BOSS DD-7 DIGITAL DELAY

Boss DD-7 Digital Delay

So for the longest time I anguished over the delay that I wanted to go on my pedal board.  My first delay pedal was actually a Line 6 DL4.  Waaayyy too much delay for a first time user, in my opinion.  Too many options and controls that I didn’t fully understand, though, the looper was pretty fun.  I eventually narrowed my search down to two dealays; the EHX Stereo Memory Man, and the Boss DD-7 Digital Delay.  The Boss was the first of the two that I had the pleasure of owning.

From Boss:

Even with the best-selling delays in compact-pedal history, BOSS continues to push the envelope and innovate. The new DD-7 takes the best features from its predecessors and expands the creative potential with Modulation Delay mode, classic modeled Analog Delay mode, External pedal control options, longer delay time, and more.

1. Expanded delay time, up to 6.4 seconds
2. Modulation Delay mode offers natural, chorus-type sounds
3. Analog Delay mode models the classic warm BOSS DM-2 analog delay sound
4. Tap tempo controllable via external footswitch
5. Delay time, feedback, and effect level can be controlled via external Expression pedal (sold separately)
6. Up to 40 seconds of recording for sound on sound (Hold mode)

Right.  I love how full of themselves Boss are.  I guess Ampeg or any other company that has been around as long as they have is just as egotistical.  

Cool things about this pedal are the construction (obviously, it’s a BOSS), which is top notch and will last for years.  Secondly is the feature set.  With a pedal like this, it is really amazing how many really neat features are in a pedal of this size.  And I’m not just talking about different delay modes either.  I’m talking about looping, tap-tempo and a crazy amount of signal routing options, too.

Let’s start with the modes.  There are EIGHT different settings that you are able to select via the right most rotary knob.  From 50ms to 3200ms of Digital Delay, a Sample and Hold feature (which is sort of like a looper), a reverse delay, analaog delay emulation (my favorite) and a modulated delay that will produce chorus/vibrato sounds.  Neat.

The other knobs on the top of the unit are the Balance control (just a wet / dry blend, no real boost in the signal to speak of).  The Feedback knob and the Delay Time knob are the two that control the amount of repeats and the length of the delay time, respectively.  My favorite thing about the Boss Digital Delays is that you can send them into self-oscillation madness relatively easily, with just a twist of these two knobs.  I LOVE being able to get those oscillation noises.  Just remember that A) you can blow your speakers, and B) the oscillation takes a quick second or so to stop, once you have turned the unit off or reset the Feedback and Delay Time knobs to a different setting.  

Tap Tempo for me is something that I find that I really NEED in a delay.  I’m not sure why, maybe it is because the delay sounds that I am after are the super quick slap-back kind of delay tones, but are much more beat-centric.  That is one of the reasons that I was drawn to the DD-7 in the first place as opposed to the DD-3 or DD-6.  Unfortunately with the DD-7 the tap tempo is sort of odd.  In order to access the internal tap tempo, you have to hold down the foot switch for more than 2 seconds.  Some people find that this is easy enough and use it well live.  I, however, find it confusing and distracting, because I’m not sure if I’m accidentally going to switch on the delay in the wrong moment of the song, or something like that.  The cool thing is that you can attach and external momentary foot switch (like the Boss FS-5U) and have the ability to access the tap tempo feature of the DD-7 on the fly.  The only downside to this is that you either have to take up more valuable real estate on your pedal board, or you have to put it on the floor (which works well, btw) and increase your set up time.  

Lastly, the looper.  It is important to distinguish this feature on the DD-7 as not really a looper, but really a Sample & Hold feature.  The loops sound decent, but you can’t really layer more than one or two loops together before they start to degrade.  It is neat for playing a lead riff over chords or harmonizing with yourself, but for full featured looping, look elsewhere (like the Boss RC-2, RC-3, RC-20XL, or RC-50).

This is a really neat pedal and I miss the ability to make this bad boy oscillate, but I don’t miss having to set up my tap tempo switch every time we played a show.  It takes long enough for me to set up with my head, two cabs, pedal board and bass non-sense.  WORTH IT.

