My Contribution To The Crossroads Antigua Center...

Funny how sometimes something your idol very much can influence you to do something out of the norm... Being an ardent fan of vintage and beat up gear doesn't justify the purchase of a new pedal, even more so, from a music retail store... So last Saturday was the day of the reckoning; I had made up my mind that I wanted to hear how good the EC Crossroads pedal by Digitech was, and if it was indeed up to my expectations, I would grab it without any regretful hesitation.
So, I proceeded to Bentley Music in town for an audition although I would have loved to be there on weekdays instead where I could have the whole store practically to my own ears (regular shoppers beware!!! :-)). Plugged into a regular USA Strat, I tweaked and twiddled with the Crossroads pedal, all the 7 modes it had to offer, to hear what it could and could not do... Putting it in a nutshell, my first impressions were that the distortion modes were edgy and tad harsh through the single coils of the Strat, a complete opposite of the Boss OD-1 and the Ibanez TS-9 ovedrive pedals in my possession. I think it would have sounded better on a Gibson axe which boosted the midrange frequencies pretty well. My personal favorites playing for the first time are the 'Leslie' rotating speaker cabinet simulator; the 'Badge' sound, the 'Unplugged' 1939 Martin 000-42 guitar mode and the fat 'Reptile Gibson L-5 guitar tone. It didn't took long for me to decide that I must purchase the pedal after reading the nice and convincing information on the packaging box, notably the part which mentions the contribution from the purchase of this pedal towards charitable causes for the alcoholic center in Antigua which is maintained by Eric himself. It may have been a commercial ploy after all, but heck, if EC doesn't sell, who does anyway...
Back home, with a more engaging and matured setup, I am pleased as punch to know that indeed I have bought home a good investment grade pedal. Although not a Japanese made one, this one IS special... It commemorates Eric's tone and sound throughout his 40 over years super career. The pedal sounded closer to Eric's setup when you use the other gears he used back then (same spec guitars and amps). This gadget takes your tone one step closer to mimic 'God', only after you have invested in His well known otherworldly gears... So, EC fans out there, buy this pedal, and you'll have His tone in your arsenal, also do the world some good by a donating to the center for good causes, Peace brothers...