Retro-sonic Tourbox

This Tourbox had five pedals, which I think covers all of the Retro-sonic line that has been released so far.

Chorus, Phaser, Compressor, Analog Delay, and Overdrive.

Often I feel like a line of pedals from a maker has a sonic signature in common, and I felt that way with the Retro-Sonic pedals, too.

The tone on all the pedals were warm, vintage sounding, but with much less noise than I would expect. They seemed to have an expanded range in many of the controls - extremely slow to very fast modulation rates on a few of the pedals, more gain and sweep in the tone on the Overdrive. They were not heavy with attitude, but instead, to me, they are about good, usable tone, with attention paid to balancing warmth, clarity and low noise in a way that makes the Retro-Sonic pedals stand out. All the pedals had a very nice feel to them, warm and responsive in a way that made them nice to play.

Chorus/Vibrato. The tone of the chorus was warm, thick while still holding clarity in the cords. It reminded me right away of the Chorus tone in “Pretenders” songs - “Talk of the Town” and such. I found it a little confusing that the Chorus had only one knob - I kept wanting rate and depth. Still, I compared it to my Medusa, which has tons of control, and found that one Retro-Sonic knob got a lot of good sounds. Compared to the Medusa, the Retro-Sonic was always a bit fuller and richer in the chorus (the Medusa had more sparkle) and the Retro-Sonic had a lot less noise.

The Vibrato was also very nice, with tons of range in the rate. For me, it could have gone a little slower, and that would have been nice, but it can get insanely fast.

The level control is a nice addition, letting you set the output volume of the entire pedal (not just the effect level).

Phaser. The Phaser has the same nature to the tone that the Chorus has. Warm, full, still lets the guitar tone through. There was a good amount of depth to the phase, not that flipping your guitar inside out sound, but a nice, full, creamy swoosh. The Phaser does have a bit more background noise to it, compared to the Chorus. The rate control ran very slow to super fast, very nice.

Compressor. I’m very picky with Compressors. I’ve been through a bunch of Ross style, and the Retro-Sonic is a very nice compressor.

To put it on a range of clarity and fullness, starting with the clearest, and ending with the thickest, I would say:

Tonepress - Keley with new transistors - Retro-sonic - Analogman - Keley with old transistors.

The Retro-sonic has a good amount of clarity, enough that I think it would suit people who don’t want so much of the thickening part of the Ross sound, but still have some Ross attitude. The addition of the attack knob really is a big asset - the Compressor thickens up a bit, and gets a lot of sustain. Out of all the Comps I’ve tried, the Retro-Sonic got the most sustain. It also has a great sound with the amount set low, the attack of the guitar comes through and the squash is minimal. But crank it up, and there is plenty of squash.

Overdrive. I preferred the Overdrive at the higher gain settings. It had a really nice, warm, vintage (Southern-Style) rock sound to it, with a LOT of sustain. The lower gain setting were nice, but I like my low gain tone to be thick, with little grain. The Tone knob has a very wide sweep - from mud to sharp, and there are tons of nice settings in between. I though it was pretty pick sensitive - the volume and grit varied nicely with attack, though there was always a bit of grit at lower pick attacks. It had a very good feel to it - you could groove with the pedal nicely, without feeling like it was fighting you.

Analog Delay. The Analog delay is impressively quiet. The tone is nice and warm, still clear. However, for me, the Analog Grain was a bit too much - almost like an alias-ish artifact sound to it. It goes into self-osilation easily - sometimes too easily, as I kept finding settings where it would go nuts. Still, the balance of low noise and clear warm tone was very nice, and it was flexible. I really liked the shorter, slapback sounds the best.

Overall the Retro-Sonic line is very impressive. Tone, low noise, vintage feel, well built, with some modern upgrades to the control sweeps.

Thank you for including me on this Tourbox - as always, it’s been a huge treat.

Glad to hear you got the pedals Gil. Nice reviews.

Thanks for the review guys,

I’m glad everyone is having a good experience with the pedals and I also appreciate the honest comments.

If any of you on the tour list have an amp with an effects loop, I’d appreciate some feedback on how the chorus and delay behave in a loop. I don’t have a “loop” amp and would be curious to see some feedback there.

Based on the current line up, what do you think would be another good pedal top add to the herd?

Cheers,
Tim

I'd say a Flanger, Fuzz, or Distortion.
The A/DA Flanger defines the sound of flanging to me, tho' I'm also a fan of the Ibanez DFL and the MXR (hmmm, no one does an MXR clone that I know of...).
There's a lot of fuzz pedals out there already, but something that has a lot of volume and can do that bubbling in the fry pan kind of grizzly fuzz (but also get mellower tones and body with the gain down) would be appreciated.
Then for distortion (and in keeping in line with your current pedals), so many players are comfortable with the DS-1, how 'bout something like it but with better sonics and more depth?
Even more, some folks here like the 'better' sound you can get out of the Boss DF-2, which is very similar to the DS-1 but rounder... maybe take a look at that circuit.

