JHS PEDALS || ARTIFICIAL BLONDE

Hello Gearheads! As we embark through the final passages of the holiday season (whatever season you may celebrate that is) I’m happy to bring you one final Gearheads Feature for the year… and it’s a fantastic one! You may know my penchant for the unique tone and style of Pitch Vibrato and today’s offering is not only a fantastic pitch vibrato circuit, but a very cool artist inspired one at that! None other than the JHS Pedals Artificial Blonde!

The Artificial Blonde is the signature pedal designed for the incredibly inspired Madison Cunningham. If you’re not familiar with her catalog or her music in general, I’d say stop reading this feature and go get you some… Cunningham is one of the most unique and interesting songwriters to come forth in the last decade and her signature pedal sits right next to her artistic prowess. The Artificial Blonde is so important to her tone that she actually never turns it off! Originally, using JHS’s Emperor Chorus/Vibrato pedal, choosing to only use the Vibrato setting - that warm wobble became a signature tone for Cunningham before any idea of a signature pedal existed. That alone is very cool to me - as I’m sure many of you Gearheads out there know… how many times do we see artists rep’ing a new pedal… (it’s their signature pedal of course) only to never see them use it on stage or in the studio. Whether those situations are “cash grabs” or they just move onto other gear like many of us do - that is definitely NOT the case with Cunningham and the Artificial Blonde.

The Artificial Blonde itself is very simple. In a nutshell it’s the same killer Pitch Vibrato circuit from the Emperor Chorus/Vibrato, but instead of having the Chorus and Vibrato, it’s just Vibrato with the option of choosing two speed settings. Dead simple and very useful. The pedal shares a global gain/volume control and a very musical “Tilt” EQ. Tilt EQ’s have been finding their way onto more pedal designs as of late as they work well to shave off frequencies you won’t need or want as you move up or down the EQ spectrum. The two independent speed options are foot-switchable and have their own depth controls. This enables you to really dial what you might need for the task ahead. Often, opting for a fast and slow movement you’ll find that the depth needs to be adjusted to get the tone to sit correctly in the mix. It’s very important and useful to have a depth control for each speed.

Tonally, the Artificial Blonde reminds me of many different Pitch Vibrato pedals. It’s circuit origins are from the old 80’s plastic import, Arion Chorus which also had a vibrato function. Often used for copping a fast Leslie speaker tone for the LA studio scene and Jazzers alike. I can hear those origins but also brighter tones akin to the Boss VB-2 and darker murkier tones that get soupy and almost tape-like. All of those tones and circuit styles are right there at your fingertips via the Tilt EQ.

The Artificial Blonde is a decidedly simple tool for anyone looking for a great and versatile Pitch Vibrato pedal for either live or the studio. The simple feature set is useful and zero filler. As much as I love options, sometimes I don’t! The Blonde gets right to point and you’re able to make music, which at the end of the day pals… that’s all that matters. I really enjoyed making the song for this feature and used the Blonde on pretty much every instrument, including a cool old Suzuki Omnichord for those Lanois/Eno chordal swashes. The Blonde fit right in, I’d say magically.

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the JHS Pedals Artificial Blonde Vibrato If you’d like to learn more about JHS Pedals and the Artificial Blonde, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.jhspedals.info/

https://www.jhspedals.info/artificial-blonde

https://www.youtube.com/@jhspedals

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

JDM PEDALS || GERMANIUM HUMDINGER OCTAVE FUZZ

What’s going on Gearheads! Today I’m happy to finally share my feature on the counterpart to the JDM Pedals Humdinger series - this time a Germanium version! You can previously check out the feature I did on the Silicon Humdinger here: “CLICK HERE”.

JDM Pedals took the basic DNA of their Silicon fuzz/octave, a roaring and raucous circuit and brought all the warmth and open quality a Germanium transistor can bring to the table. The two fuzzes are similar in their function, both being able to independently access all the sides of the pedal, fuzz, boost, octavia and of course their unique ability to act as a fuzzy swiss army knife of sorts. JDM isn’t messing around with the versatility in these circuits. I’ve not been able to find one situation where I couldn’t get not only a sound that works, but a great one.

The GE version does vary in a few ways, mainly in it’s “Texture” control, which acts more of a EQ shift control that moves the midrange subtly throughout the range of the control. A much more subtle control than that control on the SI version, which was a pure bias control that would get broken, gated tones to full fat ones. The texture control on the GE version acts more like a “settle it in” once you’ve got everything in a general spot you like it, sweep the potentiometer to sweeten the tone. Very cool and very usable.

