97tyson's Reviews

Great sounds - wish I could hear them!

I wanted a fuzz that gave me a tinge of that sputtery, velcro, dying-battery fuzz; aggressive & far removed from the silky-smooth Big Muff tones I typically go for. I'm happy to say that the Cheese Ball is all that and more; the four voicings in the pedal provide plenty of variety, but the 2nd (more gain, more sputter & a touch more midrange) is where it sounds best to me. At bedroom levels, the pedal is perfect, however, I quickly discovered that it simply wasn't loud enough for gigs with my band; even with the volume dimed completely there was a substantial drop in volume when I turned it on, and I all but disappeared (I'm used to working with fairly mids-scooped pedals, so I'm fairly certain this was a straightforward matter of not having enough volume on tap). I have corrected this by simply putting a TC Spark behind it in the same loop, and the pedal sounds great and cuts through fine like that, but be prepared for that going in!

Easy to use, full of surprises

Don't let the whacky names on the controls of this pedal fool you; you can put the controls pretty much anywhere and get a good sound out of this thing. While I don't get a lot of utility out of the tremolo sounds, and it sometimes feels like the trajectory knob isn't doing much of anything, I don't have any complaints to make because I wanted the lush movements and wide sweep of classic phasers for funky clean rhythms, ambient soundscapes, 70s-inspired synth tracks & some big fuzz-ed out riffs, and it can handle them all. I do wish the sweep of the velocity (speed) knob was a little more forgiving though; the space between a slow undercurrent and leslie-like fast churning seems a little small and hard to find a sweet spot in. It sounds fantastic, and the different sounds are worth exploring, but it you're just after the basics there are cheaper (and smaller) options that would suit your needs just as well.

Everything you need, and a little bit more

Tuners are very easy to get right, but it's always nice when one goes above and beyond for those who crave efficiency. Not only is the PolyTune 3 an exceptional tuner with great accuracy, a good range of tunings and a nice, bright screen that's impossible to miss, but the buffer is a very welcome addition, and the ability to daisy chain & power other pedals through it is a lifesaver for my busy board with far too many wires.

Like I say, there's normally not much in it with tuners (for most players at least), but if your needs are straightforward and you like to get the most utility out of your limited board space, it's hard to beat this one

An Ambient Masterwork

Walrus Audio have an uncanny ability when it comes to reverb. Other companies make stellar reverbs, of course, and not everyone is after outrageous, ambient sounds. But that is most certainly what I'm after, and from the Descent to the Fathom to the newer Slo, Walrus delivers in a way that makes me feel a little cold towards other manufacturers. The Fathom can be used for some fairly basic sounds & makes a great workhorse in that sense, but the Slo dives right into the deep end, and all the better for it. Endless ambient possibilities lay before you inside of this pedal, and I've thoroughly enjoyed exploring them all.

No frills, just good tones

You get what you ask for with this one, nothing more, nothing less. Solid clean boost to liven up any tone, smooth overdrive that stacks beautifully into tube amps & other gain sources. There aren't many pedalboards and setups out there that wouldn't benefit from one (or two) of these. One could argue that it's a little too brittle with the treble high compared to the pedal it's emulating, and others may prefer the more mid-focused honk of a TS-style overdrive, but this sits pretty perfectly with my current setup, and I have a feeling you'll find a nice spot for it too

A Cheap and Cheerful Chorus to get you through.

This sounds great, that's all there really is to it. To my ears, it doesn't replace the pedal it's very clearly designed to emulate, but it is a very reliable and cool chorus. I like this one best dialled back but it can get into vaguely-rotary-ish territory with a more pronounced sweep. People who are very serious about chorus should look elsewhere to more robust, tweak-able options, but if you just need that one, classic chorus sound for that one moment in your cover band's setlist, this'll do the trick nicely

A decent entry-level guitar

A nice change of pace for me as I am usually a Strat player; I'm really enjoying the feel and the play, but it's lacking the sustain I'm used to. Sounds great, even if the P90s are a bit noisy, but it's more of an additional option as opposed to something I'd make my main guitar.

An afforable hidden gem

I bought this to tide me over a bit before I'm able to build my collection of ambient pedals back up. I'd heard good things from some pedal demos and the price was right so I figured it would do the trick; it does that, and then some!

I think the tone control is what sets this apart from other pedals in the price range; it's very easy to make each algorithm sound the way you need it to; you can darken the Church algorithm into a cavernous, subterranean howl, bring out the sparkle in the Spring algorithm, or can smooth out the shimmer modes to roll off some of the harshness that shimmer can sometimes be guilty of.

Speaking of shimmer, this thing comes with two shimmer algorithms, and they are actually different enough to warrant that. Celestial has a more subtle upper octave; I've gotten great sounds out of this with the level high & decay maxed to create an ambient wash that preserves the harmony of what you play without being overbearing. The one that's actually called Shimmer is more overt with the upper octave, and sounds quite nice indeed also.

It is surprisingly great, but it's not perfect; the filter control on the Spring reverb doesn't do much, and the RotaryVerb, supposed to be the unique sound in the pedal, is a very subtle modulation that at most setting I can barely perceive; the sound is usable, but I think a modulation control on the actual Church setting would have taken the sound there. It's also a shame that there's a level control as opposed to a mix control; there are some nice ambient sounds in there, and it's a shame there's no on-board way to have 100% wet signal.

But those concerns are relatively minor given how great this pedal sounds. It won't replace the likes of Walrus Audio's Fathom/Slo/Descent, and I feel for many the Hall of Fame 2 is a better option in this price range, but I took a bit of a gamble on the Rainbow and I daresay I made my money's worth back.

Fantastic Software

I find it VERY easy to overuse this plugin in production; subtle hints of it in most tracks seems to just bring the whole project to life. I don't see it as a replacement for the octave-y reverb pedals I've come to know and love like the various Walrus reverbs (though I would argue it sonically outclasses the likes of Strymon), but it serves as a handy addition to a sound design toolkit to give projects the sparkle they might otherwise be lacking. Deceptively simple but brimming with weird and wonderful options, shoegazers to soundscapists to pop producers will find some use for this, and its low price point compared to hardware/stompbox alternatives is a huge plus.

A Stellar and Weird little addition

This can be a little hard to get sounding 'just right,' but if bit crushing is what you're after this is a stellar and sturdy option. I got into this sound through the bit-crushed option on a DD-500; while I found that a bit easier to get sounding the way I wanted it to, the LoFi machine can pull it off, albeit with a bit more tweaking. I think for most, bit crushing will always just be an added extra to goof around with every now and then, but more and more I've found it to be the extra element that pulls a sound together on my current project, so I'm glad to have it as a standalone pedal.

Stellar Home Recording Option

I don't have the space, privacy, or budget to justify recording with giant tube amps, or even just recording a mic'd amp of any size. I found one of these at a garage sale in my home town and so far it has been the most manageable, best-sounding recording solution I've tried! I've found it much easier to dial in sounds with this as a basis compared to using a DAW's amp/pedalboard sims, the loop and effects chain editing mean I can still use my other pedals, and as an added plus it's a very compact unit! I'm sure there are newer, better versions of what this does, but I'm very happy with what I've got out of this!