The Fat Tone Exclusive “White Russian” Carter Gravatt Olympia
April 20, 2012
We’ve been really fortunate to work with Fat Tone Guitars as a retailer, so it’s our pleasure to announce this run of exclusive cream colored Olympia pedals we’ve nicknamed “White Russian” with them. This version of Olympia is based on a fuzz I made special for my longtime friend Carter Gravatt from the band Carbon Leaf.
I know how Carter tends to stack overdrives, boosts, distortions, and fuzzes; at any given time, his lead tone can be a blend of anywhere from one to four drive pedals in series or parallel. He needed an Olympia voiced just a bit differently than the flamethrower we normally make – a little bit less fire and hair, abundant low end at lower gain settings, while still very capable of saturation. Don’t let its two knob simplicity fool you – like our standard Olympia, there are a ton of tones in this thing, and it works terrific on bass as well!
Continue reading →
Categories: Dealers, Technical Details
NICE! FUZZ BOX GIRL OLYMPIA DEMO
April 13, 2012
Fuzz Box Girl and Caroline have been mutual fans of each others’ work for a while, and we think she brings something quite different to the effect pedal party. It’s nice to see that we finally had the opportunity to get together on a demo for the Olympia. While demonstrating the array of tones you can get from just two simple knobs, FBG gave us an awesome extended introduction as well – whew!
We don’t have anything to do with the new KLON – but thanks for asking!
March 29, 2012
We’ve been fans of Bill Finnegan’s legendary Klon Centaur pedal; I was fortunate to use one in the studio years ago and had trouble turning it off. Since Bill showed up at NAMM 2012 with a new Klon KTR prototype, and announced that he would be sourcing its production out, a number of people excited about the release have looked at the picture of the prototype on the left, seen our Wave Cannon™, and tried to put two and two together. Continue reading →
Categories: About Us
Days like this, we SO love our work – GOMEZ using our stuff!
March 22, 2012
Jennifer and I are big fans of Gomez, from Southport, England – How We Operate was one of our favorite albums of the last decade, well worth the money we spent at Papa Jazz for our copy. When we found out they we were scheduled to perform in Asheville during our planned weekend “mini-break” there, we were pumped about getting to see them live and enjoying ourselves. Jennifer suggested that we reach out to the band and ask if they might be interested in trying out some pedals; twenty-four hours later, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the guys, heard nothing but raves about our gear, and a request to overnight another Olympia™ fuzz to Brooklyn to make it in time for the last shows of their Quinceañera tour. Yes, life IS good sometimes!
We’re pumped to show you guys some of the pictures that they later sent us from the road of the guys and their gear. It’s a real honor to know we’ve made stuff that works well on Ben and Ian’s boards, and to count them among our customers. These were pedals pulled right off our production shelf, (and yes, I did hold my breath wondering what craziness we had written inside them until I heard the band was delighted) so you can be certain that you will get the same dedication to craft when you try our products at our retailers.
Categories: About Us, Artists, music thoughts
Artist/Producer: Jim Ebert
March 18, 2012
We’re proud to have producer & engineer Jim Ebert as one of our Wave Cannon owners. Jim’s discography includes hit albums from Marvelous 3, Butch Walker, All Time Low, Meredith Brooks, Everything, and SR-71, along with other serious names in his credits. Our humble distortion box is but one of a myriad of superb tools that Jim keeps on hand at Cue Recording Studio in Virginia for working with independent and major label artists. In addition to his audio production work, Jim also shares his extensive knowledge, expertise, and experience by teaching professionals the tools of the trade through one-on-one or group instruction. For more info, visit his site at ebertaudio.com by clicking on his photograph above.
Categories: Artists
1000 words in defense of Yngwie Malmsteen. Yup.
March 16, 2012
And no, it’s not the same seven words repeated very quickly over and over! Earlier this week, I posted a link on Twitter and Facebook to what I considered the greatest interview of a guitar player ever published: the August 1994 Guitar World blindfold test of Yngwie J. Malmsteen. (If you haven’t read this yet, go here and be prepared to either (a) laugh until your face hurts, or (b) curse Yngwie for daring to insult your favorite guitar hero.)
After one of my longtime friends posted his take on the matter, I promised I would share mine. So get comfy. As promised, an extensive defense of Yngwie J. Malmsteen, after the jump. Continue reading →
Categories: About Us, music thoughts
Where did those Cannonballs go? Syd’s.
March 15, 2012
When we posted this photo of this limited run batch of super cool Cannonballs painted by artist Laura Bennett, many of you just had to know where they were going. We’re pleased to be able to tell you that they are now available from Syd’s Guitars. Mike “Syd” Sydloski and his team will be launching their shop in Arizona with limited, exclusive runs of ultra-premium gear from top builders of guitars, amplifiers, and effects. As they roll out their store, they will be announcing exclusive new gear as it arrives, with each maker charged with building things unlike anything you can normally find. Each of these Cannonballs is specially tweaked and unique, with four of them featuring a drawer pull ‘rollbar’ for extra off-road rock and roll security(!). For more info on Syd’s, contact them here.
Categories: Custom Work, Dealers
NICE!!! Great review of Olympia! Check it out.
March 11, 2012
We’re pumped to see Premier Guitar gave our Olympia™ fuzz a nice fat extensive writeup and review. We were thrilled to see that the reviewer Matthew Holliman totally gets it – the Olympia is a fuzz with extra orange pulp, extra chunky peanut butter, and a cubed beef chili rather than ground. For those of you who wish your fuzzes still could have punch and note definition that lets you cut through in a mix, you don’t have to just take our word for it. “Olympia delivers whiplash lead tones with a heap of bass presence, a sweet, sharp high end, and a responsiveness that coaxed nuances from both sides of the spectrum, depending on picking intensity.”
Read the full review here, and feel free to bookmark premierguitar.com for more excellent articles and interviews. (This one by Rebecca ranks among Philippe’s all time favorites.)
Categories: Press
New Retailer and Cannonball in Japan! Enjoy!
February 25, 2012
To the left is a very cool, one of a kind Cannonball custom painted by our friend Patrick Jeffords, currently touring the world playing bass for acclaimed popsmith Toro Y Moi. This pedal, along with a complement of Wave Cannons, Olympia, and Icarus, is going to Gizmo Music in Japan. We are pumped to be working with Takeo as he brings in some excellent brands, including Devi Ever and Seppuku. For more information, please visit our retailers page. Thanks!
From the artist: “My name is Patrick Jeffords and I am an artist/musician from Columbia, South Carolina. I make things under the moniker Kid Trails. I also play bass in my friend’s band Toro y Moi.” To see more of Patrick’s work and his global adventures, visit his tumblr page here.
Categories: About Us, Custom Work, Dealers
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy our newest video.
February 14, 2012
Real musicians…*mostly* acting. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and to Jonathan Bouknight for some awesome editing. Yep, we’ve all thought this kind of stuff. GUILTY.
Categories: About Us