Chances are good that, like many guitarists,
you suffer from Gear Acquisition
Syndrome and lust after every cool new
stompbox that hits the market or appears
on the forums. A side effect of this disease
is a pedalboard that looks like an overflowing
bowl of M&Ms, with brightly colored
effects spilling out over the edges and
onto the floor. If this describes your plight
(it certainly does mine), you’ll welcome the
new line of ultra-compact effects designed
by Lovepedal’s Sean Michael.
Each stompbox comes in a rugged, diecast
aluminum case that measures 1 1/2"
x 3 5/8" x 1 1/4". Yeah, you read it right—
that’s roughly half the size of an MXR
Dyna Comp. Of course, this leaves room
for only one knob per pedal—along with
audio input and output, a 9-volt DC input,
one or two LEDs, and the odd mini toggle.
Michael has come up with a variety of
approaches to the control issue, while continuing
to focus on the stellar sound that
has helped establish his reputation in the
stompbox community.
We checked out four flavors of these little
morsels, so read on as we throw down the
lowdown. I tested these pedals with a 1965 Stratocaster loaded with DiMarzio Virtual
Vintage pickups and a Reverend Reeves
Gabrels model played through an Orange
Tiny Terror and an Egnater Rebel 30.
Echo Baby
The bright blue Echo Baby offers up 760ms
of delay. Delay effects usually come with
a host of controls, including blend, time,
feedback, modulation depth and speed, and
tap tempo, so how do you make a delay
pedal with only one knob? Lovepedal has
assigned that knob to control the length of
the delay time, adding two trim pots accessible
with a small screwdriver through holes
on the bottom of the pedal for adjusting
the feedback and dry/wet blend.
In addition to delay, the Echo Baby offers
modulation. To set the amount of modulation,
you hold down the footswitch switch
for two seconds and then twist the pedal’s
chicken-head knob. Once you’ve set the
modulation amount, the pedal automatically
adjusts the modulation speed and
depth according to the chosen “time”
setting—that is, as you decrease the delay
time, the modulation speed and depth
increase slightly.
Unless I wanted a sick warble at longer
delay times, I found a relatively low modulation
amount suited my tastes. At this minimal
setting, the pitch waver adds a simulated
analog-tape flutter to the echoes in
both long and short delay settings. If you
don’t want modulation, you can shut it off
by holding the footswitch for two seconds
and turning the knob all the way down.
The Final Mojo
I didn’t plan on getting out my little screwdriver
in the middle of a gig to change the
delay amount or feedback, so I set the unit
for just a couple of repeats occurring well
below the original signal. With the delay
set on the short side, the Echo Baby created
a reverb simulation that added warm
depth to my Strat through the reverb-less
Tiny Terror. Longer delay settings added
a subtle sustaining tail to the notes. For
me, this setting offers the maximum bang
for the buck. It also allows you to dedicate
another more-programmable or fully controllable
delay to ambient or heavier slapback
effects. However you choose to set
up and use the Echo Baby, it will deliver
gorgeous sounding, studio-quality delay.
Buy if...
you want a small-footprint delay that
offers great analog-style sound.
Skip if...
you need full control at your fingertips.
Rating...
Babyface Tremolo
Tremolo replaced chorus as my modulator of
choice quite a while ago—sorry, maybe it’s
my roots-music upbringing or the fact that
something about chorus screams “last millennium”
to me. The lone knob on this tremolo
pedal controls the rate—from extremely slow to near-ring-modulation ping. A mini
toggle lets you choose between the opto
sound (sine wave) of a blackface amplifier, a
sawtooth wave that recalls the tremolo of an
Ampeg amp, and a full square wave, which is
suitable for stutter and chopper effects.
To access the Babyface’s depth and volume
trim pots, you need to remove four screws
and the back panel. Though Michael says
he is considering drilling a hole to allow
quicker depth adjustment, ultimately
you’ll probably find yourself sticking to
one setting. I chose to set the depth for
a subtle tremolo level and pretty much
stayed with the sine and sawtooth waves,
as the square wave cried out for increased
depth settings. However, I could easily see
myself cranking the depth and turning the
Babyface into a dedicated chopper pedal.
Whether you go for subtle, amp-like trem
or more extreme sounds, once the pedal is
attached to your board, you’re not likely to
be adjusting the depth very often. It might
make sense to add a second mini-toggle
that offered three depth options.
The Final Mojo
Depth adjustments aside, at all settings
the Babyface sounded warm, analog, and
chock full of low end. The internal level
trim ensured that I didn’t suffer from the
psycho-acoustic volume drop that happens
with some tremolos. If you need just one
trem-type modulation, be it vintage opto
or modern chop, this could be your pedal.
Buy if...
You’re looking for that one greatsounding
volume-modulation effect.
Skip if...
you need a number of different trem
tones quickly.
Rating...
