October | 2014

Michael Barberich‘s photo.

So, after receiving my new pedals through my endorsement deal with Ogre, I installed them into my pedal board replacing my two favorite distortion boxes.

I’ve just completed three shows using them and, I have to say, THEY ROCK.

I’m really picky about distortion boxes and these performed brilliantly.

I used the Ogre Tubeholic for most stuff that needed some grit or for soloing and I used the Thunderclap set for a raucous, screaming tone when I needed something that was a little more over-the-top.

Now I just need to make room for the Kronomaster delay.

It’s a little bigger than the MXR box I was using (which coincidentally died right before last night’s show.)

A big thank you to all my friends at Ogre Pedals U.S.A.!

Photo: So, after receiving my new pedals through my endorsement deal with Ogre, I installed them into my pedal board replacing my two favorite distortion boxes. I've just completed three shows using them and, I have to say, THEY ROCK. I'm really picky about distortion boxes and these performed brilliantly. I used the Ogre Tubeholic for most stuff that needed some grit or for soloing and I used the Thunderclap set for a raucous, screaming tone when I needed something that was a little more over-the-top. Now I just need to make room for the Kronomaster delay. It's a little bigger than the MXR box I was using (which coincidentally died right before last night's show.) A big thank you to all my friends at Ogre Pedals U.S.A.!

The November issue of Guitar Player featuring Ogre Pedals

14 Pedals From 4 New Companies

Tested by Sam Haun, Max Lazarus, and Michael Molenda

It’s always a big treat at Guitar Player Central when we open the mail and find a bunch of cool pe… See More

The November issue of Guitar Player featuring Ogre Pedals

14 Pedals From 4 New Companies

Tested by Sam Haun, Max Lazarus, and Michael Molenda

It’s always a big treat at Guitar Player Central when we open the mail and find a bunch of cool pedals with which we might be able to offer some “scoops” to our reader community. For this month, we received an especially interesting group of pedal premieres. Each of the four companies was started by a musician who also has engineering smarts, and the fact that different countries touch some of their pedals is perhaps a statement on productive global collaboration.

Just one year old, Australia’s MC Systems was formed by electronics specialist and musician Warren McAlister. McAlister does his R&D at “The Lab” in the Blue Mountains of Australia, manufacturers his pedals in Guangzhou, China, and markets his products via a firm in Hong Kong.

Ogre was started by another musician/engineer in Korea’s Kim Sangkil—who also happens to own a company that makes metal components for other manufacturers. Sounds like a nice situation for developing some truly unique pedal casings. Which is what he did, and Ogre pedals are so uniquely designed that GP ran a “box opening” feature in the September 2014 issue, before we actually tested the pedals.

Vauxflores marks another collaboration between different countries, as these extremely experimental fuzz boxes are designed in San José, Costa Rica, and then hand-built in Baltimore, Maryland. The fact that Vauxflores pedals are so sonically idiosyncratic is due to owner/designer Travis Johns—a sound artist, technologist, and electronic musician who creates works that “blur the lines between performance, composition, and installation, often using the environment and biological processes as inspiration.” So there’s that.

Zaim Audio is the playground of Mark Zaim, who looks kind of like a surfer dude, but who has worked at some top-drawer audio companies as an electronic engineer for more than 16 years. This guy has even done e-Briefs for Audio Engineering Society conventions. Zaim is also a musician, which got him into designing his own pedals when he couldn’t find models that met his self-described “outrageously tone obsessed demands.”

So with a bunch of effects pedals designed by musicians and produced by new companies just establishing themselves with the world’s guitarists, Sam, Max, and I were pretty jazzed to see what might unfold. Fasten your seatbelts, gang… —Michael Molenda

Ogre

I’ve been at Guitar Player since 1998, and the Ogre pedals are the most fun, whimsically designed, and stunning stompboxes I’ve ever seen in all my years here. It was rather shocking—in a good way—to open the boxes when we first got them and have these crazy “heads” staring up at us in somewhat menacing ways. The “cockpit” covers that protect the knobs on the Kronomaster Delay and Tubeholic Overdrive are especially brilliant, and we knew we had to share our experience with readers as soon as possible—which is why the Ogres ended up in a box-opening feature in the September 2014 issue. Kudos to Ogre owner Kim Sangkil for taking pedal design to stratospheric levels of awesomeness.

