Korg TNB-1
Tone Booster
Unlike a select few
manufacturers featured
here, Korg is one whose
‘80s pedal offerings were
unabashed undercutting
clones of the highest
order. The company shared
enclosures and circuits with
Yamaha, one of its biggest
competitors in the synth
world. Most of the ‘80s
effects are fairly standard,
with chorus, flanger,
overdrive, distortion and
EQ offerings represented.
Funnily enough, fuzz isn’t
found all too often in any
of these ‘80s lines; fuzz just
wasn’t cool in the ‘80s. My,
how far we’ve come.
The TNB-1 Tone Booster
is the anomaly of the line,
featuring a super touch-
sensitive boost box with a
two-band EQ, along with
separate Volume and Gain
controls. Turning the Gain
knob up dials in a modicum
of grit—until the final part
of the knob’s range. It is
then that the TNB-1 turns
into a harmonic-breathing
dragon that delivers
boatloads of gain. Adept
readers might think this is
a clone of the Colorsound
Overdriver, as these are
the same characteristics. It
isn’t—Korg’s beast utilizes
a completely different
circuit topology. It’s the
only anomaly within the
Korg line and a wonderful
addition to one’s arsenal.
Loco Box
The Choker
Though some would have
you believe otherwise,
the Loco Box company
has always been a front
for a clone operation. The
original line of Loco Box
effects from the late ‘70s
were disguised as cutesy
originals, but the similarities
ended with the paint job.
The Loco Box originals
were housed in sloped
enclosures that were more-
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TONE TALK //
than-coincidentally used
by other brands of the era,
but the Loco Box stuff was
considerably better looking,
and thusly more collectable.
One such pedal from this
line is the Choker.
The Choker is a compressor
that gained a little notoriety
when Jason Falkner of
Jellyfish and Beck’s band
did an interview with
Tape Op and declared the
Choker to be the magic
pedal that made all his early
recordings sound good. The
bugle had been sounded,
Gold Among Fools: 8 Killer Pedals from the Far East’s Clone Boom