Robot Factory Tentacle Love Super Fuzz!

Robot Factory Tentacle Love Super Fuzz

Alrighty, so this pedal was co-designed by Grygryx over at BassFuzz.com in an attempt to produce the ultimate bass fuzz pedal.  Whether or not they succeeded in creating that pedal is subject to debate as well as personal taste, but I was able to get my hands on one of these pedals for a month or so and got to know it pretty well.  According to the initial release from bassfuzz.com:

BassFuzz.com (October 26, 2008):

• 
  Things are moving along very well in the fuzz project I have underway with Mario of Robot Factory Pedal Co and I thought it was time to start the sharing. Here is a photo of the prototype for the ‘Tentacle Love Super-Fuzz'.
  This pedal is a melding of my lust for bass friendly fuzz and his wild mechanical genius. This pedal is born from the Shin-Ei Superfuzz, but to call it a clone is doing a disservice to what is going on here. Here are a few highlights:

• Buzzwords: True bypass, buffered, clean-blend
• Both modes of the Superfuzz are available via a stomp (with a light to inform you what mode you are in).
• Each mode has it's own adjustable volume.
• The Timbre control will manipulate the amount octave up signal in ‘Saw' mode.
• Small enclose with top mounted jacks and power (note: no battery inside… NO ROOM!).

• 
  There are some other details I'll address as we get a even closer. Our goal is to provide a kick-ass heavy fuzz (not subtle fuzz) with a wide range of flexibility. An initial run 10 pedals will be produced to ‘test the waters.' Details of timing and price will be worked out shortly.

More info over on the Effects Database!

CONSTRUCTION:

The knob to pedal-size ratio is pleasantly high with this ultra boutique pedal and with top mounted in and out jacks, it takes up virtually no room on your pedal board.  This pedal is actually about the size of an MXR sized pedal (a la the Phase 90) except that it is aligned horizontally, and maybe just a bit wider.  The fact that they were able to cram six knobs and two switches into such a small pedal says a TON about Robot Factory’s attention to detail.  Super sturdy true-bypass switches round out this little guy.

One interesting thing to note is that the skinny MXR sized enclosure that is pictured above was only done for a short while.  Unfortunately due to time and insanity constraints, the guys and gals over at Robot Factory decided to move to a bigger enclosure like this one:

TONE

It’s hard to describe a super fuzz variant if you haven’t heard one before.  It isn’t very similar to a classic “muff” type fuzz sound.  There is a much harsher, snarl to the fuzz that is very in-your-face and biting with a bit of octave up, not laid back, smooth and creamy.  If that makes any sense.  

So the right foot switch on the TLSF bypasses your signal (on and off, duh), while the left foot switch toggles between “Saw” and “Hook” mode.  Try and think of it like the Saw mode being the “standard” tone and the Hook mode to be in addition to this sound. 

The two controls in the middle of the six knobs are master controls for both sides of the pedal, with the Clean Blend control balancing your dry and wet (or effected) signal and the Fuzz knob controlling the total drive or gain level of the pedal.  On the Saw side of the pedal there is a volume knob (each side gets it’s own independent level control) and a Timbre control.  The Timbre knob controls the amount of the fundamental relative to the octave up in the fuzz signal.  In addition to the volume level control on the Hook side of the pedal, there is the Filter control.  The Filter knob controls the amount of mid-scoop depth.  It is important to note that the Hook side of the pedal is set for maximum octave up regardless to what setting the Timbre control is set to on the Saw side of things.  You can also use an expression pedal to control the amount of mid-scoop in real time!

FINAL THOUGHTS: BYE BYE

So at least based on this pedal, I think that the super fuzz sound is just not what I’m looking for in a fuzz pedal.  As I said before this pedal is very in-your-face and I think is better suited for lead-ish runs and snarling riff-age, not DOOM.    I thought that the Filter setting did do a decent job of getting more of a muff type of tone, but I didn’t think that it was what this pedal was really shooting for.  I loved the independent volume controls for each setting and I really liked the way that you could switch from one mode to the other while the pedal was bypassed and thanks to the LEDs, you could tell exactly which  mode you were in.  Very handy.

