Xotic Effects Pedals

[LoneStar Boogie]

I have been doing a lot of research lately because I want to seriously upgrade my ovedrive sound. One of the companies I am looking at that may hold the key to my tonal salvation is Xotic. I have heard plenty of sounds over the internet, but I want to know if any players here have first hand knowledge/experience with these .

 

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc95/chrisfreeman32/BB-Plus.jpg

 

This is the new BB Plus two channel overdrive/preamp. It should be awesome, and it is due out next month.

 

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc95/chrisfreeman32/AC.jpg

 

this is the AC + Booster, another two channel ovedrive/booster.

 

The main difference between the two is, the BB is capable of higher gain and is incredibly versatile while the AC is exceptionally warm and full. Given that description, I think the AC + would be better for me, but I know the regular BB has a really nice mildly overdriven sound.

 

Either way, both pedals are just sick!

[LoneStar Boogie]

Wow, nobody has heard of or used these!!!

 

Tomorrow I will be going into Arlington, VA to a great little guitar store called Action Music. They have a great selection of vintage guitars, amps, and pedals, including Xotic and Fulltone, and a whole slew of other pedlas.

 

I've played through all of their Xotic pedals, including the AC Plus. Quite simply, they are phenomenal! The BB preamp is exceptional, and the AC Plus is sublime!

 

If everything goes well tomorrow, I will purchase either the AC Plus, or the BB preamp. If I get the BB, I'd also like to get the RC Booster, to give me an incredible clean boost as well. The AC Plus is a clean boost as well as overdrive.

 

Annoyingly, the BB Plus has yet to make its debut, even though it was supposed to be out last year...

[jdouglas]

 

Unfortunately, no...new to me.....but the clips sound nice, and alots of 9.9 for reviews on the harmony review site...(which is very rare)

 

I've book marked their site, their custom guitar builder kicks *ss.

 

Looks pricey for something that seems to be not very flexible, but the quality seems there....

 

Let us know

[LoneStar Boogie]

I purchased the AC Plus today. $250.00.

 

I'm still in the early stages of working with it, but I've gotten some really nice sounds out of it. Its got even more gain than I thought, and I'll have to work more with my amp to maximize the strengths of the pedal.

 

Ultimately, I want to have my amps channel 1 set to clean, and use the AC to give it some overdrive. Channel 2 will be my lead channel, and the AC can also provide a volume boost to it.

 

 

[rushfanNlv]

QUOTE (LoneStar Boogie @ Jan 11 2008, 05:19 PM)

I purchased the AC Plus today. $250.00. I'm still in the early stages of working with it, but I've gotten some really nice sounds out of it. Its got even more gain than I thought, and I'll have to work more with my amp to maximize the strengths of the pedal. Ultimately, I want to have my amps channel 1 set to clean, and use the AC to give it some overdrive. Channel 2 will be my lead channel, and the AC can also provide a volume boost to it.

That sounds like a good plan...essentially turning your two channel amp in to a four channel amp. And the AC+ looks most tweakable. Score.

 

There are a lot of boutique pedal makers out there now. The AC looks like an improvement on the Fulltone Full Drive II which is pretty much the same pedal. I've heard of Xotic on www.thegearpage.net once or twice. I'm sure you'll find more users on that page.

[LoneStar Boogie]

QUOTE (rushfanNlv @ Jan 12 2008, 06:37 PM)

QUOTE (LoneStar Boogie @ Jan 11 2008, 05:19 PM) I purchased the AC Plus today.  $250.00. I'm still in the early stages of working with it, but I've gotten some really nice sounds out of it.  Its got even more gain than I thought, and I'll have to work more with my amp to maximize the strengths of the pedal. Ultimately, I want to have my amps channel 1 set to clean, and use the AC to give it some overdrive.  Channel 2 will be my lead channel, and the AC can also provide a volume boost to it. That sounds like a good plan...essentially turning your two channel amp in to a four channel amp. And the AC+ looks most tweakable. Score.   There are a lot of boutique pedal makers out there now. The AC looks like an improvement on the Fulltone Full Drive II which is pretty much the same pedal. I've heard of Xotic on www.thegearpage.net once or twice. I'm sure you'll find more users on that page. My friend has a FullDrive II, pre MOSFET circuit. I tried the AC Plus and FullDrive II side by side at the store. The FD2 was very good, but I found the AC+ to be a bit more versatile. The volume boost on the AC is superior, definitely.   The funny thing is, the AC+ is two channels. Each channel has a Volume knob and a Gain knob. Channel A has one tone knob that handles Bass and Mids, and a switch for the 3db volume boost. Channel B has thre tone knobs: bass, mid, and treble. It also has a hard/soft compression button. Finally, there is a button That sends Channel B into channel A, and pushing it reverses the order, sending channel A into channel B. So there are definitely a lot of options. Doing this, where you are using both channels, produces a huge sound.   One thing I and finding is I have to be careful with the volume knobs because thye have a huge impact on the gain. If I turn the volume all the way up, and the gain all the way down, I get a mighty clean boost. But if I tweek the gain even a little on full volume, I get some pretty fierce overdrive.   Before I bougth the pedal, I also played it side by side with a regualr BB preamp (since the BB Plus has yet to be shipped, still!!! ) and I did like what the AC+ sounded like over the BB. One thing I was considering was getting an RC Booster (clean boost) and the BB. Luckily, they were out of RC's that day, so I wasn't able to try it out. Buying the RC and BB instead of the AC+ would have been almost another $100.   I'll keep tinkering with the AC+. So far I am generally pleased with it, but I also know I can get store credit for it if I want. The salesman is supposed to give me a call when the BB+ comes in. I'll be sure to give that a try, and if I like it better, guess what!

