We love a good musician/pedal company collaboration, and today’s brings you three different effects in one very pedalboard-friendly package. Designed specifically to famed guitarist Jack White’s specs, the Triple Threat is a multi-effect collab between Donner and Third Man, bringing three of Jack’s favorite sounds together in a beautiful way. Combining distortion, phasing and echo into one pedal, we ask: what more...
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If you are looking for a fuzz pedal that not only sounds great, but also has more output volume available than just about any pedal that’s come through our office, today’s effect creation is for you. The White Wave from Frana Effects is a Fuzz and a Boost, and has enough power trapped inside to take down a small building, if your amp’s speakers don’t blow first. Inspired by some classic fuzz tones from some...
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Forrest Whitesides Function f(x) Elk Grove Village, IL www.function-fx.com We have five partners: Dave F., Brian, Dave B., Jerry, and Forrest. Three of us are just outside of Chicago, one guy is a breath away from Nashville, and one is in NJ about 50 miles west of NYC. (Forrest has provided the answers below) How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I first started playing guitar in 1989. Just...
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There have been a lot of fuzz pedals floating around the office as of late, and one of the ones I was most excited about playing is today’s featured pedal, the White Atom Fuzz from Magnetic Effects. I’d seen this pedal around on different sites online, and was extremely delighted when we both decided to collaborate on a review for the newest model, the MkII. Anticipation was high as I waited for the pedal to arrive from...
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The White Rabbit from our friends in the UK, RayGun FX, is an extremely versatile and easy-to-use fuzz pedal, with many small nuances and settings that can go from boost to blitzkrieg and all sorts of stuff in between. Simple controls with big range produce gorgeous fuzz tones here, let’s give it a run-through, shall we? The overall size and layout of the White Rabbit are perfect, with an enclosure that’s not going to...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Top Ten Iconic Guitar Pedal Effects Moments By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. There are so many guitar pedal moments to choose in songs, especially in hits starting in the 1980’s. Once pedals increased in popularity they became mixed...
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The legacy of ZVEX Effects now stretches back over a quarter of a century. Beginning in 1995, Zachary Vex has become known for his innovative and genre-bending pedals, gracing the boards of folks like Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, J Mascis, Billy Gibbons, Jack White and many more. Today, we’ve got one of their classic pedals for ya – the Box of Rock Distortion 25th Anniversary Vexter Series. The Box of Rock is a staple in...
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Very few companies are able to completely reinvent the way we all think about effects pedals, and Gamechanger Audio is most definitely on that list. From the gorgeous PLUS Pedal to the Xenon-tubed PLASMA Distortion to their collaboration with Jack White, innovation and excitement are the keys to their success. Which makes it really no surprise that their latest offering, the Light Pedal Optical Spring Reverb System, follows in the...
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When the crew at Gamechanger Audio released the Plasma Pedal a couple years back, we were blown away, and it’s still one of our favorite distortion pedals ever. So when we heard they were teaming up with Third Man Records for a special version, called the Plasma Coil Distortion, we were intrigued, to say the least. Come to find out that this new version has been made to Jack White’s specs, and we were 100% in. The Plasma...
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If you dig effects pedals, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard, seen and/or played something from Mantic Effects. If you have ears, there’s also a good chance you’ve come across an artist named Jack White….many, many times, some probably without you even knowing it. Jack’s record label Third Man Records and Mantic have teamed up for today’s featured pedal, the Flex TMR PLL Monophonic...
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Leon Wright Portland, OR Pelican NoiseWorks www.pelicannoiseworks.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Music has always been a part of my life. My dad played piano and guitar ever since I can remember. He passed away when I was 8. After that I inherited his guitar and set out to figure out how to play. Since then, it has been a constant thing in my life, not that I have ever actually...
