Underneath this bariās jazz suit is a rock ānā roll machine.
Responsive playability. P-90s deliver loads of tone options. Solid construction and feel.
Jazz aesthetics might paint this one into a corner for some. Price may dissuade all but serious baritone players.
$2,199
DāAngelico Deluxe SS Baritone
dangelicoguitars.com
The DāAngelico Deluxe SS Baritone is an interesting proposition. Itās a high-end offering in the relatively small field of baritone guitars, where, if youāve got around $1k to spend, you can have fun choosing between a nice range of options. Lots of players are attracted to those lower-priced options for the novelty of a baritone or to round out their instrument collection. DāAngelico is aiming to instead capture those who are so serious about their baritone needs that theyāre willing to spend over $2k on the right one. To do so, theyāve created a P-90-equipped semi-hollow and put it near the top reaches of their line.
Admittedly, Iām in that former category. I think baritones are fun and lump them in with 12-strings, tenor guitars, and Bass VI-style instrumentsāall things I like to mess around with now and then. But Iāve been able to satisfy my own bari needs with inexpensive instruments. So, approaching this review, I wondered, will the Deluxe SS open my eyes and ears and make me a believer, or is it just a fancy curiosity?
I did a deep dive into the Deluxeās ambient possibilities, adding gobs of delay, sustain, and all the modulation I could wrangle, and was transported to the town of Twin Peaksāitās that kind of vibe.
Unique Recipe
Since the Deluxe SS Baritone is among the top guitars in DāAngelicoās line, it gets a fancy aesthetic treatment. That means gold Grover locking tuners, a large art-deco-style headstock, mother-of-pearl block inlays, 3-ply binding, an elaborately shaped pickguard, and a gold bridge and stairstep-style tailpiece. The extra accoutrements will scream cocktail jazz to some, but the body and neckās natural stain and satin finish keep the guitar from looking gaudy. More importantly, a close inspection of the Deluxeās fit and finish reveal an attentive, detail-oriented build. There is nary a flaw to be found.
The semi-hollow-with-P-90s recipe is a unique one among baritone manufacturers. But from the first few robust, resonant notes I played on the DāAngelico, the combination seemed obvious. The playing experience is suitably deluxeāthe 26 3/4" scale length and comfy C-shaped neck feel familiar enough to make the formidable .014ā.068 stock gauges easy to grapple with, so thereās no awkward phase for non-diehard baritone players like myself. The Deluxeās 15" bodyā1 3/4" deepāfeels comfortable for seated playing, and after playing a two-hour gig on my feet, I didnāt feel any more fatigued than when playing a standard guitar.
Have Gold, Will Twang
One of the joys of any semi-hollow or hollowbody guitar, especially for players who tend to stick to solidbodies, is how resonant they are, and thatās the first thing I noticed about the Deluxe. Thatās an obvious observation, but with these big gauges, the laminate maple body sings with every note, from big chords to high-octave single-note lines.
Between the black-tie-friendly outfit and the DāAngelico name on the headstock, itās only natural to grip a few ii-V progressions on the Deluxe. The 1 11/16" nut width offers plenty of room to get around complex voicings, which sound irresistibly rich and warm through a Deluxe Reverb. Every note sings with full-bodied clarity. If I were better at improvising chord melodies, I know what the concept for my next record would be.
Open-position chords on the Deluxe can feel like playing the low end of a piano with while holding the sustain pedal. All it took was one wide-open B minor chord to get me hooked. I did a deep dive into the Deluxeās ambient possibilities, adding gobs of delay, sustain, and modulation, and was transported to the town of Twin Peaksāitās that kind of vibe. But itās not just big open chords that deliver that feeling. Since the Deluxe SS Baritone is a sustain machine, these frequencies tend to rumble the room even at moderate volumes. I found myself contemplating the space between notesāand wanting more of itāeven when playing slow, single-note melodies on the lower end of the neck.
The Seymour Duncan DāAngelico Great Dane P-90s balance rich low-end with an articulate twang. Like adding a touch of sweetness to a savory dish, a little extra brilliance rounds out the tonal profile to create a rich overall experience. The bridge pickup makes a case for the Deluxeās rock ānā roll potential and encouraged my best attempt at a Duane Eddy impression. Once that clicked for me, I found that I just wanted to stay in that zone. Anything from shuffles to tic-tac bass parts sound great on the Deluxe.
Thereās plenty of brightness in the neck pickup, while its added bass frequencies reward Bass-VI-type lead playingālike the solo to āWichita Lineman,ā which sounds and feels cool on this guitar. Rolling back the tone just a little made root-fifth patterns under my chording sound convincingly bass-like. Add a little overdrive to any of these positions and the Deluxe is a monster, ready to scream.
The Verdict
The Deluxe SS Baritone makes a bold statement. At well over twice the priceāor moreāof the most ubiquitous baritones on the market, itās a high-end instrument within genre. With P-90s, a semi-hollow body, and jazzy aesthetics, it feels jazz oriented. But I found it more diverse, and capable of capturing all the tones youād want in a baritone, from clean and articulate to spooky and ethereal to twangy. And it delivers a fun, and inspiring playing experience in a sturdy, well-built instrument thatās ready for any gig you throw at it.
D'Angelico Deluxe SS Baritone Semi-Hollowbody Demo | First Look
A pair of overdrives with vintage aesthetics and tones to match.
Rugged build. Sweet saturation.
Can sound ragged around the edges at high gain.
$149
Warm Audio Warmdrive
warmaudio.com
Many recording enthusiasts know Warm Audio for their well-regarded and affordable takes on otherwise unattainable classic studio microphones, preamps, and processors. Most of these imitate the handsome aesthetics of those units along with their functionality, which adds to the allure. Warm Audio ventured into pedal building a few years back with lovingly rendered versions of the Roland Jet Phaser and Foxx Tone Machine. This time out, though, theyāve taken on two less obscure pedals, the Lovepedal/Hermida Zendrive and Klon Centaur, in the form of the Warmdrive and Centavo, respectively.
