Category: On The Gain Stage

Overdrive, distortion, fuzz – the glorious sounds of dirt and filth!

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How Great Is The Laney Tommy Iommi Boost Pedal?

Henning has taken a look at the Tommy Iommi boost pedal by Laney.

If you prefer to get your filth from amps rather than pedals, boost pedals are an interesting way to get a bit more from your amp and shape the tone in the process.

The basic idea is that a boost pedal slams the amp’s input with a hotter signal. This causes the preamp to react differently. Exactly how depends on the boost pedal and the amp you’re using.

I own several boost pedals, but I don’t know much about them or how to use them yet. My mate Andrew has offered to lend me several more and teach me all about them. I just need to find the time to take him up on his generous offer!

This video is trademark Henning. It’s a good look at what the Tommy Iommi boost pedal sounds like through several amps set at different gain levels.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Attack Of The Klons!

Chappers and The Captain have done a shootout between ten Klon-like pedals.

If you’re not sure what all the hype around the Klon is all about, let me explain …

The Klon is low-gain pedal that (in its day) did something unique. Set as a clean boost, it lifts the guitar in the mix (or in a live setting) thanks to the way it increases the upper mids. And yet – it also does something to the bass response that makes clean tones sound fuller, without making drive tones muddy or boomy.

The hype is partly because, for many years, the only way to get this tone was to get a Klon Centaur. They were hand-built by Bill Finnigain, and due to limited availability they started changing hands in the second hand market for eye-watering amounts of money.

Eventually, klones (with a ‘k’) started appearing. Bill himself created the Klon KTR as a mass-production version of the Centaur, did a deal with JRAD to make them, before JRAD went on to create their own klones.

The most important klone is the Soul Food. It wasn’t the first klone, and I’d argue it is amongst the worst, but it did bring awareness and availability to the mass market. Since then, there’s been an explosion of interest in klones and the Klon thing. Today, there’s plenty of choice to suit all tastes and budgets.

I’ve got three of these on my boards, including the (for me) unmatched Klon KTR. It’s the only one that I’ve tried that doesn’t add a huge bass bump to overdrive tones. That’s something that doesn’t come across in this demo, to be honest.

Watch the video to choose your favourite, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment..

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Keeley El Rey Dorado Pedal Demo

Riff City Guitar and Keeley Electronics have teamed up to launch a new Plexi-voiced pedal. Rabea has one of the handwired versions, and has posted a demo to show us what it sounds like.

If, like me, you’re not in the States, this is going to be a pedal to watch for when it hits the 2nd hand market. It’s exclusive to Riff City Guitar, and the run of hand-wired pedals has already sold out. There’s going to be a run of non-hand-wired pedals too, and these also seem to be exclusive to Riff City Guitar.

Watch the video to hear how good this sounds – and how well it responds to pick dynamics. And then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Does The Boss Katana Take Drive Pedals?

Adam and Tom for AStrings have responded to a YouTube comment: does the Boss Katana take drive pedals well?

The Boss Katana is an amp that’ll be on the list of possible amps for home tone fans. It’s very affordable, sounds very good, and is full of digital effects to give you lots of options.

And, when you’re ready to explore different tones, using drive pedals is one way to do so.

So how does the Boss Katana do? Watch the video to find out, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Dialling In A Classic Marshall Amp Tone

Jeff McErlain has posted a demo of how he dials in his Marshall amp to get those classic tones.

Jeff shows us how he sets up his amp to suit his neck pickup first, with the gain set to leave plenty of room for picking dynamics. From there, he uses the tone and volume controls on his guitars to get the bridge pickup sounding great without sounding too harsh. And finally, he sticks a Klone in front of the amp as a clean boost for lead tones.

This is a fantastic video if you’re chasing these classic tones.

Watch the video for full details of how Jeff does this, and then please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Fender Pugilist Distortion Pedal Demo

Shane is currently looking at the new-for-2018 Fender pedals, and today he’s looking at the Pugilist Distortion Pedal.

I’ve featured a number of Pugilist demos on the blog now, and one thing I’m struck by is just how different this pedal sounds when it’s running into a Hot Rod Deluxe mk 4 vs just about any other amp. The tones that Danish Pete got out of this pedal convinced me to go and get one for myself. None of the other demos had that impact on me.

Anyway, have a listen to Shane’s demo, and see what you think. And then, as always, please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Revv G3 Distortion Pedal Round-up

Revv Amplification have released their G3 distortion pedal, and a whole bunch of YouTube demos have been released to show us what this thing can do.

Here’s a round-up of the demos.

If that lot doesn’t convince you that this is a high gain metal rhythm and lead pedal, I don’t know what will 🙂

Each video shows us something different, whether it’s running the pedal directly into the effects loop of an amp, high gain rock, baritone tones, or simply how it works in front of a wide range of amps.

Please head over to YouTube to leave likes and supportive comments on all of these videos.

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Blindfold Tubescreamer Challenge

Chappers and The Captain have posted their latest blindfold challenge. Can Lee tell a real Tubescreamer from a pool of clones? And which ones will he like?

The Tubescreamer is possibly the most-copied pedal circuit of them all. Most pedal brands have a TS-style pedal in their range, and there’s a TS-style pedal to fit every budget.

It’s not really an overdrive pedal, and that’s very confusing when you get one for the first time. It’s more of a colour pedal, thanks to it’s pronounced mid-hump. Run it into a dirty amp to shape the overall sound, or run it after a gain or fuzz pedal to act as a great boost.

A Strat -> Zendrive -> TS signal chain in particular is a very special sound.

Over the years, I’ve had a few of the pedals in the video, and the one I use is the Mad Professor Little Green Wonder. You can’t get a sense of it from this video, but one of the great things about the LGW (and, indeed, all Mad Professor pedals) is the low noise floor.

I’d love to try a Wampler Clarksdale one day – just waiting for one to turn up at a good 2nd hand price. The J Rockett Blue Note is another pedal featured in this video that I want one day. Burgs did a demo of it years ago now that really sold me on it.

And just how good does the new Hot Rod Deluxe Mk 4 sound?

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed the Andertons video.

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Fender Pedals Demo

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.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed their video.

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Fender Pugilist Distortion Pedal Demo

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.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed the video.