Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Drip Spring Reverb

Spring reverb. It's probably what most guitarists think of when you say reverb. That's one of the reasons why spring reverb is a hard thing to emulate. Not only do people have lots of different experiences with different reverb units, but to get a handful of electronics to make the same sounds as reverberating spring is no small feat. Many have tried and have had great levels of success. However, those units are typically expensive. TC Electronics has announced a pedal that wants to give us an authentic spring experience for a fraction of the cost. How well have they done? Well...

It gets close. It's not the most spot-on sounding pedal, but maybe my point of reference is a little off. I compare all spring reverbs to my Fender Twin or Blues Jr. But the name Drip probably points to a more vintage style. Reverb was used a little differently in the 50's and 60's. It was an effect. Think of nearly any classic surf song and the guitar will have a heavy spring reverb. That specific effect is called "Drip".

Will this unit do a subtle spring reverb? I don't know. The video by TC showcased a few interesting tones. But it's hard to call it a very detailed review of the pedal. It's almost like a teaser of the pedal. It shows just enough so that we say, "Hey, that's interesting. I want to know more about that." And that's where they leave us.

Fittingly, this pedal is about like the others in this line of affordable TC Electronic pedals. It's fine for what it is. It is a $60 reverb. I'd say that I like this one a little more than the Skyverb based on the fact that it can neat surf sounds. I could probably do something similar with my current reverb set-up but it could be nice to have a different style of reverb on tap. I'm not too crazy about these one-trick ponies. It does a neat trick, but it's only one trick.

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Vibraclone Rotary Vibe

TC Electronics has put out yet another batch of affordable pedals. In this round of pedal, TC has included a Rotary speaker emulator. The Vibraclone is a vintage-inspired pedal enclosed in their tank-like boxes with top-jacks. There has been a lot said about this line of effects, but TC is putting a lot of weight behind them. So far, these are the only thing that we've seen out of TC for NAMM 2018. Is this what we have to expect from TC from now on? While I do like several of the pedals in this line, I hope to see more innovation from TC like their V.2 of the Flashback and HOF. Let's take a closer look at the Vibraclone and see what we're working with.

This isn't your typical rotary pedal. Yes, there are other two knobbed vibes out there, but this one has a little trick. These pedal are usually light on features, but this one has a switch. The switch is labeled Rotary/Chorale. Along with the Vibey goodness you'd expect, you can also get chorus and flange type effects out of this one pedal. It's not often you can pull more sounds out of a pedal than the pedal actually sounds. If you're looking for a fun pedal to add some mod sounds to your tone, this might be of interest.

While rotary is a great way to give your tone some cool vibes, This pedal has a little quark that would make me pause and want to try before I buy. There is no depth control. The is only Drive and Speed on the Vibraclone. Now, this might be where I show my ignorance. I haven't found a pedal that the Vibraclone is a one for one clone of. If the Drive is the same control as the Intensity knob found on others, then that makes a big difference. As I listened to demos of this pedal though, it sounds like it actually has some gain or overdrive/boost build in. All this leads me to believe that there is no subtlety to this pedal. It is either on or off. While the TC Electronic videos are not the best demonstrations, Gearmanndude has an excellent demo where you can hear all the sounds in this pedal. If your interested in this pedal, then give that a listen.

Conclusion

Is this pedal a most have? Not for me. I do enjoy a rotary sound. however, the lack of actual control of the effect gives me a little pause. Sure, you wouldn't be able to control the depth of an actual Liesly cabinet, but this is a bit of electronics. Why couldn't there be a depth knob? There are plenty of pedals that give you a lot more control over this type of effect. However, those pedals are generally much more expensive than this one from TC. There is our compromise. You get an effect that does a surprisingly sufficient job and you don't have to bust the bank for it. All in all, this is a solid addition to the ever-growing TC Electronic line.

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Gauss Tape Echo

Just ahead of NAMM, TC Electronic announced the Gauss Tape Echo. This new pedal rounds out their line of inexpensive effects. Digital, analog and now tape echo gives you plenty of options to choose from. Delay, Volume and Sustain controls make this an easy pedal to control. Also, you can turn on and off the wow and flutter mod. All these features make a $60 pedal very attractive.

