Ambient pedals are all the rage at the moment, and have been for some time. Today’s pedals takes that ambience and builds on it with octaves, filters, delays and more, for a wide-ranging spectrum of sounds. The Paradox Effects Obsidiana Octave Layering Engine will transform your tone, enlighten your mind and open the doors of perception to let you explore new worlds…. The Obsidiana is a multi-voice, polyphonic octave...
Read MoreThe innovative pedals coming out of the FTelettronica camp are impressive, unique and always full of options, just the way we like ’em. After reviewing their Schumann PLL Analog Harmonizer and Zero-Sum Game Fuzz Filter, we were stoked to check out some more of their gear, and we’ve got the first one of the bunch for you today. The FTelettronica Pedals Sonic Dream Analog Delay is an echo machine, yes, but so much more. With...
Read MoreSo many overdrive/distortion pedals….so little time. But what separates a GOOD one from a GREAT one? Well, therein lies the age old question, right? For us, it’s always been about the FEEL you get, as soon as you plug a pedal in, before you have time to dissect and scrutinize every little aspect of the build and sound….when you know, you know. Your amp comes alive, a big grin washes over your face and, for a moment,...
Read MoreWe recently had the privilege to review and demo the Unit67 Boost EQ Compressor from DryBell, a wonderfully versatile addition to any rig or recording setup. As if knowing that an equally intelligent and option-filled dirt pedal would be the perfect effect to pair with the Unit67, they decided to release The Engine Foundation Preamp. A highly versatile and fully analog pedal, it features distinct voicing that has been inspired by...
Read MoreLoopers and Drum Machines are both pretty fun pieces of gear, we can all agree on that, right? But what happens when you COMBINE these two effects into one pedal, AND it costs around 100 bucks? Well, then you’d be using the Joyo R-06 O.M.B Looper + Drum Machine, a powerfully fun and useful effect that has a ton of possibilities, and the sky’s the limit…. The O.M.B features the LOOPER cycle recording mode, independent...
Read MoreA good boost can add sparkle, shine, nuance and gusto to any tone, and we’re thrilled to have yet another one in the house today. The Teisco Boost looks like another simple boost, but once you realize all the options, bells and whistles its got, you’ll need to add it to your sonic arsenal instantly. Whether you need a tone-enhancing buffer or extra ‘oomph’ for your drives and amps, this one covers it all. Just like the...
Read MoreWe love to discover and help promote up-and-coming effects companies at Pedal of the Day, and we’ve got another relative newcomer for you guys today. The Cooltone Pedals Echoverb Delay is a simple but tone-enhancing digital delay that is an excellent starting point to either dialing in a little sparkle to your tone, or adding a bunch of echo to it. Bright yellow in color and producing bright and shining delay repeats, this is...
Read MoreToday, we’ve got an ancient piece of gear that we ran through a bunch of different effects, and it was one of the funnest experiences we’ve had here in the office. The Library of Congress started building their own cassette players for handicapped people from the 1960’s until the late 2000’s. These cassette players are known for their complete control of cassette tapes that other cassette players just...
Read MoreHappy Halloween!! Though it might be a little different this year with the Covid, we hope you get dressed up and celebrate safely anyway! Today’s holiday pedal is sure to inspire some spooky, ambient and potentially frightening sounds, for sure. The Flamma FS22 Ekoverb Stereo Reverb Delay combines our two favorite effects into one solid enclosure, then gives you 3 different modes and a boatload of parameters to work with to...
Read MoreToday’s pedal gets us into some spooky low-end territory, and is as unique an octave pedal as we’ve ever come across. The OPFXS Dig Deep Sub-Harmonic Generator works on just the lower three strings of your guitar, leaving the higher strings untouched and clean. This lets you add in some heavy bass notes, and with all of the options available, you can dial it in perfectly to your rig. It looks like a simple pedal, but trust...
Read MoreThere have been a lot of Tone Bender-ish pedals coming through the shop as of late, and we couldn’t be happier about it. We’ve got another one for you today, this time coming from our friends at Animals Pedal. The Sunday Afternoon Is Infinity Bender, despite having a wildly long and potentially confusing moniker, is a fairly simple and straightforward fuzz. That said, there’s still plenty here to investigate. Another...
Read MoreFACT: everything sounds better in Stereo, especially when you’re running some sick delay and reverb through your signal chain. Mono works great, don’t get us wrong, and not everyone is a fan of the stereo setup. But we are. Immensely, and today’s pedal shows us exactly why. The CKK Electronic Space Station TTM Stereo Delay Reverb easily creates ethereal space effects and inspires creativity – let’s see...