Some of the language Warm Audio uses to describe the Warmdrive and Centavo pedalsālike āaccurate recreationā and ātrue reproductionāāis bound to raise eyebrows among circuit snobs. Yet both pedals are ruggedly built. Plenty of attention is paid to the cosmetic details. Both circuits are put together using sturdy through-hole boards and populated with reputable components. And thereās a general air of quality about them, both inside and out, that promises real road reliability which should squash a lot of the chagrin from naysayers.
In some ways, the companyās decision to build clones of two pedals that have been copied many times over is a curious one. But Warm Audioās attention to aesthetic details will no doubt entice cost-conscious enthusiasts chasing both the sound and visual cachet attached to these historically important effects.
Warmdrive
The original Zendrive was created by Alfonso Hermida in the mid ā00s as an attempt to re-create Robben Fordās hallowed Dumble-driven lead tones in an overdrive pedal. That remains a lofty goal. But many players agree that Hermida succeeded just about as well as one could. The results were good enough for Ford himself, who frequently uses a Zendrive with non-Dumble amps (often a Fender Twin Reverb).
The Warmdrive control layout is identical to that of the Zendrive, and includes gain, volume, tone, and voice knobs. The latter is a versatile control that moves the pedalās overall character between dark and bright tones in a more expansive way than you experience using a typical high- or low-pass-filter-based tone knob. Signal-sweetening gubbins include 1N34A germanium diodes, 2N7000 MOSFETs, and an NE5532 op-amp. The steel enclosure and true-bypass switch feel more than solid enough to survive repeated stomping. The cosmetics, in typical Warm Audio fashion, imitate the original.
Dum Dum Drive
With a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, ā66 Fender Princeton combo, and 65amps London head and 2x12 cab, the Warmdrive was a fast track to the kind of Dumble-y, creamy saturation thatās kept players drooling through the decades. I suspect even cynics will be smiling when they slide into sustain-driven fusion improvs.
The Warmdrive is a thick, chewy overdrive at heart, but moves easily from smooth and warm to crisp and crackling, depending on where you set the voice knob. And thereās lots of room to fine-tune further using the tone control. Thereās also plenty of range in the gain and level controls, which makes the pedal capable of much more than full-on lead tones. Itās a surprisingly good low-gain drive as a result. Even so, the real treats are in the near pedal-to-the-metal settings. Setting the gain around 2 oāclock, the volume around 11 oāclock, and tone and voice pretty close to noon makes a sound I could truly get lost in. I didnāt think about its Dumble-imitating origins, or how it sounded compared to a Dumble, or for that matter a Zendrive. I just knew it sounded great. If you want to feel like Robben Ford for a few minutes, this is an easy way to get there.
Centavo
Cloning a pedal thatās unavailable in its original form (and prohibitively costly when you find one) is generally a service to the guitar community. In the case of the Klon, however, there are enough klones, and hype around them, that the addition of yet another will probably induce a few eye rolls. That said, the ongoing, often raging, debate over which klone clones the Klon best, indicates thereās still room for anyone that wants to take a shot at building a better, more accurate one.
To date, only one klone I know of comes in an accurate die-cast enclosure like the box that houses the Centavo: the well-regarded Centura from Ceriatone Amplification of Malaysia. So, Warm Audioās insistence on vintage accuracy will be a boon for players seeking the originalās handsome look at a fair price. The 6.75" x 5" x 2.25" dimensions, though, mean itmight be less appealing to those eager to conserve real-estate on crowded boards.
Elsewhere, Warm Audio chased authenticity pretty relentlessly. Like the original, the Centavo uses buffered bypass, TL072 op-amps, and a charge-pump voltage regulator. The oxblood pointer knobs for gain, treble, and output are another nice vintage touch that looks great. Warm Audio did take one very practical liberty with original design in the form of a MOD switch, which is situated between the input and output on the pedalās crown and extends the circuitās low-end response.
Chasing Mythical Beasts
Tested via the same guitars and amps used for the Warmdrive evaluation, the Centavo provides many reminders of why the original Klon became so beloved in the first place. For me, at least, the tastiest function, just as on the original, is when itās used as a near-clean or just slightly dirty boost. Even at unity gain it sounds excellent, which is apparent just as soon as you turn it off. If the Centavo had a photo filter equivalent, it would be one that illuminates everything with golden-hour light. Everything you hear is essentially the sameājust somehow more magical.
When you wind up the gain for a more lead/overdrive setting, the Centavo doesnāt disappoint. It can sound a touch furry and woofy at times and is occasionally a little ragged around the edges. Yet it still adds loads of character to lead lines. Though purists might be bummed by its inclusion, I found the low-end lift from the MOD switch usefulāparticularly at lower gain settings, where it fills out the bottom end especially well. In general, though, the MOD switchās effect on the output is subtle and doesnāt overpower the Centavoās basic voice. If there are any noteworthy audible differences between the Centavo and an original Klon, it might be the Centavoās lack of midrange glimmer, a quality that, for me, distinguishes the Klon Centaur. Maybe thatās why originals are $5,000 these days. But, man, thatās a lot of money for a little extra midrange!
The Verdict
Both of these new pedals from Warm Audio are well-built and carefully executed renditions of their inspirations and deliver very close approximations of the target sounds. If they arenāt dead on, and few clones ever are, they certainly get very close for extremely reasonable money, both yielding dynamic overdrive regardless of price. That they do so much to deliver the visual appeal of the originals only sweetens the deal.
Better Than the Klon & Zendrive?! Warm Audio Centavo & Warmdrive Demos | First Look
The guitar universe gathered momentum in a big way in 2022āwhich is easy to see in this yearās wildly diverse parade of Premier Gear Award winners.
Here's a look at 2022ās most notable new guitars, amps, effects, and accessories, reviewed by our editors and writers:
VALCOĀ KGB Fuzz
While it looks like the work of a Cold War-era mad scientist, this do-it-all dirt dauber is so versatile that itās easy to overlook its big footprint. It conjures up classic tones that could satisfy Muff, Tone Bender, and maybe even Fuzz Factory fans, but the KGB is also a super-characterful, straight-ahead distortion in its own right that sings with fuzz at minimum and offers six adjustable impedance settings, creating a tonal cornucopia.
