So, there are distortion pedals, and then there are DISTORTION PEDALS. Today’s featured effect, the Beautiful Noise Effects Exploder Distortion Device, clearly falls into the latter category (whatever that is), taking what you thought you knew about dirt pedals and smashing all expectations into oblivion. Sound too harsh? Well, if that’s the case, you should probably stop reading and go play a nice, quiet melody on your...
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The last time an effects pedal from Beautiful Noise Effects came through our office, it was the large and exciting “When the Sun Explodes”, a marvelous Reverb and Distortion mixed together to form a powerful and inspiring pedal. When we heard they were sending us their newest creation, our interest and excitement went through the roof, and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it. The Endless Sleeper arrived, and...
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In this current era of “space-saving pedalboard layouts,” isn’t it nice to see some oversized gear that feels no shame for its size and stature? Well, today’s pedal, When The Sun Explodes, from the masterminds down under at Beautiful Noise Effects, comes to you just ripping out of the gates, big and bold and rough all over, just waiting to get a chance to show what it can do. Which is a lot, now that you ask,...
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Last year, we were fortunate to be able to review and demo the ENTIRE pedal lineup from our friends at Poison Noises. Well, they’re back at it again with a new release, The Lighthouse Photo-Vibe, which provides gorgeous vintage vibrato and phasing sounds from decades past. With intuitive controls and wonderful modulated tones, this is a classic-sounding effect that will get your creativity flowing… With The Lighthouse, you...
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Our friends over at Poison Noises are releasing new versions of their entire lineup of effects pedals, and have asked us to help showcase these overhauled creations. We’re looking at 2 pedals a week for the next couple months, continuing today with The Spill Chorus V2. Prepare to dive into a pool of thick and lush chorus – beautiful, rich dreamscapes await… Like the other pedals in this series, The Spill Chorus V2...
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Last month, we were introduced to Weird Noise Pedals, an up-and-coming effects company out of Astoria, OR. Their Fuzz It was a wonderful one-knob buzz machine, and we couldn’t wait to dive into today’s more complex pedal. What The Fuzz is a 2 silicon transistor fuzz pedal capable of everything from touch sensitive overdrive to a thick fuzz. Very responsive to your guitar’s volume and tone controls, this one really makes...
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With the vast amount of effects pedals we have coming through the office, there are bound to be some pretty incredible collaborations of sound. We recently started a new series of demo videos under the name ‘The Noisemaker Series’ and are offering them EXCLUSIVELY through our Patreon page. All of the work we do here at Pedal of the Day requires a ton of time and effort, as you may imagine. But, for just a couple bucks a...
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Simplicity can be a powerful weapon in today’s pedal world, where some manuals tend to read like a Tolstoy novel. The ability to be able to sit down with a pedal and GO, without having to read a bunch first, can be key to gear working it’s way into your rig. Not that the big boys don’t have their place, of course they do, but sometime you just want a couple of knobs that make beautiful noise, and that’s all you...
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Over the course of the next week, we have FIVE pedals that all come from right where we live: beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. Some new companies, some old, all local and all amazing. We’re starting this little run with a unit that isn’t an effect, but an extremely useful piece of gear for any FX Loop-equipped tube amplifier. The Master Volume Box Attenuator from Asheville Guitar Pedals allows you to crank your...
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Well, we did it – today marks the official TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Pedal of the Day!! It’s been quite a ride, and we’ve seen an unbelievable amount of effects over the years…but today, I thought we’d head back to the very beginning, and revisit the one that started it all, one of our favorite pedals ever: the Boss DM-3 Analog Delay. The last analog delay pedal produced by Boss in the ’80s, it has a...
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The EF-X2 Tape Echo and the EF-P2 Spring Reverb from Echo Fix have been some of our favorite units we’ve reviewed in the last couple years, and we’re excited today to bring you their latest creation. Anointing you with a simple control section, but one that’s filled with gorgeous, vintage-tinged sonic options, this modulation machine is sure to conjure up tonal voices, forgotten sounds and beautiful feelings from...
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We’ve never come across a pedal we didn’t completely love from Spaceman Effects, and are proud to say that tradition continues with today’s gorgeous piece of gear. The Meridian Time Modulator blends aspects of chorus, vibrato, flanger, filter, pitch-shifting and more into one beautiful purple, sparkly enclosure. Opening new sonic pathways you never knew existed, this modulated machine will have you rethinking your...
