PRS Guitars enters into the pedal world with three all-new stompboxes. Designed by PRS Guitars in Stevensville, Maryland and made in the USA, the lineup consists of a Transparent Overdrive, Optical Compressor, and Dual Flanger.
“This whole concept started in my home studio. When recording, I was looking for tones and textures I couldn’t get straight from the guitar. When I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I would build a device with the help of some friends. That’s how the first pedal prototypes were born,” said Paul Reed Smith. “Over time, we all got so excited by them, that we decided to offer them to more players. I think these first three designs are the start of something very cool."
Horsemeat Transparent Overdrive
The PRS Horsemeat transparent overdrive is a from-scratch circuit designed to enhance guitar tone without coloring it. Using germanium diodes, Horsemeat will give throatiness without sounding nasal or too high-pitched and harmonic richness by boosting both low- and high-end frequencies, all while providing more available headroom. Depending on the setting, the PRS Horsemeat can be used as a clean boost, straight overdrive, or even enhance an amplifier’s distortion by slightly pushing the front end of the amp’s preamp section. In essence, “Horsemeat sounds a lot like a good amp.” – Paul Reed Smith
Mary Cries Optical Compressor
The PRS Mary Cries optical compressor is based on the storied LA-2A and helps to harness players’ dynamic audio range. When engaged, Mary Cries can boost clean tone, add sustain to leads, help control signal peaks, and push guitar tone without losing definition or clarity. By using the output/gain control and leaving the compression control low, players can also use Mary Cries as a boost pedal.
Wind Through the Trees Dual Flanger
The PRS Wind Through the Trees dual flanger is best described as two flangers fighting each other, resulting in a sound that is reminis- cent of the wind whipping through the trees. Use the PRS Wind Through the Trees to create airy harmonics, moody frequency swirls, jet-engine swooshes, and fluctuating warbles.
New Product Premiere | PRS Guitars
All PRS pedals feature through-hole soldering, which broadened the component selection and allowed for the best-sounding parts to be used. PRS pedals are also true bypass, so they are out of the signal chain when turned off, allowing players to have uncolored tone at the tip of their toes. More info at prsguitars.com.
Paul Reed Smith may hate pedals, but his first foray into the realm delivers nothing but gems.
Inside each box containing a brand new PRS pedal, there’s a little fold-out card with a picture of Paul Reed Smith and a simple caption: “I hate pedals.” It’s not hard to imagine Smith’s indifference to stompboxes. PRS guitars are immaculately executed, ultra-playable instruments that reflect a focus on elemental interactions between fingers, strings, and fretboard. Indeed, for much of Paul Reed Smith’s career, stompboxes were probably held in the same regard as a broken toaster—a needless impediment to the communication of unadulterated tone.
Certainly, there is a visceral thrill to playing a guitar without effects—particularly one as nice as the average PRS. But while that’s true, stompboxes are, to many musicians, equally artful and thrilling vehicles of expression. And more than a few pedals have done their magic with a PRS guitar at the other end of a cable.
PRS’ three debut pedals—an optical compressor, overdrive, and dual flanger—do not feel like willy-nilly concessions to market pressures. In fact, in keeping with PRS tradition and ethos, these pedals seem selected and designed to offer minimal intrusion on the guitar/amp relationship if the player chooses that route. But they also have the bandwidth to be bold and even positively extroverted. Unsurprisingly, they are also built to a very high standard of quality and reflect an intense attention to detail.
PRS’ three debut pedals—an optical compressor, overdrive, and dual flanger—do not feel like willy-nilly concessions to market pressures. In fact, in keeping with PRS tradition and ethos, these pedals seem selected and designed to offer minimal intrusion on the guitar/amp relationship if the player chooses that route. But they also have the bandwidth to be bold and even positively extroverted. Unsurprisingly, they are also built to a very high standard of quality and reflect an intense attention to detail.
PRS Horsemeat, Mary Cries & Wind Through the Trees Demos | First Look
Horsemeat Transparent Overdrive
Horsemeat isn’t a pretty name, but I’m guessing it alludes to making short work—mincemeat, if you will—of the Klon Centaur in a head-to-head battle. It’s hard to know exactly how much inspiration PRS derived from the Klon. PRS emphatically insists that Horsemeat is a very original design. And its circuit board is flipped, making it impossible to determine similarities in topology. It shares at least one important design element with the Klon, in the form of germanium clipping diodes. In a very general sense, germanium diodes tend to contribute soft-edged compression and a high capacity for distortion. But without knowing how other components in the circuit modify the performance of the diodes, you have to rely on your ears. And alongside my favorite Klon clone, Horsemeat sounds like a very different animal indeed.
