beeflin's Reviews

Excellent passive volume or expression pedal

I really like the volume taper of this pedal and use it extensively for volume swells. Being passive it makes no noise.I use it as my board's main mute switch, at the end of the drive section. It's also featherlight but strong.

I haven't tried it as an expression pedal but I am sure its good quality pot will work well in that mode too.

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Versatile, tiny and inexpensive

This pedal is tiny and light, taking up less than half a full treadle wah's board space. It is always switchable from active volume/swell to wah with a click of the footswitch, which is in the normal position for wah pedals, under the treadle's front half.

The wah is a little fierce and rough sounding with distortion, but it is reasonably good with clean sounds. It's excellent value for money.

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Fantastic character at a tiny price

I decided to get an envelope filter after seeing demos of the Source Audio Spectrum, but when I actually tried one I found it didn't have the fundamental feel I was looking for, despite all its options and controls, so I radically downsized to this little devil. It rocks! It has a little tiny bit of overdrive and dirt to smooth its way, and perfect controls for whatever response you want. The only thing it lacks is a reverse setting, but I can live without that.

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Very versatile, so many modulation effects!

Very good value for money, not as all-singing, all-dancing as the Wampler Terraform or Strymon Mobius but so compact and versatile. Excellent vibrato, tremolo and harmonic tremolo, usable Uni-Vibe, good chorus, nice Leslie, and lots more. Downsides: phaser and flanger don't really match up to their analog counterparts; auto-wah, filter and harmoniser are cranky; and the controls can't hold a candle to pedals with presets - you usually need to fiddle with one or two knobs after each effect type change. But there are so many parameters you can tailor, including envelope settings, different waveforms, distortion, tone, blend and resonance that I can't really fault this little darling for the price.

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Straightforward high-resolution mono recording

Press the footswitch and a 24-bit 44.1KHz mono recording starts. Press again and it stops and is ready to record another one. 8 hours recording time at studio quality right on your pedalboard. To recover your recordings, plug it into your computer using a Mini USB connector. Simplicity itself. Two drawbacks: (1) the files that come over the USB cable have numbers and no dates so you have to listen to them to figure out which is which. (2) the optional Bluetooth-to-phone transfer software has the most unreliably, crashy Bluetooth connectivity I've ever seen, and is basically unusable except for a few very small files.

So, verdict: brilliantly effective as long as you ignore the app!

Clean powerful parallel compressor

I've never thought much of compressors as a guitarist, although I love using them in music production. They always seemed to destroy the edgy character of my guitar strings and replace it with an artificial, plastic-sounding attack. Recently however I decided I wanted the benefit of controlled volume, perhaps using it for lead boost, and could also experiment with other compression effects. I tried a Carl Martin Compressor Limiter and although it was very high quality I still couldn't get an attack I liked. Then I realised I needed a parallel compressor, to blend in the original attack, and found the Vise Grip at a very reasonable second-hand price, cheaper than other similar units. Its controls give every kind of useful option, so it does exactly what I want it to do, and it also has 3 power options: high-headroom 18v supply (my preference), standard 9v supply or 9v battery. I thoroughly recommend it as a compromise between the pros and cons of compression.

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Excellent Phase 45 type phaser, dark and smooth

Like: Subtle, no swooshing. Works before fuzz as a kind of gentle Uni-Vibe, or with a clean sound for reggae rhythm guitar. Lovely colour and strong build.

Dislike: Slight level boost, slight overdrive, plastic knob shaft (although I haven't had any problems with it).

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Versatile setup but best to choose one sound per gig

This programmable pedal has many interesting effects and facilities including flanger, through-zero flanger, chorus, reverse and kill-dry as well as all kinds of hardware emulations - digital, analog emulation, tape emulation, etc.

But it's risky to assume you'll be able to change programs during a gig without hassle, because you'll need your phone and you know what phones can be like. Probably best to pick a setting for the whole gig. And if you do need to reprogram mid-gig, you really must mute your sound if you don't want your audience to run away thinking aliens are attacking, because the burst of programming chatter sounds very nasty.

So the pedal is inspiring because of the incredible versatility for a very reasonable price, but you should probably think of it as a fixed setup that you can choose from an infinite set of possibilities, and then stick with, rather than an editable setup.

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Incredibly cheap classic flanger

Makes a similar sound to an Electric Mistress, but doesn't reduce volume as much. Still a little quieter than the bypassed signal and loses bass. But practical and quiet. Identical to the Mooer ElecLady.

A pretty good SG copy

Haven't played it much yet. The neck is rather wide for me but it does sound good for slide guitar.

A decent guitar with lots of uses

The Variax's simulations of 12-strings, banjo, acoustics and especially Danelectro sitar guitar, and its ability to store many different tunings with the help of a computer app, make it a great studio tool. It can also imitate many classic solid-body guitars, but I find that side of it a bit geeky. Some of them do stand out, but many solid-bodies don't really sound as distinctive as their historical aura would suggest. The neck is rounded and of medium fatness, a good compromise since it has to serve for so many different guitars. The neck can be replaced by one made by Warmoth if it dies.

Bargain classy condenser mike

This (well, a pair of these) is all I've ever needed for room miking or overheads - and only £150 each.

Another classic

An incredibly cheap mike for close-miking jobs. I have recorded a drumkit at a gig with these mikes and been amazed that no other instruments could be heard on the recording.

A classic that's all you need for singing

I read a lot about how higher quality mikes can be better for singing, but I've always found THIS to be the one. A historic classic for an amazing bargain price.

Cheap as chips and just as tasty

This cost me an unbelievable £12 new! It needed a mod which is explained on eBay before its switch would work well, but having done the work it's now impossible to accidentally switch it off, unlike many far more expensive pedals. As for the sound, it goes Wah! Sorted.

Smooth as velvet

A smooth sounding overdrive which, with gain set low, sounds very close to a Marshall crunch channel. It also has tone controls which can boost treble, scoop or boost bass to create different tones.

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A fine instrument for the low price

This Strat has a decent neck and everything works. Mine was particularly good value for money since I got it on a slow day on eBay for only £36 including a soft case and a curly lead. It now has two vintage Tokai pickups and a Wilkinson bridge pickup, Wilkinson two-hole tuners and I've finally got the very basic vibrato system to balance after a long time blocked. Now the only difference between me and Hank Marvin is my guitar is blue!

A phenomenal tool that can help shape all your sounds

I used the original T-Racks for many years before I splashed out and got the full package. What a joy to work with. So many models of both vintage and modern compressors, limiters, EQs and a fine reverb kit. One special feature is an amazing optical compressor modelled after real hardware designed by IK Multimedia's COO, absolutely great for vocals.

So much cheaper than Pro Tools despite not being quite as clear

I was a Pro Tools LE user for 10 years, but when new hardware forced an upgrade and I realised I was going to be asked for another £300 just to continue, I decided to switch to the then £140 Logic. The transition hasn't been seamless because of Logic's confusing approach to timing and markers, but I'm knocked out with the vast array of instruments provided where Pro Tools provides none.

A classic of the 80's that's still as good as it needs to be

The Shadow SH075 kit was originally advertised as being as quick as any MIDI pickup can be - it takes 1.5 cycles to determine which note you're playing. Since that's as quick as physically possible, it tracks as quickly as any newer unit and is thus just as useful. I still haven't got round to hooking it up to anything except its own little floor-pedal synthesiser, the SH22, but since it's MIDI it can end up sounding like absolutely anything. Oddly enough, only one of my many guitars is the right shape for it - the Eccleshall Scimitar, which was designed to host it. But It does work on Telecasters and Les Pauls, which I don't have.