NAMM 2018: Fender Marine Layer Reverb Pedal

At this point it's hard to say anything that hasn't been said about the new line of effect from Fender. They look like a clear despatcher from their previous attempts to establish themselves in the current effects market. Professional looking boxes and features that compete with more substantial on the market make this effect stand out from their previous works. Obviously Fender has put in a fair amount of time and effort to correct past mistakes. However, these pedal still seem to blend in almost too well. Sure, the features are solid and the design are now something you wouldn't mind putting on your pedalboard, but they may suffer by trying to compete with similar effect from BOSS and TC Electronic. Would you take a Marine Layer over a Hall of Fame II or RV-6?

More Information

Versatile 'Verb

The Marine Layer Reverb Pedal has 3 types of reverb to choose from. Each reverb sound has 2 distinct variations that provide even more versatility, while the simple yet powerful control layout provides intuitive control over every aspect of your ambient sound.

Three Reverb Types

The Marine Layer pedal has a hall, room, and 'special' reverb (that features a shimmer sound). Each mode has two variations and can let you achieve a wide range of tones. The hall sound is a large spacious ambience with a warm tonality, the room is a brighter and more focused ambience, while the special effect can send your tone to the heavens and back with its expansive sound.
The Marine Layer pedal has simple controls, yet they offer powerful control over every important parameter of the reverb tone, including the time, pre-delay (for a 'bounce' back effect), damping and overall level.
Between the reverb types and controls, you should be able to achieve a range of ambient sound for almost any musical eventuality.

Professional Features

The Marine Layer Reverb has a rugged and lightweight aluminum chassis with a brushed metal finish. This gives it both read-ready durability and a classy-aesthetic that can take pride-of-place on your pedalboard. The pedal is built by Fender who have a multitude of experience in amplifier design and you can be sure that this pedal will last a lifetime of gigging, rehearsing and recording.

Magnetic Battery Door & Jewel Light

The jewel LED light not only looks great, it also adds a handy on-stage visual indicator of the pedal's operation. The pedal has a clever battery compartment door; it has a magnetic latch which means you can easily change the battery with no fiddly screws to worry about.
This is a thoroughly professional pedal - both in tone and appearance - and would make a welcome addition to your pedalboard.

Features

• 3 Reverb types - hall, room, special
• Each reverb type has 2 variations for maximum versatility
• Control over reverb time, damping, pre-delay and level
• Effect tails continue when pedal is bypassed for a smooth performance
• Lets you achieve all manner of reverbs, from slap-back, subtle room ambience, through to huge atmospheric halls and 'shimmer'
• Rugged anodized aluminum construction
• Classy brushed finish and jewel light
• Battery door with magnetic latching opening (no screws needed)
• Powered by 9V battery or DC

Specifications

• Effect Type: Reverb
• Controls: Reverb Time, Damping, Pre Delay, Type Toggle (Hall/Room/Special),Variation Toggle (1/2), Filter Toggle (On/Off), Effect Level, Effect Mute Footswitch
• Inputs: 1 x 1/4'' Instrument
• Outputs: 1 x 1/4'' Instrument
• Power Requirements: 9-Volt Battery or DC Negative AC Adaptor
• Power Consumption: 71mA
• Input Impedance: 1M ohm
• Output Impedance: 1k ohm
• Material: Anodized Aluminum
• Colour: Green

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Iron Curtain Noise Gate

Alright, I guess I'm going to to do all of these things. By now, we know that TC is putting out a huge number of pedals that should look familiar to anyone that has been around BOSS or Behringer effect pedals. When I first heard of the people, I thought it was something different. I'll get into that in a second, but now we will take a closer look.

Not A Clone

So Behringer put out direct BOSS clones for a long time. They are still producing cost-effective stomp boxes that are nearly identical to their BOSS brethren. Here come TC and they look like they are upping the ante. They are pretty much taking some of the most successful circuits and stilling them in rugged boxes. Basically taking Behringer's game and raising the bar... kinda. Like we saw with the 3rd Dimension, TC pedals aren't always direct copies. I'm not saying that they aren't up to par, but some of the features don't make to the final product. The same thing has happened here. The BOSS and Behringer pedals both feature an effects loop. This isn't necessary, but it is a noted loss when comparing these very related pedals.

The Competition

Looking at budget noise gate pedals, you won't find many. Most start out well north of the advertised price of the Iron Curtain-$50. The Behringer has a spotted reputation, and the BOSS is twice the price. It's pretty much between EHX and TC at this price point. If you need anything more substantial than what those two pedal can give you, then you should probably take a look at the TC Sentry and stop messing around with bargain bin pedals. Personally, I've never really had any need for noise gate on my board. Not to say that I haven't used them. My experience with the BOSS NS-2 and MXR Smart Gate is enough for me not to recommend them. Even with the limited features, if TC made a solid noise gate at $50, then this is a huge win for guitarists in general.

So Close

They had the name and the look, but if they just could have made this a Russian Big Muff clone I think I could have forgiven the lack of green. I know this is on the heels of EHX releasing their Green Russian, but imagine for a second a world that had a choice of Russian Fuzz clones. Maybe this one goes for more of a Black Russian feel? What makes it worse is that they put out a Muff Clone in the line. The demo did sound pretty low-gain, so maybe it's going for a Russian feel... but that just makes it worse. You were so close TC!

Conclusion

I'm actually pretty surprised that I have so many feelings about a Noise Gate. But honestly, this pedal does seem to feel a bit of a gap in the market. The lack of features does give me a little bit of pause. If I were to find myself in need of a noise gate and had the option of the Iron Curtain and the Silencer, then I might just get the Silencer on the features alone. I mean, seven dollars buy quite a bit more. Then again, noise gates are a hard thing to get right, and I haven' really see TC drop the ball on any of these pedals, so it might come down to a dual.

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.