Hector Arcadius
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
- Messages
- 8,121
- Reaction score
- 5,964
Ok, folks, here is my review of this amazing pedal that David (CheopisIV) builds and sells. Now, is that a world exclusive or what
?!
Lets start by saying that I had been researching extensively for my first fuzz-box, mainly inspired by David Gilmour tones and (on a different side of the tonal spectrum) from modern hard-rock bands (like Monster Magnet). And reading up on the net, I was also advised that perhaps a Muff-type-of-pedal could not be the ideal for me, and perhaps I should consider a different distortion pedal. So, the description of Davids pedal (fuzz / distortion) seemed to be the perfect place to start. I kept my expectations low and DID NOT think that the W.R. would be the exact / perfect pedal to get the tones I was after. How wrong I was!!!
KNOB DESCRIPTION:
1. Volume: self-explanatory. Lets just say that it has enough volume available to blow the roof-top of your house. At 9 oclock, it had already passed unity gain with the amp.
2. Gain: from gritty blues all the way to modern, full out distortion. Totally usable in all the range.
3. Tone: Another very pleasant surprise, extremely useful through the whole range, helps you match the pedal to your rig, without ever getting piercing or muddy.
4. And last but not least: the Sag knob: it controls the voltage that the circuit operates in. Much of this pedals magic happens here: at full-on position, you maximise the headroom of the pedal, minimising its fuzz aspect and you bring it closer to articulate distortion. Back it off, and you introduce more gritt to the sound. This feature is one of those that set the pedal apart from its competition.
Having watched Davids video / demo on the pedal, I knew the settings to start: Volume & Gain at 9 oclock, the 2 other knobs at 12 oclock. Side note: I was powering it with 12V from my pedal-boards daisy chain. Step on it and ARGHH! BLINDING red Led! Not to complain at all, I happen to absolutely love big, blinding leds! So, if youre twisted as I am, then youre gonna love it!
The sound? Clear, articulate, loud gain, bordering OD / distortion (and not so much fuzz), perfect for a gritty blues/rock sound that is pretty familiar to us. Touch sensitive with lots of dynamics as well. I was so happy with the tones I was getting, that I spent the next half hour without even touching the knobs on the pedal, simply squeezing out as many tones as possible from the controls on my Fat-Strat (with an MHD pickup on the bridge).Having a pedal that sounds so good from the get-go, that you dont have to constantly mess with the knobs to make it sound good, is what I call inspiring and well-designed.
Rolling the gain on, at 12 oclock, the tones are hard-rocking, always maintaining the clarity, making power-chords sound full and balanced and solos to jump out, on all pickups. In order to keep the 2 GFS Neovins (in the neck & middle position) from getting too dark (not the pedals fault, they just tend to do so), I roll the Tone knob to 9 oclock and when I play in the bridge position, I use the guitars tone control. Everything sounds perfect and, equally importantly, it works as it should on the pedal.
Full on gain and Im able to get sustaining lead sounds that are pretty reminiscent of Gilmour-ish sound-scapes. Surprised and extremely satisfied Did I mention how well this pedal clears-up with rolling back the volume knob? Of course the MHD plays a great role in that as well, but, if it wasnt for the W.R . This is the kind of pedals that you can always leave on, even at maxed-out settings and control everything from the guitar. Rolling back the volume completely, it gets so clear that you can add chorus and start playing slow appregiated chords! And everything sparkles and shines
Time for round No. 2: repeat process, but now I start messing with the Sag knob on every gain setting. Man, does this open new tonal possibilities, or what? It makes the pedal so damn versatile, working together with the gain knob, so that you can take it from blues-rock, classic rock, metal, modern pedal, stoner-rock The pedal was only limited by me, not by its controls. Amazing!
The next night, everything was repeated with my Gibson Les Paul Studio (all mahogany) with BB Pros. Lets just say that Im not satisfied with the way the guitar sounds at the moment, and a pickup & harness swap is my actual next goal (gear-wise). Damn it! I could not get this pedal to sound bad! It was absolutely brilliant not only on the bridge pickup, but I loved so much the neck one, that I get really inspired and creative! It was the first time that I actually used the neck pickup of my Les Paul for rhythm stuff! Not a sign of mud, only punch & attitude! Again, surprised and extremely satisfied
Just so that you can get a better idea: the amp used was a Blackstar HT-1R.
SUMMARY: This is one of the 2 best drive pedals that I ever had the pleasure to own. Its in the same league with my Crunch Box and those who are frequent to the forum, know exactly how much I love my C.B. Its not the kind of pedal that you buy in order to nail Insert favourite artist here-tone. Its the kind of pedal you buy in order to find your-tone. I have to add here that both my guitars sound like themselves through it. And its the same for all my pickups in them. It does not cover-up anything in order to make it sound good. It just provides the tools to make the rest of your rig sound better. It offers more of what you want to add, be it gain, sustain, grit, brightness Incredible stuff! I cant wait for the next offerings from David. The man has a great pair of ears, for sure!
