Cool. It'll be interesting to hear his take.


I think just about every Forum member was in on this one. HUGE participation!

GuitArtMan,

Did you ever get a chance to try the pedals out?

May I begin by mentioning that any thought about saving the best for last is immediately dashed by ME providing the final review.

The Guitars:
(1) Custom chambered ash strat with V60LPs.
(2) Godin LGXT with Suhr DSVs.
(3) Fender American Nashville B-Bender tele with Don Mare pickups.

The Amps:
(1) My two amp setup consists of a Gomez G-Reverb 12 Watt 115 [Princeton Reverb] and an Acoustic Image Clarus 2R head into a Raezer’s Edge Stealth 12.
(2) My standalone blues amp is a Victoria 12 Watt 5E3 head with a Clark regulator into an open-back Bruno 212 loaded with one Weber Blue Dog Ceramic and one AlNiCo.

RETROSONIC CHORUS:
I had the 12 volt version of this pedal a while back – the one with the wall wart; I kept it for well over two years [which is over a lifetime in pedal years] – it bumped off an AnalogMan Clone which is no small task.

This is both a chorus and a tremolo that does a credible Leslie too. You can set it to add just a touch of ambiance or set it deep, lush, watery & warm with a hint of vibe. The tremolo has a nice warble effect – Government Mule all over. This chorus is more on the vibe end of the chorus fence, not the flange that some chorus pedals have, not as sparkly clean as a digital chorus [no metallic clang either]. Those that have a two amp setup need to take note of this pedal – it is an OUTSTANDING pedal for use in a stereo setup! I know this pedal well – it is one of only two chorus pedals I would recommend unhesitatingly. The other is a BiChorus – a BiChorus is what I have now. Anybody want to buy a BiChorus?

RETROSONIC PHASER:
Except for an admiration for the weapon of choice of Jean Luc Picard, I’ve not been much of a fan of the Phaser. This pedal changes my mind about that and then some.

It does everything from a nice Leslie to a detuned warble - anything from subtle ambiance to spacey near jet engine swooshes; lots of headroom; It makes a pop when first engaged but is dead quiet thereafter. The effect is clean without much distortion at all – the cleanness of my guitar signal comes through virtually unimpeded; treble & bass are relatively untouched too - great with a strat. This pedal has quite a bit of vibe tonality to it - it loves strats! This pedal is a nice surprise for a nonPhaser guy.

RETROSONIC ANALOG DELAY:
Ehco huh? Must be a Canadian pedal, eh? This pedal has most of the advantages of a tape delay without having to lug it around on a hand truck.

Only slightly difficult to dial in at first, but once you get the interactive interplay of the knobs, you can dial in exactly the flavor of delay you want [for short or for the long mode] and then leave it alone. This one also pops when first engaged, but is dead quiet thereafter. It has soft peaks and definite analog warmth - organic and soft sounding – very pleasing to the ear. The repeats retain much of their EQ even as they decay; no electronic artificial digital processed tone here. The short mode can be used to set for ambiance or for slapback, and the long mode can be set for moderate to longer spacey delays. A 600ms analog delay is way long, way cool. Though it needs a tap tempo to be useful to me, maybe after April 15th I will experiment more with this pedal [if I can find one]. There is a ton of useful tones in there. This is a top flight quality analog delay.

RETROSONIC EIGHT-O-EIGHT OVERDRIVE:
Since I swore off Tube Screamers some time ago, I nearly didn’t try this one. But when I realized how much it may cost for me to ship the pedals back to Canada, I pulled it out of its box and gave it a go anyway.

This is an open bluesy & natural sounding tube screamer that can go from a midrange boost to a hard edged overdrive. This is not a distortion pedal, not a liquid sounding lead pedal either and it tends to have some aggressiveness to it. It gives the notes some extra bloom while adding sustain and harmonics. Like all TS pedals, it has a mid-hump but is more balanced than most TS pedals are. Plus, the expected bass loss in the TS circuit can be partially compensated for with the internal trim pot. The pedal definitely favors my two amp setup with the blackface amp, not the notoriously overdrive unfriendly 5E3.

