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It’s been a while since we’ve done a pedal feature
in a big way. I know that there are a few of you out in our customer base
who really enjoy my anecdotes, enthusiasm and humor when describing the
pedals that we feature. Many of you have approached me in regards to new
installments of “Mike’s Excellent Pedal to the Metal” adventure. So here
you go…this for all the pedal pushers out there who have been patiently
waiting for a fix of Mike “Metal” McAvan’s guitar effect anecdotes.
As you all know, we are currently having a pedal clear-out
sale where we are wanting to clear out the generic brands that the bigger
stores carry and bring in some more boutique and hand made pedals. It’s
not that we feel that they are “junk” or unusable…it’s in fact the opposite.
There are some great bargains to be had for some amazing pedals. With the
success of Keeley Electronics, Carl Martin and Diamond pedals, we feel
we ought to concentrate more hand built custom pedals that everyone hears
or reads about but can never find. The Twelfth Fret has always stood for
innovation and evolution. As a younger player, I remember coming to the
Twelfth Fret to see and hear the latest and coolest products…it’s how I
discovered THD amps and my beloved Demeter Fat Boost control in my ESP
Custom Strat. Today, it’s my pleasure to carry on this tradition and bring
the customer the coolest, hippest and most sought after pedals out there.
I hope that you all enjoy these write ups as much as I enjoyed sampling
the goodies and disturbing my pesky neighbors with gargantuan guitar tones.
So many pedals…so little time!!!
‘Nuff Said,
Mike “Metal” McAvan
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| Keeler Designs Push Pedal |
| The Keeler Push pedal
is a versatile “Marshall in A Box” pedal. There are so many companies that
claim to get the Marshall sound in a box but they all seem to fall short.
With the Push pedal, it’s a whole new playing field. To my amazement, it
sounded, felt and behaved as though I were plugged into a Marshall JCM
800 2203 model head. At lower gain settings, the sound is rich and articulated.
The higher gain sounds really come across as a great crunch sound for even
the pickiest of pedal pushers…say that really fast three times! |
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| Keeler Designs Pull Pedal |
| The Keeler Pull pedal is a low
gain overdrive that is designed to sound like a tube amp clipping. This
isn’t to be confused with what an Ibanez TS808 or TS-9 does. This pedal
actually sounds like a tube amp going into power amp compression in the
early stages. It puts out a rich, fat and juicy edge that is ideal for
subtle, chime-y and sustain overdrive tones! |
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| Kaden Effects : Brown Creeper Distortion |
| Since we’re on the topic of “Marshall sounds in a box”.
This little bad boy features a revved up High gain Marshall sound. There
is a trend where players buy an old JCM 800 and have it juiced up for more
gain…this pedal actually achieves this tone in a very convincing way. It
allows a player to coax limitless sustain on held notes. I have yet to
encounter a pedal that allows you to do this with this natural a sound.
It’s a great box for getting a tight 70’s rock sound and the Holy Grail
Eddie Van Halen “brown sound” and 5150 amp bark. I couldn’t help myself
and picked one up after a 10 sec debate with myself. I was doomed when
I laid eyes on it… |
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Redwitch Empress Chorus
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| As used by Andy Summer of The Police, this chorus
is a beefed up BOSS CE-1 killer complete with true bypass, stereo outs,
bright switch, internal slide switch and Chorus/Vibrato switch. The mix
control allows the effect to be blended into the original guitar signal.
Unlike a lot of chorus units, The Empress Chorus is all about rich deep
tone and doesn’t thin out your guitar sound at all. Vibrato included at
no extra charge. |
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| Guitarists have always wanted the quality and flexibility
of rack effects but have no patience for the programming and complexity
of the set-up. Eventide has always been the leader in studio quality effects
that have long been the industry standard and favorite of player like Jimmy
Page, Frank Zappa, Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Robert Fripp,
John Petrucci, and Andrian Belew. Today, they enter the stomp box market
poised to obliterate the competiton.
The Time Factor feature 10 Stereo or Mono Delay
effects like Digital Delay, Vintage Delay, Tape Echo, Mod Delay, Ducked
Delay, Band Delay, Filter Pong, MultiTap, Reverse and Looper funtion. It
offers real time tweaking control via the ten onboard knobs, via midi and
also by expression control. Right out of the gate, there are 20 user locations
that are unlimited through the MIDI options.
This super/uber delay pedal is designed to work
with any system. Whether it be placed in the loop or at the end of a long
pedal chain, the Time Factor offers flexibility and adapts to any set-up
thanks to an impedance switch on the input and output section. The illuminated
display offers a bright readout for dark stages and the all-metal chassis
offer tank-like ruggedness. This is by far a staff favorite right now and
is selling fast. One listen…you’ll hear why. |
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| Option 5 Pedals : Destination Phase |
| This is by far the best phaser on the market.
It’s the only one that I’ve come across that does a good job of true, stereo
panning without the annoying distorted peak and blips. There's lots of
headroom in this pedal and it also doesn’t colour your tone like most of
it’s competitor's phasers thanks to it’s discreet circuit and true-bypass
switch. |
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| Option 5 : Destination Rotation Single
Pedal |
| No one likes carrying around a Leslie speaker
cab…including me who still gigs regularly with a 4X12. Option 5 have come
up with the coolest, hippest and convincing sounding rotating speaker effect.
It features smooth overdrive feature with footswitch and level trimmer
and top mounted trimmers for slow and fast speed tweaking. In terms of
realistic sounding features, microphone placement control for effect depth
is simple and user friendly while the realistic speed up/down ramping effect
keeps everything swirling and lush. No more back aches or cranky roadies
with chiropractor bills! |
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| Retro-Sonic Pedals : Eight-O-Eight
Overdrive Pedal |
| This is a truly amazing adaptation of the classic
Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer. It’s handmade by my good friend Tim Larwill,
Canada’s answer to Robert Keeley and truly leaves all he imitators in the
dust. The 808 Overdrive doesn’t just replicate … it goes beyond by adding
a cool internal bottom end control as well as a op amp mounted in an interchangeable
socket!!! The circuit is optimized for tone and clarity by using metal
film resistors and capacitors. Throw in a true bypass switch and you have
what possibly is the best overdrive around! |
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| Retro-Sonic Pedals : Comressor |
| Loosely based on the classic gray ROSS compressor
(even I had one of these in my pedal board and loved it!), this one again
takes a giant leap away from the imitators. Featuring a true bypass switch
and the oh-so cool recovery switch that switches between fast, medium and
slow attack modes. Extremely warm, musical and quiet, this compressor leaves
the competition in the dust. It also works great as a booster! |
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