North Hollywood, CA (December 18, 2018) -- Artist-designed guitars and basses under the ESP and LTD Signature Series have long been among the more popular product offerings by the company. For 2019, the Signature Series expands with new models by players such as Reba Meyers (Code Orange), George Lynch, Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Bill Kelliher (Mastodon), Gary Holt (Slayer/Exodus) and more.
The Reba Meyers LTD RM-600 is the first Signature Series guitar ever offered by ESP based on the design of a female guitar player (the company has previously done a signature bass for Doris Yeh of Chthonic). Based on the Viper shape, the RM-600 features neck-thru-body construction, a mahogany body in a new Black Marble Satin finish, a 3-piece maple neck with Macassar ebony fingerboard, a reverse headstock based on the LTD M Series, a single EMG 81 pickup with special orange logo, and an EMG TKO kill switch. Code Orange’s album Forever was nominated for 2018 Grammy award in the “Best Metal Performance” category.
Other new Signature Series models include the LTD SC-607B1H, a new signature model for Stephen Carpenter (Deftones). Built at 27” baritone scale, it’s a 7-string guitar that features neck-thru-body construction, a single Fishman Fluence SRC Signature pickup, and a new Purple Satin finish. The LTD GL-200MT is a new signature model for iconic guitarist George Lynch, and is a lower-priced version of Lynch’s famous ESP M-1 Tiger guitar with its yellow finish and tiger stripe graphics. Similarly, the LTD FBJ-400 is a new and more affordable version of the signature model for Anthrax bass player Frank Bello. It’s available in a Black Satin finish, and includes EMG P-HZ/EMG LJ-HZ pickups with red covers. The LTD TED-600T is a new TE shaped guitar for Ted Aguilar of Death Angel with neck-thru-body construction, a mahogany body with maple cap, a set of EMG 60/EMG 81 pickups with white covers, and a matching Snow White finish with white binding. The LTD KS-M6 is a 6-string version of the signature model for guitarist Ken Susi of Unearth. ESP has also updated available finishes on two other popular Signature Series models, with Gary Holt’s LTD GH-600 model now being offered in Snow White, and Bill Kelliher’s LTD Sparrowhawk now being offered in Black.
LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” guitars have long been among ESP’s most popular and best-selling models due to their combination of professional-quality designs and components along with appealing, affordable pricing for instruments of their caliber. ESP has announced a number of new “1000 Series” models for 2019.
The unique and bold Arrow guitar shape is now being offered in the LTD Deluxe series for the first time with the Arrow-1000, being offered in Snow White and Violet Andromeda finishes. These guitars offer neck-thru-body construction and high-end components including Grover tuners, Floyd Rose bridge, and an EMG 85/EMG 81 pickup set. The Arrow is also being added to the LTD Black Metal Series with the Arrow Black Metal, featuring a Black Satin finish, black hardware, and single EMG 81 pickup.
The popular LTD EC guitar shape, based on the single-cutaway ESP Eclipse, is getting three new models. The EC-1001T/CTM is being offered in Silver Sunburst Satin and Snow White finishes. These guitars offer set-thru construction, a full-thickness chambered mahogany body with maple cap, and a set of EMG 66-TW/EMG 57-TW pickups. These “TWIN” pickups are being offered for the first time on a production guitar, and allow users to split the active neck and bridge pickups with push-pull controls. The EC-1000T is another chambered full-full-thickness model, available in Honey Burst Satin finish. This model offers Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic Humbucker pickups with three voicings, also the first production guitar to offer this innovative pickup.
The new LTD TE-1000 EverTune is the first TE guitar shape ESP has offered that includes the powerful and innovative EverTune constant tension bridge. It also features the new independently splittable EMG 57/66 TWIN set, and is available in an attractive Black Natural Burst finish. The classic-shaped SN-1000FR, offered in Pearl White finish, has a traditional bolt-on roasted maple neck on an alder body, a Floyd Rose bridge, and an H/S/S pickup set with two Seymour Duncan Hot Strat single coils and a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 humbucker with a push-pull coil split control. Several new LTD Deluxe “1000 Series” models offer exciting and innovative new color fade finishes. The H-1001FR is available in Violet Shadow Fade; the MH-1000HS is being offered in Violet Shadow Fade and Black Cherry Fade; the 7-string MH-1007 comes in Black Fade finish. The LTD Xtone Series also has new “1000 Series” additions with the PS-1000, available in Violet Shadow and Purple Sparkle finishes and employing Seymour Duncan Phat Cat overwound single-coil pickups.
