TUNES Magazine (Norway) Dec. 2006
Crush
Zone
Crush Zone is a
cheap/inexpensive stomp box, but it´s bang for the bucks! It´s been made to
shake the very foundation you´re standing up on. It almost played by itself.
In order to bring the house down, I turned both the Tone knob and the
Distortion knob to 11. Heavy Metal Overdrive to blow your hair way behind
your ears (distortion + 70db). Boys, this stomp box was meant to rock! World
dominion is within reach!
The Crush Zone parked the other stomp boxes with similar price tags (none
mentioned).
GUITAR & BASS (UK) OCT. 2006
Red
Repeat
The Carl Martin Red
Repeat (£69) is red, and hurrah, it repeats. This Danish-made pedal really
nails it with a diecast housing straight out of the 1950s and creamy
chickenhead knobs. It’s a straight-in and straight-out pedal with a regular
9V supply slot and a metal footswitch. Switching on is silent and the pedal
it self produces little or no noise – but, boy what a sound. The straight
guitar sound remains completely intact and there’s no diminution of
transients or dynamics. Plenty of the delays in this group have a lo-fi or
low-pass filter setting but the amount is preset: the Tone control (LPF) on
the Red Repeat allows you to set it anywhere you like. What’s more, the
decay is spookily tape-like, and even with full treble you will hear echoes
becoming grainier and more overdriven as they tail away. With delays ranging
from short slapback to about 600mS you can get everything from retro to Edge
territory – but the thing that really sets this one apart is that it never
seems to interfere with what you’re playing.
Just go out and buy one before they realize it’s a `boutique´ pedal, stick a
blue LED in it and double the price
VINTAGE GUITAR (USA) MAY 2006
Vintage
Series
If you have checked out
any pro players pedal boards lately, you would see that a fair amount of the
real-estate on those pedal boards is taken up by Carl Martin pedals (i.e.
Plexitone, Delayla, Compressor, ect.). Their high-end pro quality pedals
(both in sound and build) are in high demand, but that high quality comes at
a somewhat hefty price, until now that is. Carl Martin has just released a
new series of budget friendly pedals named the “Vintage Series” and includes
the Crush Zone (high gain overdrive), Surf Trem (tremolo) and the Red Repeat
(analog delay), rest assured these pedals are not you typical low quality
cookie cutter overseas affair, they feature 100% Carl Martin designed and
extensively tested circuits.
In general we couldn’t find any deviations or short cuts from a design or
component stand point from Carl Martins regular pedals, except for the maybe
the absence of an internal power supply.
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First up we tried the Surf Trem and with excellent results, it proved to
have a lush 50s Fenderish style tremolo effect with an un-choppy deep swish
and smooth wave form that sounded great. Switching the pedal in and out
several times revealed that it did not color the tone at all and did not add
any noise, clean and transparent, just adding the an outstanding tremolo
effect. We compared the Surf Trem to the tremolo circuit in the Fender
Bandmaster, and could get them to sound nearly exactly the same, in fact we
almost preferred the Surf Trem because of its ability to produce a deeper
effect and its wider range of speed settings.
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Next up was the Red Repeater analog delay, which also proved to offer a
quality effect without any noticeable added noise or coloration of the
natural tone, just that classic analog delay/echo sound with those slightly
dirty “not so sterol” repeats. The time control offered anything from a
super short slap back all the way up to a 600 milliseconds of long delay.
The tone control (or high cut control in this case) rolled off high-end on
the repeats, allowing us to soften the repeats so they did not get in the
way of the dry signal, somewhat like the low fidelity repeats you would get
from a tape echo.
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The Crush Zone distortion pedal was last up and was more of a full blown
high gain distortion pedal than an overdrive, with a definite midrange boost
and aggressive overdrive. But it definitely excelled in the high gain
category with plenty of available gain and a pleasantly crunchy distortion
that wasn’t thin or brittle even with the Tele bridge pickup, just nice and
crunchy. The tone control was well voice allowing for several different
flavored sounds from bright and spitty to dark and creamy smooth.
