0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0

1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

TONE REPORT
1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
1 0 0O 0C T1 O0 B0E 0
R 06 0T H0, 12 10 11 70 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 W 1 1 1E0 0E1 1 K 0 1L 1 1 Y 0 1 0
1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 1 P1 0L 0A 1Y 1 1 0 ‘ 1T 0 I 0 L0 1 1 Y0 O0 0U 0R 1 0 1F1 I1 N1 0G 0E 0R0 S0 1 0 B0 0
L 0E 0E 0 D1 1 0
1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
FREEPEDALFRIDAY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ISSUE 200 OCTOBER 6TH

FEATURES
12 DIRT CITY USA
7 BOXES WITH
DOUBLE THE DIRT

12 26
22 NOW PLAY THIS
26 6 ORIGINAL EFFECTS
MASTERS
34 FROM THE BUILDER’S
MIND: SUHR ALEXA
38 5 SOLO GUITAR
RECORDS THAT WILL
CHANGE THE WAY
YOU PLAY

34 38
SPOTLIGHT
48 PEDALPALFX
PAL 800 GOLD
52 JHS PEDALS

48
SWEET TEA V3
56 BUFFALO FX
CARRERA

52 56
8
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR ISSUE 200 OCTOBER 6TH

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Tom Petty. Mr. Petty
was a staple for many of
us—a pinnacle, a beacon,
a lighthouse. Again, EDITORIAL
tears. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Phillip Dodge,
David A. Evans, Ian Garrett, Sean Hennessey, Sam
We all have ways of Hill, Yoel Kreisler, Nicholas Kula, David Pakula,
dealing with struggle and S.P. Burke, Nick Rambo, Fletcher Stewart, Eric
Tischler, Jamie Wolfert
pain. Mine happens to
COPY CHIEF Nicholas Kula
be playing the guitar. My

H
ART & DESIGN
ello to all of my trusty ‘99 Guild Bluesbird
ART DIRECTOR Adam Handermann
guitar nerd friends, and I cried many a tear
this week. We expressed PHOTOGRAPHY
This has been a
our fear and we felt the STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Gavin Wahl-Stephens
particularly difficult week
hurt. We grieved for the VIDEO
to say the very least.
people of Las Vegas and LEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Andy Martin
Trying to wrap our minds
the families coping with VIDEOGRAPHER Mike Hermans
around the catastrophe
loss. We played and sang EDITOR / SALES / MARKETING
in Vegas has been
Petty. My guitar knows MEDIA DIRECTOR Tom Keithly
impossibly painful.
just what to say and can SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Joey Rubenstein
So many thoughts, so ease the sharpness of life. THE BOOKS Jasun Feddema
many tears, so much CONTACT
All my love and faith in
senseless loss. Our hearts SALES 971-400-6430
humanity.
go out to everyone Gen. Inquiries info@tonereport.com
involved. We love you Las The sun will shine. 15717 SW 74th St. Suite 400
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Vegas.
TONE REPORT WEEKLY
And of course, there’s the
FOUNDER Aaron Miller
loss of our dear friend,
-Tom Keithly SOCIAL MEDIA
TONEREPORT.COM Main Website
Editor
Twitter / Instagram @tonereport
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For all of you manufacturers, builders, shakers and groovers out there, we would Copyright ©2017. All Rights Reserved.
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ToneReport.com 9
 CHE
CH

LEVEL
LEVEL TONE
TONE

JHS
JHS
BOSS
BOSS

OUTPUT
OUTPUT
 ECK
HECK
JHS/
JHS/ BOSS
BOSS
BOSS BOSS
DRIVE J B
DRIVE J B JHS
JHS

PARRALLEL
B J PARRALLEL
B J MODE
MODE

INPUT
INPUT
REMOTE
REMOTE
Everybody needs a little dirt in their life,
especially guitar players. Having a good
distortion, fuzz or overdrive adds versatility to
your rig and enhances what you already love
about it. Like other effects categories, you
can really get lost when you seek out the one
pedal that’s going to work best for you. The
truth is there’s probably dozens of pedals that
would work great for your playing style, genre,
12 TONE TALK // Dirt CityThat
5 Pedals USA:Will
7 Boxes with Double
Transform
or both, so you shouldn’t spend too much
time agonizing over which pedals to buy.
To make things even easier for you, I’ve put
together a list of awesome double dirt boxes.
These multi-function pedals give you terrific
flexibility without taking up too much space on
your board, ensuring you have room for your
other favorite gadgets.
the Dirt
Your Guitar into an Alien Insturment
ToneReport.com 13
 ODDFELLOW CAVEMAN V2
It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it. That’s
what you’ll think when you look at this
awesome overdrive pedal from Oddfellow
Effects. This second version of the Caveman
features overdrive and boost sections that can
be run together or separate, and you have
the ability to run the boost before or after
the overdrive signal. Run it before to push it
into further saturation, or run it after to kick
up the volume for solos. With just Volume,
Tone, Drive, and Boost knobs, there’s nothing
to get in the way, so you can get to rocking
immediately. Version 1 of this pedal is cool
too, but that one doesn’t have the ability
to use the boost separately.