ESP Guitars has announced a collection of new premier-quality guitar models in their ESP E-II Series. ESP E-II are guitars that are produced at the ESP factory in Japan.
The E-II Arrow-NT is being debuted in three finishes: Black, Snow White, and Black Silver Fade, while the E-II Arrow also gets new Snow White and Silver Fade finishes. This bold V-shaped guitar features neck-thru-body construction with alder body and 3-piece maple neck and ebony fingerboard. It offers a Floyd Rose Original bridge, or a Gotoh TOM bridge with string-thru-body for Non-Trem (NT) version. Other high-end components include an EMG 85/EMG 81 pickup set and Gotoh locking tuners.
The E-II Eclipse-7 EverTune is a 7-string guitar in the popular single-cutaway Eclipse shape that includes the innovative EverTune constant tension bridge system. Available in Black Satin finish, the guitar includes set-thru construction, a mahogany body with maple cap, and a Seymour Duncan Sentient/Pegasus pickup set with push-pull coil splitting. Three new finishes/tops have been announced for the E-II Eclipse: Blue Natural Fade with a Buckeye burl maple top, Black Natural Burst with a flamed maple top, and Snow White Satin with a maple cap. These models include the new EMG 57/66 TWIN set for coil splitting each active pickup.
Three new ESP E-II Horizon models have been announced for 2019. These include the E-II Horizon-III FR, available in Black Cherry Fade finish. It’s a neck-thru-body design with a Floyd Rose Original bridge and a set of Seymour Duncan SH-2n/Custom 5 pickups. The E-II Horizon FR comes in Black Natural Burst finish and also includes an Original Floyd, along with a Seymour Duncan Sentient/Pegasus pickup set. The E-II Horizon NT-II comes in Tiger Eye Amber Fade finish, and includes an EMG 66/57 pickup set. All three models have quilted maple tops and coil splitting control. The E-II M-II NT offers a Buckeye burl maple top in Black Natural Fade finish, and includes a Hipshot bridge and a set of Bare Knuckle Aftermath Tyger pickups. A 7-string version, the E-II M-II 7, comes in Purple Natural Fade finish with a set of Bare Knuckle Warpig 7st Tyger pickups. The E-II SN-2 is a new model in Blue Natural Fade finish. A classic shape with an alder body and bolt-on neck, it includes a Floyd Rose Original bridge and Bare Knuckle Aftermath Battleworn pickups. The E-II Viper offers a premium-quality version of the asymmetrical double-cut Viper shape, with set-thru construction and high-end components, including an EMG 66/57 TWIN pickup set with coil splitting, and is available in Black and Urban Camo finishes.
ESP Guitars is introducing 13 new bass models in their popular and affordable LTD Series for 2019.
The AP-4 Black Metal is the first bass addition to the LTD Black Metal Series, a collection that debuted in 2018 to immediate acclaim. The AP-4 Black Metal offers the classic shape of the AP Series basses, with a bolt-on maple neck and an alder body, but adds the distinctive menacing cosmetic vibe of Black Satin finish, all black hardware, and a black LTD logo on the headstock. The bass includes pro-quality components including Grover tuners, a Babicz FCH-4 bridge, and a single EMG 35CS pickup. The AP Series bass series also expanded with new Pelham Blue finishes for the AP-4 and AP-5 basses, as well as a new Snow White finish for the affordable AP-204.
Four big updates to basses in the LTD B Series are also being debuted at NAMM 2019. The B-1004 Multi-Scale and B-1005 Multi-Scale now make use of environmentally-friendly and great-looking ziricote tops on swamp ash bodies, and the basses also now include an upgraded black bone nut, as well as the angled fret multi-scale design, Gotoh tuners, Hipshot Solo bridge, and Nordstrand Big Splits pickup set of the previous model. The updated B-1004 and B-1005 basses have been switched to tops made of bocote, an exotic figured wood that is sustainable, and offer Gotoh tuners and bridge along with the Nordstrand Big Splits pickup set. All four of the updated B Series basses have a Natural Satin finish.
