
Four new Universal Audio effects distill greatest hits from larger UAFX devices, emulating the 1176 compressor, EMT 140 plate reverb, Lexicon 224 digital reverb, and Maestro Echoplex EP-3 at more accessible prices.
Authentic smooth-to-nasty drive tones. Adds beautiful body and sustain in clean settings. Intuitive controls.
Highest gain tones exhibit some sizzle.
$199
UAFX 1176
uaudio.com
It’s been just a few years since Universal Audio unleashed the first UAFX effects. These ARM-processor-driven stompboxes borrowed algorithms from powerful plugins designed for Universal Audio’s Apollo interfaces. The authenticity and functionality of the UAFX pedals is impressive. But as potent and brimming with tone-shaping options as they are, they are also a significant investment—clocking in at just under $400 for a single pedal.
Enter the 1176, Evermore, Heavenly, and Orion. These more compact and specialized UAFX stomps are based on the same algorithms that drive effects in their bigger cousins. But by using roughly half the processing power and focusing on emulation of a single effect, UA achieved more digestible prices ranging from $199 to $219. The 1776, Evermore, Heavenly, and Orion model the Universal Audio 1176 compressor, Lexicon 224 digital delay, EMT-140 plate reverb, and Maestro Echoplex EP-3, respectively. Practicality dictates that most of those effects will rarely see use outside of studio environments. So, it can be thrilling to experiment with these emulations in a guitar effects chain. They are captivating pedals capable of deep, rich, authentic sounds, and, in many cases, delightfully unexpected results.
1176 Compressor
The simple, elegant, and timeless 1176 FET compressor is a pillar of Universal Audio’s success, past and present. In the studio, many engineers tend to use a few go-to 1176 settings that they tweak slightly depending on the context. But the 1176 is also an awesome blank slate for more creative use and abuse. That capacity is showcased especially well in the 1176 pedal.
Though the 1176 pedal includes a few bonus concessions to modern guitarists, like the useful parallel wet/dry mix switch, the control set effectively replicates the features on the hardware version. There are knobs for input and output level, attack and release controls, and a fifth knob that replicates the original’s push-button ratio presets, including the much-loved all-buttons-in setting. The last of these can be used to generate overdriven textures that often sound and feel different from amplifier or stompbox distortion, and the 1176’s knack for this kind of sweet-to-confrontational overdrive is among the reasons it works so well as a guitar effect. This design strength is highlighted by way of the pedal’s 3-way toggle switch. It moves between emulation of a single 1176, or two settings that emulate two 1176s in series. The dual mode models the 1176-in-series technique used by Jimmy Page and engineer Andy Johns—most famously on Led Zeppelin IV. The sustain mode, meanwhile, emulates the double-1176 method practiced by Little Feat’s Lowell George.
“The 1176’s knack for sweet-to-confrontational overdrive is among the reasons it works so well as a guitar effect.”
Of the two, the dual mode is the most aggressive, effectively turning the input level control into a gain factory that spans thick overdrive and fuzzy direct-to-desk tones. It’s an awesome alternative to fuzz pedals because it sounds so nasty at civilized output gain levels, lending flexibility in stage and studio settings. But it’s also a beautiful thickening agent at lower input gain levels, adding grit and body while retaining dynamic response. The sustain mode is even lovelier in these low-gain signal-thickening applications. It doesn’t have nearly as much fuzzy gain to give, but the overdrive is complex and lends a fluid cohesiveness to lead lines.
The 1176 also excels in the more conventional single mode, adding body, sparkle, and volume without obscuring a guitar’s essence. It works wonders with thin single-coils. In fact, I would venture that the 1176 does the job of a clean boost better than any clean boost ever could. That said, the single mode still delivers yummy overdrive tones when you switch to all-buttons-in mode and lean on the input gain.