Is this a pedal that can compete with a full-featured delay? No. But if you don't already have a good option for a Tape style echo, then you could do worse than picking up one of these. You won't be disappointed. You also won't be overwhelmed. Just like all the other pedals in this line, this effect is simple and light on features. And that's probably the worst thing you could say about this pedal. It does what it does, but that's it. What more do you want? It's a Tape Echo for the amount that I spend on energy drinks in a month.

Conclusion

I do like this entire line of pedals. They are everything the Behringer line of effects could have been. This pedal is an excellent example of the entire line. It is simple but well built. It gives you a great taste of a valuable effect, and it leaves you wanting more. I'll just take a second to remind you that you can pick up a second-hand Flashback v1 for just a little bit more. Just saying...

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Fluorescence

It seems like every time I turn around TC is putting out yet another round of their compact, budget-friendly pedals. This time they have four new pedals. Typically, these pedals are stripped down, simple pedals that do a very particular job. These are no different. We are going to look at the Fluorescence Shimmer Reverb.

While the Skysurfer pedal has Spring, Plate, and Hall settings, it is more suited for shorter, more traditional type of reverb. The Fluorescence Shimmer reverb is built more as an ambient, long-tail reverb. Simple controls make this pedal very easy to use. Reverb, Mix, Tone, and Shimmer are all rather typical for this type a reverb. Shimmer has become an effect that many players have come to embrace. That makes this an attractive pedal for anyone looking to try shimmer, but not looking to really looking to replacing their current reverb.

Other than what you see up front, this pedal doesn't have very many features. TC is known for their endless customisation, but this line of effect is more about offering options for a reasonable price. TC has done a decent job putting out quality products. There really isn't a lot of complaints about any of these budget effects. Not all of them will appeal to everyone, but there is probably a few of them that would fit right into your pedalboard. The Fluorescence Shimmer might be a welcomed addition to your pedalboard.

What else can you say about this these effects? The Shimmer reverb is a winner in my book. If I was looking to add that particular effect to my board, then this might be just the thing. TC Electronics add a level of credibility to these inexpensive effects. At the rate that they are pumping out these effects, they must have a very streamline production process or a large increase in manpower. At the very least, There are a few very interesting pedals released with each one of these batches of pedals. The Fluorescence Shimmer Reverb is another solid offering.

5 Best Pedals Of 2017

Happy 2018 everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to look back at the previous year and recognize some of the best things to happen to guitar pedals in 2017. This isn't everything that was great, nor is in any particular order. These are just the five pedal of last year that stand out the most. Starting with:

BOSS RV-500

Boss expanded their line of 500 series effects. In a somewhat predictable manner, Boss added to the well-received DD-500 with an equally impressive Reverb unit. BOSS loyalist have been long-suffering devotees to a brand that took its time to catch up, but many feel like the 500 series is BOSS's answer to Eventide and Strymon. Not only do BOSS fans have an answer to the huge do-everything-delays, but so do those that can't bring themselves to throw down the big bucks. At $350 these delays look like a bargain.

TC ElectronicFlashback II

2017 seemed like the year everyone was stepping up their delay game. TC was no different. Many love the Flashback delay, and for good reason. TC Electronic's Tone Print features are massive. How do you improve upon a pedal that you can update endlessly via a cable plugged into your computer? More functionality. Somehow TC crammed, even more, features into their Flashback II. The Smash feature is, for the most part, unprecedented. Now you can have an expression pedal built into your compact pedal. The Flashback II is a solid win.

Wampler Deluxe Tumnus

Wampler stepped up their game with the Deluxe Tumnus. Despite its recent release, it has taken over pedalboard everywhere. I follow tons of guitarist and guitar pages and it seems like nearly all the boards posted on the internet in the last few months have a Deluxe Tumnus on them. The Klone Wars may be over. Many guitarists want more out of their light overdrives, and the Deluxe Tumnus delivers.

EHX Green Russian OD

For the last few years, EHX has been the go-to place when looking for inexpensive pedals that deliver (especially if those pedals have a striking resemblance to another, rather iconic, pedal). Stopping short of making a re-issue, EHX opted to release a clone of an EHX classic. The Green Russian Big Muff is a copy of the Russian made Big Muff Pi. This isn't an original idea, but it's cool to see EHX reaching back to their roots. It doesn't hurt that it is inexpensive and compact.

