Nice Rack Canada recently got a phone call from RainDogs guitarist John Cook, looking for a particular type of compressor for his guitar rig.
We had a chat about his slide guitar based criteria for a slow attack, optical compressor that would allow for full note bloom before compressing.
John wanted to get our opinion on some expensive imported units that had internet forums abuzz.
In our conversation we were able to tell John that one of the best examples of this type of compressor is made by Tribute Audio Designs in Peterborough, Ontario.
John came by for a listen test of the Fresh Squeeze compressor and within a minute he was ready to purchase the pedal.
During our in shop conversation John expressed his love for vintage Fender amps like the Deluxe Reverb & Vibrolux, and particularly those amps Tremolo & Reverb circuits.
John also mentioned that on some rental backline gigs rental amps sometimes left him wishing he had more control over the tone he could extract.
At this point we introduced John to a pair of Tribute Audio Designs pedals, the Tremor & Verbo. The Tremor is a Kay Tremolo inspired pedal. The Verbo is an Accutronics module based reverb to emulate the classic Accutronics Spring Reverb synonymous with many Fender amps.
Next a plan was made for us to put together a small pedalboard system for John that would incorporate switching controls for his Fender amps. By adding pedals that emulated the amp versions so well that he would be able to have 2x sets of Tremolo & Reverb settings when using his own amps.
When using rental backline with less than desirable Reverb & Tremolo qualities, John has a pedal version on the board that gives him the tone he wants.
Filling out the board we included John's favorite fuzz, the Wampler Velvet Fuzz, an Andy Summers TonePrinted TC Electronic Corona Chorus, a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini and a Nice Rack Canada Clean Boost. All powered by the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+.
If you dig a mix of unusual, eclectic & electric blues with some Tom Waits standards, you should plan a visit to the Linsmore Tavern on November 23rd and Relish Bar & Grill on December 2nd. You'll want to catch the RainDogs lay down some sets of their tightly played, funky stew of blues, jazz & urban poetry quite unlike any other.