The ADHD, or Adaptive Droning Hyperfuzz Device, is a glitch, filter, bit crushing, octave, square wave guitar synth oscillator disguised as a fuzz pedal.
The newest creation from Acorn Amps, the ADHD, is a pedal that’s hard to pin down into one category of stompbox effects. The ADHD, or Adaptive Droning Hyperfuzz Device, is a glitch, filter, bit crushing, octave, square wave guitar synth oscillator disguised as a fuzz pedal. An adjustable square wave oscillator accompanies a rambunctious fuzz circuit to create a wildly interactive guitar or bass guitar effect. 8-bit vintage videogame tones become searing octave leads with the turn of the five control knobs on board the ADHD and the synth noise oscillator can be controlled using an external expression pedal or tuned by hand with the Frequencyknob. The Acorn ADHD is assembled using a voltage-controlled timer that blends with the gain control of an LM386 amplifier IC chip to produce interactive and layered bit crushed octave-up-and-down fuzz tones that can be sculpted even further along the frequency bandwidth with the tone/filter control. Transform your guitar into an expansive fuzzy synthesizer with the Acorn Amps ADHD pedal.
Features Include:
Five shapable controls to design your own fuzzy, synth-y soundscapes
Expression jack to control the oscillation circuit externally
Balance control to blend the synth oscillator with the fuzz circuit
Pedalboard-friendly compact design assembled in a 1590B aluminum enclosure
True bypass and powered by standard 9V DC pedal power. Consumes less than 30mA of current
CuNiFe-driven Wide Range pickups and a 7.25" fretboard radius make this the most period-correct Thinline since the original.
Awesome, alive, and individual Wide Range pickup sounds. Great neck. A 7.25" fretboard radius. Light weight. Period-authentic 1 meg pots.
Taper on 1 meg pots not very nuanced. Less-than-plentiful ash supplies could mean odd grain matches on natural-finish guitars.
$2,399
Fender American Vintage II '72 Thinline Telecaster fender.com
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In the 50 years since their big, chrome covers first reflected a hot stage light, Fender’s Seth Lover-designed Wide Range humbuckers have gone from maligned to revered. The guitars built around Wide Range pickups are legends in their own right, too. Keith Richards’ Telecaster Custom is synonymous with the Stones dynamic and adventurous late-70s-to-early-80s period. Scores of punk and indie guitarists made the Telecaster Deluxe a fixture of those scenes. And Jonny Greenwood almost singlehandedly elevated the Starcaster from a curiosity to an object of collector lust. The fourth member of the Wide Range-based guitar family, the ’72 Telecaster Thinline, lived a comparatively low-profile life. Yet it is a practical, streamlined, uniquely stylish, and multifaceted instrument with a truly original voice—qualities that are plain to see, feel, and hear in this new American Vintage II incarnation.
Though the ’72 Thinline re-issue has been a fixture in Fender and Squier lines for years, the pickups in those guitars were mere visual approximations of the Wide Range pickups that made the originals so distinct. But thanks to the introduction of Fender’s new CuNiFe magnet-based Wide Range pickups, the new American Vintage II ’72 Telecaster Thinline now exists in the most vintage-correct guise since the original—right down to the Lover-style Wide Range units, 1 meg potentiometers, and a 7.25" fretboard radius. It’s a lively, exciting, and rich-sounding instrument that spans Fender and Gibson textures while inhabiting a tone world all its own.
Fender '72 American Vintage II Telecaster Thinline Demo | First Look
Of Mashups, Magnets, and Bobbins
Avoiding patent infringement is a powerful driver of invention. When Seth Lover came to Fender from Gibson in the late ’60s, he inherited a directive to create a Gibson-beating humbucker. To do that, he’d need to avoid copying the PAF he’d designed for Gibson. But Lover also had a specific, self-imposed objective: to build a meatier-sounding pickup that retained the fast transient response of Fender single-coils. Lover’s task was like threading a needle. And for a long time, the popular consensus was that the Wide Range experiment failed. But in the intervening years, open minds and ears have proven how versatile, beautiful, and powerful sounding the Wide Range can be. They are also a case study in how a series of small design pivots can yield an unexpected whole.