This trio of pedals definitely lived up to the Carl Martin name, with pro
quality components, very quite operation and killer vintage tones at a
killer low price.
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Up • Carl Martin Pro • Carl Martin Vintage • G-Lab • Z.Vex |
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VINTAGE Series
9V battery
pedals |
Surf Trem
Remember the great tremolo tones of the 50's and 60's? The 'Surf
Trem' gets its' trem circuit from the CM Tremovibe. With just a
'speed' and 'depth' control (just like our old tube amp) those
classic tones are easy to achieve. The retro heavy diecast case
with 9 volt battery compartment, cool colour and heavy duty bypass
switch, make the 'Surf Trem' a must have in every pedal box.
 75
euro
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Red Repeat
Based on the infamous Carl Martin Delayla, the 'Red Repeat'
provides an affordable 600 milliseconds of delay as well as a
simply controlled echo. Add just a touch of delay to thicken your
sound, or push the repeat circuit past 12o'clock where the unit
begins to self-oscillate, just like an old analog delay. Great
vintage style and colour in a heavy diecast, 9 volt pedal with
heavy duty bypass switching.
99
euro
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Classic Chorus
is
not just another chorus pedal. Yes it can be powered by either a
9V battery or a regulated 9V power supply; yes it has the solid
diecast housing with the cool off-white chicken-head knobs and the
cool CM graphics; yes it has that great CM quality bypass
switching, and the LED’s to indicate operation; and yes when you
plug into this pedal, you will get a chorus effect…..but….there is
so much more! Carl spent a year researching and developing this
pedal for the vintage guitar nut in all of us. Plug into the
Classic Chorus, step on the Bypass switch to turn the effect on,
adjust the speed and depth knobs to obtain your favorite chorus
effect and then bring up the level to show off just how good you
sound. You will be amazed at how this pedal takes you back to the
‘day’ with it’s full, round, vintage chorus sound. Now hang on to
your hat and step on the Vibrato switch. By adjusting the Rate
knob clockwise you change your sound from Chorus to Vibrato with
the full Vibrato effect achieved with the Rate and Depth knobs
turned completely clockwise. (The Speed Depth and Level knobs are
universal for both Chorus and Vibrato.) You will notice a distinct
drop in your highs, but Carl says this is intentional….it will
keep your sound warmer and rounder, plus, when you use this effect
with Distortion/Overdrives it won’t fizz out or die, you will just
get that massive overdriven chorus/vibrato effect that you always
dreamed of.
99
euro
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2 Wah
Have you ever wanted two distinctly different vintage ‘wah’ sounds
at your feet? Perhaps you wished for a brighter wah for rhythm
work and a deeper, darker wah for leads; and the ability to switch
back and forth quickly? Well, Carl Martin has been busy creating
your wish; the 2 Wah. This familiar looking, retro-styled pedal,
has an all-metal casing with a non-slip foot pad. It can be
powered by 9v battery, but we always recommend using a regulated
power supply (like the Carl Martin Big John Power Supply) for
maximum headroom and effect. Input is on the right and output on
the left (remember your Wah should be the first pedal in your
chain), and the standard effect on-off by stepping on the front of
the rocker to engage the true bypass on-off switch. There are two
three-way mode switches on the front of the 2 Wah marked Low (red
LED) and High (green LED). These are connected to an on-off switch
at the back of the pedal (step on back of rocker to engage this
switch). The three low and the three high settings are recreations
of six of the most popular vintage wah sounds since the beginning
of wah. The Attack knob allows you to fine-tune exactly how you
want the rocker to modulate your guitar signal. Six different wah
sounds, from Hendrix to Trower to Earth Wind & Fire and beyond,
all in one pedal. So why didn’t we call it the 6 Wah? Well you
would have to ask Carl……
160
euro
|
Octa-Switch MK
II
Ok, so you have eight effects pedals which you use regularly. You
use various combinations of these pedals in various songs, but you
are not good at tap dancing…or you are just clumsy and have (once
or twice) stepped on the ultra tricked out-metalized-distortion
pedal for the lead in your one ABBA cover. You have seen the
digital effects controllers they use on the big stages, and have
secretly yearned for one… even though you may never make the big
stage. Enter Thomas Guldmann’s Octa-switch II. Your eight effects
plug into the eight effects-loops on the back of this unit (all
true-bypass, impedance free, gold relays so you can run any of
your pedals, new and old without problem), and then by turning on
or off the numbered switches in each of eight DIP Bank switches,
you determine which effects you wish to use simultaneously in each
Bank. There is a blue LED for every effects loop used and for each
Bank (so once you are programmed, when you step on Bank 6 you will
see the lights of all the effects you have assigned to Bank 6 and
the Bank 6 LED). The Octa-switch II has incorporated a couple new
features as well! The ninth switch on the left side of the case is
a BYPASS Switch….this allows you to completely bypass all eight
pedals and enjoy only the unaffected sound of your amplifier.
