2021 wasn’t quite such a hyper-active year for acquisitions and disposals. As life got back to normal, the lockdown distractions of Reverb and Ebay thankfully moved onto the back burner as my wallet recovered.
Hits:
Lyra-8: so I bought it on the basis that everyone else seems to have as well. And it’s as amazing as promised. An electronic instrument that has (or effectively fakes) feels. The Soma guys are full of nonsensical rhetoric most of the time, but they properly nailed it with this one. One of those classic-keep-for-ever bits of kit. No wonder so few end up on the second hand market.
Grendel Drone Commander V1: So I had the Classic pedal, which is on the face of it better - more range, more flexibility, a non-daft form factor. But when I saw this drone/ammo can hybrid up for sale for a non-ridiculous price I bought it anyway, and it has brought much happiness by way of payback. Another keeper, there isn’t anything like it aesthetically or sonically.
Kinetik DAO Algorythmic Chopper: Basically a modular unit in pedal form without a foot switch. Which is annoying. But its a neat toy. Basically it chops stuff in a variety of rhythmic patterns depending on where you turn a couple of dials. Thats basically it. But its clockable, which is neat. And (when you hit a sweet spot) churns out all sorts of interesting accidental delights.
Blackskycraft Solaris Reverb: A shamelessly exact clone of the DBA Sunshine Reverb pedal. Rackety great blasts of fuzzy reverby garage goodness. Just fun to let rip with.
Reuss Fuzz Repeater MkIII: Spacemen 3 in a box. Almost exactly. A perfect clone of the Vox Starstreamer onboard effects. Boost/Fuzz/Repeat Percussion. Sure, there are limits to what you can do with it, but its hard not to admire the absolute precision of what they’ve done.
Elektron Digitakt: It’s rather good isn’t it? For a casual electronicist
like me (basically a guitarist looking for diverting activities) its straightforward, accessible and fun. No song mode though which would make life so much better…
Misses:
Sonicware Liven 8bit Warps: it’s got some great sounds, its cheap, brash and fun. But I haven’t really been drawn into playing with it after the first few weeks of ownership. Maybe its the plastickyness. Maybe its the slightly annoying control set up. It should be great - I think in a slightly different form factor it could have been epic.
Elektron AR MkII: Look its great, the sounds are fantastic, I loved it. But just too big and heavy to be much fun to use outside of an installed environment. Dragging it out of the bag to set up became boring and frustrating quickly. You can’t just chuck it in a back and take it somewhere. Quickly replaced it with a Digitakt, which isn’t quite as amazing, but is a lot more convenient.
In betweens (for now):
Gamechanger Audio Light Pedal: its a spring reverb with optical sensors and some clever electronics. It makes interesting and unique sounds. It lights up when you play it. Still not quite sure I’ll keep it. But then again, thats because I can’t ever make up my mind about reverbs. Can anyone else?
DBA Speed Tripper: I bought into the limited edition hype. And its a decent pedal with one (very) good trick. Sticking a phaser on the delay feedback. Its gnarly and lofi and turns simple strum alongs into woozy psychedelic delights. One to keep? Not sure yet, perhaps for a while given that if I sell it I probably wont get another one at a decent price.
Dwarfcraft Reese Lightning: mainly because its just arrived. A much tweaked Eau Clare Thunder fuzz, with more volume and gain on tap than is sensible. For some reason almost forces you to play stoner riffs on your guitar when you switch it on. This might move to the hits by the end of the month/year
Seppuku Octave Drone: basically another very loud fuzz/distortion pedal. On the in betweens because I just haven’t used it much. Mainly bought because Seppuku pedals are (or were back in the days when ilovefuzz was an active forum) indescribably unobtainium in their day. Not as good as their Memory Loss (the best glitch/fuzz/delay ever?). But will probably keep in the cupboard for a while on the basis that I would find it hard to get rid of.