A toneful trembler packed with vintage tics and new tricks.
Ā
RatingsPros:A wide range of tube-warmed tremolo sounds with a friendly control set. Cons: Might be a tad conservative for sonic buccaneers. Street: $199 Fender MTG Tube Tremolo fender.com | Tones: Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
When gospel-blues legend Pops Staples needed a backline amp, he always requested a Fender with āshake.ā If Pops were still with us, heād be able to get all the āshakeā he neededāand moreāwith Fenderās MTG Tube Tremolo.
Like other Fender pedals Iāve encountered, the MTG honors the companyās heritage by dialing in the traditional sounds just right. But in this case it also explores the wilder side of the tremolo effect and offers control that no old-school amp can offerāthanks in large part to the highly flexible wave controls designed with Bruce Egnater.
Peek Inside the Box
There is, indeed, a tube inside this pedalās ultra-sturdy 5" x 4" x 2" metal enclosure. Itās a tiny NOS 6025 preamp tube, made in the 1940s. Fender acquired a thousand of them when it bought Groove Tubes in the ā90s. So, naturally, the device requires a 9V power supplyāespecially because the perceived volume drops a little as tremolo intensity increases, and turning the level dial up compensates for the loss by raising the voltage fed to the tube. Cranking the level also works as a bit of a signal boostābut just a bit.
All four dials have LED position-markers that improve visibility on dark stages, but you can switch the lights off with a switch at the back of the pedal. This is increasingly a standard-issue feature on Fender pedals, and itās a brilliant, genuinely useful idea.
Just as on a classic Fender amp, there are controls for tremolo speed and intensity. What is improved is the degree of precision the MTGās speed knob provides. Handy markers for specific beat subdivisionsāquarter note, dotted eighth note, quarter note triplet, eighth note, dotted sixteenth note, eighth note triplet, and sixteenth noteāare listed around the speed dial, eliminating guesswork. Since there are no detents, you can set the knob anywhere between those spots, too. More personalized speed settings are possible via the tap tempo switch, and a flashing LED above the tap switch always pulses to the active tremolo tempo.
Outside the Box
Tremolo wave-shaping controls include a mode toggle and a wave dial. The latter blends or selects between available waves shape in a given mode, and together they can produce real magicāsculpting trem forms that run from languid, smooth, and soothing to the nattering blips of Martian radar. In toggle-up position, the mode switch moves through a triangle- to sine-, to square-wave range, providing traditional smooth textures as well as choppy effects. In the middle toggle position, the wave control spans sawtooth to triangle waves. In the down position the wave control governs pulse width for a hard square wave, which is great for stuttering effects.
The wave dial really expands the potential of each waveform. In the toggleās up position, for example, 12 oāclock on the wave dial provides a creamy balance between smooth and choppy with more buttery and hard pulses at the two extremes. (I run through all three toggle settings at different wave dial positions in the demo video online.) The many pulse and wave shape variations can translate to surreal textures with other effects too: I had a blast setting the toggle in pulse-width terrain, cranking the wave dial all the way right, and passing the signal through a granular delay for a sound a lot like mice squeaking in Morse code.
Obviously, the MTG is not just about weirdness, Many players who use this pedal are likely looking for accurate traditional tones. And with my Stratocaster plugged into a clean Carr Vincent with the reverb on 3, the MTG Tube Tremolo was a ticket to the past. I found a wide variety of pretty and articulate tremolo sounds. My favorites included the gentle shimmers I got from a balance of triangle and square waves, as well as a eighth-note setting with the intensity that I crafted in honor of Pops Staples.
The Verdict
Both classicists and rebels will find textures to love in Fenderās super-easy-to-use, mid-priced MTG, which puts the companyās classic tube tremolo formulasāand moreāin one convenient box.