The LTD Stream Series has returned to the ESP lineup by popular demand, with a new flat-top redesign. The Stream-1004 and Stream-1005 have premium features that include a swamp ash body with solid burled maple top, a 5-piece maple/purple heart neck, Macassar ebony fingerboard, Hipshot bridge and EMG pickup set. These new basses are being offered in Black Natural Burst finish. The new Stream-204 and Stream-205 are for more budget-minded bass players, and include a mahogany body, a 3-piece maple neck with roasted jatoba fingerboard, and a Black Satin finish.
Finally, the LTD Signature Series bass for Frank Bello of Anthrax now has an even more affordable version with the FBJ-400. This bass offers a set of EMG P-HZ/EMG LJ-HZ pickups with red covers that look great on the Black Satin finish.
For more information:
ESP Guitars
Effects Bakery MECHA-PAN BAKERY Series MECHA-BAGEL OVERDRIVE
Konnichiwa, guitar lovers! 🎸✨
Are you ready to add some sweetness to your pedalboard? Let’s dive into the adorable world of the Effects Bakery Mecha-Pan Overdrive, part of the super kawaii Mecha-Pan Bakery Series!
🍩 Sweet Treats for Your Ears! 🍩
The Mecha-Pan Overdrive is like a delicious bagel for your guitar tone, but it’s been upgraded to a new level of cuteness and functionality!
Effects Bakery has taken their popular Bagel OverDrive and given it a magical makeover. Imagine your favorite overdrive sound but with more elegance and warmth – it’s like hugging a fluffy cat while playing your guitar!
It would have been easy for Wampler to simply make a Mostortion clone and call it a day, but they added some unique twists to the Mofetta pedal. While the original Mostortion had a MOSFET-based op amp, it actually used clipping diodes to create its overdrive. The Mofetta is a fairly accurate replica and includes that circuitry, but also has a toggle switch for texture, which lets you choose between the original-style diode-based clipping in the down position and multi-cascaded MOSFET gain stages in the up position.
Luscious Low Gain and Meaty Mid-Gain
The Mofetta’s control panel is very straightforward and conventional with knobs for bass, mids, treble, level, and gain. The original Mostortion was revered for its low-gain tone and is now popular among Nashville session guitarists. Wampler’s tribute captures that edge-of-breakup vibe perfectly. I enjoyed using the pedal with the gain on the lower side, around 9 o’clock, where I heard and felt slight compression that gave single notes a smooth and silky feel. I particularly enjoyed the tone-thickening the Mofetta lent to my Ernie Ball Music Man Axis Sport’s split-coil sound as I played pop melodies and rootsy, triadic rhythm guitar figures. The Mofetta has expansive headroom, and as a result there’s a lot of space in which you can find really bold, cutting tones without muddying the waters too much. Even turning the gain all the way off yields a pleasing volume bump that would work well in a clean boost setting.
There’s a lot of space in which you can find really bold, cutting tones without muddying the waters too much.
Switching the texture switch up engages the MOSFET section, introducing cascading gain stages that elevate the heat and add flavor the original Mostortion didn’t really offer. Classic rock and early metal are readily available via the MOSFET setting. If you need to stretch out to modern metal sounds, the Mofetta probably isn’t the pedal for you. Again, the original Mostortion was, first and foremost, a low-to-mid-gain affair, so unless you’re using it as a boost with a high-gain amp, the Mofetta is not really a vehicle for extreme sounds.
One of the Mofetta’s real treats is its responsiveness. Even at higher gain settings the Mofetta is very touch sensitive. You can tap into a wide range of dynamic shading just by varying the strength of your pick attack. I enjoyed playing fast, ascending scalar passages, picking with a medium attack then really slamming it hard when I hit a high climactic note, to get the guitar to really scream.
