Two Pedals That Redefine Classic Tone 🎛️🔥
When it comes to blending vintage flavour with modern engineering, few builders do it better than Benson 🎯 Known for their amps and boutique sensibilities, the Oregon-based team has turned their attention to pedals with two standout offerings — the Benson Delay and the Benson Germanium Boost. On paper they might sound familiar, but in practice they go way beyond expectations. Let’s dive in 🎸
Benson Delay: Tape Dreams with a Smarter Brain ⏱️🌌
The Benson Delay is what happens when a classic delay pedal grows up and gets wise 🧠 Built around the famously musical PT2399 chip, this digital-analog hybrid doesn’t feel like either. It’s warm and textured like your favourite old tape echo or bucket-brigade unit 🎞️ but without the hiss, degradation or maintenance stress 🔧
Its delay range spans from 30 milliseconds to a roomy 1250 milliseconds ⛓️ giving you everything from tight rockabilly slapback 💥 to moody post-rock ambience 🌫️ The real magic? Bontempo — Benson’s ultra-stable tap tempo system 🕰️ Unlike glitchy or jittery systems, this one stays locked in and rock solid, even when you’re pushing the boundaries of modulation.
And here’s where the fun really begins 🎢 The onboard LFO gives you three waveforms to play with — sine 🌊 square 🟥 and random 🎲 With Speed and Depth controls, you can shape everything from subtle tape flutter ✨ to wild, swirling vibrato mayhem 🌀
Hold the tap footswitch and enter self-oscillation mode 🚀 Infinite repeats and cascading textures explode from your amp, making it a shoegaze essential 🖤 or the perfect tool for ambient build-ups and experimental moments 🌠
Whether you’re chasing a quick slapback, shimmering modulation, or delay-drenched soundscapes, the Benson Delay delivers 🧊🔥 It’s easy to use, sounds incredible, and inspires creativity with every twist of the knob.
Benson Germanium Boost: One Knob, Infinite Sweetness 🎚️💫
Sometimes less is more 🧘♂️ The Benson Germanium Boost proves that in the purest way possible — one knob, one transistor, endless musicality 🎵
At the heart of this little monster is a single germanium transistor, but what sets it apart is Benson’s custom-designed, temperature-stabilised biasing system 🌡️ This thing stays consistent no matter how hot the gig gets or where it sits in your signal chain 🎯
It doesn’t just get louder — it makes everything sound better 💎 Even at the same output volume as your bypassed tone, it brings more clarity 👂 richer mids 🎷 and a touch of sweetness on top 🍯 It’s like your tone just put on a tailored suit 👔
The Level knob is your only control — but it’s all you need 🧭 At lower settings it opens up your clean tone like a window on a spring morning 🌼 Crank it and you’ll be pushing your amp into smooth, classic breakup territory 💥 that responds beautifully to dynamics and touch 🤌
It plays nice with every pedal you own, adds zero noise 🧼 and can live on your board as a subtle always-on sweetener or a strategic boost when you need it most 💪
The Verdict: Two Pedals, One Philosophy 🚀🎛️
Benson has done it again 💡 These aren’t just pedals — they’re tone tools for players who care about feel, character and musicality above all else ❤️🔥
The Benson Delay gives you lush, tape-style ambiance without any of the drama 🎞️ while the Germanium Boost brings life and sparkle to everything it touches ✨ Both are incredibly usable, inspiring and built like the best gear always is — with love, smarts and a healthy respect for what came before 💬
No gimmicks 🙅♂️ No fluff 🎈 Just killer sound from a company that gets it 🎯
Plug in and prepare to smile 😏🎶
