LHakim
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2001
- Messages
- 2,114
This is my first foray into the world of "boutique" effects. The Habenaro box was designed by Dave Barber (of Burn Unit fame) and Charles Roe and handmade at Dave's shop.
It essentially is an overdrive/distortion pedal, but this is not your father's distortion box/fuzz. This is what the website says about the habenaro:
"The Habenaro Box is designed from the ground up to impart sweet harmonically rich milky tones on any guitar at any volume. This unit occupies [sic] very unique space in the effect world; this is the rare overdrive/distortion that does NOT require your amp to be driven to deliver its full spectrum of tone. The Habenaro box [is] designed to give absolute note definition for both single note and chord playing.
"The Habenaro Box has a great range of drive from mildly saturated boost to flat out sustain. This one sounds like applying butter with a sledge hammer!"
Actually the above is not mere hyperbole but truth in advertising. Its distortion is fat, sweet and thick, cleans up well at lower gain settings and is punchy. However the things that strike me most are the sweetness (especially in the top end), and its smoothness and creaminess. Its loaded w/ harmonics too. I've been asked if it can get you close to a hot-rodded marshall stack sound. I don't know. However a nuance dealer who swears by his original Guv'nor pedal compared the H-box favorably to it, w/ the exception that the H-box is overall a smoother sounding pedal.
I spent Sunday running it through 3 different amps and it sounded good through all of them. It sounds very "tubey" and is sufficiently fat for my needs. It also cuts through live which surprised as it sounds so refined when playing alone. Allows me to get liquid sustain at lower volumes w/ at least a little of that "oomph" and girth only a tube amp seems to deliver. Another thing: It feels good to play as in dynamic response etc. Doesn't sound like the distortion is being piped in from somewhere else as RICH would say. It faithfully captured the differences in my pickups fairly well. Its got a tight bass response and someone familiar w/ all of Dave Barber's pedals told me that it is less middy and compressed sounding than the Burn Unit.
I believe the guys that designed this pedal were shooting for the smooth & creamy tones of Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, and early Clapton. In other words this pedal falls into the Burn Unit, Menatone Howie and Fulltone Distortion Pro niche but at a fraction of the costs of those pedals. I'm so happy w/ it I ordered a second Habenaro box especially as I understand they are no longer being made. Pretty ironic for me as 6 months ago I wouldn't even have considered buying let alone keeping a distortion unit.
All in all its a great sounding boutique pedal at boss/dod price. ( I paid $99.50+shipping). This one is a keeper:dude
It essentially is an overdrive/distortion pedal, but this is not your father's distortion box/fuzz. This is what the website says about the habenaro:
"The Habenaro Box is designed from the ground up to impart sweet harmonically rich milky tones on any guitar at any volume. This unit occupies [sic] very unique space in the effect world; this is the rare overdrive/distortion that does NOT require your amp to be driven to deliver its full spectrum of tone. The Habenaro box [is] designed to give absolute note definition for both single note and chord playing.
"The Habenaro Box has a great range of drive from mildly saturated boost to flat out sustain. This one sounds like applying butter with a sledge hammer!"
Actually the above is not mere hyperbole but truth in advertising. Its distortion is fat, sweet and thick, cleans up well at lower gain settings and is punchy. However the things that strike me most are the sweetness (especially in the top end), and its smoothness and creaminess. Its loaded w/ harmonics too. I've been asked if it can get you close to a hot-rodded marshall stack sound. I don't know. However a nuance dealer who swears by his original Guv'nor pedal compared the H-box favorably to it, w/ the exception that the H-box is overall a smoother sounding pedal.
I spent Sunday running it through 3 different amps and it sounded good through all of them. It sounds very "tubey" and is sufficiently fat for my needs. It also cuts through live which surprised as it sounds so refined when playing alone. Allows me to get liquid sustain at lower volumes w/ at least a little of that "oomph" and girth only a tube amp seems to deliver. Another thing: It feels good to play as in dynamic response etc. Doesn't sound like the distortion is being piped in from somewhere else as RICH would say. It faithfully captured the differences in my pickups fairly well. Its got a tight bass response and someone familiar w/ all of Dave Barber's pedals told me that it is less middy and compressed sounding than the Burn Unit.
I believe the guys that designed this pedal were shooting for the smooth & creamy tones of Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, and early Clapton. In other words this pedal falls into the Burn Unit, Menatone Howie and Fulltone Distortion Pro niche but at a fraction of the costs of those pedals. I'm so happy w/ it I ordered a second Habenaro box especially as I understand they are no longer being made. Pretty ironic for me as 6 months ago I wouldn't even have considered buying let alone keeping a distortion unit.
All in all its a great sounding boutique pedal at boss/dod price. ( I paid $99.50+shipping). This one is a keeper:dude