The Verdict
Wampler is a reliably great builder who creates pedals with a purpose. I own two of his pedals, the Dual Fusion and the Pinnacle, and both are really exceptional units. The Mofetta captures the essence of the Mostortion and makes it available at an accessible price. But even if you’ve never heard or played an original Mostortion, you’ll appreciate the truly versatile EQ, touch sensitivity, and the bonus texture switch, which expands the Mofetta’s range into more aggressive spaces. The wealth of dirt boxes on the market today can make a player jaded. But Wampler pushed into a relatively unique, satisfying, and interesting place with the Mofetta.
Filthy, saturated fuzz is a glorious thing, whether it’s the writ-large solos of Big Brother and the Holding Company’s live “Ball and Chain,” the soaring feedback and pure crush of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” or the sandblasted rhythm textures of Queens of the Stone Age’s “Paper Machete.” It’s also a Wayback Machine. Step on a fuzz pedal and your tone is transported to the ’60s or early ’70s, which, when it comes to classic guitar sounds, is not a bad place to be.
Catalinbread’s StarCrash is from their new ’70s collection, so the company is laying its Six Million Dollar Man trading cards on the table—upping the ante on traditional fuzz with more controls and, according to the company’s website, a little more volume than the average fuzz pedal, while still staying in the traditional Fuzz Face lane.
The Howler’s Viscera
Arbiter Electronics made the first Fuzz Face in 1966. The StarCrash is inspired by that 2-transistor pedal, but benefits from evolution, as did almost all fuzz pedals in the ’70s, when the standard shifted from germanium to silicon circuitry to improve the consistency of the effect’s performance. The downside is that germanium is gnarlier to some ears, and silicon transistors don’t respond as well to adjustments made via a guitar’s volume control.
While Fuzz Faces have only two knobs, volume and fuzz, the silicon StarCrash has three: volume, bias, and low-cut. Catalinbread’s website explains: “We got rid of that goofy fuzz knob. We know that 95 percent of all players run it dimed, and the remaining 5 percent use their guitar’s volume knob to rein it in.”
I suspect there are plenty of players who, like me, do adjust the fuzz control on their pedals, but the most important thing is that the core fuzz sound here is excellent—bristly and snarling, with a far girthier tone than my reissue Fuzz Face. It’s also, with the bias and low-cut controls, far more flexible. The low-cut control allows you to range from a traditional, comparatively thinner Fuzz Face sound (past noon and further) to the StarCrash’s authentic, beefier voice (noon and lower). Essentially, it cuts bass frequencies from 40 Hz to 500 Hz, resulting in an aural menu that runs from lush and lowdown to buzzy and slicing. And the bias control is a direct route to the spitty, fragmented, so-called Velcro-sound that’s become a staple of the stoner-rock/Jack White school of tone. The company calls this dial a “dying battery simulator,” and it starves the second transistor to achieve that effect.
Sweet Song of the Tribbles
Playing with the StarCrash is a lot of fun. I ran it through a pair of Carr amps in stereo, adding some delay and reverb to mood, and used a variety of single-coil- and humbucker-outfitted guitars. While both pickup types interacted well with the pedal, the humbuckers were most pleasing to my ears with the bias cranked to about 2 o’clock or higher, since the ’buckers higher output allowed me to let notes sustain longer before sputtering out. Keeping the low-cut filter at 9 o’clock or lower also helped sustain and depth in the Velcro-fuzz zone, while letting more of the instruments’ natural voices come through, of course.
With the low-cut filter turned up full and the bias at 10 o’clock, I got the StarCrash to be the perfect doppelganger of my Hendrix reissue Fuzz Face. But that’s such a small part of the pedal’s overall tone profile. It was more fun to roll off just a bit of bass and set the bias knob to about 2 or 3 o’clock. Around these settings, the sound is huge and grinding, and yet barre chords hold their character while playing rhythm, and single-note runs, especially on the low strings, are a filthy delight, with just the right schmear of buttery sustain plus a hint of decay lurking behind every note. It’s such a ripe tone—the sonic equivalent of a delicious, stinky cheese—that I could hang with it all day.
