ESP Guitars announces 43 new LTD and LTD Deluxe guitar models to kick off the new year.
A new Camo finish has been made available for the LTD and ESP James Hetfield Snakebyte. The Snakebyte features set-neck construction at 24.75" scale, 22 extra-jumbo frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and James' own EMG JH SET active pickups.
The LTD Arrow Series has expanded with four new additions. The LTD Deluxe Arrow-1000 offers a quilted maple top in a Charcoal Burst Satin finish. It features neck-thru-body construction, a reverse headstock with matching finish, Macassar ebony fingerboard with stainless steel frets, a set of direct mount Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker active pickups, and a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws. The LTD Deluxe Arrow-1000NT (Charcoal Metallic Satin) offers a recessed TonePros TOM bridge with string-thru-body, neck-thru-body construction, stainless steel frets, and direct mount Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker active pickups. The LTD Deluxe Arrow-1000 EverTune includes the innovative EverTune constant tension bridge system, and comes in Black. All Arrow 1000 models have compound radius fingerboards. The LTD Arrow-200 (Military Green Satin) offers a more affordable version of the Arrow Series with a set-neck design, an LTD Floyd Rose tremolo, and a set of high output ESP LH-301 pickups with black covers.
Seven new guitars have joined ESP’s popular LTD EC Series. The LTD Deluxe EC-1000 Baritone comes in a 27” baritone scale, with a Charcoal Metallic Satin finish and black single-ply binding. Features include 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots, a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body, and a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker active pickups with black nickel covers. The new LTD Deluxe EC-1000 in See Thru Purple Sunburst offers 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of EMG 60TW-R (neck) and EMG 81 (bridge) pickups. The LTD Deluxe EC-1000T CTM EverTune has a traditional full-thickness body, custom multi-ply binding on the guitar’s front and back, and the EverTune constant tension bridge system. It also features Fishman Fluence Classic Humbucker pickups and 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets.
The new LTD Deluxe EC-1000T CTM in Violet Shadow has a gorgeous flamed maple top, traditional thickness body and multi-ply binding. This guitar includes a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic Humbucker pickups with multiple voicings, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a TonePro locking TOM bridge and tailpiece. The LTD Deluxe EC-1000T CTM in Charcoal Burst combines an elegant quilted maple top and a traditional full-thickness mahogany body (with no waist cut). It features a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, matching headstock finish, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic Humbucker pickups. Another new EC Series guitar is the LTD Deluxe EC-1000T CTM Vintage Gold Satin, which features a traditional full-thickness mahogany body, multi-ply binding, a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic Humbucker pickups with multiple voicings. Finally, a more affordable version of the EC Series has been announced with the LTD EC-201, which offers set-neck construction, 24 extra-jumbo frets, and a single ESP LH-150B pickup with antique nickel cover, which can be split for single-coil sounds with a push-pull volume knob.
ESP’s EX Series has two new models for 2022. The LTD EX-7 Baritone Black Metal is a seven-string guitar at 27” baritone scale. It offers the Black Metal design theme of all-black finish, components, and hardware, and a Macassar ebony fingerboard with no inlays and glow-in-the-dark side markers. It features a set-thru maple neck, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking bridge and tailpiece, and a single direct-mount EMG 81-7H pickup with black logo. The LTD EX-201 is an affordable way to get into the extreme EX shape, and offers a reverse matching headstock and a single direct-mount ESP LH-150B pickup with antique nickel cover, which can be split for single-coil sounds with a push pull volume knob. A high output pickup, the LH-150B is great for rock and metal, and has an antique nickel cover. ESP also made an addition to their F Series with the LTD Deluxe F-1001, which comes in the multihued, iridescent Violet Andromeda Satin finish. It features set-thru construction, an extra-thin maple neck that has a compound radius for maximum speed and comfort, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws, and a single direct-mount EMG 81TW active pickup with a brushed black chrome cover.
