30 Pedals in 30 Days: Earthquaker Devices The Depths

 

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Don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom of the page. 

When players think about essential pedals, they usually don’t put Vibe pedals into that category. Which is a shame because, as players like Zakk Wylde have show us, old-school sounds can be used to create some awesome tones. Nobody knows this better than the guys and girls over at Earthquaker Devices. Enter Earthquaker’s classic sounding and versatile The Depths Optical Vibe Machine pedal. TheToneKing.com had a chance to give The Depths a test run for 30 Pedals in 30 Days.

With its untold depths, couldn’t the sea keep alive such huge specimens of life from another age – Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

The giant Octopus that dons Earthquaker’s The Depths pedal invokes the “poulpe” from the Jules Verne classic. So, when your pedal has a giant man-eating sea monster on it, it better damn well sound huge. And, Earthquaker’s The Depths pedal doesn’t disappoint.

Earthquaker’s take on the classic optical vibe circuit creates a phasing pulse, which creates a three-dimensional swirling sound. Built to work with any instrument and pickup configuration. Most importantly, this pedal is configured to work well from clean to scream. The Depths can take any amount of dirt that you can throw at it, which adds to its versatility.

The Depths offers a great range of different vibe sounds. The “Voice” knob changes the general contour of your sound, giving you everything from a rich, warm tone to a thin chime. The “Throb” control controls the shape of the pulse. Subtler than the “Voice” knob, the “Throb” knob either sharpens or rounds out the pulse.  The “Rate” controls the speed of the pulse, and the “Intensity” controls… well, the intensity. And, if you don’t already know what the “Level” knob does, then you need to buy more pedals.

The Depths features a voice control to accommodate every set up, every instrument, and anywhere in the signal chain. It also features the classic photocell construction, 9-18v operation, and a rugged yet small chassis that’ll save you precious real estate on your pedalboard. And, it’s hand made in Akron Ohio.

For cleans and light gains, The Depths accentuates the harmonies within chords and arpeggios. The pulse and resulting swirling effect works particularly well with seventh chords and ninth chords, adding to their complexity like tannins to a fine wine. Classic rock sounds like Pink Floyd and The Who are impossible without these sounds.

Now, let’s talk about some rock.

Vibe = Rock? I say, “Hell, yeah it does!”

Vibe can offer rock players a dimension of sound that most have neglected. The vibe can be used as a subtle effect that makes listeners say, “I’ve never heard that before,” or as a chopper effect that’ll have people saying, “Holy shit! That was awesome!” Really, when it comes to using the Vibe, you’re only limited by your own imagination. A particular favorite of trick of The Tone King is playing with the rhythm of the pulse. It creates a badass sound. If you crank the “Intensity” and the “Rate” you’ll get that chopper sound I mentioned earlier. This little trick works well with emulating some of your favorite Industrial or Dubstep sounds.

Ever since they’ve come on the scene, we’ve seen nothing but good things coming from Earthquaker Devices. The Depths looks to be another quality piece in a string of what’s become an extraordinary line of pedals. Hopefully, The Depths will pull players away from the stale old staples and help put vibes on the map. We here at TheToneKing.com will always be excited to hear what Earthquaker comes up with next. Checking out the huge sounds of The Depths for 30 Pedals in 30 Days reminded me of one of my favorite lines:

If there were no thunder, men would have little fear of lightning – Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

 

For prices on The Depths or any other Earthquaker Devices gear, check out: EarthquakerDevices.com

Click here to enter into TheToneKing.com’s 30 Pedals in 30 Days Randall Give-Away! 

Official RD1C Give-Away Page: https://thetoneking.com/gear-give-away/2013-2/randall-rd1c-give-away/

Randall Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/randallamplifiers

Product Page: http://earthquakerdevices.com/shop/the-depths/#tab-description

Unboxing Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrZwF3u-TQ

Official Full-On Demo & Reviewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ACZL5mOT50

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ACZL5mOT50′]

 

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About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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