Walrus Audio continues to sharpen their offerings of versatile, quality dirt boxes with a fresh update to the Iron Horse distortion. The Iron Horse is Walrus' take on a classic distortion circuit that's thick, punchy, riffy, and rowdy. With the help of the Si/LED (Silicon/LED) knob and wide range of the distortion knob, this true bypass, high-gain behemoth can be finely tuned for clear overdriven sounds or let the reigns loose for a full-on distorted onslaught.
Updates
- Top-mounted jacks
- Soft relay true bypass on/off
- Fixed volume drop-off when the distortion knob is at minimum
- Re-imagined the hard clipping toggle as a blend style potentiometer, that allows you to blend between symmetrical silicon and diode clipping for a new variety of tones.
Walrus Audio Pedal Play: Iron Horse High-Gain Distortion
The Iron Horse V3 comes in a Gold finish with black ink. Artwork by illustrator David HuĢttner features a new battle- ready stallion cloaked in armor.
The die-cast enclosure's exact size is 4.77" x 2.6" x 1.39". Power requirements are 9VDC (100mA minimum).
Walrus Audio is offering The Iron Horse for a retail price of $199 and is available as of October 26, 2021, at walrusaudio.com and with our authorized dealers worldwide.
- Rig Rundown: mewithoutYou - Premier Guitar āŗ
- The Gray Area: Thrice's Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi ... āŗ
- Walrus Audio Releases the Iron Horse Distortion V2 - Premier Guitar āŗ
Some musical momentsāwhether riffs, melodies, or solosābypass our ears and tug at our heartstrings.
It had to be in the early part of 1990, and I donāt know how or why, but I purchased Steady On, the debut album from singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. Upon my first listen I knew it was something very special. By the time the third track, āShotgun Down the Avalanche,ā came pouring from my ancient Dahlquist DQ10s, I was a fan. The song features an instrumental breakānot a guitar solo per se, but more like a stringed-instrument vignette that cascaded seamlessly through a number of sounds created by guitarist-songwriter-producer John Leventhal. Iāve listened to it dozens of times since, and I still marvel at the emotion it stirs in me.
You see, Iām a sucker for a musical moment that seems to bypass my ears and tug at my heart. It could be a simple phrase with an extraordinary tonal personality or just a few well-chosen notes that say more than any flurry ever could. My subconscious (and probably yours) is chock full of these snippet momentsāand they guide and soothe us in our musical journey. Somehow, they all swirl around in my pea brain like some David Lynch fever dreamāmorphing and coalescing fragments that are always informing my taste and guiding my fingers. Iāll share a few with you now.
Like so many of my generation of guitarists, the Ventures figured prominently. Their powerful interpretation of the Richard Rodgers song āSlaughter on Tenth Avenueā is brimming with pre-Neil Young-esque 1960s distortion. But Iām also drawn to the melancholy, ultra-clean, reverb-drenched tones of āLonely Girlā from their 1965 album Knock Me Out. The nostalgic reprise in my imagination occurs in Youngās āNo Moreā on his celebrated Freedom recordāwith its wash of reverb and mangled fuzz tickling my musical funny bone and warming me like the soft glow of a winter fireplace.
Now, imagine itās the mid ā70s and Zeppelinās āKashmirā is battling with AC/DCās āT.N.T.ā for airplay when you drop the needle on the Tony Williams Lifetime track āRed Alert,ā found on the Believe It album. Allan Holdsworthās angular note choices and driving rhythm give way to a tour de force of legato fusion fury. When I first encountered Allan Holdsworthās solo on the track āWild Life,ā I thought it was a saxophone. Holdsworth mimics the breathy attack of a reed instrument, complete with slow-wavering vibrato. Although it sounds a little dated now, itās interesting to note that Van Halen was still a few years away.āI know Iāll get hate mail for downplaying his early solos, but Van Halenās rhythmic drive and superb timing were really the heart of his craft and the soul of the band.ā
Speaking of Van Halen, as spectacular as Edās soloing was, itās his rhythm work that I find most inspiring. I know Iāll get hate mail for downplaying his early solos, but Van Halenās rhythmic drive and superb timing were really the heart of his craft and the soul of the band. Interestingly, some of that feel has crept into my own playing, which does not make me unique. Who can deny the importance and influence he had?
