BALTIMORE SONIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE Little Mountains, Little Valleys

Little Mountains, Little Valleys is a pristine high-headroom buffer all the time, and a carefully tuned minimalist graphic EQ some of the time. It uses three-way toggle switches to boost and cut bass, middle, and treble frequencies by just a few dB to reshape your guitar signal for a bit more or a bit less of stuff you want a bit more or a bit less of. Trusty Strat needs a bit more oomph? Bump up the bass toggle for punchy low end. How about a dark semihollow that could use some sparkle? Bump up the treble toggle. Maybe even cut a little mid if you want some funky cleans. In all there are 27 little tone topographies to explore in Little Mountains, Little Valleys and every one transforms your tone in an interesting way. Also, the sun shines when you turn the pedal on and that’s the kind of whimsy I’m here for.

Volume - When all the toggles are in their middle position and the volume control is at minimum the output is at unity volume to the input. Turning the volume control clockwise adds output level to match input level as necessary if you are cutting frequencies. At max the pedal offers a few dB of clean boost. We’re not going for “slam the input of your amp” here. More like stepping up to a hotter pickup.

Bass (left toggle) - This three-way toggle controls a focused peaking filter centered around 100Hz to add or cut bass without adding mud or sucking out all the power in your rig. The center position is flat.

Middle (middle toggle) - This three-way toggle controls a peaking filter with a broader Q than the Bass toggle to give a rich bump in the mids or pull a little mid out of your signal if your tone feels overly midrangey. Helpful for punching through a mix when boosted or assisting with quack or keeping cleans bright and clear when cutting. The center position is flat.

Treble (right toggle) - This three-way toggle controls a shelving filter to add or subtract treble with a corner frequency around 4.5K Hz. Bump the toggle up for a boost in brightness or down to trim some high end.

Bypass Switch - Little Mountains, Little Valleys is in EQ mode when the Sun or Moon is illuminated. When you hit the footswitch, Little Mountains, Little Valleys is in Buffer mode and acts as a pristine line driver to preserve high end in your signal. Little Mountains, Little Valleys is best placed after effects that want to see your direct guitar signal (vintage fuzzes) but before the rest of your chain.