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Photo from Browne Amplification
Browne Amplification is a guitar, amplification, and guitar effects company based in Kansas City, USA. Browne was birthed out of the desire to make high-quality, durable, and dependable guitar products for the working musician. For years, Dave Brown (yes, no "e" in Dave's actual name) was the go-to guy if you needed a vintage amp repaired, your guitar set up the right way or you wanted a custom pedal made in Kansas City.
The Protein was years in development and road testing before it ever made its way into the hands of the public. With the release of the Protein and the T4, the world now has access to the tone, design, and reliability that made Dave a sought-after guitar guru. Browne continues to design and release products that are tools for the working musician focusing on reliability, simplicity, and utility in every product they create.
OUR REVIEW OF THE CARBON X PEDAL FROM BROWNE AMPLIFICATION
“The best transparent Over Drive that I ever reviewed”. The most amazing thing about my statement is that it was not followed by "cons" on why you shouldn't make the Carbox X your own.
I have other overdrive pedals that I have reviewed. However, the footprint is Volume, Gain and Tone for each channel and a 3-way toggle for high end cut. I thought it was a excellent pedal. Despite my first initial impressions of the cosmetics.
Guitar Thrills Broadcast
Depending upon the desired look you want from your pedals may have an impact on your purchase for a Carbon X pedal. I personally wasn’t excited about the old school look to it. It is simplistic in nature, and is a throwback to seventies, or eighties. Though, that shouldn’t be the reason for purchasing a pedal like this. The pros are too many to count, to justify not buying the Carbon X. There is a lot of hype regarding its performance. Does it live up to it?
The collaboration between Browne, and David Ryan Harris works. It is on point and guaranteed to change your mind on using other pedals in the market. Such as the Protein fomr
For all my testing needs, I use the following set up:
Guitar: PRS SE
Amp: Marshall DSL40
Direct hook up into the amp through a Pig Hog Instrument cable.
It is like Two Brown Amplification Blues Breakers in One box. However, the right circuity is different from the left. There is more compression on the right side of the pedal with more gain. Both sides of the box will enable gains, it just seems you get more from the pedal, when you switch over to the right. The left side is brighter with more boost. The Carbon X offers stacking as well. Other terms you have heard are “pedal stacking” or “Gain stacking”. Pedal stacking is a technique that involves connecting multiple guitar effects in a signal chain and using them at the same time. Which is one of the better options from Browne, and is highly comparable to the Protein pedal from Tone-X.
Worth noting that if you are looking for clean highs, the left side of the Carbox X is stellar. Again, if you are looking for a raw sound, then this pedal is the right fit. The right side of the Carbon X will give you what you are looking for. The stackable qualities of the Carbon X make this a premier setup, that sends signal from the right to the left of the chain. Some pedals will give you an annoying distorted sound as you increase the gains. Cranking the gain all the way, even with the tone turned down, you get a crisp distorted sound. No unbearable distortion. Crank up the volume on your guitar for a cleaner sound if needed. The price point comes in around $339.00. Which is on target for a high-quality pedal.
A RECAP OF WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