MXR Carbin Copy Deluxe

I'll be honest. I've never really seen what was so special about the carbon copy. Analog delays are nice, but I've always like the expanded capabilities of digital delays. Not until I owned a Carbon Copy did I understand that it has a sound all of its own. The worst thing you can say about that pedal is that it is limited. The Carbon Copy does away with that complaint. The Deluxe is an improvement on the original in every way. This is a textbook example of how you update a fantastic original.

Hands On Review Of TC Electronic's Echobrain Analog Delay

I have neglected a realm of effects. So I apologize to fans of analog delays, I haven't really delved too far into analog delays. People die on the hill of which analog delay is the best. EHX is known for their Memory Man series, MXR has the Carbon Copy, BOSS has DM-2, Ibanez has their Analog Delay. These are all beloved for their own reasons. I've used many of these pedals at one time or another, but I've never really connected with any of them. That probably explains why I settled on the DD-20. Then there is the Echobrain.

It's Chewy

The first thing I noticed about this delay is that the filter on these repeats is dark and gritty. This is an analog delay that stands up against the classic delays that we all know. The benefits of the Echobrain is that it is housed in a box that is more geared toward the trends of today. Top Jacks, True Bypass, Clickless Footswitch, Unique and attractive design. All these things make it a solid option for today's guitarists.

Money Grab?

If you love TC Electronic, you may know that they were recently acquired by Music Group (the parent company of Behringer and others). This happened only a few months before the unveiling of the Smorgasbord of affordable, simple effects. The two may be unrelated, or it could have been Behringer trying to legitimise their second phase of effects. It was smart to imitate BOSS and other industry-leading pedals of fifteen years ago, but now people are focused on form as well as function.

Season To Taste

So analog delay is a little bit of a strange subject. There are many different options for an analog delay, but they are basically the same. I don't really understand the basic differences between most of the basic analog delays. Obviously, there are some pedals that have interesting and novel features, but the basic features are the same. Their max delay time is typically very limited compared to digital delays, but there is a special character that analog delays have. Analog delays degrade with each repeat, and they all do it differently. It depends on a person's taste, but you won't know till you try.

Conclusion

I dig it. Playing this pedal is just fun. Playing with the repeats and time controls is rewarding. This pedal is done correctly. True analog delay with noiseless operation at this price point is crazy. If you are a fan of analog delay, then this is worth a try. However, it suffers in the same way that all classic analogs do. It's limited. This whole line is an update of simple effects into a format that many players are looking for. However, analog delays are now being expanded into much more sophisticated effects with tap and other controls. Even though it fits within its own line of effects, it is a little underwhelming compared to most other analog delays released lately. Lastly, you get what you pay for, but you may be left wanting more.

Hands on Review Of TC Electronic's Prophet Digital Delay

A few months ago TC Electronic released an entire line of compact effects that seem targeted toward the economically minded (cheap) customer. While I enjoy affordable effects. I found the timing slightly dubious. Right on the heels of TC Electronic being acquired by Music Group (Behringer's parent company), we have a massive unveiling. I've already spoken about the possibility that this is the Behringer effects line 2.0. I no longer think that is the case, but it's not much better.



I Want To Love This Pedal

Out of the box, this pedal is pretty impressive. The Prophet is built like a tank. It also looks kind of like a tank. Larger than a BOSS pedal in every dimension, these pedals are a little deceiving. The large knobs give you the sense that the pedal is smaller than it is. It's like the Duplo version of the tiny micro pedals. Imagen Mooer pedals on steroids. This should be good news. One of my main complaints of the micro pedal trend is the size. I have large feet and can easily cover the entire pedal. These pedals take care of that issue easily. It also puts the jacks on top of the pedal. That lets you put those bulky boxes right next to one another. You can line all these pedals up and make a pretty little pedal board.



They Are Unique

Unlike the Behringer line of effects, these pedal have no direct 'inspiration'. Other than the regular delay controls (Time, Mix, Repeats), this pedal has a switch to control the subdivides. The soft click bypass switch is also a feature that makes this pedal stand out. Noiseless-operation is something not seen much on a budget, true-bypass pedal. In addition, the way the pedal chops up the self-oscillating noises without bending the pitch of the repeats is different to say the least.