You can pick up the newer (brand new!) version of the Tentacle Love Super Fuzz direct from Robot Factory HERE.  Of course, it will be the larger enclosure, and it will be $250 plus shipping (ouch).  If you are patient and look around, you can find the “Talkbass.com Edition” mini TLSF for sale on ebay and on TB’s effects sale forums from $200 to $250.  Mine made it’s way all the way to Australia.  Happy Hunting!

Fuzzrocious Grey Stache

Fuzzrocious GREY STACHE

Here is another pedal from the lovelies over at Fuzzrocious: The Grey Stache.  I’m not really sure where they got the whole mustache thing from...except that beards are SOOOO in right now.  All I know is that the original General Guitar Gadgets muff clones that they used to build were called the Green Stache, so this is a natural extension of that line of thought.

Metaphysics (What is it?):

As I said before, the Grey Stache is the natural evolution of the GGG-Tuned Big Muff that Ryan used to build in the (pre)historic days of Fuzzrocious.  He took the basic circuit and blended it with the circuit from a  “Civil War” Sovtek Muff (the battle tank green one, that everyone loves).  He kept what he liked and got rid of the rest leaving one awesome fuzz in its place.  He also added a Mids knob to the circuit that helps give you a BIG boost in the mid-range frequencies so that you don’t disappear in the mix.

Knobblies (How you Control it):

The Grey Stache has four knobs, a three position switch and two stomp switches.  From left to right on the top row the knobs are Volume, Tone, Sustain and the bottom row holds the Mids knob.  The tree position switch toggles between the two different diodes in the clipping section...but if it is a three position switch..........I KNOW DAMN IT WE’LL GET TO THAT.............right.  Where was I? 

The three positions are as follows: left is a set of silicon diodes, the middle position is without either set of diodes engaged (there, happy?) and the right position brings a set of LEDs into the clipping section. 

The switch on the right of the pedal is the standard bypass switch, cleverly enough, it is labeled “bypass.”  The switch on the left is either a switch that bypasses the tone stack of the pedal destroying eardrums and killing small animals at ten feet, or it the switch forces the fuzz into oscillation depending on where the Sustain knob is set.  The coolest part about the ordering of the Grey Stache was (as in not in production anymore, we’ll get to that, too) that you could choose whether you wanted the tone stack bypass modification, or the oscillation mod.  Very cool.  

My pedal I got used from Behndy over on Talkbass, and he had his Stache especially ordered with a momentary foot switch instead of the standard latching foot switch.  This is really neat because you can toggle in the oscillation into your signal when you want it.  NEAT.

TONEZ (How does it sound?):

Let’s start with the silicon clipping section.  Silicon diodes are the sort that are traditionally used in most Big Muff’s and their variations.  Silicon diodes are more compressed, with less overall volume, but they are nice and warm.  Perfect for a muff, right?  This setting has all of your traditional muff tones in it.  With the Tone and Mids knobs pulled back a little bit you can get a really smooth sounding muff tone.  Classic.  Cranking the Tone and Mids brings the signal back into your face without every wanting to leave.  Killer.

The middle toggle switch without any diodes engaged in the clipping section creates a big jump in overall volume (good thing there is an output volume control, huh?).  This mode is fuller and bass-y-er, but not quite as warm as the silicon section.  Disengaging both sets of diodes also reduces the overall gain on the circuit which I liked because it let me dial back the amount off fuzz and clean things up a bit.  

The third clipping section uses a LEDs (yep, just like in everything else) to create a loud, brash and open sounding fuzz.  This was probably my favorite setting on the fuzz and with the Mids and Tone knobs cranked gave you a really snarling sound that I is really great for quick riffs.  I kind of wish I was a pick player, because I have a feeling that this setting would be killer for that sound.  

Now for the oscillation.  The oscillation on this version of the Grey Stache is completely dependent on the setting of the Sustain knob.  Anything lower than 7 (out of 10 or maybe 2 o’clock) won’t really sound like much.  The pedal will feed back if you are next to your speakers (awesome), though.  Pushing the sustain towards max causes the circuit to emit this really awesome feedback oscillation that really sounds wild.  It isn’t really like what happens when a digital or analog delay starts to get into infinite repeats.  It is more like you gain the ability to control the frequency of the feedback.  Sweet.

