miguel_angelo's Reviews

Great sound and super responsive unit

Amazing responsiveness on this unit, resonance and sweep have a great range so you can make sound like a mild vintage 2 stage phaser or a space warping 4 stage one. The cycle on the 1 position with rate at minimum is veeeery slow, maybe as slow as the Whetstone, and in 3 position you ALMOST get into ring modulation territory. The 2 position is much more responsive and tone shaping than the Whetstone. Make sure to keep the Depth knob maxed in the 2 position or in any Vibrato mode (acts like master volume). Oh and the blinking LED in tempo with the LFO is the cherry on top of the icing, possibly the most well achieved tempo LED I've ever seen as it fades in and out rather than blinking. Top notch device.

Lush, but triangle Vibrato won't appeal to everyone

I was looking around for a new chorus on the internet untill one day I accidentally came into this Spanish "boutique" pedal shop and saw this awkward looking unit and asked the store owner about it, he just said "it's the best, try it". Well I did, and the outcome was straightforward, bought it immediately. No doubt the most unexpected and impulsive purchase I ever made. That's how much I like it. Best sounding chorus I ever played. The left toggle, although Jam Pedals don't specify, acts like a Lag control that widens the sound further and adds more body and depth to it, while the minus position keeps it more focused and "classic" sounding. In Vibrato mode you can hear the triangle LFO modulating your signal from slight out of tune to mad seasick warble. At first I was feeling I wouldn't be able to make the triangle LFO vibrato sound good to my ears, a sine LFO would definitely make it rounder, but due to the nature of the NOS chips inside (IC) you can only get triangle with it. But the depth and rate knobs are so responsive to each other I was able to find good vibrato sounds that don't sound to "trianglish" and blend in quite well, especially with faster and more staccato playing. It's curious that in chorus mode you really dont feel the triangle shape LFO, but you do in vibrato mode (100% wet), which I found curious. The rate knob range isn't the biggest, but it's perfectly tuned from what I would say medium-slow at minimum setting to medium-fast (leslie) maxed out. You can make it faster (or slower) via an internal dip-switch, which didn't touch for believing the factory setting is the best compromise. This thing is really really good, I don't think I would buy it only from hearing it on the internet, but once I played it (a-b'ing it along with other expensive chorus) it was clear that this unit was VERY special and stood out from the others. It's able to make a mono speaker sound like a stereo one. Really!!! Slays in bass as well. Highly recommend

Freakin' awesome

I tested it in first of my signal chain, second to my drive/boost, in the fx loop. I left it at the very first position because it's where I fell it acts more naturally, feed-backing straight into my Brothers makes it sound really authentic. Playing clean gives you kind of a soft"flutie" synth tone, and while it's not that natural you can make some pretty interesting sounds with it, I'm enjoying it at low gain and fast attack with some delay. The natural-low mode is cool if you're playing a minor tune since it avoids major thirds. Has it's learning curve, but once you get acquainted with it, it's pretty useful and sound really well. Love the LED's! Put some dirt after it and you're ready to rock n'roll with really authentic sounding feedback. It doesn't get 5 stars because there is no way to smoothly fade out the feedback, sometimes it just drops dead and it's a bit tricky to get a hang of it. If you use a boost or compressor I would recommend placing it before the Freqout, as it will make the feedback more stable.

Small and POWERFULL

My whole board is powered by this little beast. 2x18V outputs and 2 variable voltage outputs allow for further experimentation with some pedals. No noise whatsoever.

Simple and great sounding

I wanted a good sounding plate and shimmer reverb with a simple interface, Reverb is one of those effects I like to keep simple and not have to many knobs or options. Went to my local music store and tried some pedals. This was it. All of the modes sound really good, especially the plate, which I think is the best sounding of them all. I really like the Epic and Mod mode as well, although I wished the Tone knob would change the speed and depth of the modulation (as it changes the octave up/octave down in Pad mode), but it's in a nice sweet spot of slow rate and medium depth of modulation and sounds great with volume swells, sending your trails into a warped region of space past by a small black hole. Analog Dry-through, buffered bypass for huge trails and those 20 Volts of constant headroom are the cherry on top of an instant classic by MXR, even with my Brothers Gainstage throwing it a huge boosted signal this guy keeps it clean and shiny. The only negative things I could point out are the lack of dedicated stereo outputs (i cant find angled Y cables to accommodate it in my pedalboard), the tone knob feels loose and rusty (c'mon MXR this is not a cheap unit...), and what I believe to be a design flaw by MXR - the power input is right next to the audio input so I cant use my flat right-angled patch cables because it obstructs the power input. I also would have liked preferred two switches to toggle between true-bypass/buffered trails and Wet+Dry/Kill Dry instead of having to do the whole number of unplugging the power to enter startup mode. But anyway i'm not messing around with those that much. Overall I'm pretty happy with it.

