"KelliherŃs guitar boat for the ŃCrack the SkyeŃ tour consisted of (left to right) a Gibson Les Paul, 1982 silverburst Gibson Les Paul Custom, Gibson Explorer, Yamaha custom SBG3000, Yamaha Custom SBG1000, First Act Custom 9-string silverburst DC Lola, and another Gibson Les Paul Custom."
Renowned amp builder and pickup designer (holding three patents), Dylana Nova Scott speaks with John Bohlinger about her pursuits of creating responsive systems of guitar tone that inspire music, explains that a circuit is never perfect or complete, recalls being in the hair-metal scene when the Nirvana bomb dropped, and surviving the gear industry through perseverance and innovation.
This month's roundup features 15 essential releases, including EarthQuaker Devicesâ all-analog tube preamp, Red Pandaâs new pitch delay, and a studio-grade line isolator from Lehle. Whether you need vintage grit or modern precision, weâve got the highlights.
Chicago Music Exchange
Fender Player II Lavender Haze Collection
Chicago Music Exchange and Andertons introduce their latest exclusive: Lavender Hazeâa Player II collection that looks like a lost custom color from Fenderâs golden era and sounds bigger, warmer, and more powerful than ever. Each instrument is loaded with exclusive âFull Dipâ pickups, upgraded wiring mods, and thoughtful vintage-inspired details.
Nobelsâ new mini pedals all feature tap tempo, mono or stereo (TRS), and true- or buffered-bypass switching. Each model offers 3 modes: MOD-mini has tremolo, phase, and u-vibe; CHO-mini has chorus 1, chorus 2, and flanger; DEL-mini tape, analog, and digital. Lots of features, great value!
Building on the legacy of the StroboStomp HD, the view-only StroboVUE delivers Petersonâs renowned strobe accuracy in an always-on pedalboard format. Its angled, high-visibility display and fully top-mounted jacks keep setups clean. Featuring pure buffered output, continuous tuning feedback, and no mute switch, StroboVUE is built for players who demand precision.
Dial in the past with the tilt EQ to create vintage bucket brigade tones, or dial it the opposite way to achieve classic â80s sounds. The Aqueous features a preamp for gain makeup to limit the input and brings the circuit to life.
This all-analog tube preamp, designed with Dr. Z Amplification, features a real EF86 pentode tube to deliver authentic warmth and touch-sensitive response. This end-of-chain solution includes a three-band EQ, independent boost, analog cabinet simulation, and XLR/headphone outputsâperfect for direct recording or pedalboard-based rigs.
Do you want complete control of your overdrive? Kernom Ridge preserves your pure analog tone while unlocking the power of digital control. Its patented Analog Morphing Core sweeps smoothly from edge-of-breakup to saturated lead and every drive tone in between. Save presets, use MIDI or expression, and command your tone.
This stereo line isolator brings you closer to the main system. Passively, it converts your stereo audio signal not only to balanced XLR but lifts the ground so thereâs no chance of noise or hum. Perfect for pedalboards or modeler, live or studioâall fitted into a handy size.
This focused digital delay features integrated pitch and frequency shifting designed for immediate, hands-on control. Shift repeats once or endlessly in the feedback loop, from clean delays to subtly twisted textures and out-there sounds.
The Dirt Dog Overdriveâdeveloped with Joey Landrethâdelivers expressive, amp-like breakup with outstanding touch sensitivity. Simple gain, level, bite, and tone controls make it easy to shape everything from warm grit to rich, sustaining drive.
This bold cross-border collab takes Summer School Electronicsâ DS-1-inspired buzzsaw distortion and smashes into Supercool Pedalsâ watery Small Clone chorus to create unmistakable grunge tones. With a chain-order switch in tow and art soaked in â90s lore, itâs a blistering love letter to an iconic sound.
This boutique, Klon-style overdrive pedal is now fully built and ready to play. Get rich, transparent drive, smooth sustain, and dynamic response without building the kit yourself. Perfect for adding warm grit or pushing your amp into singing lead tones.
The StewMac Two Kings, based on the Analog Man King of Tone, packs two legendary overdrive circuits into one fully built pedal, no soldering required. From transparent boost to rich mid-gain crunch, stack the drives for endless tonal options. Perfect for shaping your rhythm tone or adding singing sustain to solos.
This fully assembled, board-ready analog phaser pedal was inspired by the legendary Mu-Tron Phasor II. Featuring lush, sweeping modulation, rich vintage tone, and three intuitive controls for rate, depth, and feedback, it effortlessly delivers anything from subtle movement to deep, psychedelic swirlsâno assembly required.