14 TONE TALK // Dirt City USA: 7 Boxes with Double the Dirt
 EARTHQUAKER DEVICES
PALISADES
EarthQuaker Devices never makes anything included buffer. There are tons of sounds you
half-assed, and the Palisades is no exception. can get out of this thing, but once you find
Think of the Palisades as a Tube Screamer your personal sweet spot, you don’t have to
injected with the serum that gave Captain adjust anything if you don’t want to.
America all of his strength and agility. The
Palisades gives you two separate gain sections
as well as a boost, and you can tweak the
tone to your heart’s content via the Voice and
Bandwidth selectors, as well as mini toggle
switches that choose between normal and
bright modes and activate or deactivate the

ToneReport.com 15
 JHS CALHOUN V2
The Calhoun is one bad dog. I had the
privilege of reviewing this beast of a pedal,
and it was a ton of fun. If you love vintage
style fuzz and overdrive, look no further.
Designed to emulate the breakup and
sweet distortion of Campbell’s favorite old
school tube amplifiers, the drive section has
plenty of raunchy dirt on hand and can be
tweaked with treble and bass knobs. The fuzz
section is inspired by the Tone Bender, and
using the Bias knob, you can get all kinds of
16 TONE TALK // Dirt City USA: 7 Boxes with Double the Dirt
conventional or whacked out fuzz tones. The
real magic happens when you use the two
circuits together. For your convenience, you
can select the order of the effects. Run the
overdrive into the fuzz section for wicked,
saturated lead lines, or run the fuzz into the
overdrive for a spitty, yet dynamic vintage dirt
sound. There’s a lot of tone in this box—it’s a
modern classic.
 KEELEY D&M DRIVE
What do you get when you pair one of the
best pedal companies in the world with two
of the biggest pedal geeks on the planet?
The Keeley D&M Drive. Named after Dan
and Mick of That Pedal Show fame, the D&M
Drive features two overdrive circuits that can
be used in tandem or on their own. The boost,
or Mick, side of the pedal, offers glorious low-
gain tones. With the Gain knob pushed, you
start to get into medium overdrive territory,
but it really excels when set to a light gain or
boost tone, and paired up with . . . the Dan
side. This rockin’ overdrive has tons of gain on
tap, and you can get everything from classic
rock to pinch harmonic squeals. With the
boost going into the overdrive, it gets even
more saturated. You can also run the boost
after the overdrive if that’s your thing. All in all,
it’s an awesome pedal, and it could probably
replace your entire overdrive collection.
ToneReport.com 17
 MXR DOUBLE DOUBLE
The Double Double has two circuits inside a little real estate on your board, yet it offers you
standard MXR enclosure. The Lo gain circuit a ton of tone. In my opinion, it’s worth it to
offers a familiar midrange overdrive sound, have a couple options in one small box, and
and the Hi gain circuit is great for people it’s as easy as the flip of a switch if you want to
that have an obsessive compulsion for great change up your sound.
higher gain sounds, if you catch my drift. Both
circuits share Treble, Bass, Level and Drive
controls, and the circuits can only be used
separately. While the inability to combine
them might seem like a drawback at first
glance, remember that this will take up very

18 TONE TALK // Dirt City USA: 7 Boxes with Double the Dirt
 STRYMON SUNSET
Strymon has a reputation for making some
of the best effects in the business, especially
when it comes to reverb and delay. If you
ever nerd out over pictures of pedalboards,
it seems like the El Capistan, Timeline, and
BigSky appear on damn near every board
you look at, and for good reason. But can
Strymon do dirt too? Hell yeah, it can. The
Sunset is a powerful dual dirt box and it
sounds amazing. Both dirt sections have Tone,
Level, and Drive knobs, and each section has
three modes. You can run one into the other,
or use both in parallel for a stunning number
of beautiful dirty combinations. You can also
use an expression pedal to control various
parameters. Sure, I can understand why you’d
be hesitant to buy a digital dirt pedal, but you
can throw your cares aside—the future is here,
and it sounds freaking good.
ToneReport.com 19
 Z. VEX DOUBLE ROCK
Z. Vex effects aren’t really known for their
subtlety. The Double Rock continues the fine
tradition of standing out in the best possible
way with two Box of Rock circuits in one pedal.
Both of these can also be converted to the
Super Hard On circuit, allowing you to have a
wide array of distortion, overdrive, and boost
tones at the tip of your toes, and you can even
adjust the sub-frequencies. This pedal was
Which double dirt box fulfills your needs?
Are you a hard rocker? Or do you just need
some light overdrive with boost capability? Do
you love bells and whistles, or do you prefer
to keep it simple? However you like to play
guitar, and whatever genres you like to dabble
in, having a quality dual dirt box at your
disposal can open up new sonic landscapes
20 TONE TALK // Dirt City USA: 7 Boxes with Double the Dirt
originally created for J. Mascis, so you know
it’s going to rock your socks off. If you’re into
unique, one-of-a-kind artwork, snag one of
the artist painted special editions. If you’re an
economical rocker, you can opt for the Vexter
series model to save some coin. Whichever
one you get, turn it on, turn it up, and rock the
night away.
without over complicating your rig. If you have
multiple dirt boxes, chances are you gravitate
towards a couple favorites anyway, so just
figure out which two-in-one pedal can get you
there, fasten it to your board, and never look
back.
 Data Corrupter
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OCTOBER 1 – 8
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E NTE R NOW 

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 NOWPLAY
NOW PLAYTHIS
THISPOWERED
POWERED
POWERED
BY BY
BY EFFECTS
EFFECTS
EFFECTS DATABASE
DATABASE
DATABASE

ROUGAROU PEDALS SERVES UP

THE DRAUGR DISTORTION
The Rougarou Draugr Distortion delivers
thick and meaty tone that will have the
rest of your dirt pedals playing catch-
up. Giving you a huge range of tonal
versatility that ranges from light breakup
to a punishing square-wave distortion,
the Draugr will cut through any mix of
pedals you have and give your amp
what-for.