Great performance machine

I had the mini Ditto looper and absolutely loved it's simplicity, quality and it's analog dry-through. The bigger brother just has a bigger leaning-curve, but it's really 4 times better. I can now easily record my stereo effects and export them with great quality to my mac. Only thing I can point out is this: Imagine you record one loop, then another. Now you add a new layer on top of the first loop. You can undo and redo that last layer, BUT if you stop it all and playback again, no more undo for you, it will just delete the whole loop... Maybe a firmware update could allow that. Or else you have to think that once you stop the loop (hitting the stop button) you will merge all the layers inside each loop.

Versatile time bending machine

"Made with precision and balls" (Blackout effectors) Without a doubt the most complex and tweakable pedal I own, not easy to tame, but now that i'm getting a grip of it I think I'll never let it go. Auto-Wah, Leslie speaker, vibe, tremolo, syrup phasing, monstrous slow pad, ring modulation, this analog beast does it all. Phasing taken to a whole new level. The level knob is great. The only minus thing I could say is the Fix mode seems to only work around 7 to 10. You really need to write down your settings, as it is kinda difficult to dial it , I dropped a star because of that. Not an easy pedal to operate.

One gain stage to rule them all!

Powerhouse!!! Both sides individually sound absolutely awesome, like having 6 god made pedals in 1. Overall, for single channel use, I prefer the JFET channel as it lends itself more to a type of distortion I'm really enjoying, but the IC side Is also great sounding, the fuzz being more of vintage 70's muff, more compressed, but really the stacking options set this guy in a whole new different championship and the IC channel really complements so damn well the JFET channel and vice-versa. Parallel mode really feels like a two amp configuration, such a great value. I'm getting sounds out of my guitar and amp I never got before, they just sound and feel way better now. Really really versatile and great value.

Pack's a punch

This is my first dedicated analog phaser pedal, and only recently while trying a phasing effect on a demo version of Bias FX I realised the lot's of fun I've been missing in past jam sessions, so I decided to get one ASAP. For about one week I was searching the internet and listening different demos on different pedals, but there was not one pedal that I necessarily liked much more than other, so it was being complicated to decide... I don't know why but I never really paid much attention to small sized pedals (besides the Ditto Looper and the SP Compressor). One of the main things I look for in a pedal (besides good analog tone) is versatility, so I was not keen on the fact that the most famous phasers only had 1 speed knob. And then I learned about 2 stage phasers, 4 stage phasers, even 6 stage phasers, so wich one is more appropriate to me? That being said, as soon as I learned about the Phase 95 I was pretty much sure that would be it, the small size was not the selling point for me, but the possibility of alternating between 2 stage Phase 45 and 4 stage Phase 90, and then the option of adding or removing feedback via the script button, in an affordable good quality build analog device. But what really made my mind absolutely clear this was it was something that is not even mentioned on it's page. Something simple that I love and all my pedals have that "requirement". The damn blinking led in sync with the speed of the modulation!!! The left led blinks whenever the phase changes direction. Some may find it insignificant, but I find it soooo nice to be able to visualize what you're doing to your sound, being able to eye-sync your effect before kicking it in. My M134 Stereo Chorus also does this. Gotta love the simplicity and straightforward efficiency on these analog circuits... Nice touch MXR!! Although they don't advertise the pedal as being analog I'm pretty sure it is, as the current draw on this one is just 8mA (a digital unit would definitely require more power). I am extremely happy with this purchase, costed me 119€ in Portugal, it sounds absolutely cosmic, and it really is versatile while keeping it's traditional simplicity, from subtle 2 stage script, to full on 4 stage warble, although it lacks the dedicated knobs you CAN adjust its depth and intensity to each style/song. Great job from MXR, instant modern classic and one of my favourite pedals at the moment! Update: having spent more time with the pedal I have two minor things to mention that I dislike a bit (although I still give it 5 stars): The not so slight volume boost that happens when you engage it (typical from MXR phasers); 2 stage mode with script feels a bit too much filtered IMO, like suddenly my guitar is playing on a radio. Here is a spectral frequency test I made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3G5Q9yuIE&t=3s

