Space-saving pedals are awesome, I mean it. The fact that pedal builders figured out a way to pack a ton of tone into such small enclosures boggles my mind, but then, that’s not too difficult to do in general. The majority of the ones I have seen or played have been drive, and why not? Leave the huge pedals to the modulation and delay departments, and keep the drive sections neat and tidy. A nice example of such a pedal is the Lil’ Guy Boost from Stacks Sound.
The Lil’ Guy is most definitely a boost, but with a bit of a bite to it. Utilizing a Mosfet transistor, this boost has controls for Volume and Gain, both working well together to create some powerful boost and low-gain sounds. When the Volume gets past noon, with the Gain around 9:00, a wonderful clean boost sound starts to emerge, transforming your signal into a crisp, bright, shiny ball of sonic wonder. Add in a little bit of Gain for a rougher boost sound, clean but with just a pinch of grit. If you keep slowly turning up that Gain knob, and leave the Volume at around 2 or 3:00, you get a wicked tasty gain sound, not too harsh or gritty, but really warm and comforting, a perfect sound for your first or second stage overdrive. Pretty versatile for only having 2 knobs, and with a ton of tonal options to mix and match and choose from, this is likely to be an “always on” pedal for a lot of players.
The folks at Stacks Sound are making some pretty impressive gear down in Long Beach, California. Their pedal lineup is currently at 4 different models, but each one has it’s own unique sound and voice. Hopefully we’ll get to review them all, so stayed tuned, and while you wait, be sure to go check out their site and see what they’ve got going on!
Submitted by Mike B, Website
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
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