hulika

Author Topic: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill  (Read 5737 times)

Offline oasgomez-is-banned

  • Forum Fanatic
  • ****
This is my sixth boutique overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal in the last three months.  It costs P12,250.  I think there must be some point of exasperation with these things but as long as they are made by people who know what good sound is I think there is no saturation point.  This pedal is handmade by Scotty and has top notch workmanship.  Though the front facade is great with some kind of aluminum anodized panel, the rest of the box is just unfinished.  Though I understand this maybe his aesthetic choice, it still does not compare to Legendary Tones TMB's black sparkle finish.  Scotty has excellent personal service and he makes you feel important which I doubt that other mass produced brands make you feel. 

Basically its a distortion pedal in the early RAT vein as claimed on the website.  So this is not for you thrash, death metal heads.  It has four controls, gain, volume, tone and feed.  Gain is a push-pull pot that moves you from distortion to subtle fuzz.  What is unique to this pedal is that the feed control is highly reactive to the tube amp that you plug into.  It changes character by blending old fuzz character and newer distortion.  It really is hard to describe but it can be subtle to very effected depending again on your guitar and amp set up.  There is an extra footswitch called cheese to boost the sound but it never reaches super high gain territory.

So how does it sound?  Its clear without any harsh highs.  It punches.  It can sound big and focused.  I would say this is the ultimate pedal to marry to a Les Paul.  This was tested with a Gibson R8 Historic Les Paul with Greco Super Real Doubles pickups.  Yup it perfectly balances the mid range nature of the Les Paul and adds clairty and Pick definition that Les Pauls usually lack.  Also, it compliments the rich overtones that only a set neck Les Paul can give and I mean the overtones really come out.  Plugged into Arie's Yamaha solid state amp, it instantly turned into ZZ Top's La Grange on the Les Paul.  We were shocked.  Lead lines were smokey and fat but with the correct level of presence.   Power Chords just rumbled with a special bell like ZING that I have not heard from any overdrive/distortion pedal. 

But... this pedal is not plug and play.  You have to tweak.  Also because of its focused/clean sound, it does not add much overtones thats why it sounds great with a Les Paul because the overtones are already there in the guitar.  P.S. this is a Historic so I cannot say for other run of the mill Les Pauls.   

This is a definite recommendation for people tired of their boss, ibanez, digitech and modded pedals.  They actually sound muffled and flat compared to the PROANALOG. Do the major manufacturers have anything close to this?  Wala.  I doubt that they will everl because of the specially selected Mullard Germanium OC used.  This is what you are paying Scotty for.  You are relying on his ears to match/tweak the whole circuit together.

Offline greasykid

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2006, 06:12:26 PM »
Dare I ask...

Any clips?   :-D

Offline oasgomez-is-banned

  • Forum Fanatic
  • ****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2006, 06:33:35 PM »
Sorry boss wala.  Has to be felt to be believed.

Offline marzi

  • Ang Na Ang Na!
  • Philmusicus Supremus
  • ******
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2006, 08:49:15 PM »
but letting us hear it, kahit isang twangy strum lang with the pedal, would definitely help...actually ive never heard of that brand before...so cguro maiintindihan ko kung bakit di sya pede sa metal/rockheads kung maririnig ko...  :roll:
I turned myself into a monster to fight against the monsters of the world.

Earth Crisis - Nemesis

Offline knightburn

  • Forum Fanatic
  • ****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2006, 09:17:55 PM »
I think this is what Oas/ Alex is talking about   :mrgreen:



Looks nice... I wanna step on that pedal!! With the word cheese with it... sounds tasty!

Taken from the site:

Another 2 footswitch pedal like the Dual Drive, but this one is overdrive, high gain distortion and fuzztone feel all in one pedal!  Input IMP is 1meg, output IMP is 10K and features output stage buffering (gangs with all pedz out there), true bypass and has 2 5mm LED's for bypass and cheeze.  Clear water purple for bypass, RED for cheeze.

Controls are:
                Gain "pull phaze" (sets the input gain)

                FEED (new original design by Scotty)

                Tone (very smooth and articulate bass to treble control, mids are flat)

               Level (sets the output level)

The tone and feel of this pedal is hard to describe, it's quite unique and musical.  If anyone has had experience with a really good sounding early "tone" knob RAT 1977-81, it lends itself to that sort of distortion tone, but mix in some crunchy OD, higher gain distortion and the feel and response of a germanium fuzz and you'll get what I'm talking about.  The "cheeze" switch is high gain (distortion tone) and the magic of this pedal all starts with the "FEED" control and "pull phaze".  The FEED is a variable feed output design that shifts from the "tone" circuit as you increase it, blending it with the silicon output transistor.

