february-2017

Onstage with Purling Hiss, Mike Polizze plays a ’90s Fender Stratocaster strung with a set of .008s, which he explains allows him to pummel his guitar’s whammy bar and still stay in tune.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography

A Strat-wielding sonic shaman creates his own space and time continuum with his still-evolving trio and a uniquely modded vintage Ampeg amp on the new album High Bias.

If you’re into gear—and you probably are if you’re reading this—the first thing you’ll notice about Mike Polizze, the guitarist in Purling Hiss, is his amp: a modded Ampeg VT-22.

You don’t see many Ampeg guitar amps these days, but they were a big deal in the early ’70s—especially for the Rolling Stones. The Stones were the first band to use Ampeg’s muscular V series and they brought the prototypes on their 1969 American tour. It was on that tour that Bill Wyman introduced the world to the SVT (his was a-300-watt, 95-pound beast), and those are the amps you hear on Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, the Stones’ 1970 live album. Mick Taylor used a V series amp for his iconic solo on “Midnight Rambler” and they were still using those amps on Exile on Main Street in 1972. The Stones pushed their amps hard, and for that 1969 tour had a tech on loan from Ampeg to manage their backline if it melted down.

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A preposterously inexpensive analog vibrato that sounds and feels fantastic.


There’s a lot of anticipation about TC Electronic’s new affordable stompboxes. Much of it is related to the rock-bottom prices. The Tailspin is just 50 bucks. But after a spin with the Tailspin, I suspect enthusiasm for the sounds will rival the excitement around the price.

Ridiculously inexpensive analog vibrato has been a reality since TC’s parent company Behringer built the UV300 Ultra Vibrato. But the Tailspin’s bent metal enclosure and robust construction make the TC pedal an altogether more appealing proposition. Tailspin exhibits none of the design shortcomings that make budget pedals unappetizing. The potentiometers turn with satisfying resistance. Jacks are stout and secure. The footswitch is smooth. And the pedal is relatively quiet for an analog circuit. Even the minimalist graphics are refreshingly stylish.

It’s the sounds that really sell you, though. There may be more complex-sounding vibrato units out there, but the Tailspin delivers many of the quivering undersea tones favored by Boss VB-2 fans. Both speed and depth controls have expansive range. And if it lacks the deep dimensionality needed to simulate Leslie sounds, it delivers variations on those textures that are very appealing in their own wobbly way.

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A fun-to-play, redesigned take on classic Muff-style filth.

Foxpedal’s Defector Fuzz is a modern take on the Russian-built version of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, but with some somewhat secret features. There are two parts of the pedal: a rather gritty boost and a 4-stage transistor fuzz. The boost (controlled with the pre knob) feeds into the fuzz, but it can also be engaged independently. Unity gain for the boost is at about 9 o’ clock, although even here I noticed the bubbling influence of the fuzz. You get a little bit of dirt at lower boost settings, and when you crank it all the way it yields a medium-gain, classic-rock vibe.

In the center of the pedal is a small toggle that can move through three different fuzz flavors: silicon-diode clipping (classic Muff), no clipping, and LED clipping. Used without the boost engaged, the fuzz circuit is beefy and rich, with plenty of low end—especially in the LED mode. But the MVP here is the mid control: As you dial it counterclockwise it adds a hump, while turning it the opposite direction gives it the classic scooped Muff sound. If you can’t get over the old-school scooped sound, then this knob alone is worth the price of admission. Fuzz pedals aren’t meant to be timid, and the cranked Defector is fat and saturated without any fizziness. And it gets bonus points for its flexible tone controls and rock-solid construction.

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