If you suffer from lifeless amp tones at low stage volumes, the 1176 could be indispensable. Some players will balk at using a digital gain source in front of an amplifier. But open-minded players will be surprised at just how organic this pedal sounds. Just like the hardware version, the 1176 pedal is capable of minor acts of magic.Evermore Reverb
The Lexicon 224 had a profound effect on music in the 1980s. For many of us, its tones are burrowed in our subconscious. As much a mood as a tonality, the 224’s odd combination of icy, diffuse overtones and enveloping space was instrumental in shaping the atmospheres around Vangelis’ soundtrack for Blade Runner. And in the hands of production visionaries Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who helmed U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, it could sound both unsettling and deeply peaceful. The Lexicon’s ability to span so much emotional range and sound so alive is a feat, and the Evermore captures these elusive qualities masterfully.
Chances are good that if you’re curious about the Evermore, it’s because of the 224’s reputation as a primo ambiance machine. But the Evermore sounds great in down-to-Earth applications. Trebly room settings, for example, convincingly approximate spring reverb and bathroom-tile slapback. The small hall setting, too, is capable of modest-but-rich reverbs that sit nicely with distortion effects and add thickness and lively overtones to clean sounds.
“The Evermore sounds great in down-to-Earth applications.”
The Evermore’s most compelling effects, however, come via the pedal’s large hall setting. And it’s here that you grasp the vast potential of the pedal’s frequency-specific decay time controls. At a glance, you could mistake the bass, mid, and treble knobs on the Evermore for a simple EQ section. In reality, each of these controls governs the decay time for a given frequency range. This capability is a powerful and brilliant facet of the 224s design, and it shines in the Evermore, enabling painterly approaches to soundscaping that shake up preconceptions and stretch your imagination. One could spend days exploring the intricate ways the decay time controls interact with each other and with different instruments. But the way long bass and midrange decay times at high mix levels can generate haunting resonances, feedback, and airy, grainy harmonics within massive spaces is super-compelling, and hearty food for the ear and mind’s eye.
Heavenly Reverb
One of the great privileges of my musical life is having had the chance to record with an EMT 140 plate reverb and bathe in its transformative ambience. Capable of ranging from metallic and clanging to soft and ethereal, the wall-sized EMT 140 plate is unlike any other reverb. And though my favorite applications for the EMT 140 are recording vocals, piano, and acoustic guitar, there is no denying the wonders it works with electric guitar. The Heavenly, which has the good fortune to be derived from one of the finest Apollo plugins, makes it easy to experiment with marriages of electric guitar and EMT textures.
Of the four pedals reviewed here, the Heavenly is arguably the most straightforward, and just about anyone that has worked with a stompbox reverb before will be at ease after a quick peek at the instruction card. Ease of operation does not mean, however, that the Heavenly is less capable of complex reverb colors or interesting interrelationships between the controls. Heavenly features three basic reverb voices, selectable from the 3-position toggle. Position A is a vintage bright mode, B is a vintage dark voice, and C is the modern full position. The three voices can be further shaped by the simple EQ control. The pre-delay control, which governs the time that lapses before the onset of the reverb effect, opens up some of the most intriguing possibilities. Setting the reverb for a long decay, the mix just on the dry side of noon, and the pre-delay for a long lag creates a mysterious blend of strong fundamental note and a hazy reverb tail that hits with the percussive impact of a short delay. It sounds fantastic on spare, fingerpicked parts, arpeggios, and sharp staccato chords. While less conventional uses of EMT-style textures are intriguing, most players will probably be content to wade in the wash of traditional plate tones. Heavenly sounds beautiful in these environs. And even modest mix levels reveal a pretty, blooming decay that can sound both subdued and outside the familiar realm of less authentic plate-inspired reverbs.
“The pre-delay control opens up some of the most intriguing possibilities.”
The Heavenly’s EMT 140 simulation sometimes seems like an odd match for a guitar pedal, and not just because you’ve never seen anyone stick an 8-foot-long EMT 140 on a pedalboard. Perhaps because they sound as accurate as they do, there is a sort of post-production quality to the tones that can sound a bit out of place coming from an amplifier. And the chorus-y modulation, though lovely in some settings, can sound grafted on at times. For players unconditioned to hearing the sound of an EMT 140 blasting through studio monitors in the thick of a mix, however, the potential in these big, luxurious textures will feel considerable.
