chain friendly nine-volt tap
and the price all make the
Rover a no-brainer for those
looking for a MKII, but this
pedal has still more to offer.
Playing with the Wool and
Attack controls, I got an
astonishing range of classic
fuzz tones. With Attack
and Wool at their minimum
settings, I had a hard-wired
“germanium fuzz clean up”
tone—glassy sparkle galore
without fiddling with my
volume knob. Moving Wool
up to noon generated more
gain as the low end began
pushing the circuit, resulting
in Tweed-like break-up with
Marshall-y sustain. Leaving
the Wool alone and rolling
Attack up to noon, I got
some very Fuzz Face like
tones; nudging Attack to
the left gave me Hendrixier response, while nudging
it to the right was more
Gilmour-y. Pushing the Wool
control to 3 o’clock really
brought out the clipping
in the circuit, creating a
very Tone Bender MKI-type
texture. Rolling the Wool
control back between 11
and 1 o’clock and maxing
out the fuzz resulted in a
few different flavors of Muff.
Now, I just referenced a
lot of settings, but I’ve
got still more good news:
Rover was ridiculously easy
to dial in. The Wool knob’s
taper is subtle, meaning
the sweet spots are wide,
ensuring you will quickly find
the settings you want, no
matter what pick-ups you’re
using. I did notice that, as
pick-up output increases,
the incoming signal eats
up headroom, decreasing
output in the process. But
even with high-output pickups or stacked with an
overdrive, I was able to get
a boost out of Rover and,
perhaps more importantly,
I was always able to dial
in the fuzz texture I was
looking for.
WHAT WE LIKE
Rover offers an amazing
array of fuzz textures,
not least of all a spot-on
rendition of the wonderful
Tone Bender Professional
MKII. Rover also offers way
more output than a vintage
fuzz, can operate off a
daisy-chained power supply,
doesn’t take up much room
and is reasonably priced.
CONCERNS
Those who are familiar
with more traditional MKII
designs might miss some
of the quirks found in those
units, but I have a hard time
imagining that anyone who
loves this style of fuzz won’t
be impressed, particularly at
this price point.
ToneReport.com
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