Watch the Video Demo:
- Fender Releases the Duel Pugilist Distortion and Dual Marine Layer Reverb - Premier Guitar āŗ
- Fender Dual Marine Layer Review - Premier Guitar āŗ
- Fender Releases New Line of Hammertone Pedals - Premier Guitar āŗ
- Fender Partners with Manly Bands to Create Wedding Ring Collection āŗ
- Fender Shields Blender Review - Premier Guitar āŗ
Patterns can be viewed as boring or trite, but a little bit of creativity can turn them into bits of inspiration.
Chops: Intermediate Theory: Intermediater Lesson Overview: ⢠Learn different ways to arrange scales. ⢠Combine various sequences to create more intersting lines. ⢠Solidify your technique by practicing unusual groupings of notes. Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation. |
I want to offer some food for thought on making sequences musical. Using sequences in our playing helps develop our musicianship in various ways. It can help us tune into the fretboard, develop melodic ideas all around the neck, and further our improvisation and compositional skills. So, spending time with sequences is certainly not time wasted. Please note that I sometimes use the word ārule" in this column, this is only a pointer to keeping on track of our exploration of these concepts. The intellect is very useful, but intuition is where the creativity comes from. When in balance lots of great things can be done. Let's get stuck in!
It's simple to play a scale from bottom to top, or top to bottom, but we can develop a sequence by shuffling these notes around. In Ex. 1 we have a C Major scale (CāDāEāFāGāAāB) played in thirds followed by a sequence highlighting the diatonic triads of the major scale. By following a ārule" we can develop many different sequences. The options are endless and a little overwhelming.
Click here for Ex. 1
Lets start by simply combining an interval sequence with an arpeggio sequence. In Ex. 2, the first two beats of the first measure feature ascending thirds. This is then followed by a triad arpeggio starting from the third note on the string. The next set of thirds then starts on the āand" of beat 4. The entire sequence is a seven-note pattern that is created by combining two thirds and a triad. It gives us a nice bit of rhythmic displacement as the phrase is now starting in a different place in the measure.
Click here for Ex. 2
Ex. 3 is a descending idea in A minor that basically flips the sequence we looked at in Ex. 2. Here, we are starting with two descending thirds before the triad. I'm using pull-offs and economy picking to articulate the triads. This one works well over D minor as well if you want a D Dorian (DāEāFāGāAāBāC) flavor.
Click here for Ex. 3
You can see the effectiveness of combining different sequences and groupings of notes to create interesting runs. It's also really effective for making phrases. In Ex. 4 we take a small fragment from Ex. 3 and change the rhythm. In the sound example I repeat this a few times over some implied chords in my bass line: Am, F, and Dm. It's great to get more from one line by seeing the different chord types you can play it over.
Click here for Ex. 4
In Ex. 5 we're going to start using fourths and fifths. It starts with an ascending A minor triad (AāCāE) before leaping to the 9 (B) and then hitting a G major triad (GāBāD). A similar pattern leads into the C major triad (CāEāG). Throwing in these wider intervals alongside triads is very effective for creating a dramatic sounding runs.
Click here for Ex. 5
For our next example (Ex. 6), we will take fragments from Ex. 5 and space them out a bit. I wanted once again to show how these sequence ideas can also be helpful for developing melodic phrases. Once we have a cool sequence or fragment, all we need to do is be creative with how we play it. We can change the rhythm, harmonic context, dynamic, and much more.
Click here for Ex. 6
Before we move on, it's important to remember that we can add colorful notes to our triads. Let's begin with some seventh-chord arpeggios. Ex 7 features are diatonic seventh arpeggios in G minor (functioning as a IIm chord) to get a Dorian sound.
Click here for Ex. 7
Ex. 8 is a little gratuitous of me. It begins with an idea made of several different concepts. First, we start with an Am7 arpeggio (AāCāEāG), then descend down an A5 arpeggio. I follow that up with diatonic thirds and end with a pedal-point sequence. If that's not enough, we then take this bigger idea and fit it around a chord progression. I move it to G7, Dm7 and then I break my ārule" slightly and outline notes of a C6 arpeggio (CāEāGāA). However, it does keep the same melodic contour of the initial idea. I used my ear and fretboard to guide me. It's always healthy to have a fine balance between intellect and intuition.
