Magnetic Effects’ Sonic Tailor: A vintage-inspired overdrive from London
A new Germanium transistor overdrive with mid boost
Magnetic Effects Sonic Tailor Drive / Boost pedal based around a NOS Germanium transistor · Source: Magnetic Effects
Magnetic Effects are based in London, England where they make some really well-respected boutique guitar pedals. Their Sonic Tailor is a new design based around a Germanium transistor overdrive with a blendable mid-range boost section.
Transistor
The NOS (New Old Stock) Germanium transistor based Sonic Tailor is part vintage overdrive, part treble booster and according to Magnetic Effects has that ’60s – ’70s vibe to its sound. The company makes some very nice hand built pedals and they are starting to release more and more of their own unique circuits.
It would appear that they have a good understanding of how the circuits on those old vintage pedals are laid out. The aim here is to produce better quality, modern day versions using far higher quality components and with a much better build quality throughout.
Controls
The Sonic Tailor has a Volume and Gain, plus controls for Treble, Bass, Frequency and Mix. This should allow you far greater control than some of the vintage designs that it draws upon, which usually only had a Volume, Tone and Gain – if you were lucky. Magnetic say the mid boost sounds like a cocked wah, perhaps suggesting some extra flexibility compared to other overdrives on the market, as it can be blended in to the main drive tone as needed.
Pedal Board friendly
The pedal has top mounted jacks, making it pedalboard-friendly, which I think is always a good idea. It runs on voltages between 9v – 18v and should play well with most power supplies.
The Sonic Tailor features a high input impedance and low output impedance so that it will stack well with any buffered pedals in a signal chain before it. This is also something that vintage overdrive pedals just often will not do, as modern buffers tend to play havoc with old drive pedals. It’s also a true bypass design and so should play happily on your pedal board and not colour your guitar’s tone when it is not engaged.
Magnetic Effects Sonic Tailor Drive / Boost pedal based around a NOS Germanium transistor · Source: Magnetic Effects
Limited
The Sonic Tailor pedal is being produced in limited numbers, and I suspect it could be popular as the price is very fair for a hand-built pedal using good quality components. A good boost drive is essential for most guitarists and this new pedal from Magnetic Effects sounds like it may be worth checking out.
I have yet to play any bad pedals from this company, so I have faith in their new design. Check out the video below for more on the Sonic Tailor.
Sonic Tailor RRP: USD $150 plus shipping
Magnetic Effects site here
https://youtu.be/Udjh1-Enq14
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