Next to the Klon clone—which serves here as a familiar baseline rather than a direct comparison—the Horsemeat’s headroom and the leeway to work with it via picking dynamics or the flexible and practical control array is striking.
Though the Horsemeat can get aggressive, moving through the gain control’s range yields many nuanced shades. At maximum gain levels (and with relatively neutral treble, bass, and voice settings), the Horsemeat exhibits a lot of Marshall-plexi-like characteristics. There’s a distinct sense of size, a viscerally satisfying growl to the voice, and lots of top-end response that gives first- and second-string output heat and room to breathe. If you keep the output level at a reasonable setting, the compression in the distortion never feels oppressive or muddy. Instead, the pedal’s natural compression tends to lend cohesion. And even at advanced output level settings (and there is a lot of room to run in that respect), the distortion remains articulate.
“Moving through the gain control’s range really yielded shades of gain rather than heaps of extra crunch and aggression.”
Reducing gain reveals an impressive capacity for touch sensitivity. I can’t remember the last gain device I used that responded so well to variations in fingerpicking intensity. Guitar volume attenuation, too, yields rich and very pretty clean tones. And if you’re frustrated by your single-coil pickup’s tendency to bleed high end with volume reduction, you’ll be tickled by how readily the Horsemeat can replace some of that sparkle.
The bass and treble controls not only have a lot of range, but offer very colorful and varied tones within those areas. You can extract exceptionally bright tones out of the Horsemeat (in fact, extra-trebly settings rather than high-gain sounds struck me as the pedal’s most “extreme” settings). The voice control, which shapes frequency response in the clipping stage, helps you color the pedal’s tones in even more specific ways. Aggressively clockwise settings sound and feel hot and explosive, while the lower-to-middle third of its range have a sweetness that works with the pedal’s intrinsic dynamism to add soulful movement to chord melodies.
The Verdict
It’s hard to imagine an overdrive user that wouldn’t dig working with the Horsemeat. Players that prefer the squish in overdriven Fender tweed circuits might find the output a touch too even across frequencies. But I suspect a lot of players that love the more articulate side of a Marshall’s voice or really obsess over relative transparency will find a soulmate in this fine and varied drive machine.
Mary Cries Optical Compressor
Like the Horsemeat, the Mary Cries comp hints at a possible PRS design team directive: That a guitar’s fundamental voice should always be able to be its best, most exciting self. That’s no surprise for a company whose instruments are typically so rich and sonorous. But like the Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A optical studio compressor that inspired it, the Mary Cries succeeds so well that it could probably make a busted kazoo shine.
“The Mary Cries could probably make a busted kazoo shine.”
If you ever use a real LA-2A in a studio, you’ll never forget the way it fattens, flatters, and warms a signal. You’ll also be struck by how economical the layout is. Apart from a compression ratio switch, there’s a peak reduction knob (typically just called the compression control) and a make-up gain or output gain control. Even a novice can competently use an LA-2A using ears and intuition.
Building a pedal-sized optical compressor circuit does not automatically make it the equivalent of an LA-2A. That verges on the impossible. But the Mary Cries excels at the same tasks: adding body and excitement to a signal and enabling quick adjustments without overthinking the process. The Mary Cries reduces the control scheme of an LA-2A to just the compression and output gain controls (which are the controls studio engineers use most). But just as a studio LA-2A can dramatically recast a sound with these simple interactions, the Mary Cries has the capacity to completely alter the feel and force of an instrument—beyond adding sustain and mitigating the effects of nasty peaks.
Even modest compression settings on the Mary Cries also have the effect of thickening and tightening low- and low-mid frequencies, giving the perception of extra mass and resonance without overpowering the top end. Mary Cries also colors trebles with bell-like sustain that tends to decay in almost perfect balance with the fatter low end. Players often use comps to achieve balance between frequency band extremes, but the Mary Cries’ cohesiveness, if you’ll permit a food analogy, has the feel of a sauce where every ingredient shines brilliantly.
