Strymon Engineering (www.strymon.net), has introduced a new analog tape drive pedal called La Brea.
Incorporating multiple stages of analog gain using techniques learned from studying vintage tape machines, La Brea delivers a wide range of saturation from a simple interface. The pedal never sounds harsh even at extreme settings, and piling on the gain just makes things fatter and more saturated without getting crispy or painful to listen to, just like a real mastering tape deck.
Initially inspired by the white paper that co-founder Pete Celi wrote on the development of Strymon’s iconic Deco pedal, analog engineer Josh Forbes aimed for true tape behavior in a fully analog design.
In addition to the tape saturation side, La Brea also features a fully discrete dry path, giving the pedal two distinct personalities that players can use to craft personal sounds. The dry path always stays in phase with the saturated output, meaning you can add a little or a lot with no comb filtering or other artifacts. The discrete operation also means that it can be used as a pure clean boost, or a clean boost that allows you add saturation (as much or as little as desired) to fatten up single notes and chords.
As tape has a tendency to saturate high frequencies first as the gain increases (making them less prevalent), La Brea also features a three-position Shift switch that allows the player to add some of those high frequencies back in to the output. One position concentrates on adding high frequencies only, and the other adds upper midrange frequencies to the high boost to help notes poke though the mix. It’s a powerful tool that can help wake up dark humbuckers, add bite to older strings or make setting up a rig even easier.
“It’s crazy to think that Josh read Pete’s whitepaper on the making of Deco over twelve years ago, which was before he even worked here”, said CEO and chief analog guru Gregg Stock. “He’s been thinking about how to recreate tape behavior purely in the analog domain ever since, so it’s great that we now have the Series A line of analog pedals to showcase these great ideas our guys come up with. La Brea is a drive pedal with a unique voice and response, so it fits really well with the other pedals in Series A.”
“It’s quickly become the favorite drive pedal for a bunch of people at the office”, said Sean Halley, Strymon’s marketing guy. “The fact that it’s based on tape means that it never gets harsh, never gets strident, and mates really well with all different types of amplifiers. I’ve had one on my gigging board since the beginning of the year in disguise, so I’m excited to take the tape off and finally let people see what it is!”
La Brea carries a street price of $199 US. For more information visit Strymon.net.
La Brea
Strymon Engineering (www.strymon.net), has introduced a new analog tape drive pedal called La Brea.