Quite Perfect

The search for the dream analog delay was over when I got this one. Trails, tap tempo, presets... What can you ask more? CV control and Midi compatibility? Check! 3 LFO shapes for super deep modulation, organic breakup and versatile tone (from Vapor trail dark to DMM clear), this guy is the swiss army knife of analog delays. I don't use the ramping that much, although I have a preset set to ramp from 0 to their knob values and stay there (no bouncing), for nice transitions. The momentary bypass is another interesting selling point, pair it with trails and ramping (time for example) and this pedal turns into momentary time bending machine. Unlimited creativity with this one. Absolutely amazing technological achievement by the great folks at Chase Bliss Audio. Only downside, for me, is that at high modulation depth (past 2 o'clock) and slow rate (from 0 to 8 o'clock) the LFO gets asymmetric, sudden phase jumps occur especially if the delay time is less than 12 o'clock, would prefer it to be centered for that really slow, wide and round modulation. Tamed it a bit with the internal Max Depth Trim Pot. Don't recommend doing this without mailing someone at CBA first.

(edit: It's been a year since I have the pedal and I'm still discovering new sounds! Meanwhile I learned to enjoy the asymmetric modulation I talked about, somehow it resembles the unpredictability of tape wow and flutter, I also use a lot Both mode now, it's really like a dual head echo setting and I can dial in sounds somehow similar to a vintage and dark drum echo with some mild square modulation. Loving it with repeats at minimum for some tasty slapback)

Simple and powerfull

This was my first compressor pedal, I really never thought it would help my sound, but it sure does! Blend knob and three way switch provide multiple combinations and versatility, i just wish it had an attack knob on the top instead of the trim pots inside, but it is what it is, set and forget, straightforward simplicity and great sound. Very usefull as a boost and limiter as well. Didn't like the blooming/thumping on the low end, neither its mids focused compressed sound with little presence/spark.

Simply amazing

Amazing delay pedal. Not as dark as the Carbon Copy, also less filtered and more of a gritty sound. Since the mix knob allows for 3db boost of delayed signal it is the pedal I found most enjoying to do runaway echos max feedback echos, since it has the possibility of never ending delays when you're messing with the time knob from one extreme to another, those +3db boost will always get something to delay, to some point it's just noise, but I like it. At max delay time it sounds much better then the Carbon Copy IMO. CC is has that clock aliasing like filter sound at 600ms which I don't love. Modulation is great to have on top of the pedal. Nice build quality, not a big fan of the of 9v door, but it is handy. The footswitch however (I had two units) feels really rusty and hard to press, definitely one of the least pleasing footswitches I had the chance to click. Honestly this is as good the Carbon Copy and even the DM2W. The Wet insert is another very interesting feature although I never used it. I imagine a pitch shifter or a phaser would sound amazing in its loop. And even with the flashing led this pedal only consumes a tiny 11ma, so a 9V battery would last at least double time then it does on the CC or the DM2W.

Almost Perfect

Analog delay with tap tempo and 1000ms? That's absolutely killer for the price tag of this pedal. The slider was another big selling point, as you can easily dial your delay time with your feet. I also love the blinking led indicating you the tempo, it just makes sense and helps a lot. Tone is great as you would expect with bucket brigade's analog wizardry. There are a few cons that make it not getting 5 stars:

First, on the fx loop, it seems to struggle to grab tone that is heavily distorted, so the volume of the repeats with distortion is not great, it doesn't quite grab the attack of the pick, only the harmonics. Even if i dial the mix knob to its max it feels like the repeated delay is only at 11 o'clock mix... (i actually did a little test you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJyd9dQi3AA&t )

Second, the slider, although killer, feels really fragile and prone to breaking. I bet some day sooner or later i will find myself googling for another slider part.

Third, although it's a buffered pedal it doesn't trail out as i wish it would. By this i mean that when you switch it off it instantly kills the delayed repeats, and not fade them away as you would expect on a buffered analog delay... I just dont like having my delays chopped off, i prefer them to fade away untill death (i miss you dd7)

Fourth, i would like it to have a 100% wet option, but there is simple mod you can do to achieve this.

And finally, i actually dont find this too bad, but the tap tempo is reseted if you switch it off, and also you cant tap a tempo with the pedal off and then hit fx and have that tempo. But actually you can approach this as a way to jump between two delay tempos fast - turn it on, dial a fast and precise tempo for your sextuplets, tap tempo a slow tempo (or vice versa), now you can jump precisely from one to the other by hitting the fx off and on quickly.

It also seems to add some noise to your chain in high gain channels. Besides that, great pedal!