Regarding Catalinbread’s claims about the volume control? Yes, it gets very loud without losing the essence of the notes or chords you’re playing, or the character of the fuzz, which is a distinct advantage when you’re in a band and need to stand out. And it’s a tad louder than my Fuzz Face but doesn’t really bark up to the level of most Tone Bender or Buzzaround clones I’ve heard. In my experience, these germanium-chipped critters of similar vintage can practically slam you through the wall when their volume levels are cranked.
The Verdict
Catalinbread’s StarCrash—with its sturdy enclosure, smooth on/off switch and easy-to-manipulate dials—can compete with any Fuzz Face variant in both price and performance, scoring high points on the latter count. The bias and low-cut dials provide access to a wider-than-usual variety of fuzz tones, and are especially delightful for long, playful solos dappled with gristle, flutter, and sustain. Kudos to Catalinbread for making this pedal not just a reflection of the past, but an improvement on it.
Catalinbread Starcrash 70 Fuzz Pedal - Starcrash 70 Collection
The release of a newRed Panda pedal is something to be celebrated. Each of the company’s devices lets us crack into our signal chains and tweak its inner properties in unique, forward-thinking ways, encouraging us to be daring, create something new, and think about sound differently. In essence, they take us to the sonic frontier, where the most intrepid among us seek thrills.
Last January, I got my first glimpse of the Radius at NAMM and knew that Red Panda mastermind Curt Malouin had, once again, concocted something fresh. The pedal offers ring modulation and frequency shifting with pitch tracking and an LFO, and I heard classic ring-mod tones as the jumping off point for oodles of bold sounds generated by envelope and waveform-controlled modulation and interaction. I had to get my hands on one.
Enjoy the Process
I’ve heard some musicians talk about how the functionality of Red Panda’s pedals are deep to a point that they can be hard to follow. If that’s the case, it’s by design, simply because each Red Panda device opens access to an untrodden path. As such, it can feel heady to get into the details of the Radius, which blends between ring modulation and frequency shifting, offering control of the balance and shift ratios of the upper and lower sidebands to create effects including phasing, tremolo, and far less-natural sounds.
As complex as that all might seem, Red Panda’s pedals always make it easy to strip the controls down to their most essential form. The firmest ground for a guitarist to stand with the Radius is a simple ring-mod sound. To get that, I selected the ring mod function, turned off the modulation section by zeroing the rate and amount knobs, kept the shift switch off and the range switch on its lowest setting. With the mix at noon and the frequency knob cranked, I found my sound.
From there, by lowering the frequency range, the Radius will yield percussive tremolo tones, and the track knob helped me dial that in before opening up a host of phaser sounds below noon. By going the other direction and kicking the rate switch into its higher setting, a world of ring-mod tweaking opens up. There are some uniquely warped effects in these higher settings that include dial-up modem sounds and lo-fi dial tones. Exploring the ring mod/frequency shift knob widens the possibilities further to high-pitched, filtered white noise and glitchy digital artifacts at its extremes.
There are wild, active sounds within each knob movement on the Radius, and the modulation section naturally brings those to life in more ways than a simple knob tweak ever could, delivering four LFO waveforms, a step modulator, two x-mod waveforms, and an envelope follower. It’s within these settings that I found rayguns, sirens, Shepard tones, and futuristic sounds that were even harder to describe.
It’s easy to imagine the Radius at the forefront of sonic experiments, where it would be right at home. But this pedal could easily be a studio device when applied in low doses to give a track something special that pops. The possible applications go way beyond guitars.
The Verdict
The Radius isn’t easy to plug and play, but it’s also not hard to use if you keep an open mind. That’s necessary, too: The Radius is not for guitar players who prefer to stay grounded; this pedal is for sonic-stargazers and producers.
I enjoyed pairing the Radius with various guitar instruments—12-string, baritone, bass—and it kept getting me more and more excited about sonic experimentation. That feeling is a big part of what’s special about this pedal. It’s so open-ended and controllable, continuing to reveal more of its capabilities with use. Once you feel like you’ve gotten something down, there are often more sounds to explore, whether that’s putting a new instrument or pedal next to it or exploring the Radius’ stereo, MIDI, or expression-pedal functionality. Like many great instruments, it only takes a few minutes to get started, but it could keep you exploring for years.
Red Panda Radius Ring Modulator/Frequency Shifter Pedal