Are you still coming out with the FA-1 based boost?

quote:

Originally posted by Ry-guy:
Are you still coming out with the FA-1 based boost?

Yes, it's in a production run right now.. available in a couple of weeks...

Hi fellas,

Gil has sent a message my way asking if I still had the tourbox - I've never received it.

Whoever has it, please don't send it my way at this time, as the timing is lousy. I'm dealing with a family emergency, running in and out of town between work obligations and caring for my elderly mother, who's had an accident and is currently unable to fend for herself. My wife is with my mom now, and I'm back at home trying to unwind a bit before again splitting my time between my obligations and my mom's needs.

I'm super curious, especially about the delay, but the time's not right.

Thanks,
Tim

Hey Tim

So sorry to hear the bad news.
I hope your Mom recovers and you get some peace.

Gil did send the pedals to you.
The carrier left a note at your door, as the tourbox is insured between each stop. So they wouldn't leave it. It's at the PO.
I'll send you the tracking #.

Take care

Hey cubba, I'll pass your well wishes mom's way - kind words from a fellow Italian will surely brighten her day!

No notice was left at my door. I now have the tracking number, and I will contact the post office in the A.M. and check it out. I'm leaving town this afternoon for gigs and to look after my mom. I'll be back in town at some point on Monday, and most likely will not have computer access after tonight, until late that Monday evening. I'll do my best to follow up here with a brief progress report before heading down the road.

The "local" post office (at least the one where packages are held) is actually a monster pain in the ass to get to from here (this is Atlanta), and it's far out of the way for the day's projected schedule and travel route. I do however pass right by there on Mondays (I'll be back in town to teach on Monday afternoon). If they'll hold it for me until then, I'll promptly re-label for the next recipient's address, insure it, and send it on its way. In the event that this is not an option, and the box is in fact "returned to sender", I'll reimburse Gil for shipping expenses, and make up for his extra efforts in any way that I possibly can.

My apologies for being the monkey wrench in the gears here, and for slowing down the process. It's just that you can't predict the curveballs that life tosses your way, and my feeling is that family must come first. In any event, I'll make the situation right for all involved.

Many thanks for your patience,
Tim

Gil, I got the email, thanks. I called the Post Office and they do have the package, although they could offer no explanation as to why no notice was left on my door. If someone can forward me the address of the next recipent, I can just send the box on when I'm at the Post Office on Monday. Thanks, I'm outta here, y'all have a great weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by Corleone:
Gil, I got the email, thanks. I called the Post Office and they do have the package, although they could offer no explanation as to why no notice was left on my door. If someone can forward me the address of the next recipent, I can just send the box on when I'm at the Post Office on Monday. Thanks, I'm outta here, y'all have a great weekend.

I think that would be me.

Bob, I have your contact info and I'm heading to the post office right now. After that, it's a little work here in town and then right back out of town later this evening. I'm not sure when I'll again have access to a computer, but I'll get tracking info to you ASAP.

Tim

quote:

Originally posted by Corleone:
Bob, I have your contact info and I'm heading to the post office right now. After that, it's a little work here in town and then right back out of town later this evening. I'm not sure when I'll again have access to a computer, but I'll get tracking info to you ASAP.

Tim

No problem Tim, if you're sending it priority I should have it wednesday. Thanks!

Bob, a tracking number has been forwarded via email. Enjoy!

Got the box a few days ago, haven't had a chance to play with them yet. Plan on doing that today and getting them out tomorrow. Who's next? Back up to Corleone or up to Jack Butler?

Will get my take on them together and post asap.

Bob, I'm really curious on the phaser, fill us in!

I've had a RS Phaser for about a year now and other than a switch mishap, it's great.
Goes deeper than phase 90. Very tactile and chewy. Does a good funk and soul clean phase, as well as rock with some drive. Doesn't get lost with a ton of OD. The level boost function can really come in handy.

As to my switch problem: I took it apart, cleaned it a bit (blew on it and wiped the bigger parts off with my my shirt tail) put it back together and it's worked fine ever since. I know that's not too technical of a "cleaning", but it was between sets.

So far I'm very impressed with these pedals. The Phaser is very nice, sounds as good if not better than my 6 opamp "script". I'm going to check that mine is set correctly at the trimmer but so far I'd say if anyone is thinking about a phaser of this type, go for it!

The only problem I ran into is excessive popping with the chorus and the delay (delay mostly). I was using a Boss adapter and will try a Pedal Power 2 tomorrow. I'll keep them for one more day if that's ok and check them out more in depth.
But I think I can safely say even at this point that I have or have had just about all the effects these are suppose the replicate and I wouldn't hesitate to put them on my board and gig with them. I'll put them through their paces tomorrow and post my thoughts..

Thanks for including me in this "tour box" !

Thx for the quick review Bob.

I'd say it's our honor to have you on this tourbox, so no thanks necessary!

Look fwd. to your further comments.

Just got it in the mail! Whoo hoo! Gonna go give them all a run through, then relisten the next few days to do the review/ Should be able to get them out to the next person very quickly.
Cubba, shoot me the next person shipping info please.
S