SOLODALLAS IS BACK IN BLACK

(OR WHITE) WITH THE SCHAFFER
REPLICA CLASSIC
Many folks thing Angus Young plugged
straight in and turned the rock up to
11, but he actually used a wireless unit
when recording Back in Black, which had
its own distinct preamp. The Schaffer
Replica Classic gives you that same
painstakingly-recreated preamp circuit
for those looking to really nail Angus
Young’s tone.

ACE PEPPER CRAFTS A TRIBUTE

TO REPEATS WITH THE DELAY
The Ace Pepper Delay is a classic-
sounding analog-voiced digital delay
that is voiced to sit in the mix just right
without having to change anything
in your setup. Designed to work as a
short-time slapback-style echo, the
Ace Pepper Delay gives up to 400
milliseconds of delay that doesn’t add a
lick of extra tone, just more of your own.

22 NOW PLAY THIS // Buzzworthy Gear

LOVELL MUSIC LAB CONCOCTS
THE 808
The 808 from Lovell Music Lab gives
you a perfectly-balanced rendering
of the iconic overdrive circuit. The
input section has been converted to
a discrete JFET style input instead of
the traditional input, giving you more
signal strength and picking sensitivity.
A three-way clipping switch varies the
compression amount as well.

KMA AUDIO MACHINES

SUMMONS THE MINOS
The KMA Audio Machines Minos gives
you a fully-controllable germanium fuzz
with a glut of options. An Input control
lets you dial the fuzz in as if you had
backed off your guitar’s volume knob—
perfect for copping crunchy tones
without having to fiddle around. A three-
way bass switch and a tone-cut switch
round out the options.

NUX INTRODUCES THE LACERATE

FET BOOST
The Lacerate FET Boost warms your
tone up in surprisingly many ways for
a simple one-knob pedal. Across two
different modes, the Lacerate can help
you out in achieving more regular
volume in Clean mode, and a heady
lead tone in the Crank mode. Each
mode features a distinct tonal profile
that melds well with your amplifier.

ToneReport.com 23
 6 Original Effects
Masters
words by Fletcher Stewart

Producers to Inspire psybient, trance, techno, chillout, dub and

electronic music for guidance and I find that
Pedalboards and Vice when I pick up the guitar again and start

Versa
With all the wild and wonderful stompboxes
and plugins out there, we are entering
a new universe of hybrid hardware and
software intermingling. Boundaries and
genre borders are being knocked down
as we explore new networks of effects and
auditory adventures. Today’s feature is all
about looking to those that understand the
art of playing the studio as one enormous
instrument. We’ll take inspiration from
console conductors, cosmic dub warriors,
pedal pushers, DAW dwellers, techno
tweakers and interstellar producers of all
kinds. More and more I am looking to
26 TONE TALK // 6 Original Effects Masters
patching pedals together on a board that
these incredibly rich (and largely non-guitar-
based) realms of music make me approach
the whole shebang differently. After all, a
pedalboard can be thought of as a mini-
microcosmic studio and when that little
sonic ecosystem is integrated into a larger
world of studio sound, the cross-pollination
flowers pure magic. Let’s wave the wands
and focus on the hocus-pocus of then and
now.
Joe Meek
For me, truly psychedelic music starts Deco and a Catalinbread Topanga and get
with London’s eccentric genius producer, Meeked out for some proto-psychedelic
Joe Meek. One listen to Joe Meek and vibe. Let the out-of-tune instruments add
the Blue Men’s 1959 album, I Hear a New character and do away with the pedal tuner.
World, will cause a polarising effect in the
listener—they will either flee or bask in the
strangeness and let it tan their mind to new
Technicolor hues in its otherworldly glow.
I have never played this record for anyone
and had an indifferent reaction. My favorite
track is “The Bublight” with its eerily elastic
lap-steel licks that lap around the ghostly
haunted-honky-tonk piano tinkling and
bassoon-like bassline. The silvery serene
atmosphere here evokes fever-dreams of
Santos and Johnny Sleepwalking on the
moon in a space ritualistic showdown. This
record shows one just how far they can
push the limits with a compressor, some
mechanical reverb (such as plate or spring)
and a bit of slide guitar. Grab a Strymon

ToneReport.com 27
 Lee “Scratch” Perry
Speaking of resourceful, innovative the deck and gain inspirado from the king.
geniuses, we enter the Black Ark of Lee Then, grab a phaser and tape echo of
“Scratch” Perry. He needs no introduction, choice and tap into the dimension of dub.
but for me he is the godfather space player.
Armed with little more than a Teac four-
track, a broadcasting console, a Mu-Tron
Bi-Phase and a Roland Space Echo, Perry
created whole universes and pleasure-
domes of sound in which to get lost. These
earthy yet otherworldly atmospheres
expand the mind as well as the soundscape.
Focal points shift like freeform poltergeists,
causing vertigo-inducing depth perception
sounds. One minute, we cling on to the
rock-solid bassline only to be blown to outer
space with a crack-shot snare explosion
that echoes into the echelons of time and
space. We slide down slurping serpentine
phase shifts that twist with every beat as we
ride the anaconda of Dub consciousness.
Slap Super Ape or Blackboard Jungle on

