Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:01 pm Post subject: NPD: EHX Crayon
A nice-sounding dirtbox that's not completely clean like my EP Booster but not as high gain as, um, everything else I own these days. Much like the Boss OD-3, it sounds more expensive than it is.
Rumour has it that it's a clone of the Xotic BB Preamp (which I haven't tried, so can't say from personal experience) with a couple of component changes. Kinda like a TS with twin parametric eq and no mid hump I guess (i.e. the good things about a TS with none of the bad). Very cool, especially for the price.
The funny thing is, I almost didn't buy it at all. I tried it out in the shop with an Epi Casino (I've wanted one of those for a while, so figured I may as well give on of those a demo too) on one of the new 20 watt Marshall DSLs and HATED it. The sound had this harsh spitty raspiness that I couldn't dial out. I apologetically told the guy "I love the guitar, but the pedal isn't doing it for me at all." I gave one of those TC Electronic Honey Pot fuzzes a go, and that had an annoying harshness too, so I figured it was the amp. I tried the Crayon on a little 7 watt Fender Bassbreaker that happened to be on the shop floor nearby, and it sounded much smoother. I got the pedal home, ran my Squier HH mustang through it into my Boogie F50, and it sounds fine on that too. There's a chance I'll take it back and use the store credit to offset the cost of the Casino, but chances are I'll keep it.
tl;dr - the EHX crayon is a good value for money OD/distortion but the new Marshalls can get tae fuck. Really disappointing. I'm still GASing for a Casino though.
The Fender amp? I'm not sure. They're a bit unusual because, as far as I could tell, it wasn't based on any one particular model from a certain era. It was kinda dark-sounding, but not in a bad way. A bit of a departure from what I've experienced with Fenders in the past, but a nice-sounding little amp. Maybe it's a hybrid of two or more circuits? Or a drastic re-imagining of, say, a tweed Bassman-style? It's worth giving a try if you happen to see one I think.
Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 5583 Location: Exeter, UK
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 11:06 am Post subject:
That's really interesting about the Marshall, was it the combo or head? I've got the new DSL20 head and it sounds awesome through my Orange cab. Not harsh at all, in fact I have to dial the bass and resonance right down. Odd.
That's really interesting about the Marshall, was it the combo or head? I've got the new DSL20 head and it sounds awesome through my Orange cab. Not harsh at all, in fact I have to dial the bass and resonance right down. Odd.
It's the combo, which I believe has a Seventy Eighty as standard. My old DSL401 was pretty bright on the clean channel with the gain fairly low, but nowhere near as bad as the new 20 watter. Most Orange cabs come with V30s, so I guess there's a noticeable difference in the choice of speaker. The Seventy Eighties don't seem to be particularly well-liked from what I've read.
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