, but in fact it is a fairly easy pedal to get along with if you take a moment to peruse the manual, familiarize yourself with the functions of each knob, and try Z. Vexs recommended settings. There are plenty of great, classic germanium fuzz tones lurking within it, but its penchant for squealing, oscillation, and other frightening tonal aberrations has overshadowed this aspect of its personality. This duality of nature,

plus the seemingly endless number of unique tones that can be wrenched from its surprisingly minimal electronic guts, make the Z. Vex Fuzz Factory a must-have for any guitarist that lives for fuzz. DEATH BY AUDIO SOUNDWAVE BREAKDOWN DBA has practically specialized in wacky fuzz pedals, with a handful of different models for doing various heinous things to your innocent, unsuspecting guitar signal. They are all cool and worthy of exploration, but for my money, the companys most adventurous offering is the Soundwave Breakdown, a deceptively simple looking device that generates a cornucopia of harsh, raspy tones with just a trio of hair-trigger controls. Like the Fuzz Factory, every little nudge of the knobs will take you somewhere different, from oscillating feedback, to TV-on-the-fritz squall, to stinging, buzzing sustain, and a million variations in between. Getting the same sound twice can be a test of ones patience, but the rewards to be reaped from pursuing a relationship with the Soundwave Breakdown are many. The newest version even sports a volume knob, a feature absent from the original, which might make its face-melting tendencies a bit easier to

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tame for some players intimidated by its fearsome reputation. DWARFCRAFT EAU CLAIRE THUNDER Dwarfcraft Devices is a powerful ally to twitchy fuzz nerds everywhere, as the company itself is made up of twitchy fuzz nerds hailing from the far-out frozen wilds of Wisconsin. Its Eau Claire Thunder (named after the companys hometown) is a fuzz maniacs delight, with elements clearly descended from the Fuzz Factory lineage, but with a character and functionality that further expand on that pedals capabilities in unique ways. For one, the Eau Claire Thunder seems more closely related to the Big Muff than the Fuzz Face from which Z. Vexs pedal descends, lending it a big, burly chunk and thick sustain that is right at home in a stoner rock context. It works beautifully with down-tuned guitar, baritone, synth, and bass, and its plentiful midrange keeps it from ever getting lost in a mix (unlike many Muff-ish pedals that tend to wander off once the band comes in). Of interest to tweakers in particular are its Feedback Tune knob, which functions exactly as labeled, and its unique set of switches: Toneblast, which bypasses the tone control for increased volume and mid-range, and a momentary switch labeled Feedback for quickly

summoning the feedback loop demons from within the ECTs hellish bowels. These are really cool features for sculpting a broad range of interesting textures on-the-fly, and are just plain fun to experiment with when sitting in front of your amp with a beer and a favorite axe. FAIRFIELD FOUR EYES FUZZ Quebecs Fairfield Circuitry never fails to impress with each new pedal it releases, and as such, the Four Eyes Crossover Fuzz is a guaranteed inspirational rut-buster for any fuzz nut looking for a source of fresh tones and textures. Inspired by audio crossover circuits, which take an input signal and split it into separate frequency bands to be amplified individually, the Fairfield Four Eyes divides up the guitar signal into three bands: Lo, Mid, and Hi, sending each band to its own dedicated JFET fuzz circuit. Each band has its own gain knob on the face of the pedal, sort of functioning like gain and EQ at the same time, allowing the user to vary the saturation level of individual frequency bands for some truly unusual sounds. At the core of the Four Eyes, though, is a voltage-controlled state variable filter, and its Freq knob which controls the cutoff frequency of each bands filter. This filter allows for dramatic shifts in the character of the pedal, further enhanced by a three-way toggle that controls


overall resonance. It sounds complex, but its quite intuitive in practice, and taken together, these features offer near endless possibilities for zesty fuzz recipes, from gut-rumbling grunt, to mid-peak telephone tones, cocked-wah sounds, or even a semi-normal, full-bodied fuzz, should you need something like that. Perhaps best of all, the Four Eyes features an expression pedal input that lets you sweep the filter with your foot in real time, which, depending on where you set the FREQ knob and resonance toggle, can sound like radical fuzz wah, subtle phaser fuzz, wild ultrasonic squeals, or something else entirely. The Fairfield Four Eyes is a must-try for any mad scientist with a guitar. BLACKOUT EFFECTORS TWOSOME DUAL FUZZ For true knob and switch fetishists, few fuzz pedals can compete with the loin-moistening dashboard clutter of the Blackout Effectors Twosome Dual Fuzz, a stompbox so replete with mini-toggles, potentiometers, and switches, youd think NASA had something to do with its design. These doohickeys are not mere decoration, however, they are the keys to the unlimited sonic potential that lurks within the Twosomes brawny enclosure. The Twosome houses the circuits of

