We love what Robert Keeley's up to these days - the stompbox visionary has embraced digital technology to take a bold and different approach to multi-effects pedals: cramming the tones of bands and albums into a single unit. The latest to join the line is the My Bloody Valentine-aping Loomer.
Following in the footsteps of the Dark Side (David Gilmour) and Monterey (Jimi Hendrix), Loomer aims to capture the magic of Kevin Shields' otherworldly shoegaze guitar tone, combining an aggressive fuzz and innovative reverbs into one box.
Three core reverbs are onboard, and yes, all can go 100 per cent wet: hall offers optional octave regeneration for shimmer-type effects, while soft focus approximates the Yamaha FX500, with a dense reverb running with two delays in parallel.
The Yamaha SPX90 and Alesis Midiverb II-aping reverse mode is where things get really cool: not only does the effect run through a delay line, it also offers a vibrato setting, complete with Jazzmaster rhythm circuit-style low-pass filter, and footswitchable, envelope-controlled effect intensity - that means you can mimic tremolo glides without a physical vibrato setup on your guitar.
A trio of fuzzes (flat, scoop and full), meanwhile, are controlled via filter, fuzz and level controls for total sonic annihilation.
Suffice to say, we're very, very excited for this one. The Loomer is available now for $299 from Robert Keeley.