All of the Ogres are true-bypass and claim to be handmade—quite a feat, given the design elements. Circuits are constructed on a single PCB board, and chassis are die-cast aluminum. Power options are a 9-volt battery or optional 9-volt power supply. A handy battery cover allows easy and rapid battery changes.

Of course, looks are one thing, and tone is another, and few serious guitarists typically sacrifice good sound for beauty. It was time to see what these monsters have to offer…

Kronomaster Delay

The Kronomaster ($219 street) utilizes the PT2399 chip as its engine and offers from approximately 50ms up to 550ms of delay time. Controls were kept to the essential basics—Time, Repeat, and Mix—to allow fast and easy tweaks. The delay sounds are beefy and solid, and the Mix control lets you get real subtle with near-psychoacoustic delay trails following your notes, or get all The Edge-like with very pronounced repeats.

The Kronomaster’s facile controls, cockpit cover (which, when closed, makes it virtually impossible to mess with knob settings during performances or travel), and tough casing make it a fantastic delay for gigging. There’s a lot to love about the punchy delay tone, but, on the other hand, it’s an excellent sound that is also available on some less expensive delay pedals. So there’s a little bit of buying into the design concept here. This is not a bad thing, and as the Kronomaster comes in four colors—vintage gray, vintage red, vintage gold, and vintage green—it makes a pretty spectacular addition to a pedalboard. Just be ready to handle all the gear geeks who will seek you out after your show to ask, “What the heck kinda pedal is that?”

Thunderclap Distortion

The devilish Thunderclap ($219) also offers the same four color options as the Kronomaster, although this horned beast (those horns are actually the pedal’s Level, Bass, Treble, and Gain control knobs) does not have the cockpit cover. The distortion tone is mean and bright enough to soar over any band mix, but it doesn’t get annoyingly brittle at any time. Articulation is excellent, so your notes will be heard through the roar even if you are playing fast or fingering arpeggios. I really dug the aggressively silky sustain that occurs when the Gain knob is dimed. This is a very good distortion with enough tweak-ability to see action in a number of different musical scenarios.

Tubeholic Overdrive

Ogre’s little alien head ($219) offers the slick cockpit cover, four colors (vintage gray, vintage red, vintage gold, and vintage green), and basic controls (Level, Tone, and Gain). Tone-wise, it’s somewhat of an overdrive/distortion—gotta love the dual-purpose thing—that uncorks a really exciting and ferocious roar. Articulation is as good as the Thunderclap, although you get a little bit of a broader raunch factor here, as the Tubeholic can go from just a tad edgy to crunchy to blistering, depending on where you set the Gain knob. As a result, your attack and performance gestures are tracked somewhat more dynamically. This is a very versatile rumble machine.

Bottom Line

One might be tempted to think the Ogres are a slick gimmick. They aren’t. The industrial design is awesome, of course, but the pedals do sound very good, and they can absolutely hold their own against some other delay, distortion, and overdrive boxes. As mentioned earlier, the only consideration is pricing. You can get good sounds for a bit less elsewhere, but you can only get these beautiful, artwork-quality casings from Ogre. And, hey, style has always been a big part of rock and roll, and I think it’s pretty brilliant that Ogre made some good-sounding pedals and then dressed them up like rock stars. —Michael Molenda (4 photos)

OGRE

creates the innovative musical instruments

Month: October 2014

Jake Cloudchair’s photo

Jake Cloudchair‘s photo

Ogre Pedal and GoGo Tuner endorsee’s Chris Breedlove new pedalboard

Ogre Pedal and GoGo Tuner endorsee’s Chris Breedlove new pedalboard

Michael Barberich’s photo.

Michael Barberich‘s photo.

OGRE(Japan)’s Rehearsal

OGRE (Japan)‘s status.

My Ogre Pedals have arrived!

Michael Barberich

Jake Cloudchair’s photos on Instagram

Jake Cloudchair‘s photos on Instagram

Sam Ash has posted my Ogre Pedal demo

The November issue of Guitar Player featuring Ogre Pedals