Ugly Guitar Truth: Fender Full Moon Distortion

While I may have posted about this before, one of my first pedals was a Fender. It was their California Series pedal tuner. The thing was complete crap. It hardly worked, and that is still being generous. I got rid of that and switched to the BOSS TU-2 that is still working like day one. Fender pedals don't have a great reputation, but their new line of pedals is doing a lot to change that. Let's look at the Fender Full Moon Distortion.

That Name

I don't dislike the name that Fender has given their new high gain distortion pedal, but at the same time, it is not great. The strongest statement that I can make about it is that it is extremely forgettable. Thankfully, the pedal is not as forgettable. Unlike the pedals of Fender past, the Full Moon distortion is not a pedal that they want people to forget about. High distortion pedals have a habit to come with some extra knobs and switches, both of which the Full Moon has. So is this a pedal that will fade into the sea of high gain pedals? Well, it does have some things going for it.

The Sounds

It's been a minute since I was a really metal-player. My signal chain either contained a Metal Zone plus EQ and boost or it was just an overdrive into a gunned amp. There are tons of options for metal players out there now. The Full Moon is just the newest in a long line of pedals, but is there anything that makes this pedal stand out? A little bit. You have your basic layout of tone controls (High, Mids, and Lows) but then you get a Hi-Trem that lets you smooth off the super-high-end. You also get a basic Boost function which is nice. In addition to all that, you also get a switch to go between symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping and another for "Bite". Bite will boost your high-mids and give you more pick-attack. Both of the switches make subtle changes, but I am a sucker for things to fiddle with. With all of these options, it is pretty easy to dial in a sound that is pleasing to the player. Going into a clean amp, it is easy to achieve great rock tones with the gain dialed back a bit. Cranking the gain is naturally rewarding as well. Yes, this high-gain pedal does high-gain well.

Conclusion

Fender has set themselves up to compete with the best pedal builders out there today. The pedals are pretty and boutique-ish. If this were coming from a smaller builder, I would expect to pay a lot more. But because Fender is... Fender. They can mass produce and keep cost down. Make the Full Moon distortion an attractive pedal for a guitarist that is looking to find a pedal with plenty of gain and flexibility.

Ugly Guitar Truth: The Fender Pelt Fuzz Pedal

I've talked about Fender's current line of pedals on here before. Personally, I like the concept. It's probably the best offering from Fender effects that I've seen maybe ever.

Here's a story:

I bought a fender twin. It was brand new from the store. I loved the cleans. I was transitioning from metal player to whatever it is I am not, so at the time I thought this was a smaller (quieter) amp. I got the amp home and started messing around with all the knobs and whatnot. Hooked up the pedal and quickly realized that it didn't work. The amp switch had two or three buttons and it was completely DOA. So I take the rig back to the store and they swap the pedal out for a new one. This one had a bad switch in it. They couldn't find a pedal that actually worked. Does this have anything to do with the Fender Pelt Fuzz? No, not really, but it does give you a point of reference for my impression of Fender pedals. It didn't help that they released a line of pedals that looked more like accessories you would see on a desk of a middle-aged man that collects model cars and has a Fender Stratocaster mouse pad. Then we got direct from China mini pedals that weren't bad but they were what they were. So, I feel like you can hold my Fender pedal skepticism against me.

It's Fuzzy

Ok, duh, but let me explain. The world of Fuzz has exploded in the last few years. It has never really disappeared, but today we have more options for fuzz than ever before. I know that everyone first DIY pedal is a fuzz. They are very simple circuits to build, but recently we have seen the rise of complicated fuzz pedals. This one is no different. The granddaddy of all silicon fuzz, the Fuzzface, had only two knobs. Even the addition of two knobs was a technical marvel compared to the circuits origins. Now we have pedals like the Pelt. Not only do we have the familiar Volume, Tone, Gain knobs, but we get a Bloom knob and two switches for Mid (Contour) and Thick (Bass Boost Cut/Boost). The pedal has enough fuzz to nearly lose the guitar in the noise of the pedal. Fender also claims that the pedal responds well to rolling the volume down on your guitar. Fuzz pedals have a bad habit of cutting out or become more splatty when lowing volume is applied, but the Pelt is supposed to clean up. In my experience, the pedal doesn't clean up as much as it gets darker with lower volume. This may work relatively the same in a band situation. There may be no real way to get around how the circuit actually works.

It's Pretty

This may not be my favorite look that I've ever seen on a pedal, but it is far and away the best one that I've seen on a Fender pedal. It's not even much of a contest. These are the first pedal that I feel like they actually care anything about, so they had to give them an aesthetic that wasn't embarrassing to be seen with. The Amp jewel cover is a nice touch. I am a little worried about the magnetic battery door. It's begging to get crushed by a stray stomp, so be careful I guess. The backlit knobs are cool until you are on a dark stage and those lights are the only thing you can see and you can't tell you are changing the Tone or Gain knob. They pumped these pedals full of features, but this is basically Fender's first grown-up pedal line, so they still have refining to do.

Conclusion

I like this pedal. I haven't said a lot of great things about it, so you should know that this pedal is one of the better sounding fuzz pedals that I've seen come out lately. I'm a pretty big fan of the Big Muff style of Fuzz, but the Pelt is a robust pedal capable of being more than that one sound on that one song. Even though I really dig the Big Muff sound, do I have one on my board? No. The Pelt Fuzz is much more of a sonic tool that I could see actually using in a rig. The price is also something of importance. Lately, EHX has put out clones of the Big Muff in its many stages (Triangle, Russian, Silicon) and for the price of just two of those, you can have the Pelt. I may or may not own more than one of these pedals, and I may or may not wish I had the Pelt... just saying.

