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 | Download Example 1 Switching between the first three settings on the Magical Selector dial. Played through a Diamond Positron into an Emperor 4x12 loaded with Weber C1265s mic'ed with a Shure SM57. |
| Download Example 2 Intentionally erratic to illustrate the pedal's ability to react to input sensitivity. Square wave only sent to a B52 AT-100 and a custom 4x12 loaded with Celestion seventy-Eighties, mic'ed with a Studio Projects C1 LDC. |
| Download Example 3 Ultra-random, last setting on Magical Selector dial. Square wave only sent to a B52 AT-100 and a custom 4x12 loaded with Celestion seventy-Eighties, mic'ed with a Studio Projects C1 LDC. |
| All clips recorded using a Gibson SG. | |
Into the Wild
While the Mini-Ark can look and sound intimidating to the uninitiated, it’s simply a pitch-tracker. It reads your incoming pitch and uses it to control the pitch of an analog square-wave voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).
With its large psychedelic silk-screened control surface, six knobs, three rotary switches (one is named “Magical Selector”), two footswitches, and two toggle switches, this pedal is likely to excite synth-gurus and, at least at first, scare the pants off of everyone else. But even those unfamiliar with analog modular synthesis can begin to unlock this pedal’s secrets with a modicum of effort.
The 6-position Octave selector allows you to set the VCO at different octave positions (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3). The 8-position Interval knob lets you select different harmony intervals. And the Hold knob is the volume for yet another synth harmony set at a fixed octave below the input signal. Because each of these three harmony generators has a dedicated Level knob, you can mix them independently.
The Mini-Ark also has a knob for setting the balance between synth and instrument at the pedal’s Out jack. You can also divide guitar and synth signals using the Square-wave output jack. This is particularly useful when you want to send your guitar to one amp and pipe the analog synth signal in its pristine glory to a second amp or channel.
You can select various modes via the 8-position “Magical Selector” switch. The first mode is straightforward pitch tracking that can be modified with the octave, interval, and other controls. The other modes contain algorithms that launch the VCO into noise, vibrato, swells, multi-octave bends, and random pitch patterns.
Space and Beyond
Plugging in my Gibson SG, I first adjusted the pedal’s Input Sens knob, a control that allows you to optimize your instrument level for the Mini-Ark’s pitch tracking brain. This is quick and easy to determine by ear, though the manual also recommends backing off the guitar’s tone knob to allow the pedal to track without being confused by your instrument’s natural overtones.
As long as you play notes articulately and accurately, the Mini-Ark will perfectly track even speedy lead lines and subtle bends. As the pedal tracks your pitch, it also sends your playing strength to the CV output, allowing you to control any device with a CV input (including the Snazzy FX “Tracer City” analog filter box) with your dynamics.
Even in the other, more radical modes, the Mini-Ark interacts dynamically with pick attack and other playing nuances, and you can mix the synth sounds with your dry guitar signal. And though you may not always be able to predict exactly what will happen, such weirdness mixed with a sensitive touch can make the strangest sounds quite musical.
The Verdict
The Mini-Ark isn’t a plug-and-go pedal, particularly if you don’t have analog synth experience. But it isn’t a complete bear to decipher, and it can be very intuitive once you’ve spent some time learning how the various controls affect your tone and one another. And as radical as many of the sounds and applications can seem, there is a real expressive potential in this pedal that can enhance fairly traditional playing when used as a texture. In a feature role, the Mini-Ark can inspire whole directions for a song. However you use it, The Mini-Ark is your ticket out of the been-there-done-that sonic doldrums.
Buy if...
you’re excited by a musical, all-analog guitar pitch-tracker that expands your creative potential.
Skip if...
you’re looking to perfect Clapton’s Disraeli Gears woman tone.
Rating...
Street $449 - Snazzy FX - snazzyfx.com |
| Tone Games 2010: 30 Stompboxes Reviewed | Next in PEDALBOARD EXTRAS: Cusack Effects Pedal Board Tamer |
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
Released in 1983, the Roland SDE-3000 rackmount delay was a staple for pro players of the era and remains revered for its rich analog/digital hybrid sound and distinctive modulation. BOSS reimagined this retro classic in 2023 with the acclaimed SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH, two wide-format pedals with stereo sound, advanced features, and expanded connectivity. The SDE-3 brings the authentic SDE-3000 vibe to a streamlined BOSS compact, enhanced with innovative creative tools for every musical style. The SDE-3 delivers evocative delay sounds that drip with warmth and musicality. The efficient panel provides the primary controls of its vintage benchmark—including delay time, feedback, and independent rate and depth knobs for the modulation—plus additional knobs for expanded sonic potential.
A wide range of tones are available, from basic mono delays and ’80s-style mod/delay combos to moody textures for ambient, chill, and lo-fi music. Along with reproducing the SDE-3000's original mono sound, the SDE-3 includes a powerful Offset knob to create interesting tones with two simultaneous delays. With one simple control, the user can instantly add a second delay to the primary delay. This provides a wealth of mono and stereo colors not available with other delay pedals, including unique doubled sounds and timed dual delays with tap tempo control. The versatile SDE-3 provides output configurations to suit any stage or studio scenario.
Two stereo modes include discrete left/right delays and a panning option for ultra-wide sounds that move across the stereo field. Dry and effect-only signals can be sent to two amps for wet/dry setups, and the direct sound can be muted for studio mixing and parallel effect rigs. The SDE-3 offers numerous control options to enhance live and studio performances. Tap tempo mode is available with a press and hold of the pedal switch, while the TRS MIDI input can be used to sync the delay time with clock signals from DAWs, pedals, and drum machines. Optional external footswitches provide on-demand access to tap tempo and a hold function for on-the-fly looping. Alternately, an expression pedal can be used to control the Level, Feedback, and Time knobs for delay mix adjustment, wild pitch effects, and dramatic self-oscillation.
The new BOSS SDE-3 Dual Delay Pedal will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. BOSS retailers in October for $219.99. To learn more, visit www.boss.info.