Despite the Axle Grease‘s limitations regarding delay time and control, it’s an incredible value for the money, offering beautifully warm delay tones suitable for rockabilly, surf, country, blues, and rock.
Not too many companies are as budget conscious as celebrated effects pedal masters Visual Sound. The company’s top of the line pedals are already affordable, given the craftsmanship and tones provided. Still, the guys at Visual Sound still realize that not everyone can fork out $200 for a decent pedal. Enter the GarageTone line, which offers Visual Sound quality and sound at a price even a kid with a paper route could afford. The Axle Grease is the Garagetone delay.
The Axle Grease has a pretty unique build, in that the delay itself is analog, in the hopes of providing the tonal warmth generally associated with analog delay. The control circuitry, though, is digital. So, it’s a hybrid analog/digital pedal. There are three controls – Time (up to 450 ms), Repeat (feedback control) and Level (the mix between dry and wet signals). Like all Garagetone pedals, the housing is sturdy if not a bit drab. A single input and output are available, as is an AC-power jack. The pedal can also be powered via 9-volt if desired.
At 450 ms of delay, it’s best to understand from the outset that this isn’t the best delay choice if you need long delays for slow solos. It’s probably best used for slapback echo or fast delays for speedy passages. Its rhythmic abilities are a bit limited as well. It’s not the easiest pedal to get perfectly timed triplets or the like, though settings like “Analog Mayhem” will certainly find devotees. However, for vintage sounding warm delays, the Axle Grease is an excellent choice.
Despite the Axle Grease‘s limitations regarding delay time and control, it’s an incredible value for the money, offering beautifully warm delay tones suitable for rockabilly, surf, country, blues, and rock.