Dirt boxes probably comprise the majority of effects pedals sold and utilized by guitar players. Whether at home, in the studio, or on stage – guitarists love to have an endless variety of distortions, overdrives, and (my personal favorite) fuzzes to choose from as we desperately try to replicate the noises in our heads. However, these endless choices often cause us to overlook the best source of sonic destruction in our arsenal: our amps of choice.
So what happens when you simply want more of your uncompromised tone? Well, you buy yourself the new Delta-V from Center Street Electronics. The Delta-V is a clean boost with a whopping 30db of volume on tap with which you’ll undoubtedly try to annihilate the front-end of your amp. The pedal even comes with a warning label due to the extinction level force at which it hurls your signal. It’s awesome.
The pedal itself is easy enough to grasp: It has a bright white LED that tells you when the effect is engaged and a huge red volume knob. Knob goes right, volume goes up – that’s all you need to know in regards to how it functions, so let’s talk tone.
In my opinion (see: fact), the most important aspect of any boost is transparency. A transparent boost adds nothing to your tone other than volume (and respectively, gain). There is no boost or cut of your EQ. You may notice a bit more body and presence as your speakers spit a much hotter signal with the pedal engaged but the tone is still an accurate representation of your amp’s character. The Delta-V delivers in spades. It’s clarity and transparency are brilliant.
The second point of consideration when looking for a boost is obviously volume. I’ve purchased boosts in the past that basically just give you enough of a hump in signal strength to overcome a long pedal chain. Simply, put – they suck and I hate them. As I mentioned previously, this pedal has thirty decibels on tap. For the uninitiated, acousticians subscribe to the belief that a doubling of volume “should be” perceived as +10db. If we apply that to the logarithmic scale of decibels, you end up with a pedal that is goddamn startlingly loud.
To wrap this all up, I’ll admit that up until acquiring the Delta-V I had put boost pedals at the back of my mind. Now I’ve permanently placed one at the front of my pedalboard. It will make your Deluxe Reverb sing and It’ll make your Matamp howl like the hounds of Hell – either way, your neighborhood will have a new and exciting reason to hate you.
“Devin Bartnikowski is a Sr. Staff Writer for TMRZoo.com and an accomplished guitarist. Devin is recognized for his brash, fresh and honest views and opinions of guitars, amps and signal processing equipment.”
