FEA fan club!

[bongomania]

Someone asked in a thread about the Growler whether there was an FEA Club thread for consolidating brand-related comments, reviews, requests, and so forth; a search shows me there wasn't such a thread yet--so here we are!

To clarify for anyone that doesn't know me yet, I have no endorsement or other business connection to FEA, but I am a big appreciator and booster of all of Frank's work--especially the compressors.

I posted a brief review of the Photon and Distortion a while back: FEA Photon Fuzz ...Not my finest review writing by a long shot, but I honestly didn't have a whole lot of insight to offer. They are just great pedals, with a wild range of controls for the tone tweakers in the room.

An "insider" item of interest: Frank is adding splitter outputs to the Mixer, which makes it a hundred times more useful than it was originally, because now it is a very advanced blender loop! The infinitely-variable phase control, plus the ability to select between FET and Class AB gain stages, makes it the Rolls Royce of blenders. Of course, not everyone needs or wants a Rolls Royce, but some of us get high from sniffing champagne corks.

Please add your thoughts and questions about FEA products!

[warwick.hoy]

Of course I'm going to chime in here as I'm constantly singing the praises of the OptiFET.

FEA's pedals are incredibly well engineered, inspired and amazingly musical. The presentation is probably the most professional and elegantly executed of all the small builders on the market.

Customer service is top notch. When updates came available for the OptiFET,...I received a PM from Frank's right hand man (sorry I forgot his name and deleted the PM inadvertently) that updates were ready and I could send the OptiFET for a free upgrade.

I have yet to take advantage of that offer,...since I can't live without my compy for even a day.

Either way,...FEAlabs get's the warwick.hoy seal of approval.

PS: Champagne is gross

[grygrx]

The knobs scare me, but they look great, sound good in demos, and are well loved. Maybe I should fold and try a Photon.

[CopperheadLXXIX]

Been really happy with my Growler-Also started recently experimenting with running an EHX Holystain in the effects loop to give me some pitch shift, EQ & distortion on just the signal the Growler generates.

[EscapeNote]

Hey Bongo, thanks for starting this! I have the FEA Dual Band Optical Comp and love it. I've chimed in about it on some of the compressor specific threads. Primo build quality, signal integrity and functionality.

I had a few email exchanges with Frank before and after obtaining my Dual Band and he struck me as being a genuinely great guy, committed to excellence in his designs. That's the kind of business I like to support.

The Growler and the OptiFET are high on my list of new pedals to try out when I get the next opportunity... and the Mixer too, now that you've updated what I know about it.

[cybersnyder]

Absolutely love my OptiFET. It ends my search for the perfect compressor. I thought I wanted a simple compressor with a compress knob and a gain knob but I could never get the sound that I wanted. Now with real control over the compression parameters and an hour of getting used to it I can get the sounds I want more easily than with one knob.

[caeman]

I have a Growler in the mail. I'll join this fan club thread. Once my other pedals are sold off, I hope to pair the Growler with a SA BEF Pro. Once everything is turned around, totally changing the look of my bass board.

[ryansalmond]

The FEA Dual Band Compressor is my favourite pedal I've ever owned. It is incredibly versatile and sounds awesome. I really appreciate Frank's all science/no magic approach to pedal design- giving accurate, meaningful labels to each control, letting the user control most every parameter of the effect, as opposed to the mystery-sauce/hidden undefeatable preset approach of many larger companies.

[caeman]

I placed my order this morning for the Growler, and he had out in the mail not too long afterwards. Impressively fast.

EDIT: This also the most money I've spent on a single pedal.

[CopperheadLXXIX]

Originally Posted by caeman

EDIT: This also the most money I've spent on a single pedal.

Don't ever gas for an Eventide pedal then...

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

I thought I wanted a simple compressor with a compress knob and a gain knob but I could never get the sound that I wanted. Now with real control over the compression parameters and an hour of getting used to it I can get the sounds I want more easily than with one knob.

Originally Posted by ryansalmond

I really appreciate Frank's all science/no magic approach to pedal design- giving accurate, meaningful labels to each control, letting the user control most every parameter of the effect, as opposed to the mystery-sauce/hidden undefeatable preset approach of many larger companies.

Yes and yes! There's a learning curve, but once you've worked through that, it becomes so much easier to get the actual results you want, without having to make voodoo sacrifices at the volcano, or turning "the one knob" and hoping for the best.

[ajunea3]

You can call me a fanboy because I LOVE my SMX Dual Band Compressor.

[caeman]

Originally Posted by CopperheadLXXIX

Don't ever gas for an Eventide pedal then...

Dear Lord, no. I am a low rent player. $205 with shipping and this is like a princely sum to me.

Unfortunately, the FEA Opti-FET and Photon Fuzz caught my attention.

[Taylor Livingston]

I have no first-hand experience with the pedals, but I definitely am a fan of FEA. A great approach, fantastic, thoughtful designs all around, and great people. I have recommended their devices to a number of people.

[Dazonbass]

Patiently waiting for things to not be "temporarily out of stock" because I am itching for the compressor/limiter due to its crossover component built in.

[sonic 7]

The opti-fet has been out of stock for a while, But im gonna grab one as soon as they become available. I'd also love to try the smx comp as I love my trace stuff.

[caeman]

Frank made a reference to something like, "In the past few months we have had an unexpected surge in sales that has depleted most of the other pedal stock."

This is a good problem to have...the surge in sales, that is.

[Dazonbass]

I said it somewhere else but I think Bongo's review (and others) of the MXR compressor shifted all the people sat on the fence, waiting to decide which one to get, towards FEA.

If so, just shows how powerful word of mouth can be. Also, how thorough and trusted Bongos reviews are.

[dharmashawn]

A ways back my girlfriend so me constantly eyeing the Dual Band Distortion and one day said "I put the money in yr PayPal account"

Boom!!

Two days later I was shacking the house

[alexa.]

I would like to hear some honest pros/cons for the dual band distortion.
Tnx!