28 TONE TALK // 6 Original Effects Masters

Conny Plank
Where do I even begin with this technical, into the stratosphere as glacial glissandos
conceptual and visionary explorer? The shimmer crystallised chords of synth that
iconic German producer steered the ship freeze into frame and melt away with the
on so many of my favorite musical journeys. wiping of slide guitars. This is the power
His work with Neu!, Eno, Moebius, Can, of Conny Plank. He can set off without
Killing Joke, Ultravox, Devo and so many destination and explore uncharted tonal
more, traverses decades, genres, styles territory, while magically maintaining course
and technologies. For me however, it and never losing direction. Captain Conny
is Michael Rother’s 1977 masterpiece was a man guided by a musical compass
Flammende Herzen that encapsulates my and much inspiration is to be found in the
passions for his production prowess. The territories he discovered.
vista comes into view from the title track
with a contemplative cosmos of a riffage
from Rother. It starts clean, with locomotive
power chording underlying a melancholic,
yet majestic arpeggio that swirls in 3-D as it
pans round the skull of the listener. As the
iconic motoric 4/4 beat comes into the mix,
we are set to sail the serene sea of sound
that appears before us. Rother’s searing
sustained fuzz-tones propel the melody

ToneReport.com 29
 Martin “Youth” Glover
Youth is a kaleido-sonic visionary and in the geographic and metaphysical sense
master sound manipulator who never and one can find truly new sounds and
stops creating in all mediums—a spelunker styles in every release on his Liquid Sound
of the artistic and expressive psyche. Design label.
Though he is also a poet, painter and
multi-instrumentalist, his production
prowess has been honed for decades,
nurtured by the cross-pollination of
his many mediums. He has also been
an instrumental force in the genesis of
many genres. post-punk, industrial, acid
house, trance, chillout, future dub and
countless other un-categorical mashups
that manifest when Youth is at the helm.
Again, it is hard to know where to start,
but I believe the Celtic Vedic In Dub
album by Dub Trees is a good place to
start with Youth production; it is also
an amazing album to jam along to on
guitar. This record revolves around Jah
Wobble’s iconic plate-shifting basslines,
which underpin a swirling cosmos of
drone, resonance and shape-shifting
atmospheres generated by both Celtic
and Eastern instrumentation mixed with
electronic treatments. Sympathetic drones
from bagpipes, sitars and human voice
intertwine, while elephantine rhythms
charm and hypnotise us into the infinite.
Skipping-stone rhythmic patterns flitter
in and out of the mix, sliding us into a
transcendental atrium of sound where any
snare hit can explode into a million little
universes or drop the ground beneath us,
exposing yawning cavernous chasms of
wonder. Youth is a stateless sonic explorer
30 TONE TALK // 6 Original Effects Masters
Shawn Lee
Shawn Lee is kind of like the Quentin guitarron, moroccan castanets, cithare,
Tarantino of music production. He can vibraphone, xylophone, bulbul tarang,
collage iconic retro styles into something charango, bouzouki, talking drum, and udu.
modern and all-his-own and his overall sonic If that doesn’t make someone shake a leg,
aesthetic is earthy and girthy. He seems (to they must be dead. Take inspiration from
my ear) to be working entirely in the analog this shamanistic sonic priest, jack the Wah
realm—where what one puts in, is what into the Fender Champ and try to keep up.
one gets out. The humans that play on a Or, better yet, imitate the sonic signatures of
Shawn Lee record have very little filtration the exotic instruments listed above and find
between their bodies, souls and the tape. some new tones.
Speaking of tape, Shawn is a master of
saturation and he has a true sickness for the
thickness. From dry and tight, to dubbed
and scrubbed, atmospheres are generated
by mechanical and psychoacoustic means
rather than fancy pedals and plugins. This
gives Mr. Lee’s records an organic funkiness
that is rich in vibes. Take Shawn Lee’s Ping
Pong Orchestra album, World of Funk for
example. On it, he himself plays sitar, ektar,
balaphone, tanpura, kalimba, steel drum,

ToneReport.com 31
 Simon Posford
Perfectly described by Youth as “the
Jimi Hendrix of electronic music,” fellow
London producer extraordinaire Simon
Posford has a similar approach to sound
design. Meticulous manipulation of sounds,
instruments and voices from all over the
globe are the only uniform criteria for
his most famous entity, Shpongle. This
incredible duo (including brain blowing
conceptualist and flutist, Raja Ram) creates
some of the most rich and immersive
music out there, combining organic
instrumentation and electronic sounds with
seamless atmospheric and rhythmic shifts.
Unlike many electronic productions, there
are little-to-no right angles in the maze of
Shpongolian music. Perhaps all the organic
elements offset the mechanised feel that
many electronic records have, but it is
much more than that. Simon Posford plays
the studio as an instrument and part of his
32 TONE TALK // 6 Original Effects Masters
process is real-time fader riding and knob
twisting through dense jungles of tracks
to find synchronicity and cohesion. He
takes us on a true sonic safari that reveals
many plateaus, pitfalls, underwater realms
and hidden oasis of auditory bliss. One
of my favorite aspects of his productions
is his vocal manipulation techniques. The
sheer audacity of taking a Hindu chant and
sending it helium-high is an example. He
can pitch-shift and chop up all manner of
voices into sequenced, rhythmic, squirming
segments making sounds akin to a thousand
worms writhing on a chopping block. The
music of Simon Posford has liquidity and
freeform spiritual movement that will inspire
all who listen.
 FROM THE BUILDER’S MIND

SUHR
ALEXA
The motivation behind Alexa was to create I decided to use a bucket brigade device
a rich sounding analog stereo chorus using (BBD) to create the chorus (just as a vintage
a combination of vintage and modern pedal would) as opposed to modern
circuitry. techniques such as digital signal processing.

