Lovetone Ring Stinger

It's easy to get an all-destroying laser beam of searing oscillating distortion that will melt puppies' eyes at 200m, but to get anything more useable really does take time. The manual warns you.

It took weeks of constant trial and error, but now this is one of my essential pedals. Despite first impressions it CAN be used in more conventional music in a less extreme way, to fatten and give real exciting edge to more standard guitar sounds in a pretty unique way, as well as going right over the top and flattening all who dare stand in its way. I love it.

I don't use a backup. I wouldn't be able to get hold of one even if I wanted to. Solidly built, just don't throw it about.

I bought this second hand on ebay, but had dealt with Dan when I bought some of his pedals previously. He couldn't have been more helpful, and you can still get these pedals serviced by him through Dinosaural, even though they aren't making any more. I've never dealt with Vlad, but hear very good things. Good solid support.

Unique pedal. Getting REALLY expensive now, but if you can afford it it's fantastic value, if you know what I mean. If it was stolen I'd be distraught until I tracked down another one. Get one if you've the time to trial and error it for a while before getting properly stuck in to some remarkably useful sounds. Or just going beserk just because you can.

Another offering from Lovetone, the Ringstinger, is consistent with the overall line in which you have a variety of options to choose from, and in reality, most will not get used. I like to equate these pedals to the story of 2 former citizens of communist countries. Their whole lives they only had two different types of sausages to choose from, then after emigrating to a foreign country went to a grocery store and were bewildered by the array of seemingly first class choices. In the end they left with nothing. The lovetone ringstinger does not make a lot of noise in the sense of buzzing and the infamous 60 cycle hum. what it does do is give you a tool to explore various sounds and textures which can be used as samples. The manual, like most lovetone manuals is sparsely written and leaves open for interpretation many possiblities. I will give it low marks here for the amount of time it takes to make even the most mildly usable sound.

I am using Gibson amps, a ga 20 and a br9 along with some newer offerings from ampeg and fender. A reverb rocket and a twin. As stated before the effect is not noisy and can handle most vlume settings with the rig. My big problem with this is that one, you have to use an electric supply, and two the ringstinger is about as predictable as a volcanic eruption. Where it is supposedly used by the clients mentioned here, I think ik]t would be confined to studio use. A band would have to be very tight to get this to be usable in a live setting, so, all you bedroom freak guitar players take note: here is a new toy for you!

All lovetone pedals have a flip top lid, quite nifty, What I didn't like was the tone of the opening instructions, a bit condescending. Now wonder they went out of business. Overpriced guitar toys for doctors.

It hasnt broke, and I hope it doesnt as I a want to capitalize on the great resale!

Have not used it.

I have been playing for 25 years and I have covered more genres of music than I care to remember. Currently the bands I am in play blues, blues rock, and there are a group of those that do cover work, mostly to make money on. This pedal was a good match for what I do on my own when playing with no one else. Other than that it was a nice toy, and I emphasize TOY.

This is useless for anything but experimenting with sound, which is ok. Where i see this as a misleading product is that it is marketed towards, and said to be used by, musicians in a working environment. The best thing I can see for lovetone pedals is that they have great resale, yipeee! Go out and buy yours today, mine was sold for a nifty profit to some unwitting person hehehe...

This is a sonic destruction pedal - in the same way that the old Electro Harmonix Harmonic Energiser would shred your notes, this thing has a similar capacity to play back a COMPLETELY different tune from the one you play into it! Great if you're after chaos, not so great if you're looking for easily memorable patches.

As the real fun starts when you plug in the light jack to oscillate the VCO things get tricky to control cos you can never count on the ambient light staying constant. ie, if you're playing it on a sunny afternoon, within 5 minutes, as the angle of the sun changes slightly, so does the Ring Stinger!

There are no dial markings for you to accurately record settings, I s'pose you could scratch em in, but the box is such a beautifully lurid pink that it seems a shame.

I've used this thing live but it's more unpredictable than a rottweiller on acid, I'd say it depends entirely on one's attitude to one's audience - if you wanna send em home with a headache, this is the box for you.
I went thru a phase of tuning up between songs with the Stinger on (with a thru tuner before the Stinger). So funny to see people's faces as you delicately adjust your machine heads with this all-hell-of-a-racket going on, then switch off the Stinger and "pling", a perfectly in tune Les Paul.