Click here for Ex. 8
We dig into C harmonic minor (CāDāEbāGāAbāB-C) for Ex. 9's monster two-measure lick. It sounds evil! In composing this phrase, I kept to the basic concept of finding seventh-chord arpeggios within C harmonic minor in the 8th position. I followed my ear as well as my slowly developing intellect. However, if you look closely you can see I was following a mini chord progression through this line. We start out with a CmMaj9 arpeggio (CāEbāGāBāD) in the first beat, followed by a G7b9 arpeggio (GĀāBāDāFāAb). Here we have a very strong Im-V7 movement in C minor. I then move back to our CmMaj9 arpeggio and in the second measure we start descending down an Eb augmented triad (EbāGāB). This is then followed by more CmMaj9 goodness.
Click here for Ex. 9
Ex. 10 is now taking Ex. 9 and extending it into a cool flamenco-inspired melody. The rhythms in this were inspired by the incredible Paco De Lucia. I follow the sequence from the previous example almost exactly, but I use a bit of artistic license to repeat certain fragments to fit into a ātop line" or āhead"-style melody.
Click here for Ex. 10
My aim here isn't to give you one rule to follow but instead to encourage you to take the sequences you know and love and start getting more out of them. Enjoy and stay safe!
Improved tracking and richness in tones. Stereo panning potential. 100 presets.
Can be hard to use intuitively. Expensive!
$645
Electro-Harmonic POG III
Itās been a very rainy, moody couple of weeks, which is to say, perfect weather for getting lost in the labyrinthine depths of the new Electro-Harmonix POG III polyphonic octave generator. The POG III is yet another evolution (mutation?) within EHXās now rather expansive stable of octave effects. But to those who know the POG through its original incarnation, or one of several simpler subsequent variants, the POG III represents a pretty dramatic leap forward.
Thereās a few things you should know about the POG III straight away. First, itās very expensive. At $645, itās 245 clams more than its predecessor, the POG 2, (which was already a considerable investment) and more than twice the price of the simplest POG pedals like the Micro and Pico. Cold hard cash isnāt all youāre likely to trade away, either. Extracting the most value and utility from the POG III takes time and effortāeven if youāre experienced with other pedals in the POG family. But for the guitarist and musician whose creations and pleasures transcend traditional playing styles and song forms, or for whom sound design is a primary pursuit, the POG III is a potential studio fixture and portal to musical parts undiscovered.
Copious Control
This is no cop out: The POG III has many more features and combinations thereof than can be mentioned in the space of this reviewāeven if we merely listed them. The manual that EHX included (and is a must-read) is 23 pages long. Itās digestible, certainly. But there is much to learn.
āThe Organ Swell reveals much about how rich and organic octave tones can sound in the POG III.ā
Even so, the POG IIIās 10 factory presets (you can create up to 100 of them) are great jumping-off points for crafting your own sounds and understanding the pedalās basic dynamics, functionality, and interactivity among the controls. The organ swell preset is a great place to start. Players and bands that use keyboard and synth pads behind their guitar phrases were among POGās early adopters. POG IIIās organ sounds are pretty impressive. And while few will be fooled into thinking you have the pipe organ from St. Stephenās Cathedral at your fingertips, the Organ Swell reveals much about how rich and organic octave tones can sound in the POG III. With precise timing and fretting, crafty chord phrasing and spacing, the right attack setting, and less aggressive guitar volume and tone settings, you can fashion a pretty convincing Bach organ arpeggioāparticularly if you add a suitably expansive reverb or delay.