There are limits

The biggest flaw that this pedal has is its limits. Why does a pedal with  the TC Electronic name on it have such limited features. TC is known for nearly limitless options, and yet these are extremely basic pedals. They do cost less than half of their full blooded counterparts. However they are a strong contrast to the line of sleek, features rich products.


Conclusion


This pedal delivers on everything it promises. It's very simple but it works very well. If you already have several top-jack pedals this one will fit in. Inexpensive delays can be noisy, or have signal bleed. This pedal has none of that, which leads me to believe that TC Electronic might have had something to do with the development of this pedal. The closest thing I can compare this pedal to is the JOYO Digital Delay, and man is that thing a piece of junk. That pedal barley works, but it is a large format three knob digital delay. That pedal goes for something around $30, but it barley functional. So The Prophet is like that pedal but better, actually it's everything that pedal should be. Should you buy it? Do you want a basic digital delay? This is pretty much the best one.

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2 Reverb

Several new reverb and delay unit have been released lately. Far from the least of which is the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame 2 reverb. The sequel to the rather iconic Hall Of Fame reverb, the HOF 2 bares a strong likeness to its predecessor. The controls, toggle, and stereo in/out are all still there. The majority of the reverb modes are the same as well. So are there enough differences between 1 and 2 to make a current own run out and buy number 2? Let's take a look...

Real Time Control

As with the Flashback 2, the Hall Of Fame 2 comes with the Mash function. This basically lets you take control of a single parameter by pressing the pedal's foot switch. This unique function turns your on/off button into an expression pedal. Not only that, but in the Tone Print settings, you can set the Mash function to any parameter that you want. This level of real time control is totally unprecedented in a single-sized, compact pedal. Personally, I am more excited to see this function in a reverb than in a delay.

Shimmer

Finally, TC has caught the Hall Of Fame up with the massively popular trend of Shimmer. This effect has become widely popular and is included in nearly all digital delay and reverb pedals in the last few years. It was a major selling point with the RV-6 and the MXR reverb. TC Electronic has implemented the same octave algorithm from the Sub N Up pedal. To say the the Sub N Up is a good octave pedal is a little bit of an understatement. If the thought and care that went into the Sub N Up also went into the shimmer setting on the Hall Of Fame 2, then rest assure it is a impressive effect

More Custom Options

In addition to the other changes, TC Electronic have made room for two additional Tone Print settings. This has come at the cost of the Tile, Ambient, and Gate settings, but those are still available under the Tone Print editor so we aren't really losing them. In combination with the Mash function, these Tone Print setting become extremely valuable. Tone Print offers a deep and rich editor that allows you to control much more than what the four knobs on the face of the pedal can do.

Conclusion

TC has put out an incredible pedal. The features alone are tempting. Combine that with the pedigree of the Hall Of Fame, dependability of TC Electronic's reputation, and powerful Tone Print editor and you have a killer pedal. The only bit of criticism I can muster would be for the Mash button. This function uses a new piece of hardware. How will this stand up to years of use? We don't know yet. I don't expect this to fail, but it may be a weak link. It also poses a problem for the tinker that like to fiddle with their pedal's bits. Neither of these would persuade me to discourage someone from checking out this innovative  pedal.

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Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Flashback 2 Delay And Looper

TC Electronic has been hard at work lately. You'd be hard up to name a pedal producer that has put out more new product than TC Electronic. Just a few months ago, they release a entire line of 'value' pedals. Now, they are issuing an update to the Flashback Delay. The Flashback 2 makes some changes to the acclaimed original. So, whats changed? Lets take a look...

Double Down

If you are familiar with the TC line of effects, then you are probably familiar with their "Tone Print" editor. This allows you to edit functions that may not be available manually. Not only that, but you can save your custom setting on the "Tone Print" setting. The Flashback 2 has taken away some of the settings to make room for two more custom, Tone Print setting on the mode selector switch. What you wont see on the front of the Flashback 2 is LoFi, Ping Pong, and Slapback. These features are probably still available via the Tone Print editor, but not available manually.

