30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014: P.o.B The “800” and ChokeHold Fuzz

10368935_590456694406202_1702272587244529006_o

Get your full metal on and watch the full vids below and enter our official giveaway! 

It’s not often that TheToneKing.com gets to check out a set of prototypes. But, P.o.B had enough confidence in their design that they were willing to let us check them out a bit early. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014, TheToneKing.com had an exclusive look at P.o.B Pedals The “800” and the Chokehold Fuzz.

Based out of Chicago, P.o.B Pedals is too busy building pedals to worry about a website. Players might be surprised by this company’s lack of marketing, but they should be impressed. If you’re the only one talking about yourself, chances are there’s really not much to talk about. P.o.B has managed to build itself up solely on word-of-mouth. They don’t have time to market themselves, and when you open the back of one of these pedals up, you’ll see why.

You’ll find lots of Teflon wires, silver solder, Switchcraft jacks, Alpha pots, and premium switches when you look under the hood of a P.o.B. pedal. What you wont find, is a circuit board. While we’ve heard much of the debate between point-to-point vs. printed circuit boards, there have been very few companies that have put their money where their mouth is. There aren’t many of them that are willing to spend the time and energy to hand wire their pedals point-to-point.

Another point that P.o.B Pedals is proud of is that they stay green by not using batteries in their pedals. P.o.B also offers probably the most customizable options from any manufacturer. Players can tailor their pedals to their unique needs by choosing enclosure size/color, style/color/placement of the knobs, color/size of LED light, and placement of the input/output jacks or power adapter jack. All of their pedals are true bypass, unless you don’t want it to be. Want a buffer in that bitch? They’ll throw that in for you.

Hell, they might even put your damn name on it if you asked nicely.

And, all of this at a price that a working musician can afford and a 5-year warranty.

The “800” is based off of one of the most iconic amp manufacturers during the height of its popularity. For players looking to nail that JCM Marshall arena rock tone from the ‘80s, The “800” is your jam. Besides for putting an 800 into a pedal, P.o.B made sure that there was enough saturation to satisfy even the most metal of metalheads. Designed around the very popular 4558 op amp chip, the 800 gets thicker with more sustain when you crank the gain. Currently, players can use either a 9-volt adapter, or you can go up to 12 volts if you’re looking for more headroom. Future versions will have an internal charge pump that will up the voltage to 18 volts for more headroom and range.

Then we got the ChokeHold fuzz, a transistor based fuzz designed to be loud, thick, and in your face. Something that roars this loud needs something to hold it back. Thus, the added Choke (gate) for added flexibility. Easy to use control layout with a Level, Choke, and 2-position EQ switch. And, bass players? Don’t fret. P.o.B has you covered as the ChokeHold will work with guitar or bass. Always looking ahead, P.o.B plans to include an expression pedal input and 2-way toggle to switch between bass or guitar with a complimentary tonal range for each.

Ordering a pedal from P.o.B is like a custom tailored suit. Almost everything is done to player specs. As a fellow Chicago boy, it’s cool to see some of my fellow countrymen building some killer gear. And that whole website thing? Don’t worry. They have a website coming in 2015. What do you expect when you’re slammed building pedals? Also in the works is a unique pedals design that’s been in the process for two years and a 2016 winter NAMM showing. At TheToneKing.com, we’re always stoked to cover a young company on its way up. And judging by what we’ve seen from The “800” and ChokeHold Fuzz during 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014, P.o.B is only getting started.

 

You can contact P.o.B. through any of the following ways:

Email 

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

 

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX9bnbKa-dY’]

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7cbr4rA06M’]

Click here to enter our official Randall Amp giveaway! 

Tiny URL for this post:
 

SubscribeTTKsYTChannel

Filed Under: FeaturedPedals3P3D-2014

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.

RSSComments (0)

Trackback URL

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.