While Iām on the subject of influence, itās hard to overlook the swath that Jeff Beck cut through the guitar world. In my estimation, his pioneering sound and concepts were the godfather masterstrokes that propelled an entire genre of guitar-based rock. The first Jeff Beck Group recording, Truth, contains too many important guitar moments to list. One of my touchstones is the opening riff on āLet Me Love Youā where Beck mangles the guitar, producing a head-scratching puzzle of sound before two seconds have passed. The next half-minute is a blueprint lesson in blues-rock style that many have studied, yet few have equaled. As a young guitarist in 1968, I was ready to throw my instrument down a flight of stairs after witnessing āI Aināt Superstitious.ā Weād heard the wah pedal before, but not like this. Beck impersonates a black catāClyde McCoy, eat your heart out. Itās worthwhile to note that Beckās style and direction continued to evolve throughout the decades without destroying the validity of his earlier work.
I suppose I could go on, but Iām running out of space, and Iāve tortured you enoughāuntil next month. The good news is that we have this seemingly unscalable mountain of amazing guitar sounds to discover, inspire, comfort, and rock us down the road. From Charlie Christian and Tiny Grimes right up to the host of great players today, as students of sound, we have a long, lovely path to hike.
An all-analog ā60s-inspired tremolo marries harmonic and optical circuits that can be used independently or blended to generate phasey, throbbing magic.
Spans practical, convincing vintage trem tones and the utterly weird. Hefty build quality.
Big footprint. Canāt switch order of effects.
$299
Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem
jackson.audio
Almost any effect can be used subliminally or to extremes. But tremolo is a little extra special when employed at its weirder limits. Unlike reverb or delay, for instance, which approximate phenomena heard in the natural world, tremolo from anything other than an amp or pedal tends to occur in the realm of altered statesāsuggesting the sexy, subterranean, and dreamy. Such moods can be conjured with any single tremolo. Put two together, though, and the simply sensual can be surreal. Modify this equation by mating two distinctly different tremolo types, and the possible sound pictures increase manifold.
The all-analog, U.S.-built Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem accomplishes this by combining a syrupy harmonic tremoloāthe likes of which youād hear from an early-1960s brown-panel Fender ampāand an optical tremolo like that in a Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve amp or black-panel Fender. Both effects can be used independently, but itās when the two are blended that the Twin Trem shines.
Doppelganger Effect
The Twin Tremās optical and harmonic circuits are obviously not identical twins, but each is operated via its own 3-knob array consisting of speed, depth, and a smaller volume knob that will boost or cut the output of the individual circuit. Both tremolo types modulate at speeds slower than what you hear in amplifier equivalents. I donāt have a Silvertone Twin Twelve tremolo on hand for comparison. But the slowest speed from a mid-1960s Fender optical tremolo matched the rate of the Twin Tremās optical circuit at about the midpoint of its range. At its slowest, the optical side will cycle through minimum and maximum volume in just a little under a full second, which feels molasses-slow, stretching and enhancing the ramping effect. Maximum speeds on the Twin Trem are closer to the maximum on the old Fender. But thatās still a pretty rapid modulation rate and the Twin Tremās range-y depth controls make fast modulations sound extra alien.
If youāre sensitive to such things, the dedicated volume controls are great for overcoming the perceived volume drop that goes with any tremolo. Thereās much more gain available than what you need for that purpose, and slathering on the volume gives the pulses a burly quality thatās tough but can obscure some nuance. The ability to create disparate volumes for each circuit means you can slightly foreground one tremolo type or the other, opening up an even wider tone palette and highlighting unique interrelationships between modulations.
Double Shots Make Dizzy Daze
The Twin Tremās optical tremolo side (if you open up the back you can watch the pulsing diode that activates the opto-resistor) exhibits the throbbing tendencies one associates with black-panel Fender amplifiers. In fact, the Twin Trem sounds uncannily like the old Vibrolux I used for this test, but with more speed, range, and intensity. On its own, itās a convincing stand-in for a 1960s Fender, Gibson, or Silvertone circuit.
One of the coolest things about the harmonic tremolo is how it often doesnāt sound like tremolo at all. In a harmonic tremolo circuit, high and low-frequency bands are split and volume-attenuated out of phase from each other, creating a bubblegum elasticity in the modulations. At slow speeds the harmonic tremoloās phasey attributes take center stage (clip 1). And though the modulation texture is less swirling than what a simple phaser produces, the more vowel-like pulses lend a sleepy, mysterious aura to the modulation.
