Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Having had such good experiences with other CM products, I thought I'd give this a try. Glad I did!
It has the same quality of Carl Martin pedals, but without any frills. Start with the compressor...
I have used the four-knob CM compressor for decades without a problem, and for mission-critical studio work, I prefer the extra control those two extra knobs provide. In live situations, that is usually not necessary. This compressor has the same transparency as CM's other models, but is easier to use. You have only to adjust amount of compression and the level.
Drives: These are simple versions of the Rock-drive circuit; at least that's how they sound to me. Again, they have simpler & fewer controls but most of the same great character that the famous Plexi-Drive and Rock drive units have. You get your choice of two, so I generally set one for just a bit of crunch and the other for high-gain soloing.
Chorus: This and the old analog TC chorus are the best sounding choruses ever. The advantage of using a dedicated chorus in a separate pedal is merely that if it breaks down, you don't lose your whole sound. Otherwise, this gives you 100% of the lush quality sound and 80% of the control. SInce I have never had any problems with any of my CM products, I see that as a very small advantage. Therefore, the multiple advantages of simplicity, easy set-up and fast adjustment outweigh OCD tweaking capability.
Delay: This does everything we typically need except ducking-delay, but you can achieve nearly the same effect as ducking by rolling back the tone knob. When you reduce the high-frequency content of the delay, it seems to disappear into the mix except for rests and quiet passages, just like a ducking delay.
Turn the tone knob up, and the delay sound becomes crystal-clear, like a digital delay but without any digital harshness or aliasing artifacts. Analog delays of this quality used to cost several hundred dollars by themselves. The tap tempo allows you to set delay-time instantly.
Although I wouldn't recommend it if you are drunk on stage, it is quite easy to adjust the chicken-head knobs with your foot. Assuming you are not clumsy, That means you can adjust this thing on-the-fly during solos or before tunes in seconds.
The manual is easy too, but this is so intuitive you don't need it at all. Just plug it in and play. Assuming you already have a good guitar, know how to play and use a good amp, you will get high production-value tone in seconds. It's almost impossible to make this thing sound bad.
I like this because it does 90% of what my fancy rack system does, but it fits inside the back of a twin reverb amp. With the amp on wheels, I can roll into any gig with a single guitar and cover almost any pop-rock-country-blues or Jazz sound.
Price: I'll let you do the math. True, you can get all these effects and more in cheaper units, but you won't get Carl Martin boutique quality, low-noise, transparency and analog response. Since most individual pedals of this quality cost over $200, getting four simplified pedals in one unit is a bargain. The only difference is you have to spring for the whole shebang at once. Personally, I prefer that method. I have found time-and time again, it is always easier better and ultimately less expensive to get the good tools from the start.
It is a lot of fun to experiment with new pedals or arcane sound effects. The cost of individual pedals is usually not prohibitive even for boutique stuff. Over time, the main effects we always rely upon are those included with this unit.
If you want to add a special "pet" pedal of yours, no problem. This has effect send and returns. So if you absolutely need a tremolo or other gimmick for certain tunes, this will accommodate those with no hassle. Recently, I had to include tremolo for a gig where we did some old CCR. I used the Boss / Fender deluxe reverb pedal which has the tremolo effect. The signal path is 1 MegOhm resistance and buffered, so any other pro-pedal will respond very nicely. It's just like using a buffered effects loop in a pro amp. You can add fancy reverbs or wahs the same way.
Is this the most sophisticated and versatile system? No. I don't care. It sounds great and is easy to use. If I need some extra gizmo for certain tunes, I'll just add them as needed. In the studio, I let the engineer add stuff in post. Most of the time with this beauty, you don't need anything else.
The case is all steel and pretty heavy gage, although the unit is light. That's another advantage of putting everything together in one unit. You are wasting less metal and real-estate because you enclose the whole thing in one unit. That saves money on cables and prevents a failure mechanism too.
The only down-side I see with this is if you ( or some drunk ) destroys it with heavy footwork or some other stupidity, you are SOL. Since I don't allow drunks to step on my stuff and am pretty careful, I have had no problems. In the studio, I put this on the desk and adjust everything by hand. The rest of the time it stays safely in the back of the Twin, so with that gentle treatment, I doubt it will die soon.
Believe me, I have used the most complex racks, pedal board systems and high-end studio gear imaginable. The simplicity and superb analog tone of this are hard to equal and almost impossible to beat. I would not recommend it for heavy metal specialists. Those are a different species altogether. For 90% of popular styles... this is my new favorite toy. It is not a Swiss Army knife, but it has the most important four blades, and they are sharp!
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