A boutique-style pedal inspired by the Analog Man Sun Face, fully built and board-ready. The Sun Fuzz delivers rich, touch-sensitive fuzz tones with warmth, clarity, and adjustability. Featuring silicon-based circuitry with internal bias and clean blend controls for tonal finesse, it handles thick chords and saturated leads equally well.
The tweedDeluxe circuit sets the gold standard in tone for many of us. And for good reason. Itâs simple and responsive, with a warm, compressed, midrange-forward voice thatâs perfect for jazz and country lines at low to moderate volumesâand a distinctive, saturated gnarliness in the upper reaches of its output thatâs hard to beat for rock. If thatâs the sound you hear in your head, many would say a vintage model is still the one to have.
If anyone could top that with a true âtweed killer,â Iâd put my money on George Alessandro. Thatâs not just because his clientele reads like a Mount Rushmore of guitar toneâDavid Gilmour, Derek Trucks, and Warren Haynes are just a few whoâve cited Alessandro in current gear lists in PG. Itâs the combination of his deep firsthand knowledge of the history of guitar amp circuits and his tireless quest to source the finest components that not only land him those rock-star devotees, but easily place his name among mythical amp wizards like Alexander Dumble and Ken Fisher, and make him the guy for the job.
Iâve had the good fortune to play one of Alessandroâs 5E3 copies, and it was so familiar, it felt like what I imagine one of those amps must have sounded like fresh out of the factory in the late â50s. With his new combo, The Dane, heâs used that circuit as a jumping off pointâwith a nod toward Dumble as wellâand optimized it for a modern pedal-using player. Not only does the 14-watt The Dane deliver the same sonic hallmarks as the 5E3, it offers more headroom and an even wider range of touch-sensitive response.
Do the Evolution
Despite all the tweed Deluxe talk, the Dane is no clone. Instead, itâs inspired by the 5E3 circuit and a Dumble Tweedle Deeâthat legendary amp builderâs own tweed Deluxe modâthat landed on Alessandroâs bench for service. From there, Alessandro evolved the design, creating a unique preamp circuit, which uses a pair of ECC83MG/12AX7s. On the user end, the most recognizable change might be the inclusion of a 3-band EQ. Alessandro paired his preamp with a â50s-style output section that employs a pair of 6V6s. Together, and in conjunction with Alessandroâs signature Eminence GA-SC59, they evoke a vintage vibe, achieving the tube compression and harmonic complexity tweed Deluxe players know well, but with more clean volume.
As a tweed Deluxe player who also loves pedals, Iâve often found myself a little bit conflicted. Thereâs a weird imaginary line I feel like I cross every time I plug a fuzzâor even worse, a digital pedalâinto my 1949 5A3. But if I want to use my prized amp on as many gigs as I do, itâs a necessity. With The Dane, not only is there no conflict, it actually feels more welcoming to pedals. Thatâs not just about headroom, though that certainly helpsâthe 3-band EQ really goes the distance when it comes to shaping your sound.
Much like the dynamic interplay between the tone and volume controls on a vintage Deluxe, each of The Daneâs EQ controls seems to shape the whole of the sound. I found this to be especially helpful with dialing in dirt tones. Over the course of a few sessions with The Dane, I plugged in a wide range of gritty pedals, including a Klon KTR, Analog Man King of Tone, EHX Ripped Speaker (thereâs some comedy here in using a fuzz thatâs supposed to sound a little broken), and an Analog Man Sun Fuzz. In each, I found that I was able to shape their tones with the EQ more than I would ever expect from other amps. And that goes for using those to push The Dane into overdrive as well, which, as ruthlessly delightful as it is to do on a tweed Deluxe, is not especially sculpt-able. With the KTR adding some gain and heading into cranked volume territory, the mid control alone added a heft to my Creston JM-style that felt resolutely heavy and thickâmuch more so than I would expect from JM-style pickups. And at more polite volumes, I could use the pedal alone to get my overdrive, while still preserving the character and voice of the amp.
Full Control at Your Fingertips
While reviewing The Dane, thereâs a quote that kept coming back to me from when I interviewed Alessandro a few years ago: âIf I can make it a limitless journey, then I did my job right.â With The Dane, heâs managed to take the tweed Deluxe sound and remove the limits.
I think there are a lot of ways Alessandro gets there, and one of those is through his next-level component sourcing. With the fervor of a hi-fi aficionado, Alessandro has most of his components custom built, with quality control that goes well beyond the consumer-grade level.
The result is that The Dane, like every Alessandro amp Iâve played, responds like a performance sports car: It runs silently, has an ultra wide dynamic range, a broad frequency range, and is fast and articulate, all of which keeps control in the playerâs hands. That might be daunting if youâre used to an amp that heavily colors your phrasing by limiting the window of control (though pedals can help with that). But if you want to keep that window wide open, The Dane will get you there.