No inherent noise. To REALLY push things over the edge try pumping an overdrive in BEFORE the Stinger.
Similarly a Stinger in tandem with a Meatball, well, to anyone out there who thinks they've heard everything - uh huh! Kiss your speaker cones goodbye.

I find that unlike a previous reviewer, single coil guitars work slightly better than humbuckers as their sound wave is less complex. Sticking a bass thru it sounds bloody weird but don't expect to get a noise out of it that'd be popular with the rest of your band!

Had this thing over 3 years and in an argument with a Tiger tank it'd probably come out the winner.

Vlad's a loon but has a very cool & helpful manner.

If ever a pedal was built to truly alienate every neighbour for 400 yards THIS IS IT. It's like a wah pedal that's had an overdose of PCP, Owsley acid & a couple of crates of dry-cleaning fluid.

I've spent hours with this thing & a guitar, I'm not claiming to be an expert in chaos, but I would certainly recommend running this thing into a fairly clean amp as there are infinite harmonic subtleties that get lost if you clip it with too much gain.

So far as I'm aware there's only one song out there that features this pedal to the max - "Worms" by a UK band called The Leeches (my own band!!).

There's nothing like this pedal. I'm smug cos I've got one & YOU probably haven't.

This pedal is an octave fuzz/ring modulator with in-built LFO.
Could appear daunting to those used to small Boss pedals and the like, but isn't so hard if you have some prior knowledge of the workings of a ring modulator, LFOs etc. The pedal has 6 knobs:

LFO Depth: Controls the depth of the onboard LFO (low-frequency oscillator). Think of this as the depth of a phaser, or another type of modulation device.

LFO Rate: The speed of the LFO. Wide range from extremely s-l-o-w to super-quick.

VCO Frequency: The frequency (translate this to pitch if you will) of the onboard VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator). This can go from an extremely low/slow tremolo sounding chop to an incredibly high insect whistle and everything in between.

Drive: Gain, volume, beef...Affects the beef of the ring mod and the distortion of the octave fuzz.

Timbre: Kind of a tone control. Changes the timbre. Sound. Like a very wide tone control. I'll stick with that.

Blend: Great control. Blends in the clean signal with the effected signal. Particularly excellent when playing a bass guitar through the octave fuzz mode of the Ringstinger.

The pedal also has six jacks;
In/On: Speaks for itself.
VCO Out: Send the VCO out to another source...spooky theremin like noises.
Carrier in: I believe this bypasses the onboard carrier and allows you to insert your own. I say 'believe' because i couldn't get it working that well and wasn't entirely sure if i was using it correctly.
VCO/CV In/Pedal: This allows you to bypass the VCO Freq. control and insert an expression pedal or Lovetone light jack. The light jack is a jack plug with a light-sensitive sensor on the end.
LFO Depth Pedal: Similar to the previous input, this time bypassing the LFO depth control.
Out: Output

*deep breath*

There are also two rotary switches on the pedal; one allowing you to change the waves of the VCO (sine/triangle/sawtooth/square) and the other allowing you to do the same to the LFO (Pulsewidth:triangle, square, Frequency: triangle, square).

Add to this the three stompswitches:

LFO unlock: Turns the LFO on or off
Bypass: obvious.
Oct/Ring: Switches between octave fuzz mode and ring modulator mode.

The best way to learn the pedal is to do so in segments. First learn about the octave fuzz, and how each control alters the sound of that. Then on ring mod mode, experiment with different waveforms and how the controls alter the sounds of those. Last of all learn how to use the LFO. Put it all together and you're ready.

The pedal sounds great at what it does. It provides a fantastic ring modulator sound and an adequate octave fuzz. You can get sounds ranging from evil tremolo to police sirens to funky ring mod to nasty fuzz to just plain weird indescribable sounds. Most of the weirdness comes when you activate and fiddle with the LFO, or mess around with the many jacks.
However, as fun and fantastic as this is, I'm not sure how many songs i could fit it into. It's fantastic for chaotic crescendo moments, but a ring modulator isn't really that musical. I'm mainly using it with a guitar setup, but i've also had fantastic results with a bass rig (possibly sounding better than a standard 6-string guitar) and synths. I'm sure it will be a very useful tool in a studio environment also. I may not use it that often in a live set, but it's a great piece of kit. Obviously with all Lovetone stuff, no noise. You can tell it's on because the LFO is often whizzing around...but if you've got the LFO switched off, the effect is only apparent when you strike a note.

