Simon Neil’s Booooom / Blast pedal is here: What does it sound like?
Simon Neil, frontman of Biffy Clyro, has just launched his signature pedal: The Booooom / Blast. While it unsurprisingly caused a stir amongst fans, what does it sound like?
The unit – a collaboration between Neil and his long-term guitar tech and owner of Gone Fishing Effects Richard ‘Churd’ Pratt – is “two pedals in one box” according to Neil. One side of the pedal, Blast, is a transistor-based fuzz which can range between grainy break up to full-on velcro squarewaves.
The other side, Booooom, is an aggressive overdrive based on a germanium diode clipping section. While there’s plenty of gain, these diodes are famous for letting your guitar’s voice shine through any saturation introduced. Each side of the pedal has its own footswitch.
Simon Neil said that “creating this pedal has made me miss playing live even more, because I’m desperate to play shows with it. It’ll be a part of my set-up going forward and it’ll be on every recording.
“It’s the pedal that I’ve been looking for most of my life. We’ve taken our time to ensure that it’s everything it can be. It’s been a real labour of love.”
Churd added, “The aim was to capture Simon’s sound in a box, so anyone can play guitar and sound like him. It was much easier said than done! It’s one of the most transparent loud overdrive pedals on the market. With so many distortion pedals you get loads of fuzz and saturation, but with this the guitar still breathes. You still hear all the notes but with the extra weight and overdrive.”
If you want to hear the pedal in action, check out the latest episode of That Pedal Show – in which Neil gives it a thorough demonstration, and Mick and Dan interview him and Churd about the pedal’s development.
The limited-edition Booooom / Blast can be preordered now for £299 over at the Biffy Clyro store.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