Though I did not use the pedal in stereo, I did utilize the effects loop, inserting a delay between the harmonic and optical tremolo, creating a little extra wash in the harmonic tremolo sweeps (clip 2). You can go crazy with possibilities here: How about inserting a multiple-tape-head-style delay for maximum syncopated mayhem? But the most traditional application for the effects loop is to simulate the reverb-into-tremolo order found in many mid-1960s amps. Again, itās a great option when you need ā60s reverb/tremolo combo amp vibes and thereās no such animal around.Audio clip 2, which showcases the Twin Tremās effects loop, also captures the two tremolos working together. And even at this fast-twitching speed you can hear the phaser-like wash softening the front end of the harder optical pulses that are situated downstream. Some dual-trem settings can produce chaos. But the best ones are thick, eerie, and propulsive in ways that can completely transform a songās ambience.
The Verdict
The Twin Trem is just short of 300 bucks, and itās easy to rationalize such a significant expense when you consider that you get two distinct tremolo sounds that you can mix, match, and switch between very readily. Maximizing the investment probably requires a little extra thirst for the unusual. Not all combined settings are money. Some rhythmic syncopations will drive you batty, and without the benefit of digital control you can disappear down little rabbit holes trying to find an elusive, perfect subdivision between modulation tempos or replicating a texture you found the previous week. Itās also too bad that you can't switch the order of the circuits. These are very minor traps, however. In general, the Twin Trem is forgiving and easy to use. And if you get in a meditative place with the pedal, and let it do the driving from time to time, the riffs will practically write themselves.
Bonnaroo announces its 2025 lineup featuring Luke Combs, Hozier, Queens of the Stone Age, Avril Lavigne, and more.
This year features headline performances from Luke Combs on Thursday, Tyler, The Creator on Friday, Olivia Rodrigo on Saturday, and Hozier on Sunday. Further highlights include John Summit, Dom Dolla, Avril Lavigne, Glass Animals, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Queens of the Stone Age, and the first-ever Roo Residency with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard performing three sets over three days. In addition, Remi Wolf will lead the āInsanely Fire 1970ās Pool Partyā 2025 SuperJam, Bonnarooās legendary tradition. The complete Bonnaroo 2025 lineup is below.
Bonnaroo tickets go on sale tomorrow, Thursday, January 9 beginning at 10 am (CT) exclusively via bonnaroo.com. Guaranteed lowest-priced tickets are available during the first hour of sales, from 10 am - 11 am (CT). 2025 ticket options include 4-Day General Admission, 4-Day GA+, 4-Day VIP, and 4-Day Platinum, along with a variety of camping and parking options starting at just $25 down with a payment plan.
The 2025 festival will offer some exciting new features for Bonnaroovians, including the āCloserā RV and Primitive Camping accommodations that guarantee closer proximity to Centeroo, regardless of which day fans choose to enter The Farm. Among this yearās most exciting additions will be The Infinity Stage, a brand-new, one-of-a-kind venue ā presented in partnership with Polygon Live ā boasting spatial sound, synchronized lights, and an unprecedented three-dome, open-air design to create the worldās largest, most immersive, 360Ā° live music experience.
Bonnaroo also offers upgraded ticket types for those who prefer an elevated experience. GA+ tickets include unlimited access to the Centeroo GA+ Lounge, with relaxed seating, dedicated food for purchase, air-conditioned restrooms, and hospitality staff to assist with all festival needs; a private bar with drinks for purchase plus complimentary soft drinks; complimentary water refill station; a dedicated premium entrance lane at both gates into Centeroo, and more. VIP and Platinum guests will enjoy the same perks plus additional exclusive upgrades, including dedicated close-in and on-field viewing areas; unlimited access to VIP and Platinum Lounges; express lanes at the Festival Store, commemorative festival gifts, and so much more. To learn more about VIP and Platinum, please seehttp://www.bonnaroo.com/tickets.
A wide range of Camping & Parking options will be available in Outeroo including Primitive Car Camping, Glamping, RVs, Backstage Camping, Accessible Camping, Groop Camping, Community Camping, and more. Premium Outeroo Camping Accommodations include pre-pitched Souvenir Tents, cool and comfortable Darkroom Tents, weatherproof Luxury Bell Tents, and spacious 2-person Wood Frame Safari Tents for the ultimate Bonnaroo camping experience. Cosmic Nomads On-Site Daily Parking passes will be available for ticketholders not camping. For details on all accommodation options, please visitwww.bonnaroo.com/accommodations.