New models in the H Series and H3 Series include the new LTD Deluxe H-1000 EverTune in See Thru Purple Sunburst, featuring the EverTune constant tension bridge, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers. Available in Snow White finish, the LTD Deluxe H3-1000FR has an extra-thin maple neck with a compound radius, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws, and EMG 66TW (neck) and EMG 57 (bridge) pickups in brushed gold covers. The LTD Deluxe H3-1000 in See Thru Black Cherry has a quilted maple top, and features a compound neck radius, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body, and a set of direct-mount Seymour Duncan Sentient (neck) and Pegasus (bridge) pickups. The LTD Deluxe H3-1007 Baritone is a 7-string, 27” baritone scale extended range guitar with a flamed maple top in See Thru Black Sunburst finish. It includes a set of direct-mount Seymour Duncan Sentient (neck) and Pegasus (bridge) pickups.
ESP has added new finishes for its popular ’87 Series guitars. The LTD M-1 Custom ’87 offers neck-thru body construction, a top-mounted Floyd Rose 1000 bridge, a single Seymour Duncan Distortion TB-6 pickup with a push-pull control for coil splitting, and an EMG PA-2 boost switch for when you need that extra push of raw power. For 2022, it is being made available in Dark Metallic Purple and Metallic Gold finishes. The LTD Mirage Deluxe ’87 features a Floyd Rose 1000 bridge and a pickup set that includes a Seymour Duncan Distortion TB-6 in the bridge and Hot Rail single coil in the neck. Its new finishes for 2022 include Snow White and Metallic Gold.
Available in Black Satin finish, the LTD Deluxe MH-1000 Baritone offers the extended range of a 27” baritone scale. It features neck-thru-body construction, a compound neck radius, 24 extra jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body, and direct-mount EMG 81 and EMG 60TW-R pickups with brushed black chrome covers. The LTD Deluxe MH-1000 comes in the beautiful new Black Ocean finish on its quilted maple top, and includes 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws, and a set of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers with brushed stainless steel covers.
Three new models are being added to the Phoenix Series. The LTD Phoenix-7 Baritone Black Metal is an extended-range version of the Phoenix with seven strings and 27” baritone scale. It features neck-thru body construction, a Fishman Modern 7-String Humbucker pickup, and 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body. The LTD Deluxe Phoenix-1000 EverTune is the first Phoenix model to offer the EverTune constant tension bridge. Finished in Silver Sunburst Satin, it features neck-thru-body construction, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers with black nickel covers. The LTD Deluxe Phoenix-1000 has a quilted maple top in a See Thru Black Sunburst finish. Features include neck-thru-body construction, a reversed headstock with matching finish, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and a set of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat (neck) and Custom (bridge) pickups.
The SN Series is expanding with four new models. The LTD Deluxe SN-1000 EverTune is the first SN Series guitar to include the innovative EverTune constant tension bridge. Available in Charcoal Metallic Satin finish, it comes in an H/S/S pickup configuration with two Seymour Duncan Hot Strat single coils in the neck and middle positions, and a high-output Pegasus in the bridge. Other features include a roasted maple neck with compound radius, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets (scalloped from frets 17-24), a matching-finish headstock, and a special mini toggle switch (same as found on the ESP Snapper models) provides even more tonal options. The LTD Deluxe SN-1007 Baritone HT is the first SN Series model with the extended range of seven strings and a 27” baritone scale. Offered in the textured Black Blast finish, it has a roasted maple neck with a compound radius, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets (scalloped from frets 17-24), a black bone nut, a Hipshot hardtail bridge with string thru body, and a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers.
The LTD Deluxe SN-1000HT Fire Blast has a textured, sandblasted Fire Blast finish over a swamp ash body, a roasted maple neck with a compound radius, 22 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a black bone nut, a Hipshot hardtail bridge with string thru body, and a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers. The LTD Deluxe SN-1000FR (Snow White finish) includes a double-locking Floyd Rose 1000SE bridge with stainless steel screws, a roasted maple neck with a compound radius, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets (scalloped from frets 17-24), a matching-finish headstock, and an H/S/S pickup configuration with two Fishman Fluence Single Width pickups in the neck and middle positions and a Fishman Fluence Classic Humbucker in the bridge.
