lows as the gain goes up-means it’s generally mellow,
which makes the SFT a great
boost for a different, bright
overdrive (I just happen to
have a few).
the gain provided a nice,
thick-but-present distortion,
but it’d be best suited for
darker pickups, given the
gain’s brighter character at
this lower setting.
I turned up the gain so
it gave me just enough
distortion to liven up my
signal without changing
my tone, and I discovered
that, even with the gain low,
the pedal is very dynamic.
Turning up the gain further
produced a meaty rumble;
unlike many distortion
pedals, the SFT doesn’t
roll off low end as you
turn it up—it adds meat.
All that, before I got to
Stoner mode.
Part of me feels that
Catalinbread are doing
themselves a disservice by
focusing on such a niche
feature as “sounds just like a
handful of records by an old
rock band!” when the SFT
does so much so well. But,
let’s face it, the sounds on
those records have inspired
who knows how many guitar
players, and that’s a market
that’s not as crowded as
others. So think of it like
this: if you want a great lowgain pedal, or a great highgain pedal, or an interesting
boost, or if you want to
sound like Keef—particularly
if you want to sound like
Keef—consider the SFT.
In Stoner mode (so-named
for the Queens of the Stone
Age-esque character in
this setting), the gain is a
lot brighter; this is good,
because you’ll want to
turn the bass up. Doing so
results in a super-fat fuzz,
round and compressed,
with a hint of sub octave.
If you’re not familiar with
Queens of the Stone Age
(or Kyuss), think a thicker
version of Clapton’s “woman
tone” in Cream. Rolling back
WHAT WE LIKE
A fantastic variety of
great tones.
CONCERNS
Absolutely none.
ToneReport.com
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