The All-Pedal Microdose is a mind-altering experience, but itâs not for the faint of heart.
Endless sounds and tweakability, from subtle to brain-melting.
Expensive. Probably too much firepower for most users.
$325
All-Pedal Microdose
allpedal.com
When it comes to effects like phase, chorus, and vibrato, many of us tend to have a staple (and sometimes cheesy) sound in mind. But such preconceptions obscure the reality that these effects can be much more radical than their best-known applications.
If youâve ever thought that phaser pedals are one-trick ponies, All-Pedalâs new Microdose, a digital phaser collaboration with Portlandâs Spaceman Effects, will happily relieve you of that notion. The Microdose is to the MXR Phase 90 what the modern smartphone is to an old Nokia flip phone: Itâs so feature-packed and overflowing with an embarrassment of tone riches that it feels barely related at all to its humble â70s ancestor.
âIt gets percussive, punchy, and juicy, turning single-note runs into intergalactic transmissions, and full chords into blasts of alien goop.â
Discoveries From the Outer Reaches of Space(man)
The Microdose is an evolution and expansion of Spacemanâs Explorer Optical Phaser. Itâs maximalist in terms of both enclosure art and functionality, and can feel a bit cluttered as a result. Between eight knobs, two switches, two footswitches, and a groovy font and graphics vying for visibility there is a lot to take in. There are a lot of sounds too. The crowning achievement here is the collection of 16 wave formsâmore than triple the Explorerâs fiveâall of which are selectable via an 8-stop rotary knob and a switch that moves between standard or alternative (and weirder) versions of each wave form. Each setting can be treated to two-, four-, or eight-stage phasing, and the level control provides a hearty boost for the effect to make sure that when its engaged, differences between settings wonât get lost.
Rate, multiplier, blend, and depth knobs all function as youâd expect them to, but the Microdoseâs resonance and warp controls breathe new life into familiar sounds. Resonance controls phaser feedback, generating gentle, tried-and-true phase sweeps at low settings and more prominent, insistent phasing when cranked the other way. Coupled with the depth knob, it allows for precise tuning of intense phase sounds. The warp knob, meanwhile, does exactly what it says: At noon, the phase wave form remains unaltered, but turning it in either direction produces varied modifications to each wave form.
The Microdoseâs tap tempo is a welcome addition that adds flexibility and more control over complex modulationsâespecially in live situations. But with such a vast expanse of sounds on tap and no preset functionality, the pedalâs usefulness on stage can feel limited. While dedicated phase jockeys will no doubt find a spot for it on their gigging boards, it sometimes feels more like a piece of studio kit.
Mind-Expanding Tones
The Microdose lives up to its name. It can give you a subtle, just-fun-enough, vintage experience if thatâs what youâre after. But it can also blast way beyond that into sci-fi, psychedelic, and fearsome ghost-in-the-machine meltdowns that sound nothing like guitar.
Set for a classic, two-stage sine wave phase with all controls at noon, the Microdose is surprisingly unassuming, adding just a sliver of movement and dimension. This is where the pedalâs dense tweakability really shines. You can dial in a modest always-on sound that breathes life and unusual texture into rhythm or lead parts without overpowering your signal. Deep depth and blend will swing you well into Waylon Jennings territory, but thatâs just the start.
Things get trippy in the best way possible as you add phase stages and explore the alternative wave form algorithms, which are a lot of fun on their own and even more so with a wiggle of the warp knob. With each bump up in stages, the effect gets waterier and three-dimensional, which feels like splashing around in some interstellar swamp. When you max out at eight, the effect is in the driverâs seat. It gets percussive, punchy, and juicyâturning single-note runs into intergalactic transmissions, and full chords into blasts of alien goop.
The Verdict
Thereâs a whole world of sounds here between the Microdoseâs extremes. It can probably execute every single phase sound youâve ever dreamed ofâplus some wackier than what your puny human brain could come up with without lysergic inspiration. If youâre up for a phase experience, Microdose is a trip youâll want to take. PG
On their new album, Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney loosen up and pay tribute to all of their rootsâchasing the intuitive Zen of collaboration.
You know that feeling you get when you find a hundred-dollar bill on the ground? That jolt of joy that makes a bad day better and a good day even more awesome? Thatâs the feeling I get when I hear the new Black Keys album, Ohio Players. Except, in some ways itâs more like stumbling on a diamond.
There are so many facets and reflections, so many angles beaming influences and ideas ⌠and itâs clearly the product of timeâa work Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney say they could not have completed earlier in their partnership, although there has been lots of groundwork along the way.
