Finally picked up a Cusak Screamer v2 for my Marshall

Kapo_Polenton

Well-known member
and...

it's definitely a cool pedal but by no means the be all end all. The coles notes of it is, pretty much anything sounds good and will work great with a JCM800 or JMP. They take pedals insanely well. As for the Cusak, I like the tonal options available on the toggle switch and it can add a nice grind and juiciness to the amp depending on how it is set. There is quite a bit of gain on tap but I found it gets a little too thick for me past 1 pm on the gain. When you get an 800 up with some volume though, it doesn't take much to kick the amp into gear and because of that, I don't think the cusak really offers that much more than a standard TS-9 does. In fact, A/B'ing it with my TS-808, I would give the edge back to the 808. Level all the way up and no gain or the gain just barely cracked. Maybe a tad less grindy but also more cut to my ears. Definitely worth trying the cusak if a regular TS variant doesn't do it for you but there is a reason that the SD-1 and TS-9/7/808's have stood the test of time.

As for the pedals I have tried, my top few right now (when you get the master volume up at least to 2 where you can hear the differences ) are:

OD-1 clone - the OD-1 just does what I always wished the SD-1 did. It absolutely cuts and kicks the mids and sounds amazing.

TS-808 - love this one too. A little less cutting but a beautiful crunch that does what we all love, especially on gained up amps.

KoKo Boost V.1 - man, I have tried to kick this one off the board but I love how the clean side hits another OD when you need just a bit more. The mid side is awesome when you get the amp opened up as well. When stacked over another overdrive i also find it not to be as noisy as stacking other drives or boosts.

Notable mentions:

EWS- Little brute drive. Nice crunchy tone that feels like "more" of what you have. This one surprised me and I dig it.

GE-7 - good ol classic. Shape to taste, sounds great.

SD-1 in a pinch and at volume, hard not to go to this one. There are so many "mods" or "improvements" people do to this one but I think it sounds great as is.


Anyway as always, everyone's tastes will vary but I suspect the amount of cusak's in circulation on reverb or ebay are probably due to the fact that people felt it was a cool pedal, but not that much different than their tube screamers when used as a boost.
 
Well that's certainly not a glowing endorsement. :no:

OP: Is your pedal unusually noisy if you tap on it while turned on? A few members here have mentioned that happens with the gain up a bit.

Agree with the Koko v1.0 killing it.
 
Detroit1973":2f9w9nvm said:
I was thinking of picking one up for my Soldano Avenger but i'm thinking of just using a Clean boost with it.

I have an Avenger and use the Koko boost to push it over the edge. Sounds awesome for that.
 
I use the Cusack on my JCM800 as a lead boost (volume maxed, gain just cracked a slight bit, toggle to the left) behind a Koko Reloaded that is always on with the mid boost engaged.

I A/B'd the Cusack against my Ibanez mini tube screamer and it won out. As a boost (volume all the way up, gain off) the TS mini had more output. You need to get the gain up a bit on the Cusack to see the same amount of boost as the TS mini. What I liked better with the Cusack is that it retained a lot of clarity if I rolled the volume off on the guitar. It wasn't as muddy as the TS. Not sure how it would compare to other TS variants. The 3 way switch is also a plus, but is subtle with the gain down low.

I do agree, even though my Koko is a reloaded version, it's not going anywhere. Just the right amount of push and stacks nicely if needed.
 
I have the Koko last in my chain of boosts / OD pedals. Cusack is first. I should try the Koko first since I use it more than anything else anyway.
 
I'm kinda going thru an OD/Distortion search myself. At the moment the winning pedal is a J Rockett Archer IKON. I have tried the Cusack and it was in the ballpark but it didn't do it for me (a little noisy). I have found that each pedal is different for each amp. At the moment I have a JHS Bonsai on order and a REVV G3 on order. I have always like the Suhr Riot but could never vibe with the Koko Boost. I'm using the pedals with a Metropolous Metro-Plex. I was using them with a Bogner Helios. When I changed amps I had to change pedals because they react different. I was using a JHS Andy Timmons with the Helios and it sounded great, I also had a Bogner LaGrange that did not sound good with the Helios. When I changed over to the Metro-Plex the JHS AT did not sound so good and the Bogner LaGrange sounded good...

Chuck
 
I used to own a Cusack Screamer V2 and it was good, but I had other pedals that outdid what I liked about it. I’d recommend the VFE Dragon or Standout over the screamer or also a Landgraff Mo-D, but it’s expensive (that’s the main one that sent the screamer packing for me)
 
I agree with Seitz in that every amp reacts a little differently. I still have my Cusack but I only use it to goose certain already loud/distorted amps and I only do that occasionally. It is still firmly in the Tubescreamer camp imo.

Regarding the switch on the Cusack: it is a clipping switch and with the Gain way down there is no clipping so the switch does nothing.
 
Wizard of Ozz":3nki84i2 said:
Well that's certainly not a glowing endorsement. :no:

OP: Is your pedal unusually noisy if you tap on it while turned on? A few members here have mentioned that happens with the gain up a bit.

Agree with the Koko v1.0 killing it.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good TS variant and mine is quiet. I just don't think that it is that much different than your favourite TS already. I am going to keep it on the board for now and see how it goes. I will say that it grinds more than your standard TS and I noticed I liked it more with a different guitar so as always, there are lots of factors to consider when trying out gear together. In the past even the room I would play in itself had an impact on how I viewed my tone. (no bass traps and conceived lack of treble for example)

The KoKo is wicked though, no question.
 
I feel you, I feel like that I went into the Cusack expecting something that it just wasn't, so it's really my fault that I didn't love it.
 
You need to try something in the Klon family. I have the JRAD Archer, Wampler Tumnus and Tumnus Deluxe. They’re all great but the Tumnus Deluxe wins for overall tone sculpting.
 
I have the V1 and this is one of the only pedals I've tried that works with even my pickiest amps. When other TS style pedals will overload the front end of some amps and make them fart out on the low end the Screamer never does this. Will probably pick up the V2 someday. -Jim
 
LP Freak":10i9vqi0 said:
You need to try something in the Klon family. I have the JRAD Archer, Wampler Tumnus and Tumnus Deluxe. They’re all great but the Tumnus Deluxe wins for overall tone sculpting.

Really been wanting to try the Tumnus Deluxe, it is next on the list.
 
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