This pedal is, alas, no longer in production (limited runs are sooooo boutique), but fortunately for everyone Ryan redesigned and expanded the circuit into his Grey Stache PLUS.  You gain (see what I did there) the ability to send the Grey Stache Plus into oscillation on a toggle where it automatically throws the oscillation and sustain on full.  Sick.  Let’s just say, I WANT IT.

Also, coming up is a review of the MOMSTER.  Another Fuzzrocious beast of a pedal that is like a higher gain version of the Grey Stache, with a built in Gate.  

As always, feel free to send me an comments, criticisms, or concerns.

-Colin (mothertonegear@gmail.com)

Aguilar TONE HAMMER

Aguilar Tone Hammer

I love Aguilar stuff.  I’ll be the first to admit it boarders on the unhealthy.  This is one of the few companies that I literally want EVERYTHING that they make.  Even if I obviously have no use for half of it at anyone time (doom rig anyone?).  There is something about their approach to bass gear that just grabs me.  Maybe it is the super clean lines, or their commitment to quality, but I love their stuff and I want to try it all.  The Tone Hammer was my first introduction to Aguilar’s product line, even though it is oddly enough a pedal, not the high end bass amplification that Aguilar is known for.

From Aguilar:

This preamp/direct box is so strong and powerful it could only be called the "Tone Hammer"! Based on the respected OBP-3 preamp, the Tone Hammer features fully sweepable midrange frequencies in addition to bass and treble controls. With the Tone Hammer's pristine D.I. you are set for the studio or the stage.

CONSTRUCTION:

This pedal is housed in a heavy duty steel enclosure that is near bullet proof.  The knobs are solid and the switching is true bypass.  Having said that, you must keep in mind that this was Aguilar’s first foray into the world of effects, and like all first steps, they aren’t always perfect.  Dave Boonshoft (president of Aguilar) caught some heavy flak from pedal heads for the design of this pedal. As you can see, in the photo below the enclosure of the pedal sticks out over the edge of the input and output jacks, seemingly in an effort to protect them (maybe?).  

The problem is that if the pedal is lying flat on a normal pedal board, you are only able to use straight 1/4” jacks or cables to plug in and out of the Tone Hammer, robbing you of valuable pedal board space if you don’t have a slotted pedal board like the pedaltrain pedal boards.  Once solution I have seen is to use a dremmel drill or similar minute grinding tool to cut away part of the steel enclosure to allow access to the input and output jacks by right-angled plugs.  

Another design quirk that comes along with this pedal is that the knob that holds the battery drawer (neat, BTW) in place is located on the bottom of the pedal, which makes mounting the Tone Hammer onto pedal boards without the (huge) rubber feet nigh on impossible.  Two solutions: either use a pedaltrain style board with slats or put a rubber pad on either side of the battery knob to help raise the pedal up off the ground.  Luckily for us, I believe that Aguilar started sending pads such as these to help with pedal board  mounting.

Lastly, some of these pedals left the production line with a slight grounding problem that introduces a hum into the signal chain that is similar to a 60-cycle hum or a ground loop hum that can’t really be avoided (even with the use of the ground / lift switch, because it is not a DI problem).  Good thing that Aguilar’s customer service is TOP NOTCH and they will take care of you in a hear beat if you send the pedal back to them.  

CONTROLZ:

The controls are pretty self-explanatory.  There are six knobs and two switches.  The left foot switch, labeled “Engage” is the master bypass switch for the pedal.  The second switch, labeled “AGS” toggles the “Adaptive Gain Shaping” circuitry on and off (more on that later).  The Tone Hammer features a three band EQ with Treble (+/- 18 dB @ 4 kHz), Bass (+/- 18 dB @ 40 Hz) and Mid controls, as well as a Mid frequency sweep from 180 Hz to 1 kHz.

There are also two mini switches next to the balanced XLR DI output that include a Gound / Lift switch and a Pre / Post EQ switch, which will toggle between sending your signal to the DI before or after the EQ circuitry.

