classic flanging effects from the grunge era,
à la the Smashing Pumpkins classic, “Love.”
For the players who like to push their effects
into newer, stranger sonic territories, the Jet
Riser features a Sensitivity control. I recorded
myself playing chunky fifths into my Boss
RC- 2 and ran the loop into the Jet Riser, playing with the Sensitivity control as the playback commenced. As the knob goes up, the
effect starts to exhibit a strange “wash out”
effect, as if the flanger circuit is distorting. It’s
a really neat sound, but one that should be
used in moderation, as the highest settings
can result in a garbled mess of white noise.
From subtle to downright strange, the Maxon
Vintage Jet Riser should satisfy any player’s
flange cravings. – JW
Buy if … your quest is for one of the most
versatile, compact flangers out there.
Skip if … you’re in need of a simpler flange effect.
Street $412
Maxon
maxonfx.com
OVERDRIVE
BARBER ELECTRONICS HALF GAINER
The Half Gainer pedal is a dual version of
Barber’s LTD low-gain overdrive. The first
thing you notice is the cool Art Deco-style
design, which makes it a very classy and
attractive looking pedal. But that’s not all.
This thing is built like a tank! There’s no
lightweight cheap plastic here, it’s a heavy,
durable pedal that is definitely roadworthy.
The Half Gainer features two channels, with
independent adjustments of volume and gain
for each channel. The Mid Character control
allows you to boost or cut the mids to your
liking, and the two internal trim pots for
Presence and Bass are also user adjustable.
The concept of the Half Gainer is something
that works well in the studio, but it excels
in a live setting. This one pedal hooked up
through one amp delivers three completely
different, and quickly accessible, sounds. I
started with a clean sound on my amp with
the pedal turned off. When I switched on the
Half Gainer, the first channel is then set up
for a milder overdrive sound—somewhere
in the middle between clean and distortion,
which basically acts like more like a slight
boost. I then set up the second channel for a
heavier gain that would be good for heavier
rock rhythms or leads, especially when the
Half Gainer is turned on.
Tone-wise, I felt that initially I didn’t have
enough low end using the pedal’s factory settings. I took advantage of the adjustable bass
trim pot, opened up the pedal and was able
to easily adjust the bass up. The only other
feature I would have liked to see for tone
shaping would’ve been separate Middle and
Tone controls for each channel. Overall, it’s
nice to be able to go from clean to “slightly
soiled” to dirty in a few clicks. Barber’s Half
Gainer is ideal for those guitarists who like
to quickly switch between different sounds
without having a lot of pedals on stage or in
the studio. – GG
Buy if … you’d like a progression of sounds
that you can easily control with one pedal.
Skip if … you need more tonal variety when
switching to each channel.
Street $169
Barber Electronics
barberelectronics.com
T-REX DGTM
You gotta love a pedal that has knob controls
named “Gristle” and “Gravy”! In the case of
the T-Rex DGTM, it’s quite appropriate for an
overdrive pedal that has such meaty tones.
Denmark-based T-Rex Engineering’s new
DGTM (Diabolical Gristle Tone Manipulator)
offers a distinctive overdrive that will please
many guitarists looking to beef up their
tones. It was inspired by the “Gristle Man”
guitarist Greg Koch, and goes between stan-
dard overdrive tone and a more compressed
gain with the flick of a switch. The pedal has
three tone-shaping parameters: Gristle con-
trols the amount of distortion, Gravy controls
the volume, and the Tone control can take
your guitar from smooth to edgy.
I always like to test a pedal full on at first,
especially to hear the extreme between a
totally clean sound and the most overdriven
tone possible. With my DiMarzio humbucker-equipped Charvel So-Cal, I got a nice thick
overdriven tone with the Gristle knob all the
way up, and it was nice to switch between
standard and compressed modes for a variety
of overdrives. I was able to get a nice vintage
rock tone by dialing the Gristle about halfway
in standard mode with both humbuckers on.
With single-coil pickups, my favorite tone was
cranking the Gristle knob up all the way with
the Tone right at 12 o’clock. While using the
neck pickup I was able to coax a bluesy lead
tone out of it. The pedal is definitely more
on the bright side. Turning the Tone knob
more than halfway resulted in overdrive that
was harsher and more “sizzly” than I prefer—
whether I used single coils or humbuckers, or
in the neck or bridge positions.
However, the DGTM works well for both
blues and classic rock guitarists. Whether
you want a vintage crunch or a more modern overdrive, the Diabolical Gristle Tone
Manipulator can give your guitar tone a cool
overdrive boost. – GG
Buy if … you like a little variety in your
overdrive.
Skip if … you’re a metal guitarist searching
for high gain distortion
Street $199
T-Rex Engineering
t-rex-engineering.com
KASHA KA-ODP-A 4-CHANNEL OVERDRIVE
Kasha Amplification was born almost 22 years
ago in a small music store in California’s San
Fernando Valley, ABK Rocks. It was also one
4.5Rating...
4.0Rating...
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The Stomping Grounds
128 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 www.premierguitar.com
