Have you Heard of LunaStone?

In this article, I want to showcase an amazing pedal company called LunaStone. LunaStone is based out of the balmy, tropical paradise called Denmark. Pretty sure that’s where they filmed Moana and the Lost television series--

Huh?

Okay. Nick just explained to me that Denmark is not a tropical island, but it is in fact a Scandanavian country located right above Germany. Good to know. That said, it’s a great place to visit, but it’s an even greater place to build pedals, or so says LunaStone Pedals founder Steen Grøntved. Nick and I sat down with Steen earlier this month and went through the gnarliest pedals that his company makes. Here are the highlights.

Dynamic Delay

The first pedal we’re going to look at is also the most foundational. We used it in literally every jam in this week’s JHS Show episode, and for good reason: the Dynamic Delay slaps.

The Dynamic Delay is a tap tempo delay and a small form factor that has a dynamic snob (which you could also call a ducking control knob). Now, this circuit comes from the TC-2290 rack unit, which originally came out in 1986. I really like this delay. I can honestly say that out of all the delays in my insane pedal collection-- and if you’ve seen a photo of my office, you know that it’s truly bonkers --this is one of my favorites. I love it because it’s not normal. You don’t plug it in and automatically know which knob does what. You have to fool around with it a little, try out different settings, play with it. It’s a nice reminder that a huge part of pedal-board building is the journey, not the destination.

Yeah, I may have just given myself a cavity with the sweetness of that last statement, but you get the idea.

This ducking control on this delay is basically a compression circuit that hints back to that TC-2290, which means that as you play harder, you have the ability to let the delay fall back in the mix, and then when you play less, it gets louder. I also love the look of these foot switches, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Deep Metal

Next up is the Deep Metal distortion. It's a really cool pedal with a TLO-74 based op-amp with great mids. Needless to say, I’m a fan. Now, here's the deal: I don't play a lot of metal, but I know what good metal sounds like. I love thrashing to Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden as much as the next guy, so I feel that I’m qualified to tell you if this pedal deserves the name “Deep Metal.” Long story short? Yup. It does.

Basically, if you want to rock like a Nordic guitar god, this is the pedal for you.

True Overdrive 1 & 2

Okay, these next two pedals get a little confusing, but they’re still quality gear. I’m talking about the True Overdrive 1 and 2. I know what you’re thinking: “If it was really the True Overdrive, wouldn’t he have stopped at one?” You’d think so, but that was before America got involved.

Basically, Steen made the True Overdrive 1 with standard overdrive topology, he loved it, and it sold well in every country but the USA. But-- and this is classic America --we made a big stink. We said that we wanted it to be more beefy. We wanted him to supersize it. It’s the guitar pedal equivalent of asking to speak to the manager at Denny’s. But Steen is a true artiste and a team player, so he kept producing the beautifully crafted True Overdrive 1, and then on the side he started making a pedal with more overdrive than any sane person could want: the True Overdrive 2-- America’s McOverdrive, if you will --and the rest is history.

In all seriousness, they’re both great pedals. It just depends on what kind of sound you’re going for. America likes everything bigger, and if that’s your style, the True Overdrive 2 might be your dream pedal.

Smooth Drive 1

Next up is the Smooth Drive 1. What’s funny is that Steen could just as easily have called this pedal True Overdrive 3, but maybe he wanted to make a clean break. Basically, the Smooth Drive 1 is a softer version of Overdrive 1 and 2, and it works very well as a preamp boost. It lets you add in a little bit of grit while keeping the overall tone clean.

And no, you didn’t ask, but I can confirm that this pedal sounds especially good paired with just a splash of spring reverb.

Blue Drive 1

Now, the Blue Drive 1 is a pedal with a story. Basically, a Danish punk guitarist asked Steen to make him a signature pedal. Steen is reluctant to take on the job, but the guitarist won’t take no for an answer. To, purely to get the guitarist off his back, he asks him what kind of gear he uses. The guy comes back with the Vox 1901 Distortion (which, for those that care, is a clone of the MXR Distortion Plus), which Steen has gone on record saying is “the worst sounding distortion I've ever heard in my life.” But a deal’s a deal. He futzes around the circuit, works at it, and ends up with something completely different. The guitarist ends up having to bail on the project, but Steen is still really happy with the finished product, so he releases it as the Blue Drive 1.

What’s funny is that the Blue Drive 1 is the complete opposite of the Vox 1901. If you think it through, that actually makes sense. What do you get when you make a pedal that is the opposite of “the worst distortion you’ve ever heard in your life”? You get the best.

Red Fuzz 1

Lastly, I want to take a look at the Red Fuzz 1, which is a three-knob fuzz. Now, when I say “fuzz” and “red” in the same sentence, I’m betting the first pedal you think of is the Fuzz Face. And that’s definitely the inspiration here. The Red Fuzz is inspired by and modified after the Fuzz Face, but it’s not a clone. I have no issue with clones (feel free to refer to an old episode of the JHS Show on that very topic), but that’s not what the Red Fuzz 1 is. It’s a unique, silicon transistor Fuzz Face topology version of his own thing that has a lot of low end. Steen also says that “it’s the only pedal I make that actually sounds good on bass.”

The Red Fuzz 1 also stacks really well with drive pedals, distortion pedals and other fuzz pedals, which is not that common with Fuzz Face topology.

Conclusion

I asked Steen, “How in the world did you get into this? Like, how did it happen?” And he couldn't give me a straight answer, but he gave me the meandering, trippy European answer:

“The funny thing is that I never knew why I did this. I just sort of followed the same impulse, a gut feeling. I didn't know why. It was like a magnetic sort of energy.”

And that's pedal building in a nutshell: none of us know how we got here. We just are here.

LunaStone designs are really unique, and I don't just say that to say it. When I plug these pedals in and play them, I have to think about what they're doing because they are not familiar. This speaks to Steen's engineering, his ability to do something truly unique. There is no hint of a Tube Screamer in the drives. There is no familiarity of how a distortion should probably sound. His tone controls, the gain structures, the way that they clip, it's one-of-a-kind, and I have mad respect for that.

So if you've played pedals for so long that it’s become “same old, same old”, check out LunaStone pedals. They’ll put some pep back in your step.