All in all, the GE Humdinger is a definitely a warmer, more open fuzz circuit that I find works great for rhythm guitar parts, fatter single note lead lines and when you bring the Octave side in… you get massive 60’s Hendrix type tones that are quite addictive. The volume knob cleanup is stellar, being both germanium and how the circuit is tuned. Again, as with the previously featured SI Humdinger, the Thin/Fat and TONE controls really offer a versatility that’s so useful in the heat of the battle. Being able to add or subtract core elements to the gain structure, how fuzzy or thick something is… it’s simply simple. You wonder why all pedal designers don’t incorporate this kind of control. Nothing is worse than getting your beautiful, fat and gooey fuzz tone going on stage or in a crowded mix and you’re lost in the sauce! The versatility of the Humdinger’s EQ feature set totally fixes that. You can keep the core tone and feeling you’ve got, but simply add or subtract elements to settle it in. Everything is interactive with itself, so you’ve got a wild variety of options at your feet.

I really enjoyed spending quality time with the GE Humdinger… I had specifically not done the two features back to back as I wanted to in one way, isolate myself from any simple generalizations when creating the music for this feature… but also to allow the two pedals to sort of create their own destinies in a way. I would not use both pedals for the same thing. I would absolutely pull each of them out for different types of parts, different gigs… different instruments. At the possible behest of taking way too long to get this feature out, I’ve found that uniqueness and am certainly happy I did. They may look similar, being in the same enclosure etc… but man oh man - they are absolute yin to the yang of eachother.

As always (although sometimes certainly not as easy as this demo) I used the GE Humdinger on all the stringed instruments. Using the various gain stages and volume clean up to get all the layers heard here. I highly recommend this fuzz for anyone looking for a pedal that I guarantee will work with your rig and your real world environments, whether you’re on stage, in a studio, in a garage or a bedroom!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the JDM Germanium Humdiner Fuzz/Octave. If you’d like to learn more about Joe and all that Joe Doc Music is up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.joedocmusic.com/

https://www.joedocmusic.com/jdm-pedals-humdinger-germanium-edition-dual-pedal-fuzz-octavia-boost/

https://www.facebook.com/JDM-Pedals-1792051797784922/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

FATPUPS PICKUPS || BLACK GUARD || CLASSIC VINTAGE ALNICO 3 TONE

Welcome back Gearheads! Today I’ve got a fantastic set of pickups from another somewhat under the radar winder for you all to check out. I first came across Fatpups Pickups upon a recommendation from fellow guitarist and YouTube demo’er Mike “Roknfnrol” when I had inquired about a great set of replacement pickups for my Telecaster. A few months ago I had the idea to get the pieces together for a fun and killer “parts” Tele and happened to buy a body that had a set of Lollar pickups in it. While I do think Lollar makes great pickups, they just weren’t speaking well in this guitar. It’s a very light Ash body from Guitar Mill (who is Mario Martin Custom Guitars and supplies the bodies for Danocaster) and a maple Musikraft neck. All in all, really good pieces to make a killer guitar. Mike recommended Fatpups’ Black Guard set as a great marriage in that kind of guitar and man was he right. All the twang, spank and clarity I was looking for was instantly present and at the same time, the warmth you’d like to expect from an old guitar was absolutely there. Extremely happening set of pickups!

“
Handcrafted in the USA

Tone tested, built to last, and made from the finest materials available. Every guitar pickup is individually handcrafted and scatter wound with the utmost attention to detail. Completely committed to quality, incredible guitar tone, and most importantly your satisfaction!
”

Fatpups is Chris Larsen, a self described tinkerer and lover of all things music and gear… a familiar spirit indeed! Chris is churning out some pretty amazing, handmade pickups at extremely affordable prices. Again, much like Gemini Pickups from a previous Gearheads Feature… there are some really amazing smaller builders out there making fantastic sets of pickups that don’t get anywhere near the crazy money some of the boutique builders are asking, and to be completely honest they are every bit as great and musical.

“I’m Chris and I love guitars. I got my first guitar 25 years ago when I was 13 and I’ve been hooked ever since. As a kid I started tinkering with them right away and I even got in trouble for completely disassembling my Uncle’s Strat!

After working many different jobs over the years ranging from guitar teacher to electronics manufacturing one thing has remained the same - I have not lost my passion for amazing guitar tone, and I never will!”
— Chris Larsen (Mr. Fatpups)

The Blackguard Tele set comes equipped with scatter wound heavy build magnet wire and alnico 3 magnets which provide a remarkably clear tone with a balanced frequency response. They have a lower overall output than alnico 5, and the bass tone is leaner and tighter than alnico 2. The near absence of cobalt in alnico 3 causes it to have less magnetic pull, impeding string vibration the least, allowing the player to articulate every subtle nuance of their playing style.