RETROSONIC COMPRESSOR:
This compressor is a Ross type but isn’t as thick and muffled as most. It is refined, controllable - pro quality throughout – it gives punch to the notes and has more headroom than anyone would ever need. It does a decent squash and is nice for sustain [though I would buy it more for the squash than for the sustain]. Note attack can be changed to suit either humbuckers or singlecoils. Whatever you want or need from a compressor, you can pretty much dial it in – the knobs are intuitive that way. This one doesn’t have the jangle of an old Fairchild unit or a Janglebox, it definitely isn’t an Orange Squeezer type either - it’s a Ross. If you are a fan of the Ross squash, you’ll like this one too – more squash than a Keeley. And with all that headroom, it does a credible clean boost too.

Concluding Remarks:
This time of the year is very difficult for me to say the least; my days and evenings are absorbed with seasonal pursuits, and these pedals deserve a much more intense and serious look than I was able to provide them. They are pure quality through and through – pro quality, every one of them - exceptionally well conceived designs – no notable flaws in their performance - just quality components, time-proven circuits with modern updates. Top to bottom these pedals represent among the very highest quality boutique pedals made by anybody in the business. After tax season I will be looking to buy the Ehco.

Lastly, I am honored to offer my thanks to Teddy our host, Paul [Cubba] our chaperone, and most of all to Tim Larwill the genius who created these beauties. What a GREAT tour box this was! <STAND> <APPLAUSE>

quote:

Originally posted by LFB Incorporated:
May I begin by mentioning ..... What a GREAT tour box this was! <STAND> <APPLAUSE>

(edited for brevity)



Absolutely- really fun stompers to play. That analog delay is about the only piece of gear on my wish list. As much as I liked them all, the delay is the one that captured my gear lust, as delay is the one tonal aspect I need to complete on my board.

I'd also like to thank all involved for being so generous with their time & comments, etc.

The tourbox arrived yesterday and I got a chance last night to check some stuff out. My setup -

Fender CS Nocaster with Fred Stuart pickups (Black Guard neck pickup and a Lap Wrap bridge pickup).
Carr Rambler
Solid Cables Dynamic Arc Ultra

Chorus - The vibrato is killer. There's no need to pay outrageous prices for a vintage Boss VB-2 as long as this pedal is available. Both controls had great sweep and just like the VB-2, playing this too long made me a bit queasy (but in a good way). The chorus is very good as well. My personal preference is for the Analogman type of setup (Rate, Depth and Mix) but the Retrosonic holds its own here. The chorus is warm and lush. Considering you're getting two great effects in this one box, the asking price is well worth it.

Compressor - I didn't really get the whole compressor thing until recently when I was able to play a script MXR Dynacomp which has become the basis for comparison. The RS Comp is by far the best current production pedal compressor I have played. It squashes just right and sounds very natural. At first it did sound like I lost a little Tele sparkle from the bridge pickup when it was engaged but as I played it more I think I was hearing more of the E, A and D strings as if all six strings were being evened out. After dialing in my setting, the more I played it the more I liked it. Should something happen to my Dynacomp, the RS will be the replacement. It may even get added to my GAS list for the heck of it.

Overdrive - Another sleeper in the bunch. I think it's safe to say I'm not the only one jaded with Tube Screamers but the bass trimmer on the circuit board was a great idea. Yes, the TS mid-hump is still there but the option to balance it out with some of the bass that's lost in the original TS circuit is nice. I would like the option to be able to to swap IC's but all in all a very solid sounding TS. Another one for the GAS list.

Phaser - Everything I wish the Phase 90 had...a depth contol and a volume pot. Great range on the pots again. Same sound and feel as my vintage script Phase 90 with a little more flexability. It might be time to retire the original in favor of the RS.

Delay - I rarely use a delay for more than a little Rockabilly slapback. The RS delay is good but I think that I'm so used to my current delay that this one was almost an intrustion on my sound. I liked the tone control and the ability to self-oscillate, although that seemed to happen very quickly and easily. It's a good unit but I'm not sure I'd run out right away to buy it.

