Wall Township, NJ (April 7, 2020) -- AP International, manufacturer and distributor of Floyd Rose Tremolo Systems, is pleased to announce exclusive worldwide distribution of the new HexHider magnetic hex tool. This novel, affordable 3mm Allen key was created to conveniently address the need for a wrench to unlock a Floyd Rose-equipped guitar.
The patented HexHider design uses a powerful Neodymium magnet to hold the tool in place when in use and to store the wrench by magnetically gripping onto any metal tuning machine on the back of the headstock without permanent installation. The 3mm wrench works to unlock the nut for easier fine tuner resets, loosen the string lock screws at the bridge for quicker string changes, and make bridge post height adjustments on all authentic Floyd Rose Tremolos as well as many licensed versions.
“When I first saw the HexHider I was impressed by its simplicity and utility,” said Andy Papiccio of API. “I think it’s the perfect tool for quicker fine tuner resets and string changes. We are excited to bring this product to the Floyd Rose family of guitar manufacturers, resellers, and customers.”
The HexHider comes with a lifetime warranty and is available immediately for dealers, guitar manufacturers, and musicians from API. The product comes in single unit packs, two packs, and four packs for those looking to save and bundle.
With over forty years of experience in manufacturing and distribution, AP International has been a pillar in the music industry known for representing only quality product lines including Floyd Rose, Pure Tone Jacks, KTS Titanium, Ray Ross Saddle-less Bridges, and ProRockGear Cases, as well as many OEM products. Company president Andrew Papiccio, an original owner of Kramer Guitars and founder of Floyd Rose Marketing, continues to search for and bring to market new innovations that accompany the renowned tremolo system.
Street Price: $9.49
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Hex Hider
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Silos features six presets, tap tempo, one full second of delay time, and three voices—two of which are styled after bucket-brigade and tape-delay sounds. In the $150 price category, it’s not unusual for a digital delay to leave some number of those functions out. And spending the same money on a true-analog alternative usually means warm, enveloping sounds but limited functionality and delay time. Silos, improbably perhaps, offers a very elegant solution to this can’t-have-it-all dilemma in a U.S.-made effect.
A More Complete Cobbling Together
Silos’ utility is bolstered by a very unintimidating control set, which is streamlined and approachable. Three of those controls are dedicated to the same mix, time, and repeats controls you see on any delay. But saving a preset to one of the six spots on the rotary preset dial is as easy as holding the green/red illuminated button just below the mix and preset knobs. And you certainly won’t get lost in the weeds if you move to the 3-position toggle, which switches between a clear “digital” voice, darker “analog” voice, and a “tape” voice which is darker still.
“The three voices offer discernibly different response to gain devices.”
One might suspect that a tone control for the repeats offers similar functionality as the voice toggle switch. But while it’s true that the most obvious audible differences between digital, BBD, and tape delays are apparent in the relative fidelity and darkness of their echoes, the Silos’ three voices behave differently in ways that are more complex than lighter or duskier tonality. For instance, the digital voice will never exhibit runaway oscillation, even at maximum mix and repeat settings. Instead, repeats fade out after about six seconds (at the fastest time settings) or create sleepy layers of slow-decaying repeats that enhance detail in complex, sprawling, loop-like melodic phrases. The analog voice and tape voice, on the other hand, will happily feed back to psychotic extremes. Both also offer satisfying sensitivity to real-time, on-the-fly adjustments. For example, I was tickled with how I could generate Apocalypse Now helicopter-chop effects and fade them in and out of prominence as if they were approaching or receding in proximity—an effect made easier still if you assign an expression pedal to the mix control. This kind of interactivity is what makes analog machines like the Echoplex, Space Echo, and Memory Man transcend mere delay status, and the sensitivity and just-right resistance make the process of manipulating repeats endlessly engaging.
Doesn't Flinch at Filth
EarthQuaker makes a point of highlighting the Silos’ affinity for dirty and distorted sounds. I did not notice that it behaved light-years better than other delays in this regard. But the three voices most definitely offer discernibly different responses to gain devices. The super-clear first repeat in the digital mode lends clarity and melodic focus, even to hectic, unpredictable, fractured fuzzes. The analog voice, which EQD says is inspired by the tone makeup of a 1980s-vintage, Japan-made KMD bucket brigade echo, handles fuzz forgivingly inasmuch as its repeats fade warmly and evenly, but the strong midrange also keeps many overtones present as the echoes fade. The tape voice, which uses aMaestro Echoplex as its sonic inspiration, is distinctly dirtier and creates more nebulous undercurrents in the repeats. If you want to retain clarity in more melodic settings, it will create a warm glow around repeats at conservative levels. Push it, and it will summon thick, sometimes droning haze that makes a great backdrop for slower, simpler, and hooky psychedelic riffs.
In clean applications, this decay and tone profile lend the tape setting a spooky, foggy aura that suggests the cold vastness of outer space. The analog voice often displays an authentic BBD clickiness in clean repeats that’s sweet for underscoring rhythmic patterns, while the digital voice’s pronounced regularity adds a clockwork quality that supports more up-tempo, driving, electronic rhythms.
The Verdict
Silos’ combination of features seems like a very obvious and appealing one. But bringing it all together at just less than 150 bucks represents a smart, adept threading of the cost/feature needle.
EarthQuaker Devices Silos Multi-generational Time Reflection Delay Pedal
