Just posted this on TGP, some of you here might be interested:
Just got this pedal last night and to say that I'm very impressed with it would be an understatement. I've always tried to get the sound and vibe of bluesy, groove-driven shred-rockers like EVH, Paul Gilbert, Ritchie Kotzen, Pat Travers, and some of the guys in LA blues bureau recordings up to Pearl Jam (Ten,Vs.) tones when I go for a marshall-type modern rock sounds and this pedal has those sounds in spades. I use either an Edwards SRV relic strat loaded with Bareknuckle Apaches and custom-made contoured Esquire-type guitar with Bareknuckle Flat 50's. I'm running them on a THD Flexi-50 with a THD 2 x 12 cab set clean.
I'm not good in coming up with superlatives to describe sounds but it did shatter my notion that distortion pedals just can't ever be dynamic as a cranked amp, a fuzz face or a great OD. To me, distortion boxes sound "fixed" that there are only little variations that can be achieved with its knobs and the guitar's volume knob. Forget guitar vol clean up, it just won't happen.
That took a 180 degree turn yesterday with the Nord. To my ears, here's how I find it:
UNBOOSTED
The unboosted tone with the gain cranked up is a rock tone that reminds me of the kick-ass 80s(sans the cheesy chorus effect)-early 90s marshall rhythm rock tones I grew up on. It's comparable to the cbread DLS' rawk mode but the difference is that this has more bass and sounds fatter and about 30% gainier than the DLS. But as for picking dynamics, they are about the same. For guitar volume clean-up, the Nord wins hands down.
At about 60-70% of the drive knob, it can do some AC/DC tones. It has that punchy crunch tone yet it remains detailed.
BOOSTED TONE
If you think the unboosted tone is fun, wait till you hear it with the boost kicked in. It's the same tone curve mentioned above but this time with more harmonics, sustain and aggressiveness for searing leads. I set the boost at 2 o clock to make it higher than unity but not overwhelmingly so. The boost is a pre-gain boost so that means it does not only increase the volume but the gain as well.
So what's so special about that, other pedals have built-in boosts too, right? The way the drive and boost were voiced for each other is a combination I've never heard from other pedals(I've tried a lot of dual pedals). They fit each other perfectly unlike others where the boost makes the drive brighter or gives out too much mids, bass, makes the treble strings response stiffer, noise, etc.
BOOST ALONE
One of the best-stand alone boost that I tried and I had the Flying Dragon, RC booster, tried the Chili Picoso, even Himmelstrutz own Under Over for a short time yesterday, and many others before. I could honestly say that I prefer this over those as it produces a warm, non-spiky-treble clean boost. Somewhat close to my housemate's EP booster with less full spectrum boost(I will try them side by side tonight). I've always had problems with clean boosts on how they spike treble frequencies with the volume increase but not on this one. I also had problems with clean boosts being a pre-booster for drive pedals because they tend to flub out the bass, making the notes sound tubby, and the overall sound hi-fi-ish. Again, no problem on this one.
OTHER FEATURES
I particularly like how small its box is given that it contains two outstanding effects in one box. The switches are close to the pedals' side edges that I think even people with large footsizes can activate the switches easily. Given the pedal's relatively hefty weight, it doesn't topple over.
The footswitches are something I've never encountered before. They are true mechanical bypass but are a lot softer to activate than the typical click-happy TB switches that you can activate them with your small toes. Anyone know what its called? I'm not sure yet how durable they are since I haven't seen them before till I tested the Nord but they seem solid.
CONS
It won't do Mesa Boogie nu metal tones if those are what you're after coz it's not intended to sound as such. It's more of a Marshall with Celestion speakers(I've confirmed with Joakim, the builder).
Also, the price may put off some people just like it did to me before. 350usd(500sgd) is just not so easy with today's economy. It's also not easy to find and test them in common shops.
CONCLUSION(*IMHO*)
I only discovered it because the dealer's shop moved to a more convenient location which I always frequent and I just tried it for the heck of it. I initially have mixed feelings on it but realized later that I turned up the volume on the pedal high and the amp's(epiphone junior) low resulting in a compressed Xotic BB-like sound and I've an appointment somewhere else so I was rushing and wasn't able to tweak it properly yet I already heard the potential.
The next try, I had more time and was able to test extensively. I didn't know that it would be that great and I was in for a real surprise with the tones I'm getting. Compared to the other med-hi gain marshall-flavored pedals I tried, this one is a "Live" Marshall compared to the others' "studio" Marshalls hence the ballsy-ness, punch, girth and overall natural sound and feel. No "mastered CD" sound in here. Now, i'm proud and glad to say that, to quote another thread, I'VE BEEN HIMMELSTRUTZED!!