Seems fine to me. When i first got it (used) i had some problems with an intermittent LED...Lovetone is kinda out of business, and technical concerns are dealt with by chief designer and Dinosaural honcho Dan Coggins...

...who took the time to chat with me on the phone about the problem with the pedal, and how to fix it. Needless to say, his suggestion about what was causing the fault was correct. Lovely guy.

It's hard to rate this pedal. In a band situation, it's hard to justify it for the price you pay. However, as a general piece of inspiring and interesting kit it's fantastic. And what it does, it does very well. I spent a fair bit of money on this pedal, and i've no regrets whatsoever.

This is the weirdest thing I have EVER played around with. I sat for about five hours when I very first got it, just tweaking with the knobs, pushing down buttons, etc...Anyway, it comes with a manual, but really the only way to figure out this pedal is to sit in a room with it for a few hours and just fool around with it. Operating this pedal could be easy to some, but to me, it was hard to find really cool sounds right out of the box. I have not even figured out how to use the light sensor thingy (maybe mine does not work).

OK-this sounds awesome for a ring modulator, but ring modulators do not sound "pretty" in the usual sense. You cannot put this into your effects chain and play whatever you want and sound great. The slightest tweaking of a knob turns makes the sound do a complete 180! Most of the noises sound somewhat like bells, metallic clings and clangs, fuzzy explosions, etc. There is a way to get a cool octave fuzz out of this thing. Nobody should buy this and expect versatility, it just cannot be accomplished.

I would definately not gig with this for two reasons. REASON #1: The unit is too unpredictable for live settings. There is really no way that one could tell how this thing would sound or what kind of noise assault it is capable of (cool at home/recording), but probably not cool when you are "on the spot." For live situations, it might be better to use something like a Line 6 Delay Mod, which is more simple. REASON # 2: like all of the recently discontinued Lovetone pedals, this thing has significantly risen in value. Mine is in mint condition, with the box and instructions. I would not want to risk getting this thing messed up or stolen. The unit is, however, very well made and it seems pretty durable, so that is why I will give it a "9."

I bought it off Ebay.

I have been playing for about 7 years and I am into all types of music. My current (at home) setup includes the following: '97 Fender California strat, Danelectro 59-DC,==>Boss Ds1 Distortion, various overdrives, Danelectro Cool Cat, Roland Phase II, into a Fender Bronco amp (soon to be Super Reverb). This pedal was primarily bought as an investment type thing (I figured this is probably the one that sold the least), but I have played around with it quite a bit. It is cool, but you have to be careful, some of the sounds just sound awful! But-it sounds like a ring mod should, and it is the best sounding ring mod I have ever played with.

Very easy to get useful sounds out of this unit. There really are not any bad sounds in it at all. But you've got to be one twisted individual to buy this pedal. It is sooooo over the top and demented. Ring Stinger is the most extreme pedal in the Lovetone line and the most wacked-out pedal I've used or owned in over 20 years.

Great for experimental music, looping (especially if you're into looping, textures, noise, robots, radar, sonar sounds, wooshes, etc. and the fuzz on this thing is the BEST I've ever heard. Wow. This pedal is worth the high price just for the fuzz alone.

endless possibilites with this pedal..you just keep turning knobs, tweaking, etc., and it just gets more weird. There's a lot to understand and the manual is dense (theoretically) but the heck with the manual. Just start messing around with it. I love it. I've had this thing now for several months, I've recorded with it, and am taking it to my next gig.

The most insane thing about this pedal is the tiny theramin plug that you can use in real time. Crazy.

I find this pedal easy to use but I could see where it would drive someone nuts trying to figure it all out.

My setup is quite out of control. I use this pedal in an extensive looping system as the first pedal out of the guitar.

Very quiet in bypass. The effects are wonderful and they are not all so extreme to melt the mind. You can get some very interesting pulse and rhythmic textures going on.

As a fuzz pedal it must be the best thing ever created.