All in all these are good, solid pedals. Smart and functional updates of the originals. For me, the sleeper was the compressor. I did not expect to like it as much as I did or spend as much time going back to it. I would recommend and of these pedals without hesitation. Thanks for letting me be a part of this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Scott K.,

Thanks so much to LFB and Scott.

I think the Compressor is like the sleeper of the bunch!
No one is expecting too much from it, then you plug it in and you're totally surprised by how powerful and sweet sounding it is.

Lookin' fwd. to the rest of your reviews Scott....

Hi Folks,

I guess the tour box is officially wrapped up....

I’d like to Thank Cubba for arranging this, Teddy for providing the technology to host it, and all those who participated and provided your views on the gear. It was fun to read all the reviews, and get feedback from a significant sized and experienced (okay... picky!) focus group!

I hope to have a couple new pedals out to compliment the current lineup for the Summer NAMM show, so hope you all stay tuned for updates.

BTW, who has the gear now, and sending it home?

Thanks to all,
Tim

Are there any dealers carrying the boost yet?"

yup, Musictoyz has a couple......

Tim

I noticed that you have a new website up Tim, it looks good!

There is a link to a pedal overview and demo from Brian Nutter who plays in Keith Urban’s band. Pretty cool video for anyone who missed the tourbox:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ys-RQ1ZIXCI

I think I’m going to take one of my 3 OD stompers off my board and replace it with a R-S Phaser, I love the sound of that pedal.

New website:

http://www.retro-sonic.com/

___________________________________________________________________________

Thanks Ray,

My wife did the website for me, and she also does all the photography, (she took some really nice pics of the gear in the hom epage slide show).... She's the new director of marketing

Brian Nutter did a great job on the video. I meat him when he was in town just before Christmas. He was interested in the chorus, but I showed him all the goods. He now has a Retro-Sonic chorus, od, delay, phaser and comp on his board.

Cheers,
Tim

Okay everybody, here are my reviews of the well traveled Retro-sonic tourbox:

Overall, my first impression was that these pedals were well made and definitely road-worthy. I like the utilitarian look of them. It leads me to believe that I'm not just paying for a cool looking box with a fancy finish, but something that has some good tone.


The Overdrive was the first pedal I tried as I already use a Keeley modded TS-9 on my board. I use the Keeley as a smooth medium to high gain lead pedal. The Retrosonic is grittier and has less gain, but is also clearer and not as middy as the Keeley. I'd probably use the Retrosonic for a lower gain rhythm sound ala the Stones, Crowes, etc.


The Phaser was the next pedal I tried. I also use a modded re-issue Phase 90 on my board so I was exited about this pedal. The Retrosonic was much clearer and more hi-fi sounding than my Phase 90. I like the extra controls, too. My Phase 90 boosts the volume a little when turned on so the level control on the Retrosonic was nice. You can get some very subtle sounds with the depth turned down. If I had the coin right now I would replace my Phase 90 with this.


Next I tried the Delay. I liked the amount of control in a relatively small footprint. The addition of the Long/Short switch is cool and unique and allows some cool transitions between delay sounds. One setting that I was using for a long delay would send the pedal into self-oscillation when I switched over to the short delay mode. Very cool. I compared this pedal with a Deluxe Memory Man and a Line 6 Echo Park and it was the darkest and vibiest of them all. The only thing I didn't like was that there was an audible click when using the Long/Short footswitch that came through as a delayed echo. Not a big deal when you are playing but if switching during a quiet part could be unnerving to the audience.


Next I tried the Chorus. Chorus is my least favorite effect. It reminds me of the 80's and hair metal. Anytime I hear it on a modern record I cringe. I have never tried an original CE-1 but the Retrosonic pedal renewed my faith in chorus. It is always warm and organic sounding and the vibrato side is a great sound you don't hear too much anymore. It would be great for copping old Beatles tones and sounds enough like a Leslie to be convincing. If I needed a Chorus I wouldn't hesitate getting this one.


