SONICAKE Black Hammer Guitar Multi Effects Pedal

I bought this on the strength of two things: the reviews here and elsewhere (there's a great one on YouTube) and getting tired of fiddling about with multiple effects pedals, power supplies, cables etc even for the smallest and simplest gig or rehearsal. I've had this a couple of days now and am hugely impressed. Firstly, it is physically robust. The case is metal and the foot switches are smooth. The power supply has a sensible length of cable (about three metres) - it is a 9v, centre-negative plug, so you *could* add this easily onto a larger pedal board if you wanted to add it to an existing set up. It is just over 10 inches long and just under 2.5 inches wide. All the inputs/ouputs are on the back. There are four sections to the unit - Compression (comp), Overdrive (blues), Echo (slapback) and Reverb (Air). When reviewing this (or considering buying it), you have to remember that this is the 'Twiggy Blues' pedal. So if you are expecting to get tones out of it suitable for electro-pop, funk or heavy metal then it probably isn't suitable (although I think the same company make another more stadium rock version if that's your thing). But for straight ahead classic rock, country, rockabilly and even ambient this is perfect. The Compression section works well - you can even turn the compression itself right down and the volume up on this section to boost your signal for solos etc. It shows one of the features of this product. The sound it creates is quite warm, and doesn't have that nasty digital edge you sometimes hear. The Overdrive part is relatively subtle, when you compare it to the wildly distorted sounds produced by some overdrive pedals. That isn't a criticism (see above about playing heavy metal using it!) - it's perfect for blues and blues rock. It's easy to get a creditable Bad Company/Free tone - dial it right back and you are in Eric Clapton territory. The Echo section is adjustable so you can set the number of repeats. One creates an excellent rockabilly slapback, multiple creates a more spacey Hillage/Gilmour vibe, depending on the number of repeats, the delay duration you set (up to 500 milliseconds) and you can change the blend between the echo and the original signal. Reverb does what you'd expect - from very subtle, to 'playing in a huge ambient cave'. And again it keeps the warmth. There is also a cabinet sim switch, which you'd use if playing directly into a PA rather than through an actual guitar amp/cab. It does make a bit of tonal difference when playing through an amp/cab, but probably not enough to bother with. I haven't tried it through a PA system - I don't have one! Obviously I still have a lot a playing around to do (although it is - mercifully - a simple pedal to use) but am going to use it at the next rehearsal. I also tried it with two different ukuleles, both electric. One a piezo based model and the other with steel strings and magnetic pickups. It was just as good with those as with a guitar (despite not being intended for use with the ukulele!). Is it the only pedal you'll ever need? Quite possibly, but probably not. You will need a tuner (although I have recently switched to a Planet Waves headstock tuner, so one pedal less there!), maybe a wah pedal if that suits your style or perhaps a volume pedal if you are an ambient merchant - but for the majority of us, in the majority of gigging band situations it will do the job excellently for the musical styles it is aimed at. Oh - and did I mention it is only £70? Amazing value. Free standard non-Prime delivery took a very acceptable two and a half days from my late night order until a luchtime delivery.

I'm not a pro or knowledgeable guitarist, but bought this just for experimenting. Decent enough sound transformation with it, but when layering the effects, it tends to deteriorate a bit. Definitely worthwhile for someone starting out with an electric guitar, far simpler to use than a load of daisy-chained separate pedals.

Just before the review. I've been a professional for many many years. I'm a veteran of literally thousands of gigs and hundreds of recording hours. My current rig is Markbass, Musicman, Warwick, ESP and Ibanez Premium. I have a fully cased pedalboard but a hankering to travel light. Some of the reviews of this are unflattering and might lead me to question just how much experience the writers have with kit and the real world. From my perspective I was really bowled over. I expected a flyrig to sit in my case for rehearsals where there was a studio amp available, as a backup for short festival slots where I could just DI out and possibly for pit band work. I'm now looking at some of the pedals on my main board with fresh eyes just because of the quality coming from this TINY box. The compressor is really transparent and sounds natural, the boost is a useful option (P'raps for the above DI as an "always on" option?), but not needed. It knocks spots off the Ashdown dual band compressor that's in a cupboard somewhere. Fuzz on bass isn't really my thing, but at a pinch with the sustain backed right off it hits nasty overdrive well. One thing that it does do is to nail the old Big Muff sound. The preamp is a diamond. Again the DI gig would be happy with the tone-shaping which really does sound like an amp. On a more real-world situation it's great to be able to add a driven Ampeg sound on the songs that need it. One great thing is that both the fuzz and the preamp react really well to volume changes from the bass so cleaning up is always an option. I habitually run the bass on half volume to preserve dynamics later down the chain and a pristine to grind transformation is really easy to achieve which just adds versatility. The Octave section is, in my opinion, really good. It tracks down to the B on a five string without glitching. Turn up the direct, octaves on half and the compressor keeping things tidy and the tracking and sound is better than my OC3 (which cost double what the whole soundbar costs). Noise floor is very low unless you dime the drives, construction solid and just too cute for words. If I could suggest anything for the mark II it would be a 9v output to drive a pedal in the loop and some sort of tuner, especially since that's going to be the essential either in the loop or in the front end. But that is that. On the whole I'm more than delighted and am thinking of buying a second to sit on my main board and run the other pedals in the loop. Great bit of kit.

There are all sorts of acoustic pickups both active and passive, I tried this unit on an acoustic with active pickups and a semi-acoustic with passive pickups. For the most part there was little difference other than setting the pre-amp controls , if the pre-amp is set flat on the tone controls at full volume it maintains the same volume as the signal going in, it is not a volume boost , it is a volume control that will keep the signal from clipping. The 2 tone controls will add volume in each of their ranges, basically complementing the sound of the standard 4 band active pickups being used today, giving a richer sound. The unit is a nice compact size with the switches at a comfortable distance to use , and all of the sections can be used simultaneously without taxing the power supply (included) or making the lights fllicker. The reverb effect is pretty simmple , one control , and goes from subtle to driving surf sound. The echo has a nice sound with typical feedback and intensity and speed controls, sounds nice on its own . The chorus I found absolutely amazing it had a richer fuller sound than I have found on most separate chorus pedals I found myself turning it on often because it sounded so good. I tried also with an electric guitar , the quality comes out there as well, and it sounds great with an off-board distortion unit too.

Bei dem Produkt ist leider kein Eurosteckernetzteil beigelgt! Dieses muss nachgekauft werden, damit das Produkt in Betrieb genommen werden kann!

Ganz okay aber nicht Zuviel erwarten! Leider kein Eu Stecker!

I really like the Sonicake Boom Ave multi-pedal for Bass! It is surprising how small it is, but the effect sounds are very high quality. The Preamp sounds very much like Tech21. I think the Octave is very close to Boss octaver sound. The fuzz and Boost/Compressor also work well. It sounds really good and easy to use. Also, it is so small, you can fit in pocket of your gigbag.

This is a very simple effects pedal for acoustic I plugged it on the effects loop awesome!! And the price is awesome