Neo Ventilator II review

Leslie-loving rotary speaker stompbox

  • £349
  • €449
  • $649
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Five knobs control the main action, but each has a secondary function, offering plenty of adjustment

MusicRadar Verdict

A realistic sonic emulation of a rotary speaker with a very practical footswitching setup.

Pros

  • +

    Excellent controls. Detailed emulation of a Leslie 122.

Cons

  • -

    Expensive.

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The Neo Ventilator, modelling a Leslie 122 rotary speaker, garnered quite a reputation as a simulator that sounded pretty close to the real thing - now there's a newly released, updated version.

"This is a serious unit with real attention to the detail of a Leslie sound"

It's got three footswitches: the usual Bypass and Fast/Slow options, plus Stop, which simulates a stationary cab.

Five knobs control the main action, but each has a secondary function when you hold two footswitches down together, offering plenty of adjustment.

One of most expensive rotary speaker effects pedals we've seen, this is a serious unit with real attention to the detail of a Leslie sound. If you want a smaller pedal, the Neo Vent loses the knob adjustments but has two presets and costs less.

Trevor Curwen

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.