Vessel is the latest recording by über-modern guitarist Dan Phelps. GM has spoken to Phelps in the past about his more group-oriented projects like Modular, Arc, and Spirits Drifted, but Vessel is representative of the guitarist as he more often appears live: alone on stage with guitar, effects, laptop, guitar amp, and full range speaker system. Recorded as one 45 minute take, it incorporates techniques Phelps has described in earlier interviews and in some newer videos included here.
Molten Voltage makes all those things for your pedalboard that you didn’t know you needed. They make especially cool stuff to enhance the Digitech Whammy experience. They are running a Kickstarter campaign for their latest Whammy modifier, one that turns your guitar into a sequencer—but that is just the beginning. Check out the video and kick in some money if you want to get in on the ground floor.
Veteran pedal pushers will be interested in the Toggle pedal by Molten Voltage. It features programmable and dynamic channel switching. Its seven modes let you switch between two different effect chains, either by tapping in a tempo, or based on the intensity of your playing. In the four Tap modes the “on” time for each channel can be set independently to create a swing effect. It can also be triggered using an external audio signal, like a keyboard or microphone. It doesn’t create any sound of its own but rather controls other pedals in loops in ways that could help you reimagine the way you use your current effects.