Wilson lights up with an insect friend
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Wilson Effects has a pair of new You Tube videos touting new and upcoming releases from its pedal line – including a Fuzz/Overdrive/Boost pedal dubbed the Stoned Grasshopper. The natural pedal order is as stated, but you can redirect the fuzz to anywhere in your signal path thanks to the internally switched jacks in the pedal. The Stoned Grasshopper runs on 9V DC and is only available with a power adapter – no batteries. Any center-negative 9V DC power adapter with a 200ma rating will work. There is also an internal fuzz tuning trimmer to help you dial in the fuzz tones you desire. Check out the demo video of the new stomp, and a new tremolo, after the jump!
Playing catch-up from earlier in the week I’d be remiss if I did not mention that George Lewis, the founder of George L’s cables, passed away 22 May in Nashville. Madison, Tennessee-based George L’s is one of the industry’s leading innovators of instrument cable and electronic components. According to a NAMM.org posting, George played a large role in the development of ShoBud as a retail store and manufacturer of steel pedal guitars. The entire Lewis family works in the business, which now is operated by his two daughters. A World War II veteran, and Pearl Harbor survivor, Lewis was 87 years old. Rest in Peace, George L.
Deviltone is the product of Pearland, Texas-based one-man show Eric Dolch. Eric’s story is a lot like many small scale effects builders and, ironically, sappy baseball movies – If you build it, they will come. What Eric built was the Jezebel fuzz – a salute to the classic Fuzzface that has a penchant for cleaning up like no other pedal I’ve encountered. While Eric makes both silicon and germanium Jezebel models, the one I had to review was silicon-based. Given our proximity and fact that we bump into each other from time to time at shows and fests and such, I managed to coax Eric into letting me borrow a Jezebel and put it through its paces.
Calling all band members, road managers, amateur photogs or otherwise camera-wielding concert goers… What’s That Dude Play? wants your fresh concert/gear pics! Sometime over the next few weeks, we will be launching our I-Roadie section of the website specifically designed to house new, user-generated gear and show photos! All submitted photos must be original shots and be accompanied by all of the pertinent information – act, venue, date and the identity of the gear, if possible – before it will be reviewed for posting. You will retain ownership of and get full credit for the photos. E-mail your photos and info to 
Sarge and the crew at Creation Audio Labs are organizing an amp show near their home base – Nashville, Tennessee – to be held 8-9 August. The show promises demo amps, effects, instruments and accessories at real world volumes! Current companies slated to exhibit include Industrial Amps, Sommatone Amps, Hipkitty, Paul Cochrane, Reason Amps, ARK Amps with more being announced daily. The Nashville Amp Show will be held at the Hyatt Place Brentwood Hotel. One day admission to the show is $7… a two-day pass is an affordable $10. Check out 
Greg at Montreal-based Solid Gold Sound Labs checks in with news that the shop has completed a major overhaul of its pedal line-up. The assortment includes various boosts, drives, fuzzes and at least one envelope filter. Pedals include the Nitro low-noise clean boost, the Rock Machine overdrive and the Formula 69 Fuzz Face clone. Prices vary, but most fall in the $150 to $250 range… Canadian. We hope to get a hold of a Solid Gold pedal or two soon and plan to feature them in a YMMV review in the coming weeks! In the meantime, jump over to the Solid Gold FX website and listen to some clips of these and other stomps. Tell ‘em What’s That Dude Play? sent ya! 
Xotic Effects is probably best known for its range of well-respected boost and pre-amp stomps – the BB pre, and RC and AC boosters. A little while back, the company launched the Plus line basically expanding its BB and AC pedals into dual-channel, stackable drives by uniting the company’s popular booster circuits and versatile preamp. Each channel delivers two distinct voicing modes that cover the entire range of gain structure. While daunting at first glance, both the AC-Plus and BB-Plus are fairly intuitive once you dive in, which is what we did… after the jump!
Ohio-based Earthquaker Devices has bumped the number from 10 to 30-plus of a limited run fuzz box called the Tone Reaper. The initial run of Vox/Solasound Tonebender clones was meant as a small side project, however as the first few Tone Reapers hit the market, great reviews followed, prompting demand for the unit. Going beyond an exact clone, the three-knob stomp has mods for more gain control and saturation while still maintaining clarity. It also has a different tone stack that doesn’t get muddy and loads more output. Earthquaker also plans a few other limited run clones including an Acetone FM-2 Fuzzmaster clone dubbed Fuzz Master General. 