34 FROM THE BUILDER’S MIND // Suhr Alexa


Vintage and analog gear has always been
a fascination of mine since I believe it’s
what started it all. I like the idea of playing
through gear that could make the same
sounds or uses the same technology that
would have been available back 40–50
years ago. There was a lot of talent back
then, a lot of great tones, and a lot of
bands that revolutionized music. I think
it’s really cool to have access to that kind
of gear rather than try and emulate those
sounds and techniques via a computer
program. If I have the option to use the
real analog version of a piece of gear
versus an emulation, I will always choose
the real thing. Of course, that isn’t always
possible—or affordable—but damn it’s cool.
While I made sure the signal path was all
analog and vintage-sounding, I wanted to
add more flexibility and modern features
that you would find in a modern-day pedal.
Such features were things like having two
independent presets where you can get
two completely different chorus settings.
Features like having multiple waveforms
to modulate your chorus, some that have
never been used with a chorus before
to create unique sounds. Features like
having tap tempo so you can adjust the
speed with an external pedal or switcher.
Features like the ability to control the
speed with an expression pedal and adjust
the range of that with the speed knob.
These were things that I employed using
modern circuity with a small programmable
microcontroller. Using a chip like this
allowed me to get all these extra features
into a small package so that I could save
space for all the analog circuitry used for
the audio portion of the pedal.
In the end, I believe Alexa achieves the
goal of utilizing the best of old and new
technology so that it could achieve classic,
beautiful sounding analog chorus with
modern features and flexibility in a compact
box.
-----Kevin Suhr
ToneReport.com 35
 Jamie Wolfert
38 TONE TALK // 5 Solo Guitar Records that Will Change the Way You Play
5 Solo Guitar Records
that Will Change the
Way You Play
Solo guitar instrumental music is a tough,
thankless gig. The audiences are small, the
paychecks are smaller, and the stage is a
cold, lonely space with nary a comrade in
sight and no one to cover your ass when
you hit a clam. In short, it’s one of the
scariest realms of the live music world, one
that only attracts the most self-assured and
single-minded visionaries, musicians born
alone into this world possessed of a set of
solid brass balls and something important
to say.
Perhaps as some sort of byproduct
of the music’s lonesome, fearless,
and individualistic prerequisites, solo
guitar performers tend to be a highly
experimental bunch as well. Freed from
any responsibility to a backing band or any
other sort of human accompanists, these
guitarists often give themselves carte
blanche to push their abilities and their
instruments in any direction they see fit.
The end result is guitar like you have never
heard it before.
It’s for this reason that, when I’m feeling
especially burned out and boxed in by the
usual blues licks and barre chords routine,
desperate for some sort of inspiration to
remind me why the guitar is the greatest,
most versatile and formidable instrument
as yet created by humankind, I inevitably
turn to solo guitar music to stoke my
inner mounting flame. What follows
is a short list of my favorite albums of
unaccompanied guitar music (or at least
mostly unaccompanied, as some of these
records feature rare, sparse moments of
additional instrumentation). It covers a
variety of genres, moods, and decades, and
should have a brain-melting moment or two
for anyone that approaches it with an open
mind and an appetite for fresh sounds.
ToneReport.com 39
 Mary Halvorson
Meltframe
Brooklyn based guitarist Mary Halvorson
is one of the most exciting jazz
instrumentalists working today, and
unquestionably the most original, exciting
guitarist of her generation. She’s appeared
on a dizzying number of recordings in the
last decade or so, both as a collaborator
(with Marc Ribot, Weasel Walter, Trevor
Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, and many others)
and as a very formidable band leader,
but her 2015 debut solo guitar album,
entitled Meltframe, proved to be a major
intent of the compositions. There is clearly
milestone. Three years in the making,
deep reverence for the source material
Meltframe defined Halvorson’s strikingly
and its place in jazz history, combined
unique voice on the instrument, as well as
with an equal dose of fearlessness and
her inventive and wholly original approach
vibrant musical imagination. Meltframe
to melody, timbre, and arrangement.
is further enhanced by the unique sonic
It consists entirely of cover tunes,
qualities imbued in the recording itself. The
including compositions by some of her
microphone on the speaker of Halvorson’s
contemporaries on the new jazz scene,
Fender Princeton Reverb is combined
as well as a number of classics composed
with one capturing the warm acoustic
by everyone from Duke Ellington and
tone of her Guild hollowbody, as well as
Ornette Coleman, to Oliver Nelson, McCoy
an additional ambient room mic. It’s a
Tyner, and Carla Bley. Halvorson maintains
beguiling sound, blending vintage acoustic
the integrity and emotion of these
jazz ambience and vicious, in-your-face,
compositions, while brilliantly rearranging
modern guitar attack, especially when
and translating them for solo electric guitar.
Mary stomps on the Rat pedal and runs
This guitar is oftentimes highly effected
the voodoo down. Meltframe is required
with molten fuzz, tremolo, delay, and wild,
listening. Get it.
warped pitch-bending effects that both
play with and push against the original

40 TONE TALK // 5 Solo Guitar Records that Will Change the Way You Play
John Fahey
The Transfiguration of
Blind Joe Death
John Fahey is largely responsible for
legitimizing the steel-string acoustic guitar
as a solo concert instrument. Before his
unique, minimalist vision came to the
fore, only nylon-string classical guitar
held legitimacy in this capacity, while
steel string was regarded more as a tool
for accompanying singers or other folk
instrumentalists. Fahey changed everything
with his first album, an initially self-released
collection of songs originally entitled remains among his most popular works,
Blind Joe Death. Though not immediately however, and it’s a perfect starting point
successful, the record would go on to be for the unfamiliar listener. A standout track
reissued several times, and be the basis is “On the Sunny Side of the Ocean,”
for an entire genre of music, American which transitions from bright, if somewhat
Primitive Guitar, which is still with us today. melancholy, opening figures to strikingly
Fahey’s genius was many-layered, but it was heavy, dissonant, descending chords at
primarily the way in which he seamlessly the one minute mark, to subtle, fleeting
fused varied influences that made his Spanish tonalities in the last half. It’s a
vision so singular. He lifted fingerpicking wonderful microcosm of the mind-bending
techniques and open tunings from obscure Fahey style, and a great reminder of the
folk and blues records, often marrying power of an unaccompanied guitar.
them to dissonant harmonic concepts from
modernist classical composers like Charles
Ives. Later works would see him taking
these ideas even further, incorporating
elements of Brazilian music, gamelan,
raga, Gregorian chanting, and avant-garde
music among other things. Blind Joe Death

