What We Say: The Destination Bump is a clean boost offering from Option 5 that seems simple and straight to the point. I like the idea of the small trim-pot which can’t be knocked by your foot or accidentally tweaked some other way, a page perhaps taken from the Blackstone Appliances Mosfet Overdrive’s book, and it also gives this pedal a strange, unique look.

It offers up to fifteen decibels of clean boost and it seems like it would be well worth a try out.

What They Say: ”…Features include:

• 0 to 15 dB of CLEAN gain!
• VERY low noise floor.
• Easy to adjust gain trimmer will not be moved accidentally by your foot!
• Standard, regulated 9 volt DC wallwart operation.
• True Bypass.

The destination Bump is a super simple, easy to use, reliable and necessary tool for any pedal arsenal. Use it to ‘bump’ up the volume for solo work. Use it to revive tone from long lengths of cable and too many pedals. It can also be used to ‘bump’ the front end of a tube amp or your favourite gain pedal for unbelievable overdrive and distortion tones. All at a price and quality make that you have come to expect from Option 5. These little boxes are so handy, you may as well have two!…”

Option 5’s gear can be bought at their online store.
http://www.option5-online.com

Sources: www.option5-online.com

What We Say: First off, sorry for the poor picture it is the only one I could find!

Bob Burt is a respected cabinet maker in America who has branched out into the effects pedal market.

The Clean Boost is said to be that, a clean boost! So why the high price tag? Well there has been nothing but praise for this rare unit since it was introduced. An original circuit that actually stays clean, even at the top of it’s boost range. It is also said to be almost totally transparent with no tone colouration at all!

Just another over-hyped pedal? Or something truly unique? I would be interested to find out!

What They Say (BluesAngel Music {official dealer}): ”…The very latest boutique tone machine from Bob Burt !!!!! Bob’s Overdrive has been a phenomenal success, and the Clean Boost has to be heard to believe!!!! This pedal make the SHO seem a little lame! I’ve found this to be the best non coloring boost on the market….it also functions as an extremely effective tool to make humbuckers sound more bright and lively….amazing! BTW, Coco Montoya is burning it up on tour with this pedal right now!…”

Bob Burt’s creations can be bought from Blues Angel Music, the only dealer of Bob’s stuff.
http://www.bluesangelmusic.com

Sources: www.bluesangelmusic.com, www.bobburtcabinets.com

What We Say: Bob Burt is a respected cabinet maker in America who has branched out into the effects pedal market.

The Overdrive is said to be reminiscent of a Tubescreamer, Xotic RC Booster and even the famed Landgraff Overdrive! These seem to be VERY rare and not a lot of information is floating around, but every short snippet of a review I have seen has nothing but praise for these little gems.

Just another over-hyped pedal? Or something truly unique? I would be interested to find out!

What They Say (BluesAngel Music {official dealer}): ”…We are proud to be the exclusive U.S. sales agent for Bob Burt Pedals . Bob has created a very unique overdrive that solves the major complaint by so many guitarists, of excessive mid range “hump” or “boxiness” in tube screamer style pedals. This pedal has a very rich and musical distortion, with absolutely no increase in mids, and no significant drop off of your bottom end. I have been playing the prototype for a week now alongside my John Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive, and what an incredible combination they are!!!! Bob, I’m not giving it back!!!! If you’re familiar with Bob Burt cabinets, you know what a perfectionist he is. BTW, Coco Montoya is burning it up on the road right now with both of Bob’s pedals! This same quest for tone and impressive work ethic is now migrating into the pedal world…”

Bob Burt’s creations can be bought from Blues Angel Music, the only dealer of Bob’s stuff.
http://www.bluesangelmusic.com

Sources: www.bluesangelmusic.com, www.bobburtcabinets.com

What Is It?
A capacitor is basically two conductors separated by a non-conducting (insulator) material. So what you get is essentially a sandwich of materials: Conductor – Insulator – Conductor. These conductors are often called plates.

In a capacitor the two plates are oppositely charged, current flows in one way and out the other. When one plate reaches it’s threshold it passes the electrical energy across to the other plate, and then starts the cycle again.

This capacitance is measured in ‘farads.’

Someone once told me to think of a capacitor like lightning. The sky is one plate and the earth is another. The sky fills with electrical energy and when it can’t hold any more the energy is shot towards the earth and discharged. then the sky begins to fill up again until it reaches breaking point, and shoots the electrical energy across to the other plate.

What Is It Used For?
A capacitor stores energy in a similar way to a battery and so it can power circuitry. Also a capacitor can be used to filter AC and DC signals as it will allow AC signals to pass through it, but not DC. Also, because they take time to fill up and then discharge the energy, they can be used in timing circuits.

For general stompbox use however capacitors will usually be used for storing power and charging circuits (such as in a power supply) and for filtering out the AC signal which can help tune the frequency response of a circuit, obviously particularly useful in a ‘tone’ control.

Types Of Capacitor
There are a myriad of capacitor types so here are the ones you are most likely to use.

Ceramic

Generally, ceramic caps have a lower capacitance than others and are usually found in the pico to nano-farad range.

Ceramic caps are non-polarised so they are a little easier to work with as you don’t have to worry about putting them into a circuit ‘the right way around.’

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Electrolytic

Electrolytic caps are generally polarised and are usually found in power supply circuitry and in decoupling application.

In stompboxes we are generally working at 9 volts but in circuits such as amplifiers electrolytic capacitors can store a HUGE amount of energy and touching one that is still charged (they can stay charged for a while, even after your amp is turned off) can seriously harm, if not kill you! At 9 volts this is not a concern but if your working at higher voltages be sure to learn how to discharge capacitors.