Very solid. Yes, I gig with no backups on most things because I have so much junk in my rig that if something goes out I just unplug and bypass...there's a lot left over for sonic mayhem. ;-)

But, honestly, with the difficulty I had in finding a new one and the price I paid for it, I don't think I'll be taking it to many gigs...a few perhaps but not many. I will reserve this thing for recording mainly. I hope it lasts the rest of my life.

Vlad called me from England (I live in the US) and talked to me for nearly 20 min about not only his pedals but about music in general and so forth. very refreshing indeed. Though, these pedals are no longer made I was assured that they co. would be backing it up in case of any repairs needed. In fact, I may have bought one of the last new Ring Singers in the US. When I bought mine I think there was one or two left in stock -- and that's been a while back.

This pedal is a great match for what I do...very unconventional, weird, extreme, guitar. I've been playing a bit over 20 years. I have a lot of gear designed for recording and live performance.

If this RS was lost or stolen I doubt I'd get another one. I'd want one but now that they are out of production you'll be seeing them climb in price on Ebay. Seeing what the Meatball is doing these days, and I'm guessing the RS will follow along, perhaps not as steep, but I will not be able to afford another. Like all Lovetone pedals, this one is destined to be one of those holy grail, "vintage" pedals that people go crazy over...like the Tube Screamer etc...

I feel lucky I got mine when I did. It was literally the last chance for a person with no money to play the exotic and vintage gear auction wars.

I hate nothing about this pedal and love the whole vibe. The feature that really stands out is the theramin-like control you have over it with the included light jack. wow.

I looked around for other pedals that would substitute for this RS. I thoguht I would not find one so I looked at another pedal made in Australlia but nothing was doing it for me. There really is nothing like the Lovetone RS. Totally unique. Anyway, for $500 I was happy to buy this pedal.

Strange wee beastie. Just plug and go, compresss before this box then add a pich shifter or appergiator gizmo after for some wonderful screes of sound. Can be used as an octavating [+1 oct] fuzz box a la Fuzzface for Frippesque noodling. EXPERIMENT! Manual a couple of sides of A4 which lets you know all you need.

Use with a transformerless PSU [maplin] for no buzz [the 50 hz hum interferes] and overcomes the problems of battery fade. Humbucker drives it better then a single coil. My Telecaster sounds screechy stingy but in a good way and if it makes you whince either reduce treble on the amp or back off the wet signal on the box. Ibanez Artist with Dimarzios sounds good as it filters out those horrible 'Rock' overtones but remains delightfully smoooth. Tune the VCO to a 5th above your root note and then develop yer own music scale [from Mars]. LFO not used much live but a nice touch for trem like dynamics. Also put anything you can through it, peps up a feeble drum machine a treat and bass players can't resist the weird crunch fuzz octaving, sweet like good toffee and twice as chewy. Bang it through a Digitech DNX [octaving/pitchshift/whammy plus Ringstinger - very NICE!] into a Peavey Triumph 120 and slay the rest of the band.

Built like a Lada apart from if you stamp on one of the LEDs [I was unlucky!] they work lose; however a drop of solder did it right. If you carry a blunt weapon in your live arsenal, this would be the back up! It's bomb and idiot and stage invader proof.

Mr Vlad is an approachable and helpfull human being and a pleasure to deal with as anyone will tell you

I think I paid 279ukp for it, irelevant really. I wish I had everything Lovetone ever built and alot of time to make noises. Lovetone take old ideas and rationalise them into modern, usefull solutions. Also essential in the Studio for that um.. what shall we do with that 'OK- but- not- great' sound. I use it from free form jazz to hardcore punk to drum and bass to sweet ambient. MMMMMMMMM...

This is hard to answer. It is a Ring Modulator, so if you don't know what it is supposed to do, it may sound like junk. There are so many options available for getting sounds out of it though, it is virtually impossible to get nothing.
The manuel was very helpful, but pretty technical. If you don't know what you are getting into, you will after reading the manual. It will require a lot of time to learn the entire unit.

My biggest problem is how to configure the entire setup. I can see uses for so many different input and output configurations.

Using the light sensor and VCO as a pseudo-theramin.
Normal Ring Mod/Octave Mode.
Backward Ring Mod Mode - VCO as source, Instrument as Carrier.

