Poly Effects are ushering in a new era for drive pedals, both sonically and aesthetically, with Flat V—a two-channel gain pedal designed in collaboration with guitarist Josh Smith. Flat V has two channels, A and B, with the ability swap which channel cascades into the other. Surprised by the lack of knobs? Don't worry—Flat V has a touch-based surface for modifying parameters.
Channel A is a simple transistor-based boost, and there are four different diode options to offer subtly different flavors of gain. Diode choices include Schottky, Germanium, Silicon, and LED. Channel B is a cascaded JFET design that emulates tube amp drive, and is the home of most Flat V parameters. In addition to typical Gain and Level controls, there are also resonant filters—not unlike what you'd find in a synthesizer. Separate lowpass and highpass filters with their own resonance controls dial in bark and howl, and may even be used for creative wah-like sounds.
Each Flat V preset contains two layers of settings, and blends between them with a dedicated LFO or dynamic envelope for sounds that you won't find in any other drive pedal. And if that weren't enough, there's full MIDI implementation for every parameter, allowing you to live out your wildest modulated overdrive and distortion dreams. Flat V is a totally different breed of drive pedal, and it's clear that Poly Effects and Josh Smith are looking towards the future of what guitar tones might be like.
JOSH SMITH FLAT V FEATURES
- Dual-channel drive pedal
- Touch-based slider interface
- Bypass switches for channels A and B
- Transistor boost with diode selection: Schottky, Germanium, Silicon, LED
- Cascaded JFET gain channel
- Gain and Level controls
- Resonant lowpass and highpass filters for tone-shaping
- 6 banks of 6 presets
- Dual parameter layers
- Parameter morphing with sine, triangle, or square LFO, or envelope follower
- MIDI I/O—TRS Type A