The enclosure pretty much follows the "Construction Philosophy" outlined by Donner in this thread: http://www.bjfe.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=648. The unique aspect of the Cliff Hanger is that the "paint" contains a sand-like material plus glitter. The idea is to make it look like a "wall of rock" and to give it a rock-like tactile feel. The sparkle/glitter material follows the Model H/SYOD "sparkle" kind of approach. It has a unique look in the BJFE range.
As outlined above, I connected the pedal to numerous amps and guitars. In all cases the pedal was the only device in the signal chain, that is guitar->CH->amp, and I was using Evidence Audio cables to ensure that the signal was very clean. My first, instant, 2-second gut reaction was "it is definitely a distortion box" and "damn, that is loud". It did not strike me as being something weird or new or something that I had not heard before; for example I consider the CAF as "new" and the DRD, SYOD, CH etc as being implementations of "familiar" concepts.
I have lots of distortion pedals, only a small number of which I like. To me there are two kinds of distortion pedals (a) those that try to distort your existing signal without adding to much "color" to it and (b) those that try to implement some kind of "sound" and therefore color the existing tone in order to get that "sound". Most pedals do (b) and not many do (a). The pedals that do (a) don't usually do a good job of it. Pedals that do (b) kind of annoy me because the sound that they try to emulate are usually Marshalls and Fenders and if I want that sound I will just get one of these amps and turn it up loud. Also once a pedal "colors" the tone you then kind of limit the amps that the pedal can be used on. Each to their own and I don't have a problem with that. As a note, the DRD fits into the (b) category; excellent pedal but it does have a "color" that can work or not work depending on the amp and application.
Having used the pedal for a few hours I would summarize it as follows: The pedal adds distortion to your signal without coloring your existing tone too much and as such is very amp and guitar neutral. Although a "distortion" pedal, as opposed to an "overdrive" pedal, the distortion provided is much more amp-like than other "distortion" pedals on the market. That is, the pedal attempts to distort in a way more similar to a heavily distorted amplifier than to "distortion" boxes such as fuzz pedals or something like the ProCo RAT etc. The pedal can be very, very loud and the distortion can be quite intense. However, even at high volumes and high distortion the pedal does not become muddy and you can still clearly distinguish the guitar tone within the distorted mix. If I had to choose between a DRD and the CH I would select the CH because (a) it does not color the tone as much (b) the distortion range is greater. Of the pedals I have the CH is (a) one of the best at distorting the signal with out adding too much color, and therefore the pedal distorts my existing tone without creating a new tone by itself (b) keeping the guitar clear and focused even at maximum distortion. The Cliff Hanger is definitely a very good distortion tool to have in your pedal arsenal.
Here are some more detailed observations:
- Works equally well with single coils and humbuckers.
- Single coils react well throughout the distortion range. Humbuckers are a bit reserved in the lower distortion range but come into their own once the volume and distortion levels are increased.
- The pedal can sound a bit dark on the lowest settings (not an issue at all). However, it really opens up nicely as you increase the volume or distortion. The pedal definitely "flowers" once it is opened up. This is very satisfying indeed.
- Once you increase the volume and distortion to maximum it does not choke or get muddy. It still keeps the distortion and guitar tone very focused so that even on the maximum settings you have a very nice sounding guitar. A lot of pedals get mushy when pushed and the CH does not do this at all.
- Super loud at maximum. Birds will fall out of the air within a 500 meter radius.
- Very quiet. It will get loud and noisy when pushed but the volume will be incredible at this level so it is not an issue.
- There is still some distortion when the distortion level is set to zero. So, once engaged you get distortion (so there is no zero); the "Distortion" control just determines how much.
- The distortion is not really sensitive to pick dynamics. However, that is not the pedals purpose.
- It does not get "brittle" or "bright" when pushed. The highs stay as they were before the pedal was engaged. I liked this.
- It does not seem to lose the bass or add more. It seems to protect what you have in the signal.
- It does not sustain like some distortion pedals do. It will give you distortion and feedback just like an amp would; it does not sustain just for the sake of sustain. This helps keep the clarity of the pedal and the distortion. If you want more sustain then add a compressor or something else purely for "unnatural" sustain.
- Very true representation of amp distortion. It does not seem to have any unnatural frequencies or artifacts added.
- Could be very flexible with an EQ shaping pedal placed before or after.
- Volume taper seems OK. With earlier version the taper was questioned but it seems fine with this pedal.
- It is not as clean as the Model R but that is a good thing as the Model R is the Model R and this is the CH, a different pedal.
- I found it was not dark on dark amps and bright on bright amps. It may have been my setup but it just seemed to fit well on all the amps.
- I did not see the need for a Tone control. If I wanted to change the tone I would just attach an EQ pedal to the chain. So BJ, don't put a Tone control on it as that would only make things too complex
So, this is a very good distortion pedal. It stays true to the original tone as much as possible. It gives you a wide range of distortion without getting mushy or muddy or adding in unwanted artifacts. Gives you distortion without color; it protects your existing tone. Definitely different to existing BJFE distortion pedals.
