by Cobra » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:21 pm
Way back when Bjorn first started making LGW's, I bought one of the first 3, and was immediately floored by his version of a screamer with virtually no compression or mid-hump. It sounded great by itself, and as a pre-driver when stacking. Need some compression, kick on the PGC... I got to thinking about what 2 LGW's would sound like stacked together, so I asked Bjorn if he had tried this, since there weren't that many LGW's around then. He said yes, he had tried stacking 2 LGW's, and it was sounding huge and very usable, as long as you go easy with the gain & volume. That was all it took, and I ordered anther LGW on the spot... Bjorn asked me if I would like a different color, so I had this idea in my head if John Wayne used a screamer, it would lay down the LAW...
I am the LAW 'round here!!!
The Duke of screamers....
Hmmm... What color starts with the letter "A", in keeping with the LAW moniker? This took awhile, but I finally came across a color... Apricot!
So I email Bjorn and ask him if apricot was doable as a color. He says sure, no problem, so I tell him it's settled then.
Little Apricot Wonder... The LAW...
After awhile I get an email from Bjorn saying the LAW is on it's way over the pond, and oh BTW, he couldn't resist tweaking the LAW into something unique and special, but he didn't elaborate on what he tweaked, or how it was special. I never asked for this, I just figured I was getting a standard LGW with a different name and paint...
The LAW shows up, & I hook it up on my board...
WHOA NELLIE!!! This is no ordinary screamer, and no ordinary LGW!!! Not by a long shot...
The LAW sounds killer by itself, very much different than my stock LGW, but still in the same family...
Hokay, lets stack it in front of my other LGW...
Uh oh... This stack just freakin' rips! Hello!
Alright! Let's stack it after the stock LGW...
Yowza!! Sounds excellent, but quite different, since it imparts more of it's tone fingerprint when used after other dirtboxes...
Now it's time for the ultimate acid test... The LAW into the DRD...
Now were talkin' big hair, flap the pants, stadium rock tones! Modded Marshall, JCM800 sounds!! Endless sustain but still punchy, good for alot of styles, Satch to smooth jazz.
The LAW sounds awesome into the EGDM too, more of a dense, blizzard of nails, cranked AC30 sound...
The LAW freakin' rules... The best stacker, bar none, of any BJF pedal, hell, any pedal period, I've ever played, and I've owned or tried just about all of them...
It's also the best overdrive I've ever tried, and nothing has even come close to knocking it off my board. I seriously doubt anything will...
Not many have tried the LAW, but I sent it to friend so he could try it out as a surprise. He was shocked that I would send it to him, since I feel naked without it now, and told him that. He called me on the phone freaking out! "The LAW is the best OD I ever heard"!!! I knew the LAW was good, no question, but my friend is an overdrive junkie, both new and vintage, and he's somewhat of a screamer guru. For him to say that about the LAW, well...
What makes the LAW unique? The best way I can describe it, is the LAW has a little more gain on tap, and it comes on quicker. It also has a bit more treble and upper mids available than a standard LGW, but not too much, and they can be dialed down with the body control if need be. After swapping out a few chips, I settled on the LF353 as the best, which gives the most headroom, tone, and punch. I ran it at 18vdc for a few years, which I highly recommend. Right now I'm running it at 12vdc for a change of pace.
BTW, I used the LAW for quite some time towards the end of my dirtchain as more of a flavorizer, and it works really well this way too. I mostly use it as the first dirtbox in the chain, right after the PGC, to take advantage of it's killer pre-driver capabilites, an of course it's the foundation of my entire dirtchain....
The LAW also has an inside graphic of the Duke sporting a cowboy hat, while saying, "I'm the LAW around here..."
I recently asked Bjorn what he did to the LAW that makes it different?
He said it wasn't that big deal... He just spent some time hand picking each component, trying them in the circuit, & listening to each change until he found the best possible tone with his ears, then went back and did it again, to find the best components by ear for stacking with another LGW, until the best possible components were found for both stand-alone use, and stacking... Using his ears!
I guess The LAW is an optimized LGW, painstakingly hand tweaked by ear into the best sweetspots possible.
I'm lucky to have it, and although I've said it before, thanks again Bjorn!
The Little Apricot Wonder is the LAW...
Last edited by
Cobra on Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.