Fat saturation and vibrato meet noise and signal degradation in a unique pedal that will polarize purists and delight deviants.
Compelling drive and vibrato sounds. Lends nice analog ambience at higher saturation levels. Prompts creative playing.
In cleaner settings, cracks and pops can sound like a broken cable.
$159
Mojo Hand FX Stylus
mojohandfx.com
I relate to the design impulses behind the Mojo Hand FX Stylus. Deep, demented, filthy pitch wobble? Right on! Intentional sound degradation? Yes! The Stylus is a weird pedal for weird people. Not everyone will get it. Some will be dismissive. And fair warning: You should definitely try before you buy.
On one hand, there’s nothing too strange about the Stylus. It’s built around a warm analog drive section that evokes overdriven preamps and mix console distortion, and a queasy, often Uni-Vibe-like vibrato. But while you can certainly use these combined effects to stoke Jimi-style fire (and it sounds great in these applications), Mojo Hand also intended the Stylus to sound a lot like a warped and scratched record. This isn’t an altogether bizarre impulse. Blur’s Graham Coxon made hissing, popping, warbly guitar sounds a part of some of the band’s most beloved tunes. And lo-fi indie practitioners and hip-hop producers also used damaged LP sounds extensively in the ’90s.
At cleaner settings, the Stylus’ cracks and pops—introduced and manipulated by the lo-fi button and degrade knob—aren’t so clearly the product of tape hiss or vinyl wear. In fact, detractors will probably say the crackling and hissing sounds like a busted cable or an amp on the fritz. But at certain advanced saturation and warble levels, that noise lends an intriguing ambience and frequency response that genuinely evokes charming tape and LP quirks and characteristics, and can situate your riffs in very different spaces.
Following a Grammy nom for his latest record, the blues great returns for his second Rundown.
Eric Gales is back again. Since last chatting with John Bohlinger in 2017, the blues maestro’s rig has transitioned to include more signature Raw Dawg gear pieces—including pedals, amps, and, of course, his signature Magneto guitars. Just last year, the lefty slinger released the Grammy-nominated, Crown, which features collabs with his pal Joe Bonamassa. Gales was touring in support of that record when he rolled through Nashville.
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Eric Gales' Guitars
For over a decade, Magneto Guitars has collaborated with Gales on his signature guitars, and he tours with a pair of them. This Magneto Sonnet RawDawg III features a basswood body, roasted maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, a righthanded Gotoh tremolo (flipped, naturally) and tuners. It’s loaded with a set of Magneto Metro-Poles EG1 pickups, and a gold-mirror pickguard keeps things flashy.
Gales’ Sonnet RawDawg II—one of his longtime standbys for both stage and studio—is outfitted with an alder body, maple neck and fingerboard, and Lollar S-style pickups. Gales strings both signature guitars with Dunlop .010–.046 strings.
Once again, Gales relies upon his signature gear for his amp needs. When he and DV Mark designed his Raw Dawg EG 250-watt head, they decided upon a one-channel design with a tube preamp and solid-state power amp to achieve a super-clean tone, which is delivered to a pair of DV Mark DV Gold 212V 2x12 Vertical cabinets.
Eric Gales' Pedalboard
After leaving his guitar, Gales’ signal hits a Shure GLXD6+ Digital Wireless and goes straight into a pair of expression-controlled pedals—a Dunlop Bob Bradshaw-designed CAE wah with a gold-plated enclosure and a DigiTech Whammy. Then, he heats things up with a host of drive units: an E.W.S. Eric Gales Signature Brute Drive, and MXR Eric Gales Signature Raw Dawg (which includes the image of Gales’ late pitbull), a Mojo Hand FX Colossus Fuzz, and an MXR Hendrix Octavio Fuzz. Those hit a lone always-on delay— a Tech 21 Boost DLA—and a groove-filled Boss Loop Station RC-5.
As the name notes, this pedal is a nod to the Riot Grrrl movement to support sound exploration and experimentation for girls and gender-expansive youth.
Mojo Hand FX has partnered with the non-profit program Girls Rock! Grand Rapids (GR!GR) of Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities to develop the GRRRocker, a limited edition overdrive pedal, with a special sound and story.
As the name notes, this pedal is a nod to the Riot Grrrl movement to support sound exploration and experimentation for girls and gender-expansive youth. All profits from this pedal go directly towards resourcing Girls Rock camps in Grand Rapids and partner camps worldwide. The artwork, color scheme, and overall idea for the pedal were created by GR!GR campers and volunteers during camp week 2019. Volunteers later took the idea to Mojo Hand FX and worked together to develop this one-of-a-kind pedal.
Modeled after the Bluesbreaker circuit, it features a classic, clean overdrive with a hint of crunch. With the straightforward and simple interface, you’ll be surprised by what you get within this small package. Along with the volume, tone, gain, and clipping controls, you can further customize your sound with the distortion trimmer pot found behind the back panel. It’s the perfect pedal for a new guitar player crafting their sound or for the seasoned expert looking for a smooth and straightforward overdrive.
True to its purpose, for every four pedals sold, one will be donated to another Girls Rock camp somewhere in the world. Girls Rock! Grand Rapids is a week-long camp where girls and gender-expansive youth ages eight through high school join bands, learn to write songs together to perform live and in the studio, and use music to express themselves and learn about identity. Volunteers teach youth the basics of an instrument and help them explore sound with various tools, like guitar pedals.
The GRRRocker pedal features include:
- Controls for Volume, Tone, and Gain
- Pushbutton selection for clipping options: Up-Crunch (Hard clipping) Down-Overdrive(soft clipping)
- True bypass
- Precision control for distortion (internal trim pot when the back panel is opened)
- 9v Standard center negative power supply only (not included), no battery provision
- Durable sparkling white matte powder coat finish with hand-drawn artwork
- Current draw ~15 mA
- Made in the USA, lifetime warranty
- Dimensions: 4.42" L x 2.39" W x 1.21" H
$150 MAP/ street price.
For more information, please visit mojohandfx.com.