This ability to gather and highlight fundamentals and overtones in a balanced whole does wonders for simple and extended chords. And these tone composites can purr and growl gorgeously depending on where you situate your output gain. Incidentally, Mary Cries is a magnificent clean boost when you kick up the output gain and reduce the compression to a minimum.
The Verdict
Mary Cries does a superb job of sounding and feeling transformative with very little fuss. It’s beautifully built, which manifests itself in the unit’s exceptionally quiet performance. At 219 bucks, it may seem expensive to players accustomed to other superficially simple comps. But I suspect even a cursory side-by-side play with many of these units would reveal much about Mary Cries’ nuance, elegance, and value.
Wind Through the Trees Dual Analog Flanger
Compared to its relatively streamlined siblings the Mary Cries and the Horsemeat, the analog, LFO-driven Wind Through the Trees flanger looks like a handful to manage. But for all the knobs that populate the Wind’s enclosure, it’s surprisingly intuitive.
Many contemporary, digitally attuned players will insist that a pedal this full of possibilities should come with presets. But the Wind Through the Trees’ analog interface is fluid and clear enough that you can move between varied settings with relative ease. That makes exploring the pedal’s myriad textures a flat-out joy—particularly because you can home in on very specific modulation profiles to suit a musical moment.
“One of the Wind Through the Trees greatest strengths is its ability to generate very mellow and hauntingly subliminal modulations.”
Flange is not an effect players typically associate with subtlety. But one of the Wind Through the Trees’ greatest strengths is its ability to generate very mellow and hauntingly subliminal modulations. These subtleties are made possible by the Wind Through the Trees very interactive, sensitive, and rangy controls. And, in my experience at least, the LFO mix, wet/dry output, and the very clearly labeled “added highs” controls are key to these textures.
Using these controls, you can, for instance, fashion a very understated modulation on LFO 1, blend in just a touch of twitchy, deep, high-rate modulation from LFO 2, add a touch of haze or brightness to taste with the added highs control, and then mix the sum into your signal with the very sensitive dry/wet knob. These are obviously not revolutionary means of control, but the way they work on the Wind Through the Trees feels surgical and gives you a real sense of command where some flangers feel monochromatic or purely chaotic.
But if chaos—or at least the surreal—is what you crave, the Wind Through the trees can deliver. For instance, very effective, weird-but-musical textures can be crafted by dialing closely adjacent but just offset rate and depth settings in the two LFOs, then setting their respective manual (or waveform delay) controls in opposition and cranking the regen to extra whooshy levels. Using the same scheme but mixing slow and fast rate settings in the two LFOs yields even stranger and more complex variations that combine hints of rotary speaker and ring modulation. And backgrounding these wild combinations by subtracting high end and using a dryer mix adds mysterious animation to chords and melody lines.
The Verdict
At about 350 bucks, the Wind Through the Trees is the most expensive of the new PRS pedals. And it’s understandable that some might perceive that price as high for an effect that’s, ostensibly, specialized. But the Wind Through the Trees proves how expansive a flanger can be when done right. There are lovely chorus-like sounds, plenty of intense vintage phase tones, and the deep but elegant and intuitive control set makes crafting complex modulations feel effortlessly creative.
Players accustomed to presets on a pedal with such broad capabilities may be bummed by their absence. And it’s true that moving between vastly different flange settings in the midst of a performance won’t always be a piece of cake. But in the context of song creation and in the studio, where you have the luxury of hunting for the perfect modulation color, Wind Through The Trees can be a potent musical companion.
Taylor's redesigned 500 Series, featuring Urban Ironbark, a brand-new tonewood that debuts as the back and sides of its 514ce and 512ce models.
The tonewood joins Urban Ash as the second tonewood in Taylor’s product line to come from Taylor’s urban sourcing initiative in collaboration with WestCoast Arborists, Inc. (WCA). The reimagined 500 Series models feature Taylor’s revolutionary, award-winning V-Class bracing system as well as a torrefied spruce top, yielding a sound that’s robust, muscular, and sweet.
Urban Ironbark, otherwise known as red ironbark eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sideroxylon), is one of more than 700 eucalyptus species found around the world. Taylor’s partnership with West Coast Arborists allows access to select urban trees from Southern California — part of a municipality’s managed public tree population — that are designated for removal after reaching the end of their life cycle or posing a safety risk to the community. Typically, these end-of-life trees are converted into firewood or mulch. However, Taylor’s innovative partnership with WCA allows the trees to live on as beautiful acoustic guitars.
