SL June savings

Some mid-year enticements for those of us whose pockets are a little more filled up than the others.

I have no idea if people are still buying pedals these days but I've had personal experiences with this EHX trio which are currently subjected to the June savings.

• Nano Big Muff Pi. A good start for those of us who are intrigued by the fuzz unit. Nothing special, just an above average fuzz unit to get things going. It goes well with a Tube Screamer unit or something of this nature, for some creamy tones this side of Eric Johnson. 
• Soul Food. Touted as the Klon on a budget not too long ago, this one performs well regardless of the association. Something treble-ish but pleasant, that's how I hear it.
• Crayon 69. This one's off radar but I enjoy using it as an OD-3 alternative. It has that wee bit top end push that you might like if you play in a band setting. 

The opinions shared above are mine. My personal experience with thee pedals might not conform to the manufacturer's perspective considering I am distortion-inclined, invest excessively to sound heavy & dabble in fusion-esque settings for solos.

Pics: SL

Selling: EHX Big Muff Deluxe

  

It's that time of the month where I have medical bills to clear. I've been trying not to sell gear to see this through but that's not a wise thing to do considering the circumstances. The Big Muff Deluxe here is my go to fuzz pedal when it comes to saturation & more gain. That noise gate feature is also a plus especially if you are using single coils to play this one. It's seldom used because I'm still not a fuzz fan after all these years. Might be clearing more fuzz pedals in time to come. My price is final, thank you for understanding. I believe I'm offering this at the lowest price compared to other listings in the after-market. 

• Selling: EHX Big Muff Deluxe (9/10 condition, box included)
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No reservations / trades
• Self-collect: Yew Tee / CCK mrt station
• Price: $105 (final)

Control

This is the latest EHX release called the Cntl Knob. It's basically an expression pedal without any rocking parts. You set the two knobs there to toggle between your desired differences & that's it. Why the need for this one? If you are put off by expression pedals taking up real estate on your board, this would be a possible alternative. The catch - it only works with pedals with an expression input. However, for the love of me, I could hardly imagine the need for one after watching the demo clip. I shouldn't talk too much as I'm not the pedal board type. Anyway, if you can spare the time:

Pedal power

This is one of those things people warned you not to purchase - a novelty pedal. I disagree. It's meeting my objective of having a simple, no-frills, power section to hook your pedals to. The entire set-up & more insights would come soon. Suffice to say that it won't level up against any small, low wattage tube amp. The guitar-solid state chemistry is a total departure from what you'd hear coming from your 'real' amp, For those on the go, it would just prove to be a crucial standby unit when all else fails.

Dirty special

This amp is available here now. It's not a tube unit, just a straight up 1x12 combo blasting 40W of power. 

These days, an amp of this nature has a very difficult existence. It struggles to fit into a world where tube reverence is still status quo compounded by those very convincing digital units that don't even present themselves as amps. Just pretenders that sound good through computerized processing with fun-level hassle that everyone wants a piece of. The DRS has its place in history, that point in time where good tone matters regardless of tube snobbery but life was much simpler back then. At more than $500, it's a difficult acquisition for many of us especially so when there are more sensible, value-for-money units out there - Marshall, Blackstar & Laney to name just a few.

Selling: EHX TBM

I'm cutting down on fuzz pedals, they are the least used.

• EHX Triangle Big Muff in 9/10 condition, box included
• Strictly self-collect: CCK mrt station
• No reservations/ No trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $110 (final)

Selling: EHX Bass Soul Food

Cutting down on EHX, beginning with this one. Under-used, power adapter is still sealed in plastic.