$299 street, valcofx.com
BOGNERĀ Ecstasy Mini
Historically, big rock tones have required big hardware. However, Joe Charupakorn was quite taken with this shoebox-size ripper that aims to deliver the vibe of its (much) larger counterpart. At 30 watts, the class-D solid-state amp offers way more gain than its 4-pound weight suggests is possible. In addition to the expected EQ controls, the Ecstasy Mini offers a quartet of toggles that emulate a Variac-style control, deliver even more gain, and shape the midrangeāall for the price of a boutique pedal.
$329 street, bogneramplification.com
BOSSĀ SY-200
Guitar synthesis gets the MINI Cooper treatment. There are 171 wildly tweakable sounds and 128 presets inside this rugged 5" x 4" box with an easy-on-the-eyes display and friendly layout. You want ā70s cheese or prog? Eighties Crimson? Classic Floyd? Radiohead? Itās all on tap and easily accessible with a little help from the online manual. Killer for newcomers or guit-synth veterans looking to slim down their board or rack.
$299 street, boss.info
DUNLOPĀ Pivot Capo
Dunlopās newest screw-tension capo didnāt solve every last problem associated with assisted fretting. Itās still not quite as convenient as a trigger capo for making changes fast. But string gripāparticularly on low stringsāis excellent and the variable tension solves a lot of intonation issues. If you switch between guitars with different fret sizes a lot, the Pivot could be a savior.
$29 street, jimdunlop.com
ELECTRO HARMONIXĀ Ripped Speaker
The Ripped Speaker lives up to the promise of its name, delivering damaged tones that evoke early raw rockers. But thanks to wide-ranging fuzz, tone, and rip controlsāthe latter of which is a bias-starve knobāthereās a lot on tap. Itās easy to conjure everything from Fuzzrite-style distortion to gated fuzz sounds befitting a player like Adrian Belew to pure deconstructed noise sputter, making the Ripped Speaker a unique, versatile fuzz that wonāt break the bank.
$110 street, ehx.com
REVERENDĀ Flatroc Bigsby
The Flatroc Bigsby looks a lot like an homage to Gretsch on the surface. But the Retroblast humbuckers that drive the output from this versatile solidbody will probably sound and feel familiar to anyone that has the pleasure of playing a vintage-voiced, low-output PAF. Gibson-style tones are far from the only sounds on tap here, though: an awesomely practical bass contour control can re-cast the Flatroc to play the part of everything from Rickenbacker to Stratocaster to catalog 1960s Japanese instruments.
$1,119 street, reverendguitars.com
KEELEYĀ Compressor Mini
Keeleyās experience with pedal compressors might be, forgive the pun, unparalleled. Okay, maybe he has a few rivals for the King of Comps title. But the Compressor Mini confirms that he can run the range from super flexible and feature rich to stupidly simple, as is the case here. The Compressor Miniās simplicity belies how rich it can sound. A tone-recovery circuit preserves high-end and a parallel compression scheme sums clean signal at the output in a manner that preserves a lot of string detail. Itās also super quiet. And at $129, itās a cool way for fans of simple compressors to elevate their output without breaking the bank.
$129 street, robertkeeley.com
Keeley Compressor Mini Demo | First Look
BLACKSTARĀ Dept. 10 Dual Drive
Packing an actual 12AX7 into a drive pedal not only adds the comfort of glowing glass to the experience but gives this two-headed stomp impressive versatility. The smartly designed setup allows the Dual Drive to comfortably fit at the beginning or the end of your board, due to the excellent cab sims and uncluttered layout. At $299 itās right in the sweet spot for dual-function pedals that balance features and value.
$299, blackstaramps.com
Blackstar Dept. 10 Dual Drive Demo | First Look
UNIVERSAL AUDIOĀ Volt 276
UA can count an enviable wealth of iconic, well-regarded high-end pieces of hardware and software among their stable. And while a legacy like that can make entry into less rarified and affordable markets tricky, UA delivered big time in the form of the Volt 276. The Volt doesnāt feature the same fancy 1176 compressor and UA-610 preamp models from UAās Apollo and Luna operating environments. But the models here (as well as the included Marshall and Ampeg emulations) are effective tone sweeteners all the same. A clearly caring approach to the hardware design means it also looks great on a desktop, which is much more than a lot of affordable interfaces can claim.
$299 street, uaudio.com
TC ELECTRONICĀ SCF Gold
Talk about venerable. TCās original Stereo Chorus Flanger appeared in 1976. And even in those nascent days of modulation stomp design, the SCF emerged in very realized form. In this newest incarnation, it remains an excellent alternative to other chorus/flanger combos. A clear top end makes it a lot less murky sounding than many other analog modulators. We suspect its relatively low price and jack-of-all-trades versatility will put a lot of fence-sitters over the top.
$149 street, tcelectronic.com
TC Electronic's 1st Pedal Reissued! SCF Gold Stereo Chorus Flanger Demo | First Look
BOSSĀ IR-200
Perhaps the ultimate modeling/IR box for space-conscious players on a budget, the IR-200 has 128 presets, eight core amp models, 244 cab and mic IRs, three reverbs, and stereo, MIDI, effects-loop, USB, headphone, auxiliary-input, and footswitch/expression-pedal connectivity. And the interface is intuitive, with top-mounted controls for gain, level, bass, and treble. If high-end modelers seem intimidating or pricey, this device could be your huckleberry.
$399 street, boss.info
SCHECTERĀ Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic Hardtail
Fine-tuned shred machines made Schecter Guitarsā name in the 1980s. This outlier eschews more metal elements, like a double-locking trem and active pickups. However, those omissions make the guitar more versatile than many of its counterparts. Thatās also largely thanks to the ability to split the pickups in several different variations.