TONE(z):

Let’s dive right in.  This pedal sounds terrific. Really versatile and POWERFUL equalization; be ready for that.  You can really get some terrific sounding tones out of this box and there are few (if any) dead spots in the circuit that produce less-than-desirable tones.

Just like the OBP-3 preamp for which it was based on, the bass knob on this pedal is very powerful and will give you a ton of low end if you aren’t careful.  In some ways I think that the boosted low end has more of a useful musicality to it than the OBP-3.  A more useful range if that makes any sense.  I actually liked this pedal so much that I got an OBP-3 installed in my SR506.  It was always on anyway, so why not?  P.S. It makes my bass sound KILLER.

I really like the way that you can shape your sound into almost any tone when going direct or with an additional preamp.  Slap, finger funk, clean solid-state clarity, it is all in there. 

Then there is the dirt.  The AGS side of the pedal is something that I think is fairly unique to this design. It isn’t necessarily like having two pedals in one box.  Even though you have access to both “pedals” in the Tone Hammer, you aren’t able to switch from one to the other on the fly as easy as you’d think.

The reason behind this has to do with the way that the AGS circuitry effects your signal and brings in the dirt.  The AGS circuitry is actually an integral part of the original equalization circuitry and isn’t really like “another pedal” at all.  It based on the settings of the gain knob, the AGS boosts or cuts specific EQ curves that change as the knob is increased (if I remember correctly).  

Right.  So what does that mean? Basically the idea behind this pedal is to be more of a tone shaping machine in the studio.  It’s not that it can’t be used live, but the feature set of this pedal I feel is more for use as a preamp in the studio, and not as an on/off part of your pedal board.  

Anyways, the overdrive sounds coming out of the AGS are particularly warm, and are very touch sensitive, meaning that the signal breaks up more the harder you play.  You can get some snarl out of this pedal with the right EQ settings, but it won’t get as much of a snarl as Aguilar’s AGRO pedal or rack overdrive (reviews coming soon!).  This pedal provides a really awesome, warm and thick overdrive sound that sits well in the mix.

All in all this is a fantastic pedal.  Even with some of it's quirks in the design, I think that it is an amazing piece of equipment.  Unfortunately I traded mine for an AGRO, but luckily for all of us, Aguilar recently did the unthinkable.  They took the idea behind the Tone Hammer and put a 500 watt power section behind it, creating the Tone Hammer 500, a 4 pound 500 watt monster.  They put all of the Tone Hammer into this single channel unit and gave it a DRIVE knob to help control the idea behind the AGS circuit.  DO WANT.

Be sure to check out the Tone Hammer on Aguilar's website 

And don't forget about CLIPS!

-Colin (mothertonegear@gmail.com)

P.S. I just found this sweet look into Aguilar's production and history:

http://www.aguilaramp.com/pdf/news_reviews_aguilartour_bp022004.pdf

Blackout Effectors Musket v.1

Blackout Effectors is an effects pedal company that recently relocated from Canada to Asheville, NC.  Their pedals are unique takes on overdrive, fuzz and phasers that are "Handmade with Precision and Balls."  This is another company that I just totally lust after.  All of their pedals just get into my veins and I get swept away (why don't I have enough cash?!?).  The Musket is the first pedal that I have had the pleasure of playing through and hopefully not the last (::cough:: Whetstone ::cough::).  This pedal is well loved over on Talkbass.com and for good reason.

From Blackout Effectors:

The logical progression from then to now, the MUSKET is based 

on one of the raunchiest, best selling fuzz circuits of all time

-taken three giant muffy steps further.  With the addition of the

PRE, FOCUS, & MIDS controls, the MUSKET is able to traverse

the decades,, the continents and the many iterations of the

classic 4-stage fuzz circuit - from emulation to beyond.  If you

need fuzz and need it to be massive…..

And bass players, look no further.  The Musket brings the 

thunder to perfectly compliment your lightning.  You'll 

find the Musket on pro bass player boards

the world over.

