March 2005

BIG OR SMALL, IT'S ALL GOOD - GUYATONE EFFECTS DELIVER, REGARDLESS OF SIZE

By Phil Feser

GUYATONE MICRO EFFECTS

Measuring 3 7/8” x 2 ¾” x 2 ¼”, these little effect pedals define “micro” in the world of guitar effects pedals.

Guyatone’s Micro Effects, while small, offer great tones in a large variety of pedals – there are over 20 in the line, including four bass pedals, five overdrive/distortions, four modulators, delay, noise reduction, EQ, auto wah, tuner, and slow volume.

We recently had a go with the MD-3 Digital Delay, MT-3 Micro Tuner, and the WR-3 Wah Rocker, using a Tokai AST solidbody through a Crate V3112.

All three share features like stamped steel chassis, old-school stompswitch, isolated-ground ¼” jacks, and 9-volt negative-center power jacks.  All can operate on a 9-volt battery as well, though access requires removing a rubber gasket that holds the bottom plate.

We first checked out the WR-3 Wah Rocker, which is essentially an auto wah.  We were pleased with the range of effect we could get by manipulating the Threshold, Blend and Decay controls; from quick and funky to subdued, all without adding any noise.

The MT-3 Micro Tuner offers a lot of features, including full auto-chromatic tuning, LED note display, a nine-LED tuner bar in 10-cent increments, calibration from 437 Hz to 445 Hz, a sound (electronic pitch pipe) mode, mute switch, and advanced circuitry construction that’s not supposed to alter your tone.  The MT-3 worked well, providing fast, accurate tuning without drastically affecting the tone of the guitar.  The unit’s only real drawbacks were the lack of any different temperaments, and the somewhat limited LED window.

The MD-3 Digital Delay offered the standard controls for Delay Level, Delay Time, and Feedback.  Delay Time is divided into three sections; S (20 to 160 m/Sec), M (80 to 650 m/Sec), and L (330 to 2600 m/Sec) via a tiny slide switch.  Like the WR-3, this pedal was very quiet, producing crystal-clear delay and slapback with no extraneous noise.

Unlike some other tiny effects, Guyatone’s Micro Effects are housed in heavy-duty steel cases and use heavy duty stomp switches to help produce good-quality, usable, noise-free effects comparable to their bigger counterparts.