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In today’s crazy world of delay pedals, with all the tricks and secrets and incredible things they can now do, it’s sometimes nice to have a simple, laid-back delay pedal, capable of subtle tones and monstrous adventure at the same time. Today’s featured pedal is just that, as are most of the pedals from Mantic Effects. The Isaiah Delay is a three-knob echo beast, producing an over-the-top amount of noise and fun,...
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Celestial Effects 22 Kane Industrial Drive Hudson, MA 01749 800-343-4492 sales@celestialeffects.com www.celestialeffects.com How long have you guys been musicians? How did you each get into it in the first place? Dom: Thanks to my dad, who loved music but never played an instrument, my formal musical education came from playing trumpet and coronet from 3rd grade through high school. In high school I played in the concert band, wind...
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The Big Muff. Chances are, you own at least one album that has this classic fuzz sound featured prominently on it, but you probably have more like 50 or 100. A classic sound that has stood the test of time, and has been showcased expertly through guitarists ranging from Jack White to David Gilmour to J. Mascis to Billy Corgan to Carlos Santana to Dan Auerbach, as well as countless others. Today’s pedal is a brilliant take on a...
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My buddy Anthony from Marla Amplification gave me a huge bag of pedals to check out, and one of the many gems I discovered inside was the Dunn Effects Deceiver Distortion. Now, I can’t hardly find out squat about this pedal on the interwebs, so it must be really rare, or a one-off, or discontinued or something…either way, it looks slick and sounds amazing. Let’s jump in and see what this familiar-ish layout has to...
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We love the two-knob effects pedals in the Verdugo Series Stompbox lineup from our friends at NUX, and we’ve got a sweet front-of-chain unit that will transform your tone. The NBK-5 Masamune Booster & Kompressor features two effects in one box, as so all the Verdugo series, changing your initial input signal in the best of ways. Bring the funk, boost your volume, breakup your amp – they’re all possible with this...
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Every version of the Ampero family of Amp Modelers and Effects Processors from our friends at Hotone Audio has come our way, and we’re exctied as always to bring you the latest version today. The Ampero MINI takes everything you know and love about these units and squishes them into a small, compact enclosure, perfect for any pedalboard or tabletop rig. And since there’s no compromise in sound quality or endless IRs,...
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Mixing different kinds of effects together usually pays off pretty damn well, and today’s pedal keeps that fine tradition going strong. The Humanoid Pedals Psychosis Tremolo Overdrive combines two of our favorites into one wild enclosure, complete with nutty graphics and thick, heavy driven and modulated sounds. This isn’t a light one, folks, so buckle up and let’s see what its all about… The Psychosis is the...
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The Mu-Tron Phasor II is arguably the best phaser pedal ever created, right? Well, as always, that’s debatable, but it sure is one of the best ones I’ve ever played – however, original units, even in bad condition, go for $500+ all day, which is pretty steep for most of us. Thankfully, the fine folks over at StewMac have come up with a wonderful solution, and one that you get to build yourself: the Lightcycle Optical...
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Well, the groundbreaking, innovative team at Meris is up to it again, and this time around, they just might have created the *perfect* delay pedal. You’ve probably heard about the LVX Modular Delay System since its release earlier this year, and if you haven’t had a chance to sit down with it yet…let’s just say you’re gonna want to as soon as possible. There’s so much going on in this pedal,...
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Greg Loiacono & Tim Bluhm Marin County, CA / Fairfax, CA The Mother Hips motherhips.com Greg Loiacono Band gregloiacono.com Green Leaf Rustlers Tim Bluhm w/ The Coffis Brothers timbluhm.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Greg Loiacono: I started playing guitar at age 11. I wanted to learn as soon as I heard “Purple Haze” for the first time. I stopped for a bit and got back...
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We all know multi-effects pedals, especially the ones that have been coming out the last couple of years, can be super fun, and essential to some rigs. But they really open up when you can control more of their functionality easily, and that’s why we’re here today. The new Tap and Dual AUX switches from Rock Stock Pedals open up your Line6 HX Stomp (and other multi-effects) and lets you customize how you use it to your...