Neck Covers - Raw covers will have scratches because they are not plated and unpolished. Chrome, Gold, and Nickel plated covers are polished and will not have scratches on their tops. All covers are made in the USA from pure nickel silver for the best tone.

Bridge String - Choose either a black string or a white string to be wrapped around the bridge pickup. Black was common for '50s era pickups and white was used in the '60s.

3-Wire Mod - The neck pickup will come equipped with a third wire (a dedicated ground wire for the metal cover) giving you the option to use a 4-way switch with both pickups in series.

Aged Poles - With this option the alnico rod magnets are patinaed which gives the pickups an aged look.








I found this set of Black Guard pickups to really wake up my parts Tele, in a variety of situations and gain structures. They work well with gain, fuzz pedals and wet effects like reverb and delay. I did have Chris send me his favorite treble bleed capacitor to use with these pickups and I’m super happy with the range of tone and EQ across the guitar’s volume knob. These pickups offer all the vintage, woody and expressive tone you’d want out of an old set of vintage Telecaster pickups without ANY of the “Ice Pick” we all try to avoid. They’re balanced and individual notes and chords feel great under your fingers.

In the video demo below, I used only the parts Tele with the Black Guard set into both a Komet 29 and vintage ‘76 Marsahll 50w JMP amplifier. You can really hear the snarl and snap this guitar now has… very addictive.

I will add one small anecdote - at times I do feel the guitar has a touch too much compression, almost as if the notes dip when you dig in. It’s a cool effect and while that may work for certain tasks and musical environments, I did look for solutions and it’s most definitely coming from the brass saddles on the guitar. I’m planning on replacing them at some point with steel saddles to firm up the whole fit and feel, upon which I’ll come back to this feature and share those experiences with you all! Again, the guitar sounds great and I could imagine if you were running a cleaner, more high headroom rig you’d really appreciate those brass saddles and the compression they yield.

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Fatpups Pickups Black Guard Set. If you’d like to learn more about Fatpups are up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://fatpups.com/

https://www.ebay.com/str/fatpups

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

BALAM FX || ITZAMNA FUZZ

Welcome Gearheads to another Fuzzy Feature! Today I’ve got a really unique and under the radar fuzz to showcase. Balam FX, is a part time builder of really great sounding fuzzes. Born out of the love for collecting anything he could get his hands on, the 2020 Pandemic shutdowns created the space for Balam FX to start building and selling these killer pedals online. There’s been a really cool movement of under the radar, uber boutique builders, mostly in the fuzz pedal varietal that have all popped up after the pandemic lockdowns. Call it captive creativity, I simply call is inspiring!

What makes the story of Balam Fx even more unique and awesome is the fact that all the profits are donated to charity and the remainder is donated to a specific organization in Chiapas, Mexico that helps kids from the Lancandon tribe get education benefits. Being from Chiapas, this was near and dear to his heart and is a remarkable story of kindness and creation. There is a true sense of giving back in all that Balam FX does and I can’t say enough amazing things about them.

The Itzamna Fuzz, named after the Mayan deity and ruler of heaven and hell is aptly titled as it’s one ruling fuzz tone! Balam knew I had a long history of loving the Fuzz Face circuit and decided to build a nice take on one. It’s built in a “naked” wiring scheme where all the solder traces are free flowing throughout the enclosure and on a tag board, which makes for a uniquely artistic circuit. With all NOS components, this is a very cool looking and sounding fuzz pedal.

Sonically, the fuzz is a ripping, thick Germanium fuzz. Capable of massive amount of gain that sound amazing into both a clean and dirty amplifier. There’s a pretty small sweetspot on the gain knob, so you’re going get the majority of your tone shaping from your guitar’s volume knob. This is an extremely common scenario with Fuzz Faces and honestly, it’s all part of the charm.

The Itzamna has 3 controls. Volume, Gain and Bias. The bias control acts as very subtle shift in dynamics to my ear, much less effecting than most bias knobs that take you from fat to thin or full to farty… This bias control really just shifts the EQ a bit and adds or subtracts a bit of girth. While it is different than most controls of this type, I found it super useful for getting my tone with different amps or guitars and is mostly set and forget. As I stated above, there’s a S**t Ton of gain in this box, more than most vintage Fuzz Face clones, which is pretty addictive. It’s got a nice presence and 3D quality though, that never gets too compressed and shines in a mix… which if you’ve played many Fuzz Faces, you know that’s not an easy thing to accomplish. This fuzz will NOT disappear into the sunken place of your band’s mix! There’s also quite a bit of volume on tap and I found that I either liked shelving it back a touch for more compression and a less robust gained up tone or full up for the fattest and most rich fuzz tone. You could dial the gain back a bit when the volume was higher. These instances are also quite familiar with most vintage Fuzz Faces, but I felt the interaction was more pleasing on the Itzamna. More is more!