Cooking Up Wider, Weirder Images
A very cool new feature on the POG III is the panning knobs that accompany individual bands. Panning each band as part of a stereo image adds dimensionality. But it can also lend a more organic āliveā flavor to a tone composite by situating fundamental sounds front and center, while sounds that serve as harmonic support can be mixed lower and reoriented spatially to offer more or less emphasis. These relationships can be enhanced and manipulated further by using the stereo spread control and the detune slider to create pitch modulation effects that range from mellow chorus to an almost rotary-speaker-like movement. This stereo mixing process is among the most fun and engaging parts of using the POG III.
Unusual filtering effects are here in abundance for exploring, too. Like so many modes on the POG III, the possible permutations feel endless, but here are some interesting examples.
⢠High-mid filter emphasis, matched to a quacky, fast envelope trigger, a sprinkle of perfect 5th, an even healthier scoop of +1 and +1 octave, and a strong foundation of -2 octave, all driven by a melodic pattern of staccato 16th notesāthe result is a strange percolating pattern of carnival organ sounds against an anchor of low-resonant cello tones.
⢠Shifting the filter emphasis to the low end with similar envelope sensitivity, bumping the -2 octave and fifths, and subjecting the dry signal to the same filtering effects yields tectonic sub-rumbles and swells that a film- or game-sound designer could use to suggest the propulsion unit for a city-sized alien mothership. Even leaning my guitar against my amplifier and bouncing a racquet ball against the guitar body sounds amazing here. (And yes! You should really try this!)
Granted, many of these sounds fall as much into the category of sound effects and design as much as music in the songs-and-riffs sense. But I think strength in one category can reinforce the other, and in the case of the POG III, there is enough range in both directions to intrigue players everywhere along the spectrum. It still excels at funky bass textures, twisted faux 12-string, and at providing ghostly, backgrounded high-harmony lines for leads. But these time-tested POG applications merely scratch the surface.
The Verdict
The POG has come a long way since its old bent-metal, big box days. The tracking is excellent, and thereās a lot less fighting against artificial, cheesy sounds once you grasp the finer points of crafting a sound and your dynamic approach. The POG IIIās complexity makes the going a little harder on fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants intuitive tinkerers, and musicians with experience in synthesis will probably navigate the unitās features much more readily than some. As expensive as it is, itās probably best to be sure you can find a place for it in your work before you take the leap. But if you can afford $645 to take a chance, the POG III may illuminate whole directions you might not have considered with a less expansive effect.
Voxās Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
Two new pedals from the Valvenergy series use a Nutube valve to generate unique dynamics and tone ranges that can be used to radical ends.
When tracking in a studio or DAW, youāre likely to use compression and EQ on most things. Many enduringly amazing and powerful records were made using little else. And though many musicians regard both effects as a bit unglamorous and utilitarian, EQs and comps are as capable of radical sounds as more overtly āweirdā effectsāparticularly when they are used in tandem.
I spent a day workshopping ideas in my studio using just the Vox Valvenergy Smooth Impact compressor and Tone Sculptor EQ, and a dash of amp tremolo and reverb to taste. In the process, I produced more arresting sounds than I had heard from my guitars in many days. There were radical direct-to-desk-style Jimmy Page/Beatles distortion tones, sun-sized, cosmic electric 12-string, Bakersfield twang that could burn through crude, and many other sweet and nasty colors. Most decent EQ and compressor combinations can achieve variations on all those themes. But the Smooth Impact and Tone Sculptor also reveal interesting personalities in unexpected places.
The individuality and energy in the Vox Valvenergy pedals is attributable, in part, to the Nutube vacuum tube used in the circuit. Though it looks little like a vacuum tube as most guitarists know them, the thin, wafer-like Nutube is, in fact, a real vacuum tube like those used in fluorescent displays. Fluorescent display tubes have limitations. A maximum operating voltage of around 40 volts means they arenāt useful for bigger power tube applications like a 6L6, which has an operating voltage of about 400 volts. But it can work quite well as a preamp tube in concert with an op amp power section, which is how the Nutube is used in the new Valvenergy pedals, as well as older Vox products like the Vox MV50 and Superbeetle amps.
Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
When you think about ācinematicā effects, you likely imagine big reverb or modulation sounds that create a vivid picture and feeling of space or motion. But narrow, hyper-focused EQ profiles can evoke very different and equally powerful images. Radical EQ settings can add aggression, claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts more evocative of Hitchcockās Psycho than Ridley Scottās Blade Runner.
Any of these moods can be summoned from the Valvenergy Tone Sculptor. Six sliders cut or boost 10 dB frequency bands spanning 100 Hz to 5.6 kHz. A seventh slider cuts or boosts the master output by 12 dB. This platter of options might not sound like much. But you can use these seven controls together to very specific ends.
āRadical EQ settings can add aggression, near-claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts.ā
For example, bumping the high-midrange and the master output produces narrow cocked-wah-like filter sounds with enough push to produce extra amp overdriveāeffectively turning the Tone Sculptor into a buzzy, almost fuzz-like filter effect. But unlike a wah, you can carefully scoop high end or add a spoonful of bass to blunt harsh frequencies or give the tone a bit more weight. You can also broaden the palette of an amp/guitar pairing. I matched a particularly trebly Jazzmaster bridge pickup with a very hot and toppy Vox AC15-flavored amp for this testāa recipe that can be spiky on the best days. But with the Tone Sculptor in the line, I could utilize the same sharp, fuzzy, and filtered Mick Ronson wah tones while shaving some of the most piercing frequencies.
EQ pedals exist on many points along the cost spectrum. And at $219, the Tone Sculptor lives on the high side of the affordable range. Does it offer something less expensive models canāt deliver? Well, for one thing, I found it relatively quiet, which is nice whether youāre shaping toppy high-contrast effects or performing more surgical adjustments. And the sliders feel nuanced and nicely tapered rather than like a dull axe with a few basic frequency notches. But in many situations I also liked the color imparted by the circuitāgenerated, presumably, by the Nutube. āColor,ā in audio terms, is a broad and subjective thing, and one should not necessarily expect the warm, tube-y glow of a vintage tube Pultec. Still, the Tone Sculptor has many forgiving, flattering qualitiesātypical of studio EQsāthat enable fine tuning and experimentation with more radical and creative applications of the effect.
Valvenergy Smooth Impact
As with the Tone Sculptor, the Smooth Impactās use of Nutube engenders certain expectations. Itās easy to surmise that because Smooth Impact has a vacuum tube in the circuit that it will behave like a little Teletronix LA-2A leveling amplifier. Thatās a big ask for a $219 stompbox. On the other hand, the Smooth Impact exhibits some appealing characteristics of studio tube compression. At lower compression levels, it works well as a thickening agentāadding mass without much additional noise. And at higher compression levels it can sound snappy, crisp, and tight without feeling like youāve bled every trace of overtone from your signal.
The Smooth Impactās controls arenāt totally atypical. But because it lacks some familiar features like variable attack and release, yet is more complicated than a 1-knob DynaComp, you have to trust your ear to navigate interactions among the controls. The most unfamiliar of these is the 3-way vintage/natural/sag toggle. The first two are defined by preset attack and release settings: Vintage is slow attack and long release, and natural is the opposite. The sag modeās compression is more like what you get from tube saturation, and itās useful for adding thickness and complexity to a thin amp tone at modest compression levels.
Though the vintage and natural modes certainly have a different feel, they donāt always sound worlds apart. And like the sag mode, the thing they have in common is the way they enrich lifeless amp output at low to medium compression, with a bit of grind from the tube gain and a little extra makeup gain from the output. At the most aggressive settings, the tube gain can get a little crispy. And really crushing the compression can flatline your tone without adding much in the way of extra sustain. These are limitations common to many compressors with similar features. But unless I was chasing very ultra-snappy Prince and Nile Rodgers fast-funk caricatures, I enjoyed the Smooth Impact most in its in-between ranges, where mass, mild, harmonious drive, and low noise showcase the pedalās sometimes studio-like personality.