There are also two External Switching jacks which allow you to use
two amplifiers and/or switch channels on those amps. Once you have
all the Banks programmed, we recommend placing a piece of scotch
or electrical tape over each DIP (….just to protect the switch
from accidental switching, damage or floods….like beer). There is
a buffered (or not….switchable) Mono input and a stereo Output,
and the unit is powered by dual 9v batteries, or by a regulated
power supply…like the Big John or the Pro Power (both by Carl
Martin).
330
euro
|
DC Drive
What Vintage series would be complete without an ultra-versatile
and simple to use drive pedal? Funny, that’s what Carl said just
before he introduced the DC Drive. Just like Carl, this pedal has
a few tricks up its sleeve. Besides the typical Level, Tone and
Drive knobs which obviously control the volume of the signal, the
tone (hmmm, which knob?) and the amount of overdrive, Carl has
smartly added a clean boost after the drive section, and a
Regular/Fat switch….not so typical. In Regular mode, the drive is
crisp and clear, suitable for anything that calls for old-school
drive….switch over to Fat and the drive gets thicker with a lot
more gain, much more modern. Anyone who knows the Carl Martin line
is familiar with his Clean Boost….a bump-up in signal volume that
can be used either with your clean or overdriven sounds. The
result is a multi-use pedal that allows you to have a variety of
rhythm and solo volumes at your feet. Like the rest of the Vintage
line, the DC drive comes in that cool retro diecast housing with
the equally cool chicken-head knobs and CM graphics. The pedal
can be powered by 9v battery but we recommend a regulated power
supply like the Carl Martin Big John.
99
euro
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Classic
Opto-Compressor
One day while Carl was adding some compression to a guitar track
in his studio, he thought, why hasn’t anyone built a small
opto-compressor for guitarists? An optical compressor performs
gain reduction control via a light source into a photo sensitive
cell... as the light source gets brighter, the photo sensitive
cell sends a signal to reduce dynamic range, or what becomes a
compressed signal. Welcome to the Vintage Opto-Compressor….an
old-school compressor from the days where colouring was an
important factor to the sound. The four controls (from left to
right) are the Gain, which controls the ‘pre-glow’ of the optical
circuit (the more you turn this up, the fatter the sound); Level,
which controls the overall volume of the compressor; Compression,
which controls how hard or soft the compression is, and the Attack
control which takes the signal from transparent to outright total
squeeze. A short time with this compressor will allow you to find
some of those classic guitar sounds which may somehow have escaped
you before. Again, like all the Vintage pedals, the
Opto-Compressor comes in a solid diecast housing with cool
chicken-head knobs, CM colour and graphics and a 9v battery
compartment. Due to the nature of compressors, we highly
recommend a regulated power supply (like the CM Big John) or a
large stock of batteries…..