In the demo below, I used the Itzamna on all the guitars even on some bass parts. What a great sounding vintage fuzz tone that’s capable of gnarly full tilt madness all the way to cleaner passages and anything in between. I’ll be completely honest here - this fuzz meets and matches some of the most expensive Germanium fuzzes I’ve played in my career and I think it’s absolutely awesome. I love it when someone creates something out of a deep respect and passion for the craft, using off kilter components and not trying to jump in the same boat as all the other builders out there… this is NOT a NKT275 fuzz, but it certainly roars as much or better than some of the best sounding versions of those high dollar investment pieces. I’m not sure what the future is for Balam FX, but I certainly hope he keeps building and inspiring. Please contact him and get the fuzz sound that’s in your head, while helping to support such an amazing cause. It’s an equal handshake here folks, inspiration meets love and humanity!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Balam FX Itzamna Fuzz. If you’d like to learn more about Balam FX is up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.instagram.com/balam.fx/

https://reverb.com/shop/peps-music

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

JDM PEDALS || “Humdinger” Silicon Octavia/Fuzz-Overdrive Dual Pedal

Welcome Gearheads!

Today I’ve got a unique offering to show you all… I happened upon this company by my Nashville based guitarist pal Brett Moore. Brett’s as much a gearhead as I am and knowing my penchant for fuzz pedals he said I had to try this “sleeper of the year” Humdinger Fuzz from JDM Pedals. Well, Brett’s right as he often is and I was completely flabbergasted by it’s simplicity, tone, versatility and ultimately the price JDM Pedals is cranking these out for. More on that later!

JDM Pedals is Joe Dochtermann or “Joe Doc Music”, who’s not just a builder but also a guitarist based in Berlin, Germany. Joe operates a unique website that’s reminiscent of the early days of the internet where you could enjoy a ‘one-stop-shop’ of an experience, taking in guitar lessons, blogs, DVD’s and eBooks and of course hand built pedals! There is a decidedly DIY aesthetic to the site and you can get really deep into what Joe’s offering. I absolutely recommend taking a look at all JDM is offering!

The Silicon Humdinger is not your typical Octave/Fuzz combo pedal. With it’s dead simple interface of knobs it yields a ton of tones that you can actually dial in to perfectly suit each guitar and amp combination you’re using. Usually, these types of pedals can be unruly and difficult to manage especially when switching back and forth between the Octave and Fuzz sides. If anyone has used a Prescription Electronics Experience pedal… well you know what I’m talking about here!

The SI Humdinger is as JDM mentions is a MUCH improved version of this type of circuit. Joe takes inspiration from the FOXX Tone Machine as most of these types of pedals do but in the simplest of terms, cleans up the the mess these pedals can have when you’re trying to use them in musical context. One of the most refreshing aspects to the Humdinger is the fact that you can use every single sound and option on it’s own or together. Everything works so well on the Humdinger and I can only imagine this was done out of the same frustrations we all have when trying to setup your tone with your gear. There are no limitations in utility or sound. It’s just a fantastic sounding fuzz.

The Humdinger is essentially 3 separate effects that can be used together. With the tonal shaping options you end up with widely versatile pedal. Here’s my list of the tones and tonal shaping I found to be super useful:

  • Fuzz (thin switch): Vintage Tone Bender

  • Fuzz (fat switch): Vintage Fuzz Face

  • Fuzz (Texture knob): Full and open all the way to gated and sputtery

  • Fuzz (Drive knob): Fuzzy overdrive to normal fuzz gain territories

  • Fuzz (Tone knob): An actual tone knob that works! Doesn’t mess with the chacter of the core tone

  • Fuzz (Volume knob): Master volume that can help the whole circuit sit right in the mix

  • Boost (Octave switch): Octavia tone that works all over the neck!

  • Boost (Boost Switch): Transistor style boost circuit with a great vintage character

  • Boost (High Roll-Off Switch): This pads the high end and gives you more low mids and takes away and ice pick in the top end

  • Boost (No Roll-Off): This is your fullest, most strident Octave tone and Boost tone.

  • Boost (Gain knob): A gain/master volume for the boost circuit

Phew! That’s quite a laundry list of available tones in the Humdinger. It’s the kind of pedal just just keeps surprising you as you get deeper into the controls. Unlike many fuzz pedals it works with everything I threw at it. Between the EQ cut controls, the tone knob and the texture control you’ve got so many different shades of fuzz at your feet. Being able to use the Boost side with Octave on or not by itself or stacked into the Fuzz… this thing truly is a Humdinger!

