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PEDAL SNAPSHOT � Phil Traina
Key Features
Reproduction of the Echoplex preamp
New Old Stock Components Tone Switch
Chase Tone Secret Preamp Street $ 178.00 I was recently turned on to Chase Tone by a few of my tone hound friends. I am glad they did. I reached out to Kyle( Owner / Builder) and he said I had to check out the Vintage Secret Preamp. What is the secret preamp you ask? In a nutshell it is possibly the most faithful reproduction of the Echoplex preamp circuit available in a pedal. Some of the features of the secret preamp are NOS( New Old Stock) components. All of the capacitors and resistors are the same components as the original Echoplexes. The Secret Preamp jumps the voltage internally from 9v to 22v, just as the vintage units did, which adds to the response and attack. My favorite feature is the switch on the side of the box that can go from brighter, earlier, EP tones to darker, later, EP tones. The one knob adds to the ease of use.
Sometimes simple is just better. I plugged my Iconic Custom Guitars Strat style guitar into the Secret Preamp, and then into a Morgan CM50( blackface tones). Right out of the gate you will notice how the Secret Preamp sweetens your tone, adding complex harmonics and touch sensitivity. Turn the knob clockwise and it gooses your signal nicely. It’ s not over the top, but adds the perfect amount. My favorite way to run it is how it was probably intended, at the end of my effects chain. It took my already good base tone and made it better. With the S-style guitar I preferred the darker setting, but with humbuckers the switch made it an easy transition. Chase Tone nailed this effect, and I am looking forward to trying more in the future. ChaseTone. com
Key Features
Simple Controls: Input, Output, Tone + Ratio
Use as a Compressor or a Limiter
Use the“ See thru Magic EYE” to view the Compression reduction level
Gurus Optivalve Tube Optical Compressor Price $ 384.50 If you have been reading my column over the past couple of issues you will know that I am a huge Gurus fan. Chicco is building some of the coolest pedals out there. They are a bit larger than most of their contemporaries, but well worth the extra space. I met with Chicco at the Gurus booth at NAMM, and we went over the whole line of offerings. The newest pedal to the line is the Optivalve compressor. Being the compressor junkie that I am, I was drawn to this box. The tones I was getting out of the Optivalve are very familiar. It hits on many of my favorite famous outboard compressors, such as the Teletronix LA2A. These styles of compressors are not supposed to give you the super overly squishy effected tones. Optical compressors even out your tone and help give you the polished studio sound. With simple controls: input, output, tone, and ratio, you are able to dial in the perfect amount of compression quickly. The tube adds nice warmth as well. Placing the Optivalve before my drive pedals gave me a flavor that most might be familiar with, typically that’ s where most players stick the compressor. The Optivalve also excelled when placing it after my drives, and even at the end of my chain. I felt like my tone was super tight and, like I said before, polished. This was definitely a NAMM highlight for me. www. GurusAmps. com
38 May � June 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com