The Furman Power Conditioner controls buzz and hum
For those of you who don’t want to be “that guy”—the guy whose bar gig rig involves rackmount gear—we suggest you look away. The studio applications for power conditioning equipment are obvious, but for some reason a lot of players are comfortable rolling the dice and using office-supply-store power strips for gigs, only to scramble for that potentially deadly 99-cent, two-prong adapter when that inevitable buzz rears its ugly head. The P-1800 PF R’s superb instrument-specific uses should tempt you to buy a portable rack box to put next to your amp.
An update to Furman’s Power Factor Pro R, the P-1800 PF R features the company’s surge, spike and voltage technologies, as well as their new Clear Tone and Power Factor technologies, designed specifically for high-current electronic gear like guitar amps and powered studio monitors. We’re talking 45-plus amps of instantaneous reserve current and tuned filtering circuits that allow your amp to perform like it should—regardless of a whether a venue’s stage outlets are powering five neon beer signs and the kitchen’s deep freeze.
A digital voltmeter/ammeter takes the mystery out of current draw, while nine outlets (one on the front) in isolated banks give you more than you should need for a single rig. Extra touches include three wallwart-spaced outlets with securing straps, a BNC connector in the back for your gooseneck lamp, and even a front panel USB outlet.
Our demo unit handled amp testing in various circuits with aplomb, providing slightly to dramatically cleaner sound (not to mention peace of mind) when A/B’d with a Furman Merit X Series conditioner, a number of strips, and no conditioner at all.
Furman Sound
List $599
furmansound.com
The two-in-one “sonic refractor” takes tremolo and wavefolding to radical new depths.
Pros: Huge range of usable sounds. Delicious distortion tones. Broadens your conception of what guitar can be.
Build quirks will turn some users off.
$279
Cosmodio Gravity Well
cosmod.io
Know what a wavefolder does to your guitar signal? If you don’t, that’s okay. I didn’t either until I started messing around with the all-analog Cosmodio Instruments Gravity Well. It’s a dual-effect pedal with a tremolo and wavefolder, the latter more widely used in synthesis that , at a certain threshold, shifts or inverts the direction the wave is traveling—in essence, folding it upon itself. Used together here, they make up what Cosmodio calls a sonic refractor.
Two Plus One
Gravity Well’s design and control set make it a charm to use. Two footswitches engage tremolo and wavefolder independently, and one of three toggle switches swaps the order of the effects. The two 3-way switches toggle different tone and voice options, from darker and thicker to brighter and more aggressive. (Mixing and matching with these two toggles yields great results.)
The wavefolder, which has an all-analog signal path bit a digitally controlled LFO, is controlled by knobs for both gain and volume, which provide enormous dynamic range. The LFO tremolo gets three knobs: speed, depth, and waveform. The first two are self-explanatory, but the latter offers switching between eight different tremolo waveforms. You’ll find standard sawtooth, triangle, square, and sine waves, but Cosmodio also included some wacko shapes: asymmetric swoop, ramp, sample and hold, and random. These weirder forms force truly weird relationships with the pedal, forcing your playing into increasingly unpredictable and bizarre territories.
This is all housed in a trippy, beautifully decorated Hammond 1590BB-sized enclosure, with in/out, expression pedal, and power jacks. I had concerns about the durability of the expression jack because it’s not sealed to its opening with an outer nut and washer, making it feel more susceptible to damage if a cable gets stepped on or jostled near the connection, as well as from moisture. After a look at the interior, though, the build seems sturdy as any I’ve seen.
Splatterhouse Audio
Cosmodio’s claim that the refractor is a “first-of-its-kind” modulation effect is pretty grand, but they have a point in that the wavefolder is rare-ish in the guitar domain and pairing it with tremolo creates some pretty foreign sounds. Barton McGuire, the Massachusetts-based builder behind Cosmodio, released a few videos that demonstrate, visually, how a wavefolder impacts your guitar’s signal—I highly suggest checking them out to understand some of the principles behind the effect (and to see an ’80s Muppet Babies-branded keyboard in action.)