Being a transistor based pedal you still have to keep it before any buffering circuits like a true vintage fuzz pedal but the Silicon transistors at the core keep up the tone regardless of temperature fluctuations. I did find that the SI Humdinger was much less fussy where I put it in general and even after other buffered outputs it didn’t “freak out” in the way most vintage circuits can.

The JDM Silicon Humdinger is truly a special and surprising pedal. I can see having one of these on every pedalboard just for the fact that it can cover so many tones in a such a tonal and simple manner. I highly recommend this pedal for anyone who’s been wanting to get into fuzz but has either had problems previously with how difficult they can be or for the full fuzz addict like myself… I guarantee you WILL be pleasantly surprised! JDM is making some crazy good products for what seems like reasons of passion and not profit in the typical sense… these are retailing for $169 direct! For an extremely well thought out design, hand built by one person… that’s a steal folks! Take it from me, I’ve owned and tried probably what would amount to the world’s share of fuzz pedals… this is a KILLER fuzz at ANY price point.

On the video demo below, I used the SI Humdinger on all the guitars and bass in the track as per usual. Amazing little pedal this Humdinger! Stay tuned for a future feature on the Germanium version of the Humdinger!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the JDM Silcon Humdiner Fuzz/Octave. If you’d like to learn more about Joe and all that Joe Doc Music is up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.joedocmusic.com/

https://www.joedocmusic.com/jdm-pedals-humdinger-silicon-fuzz-octave-pedal/

https://www.facebook.com/JDM-Pedals-1792051797784922/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

GEMINI PICKUPS || TONE RANGERS || TAKING THE WIDE RANGE TO NEW HEIGHTS

Hello Gearheads! Today I’m excited to bring you a slightly different type of Gearheads Feature, taking a break from our usual pedal-centric programing, I’ve got a killer new set of pickups to share!

Gemini Pickups, is a handmade pickup winding company out of Newburgh, NY led by the venerable Rob Banta. Gemini Pickups are decidedly a smaller, cottage industry compared to the giants that may line your brick and mortar shops… well for the time being that is. Banta is making some big waves with his creations and getting them in the hands and well, bodies of some music talent’s best sounding guitars.

Gemini Pickups flagship designs appear to be in the once niche market of Gold Foil pickups, that are incredibly popular now, well again that is after their resurgence. Gemini does not seem to led by the usual mentality of stocking their shelves with copies of every typical pickup design as many of their peers seem to do. Call it more of niche interests, call it a distinct instinct on what else could be made really well other than your 9 variations of a “Patent Applied For'“ humbucker… I simply see it as putting out what makes you happy.

Well, happy it is indeed gearheads… the pickups are fantastic! No need to read any further… oh wait? I haven’t even mentioned anything about what I said I was going to mention!? Ah yes, the Tone Rangers!!! Onto the pickups at hand for criminy sakes!

The Tone Rangers are Banta’s take on the Fender Wide Range Humbucker. Fender’s Wide Range’s were original designed by the historical Seth Lover, the man who designed the Gibson Humbucker.. someone had to help buck that hum! In the early 1970’s Fender was looking to compete with Gibson, since Fender was mainly considered a ‘Single Coil’ guitar manufacturer Seth Lover was brought in to help revitalize their vision and their guitars. The Wide Range Humbucker was used in Telecaster Deluxes, Telecaster Thin-lines and the Starcaster, a space age shaped semi-hollow electric. The Wide Ranges themselves were more clear, open and “stringy” than the Gibson counterparts, while still ‘bucking’ hum and reducing the 60 cycle noise guitarists were dealing with (and still deal with to this day!). Used until around the end of 1979, they would be reintroduced in various different incarnations over the years but without the same core materials and most importantly the tone.

“The legendary Wide Range Humbucker. Brainchild of the same Seth Lover that designed the Gibson humbucker. If you want a great-big, bad-ass humbucker here it is. Big humbucker sound, but with more of the attack and articulation of a single coil. Tight bottom-end, smooth clear highs and all the great mid-range these pickups are known for. The challenge for me was creating a unique take on the WRHB at a decent price point. No small challenge, but I’m incredibly happy with the finished product. 10.7k bridge, 9.6k neck. These guys also make great candidates for our DualBucker wiring. In which case the single coil outputs are 6.2k/5.6k.”
— Rob Banta, Gemini Pickups

Gemini’s Tone Rangers offer various different pickup sizing, I opted for the traditional humbucker route as I did not wish to change anything on my guitar other than the pickups. The original size of the housing on the pickup itself if wider and taller, making a body route a must. Gemini also offers them in a Jazzmaster style pickup housing. The Tone Rangers use a very similar alloy in the core materials as the original CuNiFe magnets making these pickups very close in feel, tone and performance.

