The Schmidt is nice and all, but ... you wouldn't have a space problem if you didn't have a board!
You know I live to solve space problems. I solve the same problem over, and over, and over...
Lately I’ve been thinking that it would be good to have a boost with a sweepable midrange. I didn’t realize the Suhr did that, I should check it out. I’ve got some pedals, boost and OD, that have an adjustable mid level, but not a variable frequency. Sorry… definitely not the point of the thread!
The good news is there is no point to the thread except conversation! The Suhr is an interesting pedal. One other nice thing about it is that it adds a nice sparkle or something in the upper midrange and high end that can get pretty addictive with the right amps.
The Rare also interests me, because the TS and Klon types always hack off the sparkle if running into a dead clean amp. It’s the preferable way to go for a pushed amp, but limits the ability to showcase the pedal’s flavor more predominantly.
I have often felt the same way about both types of pedal.
Unlike the Klon, the Rare has a
ton of top end, at least the one I got with the optional Emerson caps. I rarely roll top end off a pedal, but I sure do with this one. When I want a lot of top end spank, I set it at noon, but most of the time I set the treble control to about 10:30-11:00.
You'd have to go to the Pettyjohn website to see if he has any left to sell; it was a limited run because the NOS parts had limited availability.
Last time I looked, he only had B-stock left (apparently the brushed aluminum cases had some scratches from assembly and he wouldn't sell them as regular stock). I don't think they made more than a comparative handful. The scratches wouldn't bother me, in fact, the silver Klons came looking pretty banged up brand new, but we're all different!
One thing about Pettyjohn pedals: they sound
very different from what you might expect having worked with other overdrives, because they use studio parts like Wima caps, and other doodads that make the innards look like nothing else out there.
So they sound like nothing else out there; whether that's something most players would like or not, I can't really say!
You pays your money, you takes your chances with their very unusual stuff. It works for me, though. Maybe I'll do a demo once I get myself organized for something other than classical music!