Reverb pedals have become complex with octaves and filters and effects—oh my. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a reverb that’s goes from plate-like to gorgeous cosmic clouds with a simple crank of the Decay knob? Well, here it is: The ZCat Big Reverb
Around for over a decade, this little box from Latvia is an early atmospheric reverb that’s undeservedly remained under the radar. It has just one primo algorithm that sounds like a plate reverb with the Decay knob at 7a and the celestial heavens opening up at 5p. The decay maxes out at an astounding 30-seconds, but can be sustained infinitely (like a freeze pedal to play over) by holding the footswitch until the LED flickers.
Any historian will tell you pizza was born in Italy. If they’re worth their salty anchovies they’ll also tell you there’d be no pizza without America. The pie has an amazing cross-Atlantic history.
Interestingly Doug Tuttle, the mastermind at Mid-Fi Electronics, doesn’t call the clean version of the Clari(not) a defunct tape delay. His description is “an envelope controlled vibrato/chorus/wow-and-flutter simulator”. (I’m guessing that’s a holdover from the delays before the Feedback knob was added that gave the clean, five-knob version of Clari(not) full delay features.) While the delay can do “boringly normal”, the dynamics-based modulation uniquely warps that echo into something near indescribable. And deciduously gorgeous.
We Americans think it’s a sin that we buy a wedge of Parmesan by weight and have to pay for that inedible rind. But grammas in Italy don’t waste a thing and turn that rind into a heavenly broth. Unbelievably rich, this broth can be used for soups, couscous or just on its own. It’s a great way to make use of your not-so-fresh vegetables, peels, clippings etc. Start with:
Current Pedal Obsession: Old Blood BL-44 Reverse pedal.
Get ready to be taken aback.
I’m itching to explain the concept of a reverse pedal. But Einstein and the Bootstrap Paradox are involved, so let’s forget all that. Instead this article will just help you get along with the BL-44 pedal as part of your musical workflow without too much time-space continuum talk.
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