Third Man Hardware Double Down Pedal - Demo
Paul Riario talks about the Double Down pedal brand MXR.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:20 What's up? Paul here from Guitar World,
00:21 and today we're going to be checking out a novel booster pedal made in
00:24 partnership with the MXR Custom Shop and Jack White's third man hardware company,
00:30 the Double Down. Let's check it out.
00:32 [MUSIC]
00:36 What is the Double Down, you ask?
00:38 Well, quite simply,
00:39 it's an inspired take on the original MXR micro amp pedal,
00:43 which incidentally is an absolute favorite of White's,
00:46 and was also an essential part of his guitar rig.
00:49 But now, the Double Down has replaced that,
00:51 and it is the mainstay of his sound.
00:54 But let's get to the point.
00:55 The Double Down is effectively two micro amp pedals in an eye-catching stompbox,
01:00 with two outputs allowing you to use it as a one into two signal splitter.
01:05 Since the Double Down is loaded with a pair of micro amp circuits,
01:09 you get two independent channels of classic MXR preamp gain boost.
01:14 >> This was sort of our first step of wanting to split between two amplifiers.
01:18 I've always been using two amps,
01:21 and usually now, and for the last decade or more,
01:23 it was like the Vibroverb,
01:25 the 64 Vibroverb, and 100 watt Silvertone.
01:29 The ability to, in the studio or live,
01:31 to go to two different places with it,
01:34 a true stereo output.
01:36 So this was the collaboration, the Double Down.
01:41 So the ability to send that signal to
01:43 two different places and control the volume for each one, very simple.
01:46 But coming in very useful in the studio and on stage.
01:50 I love it because it's sort of very clean for a while,
01:53 and then you get up here, it gets dirty and overcharged,
01:55 and it's kind of great.
01:56 You could almost just only,
01:59 I can imagine just doing gigs with only that.
02:01 >> The Double Down pedal's single input jack splits your signal into two separate outputs,
02:06 each with its own gain control,
02:08 where you can balance the volumes of two amps,
02:11 or where you can push up to 26 dB of signal boosting power.
02:15 You'll notice on the left side of the pedal is a phase switch that adds
02:18 a pronounced stereophonic effect by inverting the phase of the second output signal.
02:24 On the right side is a buffer switch so that you can choose
02:27 between true bypass and buffered bypass switching.
02:31 So for my setup, I have two super amps,
02:33 one which is a 1 by 15 speaker,
02:36 and the other combo over here which is a 1 by 12.
02:39 So let's hear both of these dual amps right now without engaging the Double Down.
02:45 Here's what it sounds like.
02:46 [MUSIC]
03:02 So let's have some fun with the Double Down.
03:03 In one amp going through the Double Down,
03:06 I have a fuzz and a chorus,
03:08 and in the other amp I have a reverb.
03:09 So when I engage both,
03:11 you get to hear like this myriad of great tone.
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04:24 The only thing to note is the Double Down doesn't double up on the foot switches,
04:30 which means once you engage its solitary foot switch,
04:33 the gain boost is automatically applied to two amps or not.
04:37 You don't have the option to boost one amp or the other.
04:41 [MUSIC]
04:43 The Double Down is available in a standard and a reverb exclusive iteration.
04:47 You can order the limited edition yellow edition of
04:50 the Double Down exclusively on Third Man Hardware's Reverb Store.
04:55 You can also order the standard edition black pedal at
04:57 Third Man Hardware's Reverb Store as well as at the Third Man Records Web Store.
05:03 If you're a gigging guitar player who uses a dual amp setup,
05:06 the Double Down does wonders as both a signal splitter and a dual boost pedal.
05:11 Having two separate MXR microamp circuits in a single box gives you
05:15 twice the firepower to light up two separate signal chains
05:18 with just the right amount of supercharged microamp boost.
05:22 Definitely check it out.
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06:03 (upbeat music)