George Evans Scorcher: A Stomp Box made for Aussie Conditions
16 Oct 2016
Not too many of these in circulation - the "Scorcher" made by George Evans Custom Amplifiers.Â
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The George Evans brand is headed up by Tim Evans and Phil George of Melbourne, Australia.Â
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Tim and George have been acquainted since the 1980s when George - an accomplished guitarist - asked Tim - an electronics wizard - to customise his 76 Marshall amp. The two have combined forces in the George Evans venture.
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The Scorcher pictured is numbered #28 and sounds fantastic. Of note is the medium/low gain profile of the pedal. That results in an an overdrive pedal that stays very true to the tonal and playing characteristics of guitar and guitarist. While it needs to be coaxed a little on the bass, with the "fat" switch engaged and the gain rolled forward, you get punch and grit. With the dials pushed all the way you get something approximating a fuzz!
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But this pedal's strength lies about 1/4 back from the edge - that's where you get some great harmonics, and where this pedal is truly great fun to play. You will immediately want to get something like Cream out of the record collection and crank the volume. In that sense, I can't help but agree that this pedal is more like an amp "than a clinical on or off distortion" (see here). While it has the characteristics of a TS808, it has more "character", one feels.
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I got in touch with Tim to find out a little more. Turns out there were only 40 Scorcher units made, though more are in the pipeline, thankfully. As a bass player, I couldn't help ask Tim whether he planned to bring back anything akin to the Lab Systems "Basskadet" that Tim built some years ago (see here). While Tim says that the Lab Systems venture is in the past, George Evans is thinking about a bass overdrive of its own! Where do I sign up?
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See Tim's website here for some more information. Stay tuned for a revamp of the George Evans website or follow the guys on their Facebook page here . In the meantime, if you spot a Scorcher pedal, grab it! Cheers.Â
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