two of Blackouts most impressive fuzz designs, the glitchy, herky-jerky, Fixd Fuzz and the Muff-ish aural annihilation of the Musket Fuzz. These pedals are both formidable in their own right, but sandwiched together in a single box, they become an inexhaustible source of filthy guitar sounds. The Twosome has been built in a few different versions, but dedicated tweakers and fuzz extremists will want the Very Special version, which allows the user to kick in each circuit individually, or stack them in any whatever order is desired, a feature that the standard Twosome does not have. This capability gives the Very Special Twosome the juice to make just about any dirty sound one can imagine, from rather friendly boost and drive tones, to vintage Muff sounds, to completely unhinged fuzz destruction. Get one immediately! All fuzz maniacs have their favorite noise makers, and this list contains but a few of my own. There are many more out there to explore, and Im sure Ill get lots of suggestions in the website comments for pedals that necessarily went unmentioned due to time and space constraints. I welcome these. If youre the kind of player that cant get enough fuzz, and becomes easily aroused by the sight of multiple, oddly-named control knobs, and banks of mysterious looking miniature toggle switches, then theres a lot for you to be excited about in todays flourishing stompbox scene. Get fuzzed, you hoser.

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16 TONE TALK // The Eventide H9 Max Experience

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WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT FLEXIBILITYTo say the Eventide H9 MAX is just a mere guitar pedal or even a full-blown effects processor would be a massive understatement. The H9 Harmonizer, with all of the up-to-date algorithms in the MAX package, is a completely enveloping and potentially life-consuming sonic experience. Since I was a kid, I have been through bouts of gear and effects addiction that I almost sought professional mental help to tame. Tone Report Weekly has become my outlet for this obsession and I am here to tell the world that the H9 MAX is one of the most powerful, flexible and inspiring pieces of gear available from any era.


For todays feature, I thought it would be helpful for those like myself who have been curious about the H9 for the last couple of years to see how it can integrate into ones life, no matter what musical role one might play. Eventide has broken down the barriers and claimed jurisdiction over all tonal territories with this one, so here are a few distinct personality-types that should seriously consider getting involved in the world of H9 MAX. THE SONIC ARCHIVIST When I fired up the H9 Control app, one of the first things I realized was that I could potentially clone and archive my favorite vintage effects units and even take them further into 21st

Century control. Once I got a birds-eye view of the comprehensive parameter adjustment for each algorithm, I realized how quickly this could be achieved. The first pedal I archived was my original 76 Electric Mistress. I was able to get scarily close to the watery gorgeous tone by setting the wave shape and mod source to triangle and the type of flanging to negative. The hi-fi-like quality of those old SAD1024 BBD chips was

easily replicated by the H9. I then just tweaked the rest to taste and assigned expression pedal control to increase speed for more swirl. Now I can stick my cloned Electric Mistress in an effects loop without a severe volume drop. I also cloned my super-rare PA:CE Automatic Double Tracker with the Mod Delay algorithm by dialing in a slapback delay with heavy stereo modulation and filtering out high end. With a source tone and a good set of ears, any modulation is duplicable. THE STUDIO ENGINEER I didnt realize just how three-dimensional and lush these algorithms were until I fired up Logic Pro, patched into two hard-panned channels from the H9s outputs and strapped on the headphones. Chorus patches such as Polymodelicious and Big Clone orbited around

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my ears with a notch-less liquidity that was like having my brain stung into hallucination by the tendrils an intergalactic jellyfish. Terror visions of fathomless scape consumed my skull with Space presets like Kubrix, Hells Gate and Ekospace-God. Of course it isnt all about over-the-top escapism. I managed to transform my Victory V30 into a really convincing Twin Reverb with the Amespring preset. Dripping splashy reverb and rich throbbing tremolo suited the clean channel perfectly, turning a modern head into a vintage combo at the flick of a button. With the lines between professional and home studios blurring year by year, and living space becoming smaller and smaller, the H9 could prove an invaluable recording setup-streamlining machine. THE GIGGING ECONOMIST Speaking of streamlining, this is perhaps one of the biggest selling points of the H9 MAX for mesummer is approaching and gigging guitarists are getting ready for festival season. This is the time of year when there is no time for dodgy patch cables, complex stage rigs, or babysitting a huge pedalboard full of vintage and boutique effects that might get stolen during one wayward glance. Big, sweaty event staff will be kicking our starving musician bums up on the stage and expect us to get off quickly with no faffing about. With a little pregame planning, the H9 MAX will make this less painful.