Structurally speaking, the differences between a Wide Range and a Gibson PAF humbucker are simple but important. In a PAF, steel pole pieces focus a charge from an alnico bar magnet at the pickup’s base. A Wide Range, however, uses adjustable pole pieces as magnets—a design enabled by the use of CuNiFe, a malleable, magnetic alloy of copper, nickel, and iron that can be fashioned into magnetic screws. When Lover designed the Wide Range, CuNiFe was used extensively to manufacture tachometers, speedometers, and other gauges. It was relatively cheap and plentiful. But as gauges increasingly became digital, CuNiFe went increasingly unwanted. Cheap supplies dwindled. Before long, the Wide Range pickup was gone, too.
In the decades since, a lot of great pickup builders debated what makes vintage Wide Range pickups special—and the role CuNiFe magnets play. What is certain is that CuNiFe led Seth Lover to a very interesting series of engineering adaptations. Consider this chain of events: The lower iron content in CuNiFe alloy makes it harder to extract low-end warmth in pickup applications. That necessitates bigger bobbins and more wire turns. The resulting wider spacing between bobbins also means a wider pickup, which, in turn, reads vibrations along a longer expanse of string. Needless to say, there’s much that could account for a Wide Range’s unique voice.
Fender engineer Tim Shaw, who developed the new Wide Range pickups and who dives deep into the minutiae of such matters, asserts that CuNiFe is an indispensable ingredient in a Wide Range’s sonic signature, and a material with very audible and discernible individual properties. “As a designer, we almost never get to work with a completely different magnet family,” Shaw says. “It’s like having a new scale or set of chords to play with. Even when CuNiFe is overdriven, it (retains) definition and a very pleasant and musical top end. That’s been very inspiring to me.”
Though Shaw’s take on the Wide Range essentially sticks to the original formula, he voiced them to accommodate the extreme ranges of what he heard in various vintage specimens. His team made another important decision related to authenticity that pays sonic dividends here by using the 1 meg potentiometers that Fender used in the early ’70s. While folks like Shaw care less for the taper in 1 meg pots (it’s discernibly less smooth), they are perceptibly brighter than 500k pots when the guitar tone and volume are wide open. Some players like the more PAF-like output you get from the 500k pots. Others find that 1 meg pots are key to making Wide Ranges sound distinct and extra alive. After a few days with the American Vintage II version of the ’72 Thinline Telecaster, I’m inclined to align with the latter camp.
Alive and Kicking
Playing the American Vintage II Telecaster Thinline straight into a loud, clean Fender amp, it’s easy to hear how inspired Lover’s vision was. The Thinline’s bridge pickup sounds like a single-coil Telecaster that’s bulked up without adding an ounce of fat. The top end is clear, snappy, and toothy. And while low strings have a sense of enhanced mass when compared to a single-coil Telecaster, they still twang like Bakersfield in a bottle. This harmonic profile means that the ’72 Thinline doesn’t hog up the low- and low-mid range in a mix, but can still drive an amp deliciously and create a sense of extra heft and explosive excitement. The neck pickup, too, balances mass and detail with grace. Both pickups make sounds that I’ve looked for in Les Pauls and could never quite find. I suspect Seth Lover would be tickled.
Fear No Deconstruction
Pickups were not the only deviation from design norms that distinguished the ’72 Thinline. The first Telecaster Thinline, which appeared in 1969, was hatched from the mind by Roger Rossmeisl, who famously designed Rickenbacker’s 300 series guitars, among others, before moving to Fender and conceiving the Coronado, Montego, and the company’s mid-’60s acoustic line. To create the lighter, semi-hollow Thinline, Rossmeisl adopted the construction technique he developed for Rickenbacker: routing acoustic chambers from a solid section of ash, and then capping the back of the guitar with a thinner section of wood. On the new American Vintage II version, the ash body is fashioned from two solid sections of ash glued together at the guitar’s center line. Because boring beetles have endangered ash trees, visually perfect specimens of the wood are in short supply these days. As a consequence, the grain in the two sections that make up our review guitar are less than ideally matched. Still, the natural blonde poly finish is beautiful and marks a lovely visual link between the first blackguard Telecaster and this more deconstructed variation on the form.
