The folks over at Guitarist Magazine have posted an interview with Ariel Posen, whom some of you might have come across from the Andertons videos or That Pedal Show.
Man, they did a great job recording the audio on this one. It’s such a rich tone, with plenty of body captured without it sounding muddy at all.
I’m going to go and play it again with my eyes closed, just to enjoy that glorious sound once more.
Oh yeah, there’s a bunch of great pedals featured too in the video. I’m far too busy just listening to that tone to list them out here for you though, sorry!
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Earlier today, I had the opportunity to play the new Fender Santa Ana Overdrive for myself. AStrings’ recent demo had left me unsure what this pedal actually was, so I thought I’d go and find out for myself.
And I’m glad that I did.
I ran the Santa Ana into the vibrato channel of a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue (DRRI). I went for that amp partly because it’s the clean tone that I’m into right now, and partly because I know that particular DRRI is a very sweet-sounding amp. (If only I had the space for it, it would have come home with me a long time ago!)
For guitars, I used two very different beasts: a single-cut PRS 594, and a certain green Fender Special Telecaster. I’m not sure how I managed to leave the store without the Telecaster …
I haven’t come across another drive pedal that sounds quite like the Santa Ana Overdrive does. To my ears, it does offer something different.
I really liked how it sounded through the DRRI. Roll back the treble and presence a bit, wind up the drive and mids, and there’s a really sweet creamy lead tone there. Roll back the volume on the guitar, and you’re in ZZ-Top-ish Texas tones for rhythm.
There’s a softness to the initial attack that I particularly liked. Along with the pedal’s natural compression, it certainly made me sound a lot more fluid than I really am! I really enjoyed how it tamed the natural spikiness of the Tele’s bridge pickup. I had a hard job handing the Tele back after that 🙂
You can hear an example of what I mean in the jam at the end of this video:
The jam starts just after the 32 minute mark. The tone that Danish Pete gets out his Les Paul is very similar to what I was getting myself today.
Also, check out the earlier jam around the 25 minute mark. Very impressed with how well the Pugulist Distortion pedal worked over the top of the Santa Ana Overdrive in that.
Other thoughts …
The light-up knobs aren’t a gimmick. Even in a well-lit shop, I found they made it quicker to see how the pedal was dialled in. I wonder if we’ll see them catch on with other brands.
The two voices were different, but not drastically so. A bit like how a Tweed is different to a Deluxe, I guess. One was a bit more in your face than the other. Both were very usable.
The boost/extra drive circuit doesn’t change the tone at all. It’s just either a volume gain or increased saturation. I’m not sure that I’d make any use of it personally. I’m more inclined to either ride the volume knob of my guitar, or kick on a second pedal to change the tone.
It’s an interesting pedal, and I’m sure I’ll be picking one up at some point.
We’ve already seen AStrings demo the new Fender pedals, and now it’s the turn of Andertons. Watch the Captain and Danish Pete give you their thoughts on them here:
They’ve got all six pedals out, running them into a Victory V40 Deluxe and a Hot Rod Deluxe v4. These two amps sound very different to the Bassbreaker that AStrings used in their demos, so even if you watched all the excellent AStrings demos, the Andertons’ video offers a different look at these new pedals.
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This popped up in my Twitter feed of all places this morning. Fender has posted a video interview with Stan Cotey, who heads up the new pedal team inside Fender.
There’s a couple of things in the interview that really caught my attention.
These new Fender pedals aren’t clones of existing circuits; they’re all designed from scratch. That makes me even more interested in trying out the Santa Ana Overdrive for myself now.
Stan also talks about there being more pedals in the pipeline. I wonder what we’ll see next from them?
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The lovely folks over at AStrings have posted their third video on Fender’s new pedal lineup. This one looks at the Santa Ana Overdrive pedal.
The Santa Ana is a dual-voiced overdrive with an additional boost circuit if you want it. You can switch between the two voices using a toggle switch on the front panel.
After watching the video, I’m not sure how I’d describe the tone of the Santa Ana Overdrive. I think Adam hit the nail on the head when he said that this is a pedal you need to try for yourself, through the amp of your choice. I’d certainly like to hear it through something like a Hot Rod Deluxe to get a better idea of what this pedal is.
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Tom and Adam from AStrings have just uploaded another demo of one of Fender’s new 2018 pedals: the Pugilist Distortion. This one has some serious chunk to it!
There’s two separate gain circuits in the Pugilist. You’ve got the option of running a blend of them together, or stacking one into the other in series. Either one results in very thick and meaty tone.
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My local guitar shop AStrings have just posted a demo of Fender’s new Marine Layer Reverb pedal. Check it out.
It looks like the Marine Layer Reverb is a mono pedal, best suited either to go into the front of an amp, or into the FX loop of an amp lacking reverb of its own. Those are two situations where a stereo pedal offers nothing extra that you can use.
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Watching YouTube this afternoon, up popped an advert for the Odyssey drive pedal from Hamstead Soundworks.
It looks like a very interesting drive pedal. There’s 3 different clipping options, 3 different input boost levels, and an EQ section that can be moved about in the circuit to suit.
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My local shop A-Strings has just posted a quick look at the new Danelectro Billionaire pedals, through a cool-sounding 5w Supro amp.
https://youtu.be/2rqAxhgZrks
There’s four pedals in the range: a boost, a drive pedal, a tremolo and a rotary speaker simulator. It’s a good choice: it’s easy to imagine all 4 on the same pedal board, as a complete pedal board.
I love drive pedals, so it’s almost inevitable that I’ll pick up the Pride of Texas pedal to try at some point. That rotary speaker pedal though … that’s the one that’s really caught my eye. I’m wondering how that’ll sound with a semi-acoustic guitar.
A quick shout out to A-Strings too. They’re my local guitar shop, and in my experience they’re the friendliest store in the whole of South Wales. They’ve just started stocking PRS USA Core model instruments. I’m looking forward to their demos of those!
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It’s a long one this week – even by their standards – which is why I’ve only just gotten to it.
Dan and Mick take a tour of Josh’s board, including an in-depth look at the Lovepedal Tchula. The Tchula was Josh’s idea. It’s basically two Church of Tone (COT) pedals in one enclosure, with the left hand side fixed at Josh’s favourite setting, and the right hand side adjustable to suit. I can’t think of anything else quite like it.
I loved the segment where the guys had a schwang on Josh’s Tele, which is strung with 13s (!!) It’s fascinating to listen to how different each of them sound, playing the same guitar through the same rig.
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