The H9 MAX Control app contains a super user-friendly system of preset list management that even an ape could figure out. Within minutes after I downloaded the app to my Surface Pro 3, I was tweaking and renaming from preset platforms and dragging them into lists. I can tailor these lists for different gigs, projects, bands and sets and store them on my computer for backup. When I upload the preset list to the H9, I can even limit the presets to only what is needed on the occasion. I have already chosen the core effects for my bands current set and assigned them to each song. Now, the H9 does only one algorithm at a time, but many of these have more than one effect to tweak, so it works out with some planning. I could probably squeeze a full set off with different ModEchoVerb variations alone. THE EXPERIMENTALIST If you aim to bottle the spirit of Robert Fripp, Bill Frisell, Adrian Belew, or any other guitarist who doesnt play by the rules, go ahead and get yourself an H9 MAX and be done with it. It is like having a refrigerator-sized wall of the most powerful and sought after rack effects in a single stompbox. In H9 Control, it is possible to assign the sweep range of every adjustment parameter within each algorithm to an expression pedal for simultaneous control. Lets use an H9-exclusive algorithm called Ultratap for example. One can


start in the heel position with just a touch of modulated movement from a slapback repeat and by toe-down, summon a hailstorm of rubber bouncing balls (hence the preset name). With fully-wet mixes, all manners of earthly (and even unearthly) object mimicry is possible, especially with the MAX package. THE GUITAR TECH I am willing to bet that some of our readers are in the guitar tech business. If you are the type of tech that is behind the scenes tap-dancing during tunes and patching together rack effects like a mad 50s telephone operator, the H9 MAX could be a labor-saving godsend for your workflow. The H9 MAX can take an instrument or line level, integrate seamlessly into mono or stereo rigs and be controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth. There is now an alternative to damaging your lower back even more by moving huge rack cases around the stage and trying to remember what to switch in and out while you are in a pain pill-induced stupor. Imagine sitting comfortably in the wings, calling up patches that are named by song, and controlling everything on the fly with an iOS device and your index finger. It may take some selling to convince your artist to leave the vintage analog pieces in the studio, but taking some time to archive the favorites and hearing the results should do the job. THE AMBIENT EXPLORER As a diehard fan of Michael Rother, Robin Guthrie, and Brian Enos guitar treatments, I am always intrigued by crazy long-tailed reverbs and modulated delays. The algorithms from the Space, Timefactor and Pitchfactor within the H9 MAX are sonic atmosphere processers that make even the most dry, barren tone not only

breathable, but also permanently inhabitable. I am finding it extremely difficult to write this article, because just prior to this undertaking I was playing in stereo through headphones and getting hopelessly lost in Echoes of the 910 Past, Airplane Hanger and possibly my favorite Eventide algorithm of all time, Undulator. Undulator is a Shoegazers wet dream with two delay lines, two detuned voices and a FM modulated tremolo pulsing into hypnosis. Eventide wrote the book on this kind of out-of-body tonal experience and new chapters are being written for those how dare to tune in, turn on and MAX out. EVERYTHING FOREVER FOR EVERYONE I remember when I was a budding guitarist in the early-to-mid 90s, hearing tales of a magic effects box called the Harmonizer that mere mortals simply couldnt interact with. It seemed to me at the time to be an exclusive unit that only top record producers could have the privilege of access to. When the Factor pedals first came out and the general public could sample the magic, Eventide turned from an elusive elite cult of sonic scientists into a household name overnight. Eventide is a company that doesnt rely on flowery advertising, hype or retrograde puritanical tone pandering. When you go to the website and see a section for Avionics, you know they mean business. They have innovated at a level unfathomable altitude for decades and the H9 MAX is a perfect testament to their forward thinking ethos. Like a great sci-fi movie, the vintage Eventide algorithms still sound modern 40 odd years later and the new ones showcase what one can expect for years to come, which is everything and anything one can imagine.

Lifetime WarrantyPatents Applied For

The New Holeyboard MKII Seafoam Green

2 Levels No Velcro Curved Deck

Quick.Tight.Better.

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P aul Shedden, President and Head of Sales at Mission Engineering, Inc., has been fascinated with effects since his youth, when he was president of the Electronics Club in secondary school. He has worked as a producer and a member of the UKs Creative Coalition Council, a group formed to help develop legislation with government officials in order to prevent illegal downloading of creative content. Tone Report Weekly caught up with Mr. Shedden to discuss his love of music, the state of Mission Engineering, and what the future holds for the company. TONE REPORT WEEKLY: What drew you to music in general? Was there a specific artist or sound that made you want to create? PAUL SHEDDEN: Thats a great question, and it takes me back to my youth. My best friend in high

school introduced me to Queen before they blew up and became famous. We travelled up to the Alexander Palace in London (a huge Victorian building built as a world leading exhibition center at the time). I remember it as if it were yesterday; they had absolutely no barriers around the stage, which was circular in shape and barely big enough to take the band. I did not realize it at the time, but I was standing just four feet away from Freddie (Mercury) and that was the first and last time that was ever likely to happen to me. In those days (I am oldnot in spirit and mind though), it was vinyl. I purchased every album they released and sat in my bedroom listening through headphones and waling alongmy poor parents. Shortly after, I formed my own group and we played at local schools, but in my mind of course I was performing to stadium size crowds.

