A few years ago I was fortunate enough to meet Dylan Carlson when he toured Australia and played an instore in my shop. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I first met him. As he stepped out of the van in front of the shop he looked slightly ... intimidating. The reality couldn't have been further from this assumption.
We hit it off instantly and sat out the back of my shop before the instore and talked about music and him driving around in the Melvins tour van with Kurt and gear, and, music. The instore was .... amazing and we stayed in contact after the tour.
When he toured a couple of years later he asked to do another instore before Earth played. I had loved the first one SO much and there was no way I was going to say no to a friend playing in my shop.
The second instore was, magical. Dylans solo stuff is just him on stage with a guitar, a couple of pedals and an amp. He doesn't sing so it's all instrumental and during this set I felt a compelling sadness during one song and found myself with tears welling up. I think Dylan is that special.
After that instore Dylan bought a guitar from me and gave me his guitar he had used for the instore, the guitar he played in Earth. I didn't want to take it but Adrienne said "he wants you to have it"
Needles to say it's a cherished item for me.
After that tour I made Dylan a pedal to say thanks for everything he'd done and for changing my life. Dylan is a big fan of MXR stuff and I made him one of my Tymexars with a three way mini toggle for germanium, silicon or no clipping to give him a little more option. I had emailed Tony and asked if he could do me some artwork based on the tattoos on Dylans hands and he sent this Engine of Ruin back, named after an Earth song.
So, it's with GREAT pleasure that I announce the new Dylan Carlson signature distortion.
Made in conjunction with Dylan this is the same Tymexar based on two of my favourite vintage units without the three way switch as Dylan mainly uses the silicon (my favourite) setting which gives more output and a crisper distortion.
This uses the same 741 IC I use in the Bob Mould Beauty & Ruin with 2 slightly different cap values. It's a full sounding distortion with great clarity.
It works well with Dylans style of drone strings and adds sustain when the distortion knob is wound up. It cleans up well with the volume high and the distortion down or clean it up with your guitar volume.
The first 10 of this batch of 20 will be out late next week.
