Chris Buck's Signature ThorpyFX Electric Lighting Plexi Style Tube Preamp suitably delivers exquisite tube tones alongside superior dynamics
I’ve gone a little bit movie poster on this one! The saga of the forgotten Top Gun :
’The Bluesman!’
I’ve long been a fan of Chris Buck - and indeed named him as one of my favourite 25 Guitar Heroes back in a 2022 article. His incredibly expressive touch is second to none! And he can wring out the most impressive detail and nuance over several bars - from just a single note!
So it’s entirely fitting that Thorpy has built him an equally dynamic and expressive pedal to match Chris’s virtuosity! Interestingly I went a long time without having any tube-powered pedals on my board, but now have 2 - this new Electric Lightning, and the very recent Tubesteader Lightkeeper V2! Note that recommended power here is 12V DC [-] @ 700mA - which may involve some power supply challenges, if not using the included one that comes with the pedal.
Thorpy advised me that there is an early surge during initial power-up, but which settles down to a Current Draw below 400mA. While he also advised that I could use my Cioks Supply which delivers 500mA @ 12V - that actually works really great for me - it’s just a touch slower to warm up is all - but mostly we’re talking about just 30-40 seconds - so not really an issue in the slightest!
Controls - Volume, Treble, Mids, Gain, Bass, ACTIVE HIGH PASS FILTER } Boost, Lows.
These are all familiar controls, and the ’Lows Boost’ is not that different in impact to say the Dane Boost - while I use it quite differently on this pedal. Chris apparently has a core softer voicing set on his own Electric Lightning, which he then beefs up with the Lows-Boost, he also seems to use the Lows Boost a lot on its own. Where - as you will see from my preferred settings below - my core voicing is already fully ’beefed’ up - and so I use the Boost as a Clarifier / Low-Cut EQ - which sharpens the delivery for a more focused kind of solo sound. With the unboosted voicing being a really chunky sort of rhythm sound - so kind of like your classic Rhythm and Lead tones!
I already had the Victory V1 Sheriff on the board, and noted some similarities in core EQ, and in the gain range in particular. I checked with Thorpy - and those similarities are entirely happenstance and coincidence. The Electric Lightning in any case delivers an overall much more sophisticated voicing - while both pedals do indeed have a similarly slightly soft edge to them - versus a fully crispy crunch. Therefore a somewhat more vintage and organic voicing really.
And of course it wouldn't be a Chris Buck signature if it didn't sound superb. I only have a couple of very minor quibbles - in that I would have liked a little more Gain, perhaps a touch more Volume. I'm all about maximum harmonic textures, and for my rig I get the best results here with the volume riding really high - in fact mostly fully cranked! It doesn't need to be set so hight as Volume -wise it works fine at around 3 o'c. But like many of my fuzzes - something things just sound better with certain knobs cranked!
I really don't need to turn the Volume up beyond 3 o'c, but diming it just sounds better in my rig! While optimal Gain for me is at 4 o'c, any more than that brings unwanted compression and slight 'smudging' of higher frequencies. I typically have Treble and Bass @ 3 o'c, and Mids dialled all-the-way back. Finally my 'Clarifier Boost' settings are Boost just under Noon, and Lows @ 9 o'c. On second thought - the Volume is probably spot on!
This is quite a different pedal to Thorpy's Scarlet Tunic Analog Amp Emulator - that one is a little bit more searing and full on really. While the Electric Lightning is a lot more nuanced and more elegantly textured. Both have a decent degree of guitar volume gain cleanup - where the Electric Lightning really excels at that. It's one of the reasons I can afford to have the Volume set so high - as the Guitar volume roll-back works brilliantly and lessening the impact of that and the gain.
In some sense there is a little more vibrancy to the Scarlet Tunic, but for the Electric Lighting you have that amazingly nuanced breakup texture. The Scarlet Tunic covers Selmer, Hiwatt and AC30 Amp voicings, where the Electric Lighting is essentially JTM45 and Plexi - not quite Hot-Rodded Plexi, but close enough!
There's certainly plenty of range on most of those dials, while as mentioned, I would probably have liked a soupçon more Gain. I would also have arranged the knobs slightly differently for a more logical layout (to my mind)! I would have Volume, Mids and Gain in the top row, and Bass and Treble in the bottom row. Those are all very tiny niggles really as this is a hugely impressive pedal as is - with a really fantastic and dynamic breakup tone!
The Chris Buck Signature Electric Lightning Plexi Style Tube Preamp is available right now from the ThorpyFX Webstore for £429 and equivalent - $499 | €499, and imminently at leading international dealers. It's wonderful touch-sensitivity and feel is sure to endear it to many players - and certainly not just Chris Buck fans! I feel Thorpy is onto yet another major winner here!
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