26 INTERVIEW // Mission Engineering: Paul Shedden

TR: What was the state of Mission Engineering when you came aboard? Did you have specific goals as far as what you wanted to create? PS: When I arrived, Mission only offered expression pedals and one volume pedal. The reputation for these was already great, but I knew we needed to expand the range if it was going to not just survive, but also grow into the company I was confident it could be. The expression pedal market at that time was not substantial compared to the general effects market, and people were used to spending $50 or so on plastic expression pedals (and generally not being happy with the results). It was always going to be a slow-burn situation convincing people to spend more than double what they were used to on a Mission expression pedal. Then it would take time to re-educate and convince them that expression pedals are worth havingi.e. that they can work properly and enhance creativity. Plus, youd be surprised how small the profit margin is for our expression pedals because theyre made with high quality (see: high cost) components and built here in the USA, which adds other expenses. It made sense to use the existing brand strength for quality, reliability and innovation and move into potentially larger markets such as volume and effects. I think I was the catalyst for invention, as James and I now offer new expression pedals, buffered volume pedals, wah pedals, boost pedals, distortion pedals and of course our Gemini FRFR Amps, which is a lot of product line expansion in just over two years. But in every case, the focus was on innovation; build quality, usability, and value for moneyalways with the guitarist in mind. I like the term imaginer regarding my contribution to this expansion. In the same way a car designer creates the look and concept, but then turns it over to engineers to bring

it to life, we function that same way at Mission. We are definitely a great working team. TR: Can you tell us specifically what products you imagined? PS: I imagined the VM Pro, Delta III and our Gemini Amps. When I came to Mission in late 2012, as I said earlier, we needed to expand our product line to grow. Whenever something new popped into my head I started throwing all kinds of ideas at poor James (Founder and CEO). Many times I would get It cant be done as a reply but there were those that made it through. TR: With myriad amp choices available for guitarists, what made you decide to develop the Gemini? PS: The decision to invest our limited time and resources into building amps was not an easy one. With traditional tube amp sales in decline, and with so many existing companies doing a great job of building these already, it did not make sense to enter this market. A more obvious decision was to look at FRFR (full frequency range) technology. This was a progression from pedals we designed as part of a great relationship we have with Fractal Audio. The Gemini amps are not your traditional tube amp affair. Theyre specifically designed to work with modelling gear such as Fractals AxeFX, Kemper, Eleven Rack and others. TR: Youve led your own British Invasion of sorts as you came across the pond to work with Mission. Why here in the USA instead of the UK? PS: I promise Im not sucking up to Americans when I say this, but you guys are so much more can-do than us Brits. For example, when I first approached Line 6 with the idea to build the co-branded pedal we offer, they were totally open to

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28 INTERVIEW // Mission Engineering: Paul Shedden

it, despite Mission being pretty much James and myself. That would never happen in the UK. You would not make it past the front door of a similar company of that size and standing in the industry. You probably would not receive a reply to an e-mail. Its sad but true. Then I guess a typical Brit thing to say is whats not to like about the food and California weather? TR: Line 6 is a giant in the industry, thats great that they were open to working with you from the get-go. Are there any other pedal companies youd like to team up with? What effects companies have inspired you in general? PS: Its funny you should ask. We already work with Pigtronix, Magnatone, RJM, etc., and well potentially be announcing collaborations with three industry heavyweights. It depends on whether they want the new pedals we build for them to be totally branded for them, or have a reference to Mission on the pedal. There are so many effects companies out there that inspire me; if I named names, Id just have a long list of well known brands. It would also put me in a bad place with any I forget to mention (laughs). TR: Many players are very discriminating with the volume and expression pedals they use, and I always hear Mission Engineering mentioned as one of, if not the top contender. Did you specifically set out to corner that market, or was it happenstance? PS: I cant take credit for that one. While playing in a church band in Austin, TX, James offered to build a pedal for the lead guitarist who was complaining

about a plastic expression pedal. James being James, he set out to build the best he could and tried numerous componentsincluding the all-important potentiometeruntil he had a pedal he liked. The guitarist liked the pedal so much he started posting comments online and, people started asking James to build more. Like all good US success stories, he started building them in his garage. So, you could say Mission Engineering was never meant to be a business, but Im glad it is, or I wouldnt be living here and enjoying my life in the USA. TR: As your product line continues to expand, so does the number of notable devotees. Are

there any particular artists that you saw using your gear, and you said, Cool!?

PS: I am truly humbled every time I receive positive feedback from a player. I have a great passion for all things

music, having my record label in the UK and being involved in music production. You will see from our artist list I have built over the last few years that there are some legends and some not so famous, but genuinely talented players. I feel to be associated with all and any of them is cool. Now if Freddie was still alive and Queen used our pedals, then you would have had a far more simple answer. TR: Can you give us any hints of what well see from Mission Engineering in the future? PS: All I can divulge is the next pedal will be fully programmable from a smartphone and will have a brand new chassis. If I say anything else, Ill have to kill you.