Complete Lineup
THURSDAY, JUNE 12
Luke Combs
Dom Dolla
Sammy Virji
Marcus King
Green Velvet
2hollis
Insane Clown Posse
Joey Valence & Brae
Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country
Wilderado
Max Styler
Azzecca
The Lemon Twigs
Wisp
Sofia Isella
Kitchen Dwellers
Dogs In A Pile
Die Spitz
Hey, Nothing
The Droptines
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
Tyler, the Creator
John Summit
Glass Animals
Tipper
Goose
The Red Clay Strays
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Megadeth
Wallows
Foster the People
Slightly Stoopid
Flipturn
Of the Trees
JPEGMAFIA
Marina
Tape B
MJ Lenderman
BossMan Dlow
INZO
Levity
Mannequin Pussy
Leon Thomas
Cults
Aly & AJ
Matt Champion
Detox Unit
Rachel Chinouriri
Eater
Ginger Root
Bebe Stockwell
Effin
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
Olivia Rodrigo
Avril Lavigne
Justice
Nelly
GloRilla
Mt. Joy
RL Grime
Beabadoobee
Tyla
Jessie Murph
Modest Mouse
Gorgon City
Flatland Cavalry
Hot Mulligan
Action Bronson
Crankdat
Dope Lemon
Gigi Perez
Wave to Earth
Claptone
Jade Cicada
What So Not
DaĆ°i Freyr
Ziggy Alberts
ROSSY
Destroy Boys
The Stews
Thee Sinseers & The Altons
AHEE
SUNDAY, JUNE 15
Hozier
Vampire Weekend
Queens of the Stone Age
LSZEE
Remi Wolf
Raye
Royel Otis
Dispatch
Role Model
Barry Can't Swim
Treaty Oak Revival
Big Gigantic
Jack's Mannequin
ATLiens
Bilmuri
Saint Motel
James Arthur
Alex Warren
Zingara
Natasha Bedingfield
Alexandra Kay
Goldie Boutilier
Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge
GorillaT
YDG
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Roo Residency: 3 Sets, 3 Days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
Remi Wolfās Insanely Fire 1970ās Pool Party Superjam (Saturday)
Enhance your Ratio Machine Heads with Graph Tech's new Barrel Knobs. Designed for comfort and style, these barrel-shaped tuning buttons offer a fresh look and feel to your instrument. Available in chrome and black finishes, these knobs are the perfect way to personalize your guitar.
Graph Tech Guitar Labs has introduced the latest addition to their Ratio Machine Head family: Barrel Knobs. These barrel-style tuning buttons bring a fresh look and feel to the Ratio system, offering players a new way to personalize their instruments ā and an easy-to-grip alternative to more traditional tuner knobs.
Available in two different finishes ā chrome and black ā the new barrel knobs can be ordered as a standalone option. If you already own Ratio Machine Heads, simply order the Barrel Knobs and swap them out ā the process is easy and only takes a few minutes. Best of all, there is no need to replace the entire Ratio tuner system.
The new Barrel Knobs were developed at the request of guitarist Thomas Nordegg, known for his work with rock legends like Frank Zappa and Steve Vai. A longtime fan of Graph Techās Ratio machine heads, Nordegg saw an opportunity to enhance the systemās ergonomic design and approached Graph Tech with the idea of creating barrel-style tuning buttons to provide an alternative option for players seeking a fresh look and feel. Designed to integrate seamlessly with the Ratio system, these knobs combine ergonomic comfort with understated style, giving players another way to personalize their instruments.
More and more players are option for Ratio Machine Heads on their instruments. Ratio Machine Headsare designed with gear ratios that are uniquely calibrated for each string, making tuning consistent andpredictable across the fretboard. This innovative system simplifies fine-tuning and alternate tunings, saving time and improving accuracy.
Hereās what the new Barrel Knobs offer:
- Refined Functionality: Barrel-shaped design for a natural grip and precise adjustments.
- Timeless Aesthetic: A sleek, modern look that complements any guitar style.
- Perfect Fit: Designed specifically for Ratio Machine Heads, ensuring flawless compatibility.
- Available in chrome and black to suit a variety of instruments and player preferences.
Graph Techās new Barrel Knobs are available for $3.00 each and are available in chrome and black finishes.
For more information, please visit graphtech.com.