ToneReport.com 41
 Marc Ribot
Saints
It’s practically impossible to discuss solo
guitar records (especially improvisation-
based records) without mention of Marc
Ribot. Ribot has gained widespread
notoriety primarily because of his long
relationship with Tom Waits, but among
jazz and improvised music enthusiasts he is
a living legend known for his idiosyncratic
style, distinctly punk rock approach to jazz,
and his fiery, captivating live performances.
He is especially revered for his solo work,
which is almost too intense to fathom unbridled intensity, radically reimagining
within a live setting. Few solo performers the material without abandoning its soul.
can command the complete attention of an His guitar sound has never been more raw,
audience with the ease of Ribot. Thus far in bloody, clanky, and magical, with some
his long career he has released six records of the tracks having a kind of lo-fi, old
of solo guitar material, pulling from a wide record ambience that suits the material
variety of sources, including the occasional perfectly. One can easily imagine that the
standard, the work of John Zorn, and whole album was recorded in a crumbling,
even a series of deliberately frustrating, haunted mansion or an abandoned rail car.
twisted guitar etudes he composed entitled Saints really takes the listener on a journey,
Exercises in Futility. His best loved solo one that only Marc Ribot could guide. It is
album, however, is probably Saints, a 2001 essential listening.
release that includes interpretations and
rearrangements of a broad range of tunes,
including the Beatles’ “Happiness Is a
Warm Gun,” several traditional folk blues
numbers, a John Zorn composition, and
two Albert Ayler songs, which bookend the
album and lend it its title track. Throughout
Saints Ribot keeps the focus on melody and

42 TONE TALK // 5 Solo Guitar Records that Will Change the Way You Play
Azonic
Halo
If you know of guitarist Andy Hawkins at all,
it’s probably because of his work with Blind
Idiot God, the noise/dub/post-hardcore/
post-metal/post-everything instrumental trio
he formed in St. Louis, Missouri in 1982. The
groundbreaking band relocated to NYC in
1986, releasing its eponymous debut album
on Greg Ginn’s SST Records the next year.
This powerful opening salvo, coupled with
a reputation for scorching live shows played
at impossible volumes (the band once
nearly destroyed CBGB’s), quickly earned
Blind Idiot God notoriety in the New York
avant-garde music scene. John Zorn and
Bill Laswell were instant fans and frequent
collaborators, with Laswell producing BIG’s
second album, Undertow. Andy Hawkins,
bassist Gabe Katz, and Laswell would
also go on to collaborate on Hawkins’s
first solo outing, Halo, released under the
name Azonic in July of 1994. Consisting
of a quartet of long form, drone-based
improvisations on heavily distorted, highly
reverberant electric guitar (accompanied
by the occasional haunting electronic wash,
courtesy of Katz), Halo is an epic work of
terrifying ambience that maximizes the
full pitch range and extraworldly textural
possibilities of a vibrato-equipped six-string.
The mangled guitar of Hawkins shrieks,
groans, convulses violently, and howls into
the blackened vacuum of space, somehow
conjuring up memorable pieces of music
without ever resorting to anything like a
riff or lick. A rapid-fire, inharmonious blister
of notes will peel off across the stereo
spectrum, followed by a distant seismic roar,
with both suddenly disappearing into the
ether like sonic specters from an auditory
nightmare. Halo is a singular masterpiece
of solo electric guitar, and if that’s not
enough to pique your interest, you should
also know that photography and design for
the album was done by Alex Winter (AKA
Bill S. Preston, Esq). Hawkins is planning to
release a follow-up to Halo in October 2017,
entitled Prospect Of The Deep Volume One,
which will include current BIG drummer Tim
Wyskida on orchestral timpani, bass drum,
and gong accompaniment. It promises to be
a work of massive, brain melting brilliance.
ToneReport.com 43
Derek Bailey
Solo Guitar
There has never been a free improviser
more free than the late, great English
guitarist Derek Bailey. Though he was an
active session musician at the beginning of
his career in the early ‘50s, and quite adept
at standard harmonic jazz techniques,
Bailey ultimately abandoned all semblances
of conventional guitar performance to
develop his highly personal, and oftentimes
confounding, playing style. This style was
utterly without precedent or recognizable
genre references, and sometimes left
contemporaries in the European avant-
unwitting listeners wondering if the man
garde scene. Solo Guitar will either blow
even knew how to operate his instrument
your mind, drive you mad, or both, but you
at all. Sophisticated music aficionados,
will not forget the first time you heard it.
however, found themselves in awe of
Unfortunately Derek Bailey died from ALS
Bailey’s boundless creativity and fearless
in 2005 at the age of 75, but his influence
exploration of the guitar’s many possible
lives on in modern guitar improvisers
voices, including haunting feedback, pick
like Nels Cline and Marc Ribot, and in
scrapes, harmonics, percussive sounds,
adventurous rockers like Thurston Moore
notes played behind the nut and below
(who did an improv record with Bailey in
the bridge, jarring intervallic skips, and
1997).
ethereal broken chordal shards, among
other extended playing techniques. He was
also a master of haunting and perfectly
timed silence. The essential introductory
Derek Bailey solo album is the aptly titled
Solo Guitar from 1971, which consists of
four absolutely death-defying solo improv
pieces, as well as three bold interpretations
of compositions written by some of his

