LR Baggs Align Equalizer

113
July 2018 Guitarist
VERDICT: It’s about as simple a reverb
as we’ve seen but it’s a fine fit for
electro-acoustic guitar
Tech Spec
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Reverb pedal
FEATURES:
Buffered bypass
CONTROLS: Volume,
Tone, Reverb, Decay,
Bypass footswitch
CONNECTIONS:
Standard input,
standard output
POWER: 9V battery or
9V-16V DC adaptor
(not supplied)
DIMENSIONS: 82 (w) x
125 (d) x 60 mm (h)
7
Tech Spec
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: EQ pedal
FEATURES:
Buffered bypass
CONTROLS: Volume,
Notch, 85, 350, 700, 1.6k,
4.8k, 10k, hpf switch
(40/80/120), Phase
switch, Gain switch
(+6/0/-6), Bypass
footswitch
CONNECTIONS:
Standard input,
standard output
POWER: 9V battery or
9V-16V DC adaptor
(not supplied)
DIMENSIONS: 82 (w) x
125 (d) x 60 mm (h)
9
LR Baggs Align Reverb
£219
LR Baggs Align Equalizer
£219
T
his reverb pedal may seem
pretty basic compared to those
that offer many types of ’verb
in one box, but sometimes simplicity
can be strength. The single reverb
voice here has been shaped by LR
Baggs to reflect the natural voice of an
acoustic instrument and complement
its dynamics. The reverb does wrap
itself nicely around your sound with
a range that runs from just a touch of
extra ambience to a sense of a much
larger space. The reverb amount and
size is easily dialled in with the Reverb
and Decay knobs but you also get a
very practically-ranged Tone knob
that brightens or subdues to taste.
For the money there are more
versatile reverb pedals on the market
but this one matches the style of the
other pedals so is the obvious choice
if you are building an LR Baggs signal
chain and really is all you need if
you want an easily operated pedal
to provide a sense of space that
complements your sound.
B
ased on the circuit found in
the Para Acoustic DI, the Align
Equalizer offers a range of
practical tone-shaping facilities. A
three-position high-pass filter switch
rolls off the bottom end below certain
frequencies and can be set to tame
boominess, but the main thrust of the
pedal has to be the six small centre-
detented knobs each with up to 9dB
of cut or boost at the frequencies of
85Hz, 350Hz, 700Hz, 1.6kHz, 4.8kHz
and 10kHz. These offer plenty of
scope for improving the sound of your
acoustic guitar’s pickups with carefully
applied cuts and/or boosts that can
get your tone right where you want it.
There’s also a useful aid to feedback
suppression via a notch filter that can
attenuate a narrow band (notch) of
the offending frequencies with a 20dB
reduction. You simply find the problem
area by moving the rotary knob until
the feedback stops – it covers the
bottom end and lower mids in a range
that runs from 40 to 300Hz.
VERDICT: Sorts problems, balances
tone, can match various instruments
and tailor a specific EQ for each one
Video & audio http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT434.peds_braggs.indd 113 16/05/2018 18:08