Electro Harmonix

Sounding sterile? Try this pedal
This junkie’s got us hooked
Z.VEX I N S TA NT
LO-FI JUNKIE
£149
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
ANALOGIZER
£75
THIS
pedal is based on
the company’s Lo-
Fi Loop Junkie, with its old-school
vibrato and chiming compression,
which only applies its magic to the
looped sound, not your real-time
guitar signal. This is why Z.Vex has
produced the Instant Lo-Fi Junkie
(minus the looping).
Of the knobs on offer, the Comp/
Lo-Fi control acts as a blend: to
the left you get punchy clean
compression (ideal for boosting
your picking), and to the right you
get lo-fi modulation; anywhere
in between is a mixture of the
two sounds. The Tone control
only effects the sound of the
modulation (it doesn’t do anything
in Comp mode). On top, there’s
a three-position mini-toggle for
WHEN
you’re
talking about
‘analogue sound’ you’ll probably
find yourself using adjectives
such as ‘warm’ and ‘fat’. There’s a
reason why these words get used
so much. In a digital age where the
purest of tones are available, we
run the risk of sounding clinical.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of
grit; it stops our clean sounds from
appearing weak and plastic. That’s
where the Analogizer steps in.
It processes your signal with a
mixture of short (3.5ms to 65ms)
analogue delay, and up to 26dB
of overdrive. The delay time is set
with the Spread control, and you
can mix your dry guitar sound with
the delayed signal using the Blend
control. If you’ve ever tried an
analogue delay like EHX’s Memory
Z.VEX / ELECTRO-HARMONIX FX
REVIEWS
changing the mod’s waveform. You
get a sine wave (gentle sweep),
triangle wave (more pronounced)
or a square wave (straight up/
down sweep).
The Junkie works on distorted
sounds, but you’ll get the most out
of it on clean/semi-driven settings.
We found our sweet spot (a dream-
like warble similar to the sound
you get from a stretched cassette
tape) with the Comp/Lo-Fi control
at about three-quarters with the
sine wave modulation shape.
There are certainly straight
vibrato pedals that will achieve
more traditional sounds, but if
you’re a fan of crusty retro effects
or cinematic soundscapes, you’ll
be addicted to the Junkie.
Stuart Williams
Man, you’ll already know the kind
of sound the Analogizer produces.
Kick it in, and it immediately adds
girth to your sound with a thick
mid-rich character. Upping the
delay time with the Spread knob
acts like a double-tracked guitar
– more ambient with a slight lag
between the two signals. If you
don’t want any delay at all, you
can turn it off by pushing the Blend
control to the left. Pushing the gain
at this point turns the Analogizer
into an effective boost/OD pedal
for the front-end of your amp.
The Analogizer is one of those
pedals that’s less noticeable the
longer you leave it switched in.
Turn it off, though, and you’ll
realise just how thin your rig
can sound without it.
Stuart Williams
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Vibrato/compressor
CONTROLS: Volume, tone, comp/lo-fi,
depth, speed, waveform
SOCKETS: Input, output, power
POWER: Battery, PSU (optional)
CONTACT: [e-mail]
www.zvex.com
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Analogue overdrive/delay
CONTROLS: Volume, spread, blend, gain
SOCKETS: Input, output, power
POWER: Battery, PSU (optional)
CONTACT: [e-mail]
www.ehx.com
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USEABILITY
OVERALL RATING
S U M M A R Y
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USEABILITY
OVERALL RATING
S U M M A R Y
156 MARCH 2012
TGR225.gear_halves.indd 156 2/6/12 9:59:03 AM