Tonally the Tone Rangers are rich, fat and clear. They speak with a certain presence that you’d normally get from a single coil but have that added girth and roundness that we want out of a humbucker. I installed these pickups in my Tyler Studio Elite Retro. I love this guitar, it’s a very light Ash bodied resonate guitar that has a lot of vibrational information. While I liked the original pickups, I found the guitar initially a little too modern for my tastes in the tone. There was a very large EQ curve available and I wanted to clear up some of the mud that can happen with any PAF style pickup.

The Tone Rangers offer essentially every bit of fat, rich PAF tone but with the essence of a single coil. The neck pickup is clear and open while still retaining that round neck tone and the bridge pickup is cutting, snappy and present without being harsh or too bright. They are a great match for this Tyler, which is in it’s unplugged, acoustic nature a very snappy and resonate instrument. This Tyler also has an onboard midrange boost preamp circuit that plays very nicely with the pickups. Initially I was concerned the boost wouldn’t sound that great with a pickup set like the Tone Rangers, but it truly melds with them.

I’m very happy with these pickups and to say that they won’t cost you years on a waitlist or thousands of dollars is just the icing on the cake. Gemini is charging roughly around $250 a set for these which is an absolute bargain considering what the originals and the newly reissued CuNiFe branded Fender Wide Ranges can run. This will definitely NOT be the last set of Gemini pickups I try that’s for sure… most likely their Gold Foils are next on my list! The tone chase is real pals, who am I kidding… if you’re reading this feature you already know that!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Gemini Tone Rangers. If you’d like to learn more about Rob Banta and his work please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.geminipickups.com

https://www.geminipickups.com/tone-rangers

https://www.instagram.com/geminipickups/


Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

STACKS FX || ACID CAT FUZZ/DISTORTION

Hello Gearheads! Today’s Gearheads Feature is brought to you by STACKS FX, a fantastic operation based in Long Beach, California Co-Founded by Miguel A. Vasquez and Brian Frederick. I met Miguel some years back buying gear of course! I bought a big box Deluxe Memory Man he had from some previous stock and have kept an eye on his company since. The STACKS FX Acid Cat is one of the 2 current pedals in their “OHMS Series” and it is by no means a tender pedal… this cat has some teeth! Like many fantastic newer offerings in the effects & pedals market, Miguel worked up the Acid Cat during the time spent in lock-down during the Covid-19 closures - what better way to spend that time than cooking up killer circuits!?

The Acid Cat at it’s foundation is a brutal, thick and saturated fuzz. I believe it’s circuit was birthed in the Fuzz Face genealogy but beyond that it’s totally it’s own thing. With just 4 controls there’s quite a big world of tone in this kitty. You can garner anything from thick Big Muff type fuzz and distortion to jangly British overdriven amp tones all by adjusting the controls on the pedal as well as your volume knob on your guitar. Much like the Fuzz Face, there is great clean up at pretty much even the highest gain settings. There’s a nice dance between your guitar volume, the Acid Cat’s volume and input/gain trimmer. I found that adjusting those 3 elements to be quite rewarding tonally.

“An original circuit that takes your signal and sends it into brutally heavy territory. You can also achieve some classic blues/rock tones by rolling back the input control. It is very dynamic and responds really well to your guitars volume level. There’s loads of output volume available for driving the input of your amp or stacking with other pedals. This pedal can sound radically different with different guitars. Let’s your instruments character shine through while saturating to your taste.

Controls are;
-Volume: Lots of output!
-Input (small trimmer): Acts as a gain control.
-Fat: 3 way toggle switch selects between 3 levels of bass response.
-Tone: 3 way toggle switch selects between 3 level of lo-pass filtering”
— From STACKS FX

Control wise, I found the input/gain trimmer to be the most tactile and immediate control on the pedal. It moves from medium gain structures all the way to Smashing Pumpkin-esq saturation. You never lose sight of the clarity though, which is key element to anything that has this much gain on tap. I typically find that fuzz boxes and distortion pedals that get in this territory of gain usually fight with sounding thin or undefined. Not the case however with the Acid Cat… it straight up smacks you across the face and you retain all the precious harmonic content your guitar delivers.

