Have you ever actually tried to figure out how much you’ve spent on gear throughout the years? For those with simple rigs that change little over time, it’s probably not too tough. For insatiable gear heads though, you might as well ask us to figure out cold fusion. Personally, I’ve learned a lot about gear from the process of trading, buying, and selling. But it’s depressing to think about how much money I’ve spent on pedals that weren’t quite right, just to cast them aside for that next big thing.
Electro-Harmonix might help put an end to that cycle, however with the release of the Analogizer, which is designed to lay a thick coat of analog warmth on top of digital effects. After my experience with the unit, I can only imagine how much money I would have saved, and how many stompboxes I might have held onto if the Analogizer had come out years ago. And if you tossed that dusty old digital delay in the corner because its repeats were a little too cold, the Analogizer might be reason enough for you to dig it out and give it another spin.
Blast From the Past
The Analogizer works via a simple principle. It uses an all-analog circuit to process the incoming signal of a digital effect placed a head of it in a chain and adds the subtle lo-fi nuances that analog devices are known for.
The Analogizer uses four controls to shape tone. A simple gain control—ranging from 0 db to +26 db—bumps the volume and overall body of the tone, but it also has a brash vintage voicing at higher settings that works in the capacity of a stand-alone overdrive. The control can also be used with dry guitar to fatten up the tone of thin-sounding pickups.
The Analogizer effectiveness also depends on a delay time control called spread that enables you to add delay ranging from 3.5 ms to 65 ms. At 3.5 ms, the delay time isn’t very noticeable at all, except as a very effective thickening agent. At higher settings the difference is very apparent and when used in conjunction with the pedal’s blend knob, you can conjure a wide range of tones. When the spread control is set higher and mixed with a little dry signal via the blend control, you can get some neat slapback and discordant-sounding tones.
Together, the controls adds and subtract certain frequency ranges, and apply a slightly dirty character to the processed signal’s voicing. And the combination of several subtle differences added together create a larger tone while retaining the essence of the sound you began with.
Analog-y and Ecstasy
With a 2011 Gibson SG Classic, I plugged into a Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, which I then routed to the Analogizer, and into a Fender ’65 Twin Reverb reissue combo. Setting the Analogizer’s Spread control fully counter-clockwise and the Blend at maximum arpeggiated, Edge-inspired chord progressions took on a form that made the DD-6 sound more like Boss’ famous DM-2 and DM-3 analog delays.
Experimenting with this setup also demonstrated how the Analogizer rounds off the low-end on repeats. The pedal’s ability to smooth out the sharper edges of the DD-6’s tone was extraordinary. And dropping the volume and increasing the gain concurrently yielded some fat and wild-sounding delay tones that worked great for soundscape-infused, post-rock guitar work. Eventually, I turned off the DD-6 and had a ball with the Analogizer’s built-in overdrive on its own. It’s a really good overdrive—balanced with plenty of midrange, although I was left more than once wanting a little additional control for tone sweep.
While the Analogizer is extremely useful for warming up sterile-sounding rigs, it wouldn’t be an Electro-Harmonix pedal without some element of pizazz or off-the-wall tone trickery. And working with the pedal’s blend and spread controls in tandem will indeed get you some strange-sounding results. Since the spread knob only changes the time that the effect kicks in on the wet signal, mixing it with the dry can get you into some very off-the-wall, lo-fi spaces. With the DD-6 set for a long delay, the Analogizer’s blend set at 50/50 and the spread at max, the rig sounded almost like a multi-headed tape delay. The contrast between the clean, unaffected guitar and the lo-fi analog processed tone kicking in on the tail of really detailed delay tone was subtler than you’d imagine highly effective and heavy sounding—giving the impression of doubling a track in the studio.
The Verdict
If you’re looking to warm up a rig that’s populated with digital effects, the Analogizer is one of the best—and most inexpensive—ways to do it. It’s extremely simple to use, has a small footprint and has a pretty nice-sounding overdrive tone on top of everything else. There aren’t any options to change the voicing or range of the effect, which is just about the only drawback. And it would be nice to be able to brighten or darken or different guitars and amps. That said, it’s the kind of tool that can save you when encountering an unfamiliar backline that requires a little more spunk or that has a touch too much clean headroom for your digital rig. And for the price and all the dough it’ll save you on pedal replacement, the Analogizer is a steal and a truly practical addition to any board.
Buy if...
you have a collection of effects that, while versatile, could use some analog warmth.Skip if...
you enjoy the cleanliness and precise nature of digital effects.Rating...
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