Orion Tape Echo
If I could only take one effect with me to space, or on some forced exile, it would almost certainly be my Maestro Echoplex EP-3. Like most of the great tape echoes, it is, by virtue of its quirky controls, an instrument all by itself. But above all things, the EP-3 is just plain fun. From the tape head slider to the smartly arranged echo level and sustain controls that facilitate oscillation effects, it is a box of pure musical joy. And just like any analog effect with such bountiful quirks and electro-mechanical idiosyncrasies, it can be a bear to reproduce in the digital stompbox realm. The Orion, however, does a more than admirable job of emulating the beautiful bits and the oddities that make up the EP-3’s weird and wonderful personality.
Four of Orion’s knobs—delay, mix, feedback, and control level—replicate those on an EP-3. Three additional controls help further shape the Orion’s performance envelope in subtle and more overt ways. The wonk knob controls virtual wow and flutter, and its intensity is regulated in large part by the tape age toggle, which selects from emulations of a very old, weathered tape, a less worn but well-used tape, and a fresh tape cartridge that Universal Audio designer James Santiago used for the first time to create the new tape setting. Additionally, a preamp switch on the pedal’s crown enables you to select whether the onboard preamp emulation remains on when the pedal is on in bypass mode or removed from the dry signal entirely. When it is on, it adds a mildly colorful boost that fattens the pedal’s output and blurs the space between repeats ever so slightly.
“The Orion’s mellowing haze between repeats sounds very authentic.”
The Orion comes pretty close to sounding like a real EP-3. It’s quieter, less dirty at high record levels, and the wow and flutter are less irregular. But the Orion’s mellowing haze between repeats sounds very authentic. It is also very discernibly not a bucket brigade or digital delay. The pedal sounds exceedingly pretty at high mix and feedback levels, especially when you use a light, feathered touch on chords or volume swells (which sound wonderfully spooky). Working the mix, feedback, and delay time controls at the threshold of oscillation is also a delight, made even more satisfying for the just-right resistance in the knobs. These out-there effects also yield some of the Orion’s more buried treats, like the simulated tape splice and a slight lag that you hear as you work the delay time control. At $219, the Orion has few peers, and most, save for Catalinbread’s Belle Epoch, are significantly more expensive. All told, it’s a relatively affordable path to approximating one of the most beloved and distinctive effects of all time.
- Universal Audio UAFX Golden Reverberator Review ›
- First Look: Universal Audio 1176 Compressor, Orion Tape Echo, Heavenly Plate Reverb, & Evermore Studio Reverb ›
- Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station Review ›
- Universal Audio Announces UAFX Enigmatic '82 Overdrive - Premier Guitar ›
- UAFX Enigmatic ’82 Overdrive Special Guitar Pedal Review - Premier Guitar ›
The range of clean, dirty, and complex tones available from this high-quality, carefully crafted Dumble modeler make it a formidable studio and performance device.
Fantastic variation in many delicious sounds makes it a bargain. High-quality. Easy to use and customize. Killer studio path to lively, responsive guitar sounds.
Price may be hard for some to swallow if they don’t leverage the whole of its potential.
$399
UAFX Enigmatic ’82 Overdrive Special
uaudio.com
I’ve never played a realDumble. I’d venture most of us haven’t. But given my experiences with James Santiago’s UAFX modeling pedals, most recently theUAFX Lion, I plugged in the new Dumble-inspired UAFX Enigmatic confident I’d taste at least the essence of that very rare elixir. You could argue there is no definitive Dumble sound. Each was customized to some extent for the customer, and they are renowned nearly as much for dynamic responsiveness and flexibility as their singing, complex, clean-to-dirty palettes.