âItâs amazing to be 20 years into our career and have a new trick to be able to do, which is collaboration,â says Auerbach, when asked about the sprawl of styles and the roster of mighty contributorsâincluding Noel Gallagher and Beckâon Ohio Players. âThatâs kind of the key to most peopleâs success throughout musical history, but weâve shied away from it, extremely. Now, itâs lit a fire under our asses, and the possibilities feel endless.
âPat and I are at the point in our careers where we feel like letting other people into our space. We never used to be.ââDan Auerbach
âWe were just too insecure back in there,â he continues. âBut now weâve produced enough records, weâve worked with enough people, so itâs really fun for us. Pat and I are at the point in our careers where we feel like letting other people into our space. We never used to be. And at the same time, our own relationship is tighter than itâs ever been.â
The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High) ("Official" Video)
Revisiting the Black Keysâ first two albums, The Big Come Up and Thickfreakness, itâs hard to imagine they would become an international juggernaut and that Auerbach, their singer and guitarist, would evolve into one of the most interesting players, producers, and songwriters in modern American music. After all, the duoâs initial recordings were raw as uncooked baconârecorded in a basement in Akron, Ohio, with mics bought on eBayâand their repertoire bridged garage rock and a style, cultivated by North Mississippi hill country rural bluesmen Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside, thatâs so rough and thunderous that even some hardcore fans of that genre had difficulty comprehending it.
But Auerbach and Carneyâs intelligence, empathy, and history as collaborators might be more apparent to their fans than it seemingly was, at least until this album got underway a few years ago, to them. Starting with 2008âs Attack & Release, theyâve worked with Danger Mouse as a producer and co-writer; Mos Def, Ludacris, Q-Tip, Olâ Dirty Bastard, RZA, and other hip-hop luminaries on their 2009 Blakroc album; North Mississippi firebrands Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton on 2021âs blues payback Delta Kream; even Billy Gibbons and Sierra Ferrell on 2022âs raucous Dropout Boogie. And Auerbachâs co-op rock band, the Arcs, recorded two acclaimed albums and toured the world, while his second solo recording, 2017âs Waiting on a Song, was a spelunk into the heart of his adopted hometown Nashvilleâs studio history, drawing on a cross-generational cast of legendary session players. Then, thereâs the guitaristâs football-field-long production credits, ranging from the Black Diamond Heavies to Dr. John and Grace Potter to La Luz to CeeLo Green to Marcus King to Hermanos GuitiĂŠrrez to Robert Finley and Yola.
âWe got to this maturity as a band where not only can we call these friends, but we can deliver music our idols want to play on.ââPat Carney
Sometimes, when youâre in the forest, all you can see are the trees. But now, after all that experience, the Black Keysâ omnivorous tastes, ceaseless drive, and undeniable success tilted their creative compass and comfort zone to Ohio Players, which might be poetically described as an album of peace, soul, and thunder. Also, eclectic and skillful af. Here, Auerbach and his drumming buddy have evolved what sounds like a mastery of every genre theyâve chosen to assimilate over the years: blues, jazz, country, classic pop, rock in its old and new variants, soul, hip-hop ⌠even ambient music. Spend 20 minutes listening to the anthemic chords of âOn the Game,â a co-write with Noel Gallagher; the fuzz fests âPaper Crownâ and âEverytime You Leave,â the latter co-written with Beck; the psychedelic hip-hop-pop of âCandy and Her Friends;â and the period-perfect reworking of William Bellâs 1968 Stax hit âForgot to Be Your Lover,â and youâll get lost in the vibeâa happy time traveler through roots-informed musicâs past and present.
The bandâs new release was made at the same time as they were creating their last few albums, with Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney collecting the results of their collaboration wish list.
The albumâs other spark plugs include hip-hop-beat brainiac and producer Dan the Automator; Memphis rap legends Juicy J (of Three 6 Mafia) and Lil Noid; producer/guitarist Angelo Petraglia, whoâs made records with Kings of Leon and many others; and Nashville session hero Tom Bukovac, a truly estimable guitarist.
Of course, the biggest surprise is Gallagher, who co-wrote three rockers for Ohio Players, lending his patently anthemic touch. As it turns out, Gallagher is a big Black Keys fan, and in 2009, the duo were invited to open for his former band, Oasis. âBut we were busy,â Carney says, âand they broke up.â
Despite a four-year hiatus from 2015 to 2019, the Black Keys stayed busyâeven separately, during that break. They resumed making Black Keys albums in 2018, with âLetâs Rockâ, and while they were creating its two successive releases, Auerbach and Carney also launched the series of collaborations that yielded Ohio Players.