By folding a waveform back on itself, rather than clipping it as a conventional distortion would, the wavefolder section produces colliding, reflecting overtones and harmonics. The resulting distortion is unique: It can sound lo-fi and broken in the low- to mid-gain range, or synthy and extraterrestrial when the gain is dimed. Add in the tremolo, and you’ve got a lot of sonic variables to play with.
Used independently, the tremolo effect is great, but the wavefolder is where the real fun is. With the gain at 12 o’clock, it mimics a vintage 1x10 tube amp cranked to the breaking point by a splatty germanium OD. A soft touch cleans up the signal really nicely, while maintaining the weirdness the wavefolder imparts to its signal. With forceful pick strokes at high gain, it functions like a unique fuzz-distortion hybrid with bizarre alien artifacts punching through the synthy goop.
One forum commenter suggested that the Gravity Well effect is often in charge as much the guitar itself, and that’s spot on at the pedal's extremes. Whatever you expect from your usual playing techniques tends to go out the window —generating instead crumbling, sputtering bursts of blubbering sound. Learning to respond to the pedal in these environments can redefine the guitar as an instrument, and that’s a big part of Gravity Well’s magic.
The Verdict
Gravity Well is the most fun I’ve had with a modulation pedal in a while. It strikes a brilliant balance between adventurous and useful, with a broad range of LFO modulations and a totally excellent oddball distortion. The combination of the two effects yields some of the coolest sounds I’ve heard from an electric guitar, and at $279, it’s a very reasonably priced journey to deeply inspiring corners you probably never expected your 6-string (or bass, or drums, or Muppet Babies Casio EP-10) to lead you to.
Featuring a preamp and Dynamic Expansion circuit for punch and attack, plus switchable amp simulations.
"Like a missile seeking its target, Heatseeker will give you the explosive sound of rock! Inspired directly from the gear setup used by Angus Young,it features the most important sonic elements to match the tone of the short-pants-rock-God.
It’s no secret that a major role to his sound, along with the Marshall-brick walls, played one of the first wireless systems for guitar that quickly became a classic among guitar greats, the Schaffer Vega Diversity System."
The preamp along with the Dynamic Expansion circuit found in the wireless transmitter/receiver gave it its distinct sound. Besides boosting the signal, the preamp tightens up lower frequencies and slightly accentuates mid frequencies while the Dynamic Expansion circuit enhances the dynamic response and harmonics of the signal giving punch and attack to ensure that it will cut through the mix. Instead of opting for a prefix setting for the Dynamic Expansion circuit as found in the original unit, we have re-imagined our version with the enhanced knob on the Heatseeker to have more control over the guitar tone’s dynamic response. Setting it around 10 o‘clock is a good starting point to add some extra sparkle. Max it out to bring back to life even the most dull and colorless sounds.
Utilizing an all-analog JFET circuit, running on 27 volts via an internal voltage boost (DO NOT plug higher than 9V DC power supply), we have captured the tone and feel of three British tube amplifiers, synonymous with the sound of rock and roll, with an excellent clean-to-mean dynamic response. With the flip of a toggle switch, you can capture the sound and feel of a JTM45, 1959 Super Lead, or JMP 2203. A smart switching circuit follows the signal path and respective gain stages tuned for each amp and combines them with an actual Marshall style EQ and power amp simula-tion circuit for thundering rock tones. Angus Young usually plugs into Channel 1 or High Treble input of his JTM45s and Super Leads so we opted for that sound when we started visualizing Heatseeker on the drawing board. We have also extended the range of the presence control beyond the original so that the user will be able to match the pedal to any amp or gear setup. The master volume offers plenty of output so that you can also use the pedal as a preamp and plug it into a clean power amp or straight to your DAW. Note that the pedal doesn’t feature any speaker simulation circuit so we recommend using a separate hardware or software guitar speaker simulation when going direct to DAW or a full-range speaker.