Three new models are also joining the TE Series. The LTD Deluxe TE-1000 Snow White offers set-thru construction, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a Hipshot hardtail bridge with string thru body, and a set of Fishman Fluence Modern Humbuckers. Two new lower-priced TE models join the series with the LTD TE-200 (Black finish, LTD fixed bridge with string-thru-body and a set of ESP LH-150 pickups) and the LTD TE-201 (Black Satin finish, LTD fixed bridge with string-thru-body, and a single ESP LH-150B pickup with antique nickel cover).
A new finish comes to the LTD TL-6. Now in Purple Sparkle Burst, the TL-6 is a chambered transducer electric guitar with a Graphtech NuBone-XB nut and saddle, a Fishman SONICORE pickup, and TL-3 preamp with onboard tuner.
Finally, three new guitars have been added to the Viper Series. The LTD Deluxe Viper-1000 Baritone is a 27” baritone scale guitar with 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece, and a set of EMG 60TW-R (neck) and EMG 81 (bridge) pickups. The LTD Deluxe Viper-1000 EverTune includes the innovative EverTune constant tension bridge, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, and a set of EMG 60TW-R (neck) and EMG 81 (bridge) pickups. The LTD Deluxe Viper-1000M offers a mahogany body in See Thru Black Cherry finish, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets, a TonePros locking TOM bridge with string-thru-body, and a set of direct-mount Fishman Open Core Humbucker pickups.
Detailed information and specifications for all “New for 2022” ESP and LTD guitar models is available at the ESP web site at espguitars.com
- ESP LTD Vintage-204 Bass Review - Premier Guitar ›
- ESP LTD AP-204 Review - Premier Guitar ›
- ESP James Hetfield Snakebyte Electric Guitar Review - Premier Guitar ›
Featuring P-90 PRO pickups, CTS potentiometers, and a Custom ’59 Rounded C neck profile.
Epiphone’s Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard features the same Copper Iridescent color, a pair of Epiphone P-90 PRO pickups wired to CTS potentiometers and Mallory capacitors, a Custom ’59 Rounded C neck profile, a long neck tenon, and a “Nerdville” graphic hardshell case. This Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard is a passionate testament to Bonamassa’s unwavering commitment to the blues and its profound influence on his music.
The Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard release is a nod to a pivotal period in the evolution of the Gibson Les Paul, in a finish guaranteed to turn heads. Whether you’re a Joe Bonamassa fan, a Les Paul enthusiast, or a musician seeking an instrument that stands out in both tone and appearance, the Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard is the perfect addition to your collection.
This partnership with Epiphone celebrates the timeless synergy between the brand and Joe’s musical trajectory. Joe’s latest release Live At The Hollywood Bowl immortalizes Joe's first-ever performance at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in August 2023. Accompanied by an impressive ensemble of 40 orchestra members, Bonamassa delivered an unforgettable performance. Live At The Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra showcases Bonamassa’s virtuosic blend of blues and rock, but also elevates fan-favorite tracks with grandiose orchestral arrangements by some of Hollywood's finest – David Campbell, Trevor Rabin, and Jeff Bova. “Very few gigs represent my journey in music more than the Hollywood Bowl. I moved to Los Angeles in 2003 in search of opportunity and cheaper rent than New York City. My first gig at The Mint was attended by 5 of my friends. We have played The Greek Theatre many times since, but the Bowl has always been a dream. The orchestra and the sheer scale of the event and venue are something I will never forget. I am so grateful that we filmed this special event in my life,” reminisces Bonamassa.
For more information, please visit epiphone.com.
Joe Bonamassa Introduces the Epiphone 1955 Les Paul Standard - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard Electric Guitar - Copper Iridescent
JB 1955 LP Std, Cop IridWonderful array of weird and thrilling sounds can be instantly conjured. All three core settings are colorful, and simply twisting the time, span, and filter dials yields pleasing, controllable chaos. Low learning curve.