What, exactly, does that mean? The response, dynamics, and EQ keep the controls in your hands. Playing intensity and attack have more noticeable results. Sustain is there when you need it. In short, The Dane is a thrill to play.
The Verdict
As a devoted tweed Deluxe user, Iâm genuinely taken by The Dane. Alessandro has preserved the character of the original while opening it up with more dynamic range, control, and possibility. But it goes beyond that, because The Dane isnât just a 5E3-style ampâitâs a solution. Whether youâre playing clean articulate lines (I didnât have an archtop handy, but I can assure you this amp would be the perfect transparent companion for jazz hits) or cranking with abandon, The Dane has the harmonic range and firepower for the gig. Its 14 watts are not only bold and powerful, this combo maintains its composure through its entire output, making it fully usable at all levels. At $3,000, The Dane, handmade by one of the ultimate legends of amp building, is an unrivaled feat.
Running two effects of the same kind concurrently can yield amazing results. Stacked fuzzes or RATs? Iâm in heaven. Other effects work less reliably well in pairs. Two reverbs, for instance, can sound killer but can turn an otherwise carefully crafted signal to smog. Twin phasers, in my experience, can be counted among the effects that are delicious together. It takes just two simple one-knob phasers to get very weird. Build two phasers into one, though, and add a few extra tone shaping controls, and the weird gets weirder fast.
Keeleyâs new U.S.-made, digital Oaxa twin phaser can feel nearly as simple and straight ahead as two Small Stones running side by side, and honors the elegance and ease of that solution in many ways. Thereâs just three knobsâfor rate, feedback, and depth. A small 3-position toggle switches between 10-stage phase, 4-stage phase, and a Uni-Vibe-style mode. Two footswitches select between the individual phaser or a combination of the two. If you want to keep things simple, you can dive in no further than that and have a great time. But Oaxa bears many secrets for deeper diggers.
Working the Waves
The phase effect is fun to use intuitively. And adding it in and out can be low stakes. Feeling that a riff sounds lifeless? Add a phaser and twist the rate. Maybe itâll be exactly what a song needs. Maybe it will sit like rotten mayonnaise. But it wonât have taken much effort to try, and youâll probably have fun along the way. The Oaxa is deeply satisfying in this manner.
The brilliant, big rate knob can be adjusted with precision using just a toe (provided you have the right shoes). And while the depth and feedback controls might be an affront to Phase 90 and Small Stone users, Oaxaâs controls open up useful phase possibilities without leaving you feeling doomed to get lost in the weeds. The depth control, for instance, has so much range it can render the phaser all but subliminalâmaking it a killer always-on sweetener that can be nudged in and out of prominence via the depth knob. Those just-barely-there depth settings can also be subtly re-shaped by the similarly rangey feedback control, which acts like a filter, adding wah-like focus at mild depth. At more intense depths, the feedback adds appreciably more vowelly âwowâ tonalities that give Oaxa more than a hint of a Mu-Tronâs beautiful vintage essence. This variationâand interactivityâamong depth and feedback colors alone makes Oaxa a great production, arrangement, and guitar layering tool, particularly in spacious arrangements.
Bear in mind that all the phase phenomena Iâve described here were observed in the 4-stage phaser voiceâmy most natural and familiar phase space. But the 3-way toggle can also be configured for 10-stage voicing or as a Uni-Vibe-style phase effect. The 10-stage voice is a little more binary than the 4-stage, and can obscure some overtone nuance in the wash. At extreme depth settings it can even sound almost tremolo-like. For a lot of players, the more focused modulation waves in the 10-stage voice will be a perfect fit for rhythmic delays or staccato passages begging for a little extra wobble and a more interesting tail. The Uni-Vibe style setting, meanwhile, is a pretty authentic version of the effect and delivers a recognizable take on the drippy âwhoopâ-like phase created by a Uni-Vibeâs optical circuit. Like the real deal, it sounds fantastic with fuzz.
Multiplied by Two ... and More
When both phasers are on, Oaxaâs jewel lamp flashes blue and red, and the visual suggestion of a party is apt. There are deep and crazy sounds here that can take you deep into the wee hours. But not all combinations are magic. Certain pairings of modulation rate and harmonic peaks can obscure details that might make a single phase voice pleasing. But the option to run the two phasers in parallel or series enables more or less detailed versions of a compound phaser voice, respectively. And just-right phase-rate relationships combined with contrasting voices, depth, and feedback can yield fantastic results. Fast-throbbing U-Vibe style modulations combined with slow, deep 4-stage phases are extra dimensionalâas are just about any two high-contrast rates. Nailing these combinations and hearing them via stereoâthe other great force multiplier on Oaxaâcan pull you deeper still into the pedalâs capacities.