CONSTRUCTION:

"Handmade with Precision and Balls" pretty much sums up this pedal's construction.  Solid circuit design and discrete soldering points (definite care in construction).  The knobs are sturdy and turn  smoothly.  Foot switch: good to go.

GRAPHICS: 

There have been many different graphic versions of this pedal over time, and they kind of give a history of the evolution of the pedal, circuit design and of Blackout Effectors as a company.   The original graphic design was the "Red Rifles" edition, which was an homage to the builder's grandfather if I am not mistaken.  The current version of the Musket (version 2 as far as the circuitry goes, but the third or fourth version graphically), is similar to the "Red Rifles" design, but it is all black and white.  My Musket was the first version of the circuit with the mountain of tone graphics (which incidentally is my favorite one they have released as of yet).  I think that the second version of the circuit is one that incorporates a greater degree of control through each knob (especially the MIDS and FOCUS knobs, which we will get to in a minute).  

Also, something that I think is a really cool touch about the style of this company is that on the inside of the pedal cover, they paint an artistic representation of the number of the pedal (mine was #157, I believe).  Sometimes this is just the number painted in a cool way and sometimes there is a kaleidoscope of awesome in there.  It just depends on who was working the day the pedal was finished and how creative they were feeling (the custom Storm Trooper is definitely up there on my favorites-list).  A really cool touch in my opinion.  It's really little touches like this that make independent builders stand out from the crowd.

TONE:

Here is the "balls" part.  BEEF.   For a muff based circuit, this pedal has an incredible range of tone. The bottom three controls are the traditional muff controls of Fuzz (saturation), Tone and Volume.  Pretty much standard issue as far as sound goes.  The top three controls are what really make this muff circuit stand out.  The PRE control knob acts like a pre-gain boost stage in front of the circuit (sort of) that lets you have greater control over the range of the FUZZ knob.  At a minimum PRE setting, the overall saturation of the fuzz circuit is pretty tame.  When the PRE and FUZZ knobs are both maxed - STAND BACK!!!!  Now you have a fuzz pedal that has complete control over the saturation sweep and you don't have to always set it on the maximum saturation setting to get a usable tone like you do with older muff circuits.  

The MIDS knob works really well with the TONE knob to shape the character of the pedal.  While the TONE knob is a sort of traditional muff-based mids sweep (counter-clockwise being really scooped, traditional muff tone), the MIDS knob will boost or cut the middle frequencies in pleasant new ways.  This is the main feature on this pedal to help keep the bass from getting lost in the mix.  Cranking the MIDS knob will give you an in-your-face snarl that demands your attention.

The FOCUS knob is an interesting and welcomed touch to this circuit.  This knob will take you from articulate crunch (clockwise) to sloppy low end awesome (you guessed it counter-clockwise).  For bass players, the focus knob really needs to be set in the left side of the knob's range (the sloppy side).  Not specifically because great gobs of sloppy molasses fuzz is awesome, but because as you get progressively further clockwise on this knob, the low end starts to disappear almost into lo-fi territories (for a bass).  Killer.  

I felt that this pedal's primary sound scape isn't necessarily focused on the DOOM side of things, however.  What I mean is that it wouldn't be my first choice for the heavy DOOM breakdown of a song (a la hammering down on the low B) or the slow drone of a stoner / doom metal type of band.  This pedal has a snarl and a bite to it that I think is better suited for quick riffing and that "Every Time I DIe" in your face kind of bass tone, which it excels at.  Different strokes.  

Killer.

Also, the Musket is also available in a dual pedal format with another of Blackout Effector's killer fuzzes the Fix'd Fuzz called the Twosome Fuzz.

Please go checkout the awesome clips and videos over at Blackout's webiste:

http://www.blackouteffectors.com

NOW.

-Colin (mothertonegear@gmail.com)

Dr. Scientist Radical Red (mini) Reverberator

Here ya go folks, the Dr. Scientist Radical Red (mini) Reverberator!