The new urban tonewood has a physical density comparable to ebony while also delivering the sonic depth and richness of Indian rosewood, but pushed to another level. The voicing recipe for the new guitars include a torrefied (roasted) Sitka spruce top paired with Taylor's V-Class bracing. The result can be described as a fresh variation on the classic spruce/rosewood sound with the help of Taylor’s modern acoustic engineering, and with the guitar’s enhanced volume and projection immediately evident, even with a lighter playing touch.
The appointments on the new 500 Series offer a nod to the classic heritage of Taylor’s 500 Series, which were previously mahogany guitars. The back and sides feature a stain that deepens ironbark’s natural reddish and golden-brown hues, along with a lightly shaded edge burst on the body and neck. Other details include new Aerialinlays in Italian acrylic, faux tortoise shell binding and pickguard, and a single-ring abalone rosette with maple and black purfling. Both models include onboard ES2 electronics and a mahogany neck with Taylor nickel tuners.
The 514ce and 512ce include a Taylor Deluxe Hardshell Case and can be found for $3299 at authorized Taylor dealers worldwide. For more information about the new models and the entire Taylor lineup, please visit taylorguitars.com.
Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist Shawn Mendes partners with Martin on an eco-friendly signature acoustic.
Inspired by Shawn’s go-to vintage Martin and featuring classic Shawn imagery, every detail of this guitar was designed and created in collaboration with Mendes for his official signature model. This edition is crafted with 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified tonewoods in a 000 Junior-sized, 14-fret instrument and comes with a gig bag made from recycled ocean plastic that meets the Global Recycled Standard. The Shawn Mendes Signature Edition marks the largest production run of 100% FSC-certified guitars Martin has ever completed, and it is the first time a Martin guitar has been paired with a gig bag made from recycled ocean plastic.
The Jr. size and 000-body depth are intended to make this guitar extremely comfortable for any player. And with Fishman Sonitone electronics included, it's designed to sound great on stage. A sample of Shawn’s lyrics is hidden somewhere inside the guitar. You might find one laser-etched on a brace, or under the bridge, or even under the rosette. Some of the phrases include: “We lay under the same stars,” or “You’ll never be alone.”
As part of the partnership, Martin will be supporting Mendes’ goal of making music accessible to everyone. Martin will be making a contribution to the Wonder of Music Program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) presented by The Shawn Mendes Foundation. SickKids, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada's most research-intensive hospital and the largest center dedicated to improving children's health in Mendes’ home state. The Wonder of Music Program Presented by Mendes aims to fund music therapy activities that are accessible to young patients at the Toronto hospital, with activities including songwriting, first exposure to music, heartbeat songs for families of patients, and lullabies.
Shawn Mendes is a Grammy-nominated, Toronto born, multi-platinum singer/songwriter who has released four straight #1 studio albums. The international superstar has won 18 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) awards, twelve Juno Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA), eight iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVA), five BMI Awards, three American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and the Allan Slaight Honour from Canada's Walk of Fame.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Coheed and Cambria's debut album, Claudio Sanchez and camp launch Anna, a signature pedal to mark the occasion.
Coheed and Cambria vocalist / guitarist Claudio Sanchez has announced details of his brand new signature Anna guitar pedal from Wren & Cuff with pre-orders available today. To celebrate the 20th anniversary Coheed and Cambria’s beloved debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, Claudio and camp had the idea to make a pedal to mark the occasion. They decided on a pedal dedicated to one of Sanchez’s favorite and most trusted combinations when in the studio and on the stage, his 80’s Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive feeding his ’78 “op-amp” Big Muff. A Swiss Army knife of fuzz and drive is the end result.
Earlier this summer Coheed and Cambria released their widely celebrated new album and the latest chapter of “The Amory Wars” saga with Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind. The 13-song collection landed at #1 on Billboard’s “Top Hard Rock Albums” chart marking the band’s fourth #1 on the tally. Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind is available on all streaming platforms with vinyl and cassette variants, along with a deeply immersive DeluxeBox Set available in the Coheed and Cambria’s official store.
Claudio Sanchez Anna pedal proto testing
Photo by Alexandra Gavillet
Priced at $349.99. For more information, please visit wrenandcuff.com.
