Rev's Pedal Pick of the Month - March 2010
Hartman Electronics LM308 OP-AMP Distortion
ONE OF A KIND TRIBUTE PEDAL
One Of A Kind

Hello everyone and welcome to my little corner of the world! My name is David Lee and my friends call me the Reverend. I earned that title because I have been preaching about “tone” for most of my adult life.

I have been playing the guitar for over 44 years now, and I have been in working bands for the past 35 years. I’d like to think I’ve learned quite alot about tone over the span of those years and it admittedly takes quite an effects pedal to surprise and please me after all this time.

The pedals and other gear that you see reviewed here are the cream of the crop and the ones that I have personally used (or still do) on the road.

There’s so much hype out there about guitar effects that I decided it was time to produce a viable resource for musicians to visit and hear from someone just like them - working it out in local clubs and venues - and making the most of every hard earned dollar to buy only those pedals that truly do live up to their claims.

Pedals that have been thoroughly road tested in real world live performance conditions to prove their road-worthiness - and that have been put through multiple setups of guitar and amplifier combinations and different places in the pedal chain that speak to their versatility and real world applications and expectations.

Tone is not a hobby for me - it is a way of life. A religion so to speak. I have spent hundreds of hours (and dollars) and many years studying the interactions of different effects and their specific personality traits and disorders - where they shine and where they fall short. Only the best of the best - by the very best Master Builders on the planet are reviewed here. Thanks for reading and welcome to my gear resource page - where only the best get in.

Rev

BLUES FOR BOBBIE
Where do I start... this has been a labor of love for over a year now - but some things don't always go as planned and despite a few bumps in the road - I finally found a builder -not just any builder -but Analogman Mike - to finish a concept I had way back when.. the important thing now is that it's finished and it holds a power greater than the sum of it's parts (Thanks Mike!) I also want to give a shout out to Kirk at Pedal Parts Plus for the beautiful paint and screening work on the pedal enclosures - thanks Kirk!

The serial number is the date my Brother Bobbie passed away.. the Chinese symbol is the symbol for HARMONY - to pay tribute to the beautiful harmonies my brother and I shared for over 40 years and (not showing up very well in this photo) is the Sun Lion placed on the top of the pedal by Mike Piera.

Let's get to the detail of what's inside this beautiful tribute effects pedal - from Right to Left:

The Analogman Comprossor (with internal sustain and attack controls) , the Overdrive part of Analogman's King of Tone, and a Clean Boost. Three pedals in one enclosure and the sweetest setup anyone could hope for. You can run each effect independently or all 3 at once or any combination of two effects. It's a Blues Pedal because that's what I wanted - and the lethal combination Mike has come up with here are absolutely perfect - tonewise and in functionality and this has to be heard to be believed. What a fantastic lethal threesome and what a wonderful way to dial in the Blues for Bobbie..

But make no mistake about it -this one can also easily cover a large genre of classic and southern rock voicings without flinching. And it will do the one thing I wanted it to do the most of all -sustain a wailing lead note for days until I lift my finger off the fret... this has brought out a creative wash of emotions and memories and music that I didn't know I could play - it's coming straight from the heart to my Brother Bob - I pray he can hear me up there.. Love to all that helped make a beautiful tribute come true...

2006 PEDAL PICKS

Rev's January, February, March 2006 Pedal Picks!

MI Audio
Tube Zone

SubDecay Studios Flying Tomato Fuzz
Red Witch
Fuzz God
Digitech
Expression Factory
Hot Wire Audio
Boss FA-1 Clone

BjF
Baby Blue Overdrive
Frantone
The Sweet
Emma ReezaFRATzitz
Home Brew Electronics Psilocybe Phaser
Demeter Amplification Fuzzulator
Tone Factor Analogue Filter
Foxrox
Hot Silicon Fuzz

April 2006
Pedal Pick
Hot Wired Audio's
Fuzzwork Orange

May 2006
Pedal Pick
Skreddy Screwdriver

June 2006
Pedal Pick
Effectrode Tube Vibe

July 2006
Pedal Pick
Demeter
Double Drive

2005 PEDAL PICKS

January 2005 Pedal Pick
Toadworks John Bull

February 2005 Pedal Pick
Musician's Junkyard Screamer

March 2005 Pedal Pick
Pedalworx (BENT) Tonebender

April 2005 Pedal Pick
SIB EchoDrive

May 2005 Pedal Pick
Toadworks Lil Leo American Overdrive

June 2005 Pedal Pick
Analogmans BiChorus w/Deep Option

NO PEDAL PICK FOR JULY
Out of respect for our fallen Brother & Drummer Bob Stanley 1951-2005 R.I.P.

