“If you’re a young guitar player, that’s money well spent”: The amp pedal John Mayer thinks everyone should own
John Mayer’s love for tube amps is well-documented.
From his early days with Two-Rock amplifiers to his longtime association with Dumble Overdrive Specials and more recently, his PRS J-MOD 100 signature amp, the guitarist’s tone has always revolved around the warm, organic feel of tubes.
But what happens when the gig itself makes traditional amp setups impractical? Speaking in the latest issue of Guitar World, Mayer reflects on his recent residency at the Las Vegas Sphere with Dead & Company, a venue that has presented unique challenges for guitar players and their rigs.
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Unlike The Edge, who abandoned traditional tube amps in favour of Universal Audio modellers (specifically, the UAFX Woodrow ’55, Dream ’65 and Ruby ’63) for U2’s shows, Mayer opted to keep his physical amps, going as far as to stash them in wooden shipping crates backstage.
“I grew up playing tube amps. I grew up feeling the combustion,” the musician explains. “My style of playing relies on a certain amount of pushback. I need shocks on the tires. And I think that can only come from the ignition inside of a tube.”
That said, Mayer recognises that not every guitarist has easy access to tube amps or the luxury to crank them at full volume. For those players, he points to a more accessible and practical solution: the Universal Audio UAFX Enigmatic ’82 Overdrive Special Amp pedal.
“I really like the UA Enigmatic pedal, and I think if you’re a young guitar player, that’s money well spent,” he says.
For the uninitiated, the UAFX Enigmatic ‘82 is much more than just another Dumble-style overdrive pedal.
The unit claims to put the legendary tones of a Dumble at your feet thanks to digital modelling based on “exclusive access to numerous original Overdrive Special amps”. That includes a range of hot-rodding options and speaker/mic combinations for you to recreate the most coveted tones in guitar amplifier history. It’s priced at around £300.
In our review of the Enigmatic ’82, we awarded the pedal a solid 8/10, praising the way “everything at medium-gain settings is impossibly smooth and silky” as well as its “phenomenal” touch sensitivity.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
