Category Archives: Effects Features

Fuzz Feast Part 1 – An Examination of Vintage Fuzz Boxes

October 25, 2014Effects, Effects FeaturesDallas Arbiter, david gilmour, distortion, EH Big Muff, Electro-Harmonix, fuzz, Fuzz Face, Grunge, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Mike Matthews, Nirvana, Pro Co Rat, Pro Co Sound Inc, psychedelic, sola sound, Tone Bender, Tonebender, VoxDavid Szabados

I have a confession. As a guitarist for well over 25 years, I had always been an “anti-fuzz” person. In fact, I can honestly say I hated and despised the sound of fuzzes that I had heard. I couldn’t understand the point of purposefully making a guitar sound as atrocious and “lo-fi” as possible in mind. A fuzz tone after all, sounded nothing like an electric guitar should.

During this period of time, my search for the epitome of rock tone had to do with capturing rock guitar tones from the likes of players like Angus Young of AC/DC and of course Edward Van Halen. In my mind, any tone that deviated from those was simply bad tone, or at best, “sub-par.”
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What Kind of Delay Pedal Should I Buy?

August 25, 2014Effects, Effects Featuresanalog delay, carbon copy, ddl, digital delay, digital modeling, echo, memory man, mxr analog, replex, tape delay, tube tape echoDavid Szabados

When shopping for delay boxes, it seems that there are many more different options today than ever before. The vintage market is still booming, and prices of basic analog delay boxes reflect this trend with skyrocketing prices. But are the old analog delays worth the hype? Counter that trend with digital delays, the very cool must-have tools back in the ‘80s. Nowadays, digital delays in the used market can be found at true bargain prices. But what about this talk about them being sterile and lifeless?
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A/DA Flanger

August 14, 2014Effects, Effects FeaturesADA, Analog Flanger, barracuda, life in the fast lane, spacejet sounds, Unchained, Van Halen, whooshDavid Szabados

I loved the sound of the flanger from the first time I heard it used on recordings. I thought the jet-sweeping flanging sound used on recorded drums was simply awesome. Then I listened to Eddie Van Halen’s guitar on “Unchained” and thought it was cool having the up and down sweeps of the flanger move along in time with the dropped D pedal tone riff. After hearing that, I just had to have one for myself.
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Swirling Dreams: The Keeley Phaser

August 15, 2012Effects, Effects Features, Effects ReviewsKeeley Electronics, mxr phase 90, Phase, phase shifter, phase shifting, Phaser, Phasor, Script Logo, Vintage phaserDavid Szabados

Creative, innovative products are often sparked by thoughts that began with, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?”

Such is the case with the new Keeley Phaser, a design that provides the unique ability to switch between two phaser speeds by way of a ramp function. It works like a rotating Leslie speaker cabinet where the phase rate gradually changes from fast to slow or vice versa with the footswitch – except you now have control over the transition time from the two speeds you select. You can choose between an immediate phase speed change or a gradual ramp which can take up to about a half a minute to fully transition.
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Can the Ibanez TS808 Reissue be Modded for Exact Vintage TS808 Tone?

August 20, 2008Effects, Effects FeaturesIbanez Tube Screamer, Japan Radio Corp, JRC 4558D, maxon, Overdrive, Overdrive Pro, pedal mods, Stevie Ray Vaughan, TS Mod, TS-808, TS-9, TS808, TS9David Szabados

In our recent TS808HW feature, we compared the limited handwired unit along with the standard reissue TS808, the Maxon OD808, and an original TS808 from 1980. The results from the test overall were clear: while the TS808HW is a fantastic pedal, the vintage TS808 had the most dynamics, the longest sustain, and was judged the most transparent from bottom end to top end. This surprised us (because some of us felt that vintage Tube Screamers were mostly unwarranted hype), but it also set in motion a question that drove our curiosity further. Could one of us get the reissue TS808 to sound and feel like the original TS808 – a pedal that as of this writing in late 2008 regularly sells for between $400-$600 USD?
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Keeley Electronics DS-1 Seeing Eye Mod

August 19, 2004Effects, Effects Featuresboss, distortion, ds-1, robert keeley, seeing eye modDavid Szabados

Robert Keeley’s name has grown substantially over the past couple of years and with good reason: he’s an electrical engineer by trade blessed with a musician’s ear for good tone. That combination has proved to be a blessing for his business, Keeley Electronics, and has earned Robert the reputation of knowing what sounds good and being able to build those tones into his final products for his customers.
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Legendary Tones

The Information Source for Great Guitar Tone