Read MoreA good, loud, ripping fuzz is the perfect way to get the weekend going, and we’ve got a great one for you guys today. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to check out the majority of the lineup from our friends at Vick Audio, including one of the first pedals we ever reviewed, the Fuzz Box, as well as the Violet Ram’s Head, V1 Triangle and 1861 fuzzes. Continuing that tradition, we present the Black Russian Fuzz....
Read MoreOne knob pedals: let’s face it, they’re not usually the new releases everyone is clamoring for on the Interwebs. Not to say that they don’t serve a very important purpose – who doesn’t love a great boost to push their amp, or a killer phaser to add in some modulation to their sound? Just sayin’ that these days, the machines with all the lights and bells and whistles and bleeps and bloops seem to...
Read MoreAlmost FIVE years ago, we were fortunate enough to be able to review and demo the Keeley Electronics Neutrino Envelope Filter, a wonderful little box chock full of funk. It was one of our, and many other players’ favorite filters EVER, but Robert and the Keeley crew didn’t think it was grand enough. Therefore, we get to check out the Neutrino once again, only in a new, Version 2 form. On the surface, the Neutrino V2 is...
Read MorePreamps, in our mind, are an essential piece of gear for any really great-sounding rig. Usually placed fairly early in your signal chain, it drives the front end of your amp into blissful breakup territory….but what if it was placed at the END of your signal chain? Introducing the Night Owl Industries Monolith, a Post-Amp. This custom-voiced clean boost features very high headroom and a powerful tone control. The increased...
Read MoreHaving an EQ, a Boost and a Compressor in your signal chain are key ingredients for a lot of guitar players, and we tend to agree. Most times, however, these effects have to come from three separate sources, taking up a lot of real estate on your board, and having you tap dancing around like a maniac to get even a core sound correct. Well, those days just might be over. Today, we’re checking out the marvelous DryBell Unit67 EQ...
Read MoreAlthough 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...
Read MoreOur first foray into the world of Matthews Effects is a good one – today, we’re checking out the Astronomer V2 Celestial Reverb. If the name itself doesn’t intrigue you, maybe you just don’t like reverb. If it does, you’re in for a real treat, as this thing launches you into outer space and back again in seconds flat. Made up of two channels, each assignable with one of three different algorithms,...
Read MoreY’all know how much we love delays around here, right? All shapes and sizes, all price points and all ranges of options are more than welcome: always have been, always will be. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to give the Joyo R-10 Nascar Analog Delay a go, and we’re sure glad we did. This simplistic delay produces some beautiful tones, and will have you playing with a smile on your face within seconds of plugging it in....
Read MoreFriends….today’s pedal is like no other we’ve experienced, or that you have, either. The crew at Analog Music Company took a nice, pretty, normal Boss DS-1 Distortion, threw it on Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory table and created, well, a new kind of monster. The Evil Pumpkin is really, really difficult to describe, as we’re not quite sure what most of the switches its littered with actually do. Therefore,...
Read MoreWe love to run a rig in stereo. I mean, who wouldn’t? Especially since we love Delay so much, and a stereo amp setup brings out the best in any good 2-output delay pedal. That said, it seems that modulation takes the majority of the cake when it comes to stereo effects, and today we’ve finally broken through that mold. The Dunable Splatterblaster Stereo Fuzz Distortion finally lets you run 2 different channels of dirt to 2...
Read MoreA good overdrive can put an instant smile on your face, as soon as you click that bypass switch. Your amp comes alive, you’re most definitely a better player all of a sudden and the teenage goal of becoming a full-fledged rock star doesn’t seem so far off. We got those kinds of feelings plugging into today’s pedal, the TEFI Vintage Lab Maccheroni Bros MKII Overdrive. A dual channel dirt pedal, this one will cover a...
Read MoreAny kind of pedals that push boundaries and make us think a little differently are always welcome here at Pedal of the Day. Forcing us to approach how we think about and create music helps keep it all fresh and in perspective, and that’s exactly what today’s piece of gear does. The Fairfield Circuitry Hors d’Oeuvre? Active Feedback Loop lets you put together as many of your favorites pedals as you’d like, then...
Read MoreLet’s face the facts: a lot of pedals, aside perhaps from the graphics, look really, really similar. They’re usually in some form of rectangle, either vertical or horizontal, with slightly varying sizes, but all in the same general layout category. So when we get an effects unit in that is completely different, original and unique, and sounds incredible as well, we get pretty damn excited. Let us present to you the Neon...
