hebbronx_rocksteady's Reviews

Forget the presets - Find your own tone; this is gold and won't break your back

A big knock against the GTX100 is that the presets are not usable for live performances or recording but are more suited for bedroom hobbyists. That may be true, but the real value here is the ability to quite convincingly model classic amps - not the Fender presets - which you can tweak to your taste. You can use the presets, if you wish, as a starting point to build your own sound and rig. Most of them are EQ'd in a way that needs to be changed for your live or recording situation. The Fender Tone App sets you see and choose from so many options of amp, settings, pedals etc..

The amp models are great. The Fender sounds, unsurprisingly, are the best and some of the British models are also great. I use it for 1. clean Bassman sounds; 2. pushed tweed Bassman sounds and 3. amplifying my * checks notes * mandolin for gigs using their "Acoustasonic" amp setting.

I've had great success with a pushed '59 Bassman model which I've customized to go into a Showman cabinet with JBLs. Not exactly possible these days without access to immense wealth or an amp museum.

Most importantly, I can transport the thing without slipping more disks. I've sold my 90s Blues Deluxe as it's no longer needed and, despite the tubes, it can't get the sounds I'm after without becoming ear-splittingly loud first, but even then...

One drawback for me is the footswitch. I like to see the pedals right in front of me and I currently operate on more pedals than the 4 or 5 buttons that the footswitch has. Also, though the amp does get loud and "move air," some of that natural low end rumble that you get from cranking a real tube amp is not there. I can usually address that with some basic knob work.

Can double as a bluetooth or aux speaker between sets. Tone, versatility, VALUE and weight (or lack thereof) still earn this amp 5 stars.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Great. Not a TS not a "klone" but it's own great transparent beef

This is a good product. Some say it's a bit bassy, but that has not been my experience, even with an LP. Spectrum knob keeps your mids in place avoiding nasal stuff but adding depth and crunch to taste. So compact and you can run 18v power into it instead of 9v which, for me, saves me from buying another power brick and also seems to add some clarity.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Great, once you realize what a FF can do . .

I initially really liked this - maybe of a 4 star affinity - but I recently realized that the special sauce of a good Fuzz Face is as much volume-rolled-back cleans as it is in-your-face wooly explosiveness. I had heard about this but have been playing mostly on a Les Paul through an overdriven amp - a sound perhaps too big and inarticulate for these dynamics. Rather, this especially works well with single coils. I've been using it with my Tele and Strat-style guitars and enjoy the sparkly clean (yet beefy) tones. The Fuzz Face adds a great muscular granularity to clean tones. Think Hendrix's "Like a Rolling Stone" Live at Winterland, "Hey Joe" or the Band of Gypsys live stuff (except those were with silicon transistors, which sound slightly different). That kind of clean to face-melting range at your fingertips when used with single coils and at good amp settings.

The compact size is also a huge plus - especially compared to the regular/original FF.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Great sound and usability

This has a sound that's much better and natural sounding than the popular and proven digital delays. Great range of delay time, level and repeat. Big knobs are easy to adjust mid-gig or mid-song.

Best delay bang for the buck in my opinion..

Nice. Worth the price. Will add a new dimension to your playing

This baritone has really nice tone. It is also very sturdy, staying in tune pretty well. My only issue is the bridge which is acoustic style, having no individual saddles. In this respect, action (saddle height) and intonation are not adjustable in the conventional sense. But like I said, it's sturdy and stays in tune pretty well, so if you take care of it a real set-up with action and intonation adjustments might not be necessary for a while. the lime/seafoam green finish is really cool. Trem + baritone gives a nice surf vibe. The lipstick pickups are a little buzzy. But what else does one expect from inexpensive single coils really?

Great warm drive. Transparent and wide open

I acquired this a couple months ago after thinking about it for several months. I spent 20+ years with a TS9 and knew it was time to move on. This was the perfect change.

There are a lot of overused and re-used descriptions regarding this pedal out there. It "boosts your signal just enough to hit the front end of your amp harder. . ." and "works great as a clean boost." Oh yeah, it is also "a clone of the coveted Klon Centuar." Ok. But until you play it, or have a job in a guitar store where you get to crank tube amps all day . . . that does not mean much. The drive has great range. All the way down I guess it is a clean boost but pushing up the drive a little to 7:30 or 8 o'clock takes your clean signal and adds, for me, what it is the perfect amount of color and dynamics, including some natural sustain, without muddying things up to get the right clean-leaning tones and feel out of an amp, which for me is a Fender Blues Deluxe (using the clean channel). Maybe that's what a clean boost does - dunno. Pushing the drive further does what you think it would do, adding saturation while maintaining the characteristics of your clean tone. I guess this is what they mean when they say "transparent." The pedal doesn't totally take over. It takes over just a bit - just enough.

So what? Every overdrive review talks of warm drive and how the knobs might offer a good range, while maintaining transparency. The big difference to me is that, in contrast to the TS9 which I used and loved for many years (and can deliver some great SRV and Phish-style tones if used properly), this pedal does not add much mid-rangey compression, which when it is a feature of some pedals, can often manifest itself in some unwanted nasal, spongy or crunchy tones. Those pedals work great in many contexts, but I've wanted to move on. This Soul Food pedal leaves my tone less compressed-sounding and the result is a playing dynamic that seems more natural and real.

Though it is not a distortion or fuzz pedal, I get more than enough drive from it, especially when using the dirtier channel of my amp.

Oh yeah, it's also really low-priced. Approx $85 brand new, though I grab a used one. But hey get that Klon Centaur if you have $7k+ lying around for a pedal.

Note: It leans just a bit trebley. I mean they kind of signal this by calling the tone knob the "treble" knob. I know that's a thing with treble boosts, but this is more than that. Just roof back that treble knob or the knobs on your guitar to where you want it. There is a bit of a click when stepping on the pedal which contrasts negatively with quieter spring-loaded pedals like the TS9. Keep this in mind, especially in the studio.

Despite the notes above I'm giving it five stars. I am extremely happy with the acquisition and give it 5 stars.