Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
The much anticipated Chase Bliss x Analog.Man collaboration is with us - an updated Brothers variant covering the Analog.Man KOT and Beano Boost
So we finally have a Joel Korte x Mike Piera collaboration - to bring the King of Tone and Beano Treble Booster to the Brothers format.
We have all the essential controls - Volume, Tone and Gain across 2 Channels - all the modes from the KOT - Boost, Overdrive and Distortion - and with the Beano Boost (Treble Booster) on board - vial the middle switch - that takes the place of the previous stacking / parallel options from the original Brothers - which are not available here - as that element has been replaced by the Beano Boost.
You additionally have some smart dip-switches to give you higher gain across all modes - and hitting the Footswitch and twisting the Tone knob - will allow you to set the presence - you can also link those two via another dip-switch.
This is the simplest Chase Bliss pedal for a long while - and it does a wholly beautiful job of wholly replicating / rendering the Analog.Man King of Tone and Beano Boost. There are a couple of significant differences in its makeup - we have neither the Mojo Germanium Diode from the KOT here, nor the Germanium Transistor from the Beano Boost. Presumably this Brothers AM utilises Schottky Diodes, and we know for sure as Joel has reported - that he found a cool vintage silicon transistor to serve the Beano Boost.
So it’s not identical to the King of Tone and Beano Boost - but certainly contains the essence of those pedals.
Controls - Gain 2, Volume 2, Gain 1, Tone 2 [+Presence], Volume 1, Tone 1 [+Presence], CH 1 Mode : Boost / OD / Dist, Treble Boost (Beano) : Full / Off / Lite, CH 2 Mode : Dist / OD / Boost, Presets : 1 / Panel / 2 (+Bank 2 via Dip), Engage Channel 1 Footswitch, Engage Channel 2 Footswitch - Footswitch + Tone = Presence, 16 Dip-Switches (as below).
Dip-Switches
CONTROL
- Vol 1
- Vol 2
- Gain 1
- Gain 2
- Tone 1
- Tone 2
- Sweep : B | T
- Polarity : F | R
CUSTOM
- Hi Gain 1
- Hi Gain 2
- MotoByp 1
- MotoByp 2
- Pres Link 1 (Tone & Pres)
- Pres Link 2 (Tone & Pres)
- Master Vol 2 (Vol 2 as Master)
- Preset Bank 2
Access Manual [HERE]
I've been a huge champion of the Chase Bliss Brothers - where I mostly use that as a Fuzz - combing the core Fuzz voicings with Overdrive and Boost to give me a wide range of fuzzy flavours.
For the Brothers AM the Beano Treble Boost can deliver a degree of fuzzy tones - which combine in a similar way to produce a really potent range of tones and textures.
These are both very individual and distinct devices - and one for me will always lean more into the overdrive thing (I love my KOT!), while the other original is mostly deployed for fuzz purposes. They're quite differently voiced and calibrated - and the original has the Stacking Options - Parallel / A>B / B>A while the new one has different degrees of the Treble / Beano Boost : Full On / Off / Some!
This Brothers AM is my 20th Chase Bliss pedal to-date!
I ordered by Brothers AM ar around 10 past 6 this morning, and received my shipping confirmation just 3 hours later. So that one should be with me very close to Easter!
In my Aristoctacy of Tone chart - as above - I own all of those now bar the Prince of Tone.
I will probably get that one too at some stage - just for sake of completion - while the Coriolis Hail to the King and Chase Bliss Brothers AM are significantly more potent than the Prince of Tone.
The Decibelics Rivus is still the most potent of the Minis.
And of course the King of Tone - in my JHS 4-Star Modded edition is still kind of the King of the Pile. That still has fairly unique components onboard - which are not readily available elsewhere. Mike Piera has been pretty smart at picking those up. The Hail to the King is close - but it's not part-for-part entirely.
So the King of Tone still retains some uniqueness - and in my variant - I have all the essential Mode and Presence Controls on the surface of the pedal - like on the newer and more potent compact editions.
As a European buyer I paid €469 Euros - as that includes Customs Charges and Value Added Tax (for the UK), While shipping is free as such!
Yes it's pricey - but Chase Bliss always deliver so much more!
I'm very happy to have a sibling to my beloved Brothers Analog Gainstage.
Chase Bliss always manage to deliver quality and value - in the most comprehensive of packages!
Demos & Back Story