44 TONE TALK // 5 Solo Guitar Records that Will Change the Way You Play
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 GEAR SPOTLIGHT
PEDALPALFX
PAL800 GOLD
OVERDRIVE
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $184.90
Some pedals call out to
this reporter the moment
he strums the first chord.
PedalPalFX’s new PAL800
Gold Overdrive is just such
a pedal. Perhaps its gold
housing ought to have
given a hint that the unit
is golden in more than one
sense. Its build quality is
excellent, and the pedal,
which aims to emulate the
classic Marshall amp sound,
accomplishes this task
easily.
The PAL800 Gold features
the distinctive Marshall-
style, gold-top knobs on its
six controls. In addition to
Volume, the pedal includes
controls for Presence, Gain,
48 GEAR SPOTLIGHT // PedalPalFX PAL800 Gold Overdrive
Bass, Middle, and Treble.
On the righthand side of
the pedal is a small, three-
way toggle switch which
allows the user to choose
different Gain Voicings.
The middle setting on
the Gain Voicing toggle
seemed to be the “neutral”
position. It offered clear,
resonant, and ringing tone,
with perhaps less treble
than I would hear from the
clean signal. The tone was
warm, but with enough
sparkle to shine through a
dense mix.
True to PedalPalFX’s claim,
the Gain Voicing switch was
most effective when the
Gain knob was set below
noon. Higher Gain settings
produced an almost
indistinguishable difference
between the different
voicings. This was fine.
At the lower gain levels,
the difference between
voicings was dramatic. The
neutral setting was not only
quieter than the up and
down toggle settings, but
it was also warmer because
it lacked the definition in
the high end. I don’t mean
that the neutral setting was
totally without high-end—
far from it. The “up” toggle
position, on the other hand,
was noticeably louder and
offered greater clarity in
the high end. The pedal
could become pretty thin if
I wanted to push the Treble
past noon while the toggle
was in the up position, but
I didn’t ever feel that the
tone was shrill.
The lower toggle setting
delivered a volume boost
and more “oomph” in
the lower ranges. As with
the “up” setting, the low
setting also offered greater
clarity and airiness in the
high end. Were I to choose
a setting for sheer power, I
would probably choose the
lower toggle setting.
Gain adjusted the level
of the signal that goes
into the “pre-amp” of the
emulator. I was pleased by
the responsiveness of the
pedal’s gain. I could easily
roll back my guitar’s volume
to obtain a warm, full sound
which I wouldn’t quite call
distorted. But if I rolled the
volume up, the distortion
roared to life, even at low
Gain knob settings.
The PAL800 Gold packed
a surprising punch even
at Gain settings below
noon. Surely no one
would need or want more
distortion than this, I
believed, especially when
it sounded so good! At Indeed, the build quality
Gain levels above noon, attested to the company’s
the signal didn’t clean up claim that the unit, and
as much when I rolled back others like it, have been
my guitar’s volume, but built with care and passion.
I didn’t expect a pristine For sheer quality of
signal. Again, I heard build and tone, I highly
warmth which gave way to recommend that readers
greater clarity and power take a listen to the PAL800
as I increased my guitar’s Gold Overdrive.
volume.
WHAT WE LIKE
Given the power of the Excellent build quality
Gain Voicing toggle and and tone, which nailed
the tendency for the pedal the classic Marshall amp
to emphasize the high end characteristics; plenty of
of the sonic spectrum, I power and “oomph” in the
appreciated the three-way low end.
EQ knob selection. These
filters seemed like low- and CONCERNS
I had no qualms with the
high-pass filters, tastefully
tuned so that adding Bass tone, but I felt that the LED
indicator was a little on the
didn’t muddy the signal but
instead added power, for small side.
example.
Aside from the unit’s
wonderful tone, the interior
is itself a thing of beauty.
The circuit layout was tight
and orderly, and the solder
was among some of the
cleanest I’ve encountered.
The layout hinted at a
single-mindedness and set
of high standards which
undoubtedly have made
the pedal sound so good.
ToneReport.com 49
 GEAR SPOTLIGHT
JHS PEDALS
SWEET TEA V3
REVIEW BY NICK RAMBO
STREET PRICE $319.00
“No, I’m not the man I used
to be lately. See, you met
me at an interesting time.”
This line struck me about
20 minutes into trying out
the newest iteration of the
Sweet Tea from JHS Pedals.
Of course, this medium-
to-high-gain stompbox
delivers significantly more
grind than you’ll hear on
the average John Mayer
tune, but the lyrics were
especially poignant given
the fact that I’d recently
planted a two-in-one
combodrive on my own
pedalboard.
So while this mashup of
two highly respected JHS
designs—the Moonshine
52 GEAR SPOTLIGHT // JHS Pedals Sweet Tea V3
drive and Angry Charlie—
felt new to me tonally
speaking, it also felt
strangely familiar from
a utility standpoint. An
interesting time, indeed.
SWEET TOOTH
The right side of the Sweet
Tea is where you’ll find
the Moonshine. Now in
its second version, this
“massively tweaked” Tube
Screamer variant offers a
wide range of tones.
Using the standard Volume,
Tone and Gain controls,
you can make it sound a lot
like a Tube Screamer—but
there’s more to it than that.
What makes the V2
significant is the addition
of a clean blend control.
If you’re someone who
prefers more of your
original signal in the mix,
this handy extra knob gets
you there. I found it best
used sparingly with the gain
dialed up in front of a clean
amp, but inching your clean
tone up to where it isn’t so
clean is where things get
interesting.
The final control, a two-way
“Proof” switch gives you
more sizzle and saturation
in the down position,
and more volume and
headroom when pushed up.
I preferred the openness
of the up position in
most instances, but both
can be useful in the right and the ability to slam it especially well in this
application. harder for more intensely instance. Tube Screamer
GET ANGRY saturated lines. Of course, into JCM800 is classic for
I’ll be real with you—I running the Moonshine all the right reasons, but
found myself preferring the second in line allows you to reversing it gives you a
left side of the Sweet Tea use it as a volume booster whole different vibe.
most of the time. Saying and tone shaper—and as CONCERNS
so, however, isn’t as much a bonus, I found that the The EQ sweep of these
a sleight to the Moonshine clean blend allowed me to two took a bit of getting
side as it is a testament dial in a tighter and more used to. As a rule, I tend
for how finely crafted the focused sound. to prefer brighter tones,
Angry Charlie half is. Lots of tones are available but it was interesting that I
A higher gain take on as you sip your way through had to go to such extreme
the classic JCM800 tonal the Sweet Tea—so drink positions on the knobs to
palette, the Angry Charlie deep. get them. The good news
does everything right. You WHAT WE LIKE though, is that they were
want screaming leads? No Being able to flip the order within reach.
problem. Chunky EVH-style of the two circuits is an
“Brown Sound” rhythm industry standard move
tones? Piece of cake. at this point, but it works
Lower-gain Marshall grind?
You got it.
The sweep of the gain knob
is extremely favorable and
the addition of a three-band
EQ in this updated version
is fantastic for dialing in
the Marshall tone you’re
looking for.
When running the
Moonshine into this side of
the pedal, I found myself
with the gain control on the
Angry Charlie set lower,
around 10:00. This gave
me a standard rhythm tone

