32 Pedals arrived! (Feedback post)
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:28 am
So on Thursday I received a weighty parcel and this weekend I had an opportunity to try out the new 32 Pedals. First impressions, very nicely built, layout and controls very functional and useful. The size and heft of each unit inspires confidence from the off. 
Being a fuzz nut I had to try the Tone Bender first. (Love the on/off switch btw). Well, certainly a lot of power in this one, creamy with "fluff", slightly higher gain that some with a soft gated edge. Cranking the gain and rolling off the guitar's volume control yields some pleasing lower gain early 60s fuzz tones that are my personal sweet spot. Overall I like it! Have yet to fiddle with the extra transistors or trim pots, straight out of the box it impressed, great job Laurie! (also love the authentic chicken head knobs!). (I'll pull out my BYOC and VPW too at some point to guage some more.)
Next up the 32 Germanium OD. Again this type of pedal is close to my heart, having always preferred the softer attack of a germanium element in a drive circuit rather than the sometimes harsh "clicky" nature of many drives. In the past I have had the EHX Germanium OD, which although quirky and more boost-like was good, and I currently have a Maxon OD-802 vintage unit, which uses germanium diodes to clip. Typically they are dynamic but a bit rougher or amp-like imo. Anyway once again, lovely sturdy bold yellow enclosure and plenty of knobs this time! More to play with and to dial in. I lean towards a "just broken up tone", so I kept the gain at about a third, backed of the treble and backed off the bass to compensate for my Orange cabs inherent bass-iness. Pleasing crunch, some crackly/slight gate on the gain then then dials into the clean. Finely balancing the two gives a good blend, I hear a bit of Tube Screamer and a bit of amp fizzle sizzle mixed in. A pleasing unit, I think I'll need to play with a few amps at louder volumes to get a clear picture but overall very nice.
And both pedals stack well!
SO great job once again Laurie, lot of love and effort in these, well done!
Being a fuzz nut I had to try the Tone Bender first. (Love the on/off switch btw). Well, certainly a lot of power in this one, creamy with "fluff", slightly higher gain that some with a soft gated edge. Cranking the gain and rolling off the guitar's volume control yields some pleasing lower gain early 60s fuzz tones that are my personal sweet spot. Overall I like it! Have yet to fiddle with the extra transistors or trim pots, straight out of the box it impressed, great job Laurie! (also love the authentic chicken head knobs!). (I'll pull out my BYOC and VPW too at some point to guage some more.)
Next up the 32 Germanium OD. Again this type of pedal is close to my heart, having always preferred the softer attack of a germanium element in a drive circuit rather than the sometimes harsh "clicky" nature of many drives. In the past I have had the EHX Germanium OD, which although quirky and more boost-like was good, and I currently have a Maxon OD-802 vintage unit, which uses germanium diodes to clip. Typically they are dynamic but a bit rougher or amp-like imo. Anyway once again, lovely sturdy bold yellow enclosure and plenty of knobs this time! More to play with and to dial in. I lean towards a "just broken up tone", so I kept the gain at about a third, backed of the treble and backed off the bass to compensate for my Orange cabs inherent bass-iness. Pleasing crunch, some crackly/slight gate on the gain then then dials into the clean. Finely balancing the two gives a good blend, I hear a bit of Tube Screamer and a bit of amp fizzle sizzle mixed in. A pleasing unit, I think I'll need to play with a few amps at louder volumes to get a clear picture but overall very nice.
And both pedals stack well!
SO great job once again Laurie, lot of love and effort in these, well done!
