COLD BEAR DISTORTION
The third chapter of the Parabellum Drive saga, the Cold Bear distortion combines the all tube warmth of the Edison Preamp and the massive 3 band active EQ of our QtheEQ series of pedals with a parallel germanium circuit devised by Nicholas Williams of Dunwich Amps.
The flow of controls mirrors the the signal path; The input jack and input gain on the right, the output jack and output volume on the left, and low/mid/hi EQ controls in the middle.
The input feeds the Edison Preamp circuit, followed by a low gain transistor stage which feeds two germanium distortion circuits; One designed to amplify high mids and highs with hard clipping characteristics, and the other focused on low mids and lows with soft clipping characteristics.
The low gain stage replaces the buffer stage found in V2, providing more gain on tap. A grid resistor has been added to filter unnecessary frequencies, and the EQ has reverted to the Op-Amp based EQ found in V1 for a tighter, more focused sound.
At full gain, the distortion is creamy but cutting, with a massive low end and a post-eq’d sound out of the box. At lower gain settings, the sticky germanium artifacts color each note uniquely and give your clean tone a pumped up sound that cuts through any mix or live setup.
The enclosure is powder coated in a multi-layer powder coat by local specialist TRG coatings , the polygonal bear deep engraved by local operator Mayhem Machine and Tool, and the stunning custom matching knobs are by local craftsman Haramis Musical Hardware.
Read the full review by Amit Peled below the videos:
Bass & Guitar Demo by Amit Peled, Mix and Master by Vlad Orzhekhovskiy
Bass Demo 1 by Mikey Coltun
Guitar Demo 1 by Amit Peled
Bass Demo 1 by Mikey Coltun
Guitar Demo 2 by Amit Peled
Nightowl Industries - Cold Bear Distortion
Review by: Amit Peled
"The owls are not what they seem" was one of David Lynch's most candid words of advice, and he was correct. When it comes to "Nightowl Industries" nothing is within the realm of the ordinary and there's definitely more lurking beneath the surface.
Nightowls' classic Hi Fi tube construction quality and designs is presented in its tube distortion pedal newest renditions, it's third version thus far. The Cold Bear distortion is its latest release in the guitar pedal universe and proves to be the best tonally shaped drive within their Parabellum drive series.
With its glacier-like control knobs, made in the USA by Haramis Musical Hardware, and arctic polygonal bear deep engraved artwork, the pedal infused Nightowls' 'Edison' 3 band active preamp along with a parallel germanium distortion circuit which was made by none other than Nicholas Williams of the mighty Dunwich Amps.
The result is a strong, powerful, and meticulously designed pedal with an extreme range of EQ and drive that goes far beyond your standard distortion.
My main demo clip of the pedal circled around my love for all things Deftones.
I’ve attempted to cover most of the tonal avenues the pedal had to offer:
I started with its crunchy low gain treatment of various chord parts, resonant four note chords as well as open stringed voicing that would make the note clusters in my playing shine.
I proceeded with a barrage of riffs in drop tunings which escalated into heavier 8 string guitar lines for even more extreme gain depths from the pedal. I was pleasantly surprised by how easily I could shape my EQ signal into some strange, bright and treble boosted areas. I chose to use a few different electric guitars for the demo: from full body to hollow body electrics to see how the pedal interacts with them in low and high gain parts.
Diving into the lush metal riff tones was simple and highly responsive and fun to play through.
My biggest distortion discovery was learning how well the pedal interacted with the bass guitar parts I was playing. The tone maintained clarity and crispness, and the growl of hitting the low notes with a harsh pick attack put a smile on my face.
Under the running board:
What makes the Cold Bear distortion stand out is two different gain stage processes that take place inside the unit. The first one amplifies the high and high mid frequencies with high clipping, this gives the distortion the bear bite like high frequency response.
The second phase focuses on your low end with softer clipping so that your low end keeps its strength and body even within the high gain circuit.
For those interested in digging even deeper between the previous versions and improvements, one will find that on this third edition of the pedal the low gain stage is replacing the previous V2 buffer stage, or simply put: more gain!
The Cold Bear’s EQ is based on the original version's Op amp layout and as you'll quickly notice the vast EQ range of the unit makes it sound great on bass and any type of electric guitar, but it could also easily sail onto the shores of harsher musical style such as doom, sludge, stoner, and noise.
Lastly, a grid resistor was also added to this version, helping to clear through unnecessary frequencies, giving clarity from within the chaos.
Beware of Bear:
One of the treats of having such a reactive and wide ranged tube drive circuit lies in its polarities.
On one hand, the low gain tone: There’s an additional edgy germanium response, that gives sparkle and crunch to unison phrasing and crushed chords. The tube response gives a reinforcement to your clean tone, adding more subtle character to the tone.
As the gain is driven further, we arrive right into the heart of the snow storm: Full body, rich distortion that can grab at any solo lead or rhythm riff, with an extra range to push the high and mid frequencies beyond the response of a traditional distortion amp. To this writer’s ear, I’ve heard tones that cover anything from traditional metal chugging rhythm parts, to sharper sounding tones that would fit a current day hardcore guitar tone.
All in all, the Cold Bear distortion manages to deliver a wide range tube based distortion with a wide EQ and gain range which makes it a unique, blazing, deep drive pedal. This unique rendition in its series of distortions from Nightowl Industries is definitely worth listening and trying out.