IK Multimedia is pleased to announce the release of new premium content for all TONEX users, available today through the IK Product Manager.
The latest TONEX Factory Content v2 expands the creative arsenal with a brand-new collection of Tone Models captured at the highest quality and presets optimized for live performance. TONEX Tone Models are unique captures of rigs dialed into a specific sweet spot. TONEX presets are used for performance and recording, combining Tone Models with added TONEX FX, EQ, and compression.
Who Gets What:
TONEX Pedal
- 150 crafted presets matched to 150 Premium Tone Models
- A/B/C layout for instant access to clean, drive, and lead tones
- 30 Banks: Amp & cab presets from classic cleans to crushing high-gain
- 5 Banks: FX-driven presets featuring the 8 new TONEX FX
- 5 Banks: Amp-only presets for integrating external IRs, VIRā¢, or amps
- 5 Banks: Stompbox presets of new overdrive/distortion pedals
- 5 Banks: Bass amp & pedal presets to cover and bass style
TONEX Mac/PC
- 106 new Premium Tone Models + 9 refined classics for TONEX MAX
- 20 new Premium Tone Models for TONEX and TONEX SE
TONEX ONE
- A selection of 20 expertly crafted presets from the list above
- Easy to explore and customize with the new TONEX Editor
Gig-ready Tones
For the TONEX Pedal, the first 30 banks deliver an expansive range of amp & cab tones, covering everything from dynamic cleans to brutal high-gain distortion. Each bank features legendary amplifiers paired with cabs such as a Marshall 1960, ENGL E412V, EVH 412ST and MESA Boogie 4x12 4FB, ensuring a diverse tonal palette. For some extremely high-gain tones, these amps have been boosted with classic pedals like the Ibanez TS9, MXR Timmy, ProCo RAT, and more, pushing them into new sonic territories.
Combined with New FX
The following 5 banks of 15 presets explore the depth of TONEX's latest effects. There's everything from the rich tremolo on a tweed amp to the surf tones of the new Spring 4 reverb. Users can also enjoy warm tape slapback with dotted 8th delays or push boundaries with LCR delay configurations for immersive, stereo-spanning echoes. Further, presets include iconic flanger sweeps, dynamic modulation, expansive chorus, stereo panning, and ambient reverbs to create cinematic soundscapes.
Versatile Control
The TONEX Pedal's A, B, and C footswitches make navigating these presets easy. Slot A delivers clean, smooth tones, Slot B adds crunch and drive, and Slot C pushes into high-gain or lead territory. Five dedicated amp-only banks provide a rich foundation of tones for players looking to integrate external IRs or run directly into a power amp. These amp-only captures span clean, drive, and high-gain categories, offering flexibility to sculpt the sound further with IRs or a real cab.
Must-have Stompboxes
TONEX Pedals are ideal for adding classic effects to any pedalboard. The next 5 banks focus on stompbox captures, showcasing 15 legendary overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals. This collection includes iconic models based on the Fulltone Full-Drive 2, Marshall DriveMaster, Maxon OD808, Klon Centaur, ProCo RAT, and more.
For Bass Players, Too
The last 5 banks are reserved for bass players, including a selection of amp & cab Tone Models alongside a few iconic pedals. Specifically, there are Tone Models based on the Ampeg SVT-2 PRO, Gallien-Krueger 800RB, and Aguilar DB750, alongside essential bass pedals based on the Tech21 SansAmp, Darkglass B7K and EHX Big Muff. Whether it's warm vintage thump, modern punch, or extreme grit, these presets ensure that bassists have the depth, clarity and power they need for any playing style.For more information and instructions on how to get the new Factory
Content v2 for TONEX, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/tonex