SHIFTING GEAR
Sweet As Honey
I just returned from a whirlwind tour
of Europe and the UK. Along the way I
stopped into every tiny music store I could
find from Stockholm to Rome looking for
some sort of mega-cool, major-vibe-motivated pedal that might just give my tone
something novel and fresh. Many of the
stores there don’t carry the major brands
I’m used to—Gibson, Fender, Marshall,
etc. At first it was a major bummer, but as
one does in life I learned to embrace it.
Whoever first said, “When life gives you
lemons, make lemonade,” deserves to be
remembered for his keen insight and way
with words. No truer words have been
spoken when it comes to finding an exciting new pedal across the pond. After getting over the fact that Europe is plagued
with no-name gear, I settled into the reality that I was looking for something different, so there really was no point in sifting
through a pile of pedals that I already
have or know about to find something
unique. Although each location had some
RICH ECKHARDT
unique pedals to offer, we were still talking
about your typical overdrive, chorus, delay
and wah pedals. Many of them had their
own distinctive character and were worth
checking out. After a noble search, I found
nothing that really rocked my world until I
arrived at the home of Art Nouveau buildings and Robert Vaughn’s late night hair
care infomercial: Helsinki, Finland.
Months before the European tour started,
I had received an email from a Finlander
named Harri Koski. He had purchased a
copy of my CD, Cottage City Firehouse,
and wanted to meet me when I played in
his town. Little did I know that Harri was
the co-founder of BJF Design pedals and
Mad Professor amps. After the show, Harri
and I along with one of his associates met
at my hotel for a few shots of Salmiakki
and gear talk. He brought as a gift a small
box containing one of his overdrive pedals. When I opened it up to take a look
inside, I found he had given me one of
his Sweet Honey Overdrive pedals, and
it looked to be a mega-cool, major-vibe-motivated pedal that might just give my
tone something new and fresh.
Our days on the road were packed with
long bus rides, plane trips and often
lengthy sound checks, so I traveled with
this fabulous pedal for weeks in the box,
never finding time to plug it in and give
it a test drive. Once I got back to the
states and was able to get into my standard routine again, I seized a moment to
sit down with the Sweet Honey and give
it a full-throttle, spiritual audition. At first
I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I guess I
was expecting a major-league overdrive,
fuzztone blare-fest and I wasn’t getting
that. After a few moments, I appreciated
what this pedal was designed to do and I
loved it. It’s more of a touch-sensitive, low-gain overdrive pedal. It seemed to give a
lot of dynamic control without dirtying the
clean sound. It’s really much more like a
tube amp’s gentle breakup. After further
scrutiny, I discovered that it reacts quite
nicely to dynamic playing, breaking up less
when you pick or strum lightly and more
when you really lay in to it—a much more
natural response than you’ll find in most
pedals. It has a Volume and Drive knob, of
course, but I was much more intrigued by
the third addition to the knob playground:
the Focus knob. This was the “vibey” part.
Gaining it up, it acts as a subtle treble
boost. Dialing it back gives you a less edgy
tone and causes you to have to dig in more
to get it to drive. The more I played with it
the more fun I had, and the more I started
to realize all of its potential. Often a new
guitar, amp or pedal will inspire some creative output. This is one of those pedals.
You just never know where that next
mega-cool, major-vibe-motivated piece of
gear might come from. I never would have
guessed Helsinki, Finland. I can absolutely
see this stompbox becoming a part of my
studio rig. And like any kid with a new toy,
I will be using it on everything (probably
over-using it) for a while. I wish I’d known
about this pedal before I recorded my last
album. It would’ve found a place on many
of the tracks.
Keep Jammin’
Rich Eckhardt
Rich Eckhardt is one of the most sought after guitarists
in Nashville. His ability to cover multiple styles has put
him on stage with singers ranging from Steven Tyler
of Aerosmith to Shania Twain. Rich is currently playing
lead guitar with Toby Keith. His new album Cottage City
Firehouse is available at his website and CDBaby.com
