Blues Shaman
 |
Download Example 1
Gritty Strat in Combo Mode
|
|
Download Example 2
Gritty Strat in Stack Mode
|
 |
Download Example 3
Hamer Korina Special (P-90s), heavy distortion |
| Clips recorded through a Blackheart Little Giant 5 and 65 Amps London Pro 1x12 cab (Celestion G12H-30). Mic'd with a Shure SM57, dry into a Chandler LTD-1 mic pre with no EQ into an Apogee Symphony I/O to Pro Tools. No added reverb or FX.
|
The Blues Shaman was designed to reproduce
the dynamic range and soft-clipping overdrive
typical of a ’50s tweed Fender with 6V6s and
an alnico Jensen speaker—for example, a
Deluxe or Tremolux. Controls are simple and
to the point: Level, Tone, and Gain knobs,
a Stack/Combo mini toggle, and two stomp
switches labeled Ascension (boost) and On/
True Bypass.
I set up a Fender American Standard
Strat, a Blackheart Little Giant 5 head, and
a 65Amps London Pro cab with a Celestion
G12H-30 speaker to evaluate the Blues
Shaman. With the Blackheart set clean and
flat, the pedal delivered a classic, slightly
fizzy, thick-bottomed blues mood. The pedal
translated picking dynamics superbly, and the
whole rig felt lively and very touch sensitive.
The Blues Shaman has a knack for conveying
the nuances of the interaction between fingers,
wood, and wire. It’s very organic sounding.
Digging in with the Gain at 1 o’clock
imparted the beautiful sound of a small combo
nudging up against the breaking point. In
the Combo setting, you can hear the Blues
Shaman take on many of the qualities of an
open-back cab with its airy, and less bass-heavy
sound. The Tone knob is effective and has a
very wide range. Rather than just add treble, it
shapes the voice in a more dimensional way—
moving from darker to brighter and fizzier
without sacrificing bass clout. At first, I was
leery of having only one control for tonal voicing,
but in this case it was more than enough
to dial in tones ranging from James Gang-style
grit to Leslie West’s Mountain-sized hugeness.
Switching to my humbucker-equipped
Hamer Korina Special, I cranked up the
gain and toggled to Stack mode, which
thickened and tightened up the bottom
end while emphasizing low mids. With my
eyes closed and the amp volume high, the
bristling, compressed tones made me feel
like I was onstage at a late-’60s outdoor
festival. Small as the test rig was, it sounded
as badass as a Sunn Coliseum head—only
at a much more practical volume. The
Ascension switch propelled that sound
even further into the stratosphere—adding
a killer boost and livelier harmonics.
There is no doubt Rivera knows his
amps. And the Blues Shaman feels like a
pedal built by someone who understands an
amplifier as a living, breathing beast. The
Blues Shaman
nails that tweed sound and so
much more. I can envision situations where
I’d happily take the setup I used for this
review over a ’50s tweed Deluxe simply for
the versatility the Blues Shaman adds.
Buy if...
you need a wide range of tweed-style
tones in a single pedal.
Skip if...
your overdrive tastes tend toward
modern flavors.
Rating...