I can tell that before the year is out I will have several switches and expression pedals dedicated to this unit. Some of my best results have come from the "Backward" ring mod mode and the pseudo theremin type effects. It will take some good engineering to make it so that I can switch between modes on the fly without having to re patch cables. But Oh the possibilites.

Beware of your bandmates though. They will either love it or hate it.

Sound is excellent. I am a bassist, and it easily tracks down to my B string. The octave fuzz, is supurb, and practically infinately variable from barely there to raging. No Hum at all. The ring modulator suffers from some Carrier bleeding, but the manuel states this will happen, and this can actually be used. This is the best unit on my pedal board.

It is build like a tank. Everything looks heavy duty and I have no doubt it will hold up fine. It's too expensive to have a backup. I also don't ever see me using it enough at a gig to where I would have to have it.

Nothing as of yet, but don't really expect anything.

It is everything I was hoping to get and more. I wanted an effect that would work on bass that no one else, at least locally, had. It sounds great on bass and has many other abilites. It probably will require its own pedal board, as it is large, and expression pedals will make it much more useable. This pedal is in a class by itsself. The MoogerFooger Ring mod may be close to this, but was unable to really demo one of those. I cannot imagine that it would be better in any way. For live use, this will most by for subtle effects. LFO Swishy sounds behind the main bass part. For recording this will probably be much more useful, if you have imagination.

Ring Modulation is an odd effect to start with, add an lfo for a
bit of modulation and some people are going to find it difficult. However, with this pedal it's worth working it out. I'm into synths
as well as guitars so I didn't have too many problems but I can imagine some could. The manual's great. Basically, it's a really flexible implementation of the effect, which means choices, for which a little understanding helps.

Fantastic. Ring Modulation is almost an innately unmusical effect, but this is by far the most musical implementation of it I have ever heard. It's really creative, inspiring. I'm not a big 'tone' man (Gordon-Smith guitar plugged into anything I can find) but even I can't help but to hear the quality in this box.

Seems the most solid thing I have. I'd gig anything, after all dying on stage is the most honourable death to a piece of music gear. However, I think I'm more likely to kick the bucket before any Lovetone pedal does (touchwood, err...I think.) My Y-fronts and my Lovetone pedals will be passed on to my children. However, I've only had them for 6 months so this is all based on appearance. I'll knock one off for that but I'm betting I'll have to add it on later.

Wow - check this out. I had this great effect going but wanted to lose this popping sound in the background, so I phoned up Lovetone to ask them if this background noise should be there or not. We arrange for him to phone me back that evening and when he does, he's got the pedal set up with a guitar and amp and he's playing done the phone so we can discuss the effect and sound. Now THATS support!

I think Lovetone are great, a unique compnay who really put a load of creativity and thought into their products. You do have to pay for that though, but given the products and the support, you have to say they're great value. Sure, you could get a multifx unit for the cost of this pedal but it would have that homogenous sounds-like-everything-else quality. If it were stolen, I would be gutted, but I'd have to get another one.

Another strange one from the Brits. Like all Lovetone products, the learning curve is pretty steep, but it become more natural over time. The manual is well written for fairly intelligent people, but most of us without engineering degrees will have a hard time grasping it. It's fairly easy to get totally insane sounds, but since the controls are so sensitive it takes hours to nail down the tone you're looking for. Not for purists.

I'm using this with an active bass through a MESA/Boogie Bass Triaxis (yes, they do exist). Best ring mod I've ever tried (which is only 3 or 4, but hey, how many manufacturers have the guts to put one out?). Tone is freakish but not harsh like others, and even at it's most insane it doesn't make your ears bleed. It's got a bit of noise associated with the ring mod, but that's just part and parcel to what ring mods are all about. The octave fuzz is killer, and is almost worth the hefty price tag alone. The controls are so varied that it is hard to know where to start, but once you figure it all out you can create some sounds that have not been heard on this planet since the Greys left those black monoliths that the apes dug so much.

Extremely well built, though it is on the light sde for being such a large pedal. It's looks like it would last though some major abuse, but probably not a mosh pit at a Slipknot show. Very gig worthy for the most part.

The guys at Lovetone are super helpful. I always get a quick email repsonse from them, even when I wanted to return my "?" Flanger I bought (see review). It's a pleasure to see a company actually have some respect for their customers, even after the sale. Top notch.

