TRex

122 Guitarist Summer 2010
T-REX ROOM-MATE & MUDHONEY II £340 & £215
EFFECTS
TRex Mudhoney II
PRICE: £215
TYPE: Twin-channel distortion pedal
ORIGIN: Denmark
CONNECTIONS: Standard jack input
and output
CONTROLS: Level 1, level 2, gain 1,
gain 2, tone 1, tone 2, normal/boost
switch 1, normal/boost switch 2
POWER: 9V battery, 9V DC power
BATTERY LIFE: 6-9 hours
DIMENSIONS: 120 (d) x 100 (w)
x 55mm (h)
Test results
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
GUITARIST RATING
TRex Room-Mate
PRICE: £340
ORIGIN: Denmark
TYPE: Valve-driven reverb pedal
CONNECTIONS: Standard jack input
and jack outputs (L and R)
CONTROLS: Mix, level, decay, hi cut,
gain, four-way mode switch
MODES: Spring, room, hall, LFO
POWER: 12V DC power from supplied
adaptor
DIMENSIONS: 120 (d) x 100 (w)
x 55mm (h)
Westside Distribution
0141 248 4812
www.t-rex-effects.com
Test results
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
GUITARIST RATING
The Bottom Line
TRex Room-Mate
We like: Smooth sound;
plenty of control; realistic
spring emulation
We dislike: We would have
liked a plate reverb in there
too; it’s pricey
Guitarist says: A classy
reverb for your rig in nicely
compact package
TRex Mudhoney II
We like: Two sounds in one
pedal; loads of variation for
each channel
We dislike: Again, pricey
Guitarist says: This is
effectively two overdrive/
distortion pedals for the price
of one pedalboard slot
Verdict
Reverb pedals may not be seen
as an essential item for some,
but they’re extremely useful,
not just for creating specific
effects but also for tailoring the
sound to suit the acoustics of a
particular playing space, and
the Room-Mate is probably as
good sounding and versatile a
pedal as you’d find for the role.
What’s more, with its new
spring emulation, players who
regularly utilise the built-in
spring reverb in their Fender
amp will find it a pragmatic
substitute for those occasions
where, through space
restrictions or the like, they are
faced with the prospect of
playing through an unfamiliar
non-reverb amp at a gig.
Putting two distortions in a
single box is a great idea that
adds versatility to a pedalboard
without increasing the number
of audio and power cables
needed. The concept works best
if such a pedal can provide two
scenarios – the first being to
provide exactly the same tone
but with two different amounts
of gain, the second being to
provide two sounds that are
sufficiently different from each
other to provide real contrast
within a song or a set. The
Mudhoney II, with its practical
array of controls, can do both.
Overdrive? Distortion? Call it
what you will but the
Mudhoney’s capacity for
dialling in the dirt will not
disappoint.
So then, two excellent pedals
with loads to recommend them,
albeit with a high price tag.
(although high decay settings
on the hall can sound weird),
while the LFO mode is a
gorgeous hybrid of chorus and
reverb that sounds really lush,
especially in stereo.
What about the new spring
mode? Well, it does a pretty
good job of emulating the real
thing – in a side-by-side test
with a couple of Fender amp
reverbs and a Peavey Valverb
rackmount valve-powered
spring reverb unit, the T-Rex
stands up well and is as close as
we’ve heard thus far from a
digital stompbox.
Mudhoney II
The Mudhoney II offers two
identical distortion channels
each with their own footswitch
and set of controls consisting of
large level and gain knobs, a
smaller tone knob that lights up
when the channel is active and
a two-way normal/boost
switch that selects either
moderate or high-gain for the
channel. The idea with the
Mudhoney II is that you can set
up two different distortion
sounds to be called up
individually at will. You can’t
use both channels together – if
channel one is active and you
press the channel two
footswitch, channel two will be
selected and channel one
turned off and vice versa.
Power comes from a 9V
battery or a power adaptor. The
battery compartment, with its
hinged plastic cover located on
the bass of a pedal, is solidly
secure but can be quickly
levered open with the corner of
a guitar pick should your
battery die onstage.
Sounds
The number of controls on the
Mudhoney II suggests a huge
amount of versatility lurking
within and, plugged-in, the
pedal doesn’t disappoint with
the two channels offering
various methods of use in a live
setting. With gain at minimum,
boost selected and level up, the
Mudhoney II offers a small
amount of clean boost that
some may find useful but the
pedal’s real strength lies in
smooth, valve-like overdrive.
With boost off, the gain knob
runs from mild break-up and
crunch, through all shades of
natural overdrive with good
note definition and excellent
sensitivity to playing dynamics
– dig in harder and you’ll get
more dirt. It’s the sound of your
amp, but more distorted, and if
you set different amounts of
gain for each channel you can
effectively turn a single-
channel amp into a three-
channel one. If you’d like more
top to cut through, the tone
control covers just the right
frequency range for that extra
edge. Whereas, without the
boost engaged you’re in similar
territory to a Tube Screamer,
bring it in and the overdrive
gets thicker moving towards
harmonically rich, full-on
classic distortion, confirming
the Mudhoney II’s versatility.
The Mudhoney II’s real strength lies in
smooth, valve-like overdrive
The Mudhoney II allows you to set two distortion sounds to be used at will
GIT332.rev_trex 122 7/16/10 2:09:07 PM