Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Rotary Speaker

ELECTRO-HARMONIX LESTER G
DELUXE ROTARY SPEAKER
£174
DOD LOOKING GLASS £154
Chairman of the rotary club
Natural wide-ranging overdrive that refl ects your true sound
LESLIE
rotating
speakers were
designed for use with Hammond
organs, until The Beatles had the
bright idea of using one to amplify
guitars. The EHX Lester G Deluxe
Rotary Speaker pedal captures
that classic swirling phase sound
of a Leslie, as immortalised on the
spooky intro riff to Soundgarden’s
Black Hole Sun, among others.
Leslie cabs have two speakers,
offering bottom-end grunt from a
woofer that feeds a rotating drum
and top-end from a horn that
physically spins. The Lester G’s
balance control lets you sweep
between emulations of those two
sounds, and you can set the
maximum and minimum speeds
that the pedal’s virtual drum and
A
collaboration with US
boutique fi rm, Shoe Pedals,
DOD’s latest drive utilises a class-A
FET design, popular among
high-end pedal companies for its
valve-like dynamic response. But
where some overdrive pedals only
work well in certain guitar/amp
combinations, the Looking Glass is
a more universal fi t thanks to an
input fi lter knob, which can dial in
a smoother sound to tame overly
spiky pickups. The pre-overdrive
bass cut knob can also take some
fl ab out of the sound, making it
leaner and tighter and aiding
clarity if you use humbuckers,
while a treble knob operates
within a controlled range to get
the sound just right at the output.
Drives such as the Tube
Screamer can add a defi nite
colour, but the Looking Glass lives
treble horn rotate at. Stepping on
the speed/brake switch increases
and decreases the rate that the
‘speakers’ spin. Sounds tricky, but
the bottom line is the Lester G nails
the effect perfectly. What makes it
even more lovable is the onboard
compressor and drive circuitry. You
can get the Lester K Stereo Rotary
Speaker (£139) without these
features, but they’re a big part of
the authentic Leslie sound. The
‘squash’ compression setting is
worth the extra outlay on its own.
There are a bunch of great rotary
speaker simulators on the market
– such as the Pigtronix Rototron
and Strymon Lex – but the Lester G
is the most convincing example
we’ve given a spin for a long time.
Ed Mitchell
up to its name by giving you a
mirror image of your own sound,
albeit dirtier and with subtle tonal
tweaks where you want ’em. The
low-gain setting runs from clean
boost through early breakup to a
low-level amp-like drive, while
the high-gain goes further into
overdriven amp territory, and at
higher settings has some of the
fl avour of smooth, quality fuzz.
With a touch-sensitive response
and clever EQ options, the
Looking Glass is a well-designed
transparent overdrive pedal that
will suit just about any guitar/amp
combination, clean or dirty. It’s a
great buy for blues players who
want a bit ‘more’ out of their amps,
but it will suit any player who
wants extra dirt while retaining
their core tone.
Trevor Cu rwen
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
92 JULY 2016
EHX/DOD
REVIEW
TYPE: Class-A FET overdrive pedal
CONTROLS: Level, gain, treble,
bass cut, input filter, high/low switch,
internal DIP switches (for use with
buffered pedals)
SOCKETS: Input, output, power
BYPASS: True bypass
POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor
(not supplied)
CONTACT: Sound Technology
01462 480000
www.digitech.com
TYPE: Rotary speaker
simulator pedal
CONTROLS: Volume, fast, slow,
balance, acceleration, drive, attack,
sustain, squeeze, bypass switch, speed/
brake switch
SOCKETS: Input, left [mono] output, right
output, expression pedal input, power
BYPASS: Buffered
POWER: 9V power supply (included)
CONTACT: Electro-Harmonix
www.ehx.com
TGR281.gear_halves.indd 92 5/16/16 2:23 PM