Lovetone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lovetone is the brand name of a line of analog audio effects created by Vlad Naslas and Daniel Coggins in England in the 1990's, perhaps best known for their tongue-in-cheek names for their effects boxes, like the "Big Cheese" and the "Ring Stinger". Producing what they called "semi-legendary super-psychedelic analogue FX inspired by classic sounds but designed for now", the company was able to attract a diverse list of notable musicians to use their effects, including the Beastie Boys, Metallica, Radiohead, Stereolab, and Sonic Youth, as well as many others. While some regard Lovetones as revolutionary tools for analog audio processing, others deride them as being overhyped and overpriced "stompboxes". Some rare units are reported to have fetched prices over $1000.
Most Lovetone effects replicate a popular vintage analog effect in part, but usually implement that effect in ways not previously done. For example, the Lovetone Meatball, which is perhaps the most popular and well known Lovetone, is an envelope filter/follower that could be mistaken to be a copy of the famous Mu-tron III, but upon further inspection incorporates a number of features previously seen only in analog synthesizers. In fact, one of the hallmarks of Lovetone modulation effects boxes is the ability to greater control multiple parameters of the effect through the use of low frequency oscillators (LFOs) as well as expression pedal and control voltage (CV) inputs that are commonly used in analog synthesizers and synthesizer modules.
[edit] History
The sale of Lovetones began in 1995 and after the initial run, production was generally inconsistent. Selected models would frequently go out of stock or production for a period of time, though production would usually be revived later. Due to this tendency, throughout the history of the company there was speculation that the company would soon go out of business. When production of all Lovetones ceased in 2001, the pedals immediately gained collector's item status and some units saw their resale value double or triple on auction giant eBay, similar to the price explosion that followed the dissolution of effects maker Way Huge. In 2003 the company announced that they would again be making the Meatball and Cheese Source pedals, to be sold through Daniel Coggins's newly formed company Dinosaural, which became the primary point of contact for Lovetone technical support and repairs. As of Oct 10 2006, the Meatball is no longer available.
[edit] Units Produced
- Meatball - envelope filter/follower
- Big Cheese - fuzz
- Brown Source - overdrive
- Doppleganger - dual LFO phaser/vibrato
- Wobulator - dual LFO tremolo and stereo panner
- Ring Stinger - ring modulator, octave fuzz, simple analog synthesizer
- ? (Flange with No Name) - stereo flanger, multi-function time/stereo modulation effect, simple analog synthesizer
- Cheese Source - combination of the Big Cheese and Brown Source in one unit