Tapping That

I neat feature that in included in the Flashback 2 is the ability to set the tap tempo with your guitar. After triggering the pedal to 'listen' to your guitar, the pedal with sync itself to the rhythm of you right hand. For those that have trouble setting a steady rhythm with your foot, this could be your answer. It also allow for you to set the rhythm on the fly without an addition tap switch pedal, so its a space saver as well. You can use a normal tap tempo pedal, but to do that you need to use one side of the stereo input, so it can only be used in mono. You may ask, "Why not just use to switch on the Flashback to set tap tempo like a regular delay?" Well, the foot switch on this pedal has other things to do...

Smashing

New to the Flashback 2 is the Mash function. This basically turns your foot switch into an expression pedal. Listening to demonstrations of the function, it's clear that the effects you can create with this feature very interesting. Being able to summon self osculation sound in real time while you can continue playing is very impressive considering you can do all this with a single compact pedal. What might be even more interesting is that you can combined the Mash function with the shimmer effect to be the envy of all you shoegazing friends.

Conclusion

This update brings a well loved delay up to date with the addition of shimmer. While the Mash function is innovative, its usability may be limited. BOSS have done similar functions with the Space Echo and Giga-delay, but the option to customize the function of Mash is at least novel. I believe that TC Electronic has done an excellent job at updating one of their best pedals.  

Ugly Truth: TC Electronic Wiretap Riff Recorder

Have you ever wrote a riff that you were really excited about, then got distracted (by a shiny object or whatever) and then go back to your guitar to only realize that you can remember exactly what you play? TC Electronic has got your back. Building a recorder that fits on a pedal board is legit. I was pretty excited about the iRig, but quickly realized that its not exactly conducive for everyday use.


This pedal is smart. With the Wiretap app on your phone, you can connect via Bluetooth to trim, transfer, or share riffs. Your phone can also act as a remote if you don't feel like actually messing with the pedals controls.


The Ugly Part


For the most part this pedal is pretty solid. It has a street price of $99, but its not giving you much more than a go between for your guitar and your phone. Not exactly sure how much internal storage the pedal actually has, but it does record in 24-bit audio. The similarities with the Dito pedal are there. I'm not sure if this couldn't have been rolled into a 'Dito with extra features' type pedal, thus giving it more functionality and practicality. The hardware alone might be a little underwhelming, but the success of the pedal is going to come from the quality of the app and if it can transition into a live-tool rather than home-only type deal.

Ugly Truth About TC Electronic Sub N Up

TC Electronic has come out with a new pedal right before NAMM. The crazy pedal gurus at TC have developed an octave pedal that might replace all other octaves. Why might this effect replace whatever octave your are currently using? Because it can probably do whatever it is that you are doing with yours. How can I make such a blanket statement as that? Because, TC Electronic has equipped this pedal with their Toneprint tech. This makes it one of the most versatile octaves on the market. What's more is that it is affordable. $129 for the last Octave pedal you'll ever need to buy (probably).


So Here's The Ugly Truth


The ugliest thing about this pedal is the color scheme and design. In a cage full of pedals, this one sticks out like a sore thumb. Most pedals are slick and color coded. This one is a little bit of an eye sore. The only other thing that could be said is how this pedal functions. The analog purist with not enjoy the tech under the hood, but anyone who plays an octave knows that they hate chords. Playing through a three-knob Boss Octave is almost like fighting a bear. Overload it and you get nasty noise. If you are looking for that, then you know what you need, but there is nothing I want out of a Octave that I can't get from the pedal.


Even without hooking up this pedal to a computer to unleash the full power of this Toneprinting-beast, then you still have a superior sound octave. You may want to consider a paint job though...

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Ugly Truth About The Eletro Harmonix MEL-9 Mellotron Emulator

So Mike Matthews and company have been at it again. Offering us yet another pedal that we didn't even know that we wanted, EHX have served us a new polyphonic pedal that emulates... Mel... Gibson? Wait, that can't be right...

That's Right, It's a Mellotron Emulator... Whats a Mellotron?

Not only is this a pedal that we didn't know that we wanted, it is a pedal that emulates something that we don't know what is. The description provided by EHX never says "mellotron" outright. I'm guessing that it is trademarked by its makers. So, the suggest it. A mellotron, as I have recently learned was a type of keyboard that reproduced different voices by looping sample that have been recorded to tape or disks. So no one knows what a mellotron is, so why emulate it? Turns out that the sounds of this antiquated beast have been used by bands such as Genesis, Beatles and The Grateful Dead. Chances are, you've heard one of the those bands, or you may even like these bands. More importantly, bands around the country, and probably the world, are paid good money to cover these bands, so now guitarist are able to emulate the actually instrument played rather than play the riff while sounding like a guitar...

