“Kiku” is the phonetic translation for the Japanese characters for what we would describe in English as listening or hearing. And if I could take a moment of your time, not only will you walk away with a Berlitz course in Japanese, but I think you may just have found two new pedals to add to your board.
Without taking to much away from Dennis DeYoung and STYX, Toshio Horiba is the one to thank for bringing to all guitar players, a new company called Engineering Work Systems. E.W.S.is a new division of Prosound Communications Japan. Prosound Communications exports high-end guitars, pickups, amps, effects and accessories all made right here in the US. In 1999, they introduced a new line of guitar/bass pedals, Xotic Effects. The now infamous RC and AC Boosters have the privilege of being on some of the most famous pedal boards today. Because of the superior sound and transparency, the Pros have come to depend on their pedals for their signature sound. They continued their passion for tone with the addition of several new pedals, including BB Preamp, X-Blender, Tri-logic Bass Preamp, Bass RC Booster & Bass BB Preamp etc.
“Yorokobu”. English translation, to celebrate, to be jubilant, to have a joy, to have a delight, to have rapture. MMM. Rapture. Rapture is a great word to describe the two new pedals from E.W.S. And I don’t mean like the end of the world rapture although one could say that these may end your search for pedals to add to your board. I mean like the Charles Dickens quote, “listening to music is perfect rapture” use of the word. I think the E.W.S. Arion Sch-z Chorus/Vibe Mod pedal and/or the E.W.S. Fuzzy Drive can certainly put you into a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion.
The E.W.S. Arion Sch-z Chorus/Vibe Mod pedal:
Many professional musicians use the Arion Stereo Chorus due to it’s unique tone. However, there have been many request to modify the pedal to make it more durable as well as better sounding.
Here are the features and modifications to the Arion Chorus:
Installation of 3PDT Switch which makes the pedal True Bypass
Modified tone adjustment for much smoother sound while retaining the original tone
Vivid and readable blue LED
Chorus and Vibe mode switchable : Note OUT2 (STEREO) is no longer available due to this MOD.
The E.W.S. Fuzzy Drive Drive:
From the popular brand “E.W.S.“, known for their Arion Chorus Modification, comes the new and groundbreaking fuzz/distortion effect pedal, “FUZZY DRIVE“!
As you crank up the gain control of the FUZZY DRIVE, you will have powerful fuzz/distortion and with the versatile tone control, you will have wide variety of sound at your fingertip. And when you lower the gain and crank up the volume, it can also be used as fuzz/booster “a la vintage Tone Bender” to enhance your amp distortion. As always, switches are true bypass freeing you of any worries of your tone thinning out when the pedal is not engaged.
Past Fuzz unit’s drawback was the considerable individual variability in sound. This was caused by the flux of quality in the “heart” of the unit and the transistor. E.W.S. Fuzzy Driveis designed with circuit using the more stable Operational Amplifier. When evaluating the vintage fuzz sound, many people seek the value in the usage of vintage parts like Germanium transistor, but Fuzzy Drive’s unique design allows you to enjoy the typical tone nuance of the vintage Fuzz even with the use of Operational Transistor. The E.W.S. Fuzzy Drive is designed so you can dial in fuzz, overdrive and all the sound in between simply by adjusting the Gain knob.
Specs:
Dimensions (W/D/H): 112 X 65 X 50 (mm) , 4.4 x 2.6 x 2.0 (inch)
Weight:240g (0.53 lbs)
True Bypass Switching
Power Consumption: 9VDC/ 7mA
BatteryType: 9VDC (006P) x 1
AC Adapter (Optional): 9VDC, Negative Tips (Regulated recommended)
Input Impedance: 1 M ohm
Output Impedance: less than 10k ohm
Head on over to the product page for each of the pedals and say Konnichiwa and check out some video of them in action. Guitar Adoptions is pleased to announce the arrival E.W.S. to our inventory and we think you will be equally glad as well.