The Enigmatic nails the flexibility, for sure. To my ears, its tone foundation lives somewhere on a sliver of Venn diagram where a black-panel Fender and a 50-watt Hiwatt intersect. It’s alive, dimensional, snappy, sparkly, massive, and, at the right EQ settings, hot and excitable. But the Enigmatic’s powerful EQ and gain controls, multiple virtual cab and mic pairings, rock, jazz, and custom voices, plus additional deep, bright, and presence controls enable you to travel many leagues from that fundamental tone. The customization work you can do in the app enables significant changes in the Enigmatic’s tone profile and responsiveness, too. All these observations are made tracking the Enigmatic straight to a DAW—making the breadth of its personality even more impressive. But the Enigmatic sounds every bit as lively at the front end of an amp, and black-panel Fenders are a primo pairing for its saturation and sparkly attributes. The Enigmatic is nearly $400, which is an investment. But considering the ground I covered in just a few days with it, and the quality and variety of sounds I could conjure with the unit just sitting on my desk, the performance-to-price ratio struck me as very favorable indeed.
This month’s mod Dan’s uses a 500k linear pot, a 1.5H inductor (L) with a 0.039 µF (39nF) cap (C), and a 220k resistor (R) in parallel.
This simple passive mod will boost your guitar’s sweet-spot tones.
Hello and welcome back to Mod Garage. In this column, we’ll be taking a closer look at the “mid boost and scoop mod” for electric guitars from longtime California-based tech Dan Torres, whose Torres Engineering seems to be closed, at least on the internet. This mod is in the same family with the Gibson Varitone, Bill Lawrence’s Q-Filter, the Gresco Tone Qube (said to be used by SRV), John “Dawk” Stillwells’ MTC (used by Ritchie Blackmore), the Yamaha Focus Switch, and the Epiphone Tone Expressor, as well as many others. So, while it’s just one of the many variations of tone-shaping mods, I chose the Torres because this one sounds best to me, which simply has to do with the part values he chose.
Don’t let the name fool you, this is a purely passive device—nothing is going to be boosted. In general, you can’t increase anything with passive electronics that isn’t already there. Period. But you can reshape the tone by deemphasizing certain frequencies and making others more prominent (so … “boost” in guitar marketing language). Removing highs makes lows more apparent, and vice versa. In addition, the use of inductors (which create the magnetic field in a guitar circuit) and capacitors will create resonant peaks and valleys (bandpasses and notches), further coloring the overall tone. This type of bandpass filter only allows certain frequencies to pass through, while others are blocked, and it all works at unity gain.
“You can’t increase anything with passive electronics that isn’t already there … but you can reshape the tone by deemphasizing certain frequencies and making others more prominent.”
All the systems I mentioned above are doing more or less the same thing, using different approaches and slightly different component values. They are all meant to be updated tone controls. Our common tone circuit is usually a variable low-pass filter (aka treble-cut filter), which only allows the low frequencies to pass through, while the high frequencies get sent to ground via the tone cap. Most of these systems are LCR networks, which means that there is not only a capacitor (C), like on our standard tone controls, but also an inductor (L) and a resistor (R).
In general, all these systems are meant to control the midrange in order to scoop the mids, creating a mid-cut. This can be a cool sounding option, e.g. on a Strat for that mid-scooped neck and middle tone.
Dan Torres offered his “midrange kit” via an internet shop that is no longer online, same with his business website. The Torres design is a typical LCR network and looks like the illustration at the top of this column.
Dan’s design uses a 500k linear pot, a 1.5H inductor (L) with a 0.039 µF (39nF) cap (C), and a 220k resistor (R) in parallel. Let’s break down the parts piece by piece:
Any 500k linear pot will do the trick, in one of the rare scenarios where a linear pot works better in a passive guitar system than an audio pot.
(C) 0.039µF cap: This is kind of an odd value. Keeping production tolerances of up to 20 percent in mind, any value that is close will do, so you can use any small cap you want for this. I would prefer a small metallized film cap, and any voltage rating will do. If you want to stay as close as possible to the original design, use any 0.039 µF low-tolerance film cap.
