New Pedals: Source Audio L.A. Lady Overdrive and Kingmaker Fuzz

At our recent Toronto Stompbox Exhibit we had the chance to check out Massachussets manufacturer Source Audio’s pedalboard, which featured two brand new guitar stompboxes, the L.A. Lady Overdrive and the Kingmaker Fuzz, part of their One Series line.

Those familiar with Source Audio will know that the company belongs to the category of “envelop pushers,” i.e. a pedal maker interested in adopting new technology to open up new possibilities. Even though these two stompboxes don’t reach the level of depth of other Source Audio pedals like their recent Nemesis Delay, they still give the player a lot of options, in particular through a three way toggle switch (hosted in the center of the case) and internal tweakability through the Neuro Mobile App (a free download for iOS and Android). The latter gives access to a collection of additional overdrive, fuzz and distortion tones with extended parametric EQ capabilities, stereo routing options, and internal stacking functionality.

The routing of both pedals is something that deserves a mention: thanks to the stereo ins and outs (a rarity in distortions), and with the help of the Neuro app, guitarists will be able split the signal and send a separate drive engine to each of the pedal’s outputs. Or have one stompbox affect two guitars with a different effect, and feed two separate amps!

Out of the box, the L.A. Lady delivers three overdrive tones: Classic emulates the popular “Marshall in a box” sound; the Smooth engine provides a more understated thump and mid-range bump appropriate for genres like Texas blues; Crunch is Source Audio’s own version of an overdriven tube amp, offering warm and chunky low gain tones with additional drive levels.

Similarly, the Kingmaker Fuzz offers three sounds directly on the box: Heavy pumps out a highly saturated yet articulate fuzz for violin-like lead tones with unending sustain as well as thick and pummeling rhythm tones. The Normal engine provides a responsive fuzz that cleans up nicely with reduced input signal but intensifies dramatically as the input increases. The Octave circuit unleashes a screaming, octave fuzz in the style of vintage Octavio pedals.

Check out the demos below!