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Recently, we had the wonderful opportunity to jump into the effects world of Fuzz Imp, from beautiful Portland, Oregon. The Shroot II (Deluxe) Overdrive not only looks rad and features a beloved TV character, but has some real meat to it when you turn it on. Today’s pedal, the Creature Fuzz, gets into a bit more dirty sonic territory, gloriously, and we’re completely here for it… The 5 controls are very interactive...
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The innovative, creative team at Death By Audio have been supporters of Pedal of the Day for years, so when they released today’s limited edition pedal, we knew we had to snag one and help support them right back. The Exploding Head Triple Delay harkens back to a classic DBA effect, as well as celebrates a milestone anniversary for a landmark album. Just when you thought echo couldn’t go any further… “Long ago,...
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Continuing our awesome week of reviews and demos, which has included the Eventide H90 Harmonizer® and the Meris LVX Modular Delay System, we bring you the highly-anticipated Chase Bliss Generation Loss MKII VCR Duplicator. A comprehensive study and smorgasbord of tape in all its forms, this effect is somewhat hard to categorize, and those are always some of our favorite pieces of gear. We should also mention that this is the first...
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A couple months back, we had the distinct pleasure of reviewing and demoing 3 brand new amplifier pedals from our friends at Universal Audio: Dream ’65, Ruby ’63 and Woodrow ’55, all of which were wicked spectacular. Today, we get to revisit more UA gear, this time in the form of three effects: Astra Modulation Machine, Starlight Echo Station and Golden Reverberator. We’ve had our eyes on these for a while, as...
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We recently had the opportunity to check out an amazing double drive pedal, the Pantheon Dual Overdrive Deluxe from Wampler Pedals, and today we’re back with a similar effect. The Gearbox Any Wood Signature Overdrive gives you two separate channels of dirt, each based on a classic circuit, to push you amp and your sound where it needs to go. Lots of knobs and switches here, let’s get right to it, shall we? The Gearbox is...
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It’s always an exciting time when the folks at Death By Audio create a new pedal, and we’re honored to be a part of today’s new release. The Space Bender Chorus Modulator replicates and warps your signal into beautiful and organic transmissions from a dimension somewhere beyond linear time. Under the hood lies an array of dynamically modulated delay lines allowing you to craft subtle vintage sci-fi sounds, bending...
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If you are looking for out-of-the-ordinary, mind-blowing, noise-creating machines, you should look no further than ezhi&aka. Made in extremely small batches and pretty hard to obtain, we’ve only had our grubby mitts on one other pedal of theirs, the Moomindrone T Drone Delay, until today. Let’s take a look at the Polarized Flutter Lofi Tapestop, a hard-to-define machine that utilizes a pad you “play” with...
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As their name suggests, the makers of fine pedals at Fjord Fuzz are relatively obsessed with, well, FUZZ. Having had the privilege of reviewing their gear over the last 2 years, it’s safe to say we’re fairly obsessed with it as well. Today’s fuzzy gem comes to us as the EMBLA Overdrive Fuzz, a mix of circuits that present a wide range of dirt to experiment with, and we’ll probably be obsessed with this one,...
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We have had the pleasure of reviewing every incarnation of the Roadie family of automatic tuners, and are excited to bring you their latest version today. The Roadie 3 Smart Automatic Tuner will help you save time, explore more music and truly enjoy tuning your instrument. Your musical world is full of possibilities. Bring your Roadie and play on. The new Roadie 3 can tune almost any string instrument with a guitar machine head in...
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Although we’ve never had the pleasure of testing out an old Binson Echorec, Roland Space Echo or Maestro Echoplex, we sure love a good tape delay sound. Those machines, while classic and heard on thousands of incredible recordings, are now decades and decades old. This leads to a ton of maintenance, know-how and upkeep, and that’s if you actually KNOW what you’re doing. They can fail at any moment, usually requiring...
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Ah, the infamous Klon Centaur. That mythical sound that can be yours for the low, low price range of $2,000-4,000, if you can find one. For those of us who think that staggering amount of cash just might be able to be spent elsewhere, we’ve got the Klone. Surfacing in many forms, colors, configurations and sizes, these homages to the original give the masses that Klon tone, without the hefty price tag. We’ve got another...
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The effects pedals coming out of the workshop at RPS Effects are anything but ordinary, and that’s something we have come to know and love about them over the last few years. From the wild bit-crushing sampling of the Bit Reactor to the gorgeous, vintage-esque analog echoes from the Warp Drive to the mean, dirty, choppy trem sounds from the Tremulus Maximus to the hardcore dirt of the Red Sun Distortion, these guys leave it all...