Lets start by saying that I had been researching extensively for my first fuzz-box, mainly inspired by David Gilmour tones and (on a different side of the tonal spectrum) from modern hard-rock bands (like Monster Magnet). And reading up on the net, I was also advised that perhaps a Muff-type-of-pedal could not be the ideal for me, and perhaps I should consider a different distortion pedal. So, the description of Davids pedal (fuzz / distortion) seemed to be the perfect place to start. I kept my expectations low and DID NOT think that the W.R. would be the exact / perfect pedal to get the tones I was after. How wrong I was!!!
KNOB DESCRIPTION:
1. Volume: self-explanatory. Lets just say that it has enough volume available to blow the roof-top of your house. At 9 oclock, it had already passed unity gain with the amp.
2. Gain: from gritty blues all the way to modern, full out distortion. Totally usable in all the range.
3. Tone: Another very pleasant surprise, extremely useful through the whole range, helps you match the pedal to your rig, without ever getting piercing or muddy.
4. And last but not least: the Sag knob: it controls the voltage that the circuit operates in. Much of this pedals magic happens here: at full-on position, you maximise the headroom of the pedal, minimising its fuzz aspect and you bring it closer to articulate distortion. Back it off, and you introduce more gritt to the sound. This feature is one of those that set the pedal apart from its competition.
Having watched Davids video / demo on the pedal, I knew the settings to start: Volume & Gain at 9 oclock, the 2 other knobs at 12 oclock. Side note: I was powering it with 12V from my pedal-boards daisy chain. Step on it and ARGHH! BLINDING red Led! Not to complain at all, I happen to absolutely love big, blinding leds! So, if youre twisted as I am, then youre gonna love it!
The sound? Clear, articulate, loud gain, bordering OD / distortion (and not so much fuzz), perfect for a gritty blues/rock sound that is pretty familiar to us. Touch sensitive with lots of dynamics as well. I was so happy with the tones I was getting, that I spent the next half hour without even touching the knobs on the pedal, simply squeezing out as many tones as possible from the controls on my Fat-Strat (with an MHD pickup on the bridge).Having a pedal that sounds so good from the get-go, that you dont have to constantly mess with the knobs to make it sound good, is what I call inspiring and well-designed.
Rolling the gain on, at 12 oclock, the tones are hard-rocking, always maintaining the clarity, making power-chords sound full and balanced and solos to jump out, on all pickups. In order to keep the 2 GFS Neovins (in the neck & middle position) from getting too dark (not the pedals fault, they just tend to do so), I roll the Tone knob to 9 oclock and when I play in the bridge position, I use the guitars tone control. Everything sounds perfect and, equally importantly, it works as it should on the pedal.
Full on gain and Im able to get sustaining lead sounds that are pretty reminiscent of Gilmour-ish sound-scapes. Surprised and extremely satisfied Did I mention how well this pedal clears-up with rolling back the volume knob? Of course the MHD plays a great role in that as well, but, if it wasnt for the W.R . This is the kind of pedals that you can always leave on, even at maxed-out settings and control everything from the guitar. Rolling back the volume completely, it gets so clear that you can add chorus and start playing slow appregiated chords! And everything sparkles and shines
Time for round No. 2: repeat process, but now I start messing with the Sag knob on every gain setting. Man, does this open new tonal possibilities, or what? It makes the pedal so damn versatile, working together with the gain knob, so that you can take it from blues-rock, classic rock, metal, modern pedal, stoner-rock The pedal was only limited by me, not by its controls. Amazing!
The next night, everything was repeated with my Gibson Les Paul Studio (all mahogany) with BB Pros. Lets just say that Im not satisfied with the way the guitar sounds at the moment, and a pickup & harness swap is my actual next goal (gear-wise). Damn it! I could not get this pedal to sound bad! It was absolutely brilliant not only on the bridge pickup, but I loved so much the neck one, that I get really inspired and creative! It was the first time that I actually used the neck pickup of my Les Paul for rhythm stuff! Not a sign of mud, only punch & attitude! Again, surprised and extremely satisfied
Just so that you can get a better idea: the amp used was a Blackstar HT-1R.
SUMMARY: This is one of the 2 best drive pedals that I ever had the pleasure to own. Its in the same league with my Crunch Box and those who are frequent to the forum, know exactly how much I love my C.B. Its not the kind of pedal that you buy in order to nail Insert favourite artist here-tone. Its the kind of pedal you buy in order to find your-tone. I have to add here that both my guitars sound like themselves through it. And its the same for all my pickups in them. It does not cover-up anything in order to make it sound good. It just provides the tools to make the rest of your rig sound better. It offers more of what you want to add, be it gain, sustain, grit, brightness Incredible stuff! I cant wait for the next offerings from David. The man has a great pair of ears, for sure!
. Would there be a possibility to do some sound clips maby?
