Boss

TOTAL GUITAR JANUARY 2017
W
hile overdrive, wah
and delay are a
guitarist’s bread and
butter, modulation
eff ects are the delicious icing on
top of your tonal cake. Whether
it’s the subtle throb of a vintage
vibe or an all-out phase assault,
the right mod can add a sense
of movement to your playing, or
emphasise that crucial moment.
Imagine Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love
without Eddie’s momentary yet
extreme use of fl ange, or Come
As You Are minus Kurt’s eerie
Small Clone warble: those riff s
simply wouldn’t bend your ear
in the same way. And that brings
us to the quartet of pedals in
front of you, some of which riff
on some old classics (MXR Phase
95, Pigtronix Quantum Time
Modulator) and some that bring
something entirely diff erent
to the table (DigiTech Nautila,
Boss MO-2). And with that,
let’s bring on the mods…
VERSATILE MODULATION PEDALS
106
T
his sea-worthy off ering from DigiTech
delivers chorus and fl ange eff ects via an
armada of controls. It off ers up to eight
chorus and four fl ange voices at once, as well
as a drift knob, which transitions between
waveforms. It’s a lot to get your head round,
but it sounds excellent, packing one of the
richest fl angers we’ve heard – as well as a
hugely fl exible chorus, which you can set to
emphasise highs or lows via the appropriate
knob. The drift control is most apparent on
slow fl ange sweeps, but can deliver vibrato
sounds and almost uni-vibe textures at faster
chorus rates. Adaptable swirls, ahoy!
T
he Phase 90 is the classic phaser, beloved
by EVH and all who treasure a good
analogue whirl. Several mini, ahem,
tributes have cropped up of late, but the Phase
95 is MXR’s response. Here, the 90 circuit
appears in both the modern ‘block’ and
smoother vintage ‘script’ incarnations, but so
does the Phase 45, a two-stage phaser that
won fans for its subtler take. In short, MXR
has nailed it. The 45 works brilliantly for faster
rates where the 90 gets a little too ‘woaw’,
while the script 90 is the defi nitive rock
phaser, especially with a dollop of gain
post-eff ect. Accept no imitations.
DigiTech
Nautila
NAUT YOUR AVERAGE CHORUS…
MXR
Phase 95
THIS ISN’T JUST A PHASE… IT’S TWO!
£129
£106
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BEST BUY
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BEST BUY
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FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
TGR288.gear_pedals.indd 106 01/12/2016 00:10