Basses

NAMM 2018: EarthQuaker Devices releases new Westwood Drive Manipulator

January 10, 2018

EarthQuaker Devices have today announced the release of their new Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator, along with five other V2 pedals.
A brand new mild-mannered light to medium gain overdrive pedal that, with it’s active EQ, excels at hitting the sweet spot, from clean boosts to soaring leads. The V2 pedals include the Avalanche Run V2, Spatial Delivery V2, Hoof Reaper V2, The Depths V2 and Rainbow Machine V2.Westwood Translucent Drive Manipulator
Hey there Desperado, welcome to Westwood! We hope you’ll enjoy your stay. Westwood is a touch sensitive translucent overdrive manipulator as clean and pure as the breeze which blows through a grove of Douglas Fir trees, and as hot as a damn fine cup of coffee.
• Translucent Overdrive Manipulator – From clean boost to soaring leads
• Two-band active EQ – 20dB of Bass and Treble cut/boost
• Super touch responsive – Get 50 shades of gain simply by altering your attack
• True bypass – Silent soft-touch switching
• All-analog signal path
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementation
This mild-mannered light- to medium-gain overdrive will still knock the socks right off your trusty low-wattage combo amp, pushing it into anything from cutting, edge-of-breakup rhythm tones, all the way to articulate, singing lead tones stacked high with pleasing even-order harmonics and sweet, sweet sustain. And if you pair it up with your favorite head and cab, you should probably call the neighbors first, because the Westwood’s Level control has enough output on tap to alert the proper authorities. Even the FBI.
The Westwood’s Drive control sets the level of gain for a near-clean boost at lower settings, to rich, bell-like jangle and chime, all the way to soaring lead tones that are cutting and distinct, but never harsh. The Westwood responds to changes in guitar volume at any setting, and varying the intensity of your pick attack reveals the subtle nuances of your technique and tone. Your choir director will love it.
The powerful active EQ section has controls for Treble and Bass with up to 20 dB of cut and/or boost. Center-detent pots indicate the ͞flat͟ setting. When you feel a click, there is neither cut nor boost, and your tone remains unaltered, but with extra gain.
Treble affects the area around 2kHz and is handy for taming icepick-y single coils, or giving humbuckers a lift to add an open and airy top end sparkle as free and clear and uncompressed as the air all the way up in the lovely mountains of Tibet. The Westwood’s Bass control operates around 80Hz and can be used to tighten up the low end of an already dark sounding guitar, or if turned up, will soften your attack, and introduce tube-like sag for a ͞browned out͟ sound with plenty of woody, organic bottom end thump that’ll make chords think and chunky, while single notes bloom like the flowers of the majestic Dogwood. On the bass guitar, the Westwood provides warm low-mids and a smooth top end with enough vintage grit to make your next gig at the Roadhouse both wonderful and strange. Let’s rock.
Each and every Westwood is a real Blue Rose case, hand built by a team of special agents in the Black Lodge of Akron, Ohio, USA, where the owls are not what they seem, there’s always music in the air, and the birds sing a pretty song.Avalanche Run V2 Ambient Alchemy
The Avalanche Run was developed with one goal in mind: to take the floating ambient tones of our Dispatch Master to the next level while still keeping it user friendly and refined. Taking you into the aural exploratorium without having to break open the user manual every time you want to open up your inner eye and get free is no easy task. We are using a high powered proprietary DSP platform to recreate all the characteristics of all our old favorite delay and reverb machines while still retaining a simple, yet flexible workspace.
• Stereo reverb and delay
• V2 features an updated algorithm for an even better stereo image
• 3 delay modes and tap tempo – Normal, Reverse and Swell
• Expression input – For hands-free control over pedal parameters
• True bypass – Silent soft-touch switching
• Analog dry-through
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementationHoof Reaper V2 Sonic Doomsday Hammer
The Hoof Reaper V2 features EarthQuaker Devices’ popular Hoof and Tone Reaper fuzz pedals in one handy enclosure with the added bonus of the old school analog octave up tones from their Tentacle Octave. Capable of creating everything from subtle octave-up overtones through crushing octave squalls that simulate exploding stacks of amps. Each effect can be used individually as well as in series but the order of effects is preset for optimum performance.
• Dual Fuzz Octave – Hoof Fuzz, Tone Reaper and Tentacle Octave in one pedal
• Use them individually or together – endless tonal combinations
• Octave uses new V2 flexi-switch – for latch and momentary operation
• True bypass – silent soft-touch switching
• All-analog signal path
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementationRainbow Machine V2 Soundwaves Over The Rainbow
Welcome to the Rainbow Machine, in all its synthetic glory! This one is for experimenters, adventurists, and noisemakers. Totally not for purists and/or tone hounds. There are no natural sounds that come from this box. It takes modern DSP and uses it as a tool of future past to create real-time pitch shifting using digital oscillators.
• Polyphonic Pitch Shifting Modulator – From a Major 3rd up to a Perfect 4th below
• Can create thick doubling, lush chorus, oil-can delays and wild polyphonic harmonies
• New recalibrated Magic control – Wider range of available sounds
• New V2 flexi-switch – allows for latching and momentary switching
• True bypass – Silent soft-touch switching
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementationSpatial Delivery V2 The Future of Funk
The Spatial Delivery is a voltage-controlled envelope filter that’ll help you explore the final frontier of funk while reinforcing your secret love affair with auto-wah. And it does Sample & Hold!
• Voltage controlled Envelope Filter with Sample & Hold
• 3 filter modes: Upwards sweep, Downwards sweep and Sample & Hold
• Filter control – Crossfades between Low Pass, High Pass and Band Pass
• New V2 flexi-switch – allows for latch and momentary operation
• True bypass – Silent soft-touch switching
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementationThe Depths V2 Deep Sound Diving
The Depths V2 is EarthQuaker Devices take on the classic optical vibe circuit. Now you can swab the decks with the same lush, pulsating, three-dimensional swirling sound you know and love, with some modern accouterments for all you land-lubbers out there.
• Optical vibe – lush, pulsating, three-dimensional vintage vibe tones
• Unique Throb control – adds subharmonic low-end. Great for bass and synths
• New V2 flexi-switch – allows for latch and momentary operation
• True bypass – silent soft-touch switching
• All-analog signal path
• Top-mounted jacks – for effortless pedalboard implementationThe post NAMM 2018: EarthQuaker Devices releases new Westwood Drive Manipulator appeared first on The Guitar Magazine.