mentoneman
Well-known member
so i have been on quite a pedal juggling binge as of late.
my chrome bb preamp (loved that thing for eons), teese rmc-1, and plexitone left the building
and in came a vertex modded plexitone
(mason changes the TONE knob into a MID knob, ad adds a TREBLE and BASS control on the front edge of the unit, replaces the built in 2 prong power cable with a 9V jack for universal boss style power, adds LEDs under the crunch and high gain knobs so you know exactly which mode you are in, and i think changes the taper of the boost so it is more predictable.)
that pedal was a great one in stock form, but the mods make it so much easier to fine tune the bass, treble, and boost function, which some of you plexitone owners know can be a bear to fine tune. hours of marshall plexi to 800 fun!
next was the arc furnace pedal by klamac.
i bought it on the hope it lived up to the claims, and fulfilled the age old search for "SRV in a box".
when i first plugged it in i noticed it right away. the lively bounce akin to a parallel compressor, syrupy top end, and lack of congestion, the opposite of which is too often the case with TS type pedals.
the treble and bass control are musical and not ridiculous. i run it to the wall with the boost switch always on too, and i have to say it has the ability to really fatten up the notes and do that thing where the solo notes sound almost clean, but when you hit 2 or more strings together the overdrive breakup reveals itself. and the frequencies that are accented by this thing are very SRV approved!
now here comes the left fielder; the custom tones ethos overdrive.
got it last night, and played it for 2 hours, then about an hour after work today.
A-MAZING. hands down the most amp like pedal i have ever heard.
you gotta understand i am one of those foofy boys that really love robben ford/larry carlton tone. and i had it dialed in about as close as i can care to get while babysitting zachman's fuchs ODS100 for almost a year. fast forward to the carol ann OD2r and once again, it's another amazing amp that can totally jump into ford's pool for a mighty 18 watter.
finally the two rock onyx i had was another dumbly dream machine and actually sounded closer to larry carlton tone when hitting it with a gibby es-175.
but this pedal is something i would HIGHLY recommend before running out and buying those aforementioned high dollar machines if the ford/carlon thing is what you seek. the pedal is not cheap---$475 with the classic/tle option switch to my door, and i got on the wait list last october and just got it, but IMO the cheapest way to acquire legitimate ford/carlton tones. the zendrive is also a killer pedal in that vein for half the cost but the ethos has independent clean and dirty channels with discreet tone and volume controls just like the face of a dumble amp, down to the bright, rock/jazz, and modern/classic switches.
as just to drive the financial nail in my gear fund coffin for the year, i replaced my bb preamp with another xotic pedal that i borrowed a while back and fell in love with, the AC Plus (think raunchy stringy ACDC spank to holdsworth fusion in one 2 channel box)
and the real topper, a lexicon PCM70 v3.0!
my chrome bb preamp (loved that thing for eons), teese rmc-1, and plexitone left the building
and in came a vertex modded plexitone
(mason changes the TONE knob into a MID knob, ad adds a TREBLE and BASS control on the front edge of the unit, replaces the built in 2 prong power cable with a 9V jack for universal boss style power, adds LEDs under the crunch and high gain knobs so you know exactly which mode you are in, and i think changes the taper of the boost so it is more predictable.)
that pedal was a great one in stock form, but the mods make it so much easier to fine tune the bass, treble, and boost function, which some of you plexitone owners know can be a bear to fine tune. hours of marshall plexi to 800 fun!
next was the arc furnace pedal by klamac.
i bought it on the hope it lived up to the claims, and fulfilled the age old search for "SRV in a box".
when i first plugged it in i noticed it right away. the lively bounce akin to a parallel compressor, syrupy top end, and lack of congestion, the opposite of which is too often the case with TS type pedals.
the treble and bass control are musical and not ridiculous. i run it to the wall with the boost switch always on too, and i have to say it has the ability to really fatten up the notes and do that thing where the solo notes sound almost clean, but when you hit 2 or more strings together the overdrive breakup reveals itself. and the frequencies that are accented by this thing are very SRV approved!
now here comes the left fielder; the custom tones ethos overdrive.
got it last night, and played it for 2 hours, then about an hour after work today.
A-MAZING. hands down the most amp like pedal i have ever heard.
you gotta understand i am one of those foofy boys that really love robben ford/larry carlton tone. and i had it dialed in about as close as i can care to get while babysitting zachman's fuchs ODS100 for almost a year. fast forward to the carol ann OD2r and once again, it's another amazing amp that can totally jump into ford's pool for a mighty 18 watter.
finally the two rock onyx i had was another dumbly dream machine and actually sounded closer to larry carlton tone when hitting it with a gibby es-175.
but this pedal is something i would HIGHLY recommend before running out and buying those aforementioned high dollar machines if the ford/carlon thing is what you seek. the pedal is not cheap---$475 with the classic/tle option switch to my door, and i got on the wait list last october and just got it, but IMO the cheapest way to acquire legitimate ford/carlton tones. the zendrive is also a killer pedal in that vein for half the cost but the ethos has independent clean and dirty channels with discreet tone and volume controls just like the face of a dumble amp, down to the bright, rock/jazz, and modern/classic switches.
as just to drive the financial nail in my gear fund coffin for the year, i replaced my bb preamp with another xotic pedal that i borrowed a while back and fell in love with, the AC Plus (think raunchy stringy ACDC spank to holdsworth fusion in one 2 channel box)
and the real topper, a lexicon PCM70 v3.0!
