(Originally posted while blog was locked)
So this is a thing now.
The replacement pedal has the exact same issue as the original: the effect is mono. I tried several different cables, different inputs on my audio interface, plugging the bass directly in instead of from the audio interface, checking the drivers… most of which was redundant because Slöer was definitely working in stereo, as was the dry signal I was sending in.
I wrote to Maneco, commenting that I was still enjoying it even in mono and asked if I should send one of them back. The response was basically “that’s weird, I don’t know what’s going on. But please keep both pedals and have fun.”
So now I’m doing dual mono routing. This is a little more awkward, but it can sound really great, and it’s more flexible. Stereo? Mid/Side? Serial? Independent? Multiband? Spectral multiband, even? Sure, why not! All that routing power is right there in the DAW without switching cables around.
The FX1 loop is back to Dark Star -> Slöer. A mono Mesmeriser into Slöer did work well, for stereo enhancement and extra warble, but I can still do that or use software. The world’s my oyster. I seriously love this hybrid hardware/software approach.
Because these knobs aren’t my favorite — too hard to see which way they’re pointing — I’ve got metallic gold Davies 1900 clones on the way, plus some “Brutalist” blue knobs for the Slöer because of that glare. There are some knobs I want that are only available from Thonk, but they’re still working out how to cope with the Chump tariffs and aren’t shipping knobs to the US.