Tone Report Weekly Issue 144 | Page 67

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 ToneReport.com 67