Dr. Scientist is one cooky, crazy effects company from our friends in the North.  Canada, Eh? (I’m sorry I had to.)  This is another company that puts out some seriously boutique pedals (with prices to match) and a super fun company visual presence.  I’ve heard a few different pedals from this company live (usually on guitar) and they have always sounded great (especially the Sunny Day Delay).  My attention was drawn to the Radical Red Reverberator while I was on my quest to find a killer sounding reverb that took up less space than my Boss RV-3 (always an issue).  I think that it suits that role nicely.

Full description and mp3 samples are available on Dr. Scientist’s website:

http://www.drscientist.ca/pedals/rev

CONSTRUCTION:

One word: boutique.  This pedal is pretty synonymous with this term.  High quality build materials, layout true bypass switching and and sturdy enclosures.  These pedals were originally in a different sized enclosure, closer to the sized aluminum enclosure that Electro-Harmonix uses on their XO series pedals.  Luckily for all of us, Dr. Scientist figured out a way to cram all of that reverb-y goodness into an MXR micro sized enclosure with the in and out jacks on the top of the pedal (along with the power jack, which is “Boss” style tip negative).  All of this added together makes for one ridiculously small pedal. The reverberator will not run off of batteries (yay earth!) and does NOT like to be daisy chained, although an isolated power supply such as the VooDoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ will work just fine.

Of course, when you start talking ridiculously small pedal enclosures, you also have to include small spaces.  What I mean is that one thing that I have noticed with this pedal is that you have to be careful (or at least aware) of the direction and position of the in and out jacks with the power jack also being right next to them.  If you are using right-angled 1/4” cables that are coming in from the side (diagonally or whatever) things can get really tight.  Not really an issue considering how much space the mini- reverberator takes up, but I just thought I’d bring it up.

GRAPHICS:

If I’m not mistaken, these pedals are hand painted by one Mrs. Dr. Scientist and she does a terrific job with them!  They come in a variety of different themes, mine is the black and yellow one shown, but there are many others.  The blood one was a close second choice.  Mrs. Dr. Scientist has also been known to do custom graphics from time to time.  My favorite so far being the CosmiChorus with a Kirby theme.  I’m not sure if that costs extra though...just ask Dr. Scientist!  I didn’t want to wait for mine to get here, so I ordered mine from either tonefactor.com or analoguehaven.com, I can’t remember which one right now, but both stores are killer.  I’m sure if you contacted Dr. Scientist directly, a graphic change wouldn’t be a problem.

TONE:

Lush.  The controls are pretty straight forward with a Mix knob (a wet/dry blend) a volume knob (with up to 20dB of boost) a Slow/Fast rate switch and a nine position rotary switch.  The volume knob is so awesome that I wonder why more reverb/delay units do not have them.  Having a master volume control helps bring everything up in the mix (definitely needed with reverb) and lets you be heard (definitely needed in my band.......what was that?!? You’ll have to speak up! I CAN’T HEAR YOOOUUUU!!!).

The Reverberator hosts two Hall reverbs, three Room reverbs, three Plate reverbs and a Rotary (Leslie Speaker) emulator setting (neat).  All of the different settings on the rotary knob are conveniently labeled by a letter an number (H1 for the first Hall setting, nice, huh?).   Also, a neat side-effect of the design of this pedal is that when the pedal is on, and you change the rate of decay there is a “swoosh” or like a little burst of reverb that is perfectly normal, and totally awesome.  No, your pedal isn’t broken.... “this means it is please with you and can be considered a blessing from the Gods of Reverb, watching from upon high. (They are in your house and they are watching you.)”

My favorite settings for bass are the second Hall reverb with the rate switch in the “slow” or long decay position and the third Room reverb with the switch in the fast / shorter decay setting.  I like to use them for big reverb filled volume swells with lots of chords and/or fuzz.  The rotary speaker emulator is also really neat sounding.  I almost wish this was a stereo pedal so that I could hear the rotary ping pong back and forth....but I guess that would defeat the purpose of getting the smallest reverb pedal I could find.

One really cool thing about this pedal is when you set the mix knob to completely dry it acts as a totally clean boost.  Awesome. KloBber YouR TuBEZ!

Be sure to check out the Radical Red (mini) Reverberator as well as all of the other Dr. Scientist pedals on their website:

http://www.drscientist.ca