Ugly Truth: Fox Pedals

I loved watching NAMM coverage this year. Seems like attendance is hardly necessary any more. All the cool new gadgets are getting shown off and I have to do is click some buttons and enjoy other pedal walking around and doing all the work. Also, if I were there, I'd probably have to play the guitar at the booths and I'm sure by the third day, no one will want to hear me play 'Back In Black' any more. Sadly, it seems to be the only song that comes to mind when I'm put on the spot to play something 'cool'.

Story time over, I've personally discovered Fox Pedals while viewing NAMM stuff, and I have to say that they absolutely are stunning. Some of their pedals look like something out of a Eric Carle book and others just have pretty graphics that seem to graphic describe the sounds made with the pedal. So, they are an emerging pedal maker and they look great. Is that, like, it?

Yeah, Kinda

I don't know a lot about the company, I do know that they make a range of pedals, The most impressive one being The Wave. It is a delay that does various washy, trippy, and unique sounds that really don't seem to be easily duplicated by other pedals out there. Their Kingdom pedal is a transparent overdrive that can crank up into almost fuzzy tones when pushed. (how's that for range) They showed off a fuzz, the Defector. The name and tones give me Russian Big Muff vibes, but I'm sure the pedal holds cool features.

Conclusion

Really, this whole post is one big conclusion. These pedals are very interesting. They are boutique and have the advantage of being able to push boundaries in ways that larger companies really can't. It looks like these guys have some great ideas and I'd like to see more from them. Really cool stuff. 

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Ugly Truth About Way Huge Camel Toe

Wow, I never thought that I'd title a post that way, but there it is. I hope I don't confuse people looking for something other than talking about Guitar gear. BTW, this is a post about the Overdrive pedal called the Camel Toe by Way Huge and absolutly nothing else... let's move on.

Way Huge let us know today that there is a Camel Toe MKII to be released sometime, possibly, with the release uo this photo via their instagram.

Lately I noticed Shnobel, of YouTube fame, playing a Way Huge Camel Toe. I've never heard of this pedal, probably because it was only released in a very limited quantity and I've never been much of a follower of what Way Huge does. If you start Google-ing Way Huge Camel Toe, you might find something other than what you are looking for. There just isn't that much information out there about this rare pedal. However, if you plug that same search into eBay, you are likely to find auctions starting at thousands of dollars. Why? I honestly have no idea. Well, from what I've heard, the pedal sounds fantastic, but it doesn't spout rainbows, so whats with the price? The limited quantity might have something to do with it.

You see, in many ways, the Camel Toe was ahead of its time. It is a light-duty, 'transparent' overdrive. In a market that is flooded with Klones, the Camel Toe is a stand out. It is not a clone of anything that I can tell, in fact it came before many of the clones that, in the wake of the Klon becoming so mythical, because so privalent. That's the problem, it was a transparent overdrive before transparent overdrives were cool. So, in a way, it's the hipster of transparent overdrives...

Regardless, I like this pedal and I look forward to trying one out for myself. However It is highly unlikely that I ever have the chance to put the MKII and the original together for a comparison given its rarity. Hopeful Way Huge won't try to make a money grab with this reissue, but they have always been a little on the boutique side of the price range anyways.

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Should Effect Pedals Have Jacks On Top Or Sides?

Recently I purchased a pedal with jacks on top. This posed a question. Why would you put jacks on the top of you pedals. Don't you know that you are supposed to place them on the sides. (the way God intended) But if you imagine that all you pedals have jacks on top then thing start to make sense.

This might seem like a silly question. When looking at most of the effect on the market you just assume that the jacks are located on the sides of the pedals and that the input is on the right and output is on the left. However, there are many builders that challenge the  mainstay and position their inputs on the top of the pedals. This comes with some added benefits. Ever wanted to place your pedals directly side by side instead of spacing them out for patches? Ever notice that pros run large racks with pullout drawers that house their effects. Top jack help rout everything. you can also use shorter patch cables and cram more pedals on to smaller pedal boards. But Side jacks are the norm. Mixing side and top jacks can present challenges when arranging pedal on a board. especially when you are working with pre-measured patch cables. Short of reboxing most of your pedals, or going to boutique builders for your pedals that will conform to your standards.