FET Dream pedal

Sounds nice. Where did you have the gain set on the pedal for that clip?

 

Looks there's a new kid on the block in the D style camp overdrives...

 

I hope this is cool with forum etiquette and all.. I want to publicly thank Stelligan profusely for doing this and several other excellent clips of the FET dream to help us showcase the pedal. We've received a boatload of compliments on them!

You're the man!!

Cheers, Brian

 

Great sounding pedal. Some other great clips on the website also. I'm on the list.

 

...i was able to convince brian to send me a prototype of his FET Dream, since we are practically neighbours. as well, i have done extensive product reviews as a music journalist and music magazine editor.

the pedal arrived on thursday. i played with it a little at low volumes on thursday night and thought, hmmm, this is interesting. not as sweet and creamy as my plush extreme cream, but i immediately liked the "lean" and "girth" controls.

friday night was the beginning of a weekend "rehearsathon". at the beginning of the night, i plugged in and turned the fet dream on. and then...

...i never turned it off!

this pedal does that thing that many pedals claim to be able to do: retain your essential tone, so that you can turn the guitar volume down for your clean tone, then turn it up for as much growl and scream as you can stand.

i set the "lean" and "girth" controls to about 2:30, and dialed the gain and level back to 11:00.

this is absolutely the most inspiring pedal i've used. i think blues guitarists, especially, are going to see this as "essential", although i think it is ideal for most genres.

i really am impressed. this pedal inspires my playing like no other piece of equipment i've ever tried. i could easily play an entire night with just a guitar, amp and this pedal. in fact, over the weekend, i found that i was far less likely to go to my reverbs and delays for added enhancement.

no apologies for my enthusiasm. had i not been blown away, i would have simply returned it to brian with apologies that "its just not for me".

i'm not going to take that leap and claim that this pedal is for you. that's for you to decide.

i am sorry that i am unable to post clips, but happy to answer any questions anyone might have...

-dh

 

Thanks for the review David, can't wait to get mine, thank God I'm already on the list.

 

There are a couple of things I'm hearing that I'm not sure if it's the pedal or what. But 'overall' it sounds good. Nice playing, Stelligan.

How does this pedal compare with the ZD?

Greg

 

I guess what I'm hearing is something on the high end that's a little harsh. But it does sound fat and chewy . .

Greg

 

Actually, it's not exactly the 'bass', but the low mids...

"The FET Dream also features a unique and innovative pre-distortion equalization control. The Girth circuit provides a wide range of adjustment to balance the low/mids prior to distortion generation. The adjustment range can accommodate a wide variety of pickups and player's tastes to support whatever degree of 'fat' you prefer in the overall tone of the pedal. Careful management of the bass and avoiding the muddying mid-hump are a couple of the key secrets to the openness and clarity of the FET Dream."

I like this pedal a lot - very unique. There is no harshness on the high end on this pedal at all - must be something else.

 

Perhaps 'harsh' isn't the right word. Maybe it's a 'chirp.' It's just on certain high notes, but it's not real pleasant to my ears.
However, like I said, the overall tone is good.

Greg

 

Hey guys,

How does the FET Dream respond to changes in picking dynamics, and does it clean up well with guitar volume knob roll-off?

James

 

IME it's very responsive to picking dynamics. I've found that when I lower the guitar volume, it doesn't clean up per se, but it gives me a lite version of whatever OD tone I've dialed in. So I still get OD, but it's not as intense per the volume level. I'll have to experiment with that more.

 

Thanks Ron. I'm not looking for total clean up, more like what you described, just a little lighter would be fine. Sounds like a very cool pedal.

James

 

I directly compared it to my Dumkudo and eventually sold the Dumkudo. It's not specifically designed to be a Dumble pedal, but it does do those lower mids like a Dumble when you tweak the Girth control. The pedal designer also makes Dumble amp clones, so some of that mojo is in there.