Ritter R8 Singlecut
September 2012
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Jens Ritter has a nose for the finer things—just watch our Ritter shop
tour video at permierguitar.com to see what we mean—but he also possesses
a sense of exactitude befitting a semiconductor specialist (which
he used to be). The convergence of those forces results in instruments
like the R8 Singlecut bass—which reviewer Dave Abdo says, “excites the
inner scientist and unlocks unlimited creativity from the artist.” The luxurious
R8’s body is carved from a single piece of gorgeous flamed maple,
and cool touches like ebony pickup covers, a custom brass bridge, triplebuckers
(one passive coil and two active coils), and the clever EQ system
make the bass an incredible and highly tailorable tone machine. Abdo
also found the Singlecut incredibly responsive and balanced, remarking
that he could actually feel an ingenuity at work in the bass’ design that
reduced fatigue and enhanced techniques. Abdo was moved enough by
the R8 to say that the term “art” did not do Ritter’s work justice. If the
music that comes out of the R8 is half as inspired as that, it’s worth its
weight in gold. ritter-basses.com
Ernie Ball/Music Man Game Changer
October 2012
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The ambitious Music Man Game Changer dares to ask what shapes
the marriage of analog and digital can take in an electric guitar. The
answer, we found out, was “Just about freaking anything, from a tone
perspective”—and that was enough to justify bestowing a Premier
Gear award. But we might not have been so inclined were the Game
Changer just a gimmick. It’s not. It’s a guitar designed to open up as
many combinations of a simple pickup array as possible via digital
control. And that philosophy of making the most from a little is one
that’s all right by us. Detractors, needless to say, will call it overkill,
but we’re inclined to applaud the possibilities of it all. And while the
technology might fail to impress players who just want to flick a simple
switch and rock, guitarists who relish the micro-nuances of tone
will have a field day. And if that describes your musical philosophy,
the Game Changer will be worth every penny. music-man.com
Wren and Cuff Box of War
October 2012
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The original Sovtek Big Muff—known far and wide as “the Civil
War”—is about as cool looking as pedals come, and it goes without saying
that the sound was legendary. Both points serve as the inspiration for
Wren and Cuff’s Box of War—a fantastic-sounding, Civil War-inspired
fuzz by any measure. But it’s Wren and Cuff’s decision to dress the
pedal up in a sturdy, sweet-looking enclosure—which apes the Civil
War’s graphic while employing a sort of compact Super Fuzz enclosure
design—that makes it all a little more special. The Box of War practically
beckons you to stomp, and the payoff when you do is bound to soothe
the soul—and stoke the creative fires—of any player who’s ever thrilled
to the growling menace and smooth cello tones of a Big Muff. Gear editor
Charles Saufley applauded the Box of War’s uncommon penchant for
string-to-string detail and harmonic richness, even with chords. It might
be a bit too civilized for players who savor the gnarliest Muff tones, but
it’s still destined to be one of the classiest and coolest-sounding pedals on
any pedalboard at your next gig. wrenandcuff.com
Fano Alt De Facto PX4
October 2012
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If you have a certain type of design eye—one that relishes the collision
of guitar design and mid-century furniture design—Gibson’s
non-reverse Firebird and Thunderbird basses are slices of jet-minimal-
modernist perfection. Luthier Dennis Fano seems devotedly
of that school of thought, but his ability to understand the merits
of these instruments clearly goes deeper—into realms where a wellworn
specimen of the order can deliver musical magic. We found the
PX4 to be about as playable as a bass can be, and we were doubly
stoked that behind the PX4’s quasi-vintage exterior lurked a 16-position
switch that expands the already impressive tone potential of
the Lollar pickups. But what the Fano does best is deliver the kind
of thumping, authoritative, smooth, warm tones that defined rock’s
golden era. Add an overflowingly bossy vibe, and you have a 4-string
that borders on irresistible. fanoguitars.com
Wampler Tweed '57
October 2012
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Brian Wampler is already known as a master of replicating amp dynamics
with a stompbox, but we all know it still ain’t easy tackling the complex,
compressed, squishy-to-exploding tones of a tweed Fender. One
of the most beautiful things we discovered about the Tweed ’57 is that,
despite having a mission to capture such a specialized and difficult-tonail
voice, it works beautifully with tube amps of all types, in addition
to solid-state amps. And it can lend an extra measure of tone, EQ, and,
dynamic capabilities that can genuinely expand the voice of a tube amp
that has started to sound dull. Reviewer Joe Charupakorn remarked that
it’s “the kind of pedal that can save your hide when you have to gig in
rooms of varying size, or when you’re dealing with a questionable backline.”
In other words, the Tweed ’57 gives you more of just about whatever
you need—whether it’s jangle or organic crunch—depending on
how you use the gain control, input simulator switch, and 3-band EQ.