The semi-hollow construction of the Thinline yields audible differences, too. Compared to a solid-ash Telecaster, the Thinline sounds much more zingy, resonant, and alive—particularly in the midrange. That difference is also apparent when the guitar is plugged in, and the body’s more resonant characteristics are a great match for the lively Wide Range humbuckers. Together they make the Thinline feel exceptionally responsive and awake.
Fender elected to revisit the company’s 7.25" fretboard radius across the whole American Vintage II line. And, for this reviewer at least, the development is a welcome one. I know flatter radii are appealing to bend-happy players. But when combined with the beautifully rolled edges on this Thinline’s single-piece maple neck and its very late-’60s-feeling C-profile, the more curvaceous radius Thinline feels fast and alluring under the fingers. And while the action felt pretty low, deep bending never resulted in choked or clanking notes. Is 7.25" too curvy for bending? I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour about that. I think it feels fantastic.
The Thinline is a pleasure in other ergonomic respects. The semi-hollow construction makes it relatively light (though the humbuckers probably offset that advantage a touch). And while the volume and tone knobs are situated further away than on a traditional Telecaster or a Stratocaster, the 3-way pickup switch, which is angled in the fashion of a Stratocaster pickup switch, is an inspired move that makes switching a lot more fluid.
The Verdict
In terms of function, sound, and style, time is proving kind to the ’72 Telecaster Thinline. And in this American Vintage II incarnation, the improvements to the Wide Range pickup make the Thinline a very real, appealing, and individual alternative to Gibsons and more canonical Fender sounds as well. Idiosyncrasies specific to the Wide Range pickups and 1meg potentiometer configuration won’t be for everyone. The guitar can sound pretty bright. And I suspect players that just want PAF sounds from a Telecaster will have the same complaints they’ve always had. But for any player that loves the feel of a vintage Fender but is interested in a more distinct, individual palette of sounds, the ’72 Telecaster Thinline is a sweet-playing delight
This advanced control application extends Precision's unmatched ARC acoustic calibration, response customization and speaker emulation capabilities.
IK is pleased to announce the release of X-MONITOR, an advanced control application for iLoud Precision studio monitors that enables voicing selection and extended acoustic adjustments. X-MONITOR for Mac and Windows is the control center for all the advanced features built into iLoud Precision.
X-MONITOR is available for free to iLoud Precision owners bringing a host of must-have functionality. From assisting with ARC calibration or saving custom user settings to offering speaker emulations and essential tools for optimizing performance in different environments, X-MONITOR is a breakthrough for mix engineers and studios looking to up their game.
Faster Acoustic Room Correction iLoud Precision Studio Monitors feature built-in ARC calibration, tuning themselves to the acoustic environment with the included MEMS measurement microphone. X-MONITOR makes the process even easier with step-by-step instructions and visual feedback on the calibration progress and final results.
Customized Response Curves With the dedicated Contour page, users can adjust specific frequency ranges, with or without ARC, to suit their needs and tastes. These settings are stored inside iLoud Precision and then recalled automatically the next time the speaker is turned on. Once a favorite profile is loaded, X-MONITOR is then only needed to change settings.
Iconic Speaker Emulation X-MONITOR controls Precision's ability to emulate the frequency and phase response of the most famous studio monitors on the market, working in tandem with the ARC settings for the best possible sound in any listening environment. This is ideal for testing a mix on different reference systems using just one pair of speakers and without ever leaving the sweet spot.
X-MONITOR makes it immediate to audition the over 20 iconic speaker emulations currently available or reset iLoud Precision to its own native voices.
Rear Panel Control at the Desktop X-MONITOR gives access to the same controls as Precision's rear panel making it easy to adjust the settings right from the sweet spot, both for individual speakers or linked pairs. From the software, users can adjust the low-frequency extension, low, high, and mid-frequency contours, standby timer setting, precise speaker delay, and more. No more struggling to experiment with back-panel settings, it can all be adjusted within X-MONITOR.
