Improbability Drive could return this year
Pedal guru Devi Ever issued an update of all things DeviEver:FX this week and included in the mix was a note that the highly anticipated Improbability Drive overdrive stomp could be more widely available by the end of the year. The Effector 13 labelled stomp was made in very limited numbers – like less than 20 – a few years back. Devi said one caveat to year-end date is the fact that they are swamped building pedals for a rash of new retailers. Look for more definitive news on the Improbability Drive next month. In other Devi news, there are a pair of new videos up on You Tube for your viewing pleasure – a new instructional video for the Truly Beautiful Disaster oscillating fuzz and a walk-thru video for the Hyperion stomp.
The crew over at Wilson Effects is showing off a new fuzz booster pedal via a demo video in You Tube. According to Kevin, the stomp acts as a nice clean boost with the fuzz level turned down and a great fuzz when the fuzz is incorporated. The stomp has two controls – boost knob and fuzz knob. When the fuzz is engaged the boost control becomes a volume control. It runs on a 9v battery and is packaged in a small enclosure. The pedal is a prototype and there is no info just yet on when it will become available to the masses. It sounds pretty sweet… but don’t take my world for it. Hear the Wilson Effects Fuzz Booster for yourself after the jump!
Sean at Lovepedal sent out a little update on his Les Lius stomp designed to emulate the low wattage amps of the 1950s. According to Sean, the pedals have to be re-powder coated, but they should be shipping – probably as you read this. The Les Lius is touted as a 6-in-1 pedal… A three-position switch offers 5E3 Woody, High Power Twin and Master Vol Tchula circuit in conjunction with a two-stage gain stack per position. The dual-channel stomp features a high power switch, selectable headroom, true bypass and a 9V DC input. Sound samples showcasing the Les Lius can be found at Lovepedal site. The stomp retails for $199.00. 
Hello gang… yes, it’s been quiet here for a bit. Sorry about that. We’re actually on vacation in sunny San Diego, California! Any chance we have to get out of Houston during July or August we usually jump at with both feet. We will be back in H-town on Tuesday, so never fear! Regular updates will resume next week. We have a few cool things in the hopper and a few sweet bands coming through town that we are trying to hook up with. We plan to get the rig repository jumped started with some pretty sweet boards by summer’s end, so stay tuned. Don’t forget, if you have any questions, comments, complaints, whatever… shoot us an e-mail! We’d love to hear what you think!
A pretty sweet demo video has surfaced on You Tube showcasing OceanEFX’s as-yet-unproduced Ocean Vibe univibe pedal. The three-control stomp features a depth knob, chorus/vibe switch and a speed knob. The true-bypass pedal is only a prototype at this stage, but it is likely to hit production soon. Sample audio showcases a nice, lush-sounding chorus and a tight, chimey vibe. The video is not an official OceanEFX creation, but rather from a beta tester that was asked by the company to evaluate the stomp. I’m liking what I’m hearing, but you can judge for yourself after the jump!
Godlyke Distributing has chimed in with news that the Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer – being touted as the world’s first analog/digital hybrid bass synthesizer to be housed in a compact stompbox format – will ship next month. Manufactured in Australia, the ambitious new stomp boasts an analog audio path featuring a variety of synth, octave, fizz, and filter effects and a digital preset system that allows constant reconfiguration of the audio signal path and storage of parameter settings as well as an on-board tuner and tap-tempo metronome.
Kentucky-based rock band Tantric stormed through town recently in support of their new CD ‘The End Begins’ (very good, go buy it now!). The band has gone through a couple of different iterations over the years and was thought dead as little as two years ago, but singer Hugo Ferreria wanted to keep going and recruited former Fuel drummer Kevin Miller and ex-Dramagods guitarist Joe Pessia among others and recorded the new album – a solid fusion of angst, love, distortion and violins… yes, violins. WTDP? hooked up with Pessia after the show and got him to give us the low down on his pedal board. Read about the signal chain in Joe’s own words after the jump!
We return this week to our friend Wally Farkas, former guitarist of the Galactic Cowboys and current solo artist with a new album, Past Due, slated to hit the streets this fall. WTDP? were lucky to have Wally invite us over for a chat about his gear. In Part 1 of our conversation, Wally filled us in on his old Galactic Cowboys pedal board set-up and also showed us a few collectible units he has used on his recordings over the years. Now, we let Wally walk you through is ‘Wall-O-Amps & Guitars’ and let you in on a few of his old favorites and at least one new toy that has him excited about tone all over again. Hear what Wally has to say after the jump!
Adam Romero, the top man at our favorite Dominican-based pedal shop Copilot FX, is planning to issue a frequency modulation fuzz stomp dubbed Orbit later this month. There are a couple of videos of the prototype of the new pedal on the Copilot website. Adam plans to place the first couple produced on ebay at an introductory price of $130. Once officially launched at the end of the month, the price will be $160. Copilot also plans to issue the long awaited Antdroid pedal around the middle of August. Adam still plans to tweak a few things on the pedal based on feedback from a group of beta testers.
New Jersey-based Earthbound Audio Effects has put the finishing touches on a redesign of its Supercollider fuzz stomp. According to the company, the major change is that the Mids switch will be replaced by a Mids control knob for more precise tones.
Phoenix, Arizona-based Vayden came through town recently on tour with Silent Majority Group mates Tantric and blew the roof off of Scout Bar with tracks from their latest record ‘Children of Our Mistakes.’ The third group on a five-band bill, Vayden held their own with a series of tunes sporting heavy melodies and infectious grooves. The album originally was released in 2006, but recently was remastered and reissued by SMG. WTDP? took the opportunity to hit up guitarist Armin Peterson for a snapshot of his pedalboard. Get the run through of all the goodies after the jump.
This is a bit personal for me because Eleven was always, always one of my favorite bands. They were highly underrated by the suits, but very much a big deal inside many musicians’ circles. One half of that band, the wonderful Natasha Shneider, passed away this morning after a battle with cancer. She was 52. If you don’t know Eleven, then maybe you know Queens of the Stone Age… she was their touring keyboardist recently. Chris Cornell? Yeah… she and her other half Alain Johannes helped write and produce much of the material on Euphoria Morning. Eleven put out several excellent albums during the 90s and into this decade. Seek out the self-titled disc from 1993 or the follow-up Thunk. Good stuff. Rest now, Natasha…we will miss you. You can make a donation to the Natasha Shneider Memorial Fund by going here – 
Michigan boutique effects shop Lovepedal is reissuing its Kanji E – a custom version of its Eternity overdrive stomp. The Kanji E is being offered during the month of July – or until Lovepedal runs out of parts to make them – for $199. The Kanji E sports knobs for level, glass and drive like the Eternity pedal. The pedal also has a 9V DC tap, true bypass relay system and LED status. The Eternity overdrive is a popular stomp with the likes of Andy Summers of The Police as well as present and past members of Guns & Roses and Goo Goo Dolls. Lovepedal is taking orders for the Kanji E now.
The fine folks at Morley have chimed in with more information regarding the upcoming limited edition Patriot series wah pedals they had on display at the recent Summer NAMM show. Two models will be available – Mark Tremonti’s Patriot Wah and Steve Vai’s Liberty wah. Each will be decked out in red, white and blue. Proceeds from the sale of each pedal will go to charities helping wounded Veterans and the USO. Both the Bad Horsie Liberty Wah and the Mark Tremonti Patriot Wah list for $275. These are being sold to dealers on a first-come, first served basis. Orders are due to ship on 18 August in the order that they are received.