How cool is it to have Mike Beigel back in the stompbox game? Over the last 45 years, the M.I.T. grad, signal-processing visionary, and Musitronics (Mu-Tron) co-founder created some of the most imaginative guitar effects ever. Some were hits: His Mu-Tron III is widely considered the best envelope follower ever, and good luck finding a modulation effect as dramatic-sounding as Beigel’s Bi-Phase. Other products foundered on their way to the marketplace, yet they provide further evidence of Beigel’s special genius.
Beigel’s latest venture, Mu-FX, has been reissuing classic Mu-Tron effects with modern updates. Their latest release is a revised Octave Divider, an octave-down effect paired with the Green Ringer ring modulator originally released by Dan Armstrong. (According to Beigel, the original Octave Divider was the first stompbox with two footswitches, which allowed you to toggle between the dual effect and octaver alone.)
Mu Redo
The 21st-century Octave Divider faithfully mimics the original’s sound and functionality, and then some. Some Mu-Tron effects were larger than Latvia, but this one resides in a relatively compact 5.5" x 4" folder-aluminum enclosure. The revised circuitry employs modern surface-mount components, with the footswitches linked via ribbon connector. A detachable 12V adapter (included) replaces the original built-in power supply.
Sonically, the results are straight outta the ’70s. The octave effect tracks well, though it’s strictly monophonic, and it requires clean, careful picking and muting for optimal results. Note that this is an analog effect created via waveform modulation, not a digital transposition. The tone is warm, fat, and a bit synth-like, as opposed to the crisper, more acoustically accurate transpositions of modern pitch-shift pedals. (Usually that’s a plus—you get the mass and depth of the lower octave without latency or high-end clutter that can compete with your dry signal. Just be aware that it sounds nothing like, say, a DigiTech Whammy Pedal or Boss Harmonist. It’s also a lot noisier.) Dedicated controls trim treble from the bass signal and set its level. A “stabilize” switch supposedly optimizes the tracking for plucked strings, though I obtained equally good results regardless of its setting.
Ratings
Pros:
Faithful ’70s sound. Dual and single effects via two footswitches.
Cons:
Some confusing functionality. A bit noisy. Requires 12v power supply (included). Pricy.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build:
Value:
Street:
$359.97
Mu-FX Octave Divider
mu-fx.com
It’s Not Easy Being Green
The other half of the equation is the Green Ringer circuit, itself “inspired” by the earlier Ampeg Scrambler. For many years I didn’t get the Ringer. It doesn’t generate the bold, clangorous tones you expect/fear when you hear the words “ring modulator”—it simply distorts a bit while adding a touch of harmonic anarchy. Like many players, I never found the effect sufficiently dramatic.
But at some point I realized that walloping the Ringer with an upstream booster yields far more exciting results. (As illustration, the audio clips embedded in the online version of this article feature the Octave Divider alone, and the effect preceded by either a clean JFET booster or dirty germanium one.) While the octave and ringer effects here have independent volume controls, you can’t get the “slam” effect without an extra booster.
The original Octave Divider’s solo button isolated the octave effect. The new version adds a select toggle, so you can solo either the octave or the ringer. Nice.
The two effects are easy to navigate once you master the knobs. But plan to spend some time getting up to speed, since some functions and labels are confusing. (Example: The tone knob does indeed affect the tone, trimming highs from the bass effect. But the adjacent bass knob regulates level, not tone.)
The Verdict
Mike Beigel’s reimagined Octave Divider is the best kind of vintage reissue: one that adds convenience, modern construction, and meaningful extras without compromising the magic of the original sound, quirks and all. Unlike 40 years ago, we now have many ways to pair fat-sounding octave effects with wild, clangorous distortion, some of which yield more aggressive and dramatic results. Still, it’s great to see this rare but influential effect resurrected in such a classy fashion.
Hotone Wong Press
Cory Wong Signature Volume/Wah/Expression Pedal
Renowned international funk guitar maestro and 63rd Grammy nominee Cory Wong is celebrated for his unique playing style and unmistakable crisp tone. Known for his expressive technique, he’s been acclaimed across the globe by all audiences for his unique blend of energy and soul. In 2022, Cory discovered the multi-functional Soul Press II pedal from Hotone and instantly fell in love. Since then, it has become his go-to pedal for live performances.
Now, two years later, the Hotone team has meticulously crafted the Wong Press, a pedal tailored specifically for Cory Wong. Building on the multi-functional design philosophy of the Soul Press series, this new pedal includes Cory’s custom requests: a signature blue and white color scheme, a customized volume pedal curve, an adjustable wah Q value range, and travel lights that indicate both pedal position and working mode.