$1,249 street, schecterguitars.com
MAESTROĀ Comet Chorus
For its splashy return to the effects fray, Maestro dressed up its new pedals in some of the coolest enclosures weāve ever seen. But the pedals distinguish themselves in terms of sound and function, too. And the Comet Chorus emerged as especially distinguished. Its ability to approximate rotary speaker sounds and generate complex compound modulationsāthanks in large part to the āorbitā mode that blends in tremoloāmade it one of the most distinctive modulation units we played all year.
$149 street, maestroelectronics.com
Maestro's Five New Pedals | First Look
MAGNATONEĀ Starlite
Little amps like the Fender Champ can be superstars in the studio. Magnatoneās Starlite owes much in terms of inspiration and design to the Fender Champ. But it also offers a best-of-all-worlds take on the Champās familiar tune by bridging tweed, black- and silver-panel variants. Much of this flex is achieved via a tone control that adds midrange, softens transients, and adds saturation. Itās a simple fix to the intrinsic limitations in super simple circuits, but it really stretches the Starliteās functionality and appealāwhich is copious on the style side, too.
$1,299 street, magnatoneusa.com
PRSĀ SE Silver Sky
This $849 guitar plays like a million bucks! The Indonesia-made version of PRSā John Mayer signature S-style is truly exceptional within the vintage tradition, with superb, wide-ranging tones, a fast-action neck, an improved cutaway over many other S-type designs, and a bridge-pickup-dedicated tone pot. Smooth medium-jumbo frets, a reliable vibrato arm, and an 8 1/2" fretboard radius are among the other virtues that make the SE Silver Sky a pro instrument at a bargain price.
$849 street, prsguitars.com
PRS SE Silver Sky John Mayer Signature Demo | First Look
FROST GIANTĀ Architect of Reality
Heads up, Sabbath fans! The Architect of Reality essentially drops the preamp section of Laneyās ā80s Advance Overdrive Response heads at your feet. These amps had an extra gain stage and a slightly darker sound that Tony Iommi put to service. And this pedal possesses destructive amounts of volume, gain, and low-end that are capable of conjuring wall-of-amps doom. To achieve this, the JFET-driven Architect pumps 9V AC up to 36 volts. Itās probably best with high-wattage/high-headroom amps, and have a noise gate handy, but rejoice in occupying the mythical space between distortion and fuzz, where destruction and chaos feel like real propositions.
$250 street, fuzzworship.com
STRYMONĀ Zelzah
Enough of us grew up with simple, 1-knob phasers that the Zelzah will probably scare a few old-school phase folk. True, Zelzahās impressive under-the-hood capabilities could give a just-the-basics-please modulation user pause. But like most of Strymonās pedals in this format, there is a basic elegance here that lets the uninitiated work fast and intuitively, too. In addition to rich 4- and 6-stage phaser colors, Zelzah also features switches for barber pole and envelope phase modes, a useful resonance switch, and a voice control that enables access to flange and chorus tones. A one-stop mod shop? Sounds like a fair assessment to me.
$349 street, strymon.net
First Look: Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser
CATALINBREAD Cloak
At heart, the Cloak is a straightforward, huge-sounding room reverb with a minimalist control set: room size, high-cut, mix, and shimmer knobs, and an internal slider for selecting between trails and true-bypass operation. But with its highly adaptable natureāthe pedal paired beautifully with single-coils and humbuckers, overdrives, and several ampsāand lovely fidelity, the range of possible sounds is wide. Shawn Hammond wrote, āWith mix at max and higher room-size settings, high-cut tamed some of the more garish aspects of shimmer āverb and turned my guitars into veritable film-scoring machines.ā
$210 street, catalinbread.com
SOURCE AUDIO ZIO
As reviewer Dave Hunter noted, the ZIO is far from a one-trick-pony boost. Built in collaboration with Christopher Venter of SHOE pedals, this all-analog affair offers four different preamp voicings and three different tone settings. Simple enough, but the resulting tonesāespecially in the studio modeāare sweet, juicy, clear, and articulate. Our reviewer loved it so much he even imagined a board that would feature two ZIO units to take full advantage of the many sounds it can make.
$199 street, sourceaudio.net
MARTINĀ 000-18 Modern Deluxe
How do you refine a model thatās essentially perfect? Martin isnāt the first guitar company to grapple with that problem. But thereās something about the nakedness of an acoustic guitar that renders the issue quite challenging. Martin made the 000-18 Modern Deluxe extra special with some superficial improvements: pearl inlay logo, Indian rosewood binding, and Waverly butterbean tuners. There are practical improvements, too, like the asymmetric-profile neck. But the things that make the 000-18 Modern Deluxe extraordinary are the same things that make any great Martin a gemātones of extraordinary depth and touch response that feels, at times, telepathic.
$3,599 street, martinguitar.com
FENDERĀ Hammertone Delay
For all its success in the business of building iconic guitars, Fenderās effect history is relatively spotty. But their affordable, simple Hammertone pedals certainly have the potential to stick around. The Hammertone Delayās combination of design economy and fun-to-use factor make it a tasty proposition for 99 bucks. But the pedalās personality and breadth, which ranges from almost spring-like reverb overtones to cool Abbey Road ADT tricks and super-clear digital tones, make it a stuffed and super-practical delay for the price.
$99 street, fender.com
Fender Hammertone Pedals Demo | First Look
SOLAR GC1.6AFAB
The combination of familiar lines with modern tech made Ola Englundās sleek rock machine a standout. Loaded with a pair of Fishman Fluence Modern pickups and an EverTune bridge, the GC1.6AFAB takes a meticulously crafted model and adds a ton of value. Each pickup has independent volume controls along with a push-pull to move between two different voices. The crisp and fast response of the pickups along with the value made this ultra-playable guitar a canāt-miss.
$1,349 street, solar-guitars.com
Solar Guitars GC1.6AFAB Demo | First Look
Ola Englundās latest features upscale appointments and a slick playing experience for just $1,299. Video by Carlos Cotallo Solares (https://www.youtube.com/c...APIĀ TranZformer CMP
Once you really get into pedal compression, tough decisions can await. Classic and simple, but maybe noisy? More complex and studio-level control with more headaches on stage? APIās TranZformer CMP isnāt exactly simple. In fact, the control set evokes APIās legendary studio comps like the 2500 Stereo Compressor, which are powerful but not exactly LA-2A-level streamlined. But that experience with studio-grade gear pays big dividends in the TranZformer CMP, which runs quiet and affords a painterly approach to compression with its flexible array of knobs and switches.