NAMM 2018: Mad Professor Kosmos Ambient Reverb Pedal

Mad Professor is a steller making of guitar effects. They have made some of the most acclaimed overdrives and delays. Just before NAMM, they've announced that they are issuing the Kosmos Ambient Reverb. All demos make this pedal seem like a powerful reverb capable of huge, ambient, shimmering reverb sounds. 11 modes (including 3 different shimmers) and a freeze function make the Kosmos a versatile tone-tool. I'm looking forward to NAMM and giving the Kosmos a closer look.

Here are some details:

The Mad Professor Kosmos is a small, easy to use but super versatile pedal for a wide variety of ambient reverbs and delays.

With just one footswitch you can, of course, turn the pedal on and off, but also hold the reverb for eternal ambiance or make beautiful sweet effects without the need for a volume pedal.

All the 11 ambient tones are carefully designed, and you can further adjust the tones with four knobs. The special Control knob has a different function on different presets, so please take time to explore all the possibilities.

The Kosmos pedal will open a universe of ambient tones.

From Plate and Room delays to Spring and Hall delay, different shimmer tones, Swells and reverb with delay.

The tone simply got even more organic!

source: effects database

Ugly Guitar Truth: DigiTech FREQOUT



When I first saw this pedal I really didn't know what it was. I saw the large letters that spoke to me somehow. "Freak Out" is the not only the name of the pedal, but also what I did when I realized what this did. It is a Feedback Creator. Strangely, Digitech forgot that BOSS has already made a pedal that did this. Not only that, but they also forgot that no one actually bought that pedal. So why have they chosen to make a new pedal that has already failed? Well, the truth is something we should see about...

It Isn't A BOSS Feedbacker

My knee-jerk reaction was that this pedal was simply a second attempt at an old concept. However, as the booth-guy at NAMM this winter explained, this pedal actually does something that hasn't been done before. This pedal is able to produce natural feedback at any volume. I'm not sure what the BOSS pedal did (if not that) but we will assume it was unnatural for the sake of argument. This pedal has an indicator to tell you how much feedback you have. (also not sure why you need this. your ears should do the same function rather well...) You also have adjustable Range and Type. I'm sure they do something important, but I can't tell you. DigiTech's official website doesn't mention what they do at all either, so I guess we'll have to try one and see...


Conclusion


I like feedback in some applications. I think that this pedal has a lot to offer in the 'make noises that don't sound like guitar' category. I even like the look of it. Digitech is putting out pedals that seem to expand on the sounds that their line of pedal can make. This is actually rather refreshing. Some pedal brands seem to find endless way to make the same drive pedals, but only slightly different. And then continue to make slightly different pedal till the end of time. This seems like a fresh approach and I like what I've seem of this pedal so far. Is it for me? Hard to say. It might be something to keep my eye on though.

Ugly Truth: Tom's Line Engineering Bluesy Vintage Overdrive

Weeks ago, I decided to splurge on some music gear. I've always seen the cheap pedals from china, but I hate buying something and waiting weeks for it to show up (if it shows up at all). Not to mention the poor customer service and quality control. I decided to roll the dice on these guys, I was able to put together an order for four pedals, all drives (go figure...) When they showed up, they were in a box very similar to the Outlaw Effect's. Included was a somewhat helpful foldout user manual and a piece of Velcro. Overall, it was polished and professional looking. So the packaging exceeded my expectations...(woopty-doo). We don't care about boxes, (unless you're like me and keep all the boxes your pedals come in) what does it sound like?

Using a P-90 equipped Telecaster, I put this pedal through a Vox Pathfinder 10 combo. My bedroom setup is modest, but it sounds great for it's size. Putting this pedal inline was a joy. I really liked the sounds that this pedal put out. There isn't a ton of gain in this pedal, but that should not be a surprise since it's described as a blues overdrive. There is a range of tones that please just about anyone (looking for a light overdrive). After testing out this pedal, I was able to run it into a Vox AC15 with both a Standard Tele and Deluxe Telecaster. These combos resulted in please sounds. The 'normal' and 'bright' settings came in handy, One to tame the spanky single coils and the other to brighten the split-coils in the deluxe. Whether you are finding a bluesy voice for you solid state amp or your looking for something to boost your tube amp into sweet breakup, this pedal can serve up some nice sounds. Listen to Shnobel:

But were aren't here to talk about the pretty things, Let's get ugly:

Let's Get The Obvious Out Of The Way

It's Chinese, It's Cheap, It's Tiny. All these things are scary. The last time I ordered a pedal from China, it was DOA. Thankfully, all these pedal came in working condition. The price I paid is not my concern. In fact, I thought that the price I paid was great. But it's the fact that I was able to buy a pedal for so little that makes me wonder about the quality of the guts. Ignorant of the insides, I do like the sounds. However, I hate tiny pedals. Why did I buy so many of them... They're cheap, that's why. I will say, it was smart to put the bar to protect the knobs. I've always thought they were in danger from people with heavy feet.

And That's It

I know this seems very favorable, but I really can't come up with anything more to complain about. It's a light overdrive that is flexible. It's cheap enough to bought with the change from your couch. It's not the fanciest pedal. It's a simple pedal that could fit on nearly any pedal board. If you watch that video above and scroll down so that you can't see the pedal and just listen, then you might just fool yourself into digging the tones that Mr. Shnobel is putting out.

Conclusion

Having said all those nice things, I probably won't be putting this on my board. My dislike for this tiny pedals and the wide range of low-medium gain pedal that I already have make it hard to find use for yet another. What I might do is put together a small 'travel size' pedal board. It could be fun to go through these little cheap pedals and put the good ones together on a board. Then putting that board against my main board. Not so much to see which one is 'better', but if you can put together tiny pedal to do most of the job of a typical-size board fill with 'full-sized' pedals.