Not for the faint-hearted or unimaginative. Mode II is not as characterful as DBA and EQD settings.
$199
EarthQuaker Devices/Death By Audio Time Shadows
earthquakerdevices.com
This joyful noisemaker can quickly make you the ringmaster of your own psychedelic circus, via creative delays, raucous filtering, and easy-to-use, highly responsive controls.
I love guitar chaos, from the expressionist sound-painting of Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” to the clean, clever skronk ’n’ melody of Derek Bailey to the slide guitar fantasias of Sonny Sharrock to the dark, molten eruptions of Sunn O))). When I was just getting a grip on guitar, my friends and I would spend eight-hour days exploring feedback and twisted riffage, to see what we might learn about pushing guitar tones past the conventional.
So, pedals that are Pandora’s boxes of weirdness appeal to me. My two current favorites are my Mantic Flex Pro, a series of filter controls linked to a low-frequency oscillator, and my Pigtronix Mothership 2, a stompbox analog synth. But the Time Shadows II Subharmonic Multi-Delay Resonator is threatening their favored status—or at least demanding a third chair. This collaboration between Death By Audio and EarthQuaker Devices is a wonderful, gnarly little box of noise and fun that—unlike the two pedals I just mentioned—is easy to dial in and adjust on the fly, creating appealing and odd sounds at every turn.
Behind the Wall of Sound
Unlike the Mantic Flex Pro, the Time Shadows is consistent. You can plug the Mantic into the same rig, and that rig into the same outlet, every day, and there are going to be slight—or big—differences in the sound. Those differences are even less predictable on different stages and in different rooms. The Time Shadows, besides its operating consistency, has six user-programmable presets. They write with a single touch of the button in the center of the device’s tough, aluminum 4 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 2 1/4" shell. Inside that shell live ghosts, wind, and unicorns that blow raspberries on cue and more or less on key. EQD and DBA explain these “presences” differently, relating that the Time Shadow’s circuitry combines three delay voices (EQD, II, and DBA) with filters, fuzz, phasing, shimmer, swell, and subharmonics. There’s also an input for an expression pedal, which is great for making the Time Shadows’ more radical sounds voice-like and lending dynamic control. But sustaining a tone sweeping the time, span, and filter dials manually is rewarding on its own, producing a Strickfaden lab’s worth of swirling, sweeping, and dipping sounds.
Guitar Tone from Roswell
Because of the wide variety of sounds, swirls, and shimmers the Time Shadows produces, I found it best to play through a pair of combos in stereo, so the full range of, say, high notes cascading downwards and dropping pitch as they repeat, could be appreciated in their full dimensionality. (That happens in DBA mode, with the time and span at 10 and 4 o’clock respectively, with the filter also at 4, and it’s magical.) The pedal also stands up well to fuzz and overdrives whether paired with humbucker, P-90, or single-coil guitars.
I loved all three modes, but the more radical EQD and DBA positions are especially excellent. The EQD side piles dirt on the incoming signal, adds sub-octave shimmer, and is delayed just before hitting the filters. Keeping the filter function low lends alligator growls to sustained barre chords, and single notes transform into orchestral strings or brass turf, with a soft attack. Pushing the span dial high creates kaleidoscopes of sound. The Death By Audio mode really hones in on the pedal’s delay characteristics, creating crisp repeats and clean sounds with a little less midrange in the filtering, but lending the ability to cut through a mix at volume. The II mode is comparatively clean, and the filter control becomes a mix dial for the delayed signal.
The Verdict
The closest delay I’ve found comparable to the Time Shadows is Red Panda’s function-rich Particle 2 granular delay and pitch-shifter, which also uses filtering, among other tricks. But that pedal has a very deep menu of functions, with a larger learning curve. If you like to expect the unexpected, and you want it now, the Time Shadows supports crafting a wide variety of cool, surprising sounds fast. And that’s fun. The challenge will be working the Time Shadows’ cascading aural whirlpools and dinosaur choirs into song arrangements, but I heard how the pedal could be used to create unique, wonderful pads or bellicose solos after just a few minutes of playing. If you’d like to easily sidestep the ordinary, you might find spelunking the Time Shadows’ cavernous possibilities worthwhile.