Another 9 Voices

If you have followed EHX's theme with these pedals, There are 9 voices in each box, this isn't surprising. It is a little frustrating. At this point, it's like buying a keyboard with 9 voices only for another keyboard to come out 6 months later with another 9 voices. The hardware in the pedals are staying the same. It's the software that gets the revamp. Why can't we shove a few more one and zeros in there to hook us up with a few more voices, or all the voices, or let us edit and create the voices... Come on Mike.

There Is A Pattern Here

It now seems like there is going to be a "9" pedal every 6 months or so for the rest of our lives. As long as we keep plopping down $200 for these things. Electro Harmonix is going to keep selling them to us. I'd love to see something like TC Electronics' Toneprint tech in EHX's polyphonic emulators. Let us edit and customize the 9 voices that we get to play with.

In Conclusion

I was impressed with the video that EHX released with this pedal. They have the promotion for these pedals really nailed. Show someone playing the pedal and make it sound great. If you make it recreate an iconic lick 'spot-on' then that's a bonus... There are several sounds in this pedal that sound great on the video. The Choir voices are pretty stellar. Also, I was impressed with the last little bit of the video where they strummed a acoustic guitar and made a guitar+fill sound. Making this a pedal that has a range of applications other than 'make you guitar sound like ________".

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Ugly Truth: TC Electronic Sentry

TC Electric is at it again with the new Sentry Noise Gate. Known for their quality effect, TC Electronic has put together a line of effect that are praised by many for their quality and flexibility. This pedal appears to be no different. The force is strong with this one due to the Toneprint technology. Not only doe it appear to be a smart noise gating pedal, but it's features are unlocked by its editable setting via linking to your computer or smart-device. Just like TC Electronic's other formidable offerings, this pedal is has been well though out. It looks like a pretty favorable picture, or is it?

It's A Yawn

Let's take a look at TC Electronic's new offerings lately: clip-on tuner, acoustic pre-amp and noise gate. Not exactly exciting stuff. But let's not forget that this is what TC Electronic is good at. Yes, the Polytune clip-on and BodyRez aren't flashy, but those are tools that are indispensable. Honestly, these are what TC Electronic are best at. The Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter are not as highly praise as their other offerings. Their Hall Of Fame reverb and Flashback delay are highly desired effect. Their Toneprint technology is a exciting feature that lets you apply famous artist's actual settings.

What It Does Is Nothing

Sure, it is a noise gate. It does what it does. It takes the noise that you don't want out of the signal. When you engage it, all your problems should go away, but what ends up happening with most of these pedal is that your tone ends up going away with it. When you watch the promotional video (because that is a thing now) you hear all about how it won't effect your tone at all. Does it work like that? Maybe.

Conclusion

Let's get down to business, this pedal comes from an impressive pedigree. Priced at around the cost of a comparable unit and promising performance that is unparalleled, This pedal is posed to take the noise gate pedal market in a fell swoop. This comes at a great time. I've recently added compression to my pedal rig and it can get a little noisy. This pedal would be my pick for a noise gate.

The Ugly Truth About TC Electronic Bodyrez Acoustic Pickup Enhancer

So TC Electronic brought this thing the Summer NAMM and I honestly have to say that I'm geeking out about it. It looks like a great solution for an acoustic player. The video (that we all expect to see from TC Electronc now) explains, and hypes, this tiny pedal. Like their ditto pedal, there are more features than you would expect from a pedal with one knob. There is a feedback filter, phase inverter, and mute function. In a pedal with ONE knob. Not only that, but the eagle eyed among us may have noticed that there appears to be a micro usb port. So this pedal might be a part of the Toneprint series, or at least give us more options with connectivity.

