Jimi75
June 17th, 2008, 12:03 PM
Hey folks,
I still had two days off and yesterday I went to a huge music store. Everybody was at work so I had all the time in the world to sit down and check some stuff all by my self.
The Dunlop Hendrix authentic series came to my eye (it is the new series, not the stuff that's been around for years already, abusing Jimi's name...).
I have tested the Fuzz, Octavio and of course the wah. I really couldn't believe what I heard. The quality of these pedals is incredible.
Let me start with the FUZZ. I have almost never before heard a fuzz sounding as good as the Hendrix fuzz. It sounds definitively better than most of the boutique fuzzes that we all know by name. The sound doesn't get muddy, it enriches the clean sound and the control via the guitar's volume poti is very good. This pedal rocked, from Hendrix to classic rock and even blues lines it was perfect. It is super silent so that you have to take at least two looks at the pedal to believe you are playing a fuzz face. I totally loved it and I would say that it sounds even better than my Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz, which I believed up until now was the best I have ever played.
Next the Octavio. You can change the amount of the octave, means that you can turn it down so that you have the fuzz alone. The fuzz is so and so, you can not compare it to the above mentioned "real" fuzz. The octave is pure magic then. Also here I can say that I played lots of the well known boutique pedals, but the Octavio is exactly Band of Gypsys - I repeat for general understanding - EXACT COPY. If you are looking for Hendrix Octave there is no alternative to the Dunlop Octavio. It looks awesome, it is silent, it sounds "not from this earth". Hard to turn it off, because you feel immediately that this is what you were looking for all the time!
The Hendrix Wah is a special wah. I think it is difficult to distinguish wahs. Sure, the Fulltone Clyde is maybe the best wah out there, but the new Dunlop Hendrix wah is "alive" in some way. Comparing the Dunlop Hendrix wah to my Roger Mayer Wah I would say it sounds fresher and crunchier. This wah is breathing and it has that voodoo child slight return character to it. Using it with distorted sounds works pretty good.
I made the shop guy putting the pedals in a chain for me and I played them through a Marshall JCM800.
It is good to see that Dunlop seemed to think of players that buy all the pedals and put them in a row. The sounds really work brilliantly together and the fine thing is that the devices do not only deliver a "picture/polaroid" of one of Jimi's famous sounds, but they give you great opportunity to be yourself and find your sound.
No, Dunlop didn't pay me for writing this review, but you can see from my review that I am blown away and I am high on GAS - these pedals made me dream again of reaching that holy grail sound one day!
Just grabbed my white Strat and in a few seconds I will put in Jimi at Woodstock on DVD and play the entire gig with Jimi!
Greetz
Jimi75
I still had two days off and yesterday I went to a huge music store. Everybody was at work so I had all the time in the world to sit down and check some stuff all by my self.
The Dunlop Hendrix authentic series came to my eye (it is the new series, not the stuff that's been around for years already, abusing Jimi's name...).
I have tested the Fuzz, Octavio and of course the wah. I really couldn't believe what I heard. The quality of these pedals is incredible.
Let me start with the FUZZ. I have almost never before heard a fuzz sounding as good as the Hendrix fuzz. It sounds definitively better than most of the boutique fuzzes that we all know by name. The sound doesn't get muddy, it enriches the clean sound and the control via the guitar's volume poti is very good. This pedal rocked, from Hendrix to classic rock and even blues lines it was perfect. It is super silent so that you have to take at least two looks at the pedal to believe you are playing a fuzz face. I totally loved it and I would say that it sounds even better than my Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz, which I believed up until now was the best I have ever played.
Next the Octavio. You can change the amount of the octave, means that you can turn it down so that you have the fuzz alone. The fuzz is so and so, you can not compare it to the above mentioned "real" fuzz. The octave is pure magic then. Also here I can say that I played lots of the well known boutique pedals, but the Octavio is exactly Band of Gypsys - I repeat for general understanding - EXACT COPY. If you are looking for Hendrix Octave there is no alternative to the Dunlop Octavio. It looks awesome, it is silent, it sounds "not from this earth". Hard to turn it off, because you feel immediately that this is what you were looking for all the time!
The Hendrix Wah is a special wah. I think it is difficult to distinguish wahs. Sure, the Fulltone Clyde is maybe the best wah out there, but the new Dunlop Hendrix wah is "alive" in some way. Comparing the Dunlop Hendrix wah to my Roger Mayer Wah I would say it sounds fresher and crunchier. This wah is breathing and it has that voodoo child slight return character to it. Using it with distorted sounds works pretty good.
I made the shop guy putting the pedals in a chain for me and I played them through a Marshall JCM800.
It is good to see that Dunlop seemed to think of players that buy all the pedals and put them in a row. The sounds really work brilliantly together and the fine thing is that the devices do not only deliver a "picture/polaroid" of one of Jimi's famous sounds, but they give you great opportunity to be yourself and find your sound.
No, Dunlop didn't pay me for writing this review, but you can see from my review that I am blown away and I am high on GAS - these pedals made me dream again of reaching that holy grail sound one day!
Just grabbed my white Strat and in a few seconds I will put in Jimi at Woodstock on DVD and play the entire gig with Jimi!
Greetz
Jimi75