J. R

OC

KETT

AUDIO DESIGNS

...IS ON YOUR BOARD?UZZMADE IN USA

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T heyre plainly adorned rectangular boxes with a couple of switches, maybe a knob or three, and some ins and outs on the back. Designed to live in a rack stacked with preamps, power conditioners, and flashy looking effects processors, these utilitarian workhorses of the eighties rack era are typically devoid of the classy touches we normally like to see on our guitar amplifiers, from Tolex and decorative piping to fancy knobs and faceplates. This lack of sexiness, plus the association with eighties butt-rock (sort of ironic, no?), is probably the main reason many of these fine amplifiers have remained so far under the radar of the average guitarist.

Rack power amps have made something of a comeback recently, though, largely as a result of the wild popularity of the Fractal Axe-FX preamp/processor among a certain subset of guitar people, but for many tube amp nuts they are still looked upon with derision (or at least extreme suspicion). This is a shame, because despite how they look, many of the classic rackmount power amps are heavy duty, all-tube tone beasts that make a great platform for not only Axe-FX owners, but any player with a penchant for effects. Most power amps are strictly for power, and thus have little, if any, tone controls on board, making them perfect blank canvases for players that use outboard preamplifiers and effects to achieve their tone. Many can be had quite inexpensively second-hand, are very ruggedly built, and have cool features like true stereo operation and lots of ins and outs. Here are a few of our favorite tube power amps from the bygone era of the rack.

34 TONE TALK // Moving In Stereo: Four Killer Rackmount Amps

MARSHALL 9200 DUAL MONOBLOC 100/100:

Despite what I said about rack power amps being plain and unattractive, the Marshall 9200 is actually rather fetching, with a gold faceplate, Plexiglas tube window, fancy knurled gold knobs, and a prominent Marshall logo on the front. Many older players are probably familiar with the 9000 series, as they were ubiquitous in the eighties, usually paired up with a Marshall JMP-1 preamp. The guitarists of Iron Maiden were among the many illustrious users of these amps. The 9200 is a dual-mono amplifier, rather than a stan-dard stereo amp, meaning that its pair of 100-watt amps could be used independently. Each side has in-dependent Power, Standby, and Voicing switches, as well as independent controls for Gain and Presence. Powered by eight EL34 or 5881 power tubes, the 9200 is capable of tremendous volume, headroom, and smooth British gain, and even today, makes a great platform for the effects aficionado. A proper Marshall preamp makes a great match for this power amp, but because it is somewhat less colored than a JCM800 or other Marshall head, it will also work well with just about any distortion generator one might want to put in front of it. A Marshall 9200 in good used condition typically sells for between 600 and 800 dollars.

MESA/BOOGIE FIFTY/FIFTY STEREO:

This amp embodies the utilitarian, no-nonsense char-acter of the typical rack power amp with its plain-Jane black box and minimalist feature set. The Mesa Fifty/Fifty sported 50 watts per side of Class A/B, 6L6 power, with each channel having independent Volume and Presence controls. This amp was Mesas best selling power amp ever, and for good reasonit was possessed of a large, articulate voice with ample low-end and headroom. Back in the day, the Fifty/Fif-ty was typically mated with Boogies TriAxis preamp, but its warm and somewhat Fender-esque character allows it to pair nicely with many different preamps. One of the coolest features of this rack amp is its Lo Power switch, which takes it from 50 watts down to 15, letting the user push this monster into saturation at totally reasonable volumes. A used Mesa/Boogie Fifty-Fifty is an excellent bargain, selling for anywhere from 325 to 500 dollars in good working order.

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PEAVEY CLASSIC SERIES 50/50 STEREO TUBE:

Im not surehow Mesa/Boogie and Peavey managed to avoid suing each other over the similarity in the names of their 50-watt stereo power amps, but I do admire them for not resorting to litigation. Either way, the Peavey Classic Series 50/50 is a different animal than the Mesa, with a total of eight EL84 power tubes producing fifty watts per side in stereo, or switchable to 100 watts in mono operation. With EL84s at its heart, one might expect the 50/50 to exhibit a Vox-like character, but in truth, the tone of this rack amp is much less colored than one would expect. Its sound does tilt towards the mid-range a bit, though, and it doesnt have the tight and hefty bottom end of the Mesa. (Think classic and warm, rather than big and clean.) Among the 50/50s cool features are indepen-dent Resonance and Presence knobs on each chan-nel, for tailoring low-end and high-end, respectively, and a wide variety of ins and outs, including low-noise XLR direct outs for plugging it straight into a console or recorder. The Peavey Classic Series 50/50 is pret-ty common on the used market, and can be had for around 300 bucks if you play your cards right.