Read MoreThe Julia from Walrus Audio has become one of the true go-to chorus and vibrato effects pedals since its release a couple of years back. As powerful and accessible as it is, there were a couple of options that the pedal community longed for, and their requests have finally been answered. The all new Julianna Deluxe Chorus Vibrato adds a number of features to an already incredible design, making this the new front-runner for Modulation...
Read MoreWhat can you say about one-knob boost pedals? They’re not super flashy, no one really anticipates the “hot new release” of a simple booster, and there are lots of players who have never even used one in their rigs. Well, they’re important, and they add a tone and sound to your setup that just can’t be achieved with any other kind of pedal. Overdrive? No. Preamp? Close, but also no. Today’s pedal is...
Read MoreThe effects released into the wild from Hungry Robot Pedals have been experimental in nature, to say the least, to the delight of just about anyone who plays them. Delay, Fuzz, Modulation, Overdrive….they do it all. Today, we’re continuing to try and tame another one of their creations, the Wardenclyffe. A lofi ambient modulator, this particular version features a White Noise modification, which we’ll get to in a...
Read MoreSo far, we’ve had the pleasure of checking out the Fabrikat and the Draume pedals from the crew at Pladask Elektrisk. Full of inspiring character and bold sonic statements, these pedals are a real revolution in the effects world. That’s why we had to have more, and that’s why we’ve got another one for you today. The Tåken is an asynchronous dual-head delay with random modulation and a powerful...
Read MoreThere’s something about a really good phaser that makes your entire rig seem to just com alive. Alright, phaser-haters, just move right along to the next review. For the rest of us sane-folk, we’re here today to discuss the classic Phase 45 Vintage Script Phaser – the one from the 1970’s, mind you, not the Dunlop reissue, in case you were wondering. This true piece of phaser history only features one knob,...
Read MoreOur first venture into the world of Sitek Guitar Electronics has turned out to be a wild one, folks. Today, we’re going to run through the Pandora Fuzz, a versatile, high-gain effects pedal that mixes some beautiful, natural upper octave tones in with the powerful, dirty fuzz. There are a bunch of controls and options on this one, so let’s dig right in! The two main controls are Level and Fuzz on the Pandora Fuzz –...
Read MoreWe’ve been waiting patiently to get a shot at today’s pedal after seeing the developments and progress being done on social media. The Zander Circuitry Junipero Aqueous Modulator takes 8 different modulation effects, stuffs them into a nice, big enclosure and gives you a TON of options as to how to use them. These classic sounds can sound as vintage or modern as you’d like, and there’s a lot to cover here, so...
Read MoreOffering the most advanced BOSS octave performance to date, the OC-5 features a new Vintage mode, polyphonic enhancements, and an octave-up feature for extended range. And with the latest tracking technologies, users can enjoy smooth, accurate playability with no latency. Highly versatile and easy to use, the OC-5 covers a wide variety of octave sounds in one high-performance pedal. Introduced in 1982, the OC-2 Octave was the world’s...
Read MoreMy name is Luis Aznarez, I am from Barcelona, Spain and I have a pedal company called Lefa Pedals located in Seattle, Washington www.lefapedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing bass more than 25 years ago. A friend from school told me to join his band. My musical knowledge at that time was practically non-existent, I thought that a bass was a 4-string guitar that did...
Read MoreLike all Eventide pedals, Blackhole allows players to fine-tune every aspect of the effect. With its new user-friendly, intuitive interface, just about anyone can shoot for the moon and land beyond the known universe. A historic element of Eventide’s sound, the Blackhole algorithm was introduced in Eventide’s DSP4000 Ultra-Harmonizer® hardware processor and now opens a host of possibilities on a pedalboard. With Blackhole, the...
Read MoreIs there much more fun to be had than when you first plug into and turn on a new synth pedal? You’re right, there isn’t. We get to do it all again today, too, as we dive in and take a look at the Source Audio C4 Synth. Forged from the depths of Eurorack modular synthesizers, this one crams all the features and fun into an extremely pedalboard-friendly enclosure, but without sacrificing any tone or features. How’d...
Read MoreThe guys at Analog Alien have been making incredible effects for years, and we’re excited to check out another one of their creations today. Going in a different direction than the FuzzBubble 45 and Alien Comp pedals, the Rumble Seat mixes Overdrive, Delay and Reverb into one gorgeous orange unit, saving valuable pedalboard real estate and giving you three primo effects in one convenient place. Let’s dive in and see what...