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Pedal companies that make mostly one-offs are an exciting bunch – you never know what you’re going to get, or when, but you know it’s bound to be pretty unique and intriguing. Such is the case with the company and pedal for today, the Lefa Pedals Destroy The Day Lofi Delay Fuzz Distortion. Coming to us from the great Northwest in the US via Seattle, these guys made this special effect just for us here at Pedal of the...
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Clint McDuffie Gadsden, Alabama Deep Space Devices deepspacedevices.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? For myself, I’ve been playing for around 13 years, which I would’ve been 12 or so when I began learning to play. I started out playing bass and, just like anyone else, I transitioned into guitar, but at the end of the day, I’ll always be a bass player at heart. At the time, friends were...
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The name Analog Man is right up there with the top dogs in the effects pedals industry, a company that makes reliable, excellent-sounding gear for use by every type of player you can think of. Today’s featured pedal is an excellent example of their work and craftsmanship, and of the sonic prowess they consistently bring to the table. The ARDX20 Dual Analog Delay features two independent echo channels, and a delay warmth that...
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It seems like we’ve had a fairly steady stream of compressors coming through the shop lately, but nothing had prepared us for today’s mammoth of a pedal that arrived from Retrospec Audio’s shop in Weehawken, NJ. The Squeeze Box is a studio-quality optical compressor/limiter that has been sized down into pedal form, albeit a pretty big pedal. Every compression and limiting sound and tone you could really want or need...
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Sean Wright Traverse City, Michigan Co-owner of Lollygagger FX www.lollygaggerfx.com info@lollygaggerfx.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I first started out as a frustrated drummer who would keep time like a broken clock….at least twice during the song I’d be in time. I think I was 16 when I started playing an instrument. A year later we moved into an apartment and that was...
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A couple of weeks ago, we took a look at a pedal from our friends at Celestial Effects, the Virgo Rock Overdrive, and found that it was a rocking little purple beast. Today’s featured pedal is the Virgo’s older, grown-up and more powerful brother, the Capricorn Rock Distortion. A versatile Boost/Overdrive/Distortion pedal, this creamy creation boasts two gain stages and broad spectrum of tones on tap. Volume starts things...
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Peter D’Amore Waukesha, WI www.peterdamore.com www.facebook.com/peterdamoremusic www.youtube.com/peterdamoremusic How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I always enjoyed making skits and songs on cassette recorders since I was five. Recording and editing is still my very favorite thing to do, and it always feels like a privilege. Besides Marty McFly and Van Halen references that heavily...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Sean G. – find him on Instagram (@TheNoiseReel), Twitter (@TheNoiseReel) and Facebook (The Noise Reel). It’s bright or it’s dark. The name makes me think of mint cotton candy at a circus. So I wanted to make a demo in a fast, chromatic circus fashion. Do you know how hard it is to find elephants in midtown Manhattan? Simple controls for a low to medium gain in the Mint...
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Mike Gantzer Guitarist for Aqueous Buffalo, NY https://aqueousband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/aqueousband/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Incidentally, when I first started playing music was in the 3rd grade with the standard issue recorder they give out to everyone, and i HATED it. haha I picked up trumpet for awhile, but I recall being sort of turned off with the rigidity of the...
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Last fall, we reviewed an incredible fuzz pedal from Retro Mechanical Labs, the Electron Fuzz Custom, and it really rocked our faces. Recently, Johnathan at RML made a special, potentially one-off version of this pedal called the Mini, featuring a gorgeous wooden enclosure and a rare, vintage voltage meter. We knew we had to have it, and the result is one of the most beautiful pedals we’ve had the pleasure to lay our eyes on....
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Sometimes, you want a fairly straight-forward, easy to manage fuzz, that just adds in enough power and oomph to your guitar tone to give it a little grit and gusto. Other times, you want a fuzz that is unpredictable, crazy, innovative and spectacular, one that opens up your mind and expands your musical library. Today’s pedal is most definitely the latter, a giant beautiful mess of blips, squawks and bleeps, complete with a...
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There are a lot of great fuzz pedals in the world, and it seems like more and more keep coming every year, something that I am most definitely NOT opposed to. Varying in degrees of control knobs and sonic options, some simpler and others more complex, there are a ton of setups to choose from. The Static Fuzz from IdiotBox Effects is kinda in the middle, with simple controls, plus one awesome added bonus, and features a huge range of...