âWe had this epiphanyâwe can call our friends to help us make music,â Carney says. âItâs funny because we both write songs with other people, but we got to this maturity as a band where not only can we call these friends, but we can deliver music our idols want to play on.ââNoel Gallagher was feeling inspired because he hadnât recorded like that. Itâs not really common to have zero baffles between the vocals and the drums.ââDan Auerbach
The first call was to Beckâa major influence on Auerbach and Carney when they were growing up in Akron. âHis aesthetic was incredible,â Auerbach says. âHe wore his influences on his sleeve, and we learned from that. There was someone showing us a way to go.â Beck was also an early Black Keys fan, and took them on tour in 2003. He is on half of Ohio Playersâ 14 tracks as a writer, vocalist, guitarist, and keys player.â
After weâd gotten Beck in the studio, we were throwing names back and forthââWho else would be meaningful and write big songs we like?,ââ says Auerbach. âNoel was at the top of the list.â The Keysâ manager, and even Gallagherâs team, when initially approached, responded that the former Oasis co-leader simply doesnât co-write. âBut we got a message back a few days later that said heâd be down if we came to London. We didnât know if it was going to work, but after we recorded one song the first day, it took all our nervousness away.â By the end of a week, they had three numbers for Ohio Players.
Dan Auerbach's Gear
Dan Auerbach plays one of his original Supros in concert in 2023. He has a collection of vintage guitars, including instruments owned by Hound Dog Taylor and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Photo by Jordi Vidal
Guitars
- 1960 Fender Telecaster Deluxe
- 1965 Teisco Del Rey ET-300
- Gibson J-45
- Danelectro Vincent Bell Signature Coral Firefly
Amp
- 1950s narrow-panel tweed Deluxe
Effects
- Analog Man Sun Face
- Marshall SupaFuzz
- Fulltone Octafuzz
- Vintage flanger
- Strymon El Capistan
- Xotic RC Booster
- Custom fuzz (gift from Pat Carney)
Picks, Strings, & Slides
- National metal finger pick
- Custom picks
- SIT .011 sets
- Brass slide
âThat was amazing on a lot of levels,â Auerbach continues. âIt was fun as hell. Weâd really wanted to go to Toe Rag Studios in London and record there. Toe Rag is such an amazing studio. Itâs one room, no vocal booths or anything like thatâsmaller than a single-car garage. [The all-analog space is where Wolf Alice, Tame Impala, the Kills, James Hunter, Hugh Cornwell, and many others have recorded.] Patâs got a drum kit, Iâm on guitar, and Noelâs playing his ES-335 most of the time, with Leon Michaels on this weird little German â60s keyboard, and [engineer] Liam Watson behind the old, beautiful desk.â
After the sessions, Auerbach and Carney dubbed Gallagher âthe chord lord.â âHe would sit there and cycle through chords until he found that one that worked with mine,â Auerbach recounts. The songs they cut, âOn the Game,â âOnly Love Matters,â and âYouâll Pay,â were essentially recorded live, with additionsâlike Bukovacâs guitarâdone at Auerbachâs Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. âEvery time we listened to a playback, it sounded so good that it was inspiring, and Noel was feeling inspired because he hadnât recorded like that before. Itâs not really common to have zero baffles between the vocals and the drums. We were just going for it.â
âI definitely tend to classic sounds, and then itâs nice to be able to move from there, finding new ways to use them.ââDan Auerbach
If anything, collaborators like Gallagher and Beck have amplified the Black Keysâ already impressive way with hooks and chorusesâreinforced as usual by Auerbachâs guitar, which, regardless of musical setting, always seems rooted in the tones of the â60s and â70s.
âI definitely tend to classic sounds,â he says, âand then itâs nice to be able to move from there, finding new ways to use them. But just being able to find that classic sound has always been thrilling. Itâs finding the right fuzz pedal or finding the right combination of things that make that magic thatâs on all of this stuff.â
On their most recent major tour, the Black Keys hit the road as a sextet. âOur band is so capable,â says Auerbach. âThe guys that weâve been touring with sing and play percussion and keyboards, so we can recreate anything, which is awesome.â
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Fuzz has long been an important element of Auerbachâs sound, and it expands the dimensions of âPlease Me (Till Iâm Satisfied),â âPaper Crown,â and others. Auerbach primarily used three fuzz pedals on Ohio Players: an Analog Man Sun Face, Marshall SupaFuzz, and Fulltone Octafuzzâsometimes in combination, mostly driving a narrow-panel tweed Deluxe when he was on home turf at Easy Eye. But thereâs plenty of sweet stuff in the grooves, too. In particular, the cover of âForgot to Be Your Loverâ enjoys not only a sweeping string arrangement but a lovely, chiming phase-shifted guitar that pairs perfectly with Auerbachâs near-falsetto vocalâanother element of his singing that heâs perfected over time. (âMy family would sing bluegrass, with all those falsetto parts, so it never felt out of the realm of possibility for meâalthough I never had the balls to do that until we made the Blakroc album, and we were messing around and experimenting,â he notes.) âForgot to Be Your Loverâ was done at Valentine Recording Studios in Los Angeles, a room frozen in time, left exactly as it was after its last remodeling in 1975âa place perfect for the trackâs old-school vibe.
