Customer Comments on Ethos Clean II Preamp:

"WOW!!!  This pedal (and the sound that comes out of it) is AMAZING!  I currently own at least 50 overdrive pedals and NONE of them (repeat NONE) sound as good as the Clean II does.  It is not that my other pedals are low cost versions.  I have many 'boutique' pedals from makers around the world. NONE of them are as SMOOTH as yours is and NONE of them respond to different playing 'attack' levels and at all kinds of volume levels like yours does.

Had I purchased your pedal a few years back I would likely never have purchased anything else. That is not to say that I don't enjoy some of the other equipment that I have but your pedal seems absolutely IDEAL for my particular taste in music which is more 'traditional' in nature requiring mostly low-medium gain range. The various options that you have provided the user also complement my 'stable' of guitars (mostly Stratocasters) very nicely.

I am by no means a professional musician but I believe I can tell when the combination of guitar, pedal and amplifier seems to be made for each other. Yours was the 'missing link' that I have been looking for.

So, I would like to send along my compliments to you for the creation of such a valuable piece in the musical 'supply chain'. It is clear that your work in other areas (preamps etc.) has resulted in these and your other pedals being so successful and much desired.

I am now on the happy journey again of testing out the Clean II with all of my guitar and amp combinations. That will take me some time but when I get closer to the end of that road, I will likely be ready to order my next pedal from you. Thanks again for your work in designing and building this pedal."  Dan Anthony, Ontario Canada

Read more reviews on the Review Page

Customer Comments about Ethos TWE-1 Pedal:

"This pedal is absolutely off the charts...unbelievable tone...so congrats on landing another customer for life...THANK YOU!!"   Rod E., OK

"...I seldom rave about gear or send thank you notes, however, this one...Rob certainly deserves a big Thank you...I am extremely impressed with the TWE-1.  Several years ago, I played on an original Train Wreck amp for about a 1/2 hour in Alvin, Texas. Reminded me of my 1st Marshall 50 watt Super Lead 1973, only it was cleaner and would go from Sultans of Swing clean to ZZ Top Rythameen with just the guitar volume knob. IMHO, the Ethos TWE-1 comes just as close to that Train Wreck amp as the Friedman BE-OD pedal does to a real BE 100 amplifier."   Dave Miley, Texas

"It's truly an awesome gain machine, very flexible and adaptive to my rig. I was especially pleased to find how well it pairs with other pedals, particularly after a transparent boost and my low-gain Archer Ikon.  Congrats on a fine product!"  Dale Williams, SC

"...So easy to tweak things to match any amp. Not a bad sound in it and a v small footprint...brilliant!  I love how it doesn't colour my amp tone, just adds and enhances it.  Thank you & don't be surprised to see my name on your list again, my new favourite!" Justin Wilson, UK

"...You knocked it out of the park with this one... wow!...pedalboard friendly and pushes all my amps to all the right places quickly..."  Scott Kauffman, Eight Track Takes Studio

"...congratulate you on what is the best preamp/drive pedal I have ever played through. I put it on my board, it has not left it and it won't. The way it cleans up with the volume to the cab EQ to the HiCut etc, all exemplary creating a multitude of tonal options beyond what I thought could be squeezed out of a pedal. When Burgs (Brett Kingman) gave his review it inspired me to buy but I still thought he had added a fair bit of mayo on his comments, I must say now, his glowing praise' was bang on.  Everyone should own one of these. Congrats Again." Shane Deane, Australia

                                                                                                     ...MORE COMMENTS ON REVIEW PAGE

Guitar Player Magazine Reviews Ethos TWE-1 Pedal (tested by Art Thompson)

"Inspired by the Trainwreck Express amplifier (built by the late Ken Fischer), the TWE-1 is solid-state pedal designed to emulate the touch-responsiveness and clean-to-overdriven range you get from a high-grade tube amp. Along with Volume, HI Cut, and Gain controls, the pedal has 3-position Cab switch (4x12, 2x12, off), a Presence switch that provides three levels of high-frequency boost (post OD), a Voice switch (Traditional and Modern British), and a bypassable Brite switch that provides two levels of high frequency boost (pre OD).

      Tested with Tele and a Trussart Steeldeville through a Fender Deluxe Reberb set clean, the TWE-1 with its Gain at noon or higher responded in an amp-like way to changes in guitar volume and picking strength, delivering everything from gritty cleans to richly saturated distortion textures. Thanks to its strong output, the TWE-1 is suitable for clean boosting too. All good stuff, butthe standout feature of the TWE-1 is its powerful tone-shaping ability. The HI-Cut knob attenuates treble when turned clockwise, and the Brite switch makes it easy to get the appropriate sparkle with humbuckers or single-coils. The Cab switch beefs up the low-end significantly in the 4x12 position (I felt the 2x12 setting sounded best with my Deluxe), and the Voice switch lets you choose between a thicker tone in the "M" position or one with more upper-midrange emphasis in the "T" setting. The Presence switch set to HI restores shimmer when the Hi Cut control is turned up (a cool sound in itself), and between all of these functions, the TWE-1 certainly answers the needs of players who want a compact OD pedal with exceptional sound and flexibility.  KUDOS: Excellent tube-style distortion tone. Very dynamic and touch responsive. EQ option galore. CONCERNS: none"  January 2018 issue, Pg 88.

Premier Guitar Magazine:  'Tone Tips: A Mini-Board is Born'  by Peter Thorn

"...I'm going to detail a powerful mini-pedalboard that can cover a huge range of tones and serve as an entire rig if necessary--no amp required. Be it compressed cleans with modulation, reverb, and delay, or on-the-edge rocking crunch, I want it all in a 14" by 14" package...Pedal No.1 (of 9) The Ethos Clean II Preamp from Custom Tones, LLC was designed to essentially mimic the tone and response of a guitar amplifier. It can be used as a preamp and/or overdrive in front of a traditional guitar amp, but it can also be patched into a power amp and cabinet, or direct into a PA or recording interface. And because its output is buffered--even when bypassed--this supersedes the need for a standalone buffer on the board to keep the guitar strong and uncolored..." read full review at www.premierguitar.com/articles/print/25161-tone-tips-a-mini-board-is-born

Guitar Player Magazine Reviews Ethos Overdrive:

"...The Speaker Simulated output makes the Ethos OD TLE insanely versatile, providing you with a home recording tool, as well as a direct-to-the-P.A. conduit to give you total control over your front-of-house tones.  Plugging straight into my laptop for quick demos was not only easy, it sounded great as well.  Its excellent utility, as well as its ability to impart boutique-amp tones, make it a sure-fire winner."  

Published in Guitar Player Magazine, Sept 09 (Full review on Review Page)