LEXICON SIGNATURE 284 STEREO AMPLIFIER:

This amp is a genuine anomaly in the world of tube power amps, in that it was built by Lexicon, a company known more for top-shelf digital delays than tube amps, and it was released in 1998, well beyond the apex of the rack era. It is also strange in that it was a three-watt per side, EL84-based design that was geared towards recording rather than high volume stage rocking (though it could get rather loud when cranked). The Signature 284 was dreamed up for Lexicon by renowned tube amp guru John McIntyre, and it features a 12AX7-based preamp, three-band EQ, a presence control, and independent left and right volume controls. The back panel has speaker outs, slave outs, XLR direct outs with speaker emulation, and a stereo effects loop. The speaker and direct outs could even be used at the same time, which created a lot of options for record-ing. Pushing in its Gain knob resulted in a surprisingly mol-ten high-gain tone that was available at a very reasonable volume, but it could also achieve a brilliant clean, or gently driven tone. Unlike the average rack amp, the Signature 284 was absolutely gorgeous to behold, with a gloss black faceplate, understated logos, chicken-head knobs, and an overall air of classiness and quality that is missing from most rackmount gear. The Lexicon Signature 284 is a fairly rare bird, infrequently showing up on eBay, Craigslist, and other used gear buying venues. When one does show up, however, they can sell for as little as 400 bucks, making this amp an incredible steal for those that manage to lo-cate one.

Destroy time with the Obscura Altered Delay from DigiTech. Its four delay modes can be darkened, degraded, and distorted on the fly with the stacked Tone and Degrade controls. Combine these controls with Repeat/Hold and lose yourself in long trippy, gurgling repeats or manipulated backwards sonic mayhem. Obscura also has excellent sounding Analog, Tape, Lo-Fi, and tap tempo modes with beat divisions, stereo in/out, tails switch, and true bypass.

HARMAN 2015

DigiTech has been on a serious tear over the last year, dropping an array of pedals and making a serious statement to the rest of the pedal world: Top this.

Last summer, it introduced us to two isolations of the companys flagship pedalthe much-heralded-yet-somewhat-polarizing Whammycalled the Drop and Luxe. Then, leading up to this years Winter NAMM, we saw the Polara Stereo Reverb, Boneshaker Distortion and TRIO, each pedal turning more heads than the last. So perhaps it should

come as no surprise that DigiTechs newest creation is packed with great tones and a level of user control that should tempt other companies to up their game.

Beholdthe Obscura Altered Delay. SONIC MAYHEM The Obscura has four unique delay modes that can be twisted and tweaked in real time to create some of the tastiest oscillating delay textures Ive ever heardbut Ill get to that in a minute.

What you need to know

first is that the top of the box features a standard implementation of four control knobs, a true-bypass on/off switch and a mini toggle that turns delay trails off and on (which is really handy). Look closer and youll see that the two lower controls are actually stacked pots with dual controls. So youve got Level and mode selector knobs on top, and combo controls for Delay Time/Repeats and Tone/Degrade on the bottom.

The Tone/Degrade is where the magic happens. DigiTechs Marketing Manager Tom Cram said

40 GEAR REVIEW // Digitech Obscura Altered Delay

DIGITECH OBSCURA ALTERED DELAY REVIEW BY NICK RAMBOSTREET PRICE $149.95

it best: Straight-ahead repeats are just the starting point for twisting and morphing your delays upside down, inside out and into uncharted sonic territory.

For each of the Obscuras four modesAnalog, Tape, Lo-Fi and Reversethe Degrade knob introduces a unique style of aural depravity. On the Tape mode, for instance, wow and flutter is increased to the point of a curiously delightful wobble. The 8-bit style processing of the Lo-Fi mode is intensified with additional input stage overdrive, and so on. Now, these changes werent drastically apparent to my ear in every mode, but cranking up the feedback to the point of oscillation (what DigiTech calls Repeat Hold mode) and changing the Delay Time, Tone and/or Degrade knobs got really tasty, really fast. You can definitely hear the manipulations happening in real time, and in no time at all, I was able to come

up with some particularly delightful ambient soundscapes.

ALTERED DELAY If ambient style playing isnt your thing, the Obscura shouldnt necessarily be ruled out. The Tone knob alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion, as shaping the frequency response of the repeats is a fantastic experience. Plus, when you factor in the Obscuras two seconds of delay time, useful tap tempo feature (with quarter, eighth and dotted eighth capabilities) and stereo capability, it just gets better and better.

STOMPLOCK When I opened the Obscuras box, I was understandably excited to play the pedal and almost missed a key featurethe Stomplock. What I thought was just a piece of protective packaging on the top of the pedal and tossed aside was actually a little tool DigiTech

designed to keep your settings intact. Ive seen stuff like this before, but DigiTech adding this little setting-saver is a nice touch.

It also comes with perfectly cut Velcroanother thoughtful bonus.

WHAT WE LIKE The Obscura is a surprisingly heavy pedal. No, reallyits pretty weighty. And theres something about a really solid feeling pedal that screams quality. I dig that.

CONCERNS I sort of expected the Degrade knob to do a little more. You can definitely hear the promised increasing signal degradation and high-frequency rolloff of successive repeats with the repeats cranked up, but it wasnt quite as apparent with more moderate delays.

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Compression is one of those effects guitar players seem to either love or hate. Some swear by their compressor and never turn it off, while others feel there might as well be a boa constrictor wrapped around their neck(s). Which side are you on?

