Demonstration Of The Bixonic’s Axentrix A1 'New-gen Distortion Pedal'
Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario calls the Axentrix A1 “an eye-catching design loaded with tons of distortion tones,” and that’s an understatement.
The pedal adds in an extra selectable drive mode, for four in total: Crunch, Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz. Also new is an Accent function that allows for a wide variety of expressions, carrying on the unique dynamic range expansion effects of the Expandora.
The pedal adds in an extra selectable drive mode, for four in total: Crunch, Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz. Also new is an Accent function that allows for a wide variety of expressions, carrying on the unique dynamic range expansion effects of the Expandora.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:06 What's up? It's Paul from Guitar World and today we'll be checking out a brand new pedal from Bixonic
00:09 with an eye-catching design and one loaded with tons of distortion tones.
00:14 The Xcentrix A1. Let's check it out.
00:16 [Music]
00:27 Bixonic, previously known as the maker of the Xpandora pedal in the late 90s and 2000,
00:31 has returned with a new digital distortion pedal called the Xcentrix A1.
00:35 This new pedal uses a newly developed dynamic range expressor processing, or DREP, technology
00:44 that allows the user to adjust not just the expansion effect, which was a unique feature
00:48 of the Xpandora EXP2000 pedal, but also the compression of the input dynamic range.
00:54 The Xcentrix A1 includes four drive modes, crunch, overdrive, distortion, and fuzz,
00:59 and once you pair any of the drive modes with the DREP technology
01:02 accent function, you can begin to sculpt your own unique tone.
01:06 Let's take a look at controls and how to access their secondary functions.
01:11 [Music]
01:14 You'll see the controls and written underneath is what their secondary function is.
01:18 Starting with the level control, if you press and hold it for two seconds,
01:22 you get to select between guitar or bass, and you'll see the foot switch light up red for guitar,
01:28 where the low frequency is removed, or blue for bass.
01:32 And don't be afraid to use blue for guitar if it sounds great to your ears.
01:35 The accent control, this carries on the tradition of the Xpandora's dynamic range expansion effect.
01:41 Think of it as a feel control. Moving clockwise accentuates picking attack,
01:46 and counterclockwise invites percussiveness at low gain or more sustained at higher gain settings.
01:52 The secondary function is illumination,
01:54 so you can set the brightness of the knobs by holding it down two seconds.
01:58 The gain control, of course this is self-explanatory, it dials in the amount of gain,
02:03 but if you hold it down for two seconds, you get to change the types of drive available.
02:10 So when you see it light up for green, that's crunch, yellow overdrive, red distortion,
02:16 and purple for fuzz. Next up, the tone control, or the three-band EQ.
02:21 You press and hold for two seconds, and it illuminates white,
02:24 and now you have access to the three-band EQ. So the level control becomes the treble,
02:29 the tone control becomes the mid, and the gain control becomes the bass.
02:32 The Accentrix A1 is battery powered or AC powered, however, it's better to use this
02:38 pedal with a power supply, because if you leave it plugged in with a battery,
02:42 when you're not using it, you'll drain the battery.
02:44 With the switch on the side, you can also select whether you want true bypass or buffered bypass
02:49 with the selector switch. The foot switch will light up white, buffered bypass,
02:54 and to set up your buffered bypass tone, you turn off the pedal and select buffered bypass,
03:01 and the knobs will turn white, with the accent knob turning blue.
03:05 Use the accent knob to set the dynamic range, and the others for EQ.
03:10 The same idea with the controls for bass, mid, and treble, with treble at the volume,
03:16 mid at the tone, and bass at the gain knob in buffered bypass.
03:21 Once you have your buffered bypass tone, hit any knob to store it.
03:25 There's also three memory buttons with a save button, and you can see it's real easy to use.
03:31 Hit save once you get a setting, they'll light up and select where you wish to save and recall
03:37 that preset. Bigsonic also offers an external foot switch that's sold separately to easily
03:42 recall the settings. There's also an onboard tuning meter, which works the minute you plug it
03:54 in. You'll see the light spins in blue, and you have to have the effects off and the Accentrix
04:00 A1 set up to buffered bypass. The light for the string you choose rotates clockwise if you're
04:07 sharp, and counterclockwise if you're flat. When the light stops spinning, you're in tune.
04:12 Much like a strobe tuner. Right now I'm in buffered bypass,
04:16 that's where the switch is set. So this is my buffered bypass tone.
04:19 And you get to hear the range of the kind of distortion. So what you just heard,
04:30 very crunchy type of distortion. Now listen to this type of distortion, very different.
04:33 [Music]
04:55 Here's more of a higher gain distortion. Check it out.
04:58 [Music]
05:15 Moving over to purple, here we have a fuzz setting.
05:18 [Music]
05:48 Here you can see the gains dialed back on this one.
05:50 [Music]
06:18 The Bixonic Accentrix A1 is undoubtedly a new gen distortion pedal that offers an
06:23 endless supply of drive tones for any playing style. With the ability to save up to three
06:28 different sounds, an onboard tuning meter, and secondary functions that allow for tailoring the
06:33 EQ to your style of playing, the Accentrix A1 is a jam-packed distortion stomp box worth your time.
06:40 Definitely check it out.
06:42 [Music]