Cory’s near-perfect pursuit of tone and pedal feel presented a significant challenge for our development team. After countless adjustments to the Q value range, Hotone engineers achieved the precise WAH tone Cory desired while minimizing the risk of accidental Q value changes affecting the sound. Additionally, based on Cory’s feedback, the volume control was fine-tuned for a smoother, more musical transition, enhancing the overall feel of volume swells. The team also upgraded the iconic travel lights of the Soul Press II to dual-color travel lights—blue for Wah mode and green for Volume mode—making live performances more intuitive and visually striking!
In line with the Hotone Design Inspiration philosophy, the Wong Press represents the perfect blend of design and inspiration. Now, musicians can channel their inner Cory Wong and enjoy the freedom and joy of playing with the Wong Press!
Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Series Electric Guitar - Shaman
Silos features six presets, tap tempo, one full second of delay time, and three voices—two of which are styled after bucket-brigade and tape-delay sounds. In the $150 price category, it’s not unusual for a digital delay to leave some number of those functions out. And spending the same money on a true-analog alternative usually means warm, enveloping sounds but limited functionality and delay time. Silos, improbably perhaps, offers a very elegant solution to this can’t-have-it-all dilemma in a U.S.-made effect.
A More Complete Cobbling Together
Silos’ utility is bolstered by a very unintimidating control set, which is streamlined and approachable. Three of those controls are dedicated to the same mix, time, and repeats controls you see on any delay. But saving a preset to one of the six spots on the rotary preset dial is as easy as holding the green/red illuminated button just below the mix and preset knobs. And you certainly won’t get lost in the weeds if you move to the 3-position toggle, which switches between a clear “digital” voice, darker “analog” voice, and a “tape” voice which is darker still.
“The three voices offer discernibly different response to gain devices.”
One might suspect that a tone control for the repeats offers similar functionality as the voice toggle switch. But while it’s true that the most obvious audible differences between digital, BBD, and tape delays are apparent in the relative fidelity and darkness of their echoes, the Silos’ three voices behave differently in ways that are more complex than lighter or duskier tonality. For instance, the digital voice will never exhibit runaway oscillation, even at maximum mix and repeat settings. Instead, repeats fade out after about six seconds (at the fastest time settings) or create sleepy layers of slow-decaying repeats that enhance detail in complex, sprawling, loop-like melodic phrases. The analog voice and tape voice, on the other hand, will happily feed back to psychotic extremes. Both also offer satisfying sensitivity to real-time, on-the-fly adjustments. For example, I was tickled with how I could generate Apocalypse Now helicopter-chop effects and fade them in and out of prominence as if they were approaching or receding in proximity—an effect made easier still if you assign an expression pedal to the mix control. This kind of interactivity is what makes analog machines like the Echoplex, Space Echo, and Memory Man transcend mere delay status, and the sensitivity and just-right resistance make the process of manipulating repeats endlessly engaging.
Doesn't Flinch at Filth
EarthQuaker makes a point of highlighting the Silos’ affinity for dirty and distorted sounds. I did not notice that it behaved light-years better than other delays in this regard. But the three voices most definitely offer discernibly different responses to gain devices. The super-clear first repeat in the digital mode lends clarity and melodic focus, even to hectic, unpredictable, fractured fuzzes. The analog voice, which EQD says is inspired by the tone makeup of a 1980s-vintage, Japan-made KMD bucket brigade echo, handles fuzz forgivingly inasmuch as its repeats fade warmly and evenly, but the strong midrange also keeps many overtones present as the echoes fade. The tape voice, which uses aMaestro Echoplex as its sonic inspiration, is distinctly dirtier and creates more nebulous undercurrents in the repeats. If you want to retain clarity in more melodic settings, it will create a warm glow around repeats at conservative levels. Push it, and it will summon thick, sometimes droning haze that makes a great backdrop for slower, simpler, and hooky psychedelic riffs.
In clean applications, this decay and tone profile lend the tape setting a spooky, foggy aura that suggests the cold vastness of outer space. The analog voice often displays an authentic BBD clickiness in clean repeats that’s sweet for underscoring rhythmic patterns, while the digital voice’s pronounced regularity adds a clockwork quality that supports more up-tempo, driving, electronic rhythms.
The Verdict
Silos’ combination of features seems like a very obvious and appealing one. But bringing it all together at just less than 150 bucks represents a smart, adept threading of the cost/feature needle.
EarthQuaker Devices Silos Multi-generational Time Reflection Delay Pedal
