ULTIMATE PEDAL SPECIAL AKAI DELUXE DISTORTION
RRP: $289
AKAI TRI-MODE DISTORTION
EFFECT: DISTORTION DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
EFFECT: DISTORTION DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
RECOMMENDED FOR: Dirt lovers wanting an extended range of tweaking options. Blues, rock, country, pop and even some harder styles are all suited to this pedal. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: EQ section, 3 way Drive switch, high cut, 3 different EQ modes and Direct Recording for speaker emulation when recording. Plenty of options for a variety of tones. Extremely versatile. USABILITY: Great for live or studio and plenty of tweaking capabilities - all easy to get your head around too. Will keep you actively engaged with your tone with so many tweakable options. CONSTRUCTION: Tough with a nice polished chromelike finish. Built to last. OVERALL: The Akai Deluxe Distortion provides you with a great range of dirty tones with lots of control and the ability to DI with the Dir Rec control – pretty damn cool. Great bang for your buck!
RECOMMENDED FOR: Rock, blues, pop, alternative and even heavier players needing some distortion with a decent range. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: The 3 way Fat, Boost and Warm switch adds to the pedal’s capabilities running you through big fat tones to rounder-edged gain sounds. USABILITY: Level, Tone and Distortion are pretty self explanatory. With such a broad scope of tones it’s simply a matter of personal taste for when it comes to tweaking settings. CONSTRUCTION: Like the rest of the Akai range, this baby seems built to last. Solid switches and knobs. OVERALL: This pedal will give you quite a few tones with ease. Sounds fantastic, especially in conjunction with the other pedals in the Akai range. Really dig the Tri-mode switch for more control.
AKAI FLANGER
RRP: $149
AKAI TRI-MODE FUZZ
RRP: $259
EFFECT: FLANGER DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
EFFECT: FUZZ DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
RECOMMENDED FOR: Rock, ambient, pop and tonnes more. Somewhat overlooked when it comes to effects, the flanger has more uses than you realise. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: Warm and swirly the combination of the four controls gives you some serious scope, ranging from subtle and airy to super resonant and chime-y. USABILITY: Easy to twiddle but then read up on the specifics of each dial and you’ll have a heap more control. Plus the interaction of each knob means you can blend with other sounds for serious tonal scope. CONSTRUCTION: Built to last, sturdy and solid. OVERALL: ‘80s hard rock swirl, ambient light swish, aeroplane swoosh or faux-Leslie type sounds – a cool take on a classic, if sometimes overlooked, effect. Really satisfied with the price point here, bargain!
RECOMMENDED FOR: Alternative, rock, experimental, pop, ambient, heavy – plus anything you think needs a bit of edge and grunt to it. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: Thick, dark, rough, edgy, wild, fuzzy, heavy, grind-y and a heap more. This Fuzz is a killer effect, and there’s a lot of fun experimenting to be had, especially with the Tri-mode switch. USABILITY: Easy to dial in a starting point and then you have the added extra of a Tri-mode switch for Muffy, Boost or Warm adding to your palette of fuzz. CONSTRUCTION: Solid and tough, built to last. OVERALL: A good looking, awesome sounding true bypass pedal with a good range of usable fuzz tones. Worth a look you’re after a bit of fuzz and you want a little extra in the options department. Extremely versatile for the price which is a bonus.
AKAI TRI-MODE OVERDRIVE
RRP: $259
AKAI PHASE SHIFTER
RRP: $149
EFFECT: OVERDRIVE DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
EFFECT: PHASE SHIFTER DISTRIBUTOR: ELECTRIC FACTORY
RECOMMENDED FOR: Blues, funk, rock, pop, alternative, country - players looking for some overdrive with a few extra tone options. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: The Akai Overdrive can do the low gain thing quite well but you then get the ability to switch between Scream, Boost and Warm to open up some extra versatility. Awesome to be able to dial in more tonal and achievable EQ frequency ranges. USABILITY: I could see this pedal getting a run in quite a few different scenarios as you get a workable overdrive with some added EQ settings. CONSTRUCTION: Solid case, solid controls. OVERALL: The Akai Overdrive gives you a broad range of tones with good headroom and level to cut through in louder band situations. This ticks all the right boxes, absolute choice!
RECOMMENDED FOR: Pop, funk, rock, heavy, ambient, hard rock and plenty more. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: Airy and swishy or more of a funky thick throb you could work the APS through more than a few workable sounds. The combination of ‘degrees’ of phase shifting and rate gets you vintage tones and more. USABILITY: A quick look over the A and B switches and you’re away. With a combination of degrees of phase shifting and a separate Rate knob it’s pretty simple indeed. CONSTRUCTION: Shiny, tough, funky looking and robust. Love the retro spaceage look. OVERALL: Cool pedal, usable sounds, good range of tweaking and really a matter of taste as to how much to use. A brilliant straight ahead pedal for live, studio or the introductory phase player.
JET CITY AFTERBURNER
RRP: $140
RRP: $259
JET CITY HI-GAIN BOOST
RRP: $120
EFFECT: DUAL - STAGE OVERDRIVE DISTRIBUTOR: INTERMUSIC DISTRIBUTION
EFFECT: BOOST DISTRIBUTOR: INTERMUSIC DISTRIBUTION
RECOMMENDED FOR: This pedal offers a moderately distorted tone better suited to lead guitarists who are searching for a bluesy or fusion sound. SOUND AND VERSATILITY: An essentially identical tone to the Overdrive pedal of the same make, but the addition of a boost switch makes this incarnation that little bit more versatile for lead guitarists. USABILITY: A plug and play pedal that’s easy to use. Rotary controls for Volume, Tone, Overdrive and Boost and two footswitches, one to engage the pedal, and one to activate the boost. CONSTRUCTION: A solid build with tough components, and wide enough to allow easy access to each of the footswitches, but not so wide that it eats up all the real estate in your pedal case. OVERALL: An excellent sounding pedal for some crunchy blues.
RECOMMENDED FOR: Showboats who want to take centre stage and deafen an unsuspecting audience with lightning fast pentatonic riffage! SOUND AND VERSATILITY: This little tyke doesn’t lie with the assertion that it’s “Hi-Gain”, so much so that it could be considered an overdrive pedal, but generally that extra sustain and volume is welcomed come solo time. USABILITY: A cinch to operate, switch it on, guitar gets louder, switch it off, guitar not so loud. A knob for ‘Gain’ to add some crunch, and a knob for ‘Volume.’ CONSTRUCTION: Simple aesthetics, but a solid metal chassis, sturdy footswitch, and two robust chassis mounted knobs all ensure that this pedal will likely outlast Keith Richards. OVERALL: A great pedal to add to the arsenal, and a welcome relief to engage when that extra volume is needed.
JUNE 2012
NO. 218 MIXDOWN
PG. 39