that company ’ s Manifold Drive ( which is manufactured under the Field Effects brand ). This channel is voiced to be more “ transparent ,” which probably explains why I adored the Drive setting — the gain is rich and meaty at higher levels , natural and open at lower settings , and dynamic and articulate no matter where it ’ s set . I found the Boost setting to be a little bland , and the Fuzz setting was more like a squishier distortion , with its even EQ and relatively quick response seeming a little vanilla compared to most classic fuzzes — but then there ’ s Channel B .
Channel B is described as being more mids-focused , a description that typically fills me with dread but is wonderfully implemented in the Brothers . There ’ s a minor bass cut and a gentle swell that rises into the upper mids , adding presence rather than the anemic honk that so many other mid-focused pedals offer . In Boost mode , Channel B offers a deliciously rich — dare I say Klon-like — clean boost that adds both heft and sparkle to notes . In
Drive mode , the compression brought out more of the mids , but as the gain came up and I turned up the Tone , a Marshall-y and then Vox-y top end emerged . These tones were a bit edgy on their own , but worked wonderfully when I ran Channel A into these settings . The Fuzz setting here is similarly excellent , offering classic tones that were reminiscent of Clapton ’ s “ Woman Tone ” from Cream ; cranking both the gain and tone resulted in a very Mufflike fuzz .
Both channels impressed with their richness of tone and depth . The Tone controls are fairly modest , which makes dialing in the sweet spot pretty easy . That said , it also means that selecting the Tone control from the array of DIP switches that can assign the pedal ’ s controls to an expression pedal results in a fairly bland effect . More useful is assigning the Volume or Drive controls but , the fact is , if you ignore the MIDI options , the Presets toggle , and the DIP switches , you ’ re still left with two channels of fantastic , versatile and complementary gain pedals that are good enough to hang with virtually any pedal .
Fantastic tones that offer everything from clean boost to low-gain to high-gain to fuzz . That ’ s literally four channels , to say nothing of the different shades that can be derived from using both channels . It ’ s almost enough to get ye humble writer to invest in MIDI .
The Master volume makes it difficult for Luddites like me to get the most out of the two channels due to uneven output between them . Using Channel A for overdrive and Channel B for Boost or Fuzz works fine ( and , in all honesty , is likely how I ’ d use the Brothers ), but if I wanted to use Channel B for lower gain settings and Channel A for a boost , I ’ d have issues with volume . As for the two footswitches , as long as you ’ ve got some room on either side of the pedal , you ’ ll do fine — even my size-13 feet were able to navigate the pedal accurately .
that company ’ s Manifold Drive ( which is manufactured under the Field Effects brand ). This channel is voiced to be more “ transparent ,” which probably explains why I adored the Drive setting — the gain is rich and meaty at higher levels , natural and open at lower settings , and dynamic and articulate no matter where it ’ s set . I found the Boost setting to be a little bland , and the Fuzz setting was more like a squishier distortion , with its even EQ and relatively quick response seeming a little vanilla compared to most classic fuzzes — but then there ’ s Channel B .
Channel B is described as being more mids-focused , a description that typically fills me with dread but is wonderfully implemented in the Brothers . There ’ s a minor bass cut and a gentle swell that rises into the upper mids , adding presence rather than the anemic honk that so many other mid-focused pedals offer . In Boost mode , Channel B offers a deliciously rich — dare I say Klon-like — clean boost that adds both heft and sparkle to notes . In
Drive mode , the compression brought out more of the mids , but as the gain came up and I turned up the Tone , a Marshall-y and then Vox-y top end emerged . These tones were a bit edgy on their own , but worked wonderfully when I ran Channel A into these settings . The Fuzz setting here is similarly excellent , offering classic tones that were reminiscent of Clapton ’ s “ Woman Tone ” from Cream ; cranking both the gain and tone resulted in a very Mufflike fuzz .
Both channels impressed with their richness of tone and depth . The Tone controls are fairly modest , which makes dialing in the sweet spot pretty easy . That said , it also means that selecting the Tone control from the array of DIP switches that can assign the pedal ’ s controls to an expression pedal results in a fairly bland effect . More useful is assigning the Volume or Drive controls but , the fact is , if you ignore the MIDI options , the Presets toggle , and the DIP switches , you ’ re still left with two channels of fantastic , versatile and complementary gain pedals that are good enough to hang with virtually any pedal .
WHAT WE LIKE
Fantastic tones that offer everything from clean boost to low-gain to high-gain to fuzz . That ’ s literally four channels , to say nothing of the different shades that can be derived from using both channels . It ’ s almost enough to get ye humble writer to invest in MIDI .
CONCERNS
The Master volume makes it difficult for Luddites like me to get the most out of the two channels due to uneven output between them . Using Channel A for overdrive and Channel B for Boost or Fuzz works fine ( and , in all honesty , is likely how I ’ d use the Brothers ), but if I wanted to use Channel B for lower gain settings and Channel A for a boost , I ’ d have issues with volume . As for the two footswitches , as long as you ’ ve got some room on either side of the pedal , you ’ ll do fine — even my size-13 feet were able to navigate the pedal accurately .