ToneReport.com 53
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 GEAR SPOTLIGHT
BUFFALO FX
CARRERA
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $250.00
Buffalo FX’s Carrera
overdrive occupies that
middle-ground between
not-too-little and not-too-
much overdrive. The pedal
adds a bit of presence, a bit
of breakup and edge, and
for lack of a better term, a
bit of je ne sais quoi, as the
French purportedly say. The
Carrera accomplished this
task quite well. Moreover,
the pedal exceeded my
expectations about its
quantity of distortion, given
the company’s modest
claims.
Compared to my clean tone,
I think the Carrera brought
out a bit more harmonic
complexity in the midrange,
which, consequently, gave
56 GEAR SPOTLIGHT // Buffalo FX Carrera
the tone a bit more fullness.
Indeed, my clean tone
seemed flat, maybe even a
little sad, because it lacked
the punch and edge which
the Carrera offered my
guitar. And that was only on
the lower gain setting!
When I strummed softly,
the lower and middle
frequencies seemed most
affected by the distortion
circuit, while the higher end
chimed through my amp.
When I strummed harder,
the higher frequencies
began to distort, along with
their lower and mid-range
cousins. The distortion
responded well to these
dynamic shifts, as a good
overdrive ought to.
Mid and higher gain settings
delivered a smooth, velvety
distortion which responded
just as gracefully to
dynamics as did the lower
settings. When I rolled back
my guitar’s volume knob, I
had to compensate more
than I anticipated by turning
up the Carrera’s Level knob.
But the Carrera cleaned
up and delivered a warmer
tone in this setting, one with
a fairly good amount of high
end. In other words, the
lower input volume didn’t
kill the tone as it might
have.
At high-gain settings,
the Carrera delivered a
respectable quantity of
overdrive, more so than
I would have expected
given Buffalo FX’s modesty
about the pedal’s power.
The breakup reminded me
somewhat of fuzz-style
distortion given the bit
of roughness around the
edges that I discerned. But,
what can I say, except that
the pedal delivers a rich, full
overdrive which sounded
excellent, even when I
strummed open chords. The
pedal seemed to bring out
more of the mid- and lower-
ranges than was apparent
in my clean tone. I wouldn’t
describe the high-gain tone
as sparkling, but rather as
balanced.
Adjustments to the Treble
knob brought out the
sparkle that I had sought.
Buffalo FX designed the
knob to add a tasteful
amount of high-end—not
too little, and not so much
that the result would be
shrill. Likewise, the Bass
knob could thin out the
tone somewhat or add
punch and thickness to
the signal. I tended not
to feel a need for more
Bass or lower-end power,
but I appreciated the
incorporation of the low-end their tone in a pleasing
EQ. manner.
The limited edition’s housing WHAT WE LIKE
is painted a bright (optical?) Excellent clean-tone “punch-
white, with green and black up;” a surprising amount
trim. The standard edition, of distortion, despite
however, comes in a black Buffalo FX’s modest claims;
housing. It features screw- balanced distortion.
set, Fender-style skirted
CONCERNS
knobs—the sort that can That LED indicator was
be found on Mustangs,
pretty bright in the default
Jaguars, and Jazzmasters, setting.
for example. Its green LED
indicator light is a welcome
change from the typical red
LEDs. It’s also an extremely
bright light, so take care
not to look directly at it for
too long. Fortunately, the
LED can be dimmed via an
internal control.
The Carrera is a solid unit
that provides enough
distortion to meet the
needs of all but the most
“extreme” metalheads.
It does wonders for an
otherwise boring clean
tone by punching up the
mid-range and adding a
bit of edge to the higher
frequencies. It’s powerful
enough for rock, pop, and
blues players, but I’d also
recommend it for anyone
who simply wants to color
ToneReport.com 57
 TONE REPORT W E E K L Y

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