by d.j. blaise / dreamsort radio
I was first acquainted with the Caroline Météore lo-fi reverb pedal in early 2021, after quickly spotting it on Julie guitarist Keyan Pourzand’s pedalboard. Though only four years ago, it seems so distant that back then I was a high schooler, and the shoegaze trio was still playing local shows at FTG Warehouse. That summer, I was inspired to purchase the one-of-a-kind reverb pedal secondhand. Nearly four years later, I am still as enamored with its’ ghastly echos and grisly murmurs as I was at 16.
The Météore was debuted nearly a decade ago by the Caroline Guitar Company. The company dubs itself as the makers of “all-American tone machines,” a fitting description of their unique work. All pedal batches are produced in small quantities at their workshop in Colombia, South Carolina. The Météore has come in around a $219.00 retail price tag over the years. However, the unique design features of the Caroline product set it leagues apart from just any old budget choice.
Since its release, the Météore has been readily coveted and embraced by its alternative rock and shoegazing audience. Inspired by the Paris Metro’s Line 14, the 6x4x3 reverb pedal offers a sonic palette of industrial modernism and shimmering chaos. The center toggle offers two voicings, bright and dark, for tonal versatility.
Sturdy knobs for attack, level, size, and regen are featured on the pedal for personal fine-tuning. Interestingly, the Météore leaves your guitar’s original signal path completely “analog and pure,” while still capable of creating massive waves of powerful reverb.
The real magic shines through the ‘Havoc’ switch, the rare feature I initially sought out the Météore for. Holding down the Havoc switch allows the pedal to self-oscillate, releasing bounds of endless feedback and reverb. Turning up the attack enables you to achieve an even more distorted effect: though guitarists be warned, the pre-delay also increases with the knob.
Gently easing the attack knob allows for fine-tuning of saturation, in which the pedal often suffices. For a heavier sound, I recommend chaining your personal fuzz or distortion pedal either before or after the pedal. Personally, I love to run my Pro Co RAT 2 or Op-Amp Big Muff before the Météore.
Almost half a decade later, no other reverb pedal has swayed me as much as the Météore. Fans of noise-adoring bands from Sonic Youth to Slowdive should most definitely give the equipment a try. Caroline Guitar Company has continued to demonstrate excellent craftsmanship in other pedals such as the Wave Cannon Zero distortion and havoc, the Megabyte lo-fidelity delay computer, and Arigato phaser vibrato.