Just got this pedal last night and to say that I'm very impressed with it would be an understatement. I've always tried to get the sound and vibe of bluesy, groove-driven shred-rockers like EVH, Paul Gilbert, Ritchie Kotzen, Pat Travers, and some of the guys in LA blues bureau recordings up to Pearl Jam (Ten,Vs.) tones when I go for a marshall-type modern rock sounds and this pedal has those sounds in spades. I use either an Edwards SRV relic strat loaded with Bareknuckle Apaches and custom-made contoured Esquire-type guitar with Bareknuckle Flat 50's. I'm running them on a THD Flexi-50 with a THD 2 x 12 cab set clean.
I'm not good in coming up with superlatives to describe sounds but it did shatter my notion that distortion pedals just can't ever be dynamic as a cranked amp, a fuzz face or a great OD. To me, distortion boxes sound "fixed" that there are only little variations that can be achieved with its knobs and the guitar's volume knob. Forget guitar vol clean up, it just won't happen.
That took a 180 degree turn yesterday with the Nord. To my ears, here's how I find it:
UNBOOSTED
The unboosted tone with the gain cranked up is a rock tone that reminds me of the kick-ass 80s(sans the cheesy chorus effect)-early 90s marshall rhythm rock tones I grew up on. It's comparable to the cbread DLS' rawk mode but the difference is that this has more bass and sounds fatter and about 30% gainier than the DLS. But as for picking dynamics, they are about the same. For guitar volume clean-up, the Nord wins hands down.
At about 60-70% of the drive knob, it can do some AC/DC tones. It has that punchy crunch tone yet it remains detailed.
BOOSTED TONE
If you think the unboosted tone is fun, wait till you hear it with the boost kicked in. It's the same tone curve mentioned above but this time with more harmonics, sustain and aggressiveness for searing leads. I set the boost at 2 o clock to make it higher than unity but not overwhelmingly so. The boost is a pre-gain boost so that means it does not only increase the volume but the gain as well.
So what's so special about that, other pedals have built-in boosts too, right? The way the drive and boost were voiced for each other is a combination I've never heard from other pedals(I've tried a lot of dual pedals). They fit each other perfectly unlike others where the boost makes the drive brighter or gives out too much mids, bass, makes the treble strings response stiffer, noise, etc.
BOOST ALONE
One of the best-stand alone boost that I tried and I had the Flying Dragon, RC booster, tried the Chili Picoso, even Himmelstrutz own Under Over for a short time yesterday, and many others before. I could honestly say that I prefer this over those as it produces a warm, non-spiky-treble clean boost. Somewhat close to my housemate's EP booster with less full spectrum boost(I will try them side by side tonight). I've always had problems with clean boosts on how they spike treble frequencies with the volume increase but not on this one. I also had problems with clean boosts being a pre-booster for drive pedals because they tend to flub out the bass, making the notes sound tubby, and the overall sound hi-fi-ish. Again, no problem on this one.
OTHER FEATURES
I particularly like how small its box is given that it contains two outstanding effects in one box. The switches are close to the pedals' side edges that I think even people with large footsizes can activate the switches easily. Given the pedal's relatively hefty weight, it doesn't topple over.
The footswitches are something I've never encountered before. They are true mechanical bypass but are a lot softer to activate than the typical click-happy TB switches that you can activate them with your small toes. Anyone know what its called? I'm not sure yet how durable they are since I haven't seen them before till I tested the Nord but they seem solid.
CONS
It won't do Mesa Boogie nu metal tones if those are what you're after coz it's not intended to sound as such. It's more of a Marshall with Celestion speakers(I've confirmed with Joakim, the builder).
Also, the price may put off some people just like it did to me before. 350usd(500sgd) is just not so easy with today's economy. It's also not easy to find and test them in common shops.
CONCLUSION(*IMHO*)
I only discovered it because the dealer's shop moved to a more convenient location which I always frequent and I just tried it for the heck of it. I initially have mixed feelings on it but realized later that I turned up the volume on the pedal high and the amp's(epiphone junior) low resulting in a compressed Xotic BB-like sound and I've an appointment somewhere else so I was rushing and wasn't able to tweak it properly yet I already heard the potential.
The next try, I had more time and was able to test extensively. I didn't know that it would be that great and I was in for a real surprise with the tones I'm getting. Compared to the other med-hi gain marshall-flavored pedals I tried, this one is a "Live" Marshall compared to the others' "studio" Marshalls hence the ballsy-ness, punch, girth and overall natural sound and feel. No "mastered CD" sound in here. Now, i'm proud and glad to say that, to quote another thread, I'VE BEEN HIMMELSTRUTZED!!