99
euro
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Classic Optical
Envelope
Carl got a call from an old
guitar playing friend who said he didn’t want to use his wah all
the time, but wanted to have some of those effects available.
Enter the Classic Optical Envelope….essentially a classic envelope
filter (auto-wah utilizing the same opto-technology as the Opto-compressor)
for guitar or bass, with a bunch of cool options. The first
footswitch is for fx on/off (buffered), and the second to select
between the three modes (High Pass, Band Pass and Low Pass). Add
to this the Level control for overall volume, Drive for how hard
the auto-wah will function, Q for adjusting the size of the
bandwidth, and Tone which acts as a separate Hi-pass filter, and
you have complete control over your fx…from vocal like tones to
funky quacks and fat wows! Housed in the cool new diecast housing
with mini-knobs and cool retro colour, the Classic Optical
Envelope can be powered by a 9v battery, but we always recommend a
regulated power supply for optimum response!
109
euro
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Blue Ranger
While staring at Stevie Ray’s
statue in Austin, Carl decided to add a Texas style overdrive to
the Vintage lineup. Equally suited to single coils or humbuckers
and with a True Bypass Switch, the Blue Ranger also incorporates a
‘dual-clip’ circuit to keep the sound un-muffled and clear at all
levels. The overly simple controls (Level for overall volume, Gain
for the amount of overdrive, and Tone for fine tuning your sound)
quickly take you from big open Hendrix-y chords to saturated SRV
type leads, and beyond! The Blue Ranger will actually cross the
border into Fuzz with the Gain full out. Housed in the cool new
diecast housing with mini-knobs and cool retro colour, Blue Ranger
can be powered by a 9v battery, but we always recommend a
regulated power supply for optimum response!
99
euro
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Tuner
The new Carl Martin Tuner has
been on the bench for some time. As with all Carl Martin products
we wanted to get it just right…simple, attractive, efficient and
useable for all types of guitar players. Starting with our classic
die-cast black casing, the tuner is switch-able between standard
readout and strobe. Both are bright and clear so they can be read
from a standing position. The tuner can be calibrated from 437
through 443 with the default of course at A440. Add to this a mute
switch (for silent tuning) and True Bypass on/off for a clean
signal path, and you have the perfect addition to your Carl Martin
pedal collection. The Carl Martin Tuner is powered by 9V battery
or an external power supply
109
euro
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Pro Power
Whether you are an international
touring musician, or just very particular about the power your
pedals are receiving; which by the way you should be, the ‘Carl
Martin Pro Power’ power supply was created just for you. The Pro
Power offers a number of features designed with the discerning
musician in mind. Start with the switchable (110-230 V) AC input,
and split that into 8 individual isolated and regulated 9v (150mA)
– 12v (110mA) outputs, with extended power at output 7-8 9v
(350mA) 12v (220mA), and you have a unique power supply you can
use virtually anywhere. There is a simple DIP switch on the back
of the ProPower, which allows you to switch the voltage of each
output between 9-12v. Housed in our traditional black metal case,
the Carl Martin Pro Power is perfect to use on it’s own, or when
powering your personal pedal board. The Pro Power also comes with
a selection of 9V DC cables for your convenience.
119
euro
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Powerjack
The Carl Martin Powerjack
universal power supply for guitar effects employs switch-mode
technology, allowing it to be used from 100V-240V. The Powerjack
delivers 1670mA of stabilized 9V DC power at any voltage. Please
follow all safety rules and regulations for the geographic region
you are located in, and please consult your effects pedal manual
before connecting the Powerjack to ensure correct voltage,
polarity and plug type.
39
euro
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Headroom
The Carl Martin Headroom is the
most simple to operate reverb pedal on the market...with a couple
extras. This purely analogue 'real spring' reverb has two
identical channels, each with tone and level controls to select
the depth and tone of your reverb.
229
euro*
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 NOTA: preturile contin TVA
*vezi home page si oferte speciale
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