Where can I play one?
You can order one through GuitarFetish.com and you have 10 days to evaluate it.
"All items sold by Guitarfetish.com may be returned for a full refund within 10 days of receipt."
Click to read full GuitarFetish.com Return Policy
What's the best way to set up the Gain Stage?
The Gain Stage sounds great in any number of configurations, HOWEVER - the pedal was designed to work best with an amp that is "breathing".
The Gain Stage was not designed for "bedroom" use. We feel that the huge harmonic content from the pedal does not translate well at bedroom volumes. Once you get your amp to the point where it starts to open up and breath,
the amp/pedal interaction provides a large palette of rich, wonderful tones.
Think of the Gain Stage as a professional high performance vehicle. With that in mind, the Gain Stage will need to be approached a bit differently than your average homogenizing, "let's make everyone sound the same" overdrive pedal. In other words - It will not polish a turd!
Experiment with the switches and gain knob to find the tones you like.
There are many possible tones and shades available with just the flick of one switch.
You will notice that the pedal responds like a great non-master-volume tube amp.
The Gain Stage was designed by professionals using professional quality equipment. However, the Gain Stage will provide players of all levels with a great tonal experience and will inspire you to greater levels of playing.
Essentially.....turn it up and wail away!!!
Is this another clone? Or a slightly modified version of a clone?
No.
This pedal was developed over the period of a year and when designing the Gain Stage™ we re-examined fundamental OD circuit principles and spent countless hours perfecting the basic gain stage and selecting the right components.
There are so many great pedals out there - we knew this had to be a special one in order to justify selling it to the public.
Is the Gain Stage True Bypass?
Yes. It's True Bypass and contains no buffering circuitry.
How does the Gain Stage respond when backing off the guitar volume?
At moderate to stage volume levels, the pedal responds much like a cranked non master volume tube amp when backing off the guitar volume.
When using my strat into the pedal (set for medium gain), I can roll my strat volume knob down to 6 or 7 and I get a cleaner tone, a little less volume, but I adjust with pick attack to compensate.
Then when I crank up my volume knob, the gain gets more intense and starts to sing. It really does react like another channel on your amp.
The pedal is also very touch sensitive even at full volume - you dig in it gets dirty, back off your pick attack and it responds accordingly.
What is the Warranty?
There is a 5 year limited warranty. This covers manufacturing defects. It does not cover normal wear and tear, abuse or tampering.
