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.

[Pepe]

New toys! I acquired a cheap Redson Flanger 12 that was declared as defective. After a good cleaning and some maintenance it was alive again and it sounds really nice. It was made for the French market and it is originally a unit made by Locobox, a brand that fuzzbuzzfuzz likes a lot.

And then I couldn't resist buying the almost-new-looking Arion HW-02 Hot Watt-II headphones amp for 15 EUR plus shipping. It is a nice unit with built-in overdrive/distortion ("Over Drive" and "Metal Master") plus a very short delay with lots of feedback or chorus. I still have to try it through my amp. But so far it is cool sounding through my headphones. Luckily there were no batteries inside, or else the contacts might have corroded in the meantime. The potentiometers are very noisy, but once I've openend it up and cleaned it, everything will work as new, I'm sure.

[fuzzbuzzfuzz]

This week I received two Aria pedals, the AD-10 Analog Delay and the CH-10. I bought the FL-10 a few years ago already.

These pedals from the Aria Dual Stage series look very interesting on first sight. They have metal enclosures that are only slightly bigger than BOSS compact pedals. The treadles are made of plastic, but they are thick and very sturdy. The "Stage 2", that is activated by keeping the pedal depressed (bypass/effect can be switched with light pressure), allows for a second speed setting in these three pedals. In the case of the Distortion or Overdrive models, a different gain setting can be activated instead. A sixth model with a "Stage 2" is a Phase Shifter, which also features a second speed setting. This is obtained by a trimpot with the flat rubber cap that can be seen in the pictures.

But what counts in first place is the sound. And that's the weak point in two of the three models that I have.

The FL-10 Flanger is okay, nothing too special, but overall enjoyable. The sound is quite similar to that of the BOSS BF-2 and it comes with a bit more hiss at the longest delay rates. The possibility to abruptly change the speed with the two stages is really useful and can create interesting effects.

The CH-10 Chorus, albeit capable of producing very deep modulation, sounds surprisingly weak at the same time. The effect is definitely present, but you cannot really hear the rhythmic modulation. Due to this a speed change with the two stages is not as effective as in the Flanger. It doesn't do a nice rotating speaker simulation, it sounds muddy through and through.

The AD-10 Analog Delay (based on the MN3205) is lacking charm or character. The delay is quite clear sounding and it doesn't come with too many artefacts in the longest possible setting and it does also self-oscillate on demand at factory settings. But something is completely missing. I really love analogue delays, but this one leaves me cold. There are two more downers. The second output on the back does not split the sound of the effect and the original signal, it only adds inverted effect signal for faux stereo like in the Chorus and the Flanger. And even worse, the "Stage 2" that enables a second delay time setting, does not immediately change the speed, it pauses the effect for almost half a second and then starts with the second delay time after the break where only the original signal can be heard. Pretty much the same as the Pearl AD-33 (that I recently acquired) does it, but the crazy thing is that you have to keep the treadle depressed the whole time if you want to play with the second delay time setting. And when you take your foot away, the effect will again be silenced for a while before continuing with the first delay time setting. Utterly useless, if you ask me. I had loved to have an abrupt and glitchy delay time change. But no ...

So after having tried the half of the Dual Stage models I'm not too keen on trying out the three missing ones. The concept of the Dual Stage pedals looks so nice, but they don't all deliver what they promise. The later Aria pedals that came in plastic enclosures have a sound that is much more pleasing to my ears (with the exception of the dreadful Bass Distortion).

I believe the Guyatone Dual Delay also has the glitch when switching between the two delay ,odes (with an external foot switch). Possibly it was inherent in the designs of the time. However that one does have a lovely character, darker than the DM-2.