great and are highly
collectable, they are
copies by and large, and
were simultaneously used
by other brand names
such as Memphis, Asama
and others. These pedals
existed in the “First Series,”
but outside of that series,
Coron made some real
head turners. One such was
the Jet Flanger and Filter
Matrix.
The name itself leads us to
believe that it might be a
rip of the Electro-Harmonix
Electric Mistress, whose
subtitle is “Filter Matrix,”
and that’s mostly true,
but the Jet Flanger gives
us two crucial upgrades.
One such upgrade is the
Jet switch that adds in a
creamy distortion when
engaged, which in turn
ratchets the flanger sounds
up a notch and gives it that
whooshy takeoff sound
people normally associate
with flangers. There’s also
a Width slider that simply
gives you more depth. The
Jet side can actually be
used by itself for a great-
sounding lead tone right
before you climb into the
cockpit.
Guyatone Distortion-H
Harmonics
As far as the Boss HM-2
is concerned, the cat is
officially out of the bag.
The prices on these units
skyrocketed when Daniel
Ekeroth demonstrated
the guitar technique of
Entombed’s Leif Kuzner, and
how he used the HM-2 to
great effect on Entombed’s
classic Left Hand Path. The
method involved turning
every knob up as far as
it would go, creating a
grinding buzzsaw sound
that could only find a home
on Swedish death metal
recordings. Many artists
normally not associated with
metal found a use for one
too, such as David Gilmour
and Eric Clapton.
16
TONE TALK //
The Guyatone
Distortion-H
Harmonics was the
other cool pedal from
the aforementioned lot
(although mine was the
Nady-branded version), and
is a lot like the Boss HM-
2, but sounds a bit better
and features a slider section
in lieu of the EQ called
“Harmonics.” Each slider
was labeled with a letter,
fooling you into thinking
that some truly unique
tonal manipulation was
commencing, when in reality
it was a five-band EQ.
This is far from a letdown,
however, because the idea
of a five-band EQ on a
pedal that normally contains
two—and can be used on
everything from classic rock
to Swedish death metal—
is quite an essential and
amazing tool. You’ll never
play another HM-2 again.
Gold Among Fools: 8 Killer Pedals from the Far East’s Clone Boom