A new feature to our booster/drive + amp-in-a-box line of pedals, recreating legendary sounds, is the switchable WoS (Wall of Sound) circuit. We have carefully tuned this circuit at the output of the AMP section of the Heatseeker to open up the soundstage by increasing the output, adding thundering lows, and thickening high mid frequencies. Imagine standing in front of a wall loaded with Marshall amp heads and 4x12 speaker cabinets, grabbing your SG, and hitting a chord. You will be blown away by the sound projection! In combination with the tube power amp simulation and the enhanced circuit of the right section, we’ve made sure that the pick attack will be as dynamic as it gets, so¥er picking will produce clean and slightly crunchy sounds, and hard picking will give explosive distorted sounds! While primarily designed for Angus Young sounds, Heatseeker will definitely open the door to countless other guitar-great tones that use these Marshall amps and/or the Schaffer Vega Diversity System. Think of KISS, Peter Frampton, and Van Halen to name a few.
Like our other dual overdrive/amp-in-a-box designs, Heatseeker features a passive effects loop to give you the option to connect your beloved pedals between the preamp/enhancer and amp-in-a-box circuit or use the two sections as separate and independent effects when using an external bypass switcher/looper. SND is the output of the BOOST/ENHANCE section, RTN is the input of the AMP section. SND is connected to RTN when no instrument jacks are inserted in the effects loop. Note that all pedals inserted in the passive effects loop are still in the signal chain when any or both sections of the Heatseeker are in bypass mode.
Heatseeker features a power-up bypass/engage pre-set function for the footswitches. You can change the default function by holding down the footswitch(es) during power-up. That way you can select which state your pedal will go to when you plug the power supply. This function comes in especially handy to people who use remote pedal switchers/loopers as they only set the state of the pedal once and then operate from the controller.
Street/MAP Price: $279
For more information, please visit crazytubecircuits.com.
Creed extend their sold-out Summer of ’99 Tour with 23 additional dates.
Produced by Live Nation, the dates begin July 9 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY and wrap August 20 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB with support from 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, Mammoth WVH and Big Wreck. *Check individual dates for lineup in each market.
When it kicked off in 2024, The Summer of ’99 Tour quickly became “one of the most anticipated tours of the summer” (USA Today) and “one of the hottest rock tickets of the year” (Billboard) for a return that “may be something this industry has never seen” (Pollstar). To date, CREED’s Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, and Scott Phillips have performed over 60 sold-out concerts throughout North America, selling over 800,000 tickets and breaking venue records in multiple markets.
“Thirty years in, it’s been a blessing to pick up right where we left off with longtime fans and to meet the next generation for the first time. It’s been an incredible ride, and we aren’t done, so here’s to a ‘Summer’ that never ends. We’ll see you on the road,” states Scott Stapp.
Creed will close out 2024 with shows in Las Vegas, NV (Dec. 30 & Dec. 31) and their newly announced dates in 2025 will follow their already sold-out Summer of ’99 and Beyond cruise sailing April 9– April 13 from Miami to Nassau with Sevendust, Hoobastank, Lit, Hinder, Fuel and more. Also in April, the band - whose audience has included fans of mainstream, rock, and country for over 25 years - will perform at Stagecoach.
For more information on all Creed tour dates as well as the opportunity to purchase entry into Mark Tremonti’s guitar clinic can be found at https://creed.com.