Dirt Simple and awesome quality

It really is the looper i needed, just straightforward looping with awesome 24bit quality and dry analog thru. Undo and redo is awesome and simple, and the ability to unplug it from power, plug it 1 week later and still remember your last loop jam is really killer. I would like to save my loops via the usb port, since it exists. Maybe future firmware brings this feature. Untill then i just record it to my mac straight line in, and sounding killer awesome.

Great valve tone, for amazing price...

This was my first valve amp, and I really loved it. Started my pedalboard quest with it also. It's a great amp, 100% valve tone, 12 inch speaker. Super versatile, clear and warm clean channel, and the lead is maybe even more versatile, from a little hazeyness, to tight crunch, to devilish lead overdrive. I enjoyed cranking it and going down on my guitar volume knob. I only cranked it once with max volume guitar and it looses a lot of clarity and becomes very compressed sounding with very little dynamics. But for bedroom levels and small gigs sounds very good. Very characteristic spring reverb, a bit splashy at higher values (you have to tame it), but great for spacey stuff. I play it with an 8 string, sometimes tuning my 8th string to E (an octave bellow standard low E string ong 6 string), and it didn't have to mud, it's quite a tight sounding amp.... Even huge chords retain string clarity and definition.

A great instrument with master Abasi's signature

This is the way to go if you want a great sounding, super confortable and versatile 8 string guitar.

Really, this is ridiculously versatile, it's a real Ibanez... with that twangy and roundish modern stratocaster feel, to les paul jazzy warmness, to tight and massive "meshuggeshk" sound, to... really anything! Think of any iconic guitar tone from different genres... I bet this guitar puts that tone out, or at least the "essence" of it.

Superbly built... I mean this neck is just a joy to hold and play.. I simply love its smooth natural finish. Super fast and ultra accessible, yet bulky enough for rock n'roll shredding. The tuners are very precise. The bridge is very comfortable and well designed. The body resonates so much! It has a very long delightful sustain, very well assembled woods, and quality ones for sure. The string spacing (nut width) is perfect for me, maybe for some players with smaller hands it can be a bit too large, but for me is perfect since i have some classical guitar formation, i can play fingerstyle bossa nova or any classical guitar piece in this pretty girl.

It's so more sexy in real life... i'm in love with the looks Tosin put out for this one, reminds me of Cobains olimpic white jaguar with tortoise pickguard <3 Cant wait for this to age into that sexy ivory white...

I would describe the pickups, overall, as "airy" (i'm not sure if that is the right word), like lower output vintage humbuckers, but so articulate, clear and warm, with a nice midrange body, that you can do anything with them. And it does have the output to shreed, fear not... It's absurd... I have this guitar for 2 weeks now, and i still get amazed every day when i arrive home to pick her up...

It's the first 8 string i play that doesn't sound like an "8 string". It sounds like a guitar ;) , and a very good one.

Believe me, a great instrument right here, prestige quality no doubt... I am sure i will never sell this guitar. (just to mention, Ibanez discontinued this guitar due to Tosin's new signature model)

A modern classic... Awesome

It's awesome. Period. Since i got it that it is always on, slow and wide. You can really shape and fine tune your chorus for multiple combinations, and guess what, they all sound killer. (have you hear it through a synthesizer or bass? the stereo just slays.....)

Since i play an 8 string the bass cut feature is an exceptional tool to keep my low end tight and retaining that choirish vibe on the medium and top end.

Super versatile, awesome sound, superb 100% analog construction. No true bypass, but honestly i can't tell the difference in the sound.

I also love the blinking led. It blinks in time with the rate of the chorus, it's just cool to have it there and visualize what your doing to your sound.

My first delay pedal

This was my first effects pedal back in 2010, it was super inspiring at the time. I mostly used the analog voicing as I really dislike pristine digital repeats, although it really just sounds like digital delay with a heavy low pass filter, it doesn't have any modulation or Bucket Brigade like noise, but the the time knob responds in a BBD fashion and I was happy with the sound and controllable repeats.

The input A and B have different delay times, and you can use the stereo in's and out's in a lot of different configurations, the expression control/tap tempo is also a great feature.

The hold feature was a major selling point for me, i've composed lots of stuff with the dd7's looper, but sometimes I found the 50 second memory a bit short for longer loops i was doing. Still, its great to have it in this pedal.

Oh, and you can also use it as chorus pedal, wich is awesome! Just turn it full wet and bam, full on chorus sound!

Reasons why I don't give it 5 stars: - I would like to tweak modulation rate/depth or analog tone, not possible. - No undo function on the Looper. - It doesn't recall your loops once you power cycle or switch delay mode.

Although it feels very high quality and super robust it lacks in features compared to something like the EHX Canyon, but some people prefer it this way, and Boss is well known for it's reliability.