Both 3 way toggles offer additional elements of control over the response and tone. I found most settings to be pretty subtle but useful. It’s the kind of thing that if you’re auditioning the pedal by itself (especially at bedroom volumes) you probably won’t hear much, but when your using it in a band mix either on stage or in a track it becomes quite present. Subtle EQ and feel shifts that nestle the tone right where you want it to be. Much like the important moves we make when using a studio quality EQ or compression. Small, incremental movements make the biggest overall compensations.

In my demo, I used some different instruments and amplifiers to showcase the versatility of this pedal. I really enjoyed using it on all the guitars for light, medium and higher gain tones. Even though the Acid Cat has a formidable voice of it’s own, I dug that you can really hear the intricacies of each element. This is a great circuit that would make the blues dude as happy as the modern metal maven. Capable, clear and immediately awesome! As an homage to our first meeting, I couldn’t pass up using that Deluxe Memory Man I bought from Miguel…

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the STACKS FX Acid Cat. If you’d like to learn more about Miguel and his work please do check out these sites for more information.

https://stacksfx.com/

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DryBell || Vibe Machine V-3 || A 10th Anniversary Surprise!

Hello Gearheads!

Today I’m happy to bring to your attention a new and very cool offering from the awesome folks at DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory - The Vibe Machine V-3! DryBell have been making incredible sounding Uni-Vibe pedals in small, pedalboard friendly formats for quite a while now… and they’ve just hit their 10 year anniversary! To mark that special occasion they set out to take their Vibe Machine circuit a step further and see what new and interesting tone shaping tools they could bring into the pedal world. After some experimentation, the Vibe Machine V-3 was born! You can read more about their story and how it happened below:

“It’s hard to believe that 10 years has passed since we started our journey into the wonders of the beautiful Uni-Vibe. Looking back to the time when we started our experiments with that three-dimensional sound, everything was very different from today.

It was a simpler time in the pedal world. There were several big, well-known companies that produced most of the classic pedals and a handful of smaller boutique builders. At that time, most new pedals could easily get into the spotlight, to be explored and talked about. It was the beginning of a golden era for the world of guitar pedals. Back then, only a few Uni-Vibe clones existed, most following the same circuit recipe as that used by the wonderful Shin-Ei, they were mostly big, bulky and rather expensive.

When we decided to take a shot with our Uni-Vibe, we wanted something different and more practical. We wanted The Sound, but we also wanted to make ours much smaller than any other Uni-Vibe on the market. In 2011, when the Vibe Machine V-1 was born, it was the smallest ever photocell-based Vibe pedal in the World retaining all the features of the classic Uni-Vibe. People loved it, and they still do.

A few years later, after extensive development, with tons of new experience, and with feedback gathered from our amazing customers, forum members, reviewers, demo guys and fellow musicians, the Vibe Machine V-2 arrived. It looked very similar to its predecessor, but it was much more complex under the hood. Besides all those added features, The Sound was greater than ever and it rocked the vibe community around the world! As one of the best Uni-Vibe effects available today, the Vibe Machine has received many awards from the Music Industry and we’re extremely proud of it!”
“The V-3 version

Several months ago, we wanted to find a special way to celebrate our upcoming 10 Year Anniversary and we decided to pull out our Vibe Machine breadboard. We played extensively with the complex opto-system and one specific setting sounded out of this world. We tried tons of different settings, but we kept on coming back to this particular one.

It was like re-mixing your greatest album. You know it’s great, but you wanted to add some magic touches to make it even more special. We didn’t expect that our breadboard experiment would result in a completely new version of our Vibe Machine, but this one is really something else and we couldn’t just keep it to ourselves. We wanted to share it with the World.

V-3 has its own colorful magic going on. Is it better than its predecessors? With such a unique sound presence, it’s really a matter of personal taste. V-3 is simply different and it sounds beautiful.

The main difference between V-3 and V-2 is in the modulation EQ. V-2 modulates just a slight part of your main tone (mid-range focused modulation), while V-3 blends in nicely with your main tone and modulates it without changing the EQ. V-3 has a wider modulation and brings you more depth. The Intensity’s character has also changed.”

Simply put, the new Vibe Machine V-3 is a great sounding Uni-Vibe pedal. It’s familiar yet enables much further exploration of the tones we all love as Vibe enthusiasts. As soon as I plugged the V-3 in I noticed wider boundaries, richer low end and a more available top end. I found that you could nail the vintage Uni-Vibe tones we all love but also get more modern focused tones that if you heard them in a track, you might not be able to pin down what was making that cool tone - that’s one of the biggest selling points in my experience with great gear… does it instantly recall a stereotype or does it bring forth something new, something exciting? The Vibe Machine V-3 straddles that line of familiar yet boundary pushing. You can hear in my demo below at the end of this Feature, the undeniable vintage Uni-Vibe “chorus” tones are there in spades as well as more modern sounds that swirl and swoosh in perfect harmony to the tracks they accompany. This revision is a vision!

