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    The BB also utilizes a pre-gain stage which allows the Pedal to go from a very pristine clean to a very smooth, compressed, high gain overdriven sound. Don’t let the high gain badge fool you… this pedal can coax some of the more subtle tones needed in a pro guitarist’s sonic palette. The true bypass keeps it transparent and quiet while preserving all of the tone and “juice” in your signal chain. 

    Upon first playing with it the BB Pre Amp, I was able to pull out some incredibly singing tones without fizzing out with too much gain. Fans of Eric Johnson and Allan Holdsworth take note…this pedal gets you pretty close to those holy grail/benchmark tone that those two guitar monster get at a fraction of the price of duplicating their rigs. It sassy, brassy and even can get nasty. The BB pre amp is definitely my fave of the three single pedals. Come on…30 db+ of clean boost? I’m all over that like stink on a monkey!

    It works great as a killer solo boost or gain boost to add that bit more “hair” to your overdriven sounds. I was amazed when I plugged this bad boy into my holy grail Marshall JCM 800 2203 model. I was able to get that boosted high gain tone that seems to elude a lot of players trying to dupe the amazing sound that Zakk Wylde got on Ozzy Osbourne’s “No More Tears” CD. The title track seems to have become a bench mark for heavy tone. 

    Being that it is very quiet and has tons of headroom, it also works great as a line driver/signal buffer for all of you running long lengths of cable or needing to boost a weak signal. The true bypass eliminates any signal interference and degradation when the RC Booster is switched off. 

   Keep in mind there is a feeding frenzy right now with the dual pedals. I’ve been informed by Xotics that these bad boys will be on a back-order basis until the production is stepped up with addition production lines. Get them while you can because if you hesitate, it will disappear faster than you can say “Killer Tone”.

    There is always a fierce debate over analog vs. digital delays. I tend to sit closer to the digital side of the fence due to the simple fact that most analog delays are just “tone suckers” and color the original sound of the guitar. There are many analog style pedals that claim to maintain tone and clarity but end up sounding like the equivalent of taking a walk in pasture were livestock have grazed. 

    Brian Wampler’s design for this ultimate delay pedal maintains clarity, tone, and transparency by mixing the dry path and core processed sound through a pt2399 chip. This chip is used in many boutique pedals that don’t even come close to sounding as good as Wampler’s stellar design. The results are nothing short of breath taking. The delay sound is huge, fat, musical and bigger than anything that I’ve come across. It even rivals my favourite Blackbox Quicksilver delay…and that is a feat unto itself! 

    The secret weapon “du jour” is the tone control. It allows a player to dial up a vintage fatness that begs to be spooned and savored like velvet chocolate mousse. This pedal is one of the best delay solutions in the store guaranteed to please both analog and digital geeks with one giant S-T-O-M-P…STOMP…s-t-o-m-p…stomp…stom…sto..st…s. Plus it’s finished in a cool sparkle orange color (insert the sound of crickets in the background silence here___________). ‘Nuff said.
 

    I remember the first time that I heard Queen’s Brian May. I was living in Montreal and as a youngster I was exposed to rock’n roll very early on thanks to my older cousins. I remember hanging out at my cousin David’s listening to CHOM FM and that famous bass line to “Under Pressure” came through the speakers. When the massive chorus hit I was hooked. Brian May has been a huge influence on me as a guitarist and a songwriter and it looks like my little rock star Nathan is following in my footsteps. You have to see him rock out to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It’s priceless and makes this rock’n roll papa proud.

    Whenever I here about a pedal that boasts about achieving a Brian May sound, I’m always the most sardonic, sarcastic, “Mikey-Hates-Everything” guy in the room. I’m sorry there isn’t a pedal that can ever touch that majestic tone. My friend Valerie who is performing in the musical “We Will Rock You” as Oz and I were talking about that tone the other day. It’s not easy to achieve. It’s all about cranking up an AC30 and cooking those EL84 tubes. I’ve gotten really close with my Pod X3 but there is still something missing. 

    Leave it to Brain Wampler to work his mojo and alchemy to create an overdrive pedal that gets closer than any other to that legendary Brian May tone. The layout is dead simple and the construction impeccable. The tones range from mild dirt to raging’ “Stone Cold Crazy”. My cover band Left Of Eden play a bunch of Queen songs and this little number is going to find it’s way onto my pedal board in no time. 

     Just when I though I had heard it all, I came across Brian Wampler’s amazing products. Brian Wamplers pedal mods and custom pedals have become legendary in the pro circles. Guitarists are always looking for distortion pedals that yield amp-like tones and have the dynamic overtones that only an amp and 4X12 cab can achieve. I stand corrected. The Pinnacle is a high gain overdrive/distortion that is voiced towards the Hot rodded Marshall/Bogner Ecstacy/Peavey 5150/ Soldano SLO100/ Mesa Engineering sound. In fact, it’s the pedal that gets the closest to the EVH Brown sound!