Analog Pedals: Handmade boutique guitar effects pedals. www.analogpedals.com
Analog Pedals has a new logo and we have moved from Knifley, Ky to Campbellsville, Ky. I've got a bigger workshop that I'm pretty proud of. I am still in the setting everything up phase, but it is looking promising.
Here is the new logo:
It is finished!!! We are done with the circuit design of the Dos Fuzz v2 and have given a prototype to Chris. I've also sent a prototype to ToneQuest Magazine to do a review and article. I am super excited about this version of the Dos Fuzz. It is smaller! Only has 2 knobs and sounds absolutely fat! The Dos Fuzz v2 incorporates the same FF circuit, but the Scr circuit has been modified that it uses no knobs (I call it the OTP (One Trick Pony)). I will be releasing more information regarding the Dos Fuzz v2 in the coming months.
So, last year I came out with a line of Signature Series pedals.
*The Steve Jewell Vibe
*The Chris Robertson Dos Fuzz
*Boone's Mojo Box.
All have sold the allotted numbers. I've got another signature series pedal in the works and it's going to be massive! The Greg Martin "Cedar Flat Lightning". Greg Martin is the lead guitar player for the Grammy award winning band, The Kentucky Headhunters. Greg has been a good friend of mine for about 15+ years and when he found out I was making guitar pedals, we struck up a conversation. Now, in The Kentucky Headhunters, Greg is a minimalist. His 1958 Les Paul burst (aka: the Hank Plank), straight into a vintage Marshall. Greg is known to use a variety of late 60's early 70's Marshall's. So, his tone is pure! There is no added distortion or modulation to color his tone. Greg is a firm believer that, tone comes from your hands. Your equipment has some to do with tone, but... It's mostly in your hands. Greg can play through any guitar and any amp... And it'll sound like him.
We are just mere weeks away from the release of the Cedar Flat Lightning pedal and I wanted to give a little story behind it's inception. So, last year I made three signature pedals (listed above). This kept me busy through the entire Covid lockdown. So, when I was in talks with Greg about a pedal, he gave me a little history of himself and what is now the Kentucky Headhunters. In the 70's, Greg Martin, Richard Young, Fred Young and Anthony Kenney had a band called Itchy Brother. Here's a couple YouTube videos for "Shotgun Effie" and "Rockin Roller". Itchy Brother were heavily influenced by the late 60's rock bands Led Zeppelin, Cream and Cactus. They were actually signed to Swan Song record label, but before they could release their debut record, John Bonham died and Peter Grant had some concerning health issues. Swan Song shut down, leaving Itchy Brother with no label. Itchy Brother called it quits. Greg went on to work and tour with Ronnie McDowell where he met Doug Phelps. Fast forward to the late 1980's, Greg got back together with Richard and Fred and they brought in Doug Phelps and his brother Ricky Lee Phelps. They called themselves The Kentucky Headhunters and released "Picking On Nashville" in 1989. This album included hits such as "Walk Softly" and "Dumas Walker". This catapulted The Kentucky Headhunters to fame, and in 1990, they were given a Grammy award for Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal.
As I mentioned above, for the past 32 years, Greg has been known for his pure tone. But in the 70's, Greg told me his secret weapon was a 70's EP3 echoplex. Not for the echo/delay, but the preamp (You can actually bypass the delay, and still be running through it's preamp). It was magical! But, EP3's tend to be fragile and there is a lot of maintenance you have to do to them (changing the tape, demagnetizing the tape, not to mention how fragile the wood enclosure was). Many guitar players from the 70's used Echoplex's just for the preamp. While having dinner with Greg a few months ago, we discussed making a preamp that won't saturate your tone, but give it a fullness and color like the EP3's but with a tone knob like the EP4's. I took this information, and together with my engineer buddy Clint Fackler from Fackler FX and we designed a preamp that won't saturate your tone and give it the fullness and color and with a tone stack that you can dial in that perfect sound. We gave Greg a prototype and he loved it! So... In just a couple short weeks, we will be releasing the Greg Martin Signature Series, Cedar Flat Lightning pedal to the public! Please follow on my Facebook and Instagram accounts for pricing and release date. These are sure to go quick!
Thanks so much,
Jeff Bolin
This pedal has an interesting story... A little over a year ago, I was chatting with a friend of mine about my pedal business and he said, why don't you get hooked up with Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry and see if he would like a pedal? Now, I've been a fan of Black Stone Cherry for years... I've seen them in concert a few times and I love what they do! But, I also knew that both Ben and Chris used Line6 Helix processors. I said, there's no way that Chris would ever be interested in old school pedals. Fast forward about a year, I made a signature pedal for a friend (Steve Jewell) of the band OTIS out of Edmonton, Ky. Little did I know, Steve and Chris were really close friends. Chris liked the pedal I made for Steve (he even bought one). He contacted me after I finished Steve's pedal and asked if I'd make him a pedal... I was blown away!!! Right off the bat, he asked if I could put two pedals in one box. My response... Of course! That's easy! He asked, can you make it so the effects just switch back and forth, but not combine? Like, A/B between the effects. Before I answered him, I contacted a very near and dear friend of mine who makes loopers and switchers. I knew if it could be wired up, he would know how to do it. He drew me a diagram and that was it! I contact Chris back and told him of course I can wire it up like that. He said he had his heart set on two classic fuzz pedals. The Fuzz Face and the Scrambler. It took me a bit of time, but I knocked them out. I had an orange 1590XX enclosure lying around and put it together. I came up with the name DOS FUZZ (because of obvious reasons), and I found a graphic with a hand waving the peace sign. Chris loved it! He immediately took it to the studio and recorded a song on Black Stone Cherry's new album "The Human Condition" with it. Chris said he would like to do 20 pedals to start with and he would sign and number all of them. We changed up the graphics and put it in a sort of sea foam green color enclosure. It took me a couple months, but I made the 20 pedals, and as soon as I put them up on the site, they started selling. The 20 pedals were sold in 4 1/2 hours. They sold out before lunch time! Both reeling from the momentum, we decided to make 30 more. I had a couple people ask me about pre-ordering the pedal. I thought that would be a great idea. i could make the pre-orders and get them in the mail as soon as i finished them. I've been working on the second batch for a couple months now and I almost have them all completed.
I want to personally thank Chris for encouraging me to do this. He has been incredibly supportive through it all. If you get the chance, pick up a copy of Black Stone Cherry's latest release The Human Condition. It has already charted in the US and the UK. I'm very proud of these guys for their pushing through all of struggles we've had in 2020. The Human Condition is my favorite new album!
Jeff Bolin
jeff@analogpedals.com
www.analogpedals.com
Analog Pedals has a new logo and we have moved from Knifley, Ky to Campbellsville, Ky. I've got a bigger workshop that I'm pretty ...