This thing gets better every time I fool with it, which is everyday. It's amazing that something this bizarre can actually be used (musically) by a bass player. It's great for anybody wanting to push the sonic envelope a bit, as well as retro-minded players (octave fuzz). I would buy another if it were stolen, no question. My only complaint is the price and perhaps the manual could be a little easier to read. This is my first experience with Lovetone, and it won't be the last (next one the list is the Meatball and Big Cheese). I would recommend no one else buying one so I can keep this wonderful little tone secret all to myself.

The sounds of the Ring Stinger are not for the faint of heart. I would go so far as to say, that it's designed for the player who prefers to experiment with sounds...to create the next big thing that everone will want to be able to do. well, if it happens with the Ring Stinger, it will be a cold day in hell before anyone just goes to the store to buy..."that guy...with the fuzzy...octave...ringing thing...you know???". I love that it deconstructs the notionof what a guitar can sound like.
Like all Lovetone pedals, you CAN just plug in and go, but the learning curve can be a bit much for the Boss stomp box crowd. The instructions are only the beginning of what this pedal can do in the right hands. For the novice, this pedal will seem very useless...poor novice...get back in the shed...hee hee hee

As with all Lovetone pedals, the tone is what it's all about. I play Tele Jr's, and Gretsch Jets through my Dr. Z Route 66. The Lovetone pedals do not offend the Route 66. I went with Lovetone because I prefer to experiment with sounds...not so much emulate the sounds of others. I like it when people ask me how I pulled this sound or that sound on my recordings...I'm a bit of a tone freak in that respect. It would be nice to have all of the lovetone effects in one box...it would also be impossible
Oh...yeah...the Ring Stinger is a Ring Mod/ Octavia pedal. The ring mod is absolutely insane, with selectable everything. The Octavia is it's own unique sound, and would do well in it's own box. It is a much different tone than the Big Cheese. I actually pulled it out after cutting some fuzz tracks w/ the cheese. The engineer said "MAN...could you get any more over the top that that?"...to which I replied "Why yes, I can."

I have been sporting Lovetone for...4 years I think :). It's like having a best friend...you kinda forget when or how you met...but it seems like they've been a part of your life for longer than you can recall.
I seldom take these out to shows, as I cold not replace them if stolen. Lovetone pedals are not exactly growing on trees. I have a few other boxes that I take out...none of which could emulate the Ring Stinger.

After many years of mighty stomping, I think my Doppelganger finally needs a new switch...must contact Vlad...which leads us to...

Lovetone support their products! Nuff said. I assumed that they would be hesitant to provide support from across the pond, but Vlad and Co. are the best.

It's hard to render an overall rating to a pedal this forward thinking..this unique. I have been playing seriously for 5 years. I own the entire Lovetone range, and am currently waiting for the new industry redefining pedal...the ?, stereo flanger :). If my pedals were stolen or lost, I would try to replace them, but at over 2500 american (low estimate...probably closer to 3k for all of them)...I doubt that I could. I love the versatility, and that lovetone enables the user to shape his / her own voice. I do not really "hate" anything about them, though i dislike the limited availability...but hey...that's what makes them the stuff of legend :). I cannot honestly compare the Lovetones to other products...there is no one making effects that could provide an apples to apples comparison. The pedals are not for everybody, but in the right hands, they are indispensable...and for what they do, they are a great value. Hey, I've heard some serious multi thousand dollar studio boxes that couldnt come close to doing anything that the Lovetone pedals do . :)

Jesus! This is one scary box! Not really sure what is going on, as I have only just got it, but will try to explain some of the messed-up sounds you can get. It is very easy to go over board with this thing, and slap everything up to 10, which kills any trace of an actuall note or (heaven forbbid) a chord from your guitar. After an hour or so of creating crazy-arse analogue synth effects, I realised that you have to start low and build up to the sound your looking for. And the knobs and switches are pretty confusing (LFO? VCO? Yeah, right....). But give it time, and it (slowly) reveals itself. Atleast the instructions clarify things slightly, but they do admit that it baffels them too.
It is a beast. And I will tame it.