With its intuitive intersections of locations, collaborators, and the Black Keysâ realization of the strength of their own artistry, maybe there was some Zen at work during the Ohio Players sessions. And perhaps beyond. As we end our conversation, Auerbach offers an anecdote: âI was just making a record with Early James yesterday, in a friendâs hundred-plus-years-old home. As I was getting ready to record, my friend said, âHey, Iâve got this guitar in a case here. Your friend dropped it off for you a couple years ago. He couldnât get ahold of you or something.â It was an old Supro Res-O-Glass that I had bought in Akron and completely forgotten about. I had loaned it to somebody 10 years ago. We took it out of the case. The strings on it were prehistoric, rusty, and we plugged it into a little black-panel Champ, and James played slide guitar on it, and itâs got a little Airline pickup. God! It sounded so amazing. And it was just like all kinds of wrongâhadnât seen a luthier in a decade. You know what I mean? But it was the perfect thing for the sound that we were looking for. The perfect thing.â
YouTube It
On October 9, 2023, the Black Keys threw a blues party at Nashvilleâs Brooklyn Bowl, digging into their North Mississippi hill country sonic roots with Magnolia State ringers Kenny Brown on guitar and Eric Deaton on bass. Here, they play âFireman Ring the Bell,â a variation on the âRollinâ and Tumblinââ theme by the late R.L. Burnside.
The limited-edition 1963 ES-335 1963 ES-335 by Gibson Custom, in collaboration with SLASH, features light aging by the Murphy Lab, Bigsby tremolo, and Custombucker pickups. Only 50 hand-signed guitars available exclusively at Gibson Garage Nashville.
Made in close collaboration with Slash and the expert luthiers of the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville, Tennessee and artfully aged by the Murphy Lab to match the original guitar, only 50 of these Collectorâs Edition hand-signed guitars will be available exclusively via the Gibson Garage Nashville, alongside an exclusive VIP live performance at the Gibson Garage with the artist this summer. For more details, call the Gibson Garage Nashville (615) 933-6000.
âI used a beautiful and killer sounding 1963 ES-335 Gibson for more than a few songs on Orgy of the Damned,â says SLASH. âGibson has now built a fantastic replica of this extraordinary guitar. Same dot neck, Bigsby tremolo, and finish. You have to check it out.â
Slashâs original ES-335 is a super clean example from 1963 which proved inspirational when recording his latest solo record, the star-studded blues album Orgy of the Damned, out May 17 on Gibson Records. In celebration of the release of Orgy of the Damned, buyers of the Collectorâs Edition SLASH 1963 ES-335 will receive a rare assembly of case candy that includes a hand-signed copy of SLASHâs new album, Orgy of the Damned, a signed copy of the The Collection: Slash coffee table book, and a Certificate of Authenticity. In addition, buyers will be invited to attend a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive VIP experience at the Gibson Garage Nashville, where SLASH and his blues band will treat fans to an intimate live performance and signing event.
Photo by Gibson
For each Slash ES-335 purchase, buyers will receive two (2) tickets to attend an âEvening with Slash & Friends in Nashville, Tennesseeâ on June 30, 2024. This special evening at the Gibson Garage Nashville includes a live performance with SLASH and his blues band, as well as an intimate, moderated interview with SLASH and Mark Agnesi, Gibsonâs Director of Brand Experience, a photo opportunity, receipt of the Slash 1963 ES-335 Collectorâs Edition guitar from Gibson Custom, a copy of the new Orgy of the Damned album, and a The Collection: Slash coffee table book, all signed by SLASH. Food and Beverage for the event will be provided onsite.
*Travel expenses for the event are not included, and no cash value has been assigned to the Experience and no exchanges or refunds will be offered or given for those unable to attend the Experience.
Photo by Gibson
Slash announced he will officially release his sixth solo album, a star-studded blues record titled Orgy of the Damned, on May 17, 2024, via Gibson Records (Firebird Music distribution). A collection of 12 dynamic songs that revitalize blues classics, on Orgy of the Damned SLASH reteamed with storied producer Mike Clink and enlisted the albumâs diverse guest vocalists, which include Gary Clark Jr., Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, and Beth Hart. Rounding out his blues band in the studio and on the road, SLASH reunited with two of his bandmates from his Blues Ball outfit in the 90s, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy âZigZagâ Andreadis, and brought on drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.