The digital Black Rose is one of 12 pedals in Rocktron’s new Boutique
Series of stompboxes. Each of these units features a rugged, brushed
aluminum case with laser-etched graphics, logos, and control labels, as
well as high-quality jacks, switches, and knobs. The true-bypass Black
Rose runs on a 9V battery or an optional negative-tip DC power supply.
SKIP IF…
you use your wah once a year.
Real McCoy Custom
Street $269
realmccoycustom.com
Drop It Down
The first thing I noticed about the Black Rose is that it has both Wet and
Dry outputs. But you don’t need two amps to use this pedal. The Dry
output has a true-bypass signal that can be routed to a second amp, but
single-amp users use the Merge knob to mix wet and dry signals, which
are routed via a true-bypass circuit to the Wet output. Additional
controls include the Thorn knob, which adjusts the intensity of the wet
signal, the Fragrance knob, which controls the wet signal’s tone, and a
Roots switch, which toggles between a crunchier or smoother signal.
Personally, I could do with more functional names and less cute ones.
Themed control names can make troubleshooting on the fly a real pain,
especially if you’ve got a whole pedalboard of these things.
BUY IF…
you want a classically voiced wah with
modern flexibility.
ROCKTRON
BLACK ROSE OCTAVER
By Lyle Zaehringer
The idea behind a standard octave pedal is simple—grab the incoming
guitar signal, drop it down an octave, and blend it back with the original
signal. Pitch transposition effects of this kind can range from simple to
radical devices like Digi Tech’s Whammy and Snazzy FX’s Mini-Ark. Many
stompbox makers have added octave pedals to their lines in the last few
years, and Rocktron recently brought their own Black Rose to the party.
196 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010
www.premierguitar.com
Functionally, though, this pedal is great. After plugging my go-to Gibson
SG into a Budda V- 40, I was immediately able to create a nice, standard
octave sound with all knobs set at 12 o’clock. The octave signal tracks
quickly, and I wasn’t able to play fast enough to out-pace the effect. (Audio
samples on Rocktron’s website demonstrate the Black Rose’s octave-track-ing capabilities quite effectively.) The Fragrance knob is essentially a mid-frequency boost that you can adjust between low-mid (minimum) and high-mid (maximum) emphasis. The Roots switch, which allows you to select Thin
