a couple of nice Pigdog and Castledine
Tone Bender clones for comparison. Having
quite a collection of pedals in general is
useful for reference when designing, it’s
always good to run new designs up against
classics to see how they hold up. For the
Solar Bender I did what I always try and do
which is to make effects a bit more practical
to use live. I added a polarity reverse circuit
so you can run the pedal off a standard
power supply as well as adding a bias
control and Fat switch. Bias control allows
you to compensate for the temperature
drift that the Tone Bender can sometimes
suffer from. You can also use it to get a few
different tones and textures. [The] Fat
switch boosts the low end for some bowelshaking frequencies! This is great for single
note riffing. I am working on a new version
of the Solar Bender, which takes the circuit a
little further than the original sonically, as
well as features wise, [it’s] less of an
improved clone with added features and
more of my own, inspired by take on
the circuit.
TR: As they say in this biz, “if it doesn’t
look good it won’t sound good.” Your
graphics are absolutely T-shirt-worthy.
Who is the graphic designer behind these
amazing eye-catching stompers?
CL: Thanks! I try to make sure the pedals
look as good as they sound. Looking at a
well designed, nice looking box is more
inspiring than looking at a dull grey, square
box. Friends of mine do the graphic
designs—all based in Sweden. The Swedish
have a good eye for design! Kristine
Leimanis de Borst did the Double Feature
and Solar Bender and the Electrochop was
done Dolf de Borst. Nicke Andersson
designed the White Atom. Nicke also did
my logo.
TR: Finally Christian, do you still do custom
and limited edition boxes? Are there any
new circuits in the pipeline?
CL: Yep. Still do custom pedals from time to
time. As for new circuits, I have a new
overdrive, one of my designs, called
“Satellite” which should be out midDecember. It is a nice all-rounder for
overdrive. [It] covers a lot of bases tonally
and functions great as a booster too. I used
an early version live for boosting solos for a
couple of years on the road. [It] drives the
front end of an old non-master volume amp
like a champ.
I have a new limited edition pedal in the
pipeline too. No name as of yet, but it is a
booster with a built in slapback/short echo.
Sometimes, depending on the venue, I find
the stage sound can be a little dry sounding,
which can be uninspiring. Last year I
designed a booster with a built in echo to
add bit of ambience when soloing. It has a
separate set of controls for the Boost and
Echo but both effects are turned on and off
with the one footswitch—less foot tapping
live that way. I managed to squash it all into
a box the same size as the White Atom and
Solar Bender with top mounted jacks so it
doesn’t use up much pedalboard space. I
road-tested the prototype and it worked a
treat. If everything goes according to plan it
will be out early next year. I think people will
dig this one.
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