$280 street, apiaudio.com
EVHĀ 5150 Iconic Series 40W 1x12 Combo
A more affordable take on the 5150 amp design, this 2-channel closed-back combo was called āinsanely versatile and capable of sounds from clean to ultra-high gain to the most extreme molten metalā by reviewer Joe Charupakorn. The channels each feature low- and high-gain modes, and channel 2 includes a noise gate. Other features include an XLR output with speaker emulation, a power amp mute switch, a preamp out, an effects loop, and a 40W/10W power level switch.
$899, evhgear.com
EVH 5150 Iconic Series Combo Demo | First Look
BILTĀ The Amp
Delivering 12 to 15 watts of cathode-biased, class AB tone via a 5Y3 rectifier tube, a pair of 6V6s, and a pair of 12AX7s, the guitar builderās first amplifierāa collaboration with Milkmanāis a modern love letter to the venerated tweed Deluxe. But the Amp is no recreation or clone. Just check out its 5-way bass knob and large, handsome cabinet. The result is a loud, midrange-forward combo that sounds great at all volume levels, but thrives when cranked, where it delivers full-on tweed sag.
$2,999 base price, biltguitars.com
YAMAHAĀ Revstar Standard RSS02T
Yamaha has been a force in 6-string electric circles since the 1960s. But their current flagship electric model, the Revstar, was introduced in 2015 and has since been overhauled with an impressive array of features including a chambered body and updated pickups. Our review model sported a pair of P-90s that were a natural fit for blues and classic rock. Big, punchy tones had lots of single-coil chime. Plus, the price is really hard to beat.
$799 street, yamaha.com
Yamaha Revstar Standard RSS02T Demo | First Look
JACKSON AUDIOĀ The Optimist
The whole subset of Klon-inspired circuits is a rabbit hole many fall into. However, the particular variation included in Cory Wongās signature pedal turned reviewer Jason Shadrickās mind around. Each overdrive circuit feels rich and full, but itās the active EQ that comes close to being the MVP. Jackson has always taken great care in making sure the sweep of the controls is useful and musical, and the Optimist might be their most finely tuned setup yet.
$349 street, Jackson. Audio
CHARVELĀ Guthrie Govan MJ San Dimas SD24 CM
This Japan-built version of the shredderās signature instrument offers a high-level playing experience. The proprietary tremolo has a wide range of motion, both descending and ascending, thanks to a recessed body cavity underneath the unit, and it offers commendable tuning stability. Elsewhere, accoutrements like a heel-mounted truss rod adjustment wheel and knurled chrome knobs with glow-in-the-dark numbers deliver upscale details. With easy playability and hot, articulate pickups, the SD24 CM is a signature guitar fit for a player fluent in a breadth of styles.
$2,799 street, charvel.com
LINE 6 DL4 MkII
The ubiquitous green delay machine returns in a slimmer modern update. Itās still big, but even on the modern pedal landscape, the DL4ās spacious knob-controlled design feels refreshing, with plenty of room to tweak and stomp around. More importantly, itās remarkably easy to jump in and find a breadth of unique delay sounds that range from classic to wildly experimental. All the original sounds are onboard, as are just as many new ones, plus a full range of reverbs and the classic looper function.
$299 street, line6.com
Line 6 DL4 MkII Delay Modeler Demo | First Look
CATALINBREADĀ Tribute
I often tell chums griping about their tone to try an EQ pedal. Itās not a very glamorous solution. But itās often an effective oneāespecially when carving out just-right fuzz and drive tones. Catalinbread clearly grasps the value of powerful EQ in shaping overdrive outputāso much so that theyāve made the Tribute Parametric Overdrive as much an EQ device as a drive machine. The Tribute enables you to boost or cut ranges from 1.4 kHz on the midrange side to 70 Hz on the bass end by 12 dB in either direction. These EQ changes can transform the mood of the already flexible Tribute drastically, from focused boosts to much more aggressive fare.
$179 street, catalinbread.com
TAYLOR 724ce
Koa has always been treasured by builders for a distinct tonality that sits between rosewood and mahogany. Thanks to a partnership with Pacific Rim Tonewoods, Taylor was able to use a āselect gradeā koa that helped the company price the model at $2,000 less than some of their other Hawaiian koa-based models. Nobody would mistake this for a budget guitar, however. The sound is every bit as nuanced and complex as guitars with a more flamboyant slice of wood.
$3,499 street, taylorguitars.com
WAY HUGEĀ Red Llama MkIII Smalls
Itās all about simplicity with this 30th Anniversary update to an early boutique-era overdrive. The MkIII has a smaller footprint, but the 2-knob control set remains, featuring just volume and drive. Reviewer Dave Hunter praised the pedalās āthick, juicy, and chewyā tone, which retains clarity at high gain levels. āWhen a lot of ODs have started to sound very same-ish, itās remarkable that it remains so distinct, characterful, and loveableāeven after 30 years.ā
$149 street, jimdunlop.com
Way Huge Red Llama Overdrive MkIII Demo | First Look
WREN AND CUFFĀ The Good One
The lengths Big Muff scholars will go to chasing definitive and ābestā Muff tones is well documented in these pages. Wren And Cuffās The Good One, though, is the result of an accidental discovery along the path to Big Muff enlightenment. The Good One is W&C founder Matt Hollās attempt to replicate a vintage ātriangleā Big Muff that came through his shop for repair. Like many Muffs, it revealed a curious mix of components. But the sum, as duplicated here, is a Big Muff of uncommon range and clarity that delivers sharp, clear transients just as readily as classic Big Muff heaviness.