For those in the latter category, compressors have certain benefits that should be considered. For example, when youre alone in your bedroom/basement/music lounge/private arena, you can control all the variables in your rig. If theres a volume spike here or there, nobody will be upset (with

the possible exception of your neighbors). However, when youre playing gigs in various rooms of different sizes, things changewhat sounds good in one venue doesnt work in another. The tone that you had under control at the bar doesnt quite work at the amphitheatre. Enter the compressor: With the ability to smooth out the sound and keep the levels even, its an incredibly useful tool to have at ones disposal.

The McCaffrey Audio Reactor Boost Compressor, is, as the name implies, a boost and compressor. The added boost feature

makes it extra useful, and this is enhanced by a three-way toggle switch, cleverly labeled Critical Mass. With the switch all the way to the left, it offers a slight boost in bass response. In the middle position, its a classic, jangly tone, and to the right it offers a more generous bass response. Level generates the desired amount of boost or cut, and Fusion increases compression and drive when the level is increased. The two knobs are very interactive, and a variety of sounds are available depending where you set Level and Fusion. With the Level around 11

44 GEAR REVIEW // McCaffrey Audio Reactor Boost Compressor

MCCAFFREY AUDIO REACTOR BOOST COMPRESSOR REVIEW BY SAM HILLSTREET PRICE $169.00

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oclock, Fusion set at noon, and Critical Mass switch in the middle position, mellow chords from my Gibson SGs neck humbucker sounded sweet and warm. And while I always appreciate the aggressive bridge pickup tones from the same guitar, the pleasantly tamed but still slightly edgy tone gave the SG a faux-Ric quality and took me into Byrds-esque territory.

The boosted tones, however, are a wonderful surprise, and makes the atomic symbol adorning the pedal seem right at home. A generous amount of Level and Fusion pushed the front end of the amp nicely while still retaining clarity and never sounding obtuse. McCaffrey describes the Reactor as being friendly to guitars of all types and pickup configurations, and Im pleased to report it is as advertised. Switching to a funky 1970 Epiphone EA-250, more traditional compressor settings yielded classic twang. I am by no means a chicken-picker or Chet Atkins-in training,

but the Reactor can get you there if you possess the skill set. I preferred boosted tones with higher output pickups and more classic compression with single coils, but the Reactor is clearly a versatile tool capable of squeezing (pun intended) great tone out of all of your guitars.

While the Reactor has a user-friendly layout and is easy to use, its worth experimenting with various toggle switch settings depending on which guitar and amp combination youre using. In fact, if there is one drawback with the pedal, its that there is such a wide variety of usable sounds, youll have to jot down settings for certain guitar and pickup configurations.

If youre in the market for a compressor but are interested in something thats off the beaten path, the Reactor deserves your attention. With quality components, top-notch tone, and cool graphics (lets face it: nobody wants to pay for an ugly pedal)

McCaffrey Audio has given guitar players a great choice that represents a great value in the boutique compressor market.

WHAT WE LIKE High quality compressor with boost and low end tailoring. Solid as a rock. Looks awesome. Competitively priced.

CONCERNS May not be a set it and forget it pedal.

www.dod.com

DIRTYWORK

Everyone knows that the only way to truly and thoroughly test a new Uni-Vibe is to play a twelve-minute long, note-for-note rendition of Hendrixs Machine Gun, the version from his 1970 album, Band of Gypsys. What everyone ought to know is that JHS Pedalss Unicorn will enchant listeners no matter the abilities of the guitarist. Indeed, this reviewer can say with confidence that the one or two seconds of Machine Gun that he could actually play convinced him of the Unicorns superior abilities.

Compared with, say, the

Good Vibes by Electro-Harmonix, the Unicorns tone is sparklinga bit cleaner, but with the same amount and depth of sweeping warble that characterizes the best Vibes on the market. In the Dry setting, the Unicorn will pump out these luscious, pulsing tones that seem downright magical to listeners.

JHS Pedals says that the Dry setting is more traditional and to this writers ears the folks werent lying. Whether its a deep, slow-rising swell or a fast, shallow warble, the Unicorn ably

modulates the signal. The most pronounced effects occurred when the Depth knob was set above noon. Below noon, the modulation was a bit too subtle for this writers ears. In the Wet mode, however, less Depth added a bit of warble to the signal without detuning the inputted notes in a distracting way.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Unicorn is its tap tempo capability. In fact, JHS Pedals claims that the Unicorn is the first analog Uni-Vibe to feature a tap tempo. Moreover, the Unicorn features a knob with which to set the

48 GEAR REVIEW // JHS Pedals Unicorn Uni-Vibe

JHS PEDALS UNICORN UNI-VIBE REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS STREET PRICE $299.00

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ratio of the tempo. What does this mean? It means, for instance, that a person could tap in a slow, sixty beat-per-minute tempo, and select quarter notes, dotted quarter notes, eighth notes, or triplets as the rhythm of the pedals pulses. With a quarter note selected, if the user plays at that 60 BPM tempo, the pedal will pulse-whoosh-swoosh once per beat. With a triplet selected, it pulses-whooshes-swooshes three times per beat. The option of choosing this rhythm gives musicians the power to maximize the effects impact. A well-placed whoosh-swoosh in time with the beat can add quite a lot of power to the music one is playing.