August 2005 Pedal Pick
Foxrox Electronics Octron

September 2005 Pedal Pick
HBE Big D Distortion

October 2005 Pedal Pick
Barge Concepts BB-1

November 2005 Pedal Pick
Demeter Amplification FOD

December 2005 Pedal Pick
Foxrox Captain Coconut II

2004 PEDAL PICKS

January 2004 Pedal Pick
Hermida Audio's Mosferatu Series

February 2004 Pedal Pick
Robert Keeley's Fuzz Head

March 2004 Pedal Pick
Foxrox ZIM

April 2004 Pedal Pick
RGW Electronics Bad Bob Booster

May 2004 Pedal Pick
Bigtone Music Brewery's Classic OD+

June 2004 Pedal Pick
Red Witch Moon Phaser

July 2004 Pedal Pick(s)
Steve Webster's V-Stack Classic & BHM

August 2004 Pedal Pick
Monster Effects Swamp Thang Tremelo

September 2004 Pedal Pick
Pedalworx Texas Two Step

October 2004 Pedal Pick
Monkey FX Cheeky Monkey

November 2004 Pedal Pick
Fox Rox Paradox TZF Flanger

December 2004 Pedal Pick
Love Pedal's Karl Fuzz

 

2003 PEDAL PICKS

January 2003 Pedal Pick:
Joe Gagan/Nine Volt Nirvana's Dinosaur Fuzz

February 2003 Pedal Pick
Legendary Tones/Keeley
Time Machine Boost

March 2003 Pedal Pick
Mojo Vibe by SweetSound

April 2003 Pedal Pick
Mr. Squishy by Toadworks

May 2003 Pedal Pick
Keeley Java Boost

June 2003 Pedal Pick
Zinky True Grit

July 2003 Pedal Pick
Ibanez Tube King

August 2003 Pedal Pick
Bennett Music Labs Brown Sound

September 2003 Pedal Pick
Fireman FX Baron Boost

October 2003 Pedal Pick
Toadworks Death Rattle

November 2003 Pedal Pick
Geoffrey Teese
Wheels Of Fire Wah

December 2003 Pedal Pick
Love Pedal's Fab 50

2002 PEDAL PICK

December 2002 Pedal Pick:
Robert Keeley's Compressor

2008 PEDAL PICKS

January's Pedal Pick was the Teese RMC2 Custom Blue Edition!

February's Pedal Pick was
Visual Sounds Angry Fuzz!

March's Pedal Pick was Toadworks Texas Flood Overdrive!

April's Pedal Pick was
Fulltone's GT-500!

May's Pedal Pick Ibanez Flying Pan Reissue FP-777

Gear Nirvana Moments

As part of the recent Midwest Music & Gear Slut Event in Kansas City last Thursday & Friday, Robert Keeley & MrBluetone & myself visited the Musician's Friend Clearance Center (and another big store).

We also spent the night at the Quarterage Hotel - excellent security all around us - and saw Dave Weiner (from the Steve Vai band) and Rob Balducci in concert at the Grand Emporium -what a fantastic show - these guys are killer guitar players - I think most of the audience was made up of guitar players!

They treated Robert Keeley like a ROCK STAR and constantly heralded him from the stage. What a NIGHT OF PURE GUITAR!! A memorable night that I'll never ever forget! Thanks John, Charise & Robert - I love you all. Rev

A couple photos of me, John Richards (Mr Bluetone on HCFX) & Robert Keeley, at a meet up a few summers ago in Kansas City Missouri. Robert Keeley shown placing the coveted
Keeley Tone Work Station
- (now not to be released to the public due to production costs) - at my feet. Fucking WOW is all I can say about this pedal, and for meeting Robert for the very first time -and receiving such a gift! Thank you Brother for a moment and "the tone" I'll never forget... Rev
PEDAL PICK ARCHIVES
10/24/09 - Found myself a 57 Twin and a Highway 1 Daphne Blue Strat at CrazyHorse Guitars - click HERE to see the photos! Rev

2009 Pedal Picks
Blackout Effectors
Whetstone Phaser

Toadworks Barracuda Flanger

CMAT Mods Brownie

Fulltone Soul Bender

Gibson Fuzz Tone

Toadworks Fat City

Electro Harmonix V256
Vocoder

Line 6 M-13

Vox Time Machine Delay

Fender FRV-1 Reverb

Ross Phaser Distortion (Vintage)