$309 street, wrenandcuff.com
UNIVERSAL AUDIOĀ UAFX Ruby ā63
Whether you beg, borrow, or steal, every electric guitarist that reads these pages should find a way to experience the sparkling, harmonically overflowing, and flat-out hot-and-rich colors of a vintage Vox AC30. But if you donāt have the cash, connections, or criminal urges, UAFXās Ruby ā63 is a mighty fine way to explore those sounds in a pedal. Ruby ā63, of course, capitalizes on the modelling savvy and experience that make UAās digital production environments a revelation. And the same microscopic attention to detailāand above all feelāis here. Will the Ruby ā63 transform a lousy amp into an AC30? Probably not. But the ease with which it imparts the aura and touch of a vintage Vox to a half-decent tube amp or recording interface can be thrillingāand enable you to speak in a distinctly Vox vernacular.
$399 street, uaudio.com
PIGTRONIXĀ Star Eater
Pigtronix is justifiably guarded about what makes up the circuit in the Star Eater fuzz. Itās pretty unique sounding. But when we ventured the notion of a Big Muff and a Shin-ei Super Fuzz bearing offspring, Pigtronix mastermind David Koltai admitted we were onto something. Similarities with these two fuzzes tell only part of the story, though. A sweepable filter generates tones that might make a Big Muff or Super Fuzz blush. And if that doesnāt pique the interest of a jaded fuzz fanatic, Iām not sure what will.
$179 street, pigtronix.com
SOURCE AUDIOĀ Atlas Compressor
This digital compressor offers six basic modes to conjure a wealth of tones, and each of its four knobs has both primary and alt functions. Even more sounds abound via MIDI functionality and Android/iOS connectivity to access Source Audioās Neuro Editor. The Atlasā tones should fool analog heads, and advanced digital capabilities might even lead to cool discoveries.
$229 street, sourceaudio.net
Source Audio Atlas Compressor Demo | First Look
MATTOVERSEĀ Warble Swell Echo MkII
This digital delay has a warm voice that evokes classic BBD delays and old-school tape echo vibes. Its woozy modulationāaccessed via a waveform knob, plus rate and depth controlsāmakes it easy to dial-in retro cassette-tape tones, while the swell footswitch and knob access the land of eternal feedback. For all these functions, the Warble Swell is still easy to navigate and feels simple.
$219 street, mattoverse.com
WALRUSĀ Lore
The Lore isnāt the most complete reverse reverb in the world. It lacks some of the magical takes on the effect that Led Zeppelin and My Bloody Valentine made immortal. But the manner in which it combines time-manipulation effects as well as octave and various interval-based textures often yields much more unpredictable results. If youāre keen to scramble a boring song idea, Lore is a fast track to that goal.
$299 street, walrusaudio.com
EASTWOODĀ Dusty Spring
Stare at modern pedals long enough and youāll develop an appreciation for pure simplicity. And it would be hard to find a stomp so brainlessly, plug-and-go satisfying as the Dusty Spring. Calling Dusty Spring a lo-fi effect, as its name suggests, would be too simple. It dishes very convincing spring reverb approximations that would easily fool expertsāespecially in a mix. Rather, the ādirtyā seems equally apt in describing its basic, rich earthinessāa quality that isnāt always easy to find in affordable digital reverbs.
$149 street, eastwoodguitars.com
DEATH BY AUDIOĀ Space Bender
Thank goodness for Death By Audio. Their irreverence isnāt just a middle finger to circuit sameness. Itās an attitude that results in amazing, truly unusual sounds. That goes for the Space Bender, which turns chorus on its earāmixing and mangling modulation, delay, reverb, and filtering effects to ends that are both predictable and chaotic. Come for the chorus but stay for the deeper freakishness. The Space Bender will deliverāguaranteed.
$270 street, deathbyaudio.com
EARTHQUAKER Special Cranker
This ultra-touch-sensitive stomp is, indeed, special: a warm, medium-gain overdrive designed to sound like youāve added another tube to your ampās preamp section. With germanium and silicon modes, thereās tons of tone variety on tap, and the silicon side, especially, has a fat, full voice that is responsive to picking technique and preserves the integrity of complex chords. At less than $100, itās a bargain, too.
$99 street, earthquakerdevices.com
EarthQuaker Devices Special Cranker Overdrive Demo | First Look
SILKTONE Fuzz
If youāre a germanium fuzz fan, this plain-Jane-named box is a gem. But thereās nothing plain about its operation. A large dial controls temperature bias, which is traditionally a problem with heat-sensitive germanium transistors. Thereās a pickup simulator/debuffer so the Fuzz can dwell anywhere in your signal chain. And, adding to the fun, thereās also a 2-way toggle for āclassicā or meatier, more harmonically saturated ārawā bias modes. Plus, the volume dial works dynamically with the fuzz and clean-up knobs to let you go from deliciously grainy fuzz to thick, Muff-esque doom tones to skanky, toothy, stabbing boost/overdrive.
$249 street, silktone.org
FENDERĀ JV Modified Deluxe Telecaster
Fenderās Japan-built guitars of the 1980s and 1990s are among the companyās most underrated. Among the many gems Fender Japan produced at the time, the Jerry Donahue signature Tele stands out. The JV Modified Deluxe Telecaster isnāt a reproduction of the JD, but you have to think Fender builders had one eye on that design while putting together this one. The soft-V neck is there, and the Deluxe Telecaster appointments. And while the switching and pickups arenāt exactly the same, the series and out-of-phase switching options open up similar tone territories. The JV Modified is as playable a guitar as weāve handled all yearāno small distinction.
$1,349 street, fender.com
ORANGEĀ Distortion
Ade Emsley, the Orange engineer who oversaw the resurrection of the new/old Orange effects, decided to overhaul the Orange Distortion entirely. Stating plainly that he didnāt think the original was very good, he started from scratchābuilding a new JFET-based amplifier circuit with preset bass and midrange settings and an adjustable treble pot on the pedalās interior. That might sound limiting, but the Orange Distortion is both wide- and rich-sounding, bursting with amp-like crunch and, at times, beautifully articulate.
