T-Rex Engineering Soulmate - Bringing On The Thunder

Multi-effects pedals are no longer what they used to be, and that's a good thing. Back in the day, when this type of effect pedals first became popular, manufacturers were trying to cram as many effects as they could. Quantity is rarely a better choice than quality, which is partially why this trend died off pretty fast. While there are only a few boards of this type still made today, those are on a whole different level. Most of today's multi-effects pedals offer a selection of carefully crafted effects. Case in point T-Rex Engineering Soulmate. This pedal brings both the style of standalone pedals and overall efficiency of old school processors.

Features

Delivered in a very sturdy metal enclosure, Soulmate looks rather simple in design. T-Rex Engineering didn't rely on the appearance of this board in order to ensure sales. No, they put all their chips on its superior performance. The board includes five different effects, each with its own set of extensive controls and footswitches. Each effect was modeled after their popular pedals, and the you will be hard pressed to find a difference. These include an overdrive, a distortion, delay, reverb and a boost. On top of that, you also have an integrated tuner and an extensive preset bank where you can save your favorite presets.

Control

In terms of controls, T-Rex Engineering Soulmate took things to a level where its competition rarely goes.Most of the boards of this type will feature minimalist controls, with only a few knobs per effect. T-Rex Engineering Soulmate comes with four for each effect. This still maintains a uniform and clean design, but adds that extra maneuvering space when it comes to tone shaping. Using the Soulmate's memory bank is extremely easy and will become second nature after a few practice runs. When it comes to using this pedal, its layout comes across as very intuitive.

Performance

The type of sound Soulmate offers is the kind that even some boutique standalone pedals are not capable of delivering. We are talking about five fully analog effects that were modeled after T-Rex Engineering's most popular stompboxes. Since there is no lack of controls on this board, you can do an extensive amount of tone shaping. Overdrive sounds pretty organic with that light growl while the distortion saturates the signal with gain. Reverb and delay are pretty natural and fit well with the rest of the effects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDU65LGmgoE

Conclusion

Whether you are a professional looking for a versatile analog multi-tool or just a guitar player who wants to get a one-stop-shop solution, T-Rex Engineering Soulmate is something you need to check out. Sure, it's not the most budget friendly pedal out there, however the pure quality and analog flavor it offers makes up for that fact. In comparison to some of its digital counterparts, Soulmate comes out on top almost every single time. One of the reasons for this is its extremely wide range of tones you can dial in. It's just that good. For more info about the T-Rex Engineering Soulmate, click here. For more Multi Effects Pedals Currently On The Market, click here.