Film

Film capacitors come in a variety of formats including polyfilm, metal film, box formation and propylene. They all do the same thing and the majority of people admit to not being able to tell any difference in sound.

Film capacitors are non-polarised.

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Tantalum

Tantalum capacitors are polarised.

Tantalum capacitors is probably the one that is most debated over, does it effect the sound? I’m not far enough along on my journey to say either way but there is a lot of debate about it. Some say that they have a smoother sound, some say they have a harsher sound. Who knows?

Tropical Fish

The Tropical Fish capacitor looks bad as, it has to be said!

Tropical Fish caps are poly film capacitors with a colour-coded system (similar to resistors) that tell you the rating in farads.

They are quite rare and thus, like anything vintage, expensive but they are favoured by a lot of folks, and c’mon, they DO look cool!

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Well that’s it! There are other types of capacitor but generally, especially if you are just starting out, these are the ones you are most likely to come across and use.

What We Say: Dedalo are a small company making hand-built effects from Argentina.

The Kamikaze is, simply put, a dirt box. It has a toggle switch for a smooth, creamy, FET-based overdrive and to that overdrive you can add some symmetrical clipping (courtesy of LEDs) to take you into the high-gain distortion category.

It sounds pretty good from the clips, but it doesn’t sound like anything wholly original or inspiring, though I can guarantee it will sound better in person.

Priced very fairly, sounds good, want to try it!

What They Say: ”…KAM-2 delivers all the gain you may need, divided in two different dynamic ranges. Rabid overdrive and high-gain distortion, perfect for those high-voltage leads.

- Two-stages FET saturation.

- One stage symetric LED saturation.

- Overdrive and Distortion modes.

- True Bypass Learn more….

PRICE: 115 USD

Availability: sold out

CONTROLS

Cuerpo (body): amount of low frequencies left into the saturation stages, controls the timbre of the generated distortion. At the max position, the sound is heavy and machacante, while at min the mid frequencies are boosted and intermodulation lowered. This control varies its effect according to the bass content of the instrument, and the Gain control.

Ganancia (gain): amount of applied amplification, which translates to distortion.

Agudos (treble): treble-cut filter of 6db/octave. More reduction is obtained with the control turned anticlockwise.

Over/Dist : selects the mode of operation:

- Overdrive: the gain is moderate, with a high and soft saturation threshold. Most of the distortion is provided by the FET, giving an organic and creamy sound, very sensitive to picking dynamics.

- Distorsión (Distortion) : masive gain applied, with a lower and harder saturation threshold. Added to the FET is the symetric distortion of LEDs, generating a sound that crunches with harmonics and sustain.

Volumen (level): general level of the pedal…”

The Kamikaze can be bough directly from Dedalo.
http://www.dedalofx.com.ar

Sources: www.dedalofx.com.ar

Jaden Rose Guitars is a one-man-band type of setup, ALL of the work is done in-house by fantastic UK based luthier, Jaden Rose. His guitars are of the highest possible quality and feel fantastic.

I had the pleasure of trying out a few Jaden Rose models (albeit un-plugged) and they felt great and resonated superbly, I can only imagine what these beasts sound like plugged in.

Pictured is one of my favourite models, both looks wise and playability, and as you can see the attention to detail is superb, no expense is spared and no short cuts are taken.

I met Jaden a few months ago and have to say he is a sound bloke who makes fantastic instruments, they ARE pricey, but no more than any other custom guitar manufacturer of this nature and worth every penny I would say, and of course, they are made in good old Blighty.

Recently reviewed in Guitarist magazine one of Jaden’s axes scored full marks, so do yourself a favour and check out his new look website, and add each and everyone to your GAS list.

Jaden is also an official distributor of DiMarzio pickups and accessories.

http://www.jadenroseguitars.com

What We Say: The bullet is a clean boost offering from OceanEFX. It seems to be a typical boost pedal but I like the inclusion of a tone dial for some upper frequency presence during a solo boost.

It sounds good, does the job it was designed to do, can’t complain judging from the clips.

What They Say: ”…Want to beef up your guitar’s tone a little…or a lot? Want to push your amp’s tubes into distortion? Want to slam your overdrive pedal into the next stage of gain for solos? Want all this from one pedal? Look no further than the Bullet Clean Boost. When used with your clean sound, the Bullet adds a bit of roundness and overall presence to your tone. Or, for you players who like to run your amp just on the edge of breakup, kick on the boost to make your tubes sing. The Bullet is also an excellent way of giving your favorite overdrive pedal a whole new range of tonal possibilities; bringing out sweet harmonics and adding more distortion and sustain.

The Bullet is great for any style of music from country to blues to rock and the proof is in its versatility. An input gain control allows you to adjust the amount of your guitar’s signal going in to the effect. Look at it as somewhat of a presence control that shapes how much of the pedal’s character gets added to your tone. You can also use this gain knob to compensate for guitars with different output levels. Tone and level knobs round out the design. Forget about stepping on your boost and living with whatever tone coloring you get. The Bullet Boost lets you dial it right in. Set the volume of the overall boosted signal with the level control and you’ve got yourself a can’t miss tone machine! Its discrete circuitry will take your guitar’s natural tone and make it bigger, fuller, and more dynamic. You just might want to leave it on all the time!

Bullet Boost features include:

• Sturdy die cast metal enclosure
• Hand-wired true bypass circuitry
• Metal and carbon film resistors
• Metal film caps
• Top-mounted Switchcraft jacks
• Blue status LED
• Input gain, tone, and level controls
• Operates on 9v battery (supplied) or standard 2.1mm neg. tip DC adapter
• Actual size: 2.4”W x 4.7”L…”

The OceanEFX stuff can be bought at their website.
http://www.oceanefx.com

Sources: www.oceanefx.com