SumOne Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Rainger FX Minibar Liquid Analyzer sounds mental, and very gimicky - but in a good way! Rainger FX have always been known for their unique and out-of-the-ordinary effects pedals. The Minibar is the latest mind-boggling stompbox to join the British company's diverse lineup, and trust us - it's unlike anything you've ever seen before! An overdrive pedal in its most basic form, the Minibar allows you to pour any concoction of your choice into its integrated container - with the properties of the liquid you've added determining the sound of the pedal! Affecting the type of distortion and the shape of the EQ, the Minibar's tone can be tweaked in some of the most unconventional ways you can think of! A Journey Into Sound Rainger FX are inviting you to take part in an experiment in tone-shaping discover. This mini pedal makes no sound at all until you pour liquid into it – any kind at all. The various qualities of that liquid decide the amount, and to some degree, the quality of the distortion and the amount of treble and bass. What you use to do this is entirely up to you. Any sort of mixture you can dream up! The pedal is simplicity itself; it has a volume knob, and a small watertight container mounted in the top panel; unscrew the lid, get pouring and analyse! Then, when you’ve got your own unique sound, screw the lid on tightly and you’re ready to go. Finger tight is fine, but don’t get too forceful as some liquids can give a sticky-ness over time that makes the lid harder to undo. To start again with experimenting, just open the lid and wipe out the container with a paper towel. You’ll hear the guitar sound crumble away to nothing, but as the new liquid hits the container the resulting new sound appears. Technical Details The conductivity of the guitar’s AC signal generally decides the amount of gain, and the opacity (how easily light passes through it) decides the amount of treble and bass. The Minibar often creates satisfying ‘band-pass’ tones – nicely uncompressed, and with plenty of satisfying harmonics and plectrum ‘cluck’. Please note: The pedal is sold with no liquid in it, and so will make no noise at all – until you do your bit! It’s up to you to go and experiment... Key Features Choose your own liquid combination to create your own sound Simple yet completely innovative Incorporates green 'analysing' LED (to show signal present) Tasty mirror-finished box Interactive like no other pedal before - use your imagination to discover your own sound! Rainger FX custom mini pedal enclosure - with no socket on the side! On sale (£119) at Andertons, I'm tempted. https://www.andertons.co.uk/offers/all-guitar-pedal-offers/rainger-fx-minibar-liquid-analyser-overdrive-pedal Anyone here tried one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I've got one. It's a bit of a gimmick, but it's actually a really cool sounding fuzz. It's really fun experimenting with different liquids to see how they affect the sound. I've found that darker drinks like Coke are bassier than lighter coloured drinks, and fizzy drinks have a higher gain than still ones. You can mix drinks to some degree to control the bass/treble, and the amount of drive. It's a fun pedal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 12 minutes ago, Doddy said: I've got one. It's a bit of a gimmick, but it's actually a really cool sounding fuzz. It's really fun experimenting with different liquids to see how they affect the sound. I've found that darker drinks like Coke are bassier than lighter coloured drinks, and fizzy drinks have a higher gain than still ones. You can mix drinks to some degree to control the bass/treble, and the amount of drive. It's a fun pedal. Nice one, I've been half-heartedly attempting to build a pedalboard of mini pedals so have been looking out for mini fuzz/overdrives and the EWS Stormy Bass Drive or the MXR Sugar Drive were top contenders but I think I'll go for the Rainger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 11 minutes ago, SumOne said: Nice one, I've been half-heartedly attempting to build a pedalboard of mini pedals so have been looking out for mini fuzz/overdrives and the EWS Stormy Bass Drive or the MXR Sugar Drive were top contenders but I think I'll go for the Rainger. The only thing to be aware of is it's not easily tweakable on stage-the only knob is volume. But if you know what sound you're going for, it's cool. The only reason I don't gig it more is because it's a mini pedal, and I prefer bigger enclosures for live work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 It sounds like a great pedal idea, just a little expensive for what it does. I'd almost certainly get one if it came up second hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 A comment on a Youtube review of this pedal that sums it up for me: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 I managed to resist for about 6hrs but have now ordered one - what could go wrong pouring different liquids into an electrical device plugged in right next to other electrical devices?! If I find a few sounds I like I'll need to make up small liquid containers to carry about with me to things like band practice and if I'm playing a gig I'll need to empty the pedal and pour in the new liquid for certain songs.....I sold a Helix a while ago because although very convenient and cost-effective it didn't seem as much fun as mucking about with as individual pedals - this one seems to be peak inconvenient/muck about foolishness! While they're at it why haven't Rainger developed a pedal that responds to how hard you blow on it, or smell, or temperature? Slackers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quatschmacher Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Finally a pedal designed to sound better when an audience member spills beer on it. Visions of a male guitarist visiting A&E with one of these attached to his Netherlands trying to explain that he was indeed only trying to fill it with liquid as he was “experimenting”. Edited January 4, 2022 by Quatschmacher 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quatschmacher Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 How will these fare with touring musicians who need to fly? These are going to look funny in the liquids bag! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quatschmacher Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 1 hour ago, SumOne said: While they're at it why haven't Rainger developed a pedal that responds to how hard you blow on it, or smell, or temperature? Slackers. Breath-controlled distortion pedal sounds like a great idea. This could easily be done with a Source Audio pedal and a MIDI breath controller. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I'm working on a new concept called 'Gufftronics' that produces a range of tones depending on what you have been eating in the previous twelve hours, with the added advantage of vocoder-like tone shaping. The only downside is you need to have your nether regions connected to the pedal by a long plastic tube, but this is hardly worse than a guitar lead and doesn't seem to have been a problem for the vocoder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 First unboxing and I thought Rainger might have developed ideas from this thread and taken them a couple of steps further: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Got to love a pedal with this in it's warranty: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumOne Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 Aside from the main selling point of it's ridiculous/excellent concept this seems to actually be quite a useful pedal: I've just tried a few (non body) fluids and they sound quite different but each sounds good - everything from Bass heavy light overdrive through to Fuzz with a lot of treble. Gain depends on liquid's conductivity and treble/bass depends on opacity. Obviously a limitation/selling point is the hassle/fun of changing the liquid but I've got fuzz pedals that only basically do one flavour of fuzz and overdrives that only do one type of overdrive so in a way it's actually more versatile than them. I expect once the novelty wears off I'll just settle on keeping one liquid in it depending if I want a fuzz or light overdrive or whatever - but it gives that choice that a lot of pedals don't. Small size and top mounted jacks and power. Cool looking way it lights up and it has a tough chrome casing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Stop it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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