Way Huge Angry Troll
Linear Boost

I stumbled across this one on my local craigslist a few weeks ago and I've had the time now to sit down with both my Vintage 80's ProCo Rat - of which this pedal is based on - and the Hartman LM-308 Overdrive Distortion. Hartman Electronics has not only "captured the Rat", they've injected him with steroids and he's stronger than before and tighter and more focused too. Here's the techy stuff from their website:

QUOTE

The Hartman Electronics LM308 Op-Amp Distortion guitar pedal offers two modes of distortion inspired by the edgy, modern styles distortion popularized by punk, new-wave and college-rock bands of the late 70's and early 80's.
Selectable on-the-fly via stomp switch, the first distortion mode (A) employs a diode-clipping stage to produce a classic distortion and crunch of the original upon which it is based, exhibiting the same sensitivity to player pick-attack, palm-muting- and pinch-harmonics. The second distortion mode (SYM) transforms the pedal into an overdrive, increasing transparency, headroom, and dynamic response, and producing a hotter output signal suitable for overdriving the input of downstream amps/devices. Your strat sounds like a strat, your LP sounds like an LP; no more masking the tone of your instrument, but still plenty of scream, crunch, and sustain.
Pedals are hand-wired and assembled to order. Lead time is two weeks. Features:
- 3PDT Heavy-duty True-bypass switching
- Hi-intensity LED Indicators or ON/OFF and Distortion type (A/SYM)
- Plated-thru-hole printed circuit board (PCB) construction
- Premium quality Switchcraft jacks and Alpha potentiometers
- Ultra-quiet 1% metal-film resistors throughout
- Hi-fidelity tantalum, silver-mica and film capacitors
- LM308AH (round, metal-can) op-amp
- Blackened-bronze powder-coat finish, Crème knobs

END QUOTE

My favorite part of that verbiage (and if you're into really short reviews), this one has "plenty of scream, crunch and sustain. There. That's it. Go plug in and play now :o) As previously stated, I've owned the Rat for decades, and loved and used it many times along the way - but after A/B'ing them side by side - if I had to choose one or the other - I'd jump all over the Hartman. Why? Because while you can certainly get classic Rat Distortion out of it - no surprise here folks - it's a clone - but that's where the similarities stop. The Hartman LM-308 may share the same chip as the Rat, but the differences between the two were noticeable. The Rat, for the first time in my memory - sounded like it had a blanket over it in direct comparison. Wow. That surprised me. So with the A Drive (Rat side) alone - the punch was tighter, better refined - and had more volume on tap than the original. So it not only retained it's vintage personality - the pinch harmonics and sustain are to die for - it's punchier and thus has more bite.

The Overdrive side of the pedal instantly adds more headroom and clarity which is exactly what you need when you're trying to cut thru a live mix with loud and rowdy crowds and sometimes fellow band members too :o) And as others have mentioned, being able to switch from one side to the other on the fly sets you up perfectly for going from rhythm to screaming sustaining sweet wailing notes. No brainer win for this months Pedal Pick and highly recommended at only $149 it's two great pedals in a smaller enclosure than the original Rat. Thanks for reading! Rev
Click HERE to go directly to Hartman Electronics & tell Theo, Rev says Howdy!

Recorded as a fun tribute for my gear slutting friends on Harmony Central's Effects Forum back in 2003! Click HERE to listen to
I'm A Gear Slut Enjoy! Rev
For Jennifer
2009

January 2010 Pedal Pick
Frantone Electronics
Hep Cat Overdrive

February 2010 Pedal Pick
Keeley Electronics
Six Stage Phaser

Demeter Amplification makes some bad-assed pedals but these 3 custom shop Overdrives deserve their own space on my page. Pictured to the left is the beautiful looking & sounding Demeter Double Drive and pictured below are a pair of kick ass custom shop
Fat Over Drives done in a beautiful flame finish accomplished by actually engraving into the metal enclosure before finishing the paint and clear coat. WOW!

Fender COM-1 Fender Compressor
Vintage find - Feb 2010
Click
HERE to see Pics!

One of my favorite setups - my 83 Les Paul Standard and my Marshall Bluesbreaker = pure TONE!
This months review is based on an A/B Shootout between a Vintage ProCo Rat and the new Hartman Electronics LM-308 OpAmp Distortion on which this pedal is based