Effectrode is now shipping its 100% analog signal path, pure tube chorus pedal – the Vibro Chorus. According to the builder, the unique modulation characteristics pf the stomp introduce the barest minimum of pitch de-tuning into the original signal with no loss of treble for minimal tonal coloration. At slower modulation rates it produces wide, open and natural chorusing that adds another dimension to chord and rhythm playing and at faster rates it creates a light, watery and bubbly effect, but retaining clarity and transparency. The pedal is priced at $445.00. Separately, Effectrode expects to have its Photo-optical Tube Compressor stomp completed soon.
Suhr Guitars is shipping the first in a series of three new stompboxes to dealers this week. The Koko Boost is a clean boost pedal with a selectable midrange frequency boost that can be stacked on top of the clean boost. The stomp also boasts a FX-Link – a way for MIDI to turn pedals on/off without having to insert them into a loop-switcher. According to the builder, all future Suhr pedals will have this feature. The pedal is housed in a billet-cut aluminum boxes cut from aluminum blocks, similar to the process used by Apple for their new MacBook Pro laptops. The Koko Boost carries an MSRP of $200.
Japan’s EWS (Engineering Work Store), known for their Arion Chorus modification, is set to offer up a new fuzz/distortion pedal dubbed the Fuzzy Drive. Cranking the gain on this three-knob stomp will get you a powerful fuzz/distortion sound. When you back off the gain and crank up the volume, the pedal can also be used as fuzz/booster, somewhat akin to classic Tonebenders, to enhance your amp distortion. The true-bypass pedal has a MSRP of $149. The pedal is being distributed by Prosound Communications, home of the Xotic brand of guitars and pedals.
From the ashes of Texas power trio Tellus arises Galea – the brainchild of Tellus husband and wife team Chris and Mary Howell. The pair, along with the drumming and production assistance of former Galactic Cowboy Alan Doss, just release their new CD – Theo’s Drive-In – on their own Coffee Monster Music label. The 14-track disc is chalk full of great, straight-ahead rockers fueled by Chris’ howling guitars and Mary’s full, yet haunting vocal delivery. WTDP? had a chance to talk with Chris about making the new record, husband/wife songwriting dynamic and his geekiness over gear.
In between snapping pics and trying not to embarass myself in front of far superior players at last week’s New York Amp Show, I ducked into one of two panel discussions on the agenda. The Pedal Pushers forum was designed to offer a builder’s view of the pedal market and learn a bit about how these guys started and, of course, their stances on the ever-present true bypass versus buffering debate. The panel included Mike ‘Analogman’ Piera, David Kotai (Pigtronix), Sarge Gistinger (Creation Audio Labs), Jeff Purchon (Gig-Fx) and Alph Hermida (Hermida Audio). As a gift for those who couldn’t make it, from the show promoter Loni Spector and WTDP?, full panel audio is below!
Their influence is wide-ranging… Nirvana, STP, etc… and the fact that they are a band at all is a bit of a minor miracle, but today the Meat Puppets returned to the music scene with the release of ‘Sewn Together’. The Brothers Kirkwood along with drummer Ted Marcus are touring in support of the new CD this summer starting tonight in Los Angeles. ‘Sewn Together’ was recorded on vintage analog gear at Saltmine Studio in Mesa, Arizona with the band turning the knobs. While I have not heard the whole album yet, what I have heard sounds excellent. But don’t take my word for it, take a listen to a track from the record below… then run out and buy it!
Bay Area modern rockers Dredg return to the airwaves this summer with their first new album since 2005’s ‘Catch Without Arms’. Next month, the four-piece will release ‘The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion’ – an 18-track, hook-filled gem that drew part of its inspiration from a Salman Rushdie essay. The band is currently on the road previewing tracks from the new record as well as playing fan favorites from its previous CDs. WTDP? caught up with vocalist/guitarist Gavin Hayes and guitarist Mark Engles and asked the duo about making the new record, the gear involved and their overall songwriting process. Check out the interview after the jump!