Switching to the Turbo induced even stronger, more radical modulations
that sounded especially demented over the slower loop when I kicked
on a Rat I put in front of the Vienna. Even driven with the super-hot
Rat-tortured signal, the peaks and sweep of the Vienna’s chorus—often
evocative of tape warble—remained intact an detailed.
Radial is famous for their very quiet circuits. And their expertise in
creating them for use in acoustic instrument preamps and DI boxes pays
off in the Vienna chorus too. The inherent quiet of the signal means you
can afford to create more radical modulated environments without losing
picking nuance or the sonic qualities of other pedals in a muddy sonic
whirlpool. And needless to say, the exceptionally quiet nature of the
Vienna makes more delicate and subtle applications of the effect a delight.
The Verdict
Like any Radial box, the Vienna is a top-quality piece of gear that’s
built to handle the road, the stage, and the studio. The pedal’s dual-mode design also makes the Vienna a very flexible effect. You can
create everything from a lazy, watery rhythm to radically pulsing and
acidic leads in the same song on the fly, without changing any settings.
And with a circuit this quiet, it’s a pedal you can use with confidence
in almost any musical context—especially those calling for a touch of
rotary speaker mojo on the cheap or something far more surreal.
RATING:
BUY IF…
you need a sturdy, quiet, roadworthy chorus that can move from subtle to psychedelic with a single stomp.
SKIP IF…
you can get by with a less flexible
digital chorus.
Radial Engineering
Street S159
tonebone.com
LIGHTFOOT LABS
GOATKEEPER GK3
By Max Mobley
San Diego-based Lightfoot Labs are nothing if not single minded in
their intent to make one of the best tremolo effects available. After
all, the Goatkeeper GK3 is the only pedal they offer. But the payoff for
this focus is a one-of-a-kind effect with excellent build quality and a
wide range of sonic capabilities.
Built for Business
The Goatkeeper’s control set includes two footswitches. The left
switch turns the unit on or off, as indicated by a bright red pilot light.
The right switch is a tap tempo button to set tremolo or LFO (
low-frequency oscillator) speed. Six black knobs run across the top of the
unit—all far enough away from the footswitches to prevent accidentally fouling your setting with an errant kick. Each knob is actually a
rotary switch, except for the far right knob, which is a standard pot
used to control waveform depth and amplitude when recording your
own wave into the unit. There is also a small pot on the back of the
device for adjusting output volume.
184 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010
www.premierguitar.com