$249 street, orangeamps.com
Orange Distortion, Sustain & Phaser Pedal Demos | First Look
ORANGEĀ Phaser
It takes intestinal fortitude to build a new 1-knob phaser these days. Most companies have slipped into the phase-manipulation arms race quite willingly. But the control now in vogue does nothing to diminish the tone transforming, psychedelicizing power of a 1-knob phaser. And thankfully, Orange had the cover of a vintage-re-issue project to justify building this ultra-elegant phase gem. Modulations balance beautifully between low and high frequencies, and, as a consequence, it feels open, clear, and dimensional.
$249 street, orangeamps.com
MXRĀ Duke of Tone
Lest any of you out there worry, the partnership between MXR and Analog Manās Mike Piera that yielded the Duke of Tone is no mere marketing exercise. The DOT is built to a very high standard of quality that we donāt often see in affordable mini pedals. Most importantly, it sounds fantastic and is worthy company for the Analog Man pedals with which it shares lineage. At least for this reviewer, the boost is the highlight. But all three modesāboost, distortion, and overdriveāexhibit a smooth, robust voice that can save an otherwise lackluster tone in a flash.
$149 street, jimdunlop.com
MXR Duke of Tone Demo | First Look
REVVTilt Overdrive
Session ace Shawn Tubbsā signature overdrive is a mid-gain wonder. Itās very midrange-forward, but the response of the EQ controls on both sides offers tone options that range from Mike Campbell chime to Dumble-influenced lead sounds. A standout feature is the tilteq control, which allows for surgical sculpting of frequencies on the fly without any hassle.
$269 street, revvamplification.com
Plus! Read the full reviews on PG.com of Decemberās Premier Gear Award winners: the PRS Horsemeat Transparent Overdrive and Mary Cries Optical Compressor, the Boss Space Echo, the Dr. Z Z-28 Mk. II, and the Origin Effects Halcyon.
The good doctor refines an old mid-power favorite that dishes beautiful American-style clean and overdriven tones while packing a muscular punch.
A killer reimagining of an already great design. Bold cleans and toothsome overdrive in an impressively portable package.
No effects loop.
$2,049
Dr. Z Z-28 Mk. II
drzamps.com
Though heās built bona fide iconic modern guitar-amp designsāand a reputation that he could happily ride into the tube-glow sunsetāDr. Zās head honcho, Mike Zaite, has always stayed creative. Heās steadily revamped his lineup over the years. And the new Z-28 Mk. II represents a thoughtful update of an amp that many of us assumed couldnāt get much better. The original Z-28, discontinued in February 2018, was a robust 22-watter that reveled in simplicity and thick, versatile tonality. Players loved it. And more than a few lamented its discontinuation.
Those players will be happy to hear that much of the Z-28ās basic architecture remains intact in the Mk. II. Crucially, the original Z-28ās EF86 pentode preamp tube carries over to the front end of the new design. It was a key to that ampās personality and combination of high headroom, high gain, and thick-yet-clear voicing that hooked many Z-28 followers. But the platformās dual-6V6 output stage has now been upgraded to a pair of larger 5881 output tubes in cathode-bias, generating 35 watts of power. Additionally, a new master volume control helps rein in the output, so thereās plenty of the good stuff available at less overall volume than the Mk I.
Red Menace
The Mk. II is more than an updated circuit. Dr. Z houses the Z-28 Mk. II 1x12" combo in an updated cabinet, too. This time out, the Z-28 lives in a cab Dr. Z introduced with the Joe Walsh Signature Z-Master. But where that amp was configured with three 10" speakers, the Mk. II features a single-12" baffle and a Celestion G12M Creamback. The cabinet is built from thin-walled ply and measures 22" x 21.5" x 10.9". The dimensions and construction help keep this mid-powered comboās weight down to a very reasonable 38 pounds. The Mk. II also brings Dr. Zās popular red-Tolex livery back to the fold. Itās exclusive to the Z-28 Mk. II combo. (A Z-28 Mk. II head is also available, in black only.)
Control interface-wise, the Z-28 Mk. II is just as austere as the original, with the exception of the master volume. Apart from the single input, thereās a volume knob and independent treble and bass controls in the EQ stage, which conceals tone-sculpting capabilities much more powerful than you would expect. Utilizing Dr. Zās version of a Baxandall tone circuit, these controls offer fairly traditional high and low frequency sculpting from the fully counterclockwise position to noon. Past noon, though, the frequency boost comes with a bump in preamp gain. The result is that there are many more voices and gain gradations available than the deceptively simple 3-knob preamp implies. Whatās more, the post-phase-inverter master volume is removed from the circuit when itās maxed if you want to run the MK. II wide open.
The Z-28 Mk. II uses a 12AX7 in the phase inverter and has a 5AR4 tube rectifier. Cathode biasing of the output stage means you just pop in new replacement tubes when the time comesāthereās no need to re-bias, which is very convenient. Although the 5881s can be substituted with more common 6L6GCsāalso with no bias adjustmentāthe Doc tells us: āI like the 5881s better than the 6L6s I tried. The 5881s seem, to my ear, to be closer sonically to the 6V6, which is what I was trying to achieve in the Mk. II.ā Otherwise, a look inside the chassis reveals the same kind of high-quality, handwired circuit that we have come to expect from this Cleveland-based maker.
American Muscle
The Mk. II is an able successor to the original, and then some. I should confess here that I was a fan of the dual-6V6 Z-28 from the time of its release, and I chatted with Zaite about that ampās merits on many occasions. In my estimation, the Mk. II simply brings more of the good stuff to the table, without leaving out any of the stuff that made the Z-28 great.
A big part of this ampās magic is in the character of the EF86 pentode preamp tube, which is thicker, lusher, and more full-frequencied than a 12AX7 in most circuits. This tubeās capacity to be pushed hard without folding into self-distorted fizz means the signal is bold, clear, and articulate before it hits the next stages of the amp. As a result, the overall voicing and character is classic ā60s-era American, but itās complexāblending late tweed, early ā60s brown-panel, and mid-ā60s black-panel tonalities with a little extra girth and muscle that tends toward Marshall-likeāespecially when pushed to overdrive.