(L) 1.5H inductor: The original design uses a Xicon 42TL021 inductor, which is easy to find and fairly priced. This one is also used in the Bill Lawrence Q-Filter design, the Gibson standard Varitone, and many other systems like this. It’s very small, so it will fit in virtually every electronic compartment of a guitar. It has a frequency range of 300 Hz up to 3.4 kHz, with a primary impedance of 4k ohms (that’s the one we want to use) and a secondary impedance of 600 ohms. Snip off the three secondary leads and the center tap of the primary side and use the two remaining outer primary leads; the primary side is marked with a “P.” On the pic, you can see the two leads you need marked in red, all other leads can be snipped off. You can connect the two remaining leads to the pot either way; it doesn’t matter which of them is going to ground when using it this way.
Drawing courtesy of singlecoil.com
(R) 220k: use a small axial metal film resistor (0.25 W), which is easy to find and is the quasi-standard.
Other designs use slightly different part values—the Bill Lawrence Q-filter has a 1.8H L, 0.02 µF C and 8k R, while the old RA Gresco Tone Qube from the ’80s has a 1.5H L, 0.0033 µF C, and a 180k R, so this is a wide field for experimentation to tweak it for your personal tone.
This mid-cut system can be put into any electric guitar not only as a master tone, but also together with a regular tone control or something like the Fender Greasebucket, or it can be assigned only to a certain pickup. It can be a great way to enhance your sonic palette, so give it a try.
That’s it! Next month, we’ll take a deeper look into how to fight feedback on a Telecaster. It’s a common issue, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!
The two-in-one “sonic refractor” takes tremolo and wavefolding to radical new depths.
Pros: Huge range of usable sounds. Delicious distortion tones. Broadens your conception of what guitar can be.
Build quirks will turn some users off.
$279
Cosmodio Gravity Well
cosmod.io
Know what a wavefolder does to your guitar signal? If you don’t, that’s okay. I didn’t either until I started messing around with the all-analog Cosmodio Instruments Gravity Well. It’s a dual-effect pedal with a tremolo and wavefolder, the latter more widely used in synthesis that , at a certain threshold, shifts or inverts the direction the wave is traveling—in essence, folding it upon itself. Used together here, they make up what Cosmodio calls a sonic refractor.
Two Plus One
Gravity Well’s design and control set make it a charm to use. Two footswitches engage tremolo and wavefolder independently, and one of three toggle switches swaps the order of the effects. The two 3-way switches toggle different tone and voice options, from darker and thicker to brighter and more aggressive. (Mixing and matching with these two toggles yields great results.)
The wavefolder, which has an all-analog signal path bit a digitally controlled LFO, is controlled by knobs for both gain and volume, which provide enormous dynamic range. The LFO tremolo gets three knobs: speed, depth, and waveform. The first two are self-explanatory, but the latter offers switching between eight different tremolo waveforms. You’ll find standard sawtooth, triangle, square, and sine waves, but Cosmodio also included some wacko shapes: asymmetric swoop, ramp, sample and hold, and random. These weirder forms force truly weird relationships with the pedal, forcing your playing into increasingly unpredictable and bizarre territories.
This is all housed in a trippy, beautifully decorated Hammond 1590BB-sized enclosure, with in/out, expression pedal, and power jacks. I had concerns about the durability of the expression jack because it’s not sealed to its opening with an outer nut and washer, making it feel more susceptible to damage if a cable gets stepped on or jostled near the connection, as well as from moisture. After a look at the interior, though, the build seems sturdy as any I’ve seen.
Splatterhouse Audio
Cosmodio’s claim that the refractor is a “first-of-its-kind” modulation effect is pretty grand, but they have a point in that the wavefolder is rare-ish in the guitar domain and pairing it with tremolo creates some pretty foreign sounds. Barton McGuire, the Massachusetts-based builder behind Cosmodio, released a few videos that demonstrate, visually, how a wavefolder impacts your guitar’s signal—I highly suggest checking them out to understand some of the principles behind the effect (and to see an ’80s Muppet Babies-branded keyboard in action.)