This little pedal offers three voices—analog, tape, and digital—and faithfully replicates the highlights of all three, with minimal drawbacks.
Faithful replications of analog and tape delays. Straightforward design.
Digital voice can feel sterile.
$119
Fishman EchoBack Mini Delay
fishman.com
As someone who was primarily an acoustic guitarist for the first 16 out of 17 years that I’ve been playing, I’m relatively new to the pedal game. That’s not saying I’m new to effects—I’ve employed a squadron of them generously on acoustic tracks in post-production, but rarely in performance. But I’m discovering that a pedalboard, particularly for my acoustic, offers the amenities and comforts of the hobbit hole I dream of architecting for myself one day in the distant future.
But by gosh, if delay—and its sister effect, reverb—haven’t always been perfect for the music I like to write and play. Which brings us to the Fishman EchoBack Mini Delay. The EchoBack, along with the standard delay controls of level, time, and repeats—as well as a tap tempo—has a toggle to alternate between analog, tape, and digital-delay voices.
I hooked up my Washburn Bella Tono Elegante to my Blues Junior to give the EchoBack a test run. We love a medium delay—my usual preference for delay settings is to have both level and repeats at 1 o’clock, and time at 11 o’clock. With the analog voice switched on, I heard some pillowy warmth in the processed signal, as well as a familiar degradation with each repeat—until their wake gave way to a gentle, distant, crinkly ticking. Staying on analog and adjusting delay time down to 8 o’clock and repeats to about 11:30, some cozy slapback enveloped my rendition of Johnny Marr’s part to “Back to the Old House,” conjuring up thoughts of Elvis trapped in a small chamber, but in a good way. It sounded indubitably authentic. The one drawback of analog delay for me, generally, is that its roundness can feel a bit under water at times.
Switching over to tape, that pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top. With the settings at the medium-length mode listed above, I could see the empty, glass hall the pedal sent my sound bouncing down. I heard several pronounced pings of repeats before the signal fully faded out. On slapback settings (time at 8 o’clock, repeats at 11:30), rather than Elvis, I heard something more along the lines of a honky-tonk mic in a glass bottle. Still relatively crystalline, which actually was not my favorite. I like a bit more crinkle—so maybe analog is my bag....“That pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear, pristine replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top.”
Next up, digital. Here we have the brightest voice, and as expected, the most faithful repeats. They ping just a few times before shifting to a smooth, single undulating wave. When putting its slapback hat on, I found that the effect was a bit less alluring than I’d observed for the analog and tape voices. This is where the digital delay felt a little too sterile, with the cleanly preserved signal feeling a bit unnatural.
All in all, I dig the EchoBack for its replications of analog and tape voices, and ultimately, lean towards tape. While it’s nice having the digital delay there as an option, it feels a bit too clean when meddling with time of any given length. Nonetheless, this is surely a handy stomp for any acoustic player looking to venture into the land of live effects, or for those who are already there.
A silicon Fuzz Face-inspired scorcher.
Hot silicon Fuzz Face tones with dimension and character. Sturdy build. Better clean tones than many silicon Fuzz Face clones.
Like all silicon Fuzz Faces, lacks dynamic potential relative to germanium versions.
$229
JAM Fuzz Phrase Si
jampedals.com
Everyone has records and artists they indelibly associate with a specific stompbox. But if the subject is the silicon Fuzz Face, my first thought is always of David Gilmour and the Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii film. What you hear in Live at Pompeii is probably shaped by a little studio sweetening. Even still, the fuzz you hear in “Echoes” and “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”—well, that is how a fuzz blaring through a wall of WEM cabinets in an ancient amphitheater should sound, like the sky shredded by the wail of banshees. I don’t go for sounds of such epic scale much lately, but the sound of Gilmour shaking those Roman columns remains my gold standard for hugeness.
