Yeah I was thinking Fortin was either from Canada, or moved to Cali once things got really big for him. Dunno why.
Wasn't there another builder, too?
Yeah Fortin is in Canada and Metro built at least the last few runs of Meshuggah heads. I would guess they are building the Calis as well since it was announced they would ship from the US, but who knows. Fortin pedals are from another company that is building them, I forget the name.
Boutique Amp Distribution is in Cali and builds Friedman, Synergy, and a bunch of other stuff. Bogner is also in Cal at their own shop.
I got mine last thursday and run it like this Guitar>Fortin Zuul>Fortin Grind>Interface/DAW>Torpedo WOS. Its sounds amazing. So far Im liking the Gemini setting with the tight mode on. And the other I like as well is the Colossus mode with Thick on. It really does compare to my actual Colossus that I run with a torpedo live to my computer. I bought this though so I could have a desktop pedalboard setup. And just a tip be sure to have the "power amp mode" on in the WOS and I also found the "exciter Mode" in WOS to really thicken up the tone as well. Also forgot to mention I use ownhammer ir's and that makes life so much easier.
Thanks for the review! I'm even more excited now. By the way, no pics?
BlueTrident, Korneo, Smoked Porter and 7 others like this.
So its legit? One thing that worried me is that Fluffs playthrough part sounded kinda fuzzy and pedal like at times. Then again I dont like most of his tones.
Also hows it pair with the grind? Not too thin?
BlueTrident and Korneo like this.
Totally legit. It sounds very close to my Colossus. I heard his demo as well and it is very fuzzy but thats always been his tone. It doesn't need the grind at all. I just used it to do some cutting on my 7 string tuned to drop G. But I noticed last night that on my 6 string it was getting a little thin so I killed it and just ran the Colossus mode on tight and it sounded awesome. Im still trying to work with the WOS to figure out what power amp works best with it. Sometimes I think I have the tone I was wanting and then I come back a few hours later and don't like it. But that also could be the rabbit hole we all go down chasing tone.
BlueTrident and mnemonic like this.
Welp, guess I still need to check it out. Been looking at guitars to put on the chopping block.
This honestly doesnt surprise me one bit. Kyle puts alot of work into making sure his products are the real deal for the players buying them.
Finally, my pedalboard rig is finally complete. As you can see, the pedal chain is 805 > Ceres > NS2 > RV4 > Tube Cake into Panama 112 Cab with a WGS Veteran 30 in it.
First, let me shout out a thank you to Kyle. I was going to move off of my address in FL, and I'd be out of the country for at least a month so I'd miss the Ceres before he graciously moved up my pedal up so that I can receive it earlier. 10/10 for customer service.
Now, as far as the pedal goes, the first impression is great. Plenty of gain on tap, plenty of voicing and options. From saturated, loose to modern and tight, the pedal can do quite a lot. It basically made my 805 obsolete really because there's really no point of boosting the pedal, it just sounds excessive and too harsh. It sounds absolutely monstrous through my cab, with the right amount of saturation and thickness but still stays tight. The best part it just feels just like a tube amp. It has the response and the sensitivity that I commonly experienced with my 5150-III and Mini Rectifier.
Extremely satisfied with my purchase so far.
BlueTrident, 0rimus, Smoked Porter and 3 others like this.
You got yours!! Awesome! That's fantastic support from Kyle. Thank you for the info on boosting. That was one of my questions and I'm glad to know it doesn't need it. Any idea how the clean channel handles a fuzz?
I hope my order comes up soon. I can't wait to try it out!
The clean channel seems to take the 805 fine, but I don't have a fuzz so I can't answer that.
Here's my very scuffed playthrough of the preamp. Pardon the string noise there. Not the most comprehensive but it should give people some idea of what this little beast is capable of.
Only the 805 and the TC1 were used in the signal chain.
0rimus, BlueTrident, johnnydeformed and 1 other person like this.
I got mine today too and shot a little video earlier. I make some mistakes when talking about channel names, etc. but I don't think it matters that much unless someone hears the pedal and wants to buy an amp based on what I say the modes and corresponding amps are. I was trying it with poweramp emulation on my two notes, but it just seemed to make it noisier and not really be worth it, ended up not using it for this video. Overall pretty rad sounding, modern without being plasticky sounding. I did try running a couple overdrives and an Xotic EP booster in which give it a little different flavor but definitely aren't necessary.
jjcor, KnightBrolaire, johnnydeformed and 1 other person like this.
You guys are awesome for getting clips up so fast. Thanks!!
The Big Muff sounds really good to me. I was hoping I could add a fuzz for even more sound variation so it looks like it's at least worth a try.
Welp, the Ceres is back on the menu.
I didn't think I had GAS for this, but apparently I was mistaken.
Awesome clips above, now I want one!
I think I might have to get one of these. I love my AMT R2, but this is pretty awesome and in a couple of ways more flexible.
Also starting to regret selling my Savage Drive.
It's hard to explain but it "feels" better than the savage, brutal drive, or horizon nano imo.