As regulars will know, I'm a big fan of tube pedals - and for a good while now, I've been on the lookout for a high voltage, tube-driven analog delay unit. But there was a problem...nobody really makes one. Either the tube(s) are running at starved voltage, or they use digital circuitry and/or PT2399 chips (often marketed as analog, but actually digital).

Enter Steve Kollander at Crucial Audio - and his box of vintage, warm luxuriousness....the Time Warp. You don't hear much about these - and only hear marginally more about its sister pedal, the Echo-Nugget. Why? Well, they're (mostly) only available direct; the footprint is huge; they need 18V power at 1A; and there's the small issue of them costing nearly $800.

However, if you can get past those things, and this pedal is absolutely worth checking out. The tubes give the repeats a harmonically-complex cushion which really helps them to sit underneath what you're playing and not really get in the way; and it can cover everything from a single slapback to 500ms of self-oscillating ambient squishiness.

But then, you find the main 'thing' this pedal is about (setting it apart from the Echo-Nugget): the Warp function. In short, it's modulation on the repeats. But it's way more than that. Yes, it can do subtle tape-like wobble in its lower 20%....after that though, all hell breaks loose and it becomes more like a step filter. You can use the Depth knob to tune in intervals and octaves, making that circuit something of an instrument in its own right.

In fact, in the song at the start of this video, the Time Warp isn't just used on every guitar (& bass) part: that Warp circuit is keeping timekeeping the whole song, with everything else - including the drums - sync'ed to the pulsing jittery effect. It's not just being used as an effect - it's running the entire show. Cool, eh?

What do you think? Gorgeous syrupy vintage tones? Or too much money to justify for a delay pedal? Comment below!

Find out more about this pedal here: [ Ссылка ]

Guitar is a Ron Kirn Barnbuster w/ Don Mare Hot Bakelites. Amp is a Dr Z EZG-50 running into a Zilla Studio Pro 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion AlNiCo 100 Silver & G12M Heritage Greenback speakers. Recorded with Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon mics, with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.

0:00 Intro Track
2:46 Intro
8:02 Playing Demo
24:50 Outro

jp@joeperkins.co.uk
Vector images by freepik.com

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