JAM’s Fuzz Phrase Fuzz Face homage is well-known to collectors in its now very expensive and discontinued germanium version, but this silicon variation is a ripper. If you love Gilmour’s sustaining, wailing buzzsaw tone in Pompeii, you’ll dig this big time. But its ’66 acid-punk tones are killer, too, especially if you get resourceful with guitar volume and tone. And while it can’t match its germanium-transistor-equipped equivalent for dynamic response to guitar volume and tone settings or picking intensity, it does not have to operate full-tilt to sound cool. There are plenty of overdriven and near-clean tones you can get without ever touching the pedal itself.
Great Grape! It’s Purple JAM, Man!
Like any Fuzz Face-style stomp worth its fizz, the Fuzz Phrase Si is silly simple. The gain knob generally sounds best at maximum, though mellower settings make clean sounds easier to source. The output volume control ranges to speaker-busting zones. But there’s also a cool internal bias trimmer that can summon thicker or thin and raspy variations on the basic voice, which opens up the possibility of exploring more perverse fuzz textures. The Fuzz Phrase Si’s pedal-to-the-metal tones—with guitar volume and pedal gain wide open—bridge the gap between mid-’60s buzz and more contemporary-sounding silicon fuzzes like the Big Muff. And guitar volume attenuation summons many different personalities from the Fuzz Phrase Si—from vintage garage-psych tones with more note articulation and less sustain (great for sharp, punctuated riffs) as well as thick overdrive sounds.
If you’re curious about Fuzz Face-style circuits because of the dynamic response in germanium versions, the Fuzz Phrase Si performs better in this respect than many other silicon variations, though it won’t match the responsiveness of a good germanium incarnation. For starters, the travel you have to cover with a guitar volume knob to get tones approaching “clean” (a very relative term here) is significantly greater than that required by a good germanium Fuzz Face clone, which will clean up with very slight guitar volume adjustments. This makes precise gain management with guitar controls harder. And in situations where you have to move fast, you may be inclined to just switch the pedal off rather than attempt a dirty-to-clean shift with the guitar volume.
“The best clean-ish tones come via humbuckers and a high-headroom amp with not too much midrange, which makes a PAF-and-black-panel-Fender combination a great fit.”
The best clean-ish tones come via humbuckers and a high-headroom amp with not too much midrange, which makes a PAF-and-black-panel-Fender combination a great fit if you’re out to extract maximum dirty-to-clean range. You don’t need to attenuate your guitar volume as much with the PAF/black-panel tandem, and you can get pretty close to bypassed tone if you reduce picking intensity and/or switch from flatpick to fingers and nails. Single-coil pickups make such maneuvers more difficult. They tend to get thin in a less-than-ideal way before they shake the dirt, and they’re less responsive to the touch dynamics that yield so much range with PAFs. If you’re less interested in thick, clean tones, though, single-coils are a killer match for the Fuzz Phrase Si, yielding Yardbirds-y rasp, quirky lo-fi fuzz, and dirty overdrive that illuminates chord detail without sacrificing attitude. Pompeii tones are readily attainable via a Stratocaster and a high-headroom Fender amp, too, when you maximize guitar volume and pedal gain. And with British-style amps those same sounds turn feral and screaming, evoking Jimi’s nastiest.
The Verdict
Like every JAM pedal I’ve ever touched, the JAM Fuzz Phrase Si is built with care that makes the $229 price palatable. Cheaper silicon Fuzz Face clones may be easy to come by, but I’m hard-pressed to think they’ll last as long or as well as the Greece-made Fuzz Phrase Si. Like any silicon Fuzz Face-inspired design, what you gain in heat, you trade in dynamics. But the Si makes the best of this trade, opening a path to near-clean tones and many in-between gain textures, particularly if you put PAFs and a scooped black-panel Fender amp in the mix. And if streamlining is on your agenda, this fuzz’s combination of simplicity, swagger, and style means paring down pedals and controls doesn’t mean less fun.