Ok, at the moment I'm just using this straight into my little Park 10R amp, playing a Les Paul standard. So, the Ringstinger is billed as primarily a ring modulator, but tweeking the knobs and using either the LFO or VCO or both, you can get some weird sounds. With just the LFO (Low Frequency Oscilator) on, you can dial up lovely tremelo effects, from very sutble to onoffonoff chugging. The LFO has two different waveforms, chainsaw and square, and this can either control the frequency modulation, or the pitch mod. On pitch you can get an odd chorus/phaser effect, stuttering on and off. The great thing about the pedal is that casue it uses a real LFO and not a chip to mess around with the frequency of the signal, it is constantly changing. Meaning the speed of the tremelo changes slightly as your note rings on, giving it an ace analogue sound. I love this. It sounds so much more interesting than a usual trem pedal. With the LFO off, the other foot switch switches between the VCO (voltage controlled oscilator) and a fuzz octave distortion.

The fuzz it pretty good, very fuzzy, with an octave effect that comes into play the higher up the neck you play. With the VCO on, you get the ring modulation. This is nice and lo-fi, and you can "tune" it to the note you are playing using the VCO frequency knob (or untune it, for a large slab of dirge). The freq. can be tuned up to about 2 octaves above the note you are playing, or down below our hearing range. This introduces another interesting effect. When this is done, the pedal goes weird and the note becomes a tremelo (again?) of scratched record sounds and burbling oddness. And if you now reduce the "Blend" level, and increase the pure guitar signal going through the pedal, you get your guitar, with a strange old record/clicky tremelo/lo-fi backing sound. Um, hard to describe. Makes your sound just different. With both the LFO and VCO on, it become a basic synth thing controlled by yer guitar. You can do crazy Chemical Brothers sounds, rumbling phaser sounds (which continually change and never sound sampled), and just plain silly sickening pitch wobble stutter mayhem. I like it.
It would be impossible to list all the sounds, as every control seems to interact with everything else, so experiment is todays watchword. Pedal noise is low, but with the processed level on full and the drive level right up, there is some guitar sound cross bleeding, but this is easily sorted.

Cant comment, as I've only had it for a few days. Seems like any other pedal. Nice easy battery entry, but they recomend using a mains adapter, as it eat batteries. I wouldn't throw it around though. It is alot more complex that yer standard RAT.

Vlad is a good bloke, who didn't seem to mind my anal questions and e-mailed me promptly after each burst of jibberish. Good work fella!

I play radioheadish strangelove-esque ambient Smith-like stuff. This is fantastic for getting bizzzzzz-ar unique sounds. I cant really compare it to anything, so I wont bother.
Overal, I'd say it is a fun, exciting, fucked-up piece of kit, which demands time to get your head round it (jump straight in and it'll sound shite, and you'll wonder why you bothered. I know I did) but once you do, there are so many sounds to tweek out of it, you'll end up loosing afternoons to it. If only it wasn't so expensive....but it looks damn cool, I'm just a sucker for a good body......

it sound great, but i really don't know how to use the thing musically! its got a bunch of knobs that sound really weird as you tweak them,and plus its got this light sensor input jack where if you wave your hand over, or foot, the thing reacts to the motion of your foot! its absolutely crazy....

but in terms how easy it is to use, i really don't know because this thing sounds just horrifying (in a good way)

I'm running it into my american standard strat and into a Mesa trem-o-verb or a fender twin... i like Radiohead and i try to get their sound. anyway this thing is amazing... you cant get anymore analogue than this! its the wierdest sounding pedal I've ever heard. I bought a meatball before i picked up this thing and i thought the meatball was bad.. and when i got this... oh man... words cannot describe it... weird is just not enough.

there is no doubt in my mind it wouldn't work.... just bring another battery... they really suck battery to the last drop

vlad is great.... he'll keep you posted and if you have any questions, just give him a call or send him an email.. he'll get back to you quickstyle.

If you have ring stinger or any other lovetone pedal send me an IM or email.... I'd love to talk to someone who owns one... i don't know anyone who has one ( but that's cool!) so far i have a doppelganger, meatball, and ringstinger.... looking for a cheese source.


I'm sure these pedals, if not already will be highly sought after and be seen as prized pieces of equipment... so if you have one, HOLD ON to it, unless you want to sell it to me.