[12ax7]

hey lonestar....hows it going... i just have a question, if ya dont mind...how does that boggie sound as just an amp. with no pedals....i have never heard one yet in person...lol..am familar with the other boggies...you wud think will all that preamp stage....it wud overdrive very well.....

[LoneStar Boogie]

The Lonestar does sound great when overdriven all by itself! But unlike other Boogies, this is not a really high gain amp. As far as I can tell, this is an attempt (a wildly successful attempt) at a Texas Blues type sound, A-la SRV, so you are going to get shimmering clean tones similar to a Fender Twin Reverb, and you are going to get a warm, creamy overdrive sound, but not ultra high gain as with amps like the dual and triple rectifiers.

 

The Lonestar is a two channel amp. Channel one is the clean channel, with a gain stage that takes the sound right to th point of break up. Channel two is actually a clone of channel one, but with an extra gain stage that cascades into to first. This second stage is optional, you do not have to bring it online if you don't want. If you do, Mesa suggests you turn the first gain knob to about 3 O'Clock, and then experiment with the Drive knob to find your personal sweet spot. Mesa suggests this lies somewhere between 11 and 1 O'Clock. Additionally, there is a three position switch when the Drive is enabled, and it can be set at Normal, Thick, or Thicker. Normal is what its name implies. Thick rolls off on the treble a little and ads gain, and Thicker rolls off the treble even more and supplies even more gain. The manual describes this as the Classic Boogie tone.

 

I bought the AC+ to use on Channel 1, to give it a volume boost, and a little extra dirt if I want it. It gives me more options, and as rushfanNlv points out, it is like I have a four channel amp now, because the AC+ has two channels. It gets even better than that, because I can run both channels at one time, and I can even switch the order in which the signal travels through them.

 

After having played it for a couple more days, I think the AC+'s greatest value is going to be as providing a fuller slightly overdriven sound to Channel 1.

[LoneStar Boogie]

I jammed with a drummer the other night, and it was the first time I really got to crank with the AC+. This is definitely a pedal that needs to be cranked up in order for it to sound its best.

 

I had my LoneStar set to very clean on channel 1, and used the AC+ for overdrive. I used channel B on the AC+, as I iked the drive sound I was getting from it better. I turned the volume all the way up, and I put the Gain around 10 O'Clock. Holy Crap!!! It produced a very sweet, very smooth overdrive that was also extremely clear. When I played a chord, every note could be clearly heard, and the tone was just singing.

 

The drummer took a break, and while he was gone, I turned the gain up to about 12 O'Clock and things got even sweeter! When he came back down to the basement, he said he noticed a difference while he was upstairs, and that I was getting some incredible gain sounds.

 

In addidtion to the AC+, I also used a Boss Giga-Delay the entire time. Also in use was the Line 6 Modulation Modeler. For that, I had presets for a phaser, flanger, Dimension D chours, and a uni-vibe . The Flanger sounded really nice, but the chorus had the best over all effect. The best part was, this pedal did not cause the drop in volume I thought I was getting a couple of months ago, so it may still be a keeper.

 

Finally, I also used the 535q Crybaby. This pedal has a lot of options, which I am still exploring, but playing through the AC+, it sounded great without any tinkering.

 

Hopefully I will get the chance to jam next weekend as well, maybe with a bass player, to fatten up the sound.

 

Even with all of this good news, I am, admittedly, still on the fence about the AC+. The BB+ should be out anytime now. And the Fulldrive 2 MOSFET is beckoning. But I am much happier with the AC+ than I was on Saturday afternoon (We jammed Saturday evening.)

Edited January 21, 2008 by LoneStar Boogie