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I’ve really been diggin’ doing some acoustic pedal reviews lately, as it’s opened my playing back up a bit, and it’s always fun to go back and rediscover all the rad things an acoustic can do. Playing electric so much with the majority of these reviews, I forget sometimes the tranquility and serenity that a nice acoustic guitar provides, and I’m glad I’ve been able to explore that more as of late....
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Some pedal companies (well, a lot of them, actually) are small, unique and hail from a different country. I always like to see what other countries and cultures are doing in the massive pedal world, to see what influences they are using, and how their ideas about pedal building differ from the ones here in the U.S.A. I’ve recently been in contact with Fuse Electronics, all the way from Chile in South America, and they sent a...
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When you first take a look at the TC-3 Compressor from Big Lloyde, you get the feeling that this is not your grandpa’s compressor pedal, and that something cool is about to happen. Then you plug it in, and realize your hopes and wishes had actually come true. A great-sounding compressor in a neat and tidy pedal package, the TC-3 gives the big fellas a run for their money. The controls are, at first, a little intimidating, but...
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The Rain is my favorite pedal on my board. It is weird and does such a wide range of things that I always find a new use for it. The Rain is a super tweaked clone of an EchoBender by Polish Power Pedals, the best of the best of small pedal builders. The settings include modulation, delay, two different decay settings, the wet effect and amount of dry guitar, as well as “feedback/shit” as labeled in the manual Nathanael put...
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It seems as though Strymon has become an absolutely dominating force amongst guitarists and their pedalboards as of late, and there’s a reason. Besides making space-age looking, beautiful, intelligent pedals, they have created some of the coolest sounds you could want coming through your amp, and the Brigadier dBucket Delay is a prime example of their craftsmanship and skill. As soon as you plug this guy in, you can feel...
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As I’ve said before, I love 2-In-1 pedals, especially overdrives, and the Sweet Tea from JHS Pedals is no exception. 2 sides of independent tone, each holding it’s own solo, and an amazing sound-producer when melted together at the same time. Marshall tones, classic screamer tones and more erupt from this stompbox, let’s give it a look! On the right side, we’ve got the JHS-808, based on a classic design, but...
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On its own, the CE-2 from Boss has a smooth, natural-sounding chorus effect, which is what has made it one of the most beloved chorus pedals since it’s introduction in 1979. Not trying to be fancy, not trying to do too much, just doing its job (and doing it well). You can set the Rate and Depth knobs fairly deep to get more of a tremolo-y effect, but where it really shines is backing off the dials until you get just the right...
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The Soda Meiser Fuzz from Devi Ever FX is an organic-sounding, smooth fuzz that can be amped up into dis-harmonic bliss with a turn of a knob. The Volume is a pretty easy knob to understand, but the range found in the Zazz (Gain) knob is extraordinary, going from light, Muff-ish tones to full-on out-of-this-world fuzzy bliss. With the Zazz knob turned all the way down, you get a really nice overdriven sound, with just a slight bit of...
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To really test this pedal, I wanted to run it through an solid state amp, to see how much “tube tone” it would actually add to a sound not produced by tubes in the first place. However, I only have 1 solid state amp, and it’s a little ZT Lunchbox. Maybe not the best demo amp, but I figured if I could coax a warm tube sound out of it, then this pedal was doing its job. Well, it did, and then some. For starters, it...
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The Philosopher’s Rock is a pretty unique and useful pedal to add to any guitarists’ arsenal. Acting mainly as a great compressor, it gives you great control over the amount of squish you have in your signal, while adding miles and miles of beautiful sustain to every note on the fretboard. Basically, this pedal is a simpler version of another Pigtronix classic, the Philosopher’s Tone. The Treble and Blend functions...
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The Flint Tremolo / Reverb is an incredible dual pedal from Strymon. Used separately or in conjunction, both the Tremolo side and the Reverb side have many different functions and tonal possibilities, all running through a supremely-built and gorgeous looking enclosure, which also happens to be true bypass. Along with the usual Speed and Intensity control knobs, the Tremolo side features a 3-way switch where the user can select from 3...
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The Boss RV-3 is a really fun pedal, and the combinations and settings of reverb and delay are pretty much endless. There are 3 Delay modes offering times up to 2,000ms, plus 4 Reverb modes with simultaneous delay, ranging from 32 to 1,000ms and using Room, Hall and Plate reverb types. Time and Mode knobs let you select how much of each effect you want in the mix, while the Balance and Tone knobs let you customize the sound coming...
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