SATELLITE
MUDSHARK
There’s no shortage of fools that have gone
in pursuit of Jimmy Page’s Led Zeppelin I
tone, forgetting that it was a combination
of studio wile, an all-analog studio signal
path, and a certain set of magical, genius
fingers interfacing with a mind open to
wildly divergent influences. Even still,
Satellite Amplification did us mortals the
favor of resurrecting one of the most vital
components of the equation—a beautiful
take on Jimmy Page’s Supro Thunderbolt
cheekily dubbed the Mudshark.
This dead-simple, 5881-tube powered, 20-watt, blue sparkle meanie, is a thing of minimalist beauty. And we discovered that it can very stylishly move from wellmannered to malevolent, finding that it “remains defined during complex chord work, and exhibits pick sensitivity that we have rarely experienced in an amplifier. It’s very honest, with beautiful grit and nary an ounce of dampening or over-compression.”
It may not get you all the way to “Dazed and Confused,” but it can get you part of the way in style and perhaps open up some unexplored facets of your own playing along the way.
FUCHS
PLUSH FX
JERSEY
THUNDER
Andy Fuchs’ Plush line of effects have been
turning up with ever more regularity on the
pedalboards of frontline guitar rippers. If
the Jersey Thunder is any indication, bassists
will soon be falling in line—especially if, as
reviewer Jordan Wagner observed, the Jersey
Thunder can summon frequencies from
your bass you may not have even known
were there.
Like so many Fuchs products, from amps to pedals, the Jersey Thunder seems built with an ear for touch sensitivity. The versatile Shape control moved Wagner to comment on how he could summon punch without loss of clarity. He found the Slope EQ settings “perfectly tuned.” Little surprise, perhaps, given that Andy Fuchs is behind it all—but maybe a revelation for bass players in waiting.
BREEDLOVE
GUITARS
FOCUS SE
CUSTOM
WALNUT
Breedlove built its rep’ on top-quality
guitars that walked just a little off the
beaten path. The Focus SE Custom Walnut
couldn’t do a better job of holding up that
tradition. With walnut back and sides and a
redwood top, it’s a beautiful deviation from
bread and butter tonewood combinations.
The result, as reviewer Gayla Drake Paul noted, is a guitar that’s “simultaneously dark and brilliant, thanks to the snappy-but-deep qualities of the walnut back and sides— which sound a bit like a cross between rosewood and mahogany—while the redwood has the warm detail of cedar.” Gayla also loved its rich and varied personality: “it’s quite loud, projects extremely well, and is responsive to a light touch—all of which translates to great dynamic range. Play it whisper-soft and you’ll get a crystalline, delicate tone. Dig in, and the Focus SE rocks without significantly blurring overtones.”
We also noted it’s a guitar that “gorgeously illustrates how Breedlove has helped bridge forward-thinking and old-world styles.” We’re thankful that Breedlove still knows how to walk that walk.
BLACK CAT
BEE BUZZ
In tackling a re-interpretation of the underground
legend that was and is the Roland
Bee Baa, Black Cat not only gave new life
to one of the great unsung fuzzes, but lent
some of its own twists that make it a standout
in a cluttered cosmos of buzz ‘n’ fuzz
boxes.
The strength might be a beautifully skuzzy, but surprisingly meaty, ’60s-style fuzz in Bee mode, a switch to Buzz mode rendered our candy apple Bee Buzz a brawny cousin to the Fuzz Face and Big Muff clans.
Gear Editor Charles Saufley was moved to gush that the “Bee Buzz is a brilliant beam of stinging light in the world of brawny, super high-gain fuzzes,” and that “with the flip of a switch it transforms into a meatier Muff-like fuzz that can run with those tigers, too.” For those who don’t mind risking the sting, the Bee Buzz is one burly little bugger that can rise above the din.
EVENTIDE
SPACE
Rarely has such an ambitiously named piece
of gear lived up to its handle. No joke, this
little box really can sound like the whole
freaking cosmos in all its exploding, nebulous
glory. It’s a pretty nice straightforward
reverb, too, if that’s your need or fancy. But
smart and free-ranging players will take
advantage of all its multitudinous capabilities,
and will no doubt make some very
interesting music.
Space does its magic by spinning out sonic tangents from 12 basic reverb algorithms, including Hall, Room, Plate, Spring, and Reverse and more esoteric algorithms like Mangledverb (distorts and detunes reverb tails), Shimmer (shifts pitches in reverb tails and lends a touch of harmonizing), and Blackhole (lends an overtone-rich, morespacious- than-space feel).
The latter is a particularly apt descriptor because this Eventide can truly be a Black Hole for practice time. Few pedals have ever made a single D chord so cool in so many ways. Those who care to venture further into the ways it will interact with more nuanced playing risk never returning. Like the universe itself, Space is virtually endless. If you go, don’t forget to write.
