remedial at best. I can only
comment on what I hear,
and the bright upper-mids
that I mentioned before are
what set this pedal apart
from a bevy of post-Soviet
influenced noise boxes. On
the lower gain settings,
with my guitar’s volume
knob rolled back, there
is an air and clarity to my
tone that a normal Sovtek
wouldn’t have been able to
achieve; it works wonders
for maintaining clarity and
note definition even at low
gain settings. It sounds
almost like a BK Butler
Tube Driver, except without
that earth-shattering low
end girth and sometimes
piercing and ragged top
end. On the higher side
of the gain spectrum, pick
attack was clearly defined,
and pinch harmonics sailed
out of the strings with ease.
The voicing here was not
changed fundamentally, but
it felt like a cross between
an old Fender Bassman in
the looser bass and defined
treble, and a modern
Marshall in the midrange
liquidity.
voiced to sound huge,
adding a bit of delay and
modulation widens up the
sound beyond just the dry
signal. This is a common
trick employed by many
guitar players, and with
the Raincoat’s versatile
voicing it works equally
well on dirts as well as
cleans with modulation
and delay added.
WHAT WE LIKE
Articulate and clear and
both low and high gain
settings. Works well with
volume knob rolled back,
and maintains a clarity
that both Big Muff inspired
pedals and clones do
not achieve.
CONCERNS
None.
There aren’t many pitfalls
with the Raincoat, but it
may alienate a few players
that know exactly what they
want. If a player is looking
for a straight Russian Big
Muff sound, you’d be better
off with one of the excellent
clones from Stomp Under
Foot or Wren & Cuff. The
Raincoat is a somewhat
experimental design, and
really demands you to push
it limits and see where it can
go. Like a good distortion
should, there are plenty of
new and interesting dirt
tones to be found under the
hood here, if you’re willing
to look.
MODS FOR DAYS
Like with all dirt pedals
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