So what is so ugly about all these features being stuffed into a tine little box? Well, Lets look. If you are a acoustic player, then you probably don't use many pedals. A tuner as some sort (which may not be a pedal), A DI to run into whatever PA you use, and maybe a tone shaping tool provided that your onboard electronic doesn't do it for you. You might run a delay or reverb, but that is a Effect as apposed to signal processing. What TC Electronic has made is a super compact pedal that provides a simple and elegant solution. But these are other options.  BBE makes the AcoustiMax that does everything this pedal does and give you tonnes of control. It is also roughly 7 time larger than this pedal, but it includes everything but a tuner. Aphex make the Acoustic Xciter. I love this pedal as well. The controls are a little more open to interpretation, but the effect it has on a peizo pickup is amazing. It doesn't have all the function of the Bodyrez, but you'd be hard up to find a pedal that does what it does as well. I'll be first in line to get my hands on one come September, because these don't hit the market till the 29th of September. I guess we will have to wait till then.

Summer NAMM 2015

NAMM!

So I was caught a little unaware, but I started noticing companies showing off new gear, it hit me. Summer NAMM is upon us. So far we know that Boss and TC Electronic have new pedals. The Boss DD-500 Delay looks amazing. The TC Electronic BodyRez is impressive. Those are just the teasers that have slipped out before the main show have even began. I can wait to see the rest of the exciting gear that is sure to debut this year.

Take a look at Boss' new gear here

Here is TC Electronics new pedal

The Ugly Truth About TC Electonic's Dark Matter Distortion

If there is anything in the world that gets my attention, it is guitar gear that's cheap. I'll rummage through a whole heap of junk to get to a great pedal that is reasonably priced. There are tonnes of great options in the $150-200 range, but lets get real, I got about $50 to spare, so I'm looking a lot lower than a car payment when shopping for pedals. That being said, I came across TC Electronic's Dark Matter Distortion for $50 and did a double take. Normally priced north of a hundred US bones, the Dark Matter is one of only 2 distortion boxes made by the highly praised effects company. These people put out quality stuff, but they are more known for their Hall of Fame reverb and Dito Loopers, than their dirt.

If you watch their promotion video about the Dark Matter Distortion, then you notice that they came how uncompressed the pedal sounds. This was great news because the only real complaint that I had about my current distortion pedal is that it tended to get rather compressed when the gain was turned up. If you've read about my adventures with back-orders, you know that I originally ordered this pedal online. It never came, but I was able to find it at a local music store. I ran through a clean fender amp and used a double humbucker equipped guitar. Setting the EQ flat on the amp, I started the pedal off with low gain. These sounds are nice. Compared to the Rottweiler, this pedal can actually clean up quite a bit. It's not going to be a very "clean" boost, but if you want to punch up a lead with more volume and a bit of dirt, this could do it.

Where this pedal comes alive is when the gain is past noon. It wants to rock. I found myself messing around with heavy metal riffs and chunking along like I knew what I was doing. The clipping is smooth and natural sounding. It doesn't get hissy when pushed. The pedals "noise" level is very low. Open chords ring out rather nicely, and the voicing option is really nice. It takes this great sounding distortion and gives it a little more flexibility. I did start to notice that there was something missing from this equation though.

Even though this pedal is a steal at $50, (if it is still at that price) there is a trend right now that a lot of guitarist, including myself, are really enjoying. Pedals are being designed with transparency in mind. More and more guitarist are relying on their guitars and amp for the majority of their tone, and when they turn a pedal on they want that sound to still be the bones of their tone. Many pedals tend to hijack the sound. Chief among these are one that alter the sound the most, like Distortions. Active EQs and lots of saturation will take over most any guitar, but there are some pedals being designed with Blend knobs that mix in clean signal to the effect. This is a bit of electronic wizardry, and it is wonderful.

In conclusion, I like this pedal. It is worth the $50. If you are looking for a great distortion for minimal investment, then look no further. For what you'd spend on a Boss DS-1 you can pick up a better sounding and more flexible pedal. If you have a distortion that you are satisfied with, but looking to expand you sound, then maybe this one isn't for you. It does do nice things, but it's probably not different enough from your current rig for you to go running out and buy one. It's got, but not exactly "standout".

The Ugly Truth About TC Electronic Rottweiler

Ever on the look out for pedals that are stellar, I was browsing in one of my local music stores and noticed a TC Electronic Rottweiler. TC Electronic is more known for their filter and modular effects, but they do have dirt boxes as well. I decided that I needed to give them a try. What I learned surprised me.