Even better, the Unicorn accepts an expression pedal that can control the Speed of the effect. A rocker pedal will allow a musician to gradually increase or decrease the speed, while an external tap tempo pedal will allow the musician to tap in a beat.

The Wet mode was, in this writers opinion, a little less impressive than the Dry mode. Then again, its hard to compete with the sound of a Uni-Vibe, and the Wet mode offers a bit of warble that differs from a boring, old tremolo effect. Perhaps the Wet mode is a bit less useful, but the Unicorn really is a pedal that excels at classic Vibe sounds.

WHAT WE LIKE Classic Vibe effects with an ultra-clean tone. Tap tempo and Ratio adjustments give the user unprecedented control of the effects pulsing with respect to a songs tempo and rhythm.

CONCERNS The Depth knob was really most effective above noon. It would have been nice to get a bit more of the effect at lower Depth levels.

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W I N N E R

52 GEAR REVIEW // Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo

One of the more annoyingly common claims bandied about online these days is that such and such broke the Internet. Usually, its a picture of a cat, or a group of cats doing something cute and particular to cats. Well, dear readers, this reviewer is about to annoy someone, because Strymons new El Capistan dTape Echo pedal has broken the Tone Report. Why? Because El Capistan provides, hands down, the best-sounding tape echo simulation in a pedal that this writer has yet heard.

This pedal is also featured in Strymons TimeLine, a mind-

bogglingly comprehensive delay pedal that boasts simulations of nearly every sort of imaginable delay. Strymon, perhaps because of the sheer quality of the companys technology, decided to integrate the dTape technology into the Timeline. Strymons decision is excellent news for echo and delay enthusiasts, because the dTape Echo simulation that El Capistan offers might very well be the closest that most working musicians will get to authentic tape echo and delay.

Whatever algorithms or black magic Strymon has

conjured give the dTape Echo an astonishingly warm, surprisingly analog sound. What were most impressive were the little details: the fact that El Capistan offers a tape crinkle option, and that the crinkle actually sounds like a crinkle. Even better, the Tape Age knob can add just a little or a lot of wear and tear to the fake tape. The best part is that none of the Wow & Flutter, none of the Aging effectsnone of itgave the impression of being a digital recreation. In fact, this writer was tempted to peek inside El Capistan just to make sure that it didnt contain a shrunken

STRYMON EL CAPISTAN dTAPE ECHO REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS STREET PRICE $299.00

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Echoplex, courtesy of Wayne Szalinski.

For a sense of the pedals accuracy with respect to genuine tape machines, consider the Sound on Sound mode. By selecting the Single Head option with one toggle switch, and Mode C with the other toggle switch, users can both add sounds to and play back from a virtual loop of tape. The Sound on Sound mode differs from the others because this latter mode isnt meant for slapback echo or delay. Rather, a person can construct a sound collage from small pieces of sound, thereby using El Capistan as a sort of loop station. Heres the thing: the Sound on Sound mode produces an eerily accurate lo-fi sound. Each pass of the tape degrades the signal just a bit. A person can play a chord, let it ring out, and wait for perhaps five minutes as the sound made its way to and from the virtual tape head. Each time, the chord would repeat, but with just a bit less fidelity

than the previous pass.

Perhaps much of this review reads as hyperbole, yet do not be fooled: El Capistan sets a high standard for all other tape loop emulators. True, a person could invest hundreds of dollars in a vintage tape echo machine. Yet such an aging device would likely require expensive upkeep. Strymon offers a serious alternative for the working musician in need of tape echo. Give this one a try and youll be sure to be hooked.

WHAT WE LIKE Hands-down the best sounding tape echo effect this reviewer has yet heard. A variety of echo effects, a Tap Tempo, stereo output, and an expression pedal jack add to its usefulness.

CONCERNS Your bandmates might want to borrow this little thing and not give it back.

TONE REPORT

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Tone Report Weekly has no association with the monthly publication ToneQuest Report.

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Luke Currano, Rebecca Dirks, Phillip Dodge, David A. Evans, Sarah FitzGerald, Ian Garrett,

Brett Kingman, Nicholas Kula, Nick Rambo, Sam Hill Eric Tischler, Fletcher Stewart, Jamie Wolfert, Matt Fisher

ART & DESIGN SENIOR DESIGNER Richard E. Jones GRAPHIC DESIGNER Adam Borden

COVER PHOTO Jamie Wolfert

VIDEO LEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Andy Martin

VIDEOGRAPHER Mike Hermans

SALES / MARKETING MEDIA DIRECTOR Tom Keithly

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Tone Report Weekly - Issue 74 - 2015 - May 8

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