The Imperial Electrical Appetite is a distortion with boost, an amps-in-a-box pedal that, as Delicious Audio put it, "puts the modified Plexi sound of Guns'n'Roses guitarist Slash, in a box"1. It is aimed at the guitar tone on Appetite for Destruction, which the same write-up describes as coming from "a modded Plexi with an extra gain stage and had an audible mid-range bump"1. If you are new to this corner of the pedal world, it sits among distortion pedals with a boost built in.
What it does
The Appetite packs two circuits into one box, stacked with the boost before the drive. Each can be played separately, which delivers up to three different tones: boost only, drive only, or both stacked1. The boost side uses a Germanium transistor, and Delicious Audio describes it as delivering "that mid-rangey tone we mentioned above"1, the pronounced mid-range bump that is a signature of the target sound, almost as pronounced as a cocked wah1.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pre-gain, tone, output knobs (left group) | Drive section controls, activated by the left footswitch1 |
| Right knob | Controls the level of the Germanium transistor boost, activated by the right footswitch1 |
With two footswitches, the pedal can be run like two pedals on a board: one switch brings in the drive knobs, the other brings in the boost1.
Background and availability
Imperial Electrical's approach, in Delicious Audio's words, "seems laser-focused on building amps-in-a-box pedals recreating the sound of legendary bands"1. The Appetite was presented at the NAMM 2022 show with a projected availability for the late summer of 20221.
Videos
Delicious Audio
Questions
Can the boost and drive sections be used separately?
Yes. The two circuits are stacked with the boost before the drive, but each can be played on its own. That gives up to three different tones: the boost alone, the drive alone, or both together. The left footswitch activates the drive knobs and the right footswitch activates the boost.
When was the Imperial Electrical Appetite released?
The pedal was presented at the NAMM 2022 show with a projected availability for the late summer of 2022, according to Delicious Audio's product page from June 2022.
Sources (1)
- Imperial Electrical Appetite (Slash In A Box), Delicious Audio, 2022-06-10