By folding a waveform back on itself, rather than clipping it as a conventional distortion would, the wavefolder section produces colliding, reflecting overtones and harmonics. The resulting distortion is unique: It can sound lo-fi and broken in the low- to mid-gain range, or synthy and extraterrestrial when the gain is dimed. Add in the tremolo, and you’ve got a lot of sonic variables to play with.
Used independently, the tremolo effect is great, but the wavefolder is where the real fun is. With the gain at 12 o’clock, it mimics a vintage 1x10 tube amp cranked to the breaking point by a splatty germanium OD. A soft touch cleans up the signal really nicely, while maintaining the weirdness the wavefolder imparts to its signal. With forceful pick strokes at high gain, it functions like a unique fuzz-distortion hybrid with bizarre alien artifacts punching through the synthy goop.
One forum commenter suggested that the Gravity Well effect is often in charge as much the guitar itself, and that’s spot on at the pedal's extremes. Whatever you expect from your usual playing techniques tends to go out the window —generating instead crumbling, sputtering bursts of blubbering sound. Learning to respond to the pedal in these environments can redefine the guitar as an instrument, and that’s a big part of Gravity Well’s magic.
The Verdict
Gravity Well is the most fun I’ve had with a modulation pedal in a while. It strikes a brilliant balance between adventurous and useful, with a broad range of LFO modulations and a totally excellent oddball distortion. The combination of the two effects yields some of the coolest sounds I’ve heard from an electric guitar, and at $279, it’s a very reasonably priced journey to deeply inspiring corners you probably never expected your 6-string (or bass, or drums, or Muppet Babies Casio EP-10) to lead you to.
Kemper and Zilla announce the immediate availability of Zilla 2x12“ guitar cabs loaded with the acclaimed Kemper Kone speaker.
Zilla offers a variety of customization to the customers. On the dedicated Website, customers can choose material, color/tolex, size, and much more.
The sensation and joy of playing a guitar cabinet
Sometimes, when there’s no PA, there’s just a drumkit and a bass amp. When the creative juices flow and the riffs have to bounce back off the wall - that’s the moment when you long for a powerful guitar cabinet.
A guitar cabinet that provides „that“ well-known feel and gives you that kick-in-the-back experience. Because guitar cabinets can move some serious air. But these days cabinets also have to be comprehensive and modern in terms of being capable of delivering the dynamic and tonal nuances of the KEMPER PROFILER. So here it is: The ZILLA 2 x 12“ upright slant KONE cabinet.
These cabinets are designed in cooperation with the KEMPER sound designers and the great people from Zilla. Beauty is created out of decades of experience in building the finest guitar cabinets for the biggest guitar masters in the UK and the world over, combined with the digital guitar tone wizardry from the KEMPER labs. Loaded with the exquisit Kemper Kone speakers.
Now Kemper and Zilla bring this beautiful and powerful dream team for playing, rehearsing, and performing to the guitar players!
ABOUT THE KEMPER KONE SPEAKERS
The Kemper Kone is a 12“ full range speaker which is exclusively designed by Celestion for KEMPER. By simply activating the PROFILER’s well-known Monitor CabOff function the KEMPER Kone is switched from full-range mode to the Speaker Imprint Mode, which then exactly mimics one of 19 classic guitar speakers.
Since the intelligence of the speaker lies in the DSP of the PROFILER, you will be able to switch individual speaker imprints along with your favorite rigs, without needing to do extensive editing.
The Zilla KEMPER KONE loaded 2x12“ cabinets can be custom designed and ordered for an EU price of £675,- UK price of £775,- and US price of £800,- - all including shipping (excluding taxes outside of the UK).
For more information, please visit kemper-amps.com or zillacabs.com.