The last effect I tried was the Compressor. Jack Butler had it and it got sent separately to me a few days after I got the initial shipment. I have tried to use compressors before and always just take them off my board. They either are too squashed or they don't sound like they are doing anything at all. I compared this to a vintage boss CS-2, a Line 6 Constrictor, and a Headshot Fat Lime which is an Orange Squeezer clone that Headshot made. I like the Fat Lime and use it like a clean boost most of the time. The Boss sounds okay and the the Line 6 while sounding pretty awesome, is built like a toy so I've never used it live. The Retrosonic comp sounds better than all of them for my purposes. It is not noisy like some comps and if set right can fatten up your tone but not interfere with dynamics very much. This was my favorite pedal from the tourbox and the only one I took out on a gig. I put it first in my signal chain and left it on all night except for a few times that I turned it off to see the change in tone. Then I promptly turned it back on again!


These pedals sound great and are gig-ready. You could purchase all of these and have a pretty complete pedal board. I wish the boost had been in here. Maybe a higher gain distortion pedal to round things out would be a good addition to the lineup. The tourbox mails out tomorrow to the next victim!

Thanks to Paul(Cubba) and to Retro-Sonic for putting this together!

Looks like the Distortion is coming soon! This looks like a nice addition to the Retro-Sonic line. Details:

R-S Distortion press release


*****************************************************************

Cool. I'd like to hear more about the new Distortion!! If it's as good as the rest of the RS line, it will be a winner.

H

quote:

Originally posted by Headshot LLC:
Cool. I'd like to hear more about the new Distortion!! If it's as good as the rest of the RS line, it will be a winner.

H

Hi Folks,

If any of you are going to visit summer NAMM, please drop by booth #1646 and say hello. I'll have the complete line setup, and we'll have the new distortion there too. Once back from NAMM I'll work on getting some sound clips posted, and have one of the units into the tourbox...

Cheers,
Tim

Just finished up with these guys. Didn't have to try the phaser or chorus in the box since I have those already! The phaser has been on my gigging board for about 6 months and I keep the chorus around in case I need one for the studio. The reviews of the phaser and chorus will be based on the units I own as opposed to the ones in the box.

Phaser-Best phaser I've ever played; I love this unit. It's basically the ultimate MXR type phaser to me. I'll use it in touches with the intensity fairly high and the speed mid to low for leads that are a throwback to the sound old skool country guys in the 70's like Waylon Jennings and James Burton copped. I think the liberal use of the phase shifter in country records from the 70's was a great thing. Most people probably don't agree but I love that kind of shit. As a matter of fact I plan on totally copping that vibe on a tune my band is going to record this weekend. I also use it for a faux leslie sound which i think it does really well. I use it now and again if we're stretching out and I also use it on a ballad we do where I play lap steel. It is disengaged the first half of the song and as the tune comes out of it's quietest dynamic section I hit the low d full on with faux leslie sound engaged. Really powerful and the sound is perfect. I personally prefer the faux leslie on the phaser to the chorus. To me; in my set up; it has more clarity. So basically I have this pedal on my board; I've used it in the studio and I'm going to use it again in the studio so i give it a ringing endorsement. My version says 'shattered" on it; not sure what that means? I don't think it's any different though. Oh and I LOVE the function of the level knob. I think it's essential and I think Tim did it right by allowing it to act as a boost to the engaged signal as opposed to an overall line boost which the tc units or Moog units do. Anyway yeah. Retrosonic and me are going to bring the phase shifter back to country music. We don't really play country music but for one song we're going to make it 1974 again. Keeping in mind that it is a mxr versus a uni vibe or small stone I like it better and it works better live for me then these phases and vibes I've owned. Moog Phaser (option overload), boss models, rastop phase/vibe, several small stones, Red witch. It pwns all for me.