Even if you’re not dead-set on the sound of tweed, the Wampler can still
add a whole lot of character and life to your rig. wamplerpedals.com
Catalinbread Octapussy
October 2012
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Octave fuzz adds attitude to a lead like few other effects. It’s
sassy, it’s funky, but it can also strip dynamics from your tone
and add unwanted compression that can turn a mix to mud. The
Catalinbread Octapussy is designed, to a significant extent, to eliminate
those limitations. But in the process it becomes an octave fuzz
of varied voices and broad capabilities. Most notably, it’s highly reactive
to adjustments from a guitar’s volume and tone controls. We
found the Octapussy capable of some classic ring-modulator effects,
but we were even more impressed with how much sustain and
yummy decay the Octapussy generated at less-than-full-bore levels.
Overall, we found the Octapussy to be a big leap forward in terms of
musicality and range. Best of all, we found it to be a path to unexpected
octave effects. Pretty cool for an effect that tends to be stereotyped
in terms of tone and application—and it’s also clear evidence
of why builders keep tinkering with these circuits. catalinbread.com
Stomp Under Foot The Pi
October 2012
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Matt Pasquerella has carved out quite a niche building great Muff-style
fuzz circuits, and that’s because he has a knack for finding great
vintage Muffs and figuring out precisely what makes them tick. The
Pi is built around the commonalities found in the latest Ram’s Head
Muffs and the visually iconic black-and-red Muffs that are a template
for the look of Electro-Harmonix’s current NYC version. It may be
the perfect pedal for players who don’t know whether they’re more
aligned with the searing sounds of the Ram’s Head or the more corpulent
Russian Muffs. The tone knob effectively guides navigation
between those two EQ spheres. And in its brighter modes, the Pi
proves equally adept at Iommi-like lead tones, detailed power-pop
arpeggios, and even raspy ’60s buzz when you roll the volume back
and crank the sustain. Throw in the capacity to do all things classically
Muff—from singing Gilmour leads to desert-rock crunch—and
you’re talking about a genuinely evolutionary take on a circuit that
gets more gloriously varied the deeper we dig. stompunderfoot.com
Z. Vex Sonar
October 2012
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Thank goodness for Z.Vex. Every time you think you’ve heard it all,
these vanguards and explorers of the boutique-pedal pantheon twist
sound on its ear again. In this case, Z.Vex tackles tremolo and, in the
process, makes this modulation mainstay better suited for high-gain
applications and heavy pulsation. The real beauty of the Sonar, however,
is the unexpected ways in which it lets you shape the tremolo
effect: A built-in noise gate enables crazily intense pulses at high volumes
and distorted settings, while the inclusion of Z.Vex’s infamous
Machine circuit adds a crossover distortion effect that can make the
tremolo rather more grotesque. And an amazing speed range makes
the Sonar even more flexible. We applauded the Sonar’s ability to
range from “classic to maniacal.” But like so many Z.Vex pedals, it’s
award-worthy because of the way it takes an effect we thought we
knew and transforms it into a whole new tool for musical expression.
zvex.com
Hardwire Supernatural Ambient Verb
October 2012
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As far as guitar effects go, reverb might be unsurpassed for conjuring
moods and emotions. And though spring reverb has long been the
gold standard for many reverb-loving guitarists, even a simple stompbox
reverb can have transformative power—lending grand, cinematic
scale to simple chords and single notes. Apparently, the mission of the
HardWire Supernatural Ambient Verb is to pack as many of the most
emotive reverb textures as possible into a single compact stompbox.
That ambition alone would make the Supernatural a Premier Gear
award contender, but it’s the HardWire’s ability to deliver a wide range
of simple to soaring reverb that puts it over the top. We found the
Supernatural just as capable of subtle vintage-amp-style reverb as it is
of wide-as-the-sky ambience. And the rock-solid construction inspires
a cool “Yes, I really can pack this much atmosphere on my pedalboard”
confidence that’s likely to incite widespread excitement among
performing post-rock texuralists, indie bands, and prog obsessives.
proguitarshop.com
Strymon Flint
October 2012
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We’ve probably started to sound like a broken record in our praise
for Strymon, but the fact is that these guys harness the power of DSP
for music-making good like few others out there. Like the company’s
El Capistan delay, the Flint Tremolo and Reverb was born out of the
effort to nail the minute nuances of analog effects that make them
classics. And like the El Capistan, the Flint is truly ambitious in
terms of its targets—the vibey-as-heck harmonic tremolo from the
Fender 6G5 Pro, a brownface-style tube-bias tremolo sound, and the
warm, intense, and psychedelic pulses of Fender’s photocell tremolo.
That the Flint nails those textures and enables mix-and-match pairings
with three superb, tweakable reverbs—a ’60s-style spring unit, a
’70s-style plate emulation, and an ’80s-style, rack-reverb-like voice—
makes this pedal a super-fun and expansive texture playground that
could confound the most hardcore analog devotee. strymon.net