Tonally, I enjoyed the wider “bandwidth” of the Vibe Machine V-3 in all the modes available. I also have been personally using the Vibe Machine V1 and V2 for years in both the Chorus and Vibrato settings. It’s always been a staple on my stage pedalboard to get amazing Hendrix style swirls and low key pitch vibrato shimmers. The Pitch Vibrato setting on the Vibe Machine has always been a personal favorite, pulling out anything from the tones of a Magnatone combo to the venerable Boss VB-2. Many of us Gearheads out there forget about the Vibrato setting on our vibes, concentrating on the pulsing magic that Hendrix influenced us all with… but there’s some massive mojo in the Pitch Vibrato section the circuit and the new Vibe Machine V-3’s version is fantastic. Remember to always explore these tones Gearheads… something beautiful awaits you!

Vibe Machine V-2 on one of my pedalboards

There are of course many full features hiding in plain sight on the Vibe Machine V-3, which is amazing considering the small stature and ability to slip into any spot on your pedalboard. I personally experimented with all of the fine tuning mini trimmers and I luckily marked the manufacturer settings and suggest you do as well only to come back to stock. You may of course find that you want more of ‘This or That’ and that’s why these options are here!

I will say that while I often not only fall, but happily jump down the rabbit hole of being a tried and true Gearhead - the idea of TMKS… or “Too Many Knobs Syndrome” (Yes, I just made that up) yields option anxiety and distress like no other… HOWEVER, the WAY the folks at DryBell design and engineer these pedals are nowhere near that experience. They are a unique interaction between simple, elegant and deep. That’s the magic recipe here folks… make something easy to use and to dial in - IF you want to get your mini screwdriver in hand, this pedal can bend to your will. The truest form of Yin and Yang in pedal form.

Here’s some more on those additional options from the horse’s mouth…

“V-3 features the same versatile custom sound options as V-2. There are 6 ‘set and forget’ side trimmers: CHORUS, GRIT, CUSTOM, SYM, RANGE and VOLUME. All these controls come with initial factory settings. Check the manual in the support tab for more detailed descriptions, but to begin playing you don’t need the manual or to adjust anything, just plug in and enjoy!

The CHORUS trimmer adjusts the depth of vibe modulation so the user can adjust the swirl/watery/chewy character of the Chorus sound. The CHORUS trimmer also affects the low end frequencies of the Chorus throb.

With GRIT you can set the overall brightness, it acts as a low pass passive tone control and also defines the output impedance. Try a fuzz/dirt pedal or just an amp after the V-3 and with GRIT you can find your tonal sweet spot with whatever is next in chain.

The CUSTOM trimmer adjusts the input impedance when the three way ORIGINAL/BRIGHT/CUSTOM switch is set to the CUSTOM position. If you switch guitars on stage, sometimes you may want to flip this switch to balance your guitar’s brightness.

The SYM and RANGE define the light bulb bias and character/response of the Vibe movement.

With the VOLUME trimmer at its maximum setting, it boosts your volume above and beyond unity gain.

The V-3 can be used with any passive expression pedal with a linear pot. Also, the V-3 has several functions that are controllable with the DryBell F-1L footswitch or any other simple footswitch. With the footswitch you can engage the CANCEL function, TAP TEMPO feature, Fast/Slow with adjustable Leslie® ramp delay or a Two speed function.

CANCEL function – Just like on an original Uni-Vibe®, a warm & darker sounding preamp (Cancel on original Uni-Vibe®) is available using an expression pedal. Please refer to the Options manual for more information.

Just like on V-2, there are a couple of ‘set and forget’ options like different footswitch type compatibility, expression pedal pot taper adjustment and more. Check the V-3 options manual to see all of its features.”

Check out my video demo below for the DryBell Vibe Machine V-3… I enjoyed using both the Chorus and Vibrato settings throughout the track and really dug how responsive the tone was. Clean, cutting, vintage, soupy, swirly and succinct… it’s all there! I brought in an old favorite for the overdrive and distortion portions… ‘The Engine’ Foundation Preamp from DryBell as well. You can check out my past Gearheads Feature on ‘The Engine’ here: CLICK ME!

As always, thanks for checking out the new Vibe Machine V-3 and my experiences with it. I’m always so happy to see friends in the industry making killer new pedals and taking their creations to new heights. I’m excited to see what the mad geniuses at DryBell cook up next!

To learn more about DryBell and the Vibe Machine V-3 check out these links:

http://drybell.com/

http://drybell.com/vibe-machine-v-3/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

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