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What’s better than experimenting with a new effects pedal from Chase Bliss Audio? Experimenting with one they created alongside another pioneering company, Cooper FX, for an extremely Limited Edition piece of gear. We saw them team up (along with Keeley Electronics) for the Dark World Dual Reverb, and now they’re expanding on one of Cooper FX’s own marvelous creations. The Generation Loss is familiar to a lot of us...
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Last month when we reviewed and demoed our first pedal from Frana Effects, the White Wave Fuzz, the impression that it left was one of amazement (as well as a shattered eardrum or two). So, we were stoked to be able to try another one of their pedals, but go in a completely different direction from the aforementioned fuzz genre. The Moon Land is a tremolo with extra oomph, based on some classic circuitry, but with its own flare and...
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When we started doing reviews for Pedal of the Day, the EM-Drive from Emerson Custom was all the rage, followed shortly by the Paramount, two of the finest drive pedals we have come across, and staples on pedalboards around the world. So, we got pretty damn excited when we heard that the Pomeroy Boost Overdrive was going to be hitting the market, and couldn’t wait to check it out for ourselves. Well, the wait is over – a...
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Neal Casal nealcasal.com Chris Robinson Brotherhood www.chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com Hard Working Americans www.thehardworkingamericans.com Circles Around The Sun Skiffle Players (with Cass McCombs) Phil Lesh And Friends Gospelbeach How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar in 1981. I was obsessed with the Rolling Stones and the bands I saw in the Gimme Shelter film....
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Andy Greene Escape Plan Pedals http://www.escapeplanpedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played music for pretty much my entire life. I got my first guitar, a miniature steel string acoustic, when I was 5. I learned simplified versions of most of the standard position major chords and a few minor chords and would try to put on concerts for my family. I really got interested in...
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We’ve been reviewing a bunch of drive pedals from Diamond Pedals recently, and today’s featured pedal is another in this esteemed list of great gear they’ve been putting out. With many of their pedals having a lot of controls and a ton of options, this pedal is simple, easy-to-use and sounds great. The Nine Zero Two (which happens to be the area code for Nova Scotia) is a stripped-down but powerful overdrive, that...
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Last fall, we reviewed a reverb pedal from an up-and-coming company that was really taking off – that pedal was the Cloud 9 from Sky Pedals. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sky Pedals is no longer creating gear for us to enjoy, but passed along the basic concept and design of the Cloud 9 to our friends at JHS Pedals, and a new reverb was born from the ashes. That pedal is the subject of today’s review, and it’s...
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If you’re looking for a deep, lush chorus pedal to add a bit of depth and character to your playing, then look no further than the Analog Chorus from CMATMods. This box produces sounds reminiscent of vintage choruses from the past, and it does so because pedal maker Chad uses the discontinued BBD MN3007 and MN3101 analog chips, making your tone warm, smooth and buttery fluttery. The Blend knob is always a welcome knob, on any...
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Who here is a regular user of Granular Synthesis? Exactly. No one. Well, the Particle Granular Delay/Pitch Shifter pedal from Red Panda wants you to know all about it, and (try) to use it to your advantage in your guitar playing. This is one of those pedals that is a bit tricky to describe on paper, as the sounds that come out of it are very rarely repeated, leading to a vast amount of random sonic gooeyness. Let’s start at the...
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(8/8/14) Guitars: PRS Custom 24 SE w/ Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker (bridge) & SH-2N Jazz Humbucker (neck) “The Trooper” Fender Standard Telecaster w/ Seymour Duncan STL-1b Broadcaster Lead (bridge) & STR-1 Broadcaster Rhythm (neck) Alvarez AD60SC Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Amps: Ampeg GVT 15-H All-Tube Amp Head > Dr. Z 1×12 Cabinet (loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30) Orange Micro Terror 20W...
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