NPD: Pokemon Content

[eggpl@nt]

It has finally arrived--the PikaDrive! This is limited run (I think?) from Airis Effects, based on their Aggressive Screamer pedal. It's a Tube Screamer with a high-pass filter (Tight knob), which may not sound exciting, but it sounds really good. I love me a boost pedal, and I'm especially fond of pedals that have at least some EQ control beyond the Tone knob. I feel like that allows me to dial in the drive to fit the amp, rather than having to dial in the amp to fit the drive.

The Level and Drive controls (Item and Run, respectively) do what you'd expect. The range on the Tone and Tight controls (Fight and PKMN, respectively) are nice. Even at their extremes, they're usable. I haven't tried this with every amp yet, but it played very well with my Peavey 3120 into my Fractal LB-2 and Axe Fx III with DynaCabs.

I have some minor quibbles with it. Most annoyingly, the Volume pot is scratchy/noisy. I know in some circuits, that's to be expected. Not sure if that's the case here, or if I just got a less-than-stellar specimen. The right cheek LED is also a bit recessed compared to the left cheek, and the drill work for the right cheek wasn't very clean. There are some rough edges, as you can see in the photo.

That said, aesthetically, this is significantly more pleasant than Airis' other, much busier designs (IMHO).

Overall, I think this is a nice pedal, though I really only bought it because of the design.

 

[Whizzinby]

That’s awesome.

How useful is the low cut if the TS is already chopping off some low end?

 

[eggpl@nt]

That’s awesome.

How useful is the low cut if the TS is already chopping off some low end?

At Tight = 0, the low cut seems less aggressive than a TS-type pedal. So it can be beneficial in the opposite sense—by allowing more heft, not less.

Otherwise, it’s just another knob to tweak that allows me to set the amp up maybe fatter, maybe thinner, then adjust the boost as needed when engaged.

 

[dronerstone]

When and why exactly did the expression "high pass" become more common than "low cut"?

File under "Stuff that grinds my gears".

 

[eggpl@nt]

When and why exactly did the expression "high pass" become more common than "low cut"?

File under "Stuff that grinds my gears".

Because electrical engineers can be musicians too, and sometimes the terminology of one field bleeds into the other.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

The Super Effective thing made me chuckle.

When and why exactly did the expression "high pass" become more common than "low cut"?

File under "Stuff that grinds my gears".

IDK about when but the why is because the highs are passing through the filter unaffected while the lows are being cut.

 

[dronerstone]

The Super Effective thing made me chuckle.

IDK about when but the why is because the highs are passing through the filter unaffected while the lows are being cut.

So, what it does is: it cuts the lows :)

 

[Alex Kenivel]

So, what it does is: it cuts the lows :)

And passes the highs

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Kind of like this

 

[Whizzinby]

I’m with @dronerstone on this one. I’m trying to cut lows, hence low cut being the only sensible term.




Alex: yes but you are retaining highs!