Read MoreIf you can’t have fun with a multi-modulation pedal, you’re doing something wrong, plain and simple. If that modulation pedal gives you EIGHTEEN different effects, tap tempo capabilities, STEREO in and out connectivity and costs less than 100 bucks, you’re definitely doing something RIGHT. The Joyo R-09 Dual Channel Stereo Modulation pedal gives us all of these things, all in a 2-footswitch pedal that is the perfect...
Read MoreSince delay is far and away our favorite genre of effect here at Pedal of the Day, we’ve been closely watching the Memory Lane line from our pals at Diamond Pedals for years. First getting our hands on a Memory Lane Jr, then eventually snagging an out-of-production original Memory Lane, we know a little bit about this incredible line of delays (don’t sleep on the Counter Point or Quantum Leap, either!). The latest...
Read MoreAh, 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...
Read MoreThere’s nothing ordinary about anything released by Audio Disruption Devices, as evidenced by their Optical Ring and L.A.G. pedals. If the name somehow doesn’t clue you in, they make. exciting, non-traditional noise boxes that push the limits of every genre imaginable. Our third visit from them brings yet another intriguing and off-the-cuff sonic adventure, the Eroder 3-Stage Fuzz. This magnificently yellow monster is...
Read MoreThe effects pedals created by Jeorge Tripps and Way Huge have been thrilling players and audiences alike for decades, and we’re always excited when a new one is delivered to our doorstep. Their new lineup of Smalls pedals have especially grabbed our attention lately, as we’ve had the Conspiracy Theory as part of the rotation for our Klone Wars series on YouTube, and it sounds fantastic. Today, we’ve got another...
Read MoreWe are always in the mood for a good tremolo pedal here at Pedal of the Day, and harmonic tremolos are even more fun. As far as we can tell, harmonic tremolos filter the high & low frequencies of the soundwave, then modulate the remaining signal in opposite paths. In short, it sounds fantastic, and different, and awesome. Today’s pedal is in this vein, but even more powerful and options-laden. The Red Noise Pedals Butterfly...
Read MoreYes, it’s true: we have another wonderful, awesomely-noisy creation from our friends at Beetronics for you. This one is a bit different, as it takes fuzz, distortion and octave flavorings, tosses them into a sonic blender and spits them back out with a random abandon few have ever known. The Swarm Analog Fuzz Harmonizer is its name, and it has come to play. Blowin’ out headphones and amps and anything else that gets in its...
Read MoreIf you haven’t heard, played or owned the Carbon Copy Analog Delay from Jim Dunlop and MXR, you’re one of few. This thing burst onto the effects pedal scene almost a decade ago, and has continued to top the lists of modern analog delays around the world. Simple to use, with great tones and warm modulation, it embodies everything we love about old echo units. But, as perfect as this delay is, there’s always room for...
Read MoreIf you’re not privy to the world of effects created by Pladask Elektrisk in Norway, you are really missing out. We got to check out their incredible Draume Artificial Reverb pedal recently, and it blew our minds with ease. An ambient player’s dream lineup, these pedals take everything you think you know about reverb, delay, sampling and more, and turn it completely upside down. Experimentation is key, and you better mark...
Read MoreYou probably know Paul Gilbert from the bands Racer X and Mr. Big. Or, maybe from the G3 Tour and G4 Experience. Or the countless guitar magazine covers. Or the Beatles cover band Yellow Matter Custard. Or the extremely unique Ibanez Fireman guitars he plays and is frequently pictured with. Whatever the case may be, there’s no doubt he’s well-known at the top of the current guitar chain of players, and we’ve got...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MoreOur first dive into the effects pedal pool over at Siren Pedals was a couple months back, with their incredible Midnight Train Fuzz. Since then, we’ve been itching to see what else they’ve got in their lineup, and that day is upon us at last. Introducing the Siren Pedals Eligos Heavy Metal Distortion, a simple but extremely potent dirt pedal that seeks to unleash hell on amps and eardrums everywhere. Nothing neat or nice...
Read MoreThere are some pedals that you always want to test out and see if the hype surrounding them is real, but for one reason or another, it just doesn’t happen. In the case of the Danelectro Back Talk™ Reverse Delay, the reason is MONEY, as the original pedals released in 1999 fetch upwards of $500. Thankfully, Danelectro has put this gem of an effect into its Vintage Pedals lineup, releasing a modern version for everyone who...
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