New Fender Pedals

[monquixote]

I would *much* rather hear a DS-1 through a Twin - and I don't even like overly bright sounds. I really detest muddy ones though.

I suspect we probably like very different sounds (though I agree the clean sound is balls on the second clip and not what I'd use in any of the clips)

Having tried a DS through a twin the only sound I could get was a passable reproduction of the intro to Revolution by The Beatles.

I have tried dozens of distortions into blackface amps and hate 95% of them (I may just be awkward). The Riot is just about the only high gain pedal I haven't detested.

What do you rate? (excluding stuff like the HT Dual)

[Not_the_DJ]

That's the Mark Day clip that convinced me to buy a Riot

[ICBM]

I suspect we probably like very different sounds (though I agree the clean sound is balls on the second clip and not what I'd use in any of the clips)

Having tried a DS through a twin the only sound I could get was a passable reproduction of the intro to Revolution by The Beatles.

I have tried dozens of distortions into blackface amps and hate 95% of them (I may just be awkward). The Riot is just about the only high gain pedal I haven't detested.

What do you rate? (excluding stuff like the HT Dual)

Why excluding? It sounds very good. So does the Mesa V-Twin, which is my favourite "preamp"-type pedal into a Twin (but still using the standard guitar output, not the amp-simulator one).

For simple 'non-preamp' overdrive/distortion pedals - Rat, (especially the RAT2), Boss DS-1 (Japanese, they really are different) and DF-2. Marshall Guv'nor and Jackhammer... lots of them really. Yes, you have to be careful with settings, especially on things like the DS-1, the useful range of the tone control is from about 9.33 to 9.47 or something . It also very definitely helps to turn the bright switch off on the amp, and the treble up vey slightly if necessary (it operates at a slightly lower frequency range).

But no, sorry - I really can't stand the sound of that Suhr, it sounds awful in every demo I've seen. I just don't get what you're hearing - it sounds like all the top-end has been taken away leaving only a very muddy midrange tone. I can see the point in that with something like a Tube Screamer that's best into an overdriven amp (which puts back the top-end) but this is specifically designed to go into a clean amp!

That said I tried a Suhr CAE amp and found exactly the same thing, so I can only assume that it's meant to be like that...


So I'm really hoping Fender *don't* make a pedal that sounds anything like it .

[monquixote]

Why excluding? It sounds very good. So does the Mesa V-Twin, which is my favourite "preamp"-type pedal into a Twin (but still using the standard guitar output, not the amp-simulator one).

For simple 'non-preamp' overdrive/distortion pedals - Rat, (especially the RAT2), Boss DS-1 (Japanese, they really are different) and DF-2. Marshall Guv'nor and Jackhammer... lots of them really. Yes, you have to be careful with settings, especially on things like the DS-1, the useful range of the tone control is from about 9.33 to 9.47 or something . It also very definitely helps to turn the bright switch off on the amp, and the treble up vey slightly if necessary (it operates at a slightly lower frequency range).

But no, sorry - I really can't stand the sound of that Suhr, it sounds awful in every demo I've seen. I just don't get what you're hearing - it sounds like all the top-end has been taken away leaving only a very muddy midrange tone. I can see the point in that with something like a Tube Screamer that's best into an overdriven amp (which puts back the top-end) but this is specifically designed to go into a clean amp!

That said I tried a Suhr CAE amp and found exactly the same thing, so I can only assume that it's meant to be like that...

So I'm really hoping Fender *don't* make a pedal that sounds anything like it .

I was excluding the HT and Mesa because I want something compact and 9v. (I may yet accept defeat and buy one one day).

I've had a Guvnor+ before which was good, but didn't excite me in any way. I've heard various reports the Riot is either a breathed on Shredmaster or MK1 Guvnor. Not sure if that's true though.

[ICBM]

I've heard various reports the Riot is either a breathed on Shredmaster or MK1 Guvnor. Not sure if that's true though.

I doubt it since it sounds nothing like either of them and has a completely different layout... only one tone control. One of the things that's nice about the Marshall pedals of all generations is that they have proper EQ. It's rare to find a single-tone-knob pedal that's possible to get more than one good sound out of into any particular amp, in my opinion. The Rat is the major exception. Unless of course the Riot is a Shredmaster with the treble and bass internally set to zero .

[littlethoughts]

For what it's worth I got in touch with Fender GB and they say these pedals will be £77.99 rrp. So much for "affordable" (their description), that puts them right up there with some really solid kit in price. I wonder if we will see them as part of starter deals, or perhaps as a rebate freebie with a new Fender. A few years ago they gave away Champion 600 amps with new american guitars - I bought mine off a guy who had got his for free in that way.

[Dave_Mc]

They both have a big problem that the base clean sound is dull and muddy,

+1, as i said, I really hate that. That's cheating, frankly. I don't really care if the pedal sounds good over a sort-of-dirty, sort-of-muddy/bassy clean tone. If I'm running a clean amp I'm going to be dialling it in to suit the cleans. And the pedal had better have enough range in the tone controls etc. to sound good run over that clean setting.

I also kinda disagree with you as to why it sounds bad. It has that sorta thin, metallic tone that a lot of distortion pedals have- even with the muddy clean tone. Like it almost sounds like it's a sheen over the top of the clean tone rather than an integral part of the overall guitar tone. I also tend to prefer middier pedals into clean amps, and brighter pedals into distorted amps (this is in reference to your later post).

I also don't really understand all these "gamechanger" type posts about the riot (not here, i mean, just in general)... as far as i'm aware it's not that different from most other distortion pedals. it's not doing anything that unique, in other words. Ah i see monquixote mentioned it was based on a guvnor or shredmaster... i think that's what i read too. guvnor i think. Not exactly the same, and modded a fair bit... but yeah.

EDIT: i also think it's cheating running the riot into the cae100... if you had a cae 100 why would you be running a riot?

[ICBM]

I got curious enough to do some digging, and it's sort-of based on the MkI Guv'nor, but not closely. (If the schematic is correct - it's not an official one.) While the basic layout of the first two gain stages is the same, almost all the component values are different. It also has a couple of extra components before the first gain stage, a much more complicated clipping network, an entirely different tone stage and an extra buffer between the tone stage and the output. So it certainly isn't a clone or even a near derivative.

[monquixote]

I also don't really understand all these "gamechanger" type posts about the riot (not here, i mean, just in general)... as far as i'm aware it's not that different from most other distortion pedals. it's not doing anything that unique, in other words. Ah i see monquixote mentioned it was based on a guvnor or shredmaster... i think that's what i read too. guvnor i think. Not exactly the same, and modded a fair bit... but yeah.

I'm not going to call it a game changer, but I can honestly say I have never found another simple pedal that has the ability to produce such a big high gain sound into a blackface amp (I haven't yet tried any Wampler pedals).

The thing I like about it is that it was developed with a clear mission in mind of making a Fendery amp sound like a rock beast. I've also tried it into a Blackstar and it sounded distinctly meh and very muddy. It might be there are other pedals that can do the same job, but it's the only one I've found.

[folkyblokey]

For what it's worth I got in touch with Fender GB and they say these pedals will be £77.99 rrp. So much for "affordable" (their description), that puts them right up there with some really solid kit in price. I wonder if we will see them as part of starter deals, or perhaps as a rebate freebie with a new Fender. A few years ago they gave away Champion 600 amps with new american guitars - I bought mine off a guy who had got his for free in that way.

Has anyone heard what they sound like?