As such, the Mk. II makes a great clean-to-mean template without any help from pedals. And the versatile tone controls extend the broad range of voicings considerably. While Itās probably not the best shred platform, the Mk. IIās ability to span roots and blues colors, rowdy classic and garage-rock sounds, and even jazz tones is impressive. The preampās copious headroom and robust performance also makes it an outstanding platform for drive pedalsāwithout exhibiting any of the sterility that the handle āpedal platformā often implies. The Z-28 Mk. II lapped up the output from a TS10 Tube Screamer, Tsakalis Six, Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, and JHS Angry Charlie with ease and relish. The master volume works great, too, meaning you can explore the Mk. IIās voices at much lower-volume settings than the Mk. I could handle and dig every minute of it.
The Verdict
The Z-28 Mk. II is a clever reimagining of a well-loved original Dr. Z design. And it quite simply delivers more of everything that won fans for the already impressive Mk. I. Simultaneously stout, thick and articulate, with beautiful cleans and excellent overdriven tones, itās also a great drive-pedal platform, and a dynamic and expressive amp by any measure.
Dr. Z Z-28 MK II 1 x 12-inch 35-watt Tube Combo AmpĀ
- EF86 preamp delivers a high-fidelity sound with outstanding dimensionality and dynamic response
- Delivers everything from crystal-clear cleans to muscular overdrive
- Clean tones makes a superb pedal platform; effects sound like they're built right into the amp
This space-saving echo delivers a digital version of the classic tape unit.
Immersive, lush delay textures that sound fantastic in small doses or super-wet settings. Clever consolidation of Space Echo controls. Fun to use. Sturdy.
No independent bass and treble settings.
$259
Boss RE-2 Space Echo
boss.info
As good as digital emulations are today, thereās not much engineers can do to approximate the tactile experience of interacting with vintage hardware. Few devices illustrate this divide quite as effectively as tape echoes. Take it from a masochist who knowsātape echoes are intrinsically infuriating machinery. They break often, sometimes spectacularly, always expensively, and generally at the most inconvenient possible time. Think of your most-disloyal-ever significant other: Chances are, your fave tape echo will beat them hands-down for unreliability.
The problem, as any experienced tape-echo user knows, is that these lumbering analog hulks are instruments in their own rightāwith functionality and feel that that can become foundational parts of a playing style not easily replicated in the digital domain. This is especially true for the original Roland RE-201 Space Echo. It invites on-the-fly tweaks ranging from playful polyrhythms to time-smearing, oscillating mayhem. Its capacity to double as a mix-stage instrument in the studio also makes it extra-invaluable to many player/recordists. And itās pretty hard to replicate the intuitive, hands-on experience of working with its well-spaced knobs and their unique taper, layout, and sensitivity.
Bossā RE-2 ambitiously attempts to distill the RE-201 experience into a compact digital format. But unlike the RE-20 pedal or the new RE-202, which utilize larger, more full-featured layouts that approximate some interactive thrills of the RE-201, the RE-2 fits all that functionality into a standard-sized Boss enclosure. Inevitably, that requires a hidden function or twoālike the digital preamp and twist functions, and the assignment of (optional) expression pedal functions. But what Boss accomplished here in terms of delivering a Space Echo vibe in a pedal for space-conscious players is impressive. And in practice, itās a fun and inspiring unit.
Seriously Stuffed!
One great thing about any Boss pedal is the seared-in-the-prefrontal-cortex familiarity of the form. It enables you to approach any compact Boss pedal with a lot more confidence. That sense of assuredness comes in handy with the RE-2 because there are a fair number of controls to manage. Packing that many control options into such a small space is not an enviable task. But Boss, to their credit, made the essentialsāreverb, echo volume, intensity (repeats), tone, repeat rate, and a wow and flutter controlāeasily accessible via clever concentric knobs. The critical 11-position mode knob is vague and hard to read in low light, though. So, youāll probably want to keep a printed copy of the head-combination matrix handyāor just navigate the multi-head sounds by feel.
Space constraints mean that some classic Space Echo features are hidden or consolidated into simpler controls. The very flexible bass and treble controls on an original (and the RE-20 and RE-202) become a single, if effective, tone control here. And the instrument-volume preamp control is a fixed analog preamp emulation option that, nonetheless, adds a discernible element of warm saturation.
Putting Heads Together
Much of the Space Echoās allure is down to the painterly way you interact with it. And despite the RE-2ās size, you can still get pretty creative on the fly. With the pedalās three virtual heads, itās easy to create complex rhythmic textures that donāt collapse into a chaotic, odd-metered, miasmatic mess. The tap-tempo function adds a measure of additional control. Itās fun exploring these compound echoes, even if they lack some of the hiccup-y, polyrhythmic potential of virtual tape echoes with more playback āheads.ā
Some players ignore the original RE-201ās spring reverb. But for this reviewer, itās an essential part of the Space Echo sound that I love using on its own. Itās represented on the RE-2 by a nice spring emulation that complements the echoes in seamless fashion. Although it doesnāt have quite the character of the RE-201ās spring, it still sounds cool by itself.
The Verdict
Fitting all the functionality and feel of a Space Echo in a compact Boss Pedal is impossible. But if you drop the comparisons to the RE-201, the RE-2 is an engaging, flexible, and very practical delay with a lot of personality. Delay-soaked settings sound beautiful, rich, and immersive. Even players that have never touched an original Space Echo will still find a lot of expressive potential and utility here. The fact that the RE-2 makes so much of the Space Echoās essence accessible in a small pedal is no small victory. I suspect that even a lot of jaded Space Echo purists with an interest in downsizing will find reason to celebrate.
Boss RE-2 Space Echo Delay and Reverb Effects Pedal
The world-famous RE-201 Space Echo effect makes its return in compact-pedal form with the BOSS RE-2 Space Echo! Offering authentic multi-head tape echo effects with expanded delay times, the beloved spring reverb sound, and a ton of control over effects parameters, the RE-2 Space Echo sounds amazing with guitars and keyboards, as well as drum machines. An external footswitch/expression pedal input gives you creative hands-free control options, and the true stereo signal path is perfect for multi-amp rigs and studio mixing applications.