Chorus-I've had mine for about two years now and although it doesn't get a ton of use I keep it around because if i need chorus in the studio I'm going to go to it. Like the phaser I use it for two types of sounds-which are conveniently footswitchable. Like the phaser I found i liked the intense faux leslie and a slower Pretenders Middle of the Road type of vibe. The phaser works better in the context of my band then the chorus does partially because it seems to have more clarity in the mix. The chorus tended to muddy up more then I'd like live. I'd prefer it to be a little brighter but even if it was I still have a personal apples over oranges type of preference for the phaser sound to the chorus sound. I like it better then these chorus's that I have owned: Analog man, Red Twister, several boss models, choralflange......

I gigged the delay, comp and overdrive both nights this past weekend so I'll review those next. I've been super hectic and busy with moving in with my girlfriend, gigging, working etc but I promise I'll finish the reviews this week....Right now I'm crashing and.....can't....go....on! basically I wanna get the comp for my lap steel stuff; it excelled in that capacity....It was a lot more usable for me then the RMC comp I tried a year or so ago....

Oh and there is no forwarding addy in the box so I'm not sure where it goes next.....Please Pauuuuulie or tim or whoever email me the next stop......It came from Georgia down to West Palm Beach florida....My email is andrewmca*at*mac*dot*com.

Okay just going to finish up my review here; the box is going to Aaron next.

I guess I should say I played a silver face deluxe modded to black face, a Hohner tele with strat like pickups, a 62 reissue strat with suhr pickups tuned to open G and open D, Magnatone lap steel tuned to G or D and a Harmony lap steel tuned to C6. My board is Ernie Ball volume->korg tuner->Menatone chawbox->Tim-Super duper->Ibanez DML-10->Boss DM-2->moog ring mod.

I swapped my two delays for the retrosonic for two gigs. I use the DM-2 for real light delay and slight slap back. I use the DML-10 on it's extreme setting only for weird, descending or ascending blips and atonal noises often in conjunction with the ring mod. There really isn't anything like it.

I did not use the "long" function on the retro very much. That said though I thought it sounded very close to my DM-2; probably more like my DM-3 which is just ever so slightly more metallic sounding to me versus the DM-2 but self oscillates much more easily. (If you care about that type of thing.) If both my DM-2's were to die I would get this as a replacement. The closest thing I have owned in function to it is the Blackbox Quicksilver delay which I got because I wanted to replace the DM-2 and DML-10 with one pedal. It didn't work out mainly because the short delay time was so lacking and sonically unpleasing compared to the DM-2. The retrosonic delay was the opposite for me. The short delay was great but I don't have much use for the function of the long delay since I use the DML-10 for a real specific insane type of sound that uses the modulation knobs. This is saying something; the DM-2 is a cold dead hands pedal for me because while the line 6 variants and the boss DD-20 and the AD-9's etc are all decent none of them have the flavor and warmth I've gotten used to with the DM-2. The retrosonic beats out all of those aforementioned delays with purported DM-2 type sounds in them for me; great pedal.

Overdrive-I don't like tube screamers; never have so there wasn't much here for me. I gave it a shot and it sounds like a tube screamer. Not my thing.

Comp-This sound great with the lap steel stuff especially. I plan on picking this one up. I don't have much use for a comp with regular guitar stuff but I had been thinking for awhile that I would like more clean sustain and articulation with lap steel stuff we do. I tried a teese fk-1 a year or two ago and it didn't work for me. It seemed kind of noisy and I just don't like that ultra squashed feel with zero dynamics thing and that really seemed to be the only sound in that pedal. The retro take on that ross comp seemed to be a lot more versatile and I was able to get sustain and articulation without being totally squashed. Loved it.

Great stuff. Thanks for letting me try this wonderful stuff out Cubba.

+1 on that psychedelic, smoked out '70's country, like "Luckenbach Texas"-love it.

Nice reviews too.

Thanks for the super-fine reviews Telemonk.



I did the same thing when I had the Retro-Sonic pedals here. Left my DM-2 and Echomachine off my board and put on just the R-S Analog Delay.
It covered the ground of both of these, but in one box, and with more versatility.

But yeah, the Compressor was the sleeper of the bunch.
Not being a huge compressor fan, I was really surprised by how powerful it was.

OK, onto Aaron........