As many of you may know, the 3 Series of affordable effects from JHS Pedals has been out for a while now…what you might NOT realize is that today we’re taking a look at our FIRST ONE!! The Octave Reverb from this series is based on a well-known and well-loved effect, created by a well-known and well-loved musician and producer (any guesses?), and it sounds amazing. With a minimal design aesthetic and minimal controls,...
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Continuing our awesome week of reviews and demos, which has included the Eventide H90 Harmonizer® and the Meris LVX Modular Delay System, we bring you the highly-anticipated Chase Bliss Generation Loss MKII VCR Duplicator. A comprehensive study and smorgasbord of tape in all its forms, this effect is somewhat hard to categorize, and those are always some of our favorite pieces of gear. We should also mention that this is the first...
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Rafferty Swink Evolfo: www.evolfo.com Low Noon: lownoon.bandcamp.com Oyinda: oyinda.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started taking piano lessons when I was about seven years old and never stopped. In middle school, I started playing in garage bands with my friends, as well as taking jazz piano lessons with a private teacher. I think having the balance of a serious music education...
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John Snyder Electronic Audio Experiments Boston, MA http://www.electronicaudioexperiments.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? My first instrument was actually the violin, which I began playing at age six. I took private lessons for about twelve years, firmly establishing classical music as a big part of my musical DNA. I listened to all types of music growing up, but I only started...
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Patrick Garland Houston, Texas GARLAND FX garlandfx.bigcartel.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’m 33 years old, and started playing guitar at age 10 – so about 23 years. 20 on electric guitar. The first guitar I ever played was my mom’s Guild Madiera from 1970. My mom uses it for playing music to pre-schoolers – she’s quite talented and can play and sing. I also still...
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Michael Vickery Gilbert, Arizona Vick Audio VickAudio.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I got a late start when it comes to guitar but I have been playing for almost 25 years. I started as a musician by taking piano lesson when I was a kid. I took lesson for about 4 years but it never really clicked with me. I think piano teacher have a tendency to try to make kids classic pianists...
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There’s a decent chance you’ve heard of the famous Echoplex EP-3 Tape Delay from Maestro, made popular in the 70’s and 80’s by Andy Summers, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, and Brian May, among others. You may also know that these older units are finicky, tricky to repair, costly at times and not always the most road-worthy for the touring musician. That’s where today’s pedal comes in: the Belle Epoch...
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Sometimes, you see a pedal and, for purely aesthetic reasons, say to yourself, “I gotta check this thing out.” Well, that’s how we’ve felt about the Bloody Finger Distortion from the Guitar Tone Company (GTC) for some time now, and were super-stoked to finally get our grubby mitts on one. No disappointment here, folks, this guy is the real deal, with a simple control section, and enough power and gusto to bring...
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Ben Deane Overland Park, KS (Kansas City Metro) Monarch Musical Devices https://reverb.com/shop/monarchmusicaldevices How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve always had a connection with music. From my dad’s outlaw country vinyl LPs to my mom’s affection for artists like Paul Simon and Billy Joel, music always spoke to me and I wanted to speak back. I had a couple of years of piano lessons...
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Joshua Scott Kansas City JHS Pedals www.jhspedals.com Instagram @jhspedals Twitter @jhspedals Facebook @jhspedals How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I got into guitar when I was about 14, I think. I can’t remember the year, but I was young enough to be in junior High. My brother, who is ten years older, had the biggest cassette tape collection on God’s green earth. I was at his apartment,...
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Jamie Stillman Akron, OH EarthQuaker Devices www.earthquakerdevices.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a musician since I got my first drum set around 5. I didn’t pick up playing guitar until I was about 12. I’ve always been into music as long as I can remember. A couple of my uncles were musicians and taught me some basics and I just took it from there. Who have been some of...
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Brent Rademaker aka B_RAD GospelbeacH https://www.facebook.com/GospelbeacHband/ GospelbeacH The Tyde https://www.facebook.com/The-Tyde-119382698079518/?fref=ts Beachwood Sparks www.subpop.com/artists/beachwood_sparks How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing music since the 4th grade…My Dad is a musician (one of the best on the planet) There was always instruments and music in the...
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James Granuzzo Main.Ace.FX Colonia, NJ, not far from NYC www.mainacefx.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played the guitar for almost as long as I can remember. When I first started discovering new music on my own as a kid it was the days of late 80s / early 90s alternative and grunge. I saw the people in these bands a normal accessible people, and not the rock-gods of the 70s and...
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We were recently privileged to test out and review an awesome fuzz pedal from a relative newcomer (at least to us) in the pedal world, Spruce Effects. The Lichen Fuzz was a great fuzz pedal, and we were impressed by its quality build and sound as well, so we were super-stoked to check out another one of their creations – the Growth Ring Boost. Right off the bat, the mismatched knob selection drew us in, as we dig some wackiness...
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Celestial Effects 22 Kane Industrial Drive Hudson, MA 01749 800-343-4492 sales@celestialeffects.com www.celestialeffects.com How long have you guys been musicians? How did you each get into it in the first place? Dom: Thanks to my dad, who loved music but never played an instrument, my formal musical education came from playing trumpet and coronet from 3rd grade through high school. In high school I played in the concert band, wind...
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Another day, another delay, which is absolutely fine with us! Today’s featured echo machine comes to us from SiB Electronics, and it is the big brother version of one of their most popular pedals, the Mr. Echo Delay. The model we’re going to check out is the Mr. Echo PLUS, which adds control for one of the signature features of these pedals, but still retains that same awesome delay tone that we’re all constantly...
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One-off pedals, or pedals that were only made in a batch of 3 or 5 or 10, have always appealed to my sense of collection. These specimens, being rare and sometime highly sought-after, make my (and others’) pedal collection that much cooler. I especially like it when no one can guess what it is, or inquisitively comment about the pedal and it’s origins. That said, we’ve got one of those today: the Vulture Fuzz from...
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