Diode switching means drive diversity in Mulder Audio’s first overdrive.
Until recently, Colorado-based Mulder Audio exclusively made audiophile cables and wiring. A funny place from which to jump into overdrive stompboxes, you say? Perhaps not. The principles of amplification are pretty much the same whether it’s a stereo, guitar amp, or overdrive. And a stereo audiophile probably knows a few things about reducing noise that the average guitar goon can’t fathom.
Mulder Audio’s foray into overdrive, the X-1, has the beautifully made look of a pedal built to audiophile standards. Better still, is dishes heaps of dirty vintage-flavored goodness with a versatility that belies its streamlined design.
Unidentified Clipping Objects
The X-1 eschews ICs and op amps in favor of a simple single-silicon-transistor circuit. Much of its varied personality can be chalked up a set of germanium and silicon clipping diodes, which can be selected or combined via the pedal’s 3-way toggle. Different diode choices offer distinct breakup textures and shift the pedal’s bass response.
The X-1’s innards reveal a hand-wired circuit made with Mulder’s own high-fidelity wire and large-format capacitors. The unit has no circuit board—components are linked via a length of terminal strip.
Ratings
Pros:
Versatile. Excellent tone. Touch sensitive.
Cons:
May be too vintage-sounding for some. Pricy.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$260
Mulder Audio X-1
mulderaudio.com
Overdrive Options Abound
The X-1’s control layout is stupidly simple. But between the changes in distortion texture yielded from its selectable diodes, the considerable gain on tap, and the impressively musical way the X-1 responds to guitar volume adjustments, the X-1 can cover everything from warm, clean boost to growling, hairy near-fuzz.
With the pedal’s volume and drive knobs maxed and the silicon diodes selected, the X-1 and an amp at the verge of breakup deliver the compressed sound and feel of a dimed low-power tube amp. (Imagine the chewy, harmonically dense fuzz of Deguello-era ZZ Top.) The compression is especially nice in the bass frequencies and doesn’t compromise low-end focus. And while it lacks EQ controls, the X-1 blended well with every amp and guitar combination I tried, thanks to its glowing transparency.
The X-1’s harmonic liveliness makes it ideal for overcoming backline challenges. At a walk-on gig, the X-1 and my Les Paul Jr. were enough to transform the provided Electro-Harmonix 44 Magnum power amp and no-name 1x12 cabinet from a sterile, lifeless canvas into a fire-breathing rig that kept up surprisingly well with the high–ticket boutique tube amps elsewhere onstage. When mated with an early-’70s 100 watt Marshall Super Lead, the X-1 added extra sparkle and grunt to the already burly Marshall, especially on the extremely satisfying setting that combines the relatively soft clipping of the germanium diodes and the harder-clipping silicon set.
The Verdict The X-1 Overdrive delivers that coveted trifecta of overdrive traits: touch sensitivity, harmonic richness, and a wide gain range, from near-clean to filthy. The $260 price may be too rich for some, but for players who crave overdrive variety and must contend with varying backlines, its many voices make it a valuable tool.
The final day is here! Enter Stompboxtober Day 31 for your last chance to win today’s pedal from Keeley and finish the month strong!
Keeley Octa Psi Transfigurating Fuzz Pedal with Polyphonic Pitch Shifting
Meet the OCTA PSI Transfigurating Fuzz – The Ultimate Combination of Pitch-Shifter, Octave Generator, and Tri-Voiced Analog Fuzz! Key features include: Instant Effect Order Switching, Flexible Output Configuration, Momentary or Latching Octave/Pitch, and more! Each pitch shift mode includes an up, down, and dual setting, resulting in 24 different modes.
Does the guitar’s design encourage sonic exploration more than sight reading?
A popular song between 1910 and 1920 would usually sell millions of copies of sheet music annually. The world population was roughly 25 percent of what it is today, so imagine those sales would be four or five times larger in an alternate-reality 2024. My father is 88, but even with his generation, friends and family would routinely gather around a piano and play and sing their way through a stack of songbooks. (This still happens at my dad’s house every time I’m there.)
Back in their day, recordings of music were a way to promote sheet music. Labels released recordings only after sheet-music sales slowed down on a particular song. That means that until recently, a large section of society not only knew how to read music well, but they did it often—not as often as we stare at our phones, but it was a primary part of home entertainment. By today’s standards, written music feels like a dead language. Music is probably the most common language on Earth, yet I bet it has the highest illiteracy rate.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest guitarists around. And he puts his volume to work creating mythical tones that have captured so many of our imaginations, including our special shoegaze correspondent, guitarist and pedal-maestro Andy Pitcher, who is our guest today.
My Bloody Valentine has a short discography made up of just a few albums and EPs that span decades. Meticulous as he seems to be, Shields creates texture out of his layers of tracks and loops and fuzz throughout, creating a music that needs to be felt as much as it needs to be heard.
We go to the ultimate source as Billy Corgan leaves us a message about how it felt to hear those sounds in the pre-internet days, when rather than pull up a YouTube clip, your imagination would have to guide you toward a tone.
But not everyone is an MBV fan, so this conversation is part superfan hype and part debate. We can all agree Kevin Shields is a guitarists you should know, but we can’t all agree what to do with that information.