Software and Hardware Remote Control X-MONITOR's user interface includes a virtual version of the iLoud Precision Remote Control (sold separately). iLoud Precision can instantly switch settings via the remote control's four illuminated switches. The X-MONITOR software can be used to assign a different function to each one of the switches such as auditioning different speaker profiles for A/B checking, dimming, system mute, ARC on/off, standby, and more.
The assignment for each switch is stored inside the monitors so that users can continue operating the iLoud Precision Remote Control without a computer. This opens the door to using iLoud Precisions as completely standalone devices on a mixing desk, in broadcasting setups, or even as an advanced and amazing-sounding hi-fi system for a living room, home theater, and more.
Easy Setup and Updates As IK releases firmware updates with new features and speaker emulations, X-MONITOR keeps users informed and guides them through the firmware update process, making it easy to keep Precisions up-to-date and running optimally.
Registered owners of iLoud Precision studio monitors can download the X-MONITOR software for free from their IK User Area. iLoud Precision studio monitors with X-MONITOR can be ordered now from the IK Multimedia online store and from IK authorized dealers worldwide at the following prices:
An electric guitar and bass line that celebrates Fender's models released during the musical decades of the `50s, `60s and `70s.
Built-in Corona, Calif., this new flagship series is designed to be a testament to the lasting influence and designs from one of the iconic instrument makers, including the Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Jazzmaster guitars and Precision Bass and Jazz Bass models in their celebrated, original form. Harnessing vintage-inspired style, sound, and feel, the American Vintage II series elevates the playing experience for modern musicians, while maintaining the classic features that have influenced through the decades.
In addition, Fender has teamed up with country music duo Brothers Osborne, British vocalist, guitarist, singer and songwriter James Bay, legendary British rock guitarist Jeff Beck and more to bring the series to life. Each campaign artist will be featured in a four-part video series that showcases six guitars and basses in the collection through powerful vignettes that highlight the progression, inspiration and influence vintage gear has had on music through time; these videos will include personal conversations, performances of some original songs and even some covers from each American Vintage II decade that have influenced the artists personal sound. Fans can watch highlights of how iconicFender guitar models continue to influence artists’ music today, with models being built to every last original spec.
Top Highlights Include:
Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finishes (where vintage accurate) that give the authentic visual aesthetic of vintage Fender guitars that will age beautifully over time.
Vintage-Style Neck Profiles that create the playing experience, feel and sound of the classic guitar and basses celebrated from Fender’s golden age.
Heirloom Quality Year-Specific Pickups that emulate the crystalline, warm tone that is the hallmark of Fender instruments.
Ash and Alder Bodies are traditional Fender tone woods used from the `50s to today and provide the look and sound of classic Fender instruments.
Vintage-Style Hardware recreates the tone and feel of Fender’s classic instruments with an authentic aesthetic.
Vintage-Style Cases protect the instruments with traditional style.
Series Models Include:
50s:
American Vintage II ‘51 Telecaster guitar and American Vintage II ‘51 Telecaster LH guitar, ($2,249.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘54 Precision Bass, ($2,249.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘57 Stratocaster guitar and American Vintage II ‘57 Stratocaster LH guitar ($2,099.99-$2,249.99 USD)
‘60s:
American Vintage II ‘60 Precision Bass, ($2,099.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘61 Stratocaster guitar and American Vintage II ‘61 Stratocaster LH guitar, ($2,099.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘63 Telecaster guitar, ($2,099.99-$2,249.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘66 Jazz Bass and American Vintage II ‘66 Jazz Bass LH, ($2,299.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘66 Jazzmaster guitar, ($2,399.99 USD)
‘70s:
American Vintage II ‘72 Telecaster Thinline guitar, ($2,399.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘73 Statocaster guitar, ($2,279.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘75 Telecaster Deluxe guitar, ($2,299.99 USD)
American Vintage II ‘77 Telecaster Custom guitar, ($2,199.99 USD)
If you were designing a loving and largely accurate stompbox homage to the Uni-Vibe, adding the sound of spring reverb might not be an obvious move. The original Uni-Vibe certainly didn’t have a spring reverb built into that big, clunky enclosure. So why would J Rockett pursue this path? Because it’s incredibly fun and sounds amazing—that’s why.
