2020-03-01 Total Guitar

TOTAL GUITAR MARCH 2020

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NOBELS ODR-1

BASS CUT

The relatively affordable Nobels

ODR-1 has become something

of a poorly-kept secret among

tonesniffers. Now the company has

updated its overdrive with a couple of

handy features. First off is a bass cut

switch (hidden inside the battery

compartment) to help tame your low

end,plusit nowsupports9 or18-volt

operationfora liftinheadroom.

At£99, it could be your new go-to,

all-purpose overdrive pedal.

NEURAL DSP

QUAD CORTEX

Plugin gurus Neural raised

eyebrows at NAMM with the

introductionoftheQuadCortex:its

firstforayintotheworldof hardware

modelling.Aidedbyitscollaboration

withDarkglass,youcanbesurethat

thisthinghassomeseriousDSP

pedigreewithover 50 ampmodels,

morethan70 effectsmodels,plus

over 1000 impulseresponsesforyou

togetyourhandsdirtywith.The

wholelotis packingsomeheavy-duty

processingpowertoo,with2ghzof

SHARCanddual-ARMprocessors.

NeuralreckonstheQuadCortexand

its biomimetic‘NeuralCapture’

processingis a gamechanger,and

ata first glance we have to agree. It’s

aiming at the high end, with a price

tag looking to be around £1,600, and

we can’t wait to get our hands on one.

BLACKSTAR

SONNET

Justwhenyouthinkyouhave

Blackstarsussedoutaspurveyors

ofmeaty valve rock tones and superb amp

modelling, the UK mob come out guns

blazing with an acoustic amp! Blackstar

saysit wantstodelivertransparent

acoustictoneswithTheSonnet“not

changed,notcoloured,justyouracoustic

guitarbutlouder”.Thereareseparate

guitarandmicchannels, plus bluetooth

streaming on-board to make playing out

orbuskingwithbackingtrackeasy.Other

featuresincludedigitalreverbs,USBand

abuilt-in tilt stand for perfect positioning.

Followinghotontheheels(ormaybe

toes) of 2018’s preamp pedal series,

Victory is now taking things a step further

by adding a power amp into the mix. The

Duchess V4 can pump out 180 watts of

class D power, and as well as an effects

loop, also includes on-boardreverband

tremolo, making thisa seriouscontender

in the floor amp game.Victory’s Martin

KiddtellsTG:“Weknewwecoulddesign

asuperb sounding amp that wasn’t

compromised by a lack of power, lifeless

tone or burdened with endless options

that you never use. A simple, professional

guitar amp that you can take anywhere.

Thefrontendtakesyourdrivepedals

exactlyasyouwantit to,andthere’san

effectsloop, digital reverb and tremolo.”

VICTORY V4 DUCHESS