A Mullard germanium OC series is used in the FEED circuit, resulting in 2 different sounds, modern and and old school Ge fuzz/distortion response!  Increasing the FEED shifts EQ, brings in more saturation, harmonics, low end and compression.  Depending upon your guitar and amp setup, the result can be very subtle to very dramatic.
I think the beauty of this pedal is that you can really tweak it to get the tones you desire.  You can set it up for vintage style tones ala 1960's 70's and get a modern high gain, darker, edgier tones as well.  Testing this circuit with various tube amplifiers, the Dirt Royale really shines cathode follower amps, ala Marshall, Vox and Matchless style.  It also loves boost pedals before or after it, especially the Power Driver or Scot60.
Psalms 33:3 - Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Ibanez SAS32FM, Washburn Mercury, Ibanez DE7, DOD FX17, MiAudio Crunchbox, Small Clone, Boss RV3, Digitech BadMonkey, Vox 847A, Zoom TriMetal, Fulldrive MOSFET


Offline dtmateo

  • Veteran Member
  • ****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2006, 09:30:13 PM »
Sorry boss wala.  Has to be felt to be believed.

Does this mean that a deaf-mute can "hear" it?
Melody over speed anytime!

Offline oasgomez-is-banned

  • Forum Fanatic
  • ****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2006, 09:33:08 PM »
It really sounds different on every amp but retains a certain character thru all of them.  I think this best sounds with an amp on break-up.  Even setting the amp on different volumes makes this effect react differently.  Thats why it hard to pinpoint one clip to characterize this pedal...

Offline marzi

  • Ang Na Ang Na!
  • Philmusicus Supremus
  • ******
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2006, 10:20:07 PM »
Sorry boss wala.  Has to be felt to be believed.

Does this mean that a deaf-mute can "hear" it?

LOLZ  :lol:
I turned myself into a monster to fight against the monsters of the world.

Earth Crisis - Nemesis

Offline deadlifted

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #8 on: December 11, 2006, 01:34:00 AM »
so, what genre can this pedal shine? gaano siya ka-versatile?

and when you said you have to tweak... does this mean hindi siya ok sounding with the controls at 12 o clock lahat? most pedals, IMO kung hindi siya good sounding with all the controls at 12 o clock, then don't bother. kasi kung "neutral" sounding na nga siya hindi pa siya ok, what more kung kelangan mo ng mag-tweak ng knobs? pang fine-tuning na lang dapat yun.
proud owner of Max Rufo custom guitars. call (02) 4427908

Offline Poundcake

  • GAS prophet
  • Administrator
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2006, 02:51:50 AM »
thanks for the review, Alex :)
"The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD." Isaiah 38:20

Offline Phil

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2006, 05:12:30 AM »
anybody has soundclips for this pedal?
you want to live life and be healthy?<br />www.wellness-spring.info

Offline markflo

  • Moderator
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2006, 08:56:15 AM »
mmmmm....based on a RAT....YUMMY!

net clips naman diyan! someone go find one!

good find oas!
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. - Abraham Lincoln

Offline Letour

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2006, 03:48:19 PM »
Yada, yada, yada.
Dean of a law school
http://www.manilaspeak.com/author/rod-vera/
Twitter: @attyvera

Offline inigo

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2006, 04:42:27 PM »
Here's a link to, um, a video link of the Dirt Royale w/ Cheese... and more Pro-Analog pedals:

http://theguitarhub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16

For some reason nage-error dito sa office. Later na lang sa bahay.

EDIT: Gumana na. Ganda nga. But I'm a poor guy, so everything that glitters is gold for me. And this is from a video clip.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2006, 04:50:33 PM by inigo »
400/hr recording. Banana Rising Recording Studio www.bananarising.com

SOUND SAMPLES: http://www.bananarising.com/p/sound-samples.html

Offline stratman1

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2006, 04:56:03 PM »
That pedal got some nice sound in front of a amp. Wonder how it sounds like straight through a clean amp? :?

Offline leech

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #15 on: December 11, 2006, 05:06:39 PM »
nice!!
...the strong take from the weak...but the wise take from the strong...

Offline oasgomez-is-banned

  • Forum Fanatic
  • ****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2006, 05:10:13 PM »
Poundcake,

Your welcome.


Deadlifted,

With my limited experience with the pedal, bagay siya sa early heavy metal.  I think this will go well with my 1972 Marshall Super Lead Head.

On the controls,  level will remain at 12, while Feed, Gain and Tone will all move depending on the amp.  Hindi ko mabigyan ng isang setting kasi this thing doesn't impose itself on the amp too much.  Give and take siya with the preamp of the amp.

In terms of versatility, it is versatile in the sense that it allows your amp's character to shine thru.  I would think this pedal would replace a DS1 type distortion on a pedal board.  It wont replace your Metal Zone just to provide an analogy.  Ang high gain nito is a focused type of high gain.  Hindi kagaya ng high gain kunyari ng Mesa Vtwin pedal na buong bandwidth.

Stratman1,

Straight through a clean amp, with my limited experience, lesser gain na ZZ Top -- siguro 20% less.

Offline deadlifted

  • Philmusicus Addictus
  • *****
Re: Review: PRO ANALOG Dirt Royale with Cheese -- not run of the mill
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2006, 06:14:41 PM »
cool! kinda like yung Rat + marshall combo.
proud owner of Max Rufo custom guitars. call (02) 4427908