New Non-BOSS Pedals

[laurie]

What a story! Glad your friend in LA is doing well, and very glad the pedals finally arrived!

[Pepe]

This week I received my first Carlsbro pedal: a Chorus from the short-lived Minifex series that was made around 1982. Actually they weren't built by Carlsbro in Nottingham themselves, they were made by Cliff Electronic Components (still existing today in Redhill, Surrey).

Sadly the seemingly generally unreliable seller at ebay lost the "Depth" knob with the axis for the shaft-less potentiometers inside. In the ebay pictures it was still there. And the treadle has a broken hinge at the right side, but I managed to attach it with isolation tape. The plastic treadle is not the sturdiest one. Definitely not well-designed.

There used to be a Carlsbro label on the bottom, but that sticker must have been gone for a long time. The pedal runs on battery power only. And without a 9V battery installed the treadle would produce too much pressure and bend the circuit board with the switch to some extent. Also a design flaw.

But the sound is absolutely lovely and I think the Chorus is a keeper! It has the Reticon SAD512D on the board. Rather rare, if I'm not totally wrong. I hope that the seller can find the missing knob. It sounds great with Depth left at maximum, but sometimes I really want to turn it down.

[laurie]

That's a funky little pedal.

[Pepe]

Yes, it is! And it seems I can give up the hope that the seller can find and send me the missing knob. I tried contacting him again today and it resulted in error messages. I found out that the member is "No longer a registered user". so I think I can be happy to have received the pedal at all.

[laurie]

Yes, it is! And it seems I can give up the hope that the seller can find and send me the missing knob. I tried contacting him again today and it resulted in error messages. I found out that the member is "No longer a registered user". so I think I can be happy to have received the pedal at all.

Oh wow. Yes. Lucky!

[Pepe]

Another Hotone Skyline pedal that I haven't had yet has arrived. The KOMP is a compressor with opto-electronics. It was advertised being "inspired by the Urei LA2A Photoelectric Compressor", a studio device that I don't know, but this vintage unit seems to be expensive. Right now there is a boxed new old stock LA2A for sale at Reverb for $30,000. The tonal result of the tiny pedal is really good! It's easily one of the best and most "natural" sounding compressor effects that I have come across. The "Spark" switch adds highs, but I rather like it deactivated, because the Tone knob on the right is enough for me. The KOMP doesn't "pump" like most cheap compressors, even not at highest compressor values. Plus it is very quiet and doesn't come with a seashore like the BOSS CS-3 that I really, really don't like at all.

And I received a Seymour Duncan SFX-1 Pickup Booster. I had one years ago and that one was in perfect shape. This here might not look like a new unit, but it sounds the same and the ebay auction ended quite cheap. It is a good booster with lots of headroom, plus there is a switch that makes your single coils sound like vintage humbuckers (1) or high-output humbuckers (2). I enjoy the mode 2 a lot from time to time. Nice having it around again.