Gear Review: Nexi Acoustic Pedalboard | Acoustic Guitar

Although many acoustic guitaristsare perfectly content to plug into a DI or acoustic amp, there’s no denying thecoolness and added tonal flexibility that comes from having some stompboxes onthe floor in front of you. A potential turnoff, however, is the burden ofmultiple patch cables, 9-volt batteries, or an octopus of power adapters. Well,what if you could get all the goodness with none of the hassle factor?

Please make the acquaintance of the Nexi Acoustic ($299 retail, including a reverb pedal), an inspired and happening take on the time-honored pedalboard concept from Nexi Industries. Conceived by “a bunch of frustrated guitarists and boutique analog stompbox fanatics from Amsterdam,” the Nexi Acoustic is a click-and-play device with a built-in tuner and boost that is also “splash proof.” Wow. Allow me to explain.

The unit is a sleek, wood-grain-toned floorboard with four pedal-sized slots and two switches on it, plus a big display readout up top. You power it up with a beefy (and easy to find on a gig) IEC cable. That’s when you realize that the huge display is for the onboard tuner. When you remove the rubber covers on the slots, you’ll see a little 9-pin computer-style port connector and two small plugs. If you take the Nexi Acoustic Reverb pedal that is included with the purchase and remove the plastic plug on the bottom, you will see that it snaps directly into the slot on the board, with a reassuring click and a snug fit, thanks to the rubber grommet running around the pedal (there’s that splash-proof thing again). The 9-pin port powers the pedal and the audio. Plug your guitar cable in on the right side, take a 1/4″ or XLR out on the left, and you’re up and running. (The review board didn’t come with a reverb pedal, but Nexi sent a compressor, a looper, and a chorus pedal.)

I snapped the compressor pedal intoplace, and the first thing I noticed is that it sounds really good—big and warmwith low noise and very transparent. I would absolutely use this pedal. That’simportant, because one of the first things I asked myself upon seeing thepedalboard was, “Do I have to use their pedals?” The answer is no (more on thatin a minute), but the more nuanced answer is, “You’ll probably want to checkout their pedals, because in addition to working seamlessly with thepedalboard, they’re all true-bypass, feature analog circuitry, and they soundgreat.” I mounted the Acoustic Chorus and, like the compressor, it spranginstantly to life, powering up and passing signal. It has what they call theUltra Classic mode, which you can switch on and off with the middle knob. Both settingssound expansive, with Off being more subtle and Ultra Classic deliveringdeeper, more pronounced chorusing. It can get into warbly, seasick territory, butonly if you crank it, and even then it’s a usable sound. I’m picky aboutchorus, and this is a good one.

ADVERTISEMENT

If you want to use your own pedals, you totally can; you just need the ConNEXI, which retails for a very reasonable $28. This is essentially a rubber pad with a power adapter and two patch cables on it. It can accommodate 9-volt, tip-negative pedals; the power unit inside the four-slot board is 3000Mah, plenty enough even for power-slurping stompboxes. You can affix your pedals with Velcro or double-stick tape, but the power adapter and patch cables are actually pretty effective at tethering your box to the board (admittedly not a long-term solution, but one that got me through this review without any problems). I plugged in an Emma Electronic Navigator delay, snapped it in, and it worked right away, exactly as promised. What a concept!

The gig-friendly features of thispedalboard are definitely cool. I didn’t test the splash-proof claim, but itdoes appear that a spilled beer would not ruin your life on a club date. Thetuner seems very accurate and you would be able to read this display fromanywhere on stage. There is also an onboard boost, which is a great idea. Withthe Mode button you can preset a 7, 12, or 20dB boost, and it’s absolutelyhandy to have it underfoot, without hogging one of your pedal slots. There’salso a Speaker Simulator, which leaves the sound of your guitar completely intact.

This is a very well-thought-outtool. It has the clean look and solid feel of the custom pedalboards that weused to only see on the stages of the pros. Although it has only four slots,the built-in tuner and boost make it more like six, and the up to 12-volt DCjack on the side allows you to add pedals if you need to. Nice job, Nexi!

ADVERTISEMENT

SPECS

CONNECTIONS Four pedalslots, 1/4″ input, 1/4″ output XLR DI output (with ground lift), 1/4″line out, 12v DC output

SWITCHES Power, Tuner,Boost, Mode, Select

PRICE $299 (retail); $28 for ConNEXI adapter

MADE IN China

nexi-industries.com

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Add Comment *

We welcome all feedback – whether positive or critical – but ask that your comments remain civil, constructive, and on-topic. We’ll remove comments that don’t meet these criteria and reserve the right to ban frequent abusers from posting altogether.

Post Comment

Δ