Tour Dates
CREED: SUMMER OF ‘99 TOUR 2025 DATES:
3DD – 3 Doors Down / D – Daughtry / BW – Big Wreck / MWVH – Mammoth WVH
Wed Jul 09 | Lexington, KY | Rupp Arena – 3DD/MWVH
Fri Jul 11 | Syracuse, NY | Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview – 3DD/MWVH
Sat Jul 12 | Camden, NJ | Freedom Mortgage Pavilion – 3DD
Tue Jul 15 | Wantagh, NY | Northwell at Jones Beach Theater – D/MWVH
Wed Jul 16 | Scranton, PA | The Pavilion at Montage Mountain – D/MWVH
Sun Jul 20 | Columbus, OH | Schottenstein Center – 3DD/MWVH
Tue Jul 22 | Hartford, CT | Xfinity Theatre – 3DD/MWVH
Thu Jul 24 | Charleston, SC | Credit One Stadium – 3DD/MWVH
Sat Jul 26 | New Orleans, LA | Smoothie King Center – 3DD/MWVH
Sun Jul 27 | Memphis, TN | FedExForum – 3DD/MWVH
Tue Jul 29 | Wichita, KS | INTRUST Bank Arena – D/MWVH
Fri Aug 01 | Lincoln, NE | Pinnacle Bank Arena – D/MWVH
Sat Aug 02 | Ridgedale, MO | Thunder Ridge Nature Arena – D/MWVH
Mon Aug 04 | Albuquerque, NM | Isleta Amphitheater – D/MWVH
Wed Aug 06 | Chula Vista, CA | North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – D/MWVH
Thu Aug 07 | Palm Desert, CA | Acrisure Arena at Greater Palm Springs – 3DD/MWVH
Sat Aug 09 | Mountain View, CA | Shoreline Amphitheatre – 3DD/MWVH
Sun Aug 10 | Stateline, NV | Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys – 3DD/MWVH (Not a Live Nation date)
Wed Aug 13 | Ridgefield, WA | RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater – 3DD/MWVH
Thu Aug 14 | Auburn, WA | White River Amphitheatre – 3DD/MWVH
Sat Aug 16 | Vancouver, BC | Rogers Arena – BW/MWVH
Tue Aug 19 | Edmonton, AB | Rogers Place – BW/MWVH
Wed Aug 20 | Calgary, AB | Scotiabank Saddledome – BW/MWVH
Previously Announced CREED Dates:
Sat Dec 28 | Durant, OK | Choctaw Casino & Resort (Sold Out)
Mon Dec 30 | Las Vegas, NV | The Colosseum
Tue Dec 31 | Las Vegas, NV | The Colosseum
Apr 9 – Apr 13 | Miami – Nassau | Summer of ’99 and Beyond Cruise (Sold Out)
Sat Apr 26 | Indio, CA | Stagecoach
A thick, varied take on the silicon Fuzz Face that spans punky, sparkling, and full-spectrum heavy.
Dimensional, thick variations on the silicon Fuzz Face voice. Surprisingly responsive to dynamics at most tube amp’s natural clean/dirty divide. Bass control lends range.
Thins out considerably at lower amp volumes.
$185
McGregor Pedals Classic Fuzz
mcgregorpedals.com
Compared to the dynamic germanium Fuzz Face, silicon versions sometimes come off as brutish. And even though they can be sonorously vicious, if dirty-to-clean range and sensitivity to guitar volume attenuation are top priorities, germanium is probably the way to go. The McGregor Classic Fuzz, however, offers ample reminders about the many ways silicon Fuzz Faces can be beastly, sensitive, and sound supreme.
Even though the two BC107B top hat transistors will look familiar to many who have poked around other SFF-style circuits, the Classic Fuzz is not precisely a silicon Fuzz Face clone. It’s distinguished by a low-pass filter “bass” control that true SFFs lack, but which widens its vocabulary extensively. In an A/B test with a solid, archetypal-sounding BC108 Fuzz Face clone, the Classic Fuzz sounded roughly equivalent at the 60-percent mark of the bass control’s range. But the Classic Fuzz was more dimensional, and on either side of the bass control I heard many intriguing tone variations spanning garage-punk snot and corpulent, almost triangle-Big Muff thickness.
Like most SFFs, the Classic Fuzz sounds best with a generous spoonful of amp volume. I ran it with a Fender Vibrolux just on the clean side of breakup. At amp volumes much lower than that, the fuzz voice thinned, the nuanced responsiveness to guitar volume attenuation dropped off, and the range of clean tones became much narrower. In its happy places, though, the Classic Fuzz rips—lending sparkling overdrive colors and banshee-scream aggression to Stratocasters and sounding especially sweet and terrifyingly mammoth with humbuckers