The Verdict
Do you remember what I said at the top about the Oaxa being simple? Itâs true. Itâs just that Oaxaâs elegant design also has a lot in store for troublemakers willing to dig a bit. And if the stereo and dual-phase settings arenât trouble enough, you can use the footswitches and knobs to introduce compression or extra filtering, or reconfigure the toggle to include 2- and 6-stage phaser voices. Iâd venture that using the most basic functions will make the $199 price well worth it over time. But youâll likely celebrate the day you stumble across one of Oaxaâs more complex finds. I suspect such days will be many in number, too.
Any effect can color a guitarâs personality and language. But Bossâ new XS-1 Poly Shifter literally stretches the instrumentâs vocal range. With the ability to shift input by +/-3 octaves or semitones, it can turn your guitar into a bass, a synth, or a baritone, or function as a capo. It also seamlessly generates harmonies for single note leads and keeps up with quick picking without any apparent latency. Furthermore, the pedal is capable of stranger fare that stokes many out-of-the-box ideas. But if youâre a guitarist that plays more than one role in your bandâor musical life in generalâthe XS-1 can be a utilitarian multitool, too. Itâs a pedal that can live many lives.
- YouTube
The XS-1, which was released alongside its bigger, more intricate sibling, the XS-100, is an accessible route to exploring pitch shiftingâs potential. Housed in a standard Boss enclosure, it doesnât consume a lot of floor space like the XS-100 or DigiTechâs Whammy. And while it achieves this spatial economy in part by forgoing a built-in expression pedal (which could be a deal breaker for some potential customers) itâs still capable of +/- seven semitones and a +/- three-octave range that can be utilized in momentary or latching applications.
Slipping, Sliding, and Twitching
Though digital pitch shifters have always been capable of amazing things, early ones sounded very inorganic at times. High-octave sounds in particular could come across as artificial, like the yip of a robot chihuahua plagued by metal fleas. Some very creative players use these colorsâas well as the most sonorous pitch shift tonesâto great effect (Nels Cline and Johnny Greenwoodâs alien tonalities come to mind). In other settings, though, these older pitch devices can be downright cringey.
âThe pedal clearly represents several leaps forward from first-generation pitch shifters.â
The XS-1 belies digitalness in some octave-up situations. But the pedal clearly represents several leaps forward from first-generation pitch shifters. Tracking is excellent and shines in string bending situations. Semitone shifts can provide focused harmony or provocative dissonance depending on the wet/dry mix and which semitones clash or sing against the dry signal. At many settings the XS-1 feels alive and organic, too, with legato lines taking on many of the touch characteristics of a violin-family instrument. You get far less of a note-to-note âhiccup,â and glissandos take on a beautifully fluid feelâwith or without a slideâletting the XS-1 deliver convincing pedal- and lap-steel-style textures when you add a single octave up. (Such applications sound especially convincing when you kick back on guitar tone and restrict your fretwork to the 3rd through 5th strings, which keeps digital artifacts at bay.)
Mixmaster Required
The most crucial XS-1 control is the mix. For the most convincing bass, baritone, and 12-string tones, youâll want a fully wet signal. But composite sounds can be awesome, too. You can use the controlâs excellent sensitivity and range to highlight or fine tune the prominence of a consonant harmony. But itâs sensitive enough to make blends with dissonant harmonies sound a lot more intentional and integrated. And many of these eerie, wonky, off-balance textures are extra effective when introduced in quick bursts via the momentary switch. (That switch can also deliver great flashes of drama with more consonant harmoniesâlike dropping in a 3rd or 5th above a resolving chord in a verse.)
You can get creative in other ways using dissonant blends. Droney open tunings can yield fields of overtones that sound extra fascinating with delay, reverb, or 12-string guitar⌠or all of them! Dialing in blends that really work takes some trial and error, and youâll definitely hit a few awkward moments if youâre navigating by instinct alone. But those same experiments often uncover real gemsâespecially in the pitch-down modes, which tend to produce more mysteriously atmospheric textures than their pitch-up counterparts.
The Verdict
Bossâ most straightforward pitch shifter covers a lot of ground. If you play in a duo, trio, or small band, it can expand that collectiveâs stylistic and harmonic range. Itâs small, at least relative to treadle-equipped pitch shifters, so if youâre not a pitch shift power user, you donât sacrifice a lot of room for an effect you might only employ occasionally, and you can still use the expression pedal jack to hook up a pedal for dynamic pitch control. The $199 price puts it in line with competitors of similar size and feature sets, but the XS-1 is a great value compared to more elaborate, treadle-equipped pitch shifters. If youâre taking your first forays into pitch shifting, or know that you need only the most straightforward functions here, it will ably return the investment. And along the way, it might even unlock a whole cache of unexpected tonal discoveries.