• Bass Soul Food (box & adapter included)
• Used less than 10 times
• Velcro-free
• No reservations/ trades
• Strictly collect at CCK mrt station
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $99 (FINAL price, non-nego)

Triple delight

Many of us, myself included, tend to get carried away with drive-type effects. OK, some are obsessed with delay. We forget that there are stuff out there that virtually do nothing but let us deploy our pedals in combo. Sometimes this is the simple key to greatness that we overlook. Either that or we just don't see the benefit of dong so until we try one in person. The Tri-Parallel mixer here (EHX) is simply just that. It lets you connect your pedals in series, parallel & even does an A/B job while at it. There's something extra in the A/B option which you will understand here:

New look

I'm putting this here so that, if you ever intend to buy a used unit out there, know that the EHX Small Stone's look had been recently revised. Same everything, just a facelift. It's minor revisions like this that would trigger low ballers out there to say that hey, you're selling the old look version, it should be going for less. Whatever the outcome would be, it's down to negotiation. 

Sovtek Deluxe BMP

Another EHX Big Muff variation but this one has some intelligent features on board. Surprise- it works for bass as well. Watch:

Silence is golden

Well, let's put in perspective- silence at the right moments is indeed golden. My set up has plenty of drive coming from both a pedal & the amp's dirty channel. I've been through many noise reduction units & deem them all as practical. Useful is a matter of application which is largely personal. The purpose of having a noise reduction unit is to eliminate extraneous noise from your playing; all those background humming, hissing, pick scrapes & accidental picking could all be hushed. The understanding of silence here is when you stop playing, these noises wouldn't be heard. We need to understand that the extraneous noise  cannot be eliminated to begin with but can control when they should not be heard.

Any down side of using a noise reduction unit? Yes.

• affects gain
• affects selected frequencies
• affects sustain

However, these setbacks are only apparent if the users are not objective when having a noise reduction unit in their set up. For instance, if you max out all the controls without understanding what each does, you are going to suffer the stutter effect; some lightly picked notes failed to get across the noise threshold & got muted. You also need to do a needs assessment- do you need a noise reduction unit especially so for those observing a low drive signal chain. 

Seen above: EHX The Silencer. 

Triangular

So what do we have here? It's another fuzz unit from the EHX camp. Despite not being a fuzz fan, I do make it a point to check their fuzzes out. I dislike fuzz tones because of the lack in definition; the rounded treble & squashed bass end are just not the thing for me. However, I find that the EHX fuzz units are among the most pleasant in this aspect. Ok here:

The op

I have a limited tolerance for fuzz units. It's down to the fact that the guitar's lower notes sound rather repulsive through a fuzz pedal. I hear lots of ill definitions which aren't suitable for heavy music. However, the fuzz is the preferred unit for doom- Cathedral has loads of fuzz going, Enslaved's Isa album has some juicy, fuzz-laden tones for the solos. It has its applications, not for the picky though. The Op Amp version by EHX you see here- I like. It has 2 channels, one giving me that extra prick for leads & that's what I use it for. That setting is quite repulsive if one sports a Les Paul because it makes the overall tone sounds thin. 

Looping elite

I'm never this excited about a looper unit especially when it's an over-sized one which does more good on the table top than being on the floor. EHX's new 95000 is one heck of a looping unit with commanding details; 375 minutes of recording time coupled with 100 loops (subject to storage card capacity) is a serious proposal for many guitar introverts. Individual loop faders, speed adjustments &  expression pedal volume control are just other enticements worth checking out. On my list, this one.

Metal to the pedal

Throughout the years, I've discovered that the best intense distortion that does not impede playing fundamentals come from the amplifier. It makes sense because signals are processed at the amp end, not before. I started out with BOSS' Metal Zone which is still the standard to beat in terms of intensity & EQ manipulations. What puts me off when it comes to the Metal Zone is that it sounds nasal at higher volume settings. My distortion formula ever since had been to trust the amp's distortion. Currently my EVH 5150 III does the job, my Marshall JVM has that as well but with a more British flavour while the Blackstar HT Metal lets me hear something in between. The story with the pedals you see above:

• Digitech/DOD Death Metal: These pedals, to me, still tell a semi-tragic tale of an attempt which turned stale. There should be no more attempts to capture a genre defined distortion. You cannot package derivative tones into a single offering. It fails because the proponents of death metal formulate their tones through the use of several implements, not a single pedal per se. Most of the time it's a match between an amp & a drive/distortion pedal to get a slightly more embittered heavy tone; that crucial excess which defines the tone rather than bringing intensity into the next level. This pedal in its initial incarnation was strictly a niche appeal. The treble excess was excruciating & the amount of distortion on board was fixed, no less, no more, it's just there. The subsequent incarnation, the Digitech version, did not fare any better. The treble offerings were still much to be desired for but they kept it in check. In use, I had to basically turn it down to ZERO. The MID/LOW sweeps were more acute than the DOD version in that they actually let you hear the difference. 
• EHX Metal Muff: I was in fuzz territory for a while & EHX had (they still do) what I was comfortable with; a fuzz tone that did not squash the low frequencies too much. Eric Johnson is arguably one of the very few guitar-inclined individuals who managed to make fuzzy bass notes very musical. When the MM was introduced, there were no official dealer/distributor here, but someone was bringing it in & was operating online as a small time enterprise. I just went with the pedal instinctively & it proved to be a worthy risk. The MM still offers the grizzly fuzz responses but with a a different EQ consideration which facilitated intensity. To me, this was a marked difference. The top end boost added some depth in terms of clarity when it comes to solos so to me the MM was it. 
• Blackstar LT Metal: This pedal is much overlooked. At the time of its release, it's over-shadowed by its other, tube-driven sibling, the HT series. I tested the HT version but couldn't come to terms with how fuzzy & Marshall-esque everything sounded. The LT version, on the other hand, is focused on distortion intensity. It has no other details in trying to fulfil expectations (namely the tubeless technology) & it sounded good despite not having dedicated EQ knobs to oversee proceedings. The Blackstar name itself is formidable in the amplifier front so people look up to Blackstar for amps, not pedals. This one will remain insignificant until you hear it out in person

I have since stopped hunting for that elusive heavy metal pedal to out-amp an amp because they  turned out to be second best in this aspect; the amp distortion is still superior in terms of voicing if intensity is factored in. In fact, pedals were there to emulate an amp's performance to begin with. However it's all down to preference- some of us prefer amps to handle our driven tones, some prefer pedals, some prefer both. Whatever it is, do not stop experimenting what works for you. 

Op Muff

EHX has re-introduced the op-amp Big Muff rather late in the year, doubt if it'll be here before the year turns. Anyway, it's a re-intro because the op-amp circuit had been done before in the late 1970s & held in high regards for it's more amplified output, best heard in Smashing Pumpkin's Siamese Dream album. It's good to see the flick switch option here so you can have options along the way & thank you for keeping the footprint small.

Comrade Muff

While geardom is celebrating EHX's shrunken Russian Muff, I'm still rocking the bigger manifestation. Unlike the standard Big Muff, the Russian version sounds grizzly, it's like a saturated distortion that fuzzes out when saturated rather than sounding like a fuzz unit to begin with. This affects the clarity of lower notes which can be undefined under higher fuzz settings.

Selling: EHX Crash Pad

Spring cleaning- letting this go for a good price (non-nego, of course). What does it do? Triggers drum sound:

• Electro Harmonix- Crash Pad, adapter + box included as depicted
• Condition: 9/10, used less than 5x...
• No reservations/ trades
• Strictly self-collect @ CCK/ Yew Tee mrt stn
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• FINAL price: $99

Thank you for reading 👍

Return of greenie

EHX is re-introducing the Russian Big Muff (green) & it's gonna be a little more compact than what it used to be- looking forward 👍🏾

Overlord conquest

Despite owning awesome amps in terms of drive, I still make it a point to own pedals. This was my latest acquisition, EHX's Overlord 2-in-1 type OD unit. That military theme coupled with a matching camo green finish is just wicked 😁 Happy midweek, everyone. Updates soon.