Carl Martin Quattro

e fi rst spotted this mini multi-FX
about two years ago and it has
taken its time getting into
production. But the Quattro you see is
a very different animal that completely
bucks any contemporary trends in
multi-FX design. First off, the four FX
are all analogue – based on the best-
selling stompboxes in Carl Martin’s
extensive and highly regarded range.
The metal-shrouded mains powered
unit takes up about the same space as
four or fi ve regular stompboxes, but is
beautifully simplistic. The onboard
mains adaptor means there are no
additional trailing leads, and once
plugged in it’s all tidy and convenient.
Six metal chassis footswitches – one
for each effect, plus echo tap tempo
and drive selection for the two-in-one
overdrive section – access the goodies:
each has a bright blue LED to indicate
which effects/functions are active.
The control functions all have
chicken-head knobs and each is clearly
labelled with function legends
underneath. Along with single 6.4mm
jack input, we have dual stereo jack
outputs and simple serial FX loop
placed after the compressor and
overdrive, and before the tremolo and
echo effects.
SOUN D S: According to Carl Martin,
the Quattro is not ‘true bypass’ but the
output buffer should ensure long cable
runs without signal degradation. Either
way, plugged in it’s super quiet and we
couldn’t detect any signal loss
whatsoever. With the majority of units
of this kind, if not all, at this stage you’d
be trawling through over-effected
chains of multi-FX that may sound
interesting in isolation but are typically
over-done for most serious
applications. Not here. The Quattro
is just like a row of single-sound
stompboxes. The FX choice is
interesting however…
Korg AX3000G £249
BOSS GT-8 £349
Vox Tonelab SE £399
The Quattro is seriously
out-spec’d by all the
above multi-FX, and
we haven’t included
DigiTech GNX3000 or
Line 6’s PODxt Live
(both £399). But none
of these are analogue
and none are as
simplistic. Should you
need programmability
these are the sort of
units to go for but don’t
blame us if you fi nd
’em complex to use! As
for products like the
Quattro – aside from
a line of single stomp
boxes, it’s unique
The rivals
W
MAY 2006 133
CARL MARTIN QUATTRO £339
EFFECTS CD TRACKS 6 & 7
Carl Martin Quattro £339
Nothing to do with lil’ Susie, but this ‘antique’ non-programmable analogue
multi-FX could well restore organic tone to your sound chain by Dave Burrluck
With the majority of units, you end up trawling through
over-effected chains of multi-FX that sound interesting in
isolation but are overdone for most applications. Not here…
The Quattro’s
compressor is
simplicity itself, yet
highly musical
GIT276.rev_carl_martin 133GIT276.rev_carl_martin 133 30/3/06 2:56:15 pm30/3/06 2:56:15 pm

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