My set-up was a Fender Tele Deluxe, into the Rottweiler, to a Peavey Classic 50. The Deluxe and the Peavey tube amp was a great combo. Great American sounds came chiming out. Que the record scratch because when the Rottweiler was turned on, everything changed. Before engaging the pedal I tried to achieve the "on the edge" sound with the amp. No go. If I wanted to sit in front of the amp and not have my ears bleed that is. (even with a master volume) So on came the pedal. Distortion is an understatement. I'm not much of a Metal player, so I won't claim it's great for Metal, but the tones were there. I rolled the gain all the way back and there was still no sign of letting up. There was no sign of my original sound either. The tone and dynamics were completely hijacked. Like a dog with a bone, this pedal was carried away.

The Ugly: Not Transparent, Little Gain Control

The Pro: True Bypass, Solid Construction

The Conclusion: The Pedal doesn't share. The tend in pedal have been to mix clean signal in a mix with dirt, but this pedal didn't get the memo. If you want the Rottweiler to keep some of your guitar's tone in the mix, then you'll probably get bit.

The Ugly Truth About TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive

I took a trip to my local guitar Mecca and had a look around. I had been feeling like I need to get something out of the ordinary. Something that will challenge and inspire me in certain intangible ways (I wanted a new piece of gear). So, armed with a tiny budget and a little bit of trade-stuffs I ventured forth. What I found was something that caught my attention. It was the TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive. Four knobs and a micro toggle on an OD pedal was enough to temp me. Nearly all my dirt are three-knob-jobs, so I wanted to see if this could offer something that I currently cook up with my rig.

First I ran Modern Player Tele through the Mojo into a little Yamaha lunch box amp. My first thoughts were not good. I fiddled with knobs and ran through pickup selections and nothing was good. Of course this could have been due to the 2.5 inch speaker on the Yamaha amp so I changed to a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Clean sounds were great (duh) but this is about a pedal. I fiddled and fiddled with the pedal, looking for the sweet spot that would make the sound that is currently unavailable to me. I never found it. There was some nice voices that I found in the pedal, but nothing that made me want to commit. The best tones of the day were found running straight to the Deluxe. Here is how you know I was underwhelmed, it was new and half price.

The Ugly: It was generic, bland, didn't control low well, not very transparent.

The Pros: It was cheap(ish) and had great build quality

The Conclusion: The MojoMojo lacked just that, Mojo.

TC Electronic's New Pedal Is Not A Pedal

So all the hype was made and many people, include me, were extremely excited. What was this new product that was coming out? I was convinced that it would be a interesting new pedal. Then we got this:

That's right. A clip on tuner. That might be the single least exciting product that I can imagine. I own several clip on tuners, but that doesn't mean that they are worth putting out teaser videos. The thing that gets my attention about a product about this is the price. That too is note worthy, because it is 50 dollars. That is not worthy for the fact that is more than twice the price of any clip on tuner that I've ever bought. TC Electronic is a little slow getting to market because Fender beat them to the punch with their own $50 clip on.

Yep. Looks like a Snark to me too. I think the Polytune has the upper hand in this fight because of how well the pedal version works. The Fender looks pretty standard exept that someone scribbled their name on it. In conclusion, if I were in the market for a $50 clip on tuner, I'd get the TC Electronic.

TC Electronics Has A New Pedal. What Is It?

TC Electronics have been teasing the internet with videos and pictures obscuring the identity of their new stomp box. This leads all of the pedal who care about such thing to wonder, what is it? For example, they posted this picture of a pallet full of boxes...

No hints here, but in their video they mention something about its size. So we can assume that it is a micro size. Currently most of their line has the compact and micro version of the same pedal. There are a few exceptions. Their Dark Matter Distortion and Helix Phaser have no counter part in the micro pedals. Currently I am waiting for a Dark Matter pedal on backorder, so that makes me think that they have limited the supply before the release of "new" micro sized version. In direct contradiction of this is the fact that TC Electronic doesn't seem to be heavily invested in dirt pedals. In fact they are currently pushing their Toneprint technology. So a move in this direction doesn't seem like their MO of late. Again, contradicting what I just said, Keen observers will notice that the pedal in their teaser video looked to be darkly color. This would point to the Dark Matter since TC Electronic keeps everything color coordinated.