In my may 2015 preview story on the Schaffer Replica Pedal, I called it “Instant Angus.” Now, I’m done with that. I’m not talking about Angus Young anymore.
Sure, part of Young’s delicious tone recipe for Back in Black—as well as other AC/DC albums and live shows of the era—was his Schaffer-Vega Diversity System wireless, which not only allowed the guitarist to perform his school-boy pranks unbound by guitar cables, it also imparted some mysteriously wonderful preamp coloration to his sound. Some three decades later, Angus enthusiast Fil Olivieri cracked the tonal code, sought out Ken Schaffer (who manufactured just 1,000 SVDS systems before moving on to other pursuits), and developed the Schaffer Replica Pedal and Tower. If you want the full story—and it’s interesting and historical and pretty darn entertaining—you can read the May 2015 cover story on AC/DC, the June 2105 review of the Schaffer Replica Pedal, or visit the SoloDallas website.
But, you see, at this point the Schaffer Replica magic isn’t about Angus. It’s about you.
Plug into an EX Tower ($1,330 direct), and your foundational sound becomes almost viciously in your face. The midrange frequencies shift to battering ram, the highs tighten up like talons, and the low end diminishes somewhat, but becomes a bit stouter and more controlled, like a grenade exploding inside an isolation booth. It’s all immediately awesome, and all you did was plug in. My job here is done.
Well, except that there are subtleties in effect, and you should take some care to tailor them to your specific style and taste. Just like the Volume and Tone knobs on your guitar, there are a lot of timbral possibilities residing in the Tower’s Input (input and compander level) and Output (boost level) controls—especially with cleaner, less saturated