 | Lazy J CRUISER
Bone for Tone Many of you will no doubt already be aware of the Lazy J amplifier company, who are currently making some truly remarkable amplifiers and right here in the UK to boot. Jesse Hoff, the man behind these amps is also a big fan of pedals, specifically booster pedals. Over the years he has been working on and refining a unique OD/booster that would integrate seamlessly into the front of an amplifier working at a variety of levels. When I heard about it I had to get one for myself to try it out, and let me tell you, this thing rocks!
The 'Cruiser' has a number of independent gain stages that work together to give you a huge variety of tones, everything from pristine clean boost, to edgy rhythm, to balls to the wall rockin out.
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Driving Gear
The knobs are from left to right, input gain, OD gain, OD Compression and master volume.
With the OD gain turned off it actually disengages the OD component from the circuit so using the input gain and master volume you can set up a beautiful boost from a transparent boost to adding a bit of hair to the clean tone. The input gain is a really great way to match different guitars so you can always count on consistent results.
Turn the OD Gain up and it engages this part of the circuit, which interacts with the input gain and the compression. There are 3 very usable pre-set levels of compression which helps you match the pedal to the style of amp you're using. These different compression levels are the key to getting the pedal working with the amp at specific volume settings so if your amp is operating at high levels and is already compressed being able to turn the pedals' compression off is fantastic and gives the tone the cut it needs to be heard through the valve 'squash'. The same is true if you're using an amp with loads of headroom, just turn up the compression and those wonderful 'amp working hard' tones are at your fingertips so you can specifically voice the pedal for your rig.
The combination of the compression settings and the fact that the pedal has been voiced so well means that Jesse has been able to do away with the standard tone control. This gives the Cruiser is wide open tone and does amazing things for its dynamic range. You do need to be happy with the core tone of your amp as this is what the pedal is working with, but if what you're plugging into is great, this will simply make it greater.
How much should I pay?
Jesse makes these in small numbers, each one meticulously tested to ensure perfect and consistent operation and are available direct from lazyjprojects.com for £199.
Not every amp manufacturer that sets out to make a great pedal achieves great results, and only a handful has ever come up with anything like this quality. The pedal itself is completely unique, sounds incredible and deserves nothing less than full marks.
click here to go the Lazy J website... |
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