crabcrib

Arrived in tune with itself, but was very sharp overall, which was a shame. Was able to tune it by shaving the metal reeds. The button-keys look great, but aren't that easy to play... Fun to practice with, but wouldn't use it live or recording.

This was a more affordable Martin with a fishman. It's BIG, mine sounds quite mellow, I put super light strings on it to brighten things up a bit. My friend has a Taylor Big Baby, and this is the exact opposite of that, it's got higher action and it's boomy. The cheaper laminate back and sides, is quite attractive actually. I used to play this live all the time, it never let me down. Not the coolest looking, or sounding acoustic out there, but it covers all the bases and has its own nice vibe.

Very distinctive bass, snappy sound, chunky feel on the hands. Used by the likes of Deerhunter, Apples in Stereo... Sounds amazing with flat wound strings, for that vintage, sponge under the strings, bomp-bomp-bomp sound. With round wound strings it cuts really sharp. Check out the song 'Nothing Ever Happened' by Deerhunter for a good example of this bass at its best.

Sadly out of production now. I bought this to carry on the London Underground to small shows, use it all the time. Loud enough to play live with, small enough to carry everywhere. The sound is really quite good too, gets a bit too fuzzy if you're blasting it loud, but that's fine by me. Perfect for the lo-fi powerpop sound I want. Sound guys often ask if it has valves (it doesn't).

I always double my voice when recording, and often with an octave over the top (think Elliott Smith/Sparklehorse sort of thing). Bought this for a similar sound live. Really a very cool effect, can sound quite natural if you put in on a subtle setting. Always get asked about it after a show. I mainly use it for the octave up setting, with the mix on about 11 o'clock.

Simple, dependable and accurate. It has an output on the back so you can power additional pedals from it also, although that's not something I have used.

Quite versatile for a little tiny pedal. Vibrato sounds are normally bundled in to chorus/delay/flanger effect, this is a really pure vibrato that doesn't mess with your tone at all. On a slow and deep setting, you get a really lush bend, like a tape that's a bit worn out. You can do some really fun alien sounds with a faster vibrato, lots of potential for lead parts. I can apparently connect to my phone or computer to get different sounds too, was happy straight out the box though,

Really not bad at all for the price. It's not an especially 'cool' overdrive, but it can give a really good volume boost for a solo or chorus if you need it. I usually have a gainy sound right out the amp, and use this for a boost.

The pitch-shifting functions are far more nuanced than the POGs, able to do major/minor harmonies, but they're all pretty silly for the most part. The simple octave up and down settings are the most useful. Someone can make use of them I'm sure, just not me! There's a detune effect too, which sounds like chorus... I really got excited about this pedal (as another reviewer mentioned) once I hit the S-bend function. You can do fast or slow, pitch dives or rises by pushing the pedal down, and if you keep the pedal down you get some really warbly strange effects. I also use this pedal in s-bend mode to split my signal in to two amplifiers. There's so many things this pedal does, you'll find something strange and useful.

Not as natural sounding as a keyboard, but that's a good thing in a lo-fi context. Pairs nicely with a vibrato pedal. I've heard people say they struggle to find uses for it, but I put a lot of mellotron lines in my demos anyway, this lets me play them live without bringing in another instrument/musician. The flute clarinet and orchestra sounds can be really tasteful in a band context. Sax noise is horrible, choirs are pretty funny, but everything is usable in the right context. Don't expect to get a really serious orchestral sound for battle metal or anything like that, think Beatles, Daniel Johnston, Adam Green and you'll be happy with this.