Swirl and Splash
Though its reverb component is digital, Uni-Verb’s modulation section is not a digital facsimile. It’s a true, optical chorus-and-vibrato (some might say phaser-and-vibrato) circuit, just like the original Uni-Vibe—right down to the little lamp that pulsates among optical sensors at the center of the ordered and neatly executed circuit board.
The hefty enclosure (J. Rockett pedals always feel more like high-quality test instruments from the 1950s than guitar pedals) is a handsome homage to the original Uni-Vibe, right down to little details like the chicken head knobs and “clock” markers that surround the chorus mix and reverb dwell dials. On an original Uni-Vibe, the two big dials (in fact, the only dials) are dedicated to output volume and modulation intensity. Here, those chores are handled by two small knobs in the pedal’s center. The two additional knobs in the middle are reverb intensity (wet/dry mix) and the modulation rate control. Sadly, there is no expression pedal option for the rate, which, functionally speaking, makes the Uni-Verb a little less authentic.
Uni-Verb’s modulations are thick and chewy enough to make you feel like you’re sitting in a molasses puddle.
The Uni-Verb’s reverb, which is generated via an Accutronics Digi-Log module, is immersive, engaging and fun. At higher levels it exhibits an almost staccato, super-reflective reverb texture rather than the washy decay I hear in the ’60s black-panel Fender combo I used for comparison. This isn’t an altogether uncommon phenomenon in digital spring reverb approximations—even in expensive, DSP-intensive ones. In isolation, this facet of the Uni-Verb’s reverb sound is much more apparent. And it’s most obvious when playing choppy chords or spacious lead lines peppered with strong transients. Passing chords and busier lead lines, however, tend to obscure the phenomenon, and once the reverb signal is enmeshed with the beautiful modulations you rarely notice it. That quirk aside, Uni-Vibe’s reverb still sounds very much like real spring reverb. And when you’re playing or listening to playback it exerts much of the same visceral tug and in-your-face snappiness of real spring reverb.
Human Chew Toy
At the highest intensity settings, the Uni-Verb’s modulations are thick and chewy enough to make you feel like you’re sitting in a molasses puddle. I played at these high intensity levels often in my time with the Uni-Verb. You could swim in a two-chord vamp forever here, and the pedal remains articulate in these spaces, even when you push the chorus mix. I’m sure some players would like for the pedal to probe more radical modulation zones. But I love the headroom that’s built in at these high intensity levels. It makes the pedal more articulate and detailed, and you can dial in even more headroom if you keep the output level on the high side but just short of maximum. Needless to say, fuzz is a very sweet match for this pedal. And though, in my experience, some dark fuzzes or overdrives blur modulation detail and overtones in Uni-Vibe clones, the Uni-Verb is very accommodating of these voices. Even Sovtek-style Big Muffs sound alive and full of color and detail riding these waveforms. Gilmour obsessives take note.
The Verdict
Like so many J. Rockett pedals, the Uni-Verb sounds like the product of thoughtful design and intent, feels like a brick, and reflects a curiosity-driven “what-if” design mentality that, ultimately, yields sounds you don’t typically encounter in a single pedal. It might not fix all your pedalboard overcrowding problems. But on more than one occasion I considered that I could very easily get away with playing a show with this pedal and nothing else. And though at $449 it represents a considerable investment, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more authentic Uni-Vibe pedal, and harder-pressed to find one that adds up to such a huge-sounding whole.
The Uni-Verb gives you access to the classic vibe-style textures showcased on such classics as Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs," Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun," Pink Floyd's "Breathe," and a whole host of others. This stompbox delivers the full gamut of the original's chorus and vibrato effects, along with a spring reverb for added vintage mojo and dimension. When the guitarists here at Sweetwater really want to nail classic vibe-style tones, we like to place the unit before our drives.
