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In this month’s Staff Picks blog, we’re sitting down with Vintage King Audio Consultant Brett Kutter to learn more about some of his favorite guitar pedals.
As a child, Brett listened to Boston, Def Leppard, and Metallica with his parents before discovering bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth in the ‘90s – so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about stompboxes.
With his trusty 1965 Fender American Vintage Jazzmaster slung over his shoulder (thoughtfully modded with Mastery hardware and a Spitfire pickguard), Brett has explored countless pedals in pursuit of the perfect tone.
Keep reading to learn about five of Brett’s favorite modern pedals, what he loves about them, and how he uses them in his rig.
Great tone starts with a great amp, or in this case, a great amp modeler. The first pedal on Brett’s chain is the Universal Audio UAFX Lion ‘68 – a faithful recreation of iconic British amps used by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, and Led Zeppelin.
The Lion ‘68 features hyper-accurate emulations of three 100-watt plexi amp heads; Lead Mode, which models a vintage Super Lead amp head; Bass Mode, which offers warmer attack and extra headroom; and Brown Mode, a hot-rodded take on the Super Lead.
“Our friends at UA really ran with the whole ‘Marshall in a box’ concept, eh? They combined three of the most popular voicings from that lineage with three foot-switchable IR cabinet options and an easy-to-use app that makes customizing super simple.
I can think of about a dozen use cases for this, but ultimately, I'm going to sum it up like this – the Lion '68 is an absolutely killer-sounding Marshall modeler. This thing sounds GOOD and that's coming from a guy that loves a loud rock show with 4x12s on the stage.
Plus, the Lion ‘68 takes up minimal space on your pedalboard, you can run it to front of house as your main (or backup) rig on stage, and connect directly to your interface for recording; 10/10.”
The next pedal on Brett’s list is a modern take on a classic fuzz pedal. The J Mascis Ram’s Head Big Muff Pi is based on the coveted 1973 Electro-Harmonix V2 Violet Ram’s Head Big Muff, which has been a core part of J’s signature sound for decades.
“J's signature gear is always worth taking a look at. I love that he's not peddling any esoteric stuff – it's all commemorating the off-the-shelf gear he's used along the way. Much like his signature Squire Jazzmaster was a gateway drug into the world of Offset guitars for so many (myself included), I'm certain this pedal will do the same for Big Muff.
It would be impossible to note all the famous artists that have used this particular circuit during their careers, but I think the "Ram's Head" variant is a great example of the classic Big Muff voicing. If this pedal is your first time playing a Big Muff, it's going to be an ‘aha!’ moment, without question.
Even with an artist affiliation, this is super affordable and accessible for a lot of people. Most importantly, it does the thing it's supposed to – big, thick, distortion that still allows for great note definition.”
Mercury X is a powerful modular digital reverb pedal that combines elements from some of Meris’ most popular designs.
Featuring eight custom reverb algorithms, including the Blade-Runner-inspired Ultraplate and Cathedra settings from the brand’s Mercury7, Mercury X is one of the most versatile reverb pedals on the market.
“I’m a big fan of what Meris has been doing the past few years. It's hard to be innovative in such a nostalgia-based industry, but you have to give them credit for doing things differently and intuitively.
My first experience with Meris was with their Mercury7 reverb pedal, which does the Blade Runner sci-fi thing, as advertised. What I found myself more enamored with was the sonic footprint of the pedal. There is a huge obsession to marry the analogous with the digital, but Meris seems to approach that almost in reverse with the hi-tech being at the forefront.
Don't be fooled, this can do a little bit of everything but it is discernibly new-school. Brilliant and intuitive menu designs make this comfortable for anybody to get around and there are about a million unique sounds to be made. Meris pedals sound like the future.”
Being limited to just five pedals, Brett chose the versatile Neural DSP Quad Cortex to make sure he has all of his bases covered when it comes to amps and effects.
Loaded with over 90 amps, 100 effects, and 1000 impulse responses, the Quad Cortex can be used to dial in just about any sound imaginable.
Plus, with the brand’s innovative Neural Capture biomimetic AI technology, Quad Cortex can learn and replicate the sonic characteristics of any physical amplifier, overdrive, and cabinet.
“This is a pedal, right? Right!? It’s hard to deny this after masses of guitarists across every genre have adopted the Neural Quad Cortex.
There’s absolutely nothing this pedal can't do. As simple or complex as you'd like to make your live or studio rig, all of it is possible here.
Oh, and it can definitely be heard on all your favorite modern metal records, too!”
Perfectly suited for a last-in-chain, “always on” sweetening effect, Strymon’s Deco recreates the sound of vintage reel-to-reel tape machines and the colorful effects they were used to make in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
The Tape Saturation effect fattens your tone with subtle tape-driven overdrive, while the Doubletracker can be used to dial in a wide range of modulation effects, including slapback tape echoes, tape flanging, and chorus.
“This is truly a desert island pedal to me. As much as I fought against having ‘always on’ type pedals, the Tape Saturator has become something I can't live without.
It adds a certain sauce that I've really grown to enjoy. It turns almost any boring, clean amp into a more interesting animal. Beyond the warm color it adds, it adds a small amount of transparent compression as you turn up the gain control, which brings some balance to your overall signal.
Of course, the modulation is great too – all of the classic tape effects in one box. Incredible chorus, flange, phase, and everything in between. It's also the best slapback delay I've found in pedal form yet.
Not to mention the V2 model's 'Cassette' mode on the saturator side, expanded EQ options, brilliant summing, MIDI, and expanded I/O.”
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