Sometimes, we come across a pedal that, at first glance, looks like it might be a bit complicated, and we’re gonna have to spend a good deal of time figuring out how it works. Today’s featured pedal, the Chrono Delay DLY-4 is one of these pedals, but it’s a real trickster, as its ease of use and ability to conjure up killer sounds quickly is one of its strengths as an effect, and one we were more than happy to...
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Today’s featured pedal is yet another overdrive in a long line that we’ve reviewed, but this one has a couple of secrets up its sleeve for some great tonal functionality. The Smooth Driver is the first offering from Burnt Audio Effects, and is an excellent first stage pedal to really push your amp and add some much-needed crunch to your overall sound. With a simple setup and broad range, this baby blue beauty really get...
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We reviewed a pretty cool pedal here at Pedal of the Day a while back, from a manufacturer in Germany, and while we couldn’t read the labels on the control knobs, we discovered that it was a great piece of gear nonetheless. Well, we’re back at it again, and today we’ve got another pedal from our German friends Orion Effekte. The De Luxe Motor Fuzz is a great little fuzz pedal with a bunch of options, tones and fuzzy...
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The third pedal in the current lineup of Cathouse Pedals that we get the pleasure to check out today is a complex and option-filled distortion/overdrive. The Screamer will keep you on your toes as you attempt to figure out just what it is, and how it can benefit you sound. Relatively simple but full of flavor and oomph, this thing comes at you like a ton a rock and roll bricks. Gain, Tone and Volume all show up on the control panel,...
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Ring modulators are a love or hate kind of pedal, in our experience (we happen to fall into the former category here at POTD), but it would be hard to find anyone that wouldn’t like to sit down and play with today’s featured piece of gear. Randy’s Revenge (where do these guys come up with these awesome names?) is a ring mod, for sure, but also boasts elements of tremolo, vibrato, fuzz and more, all inside a...
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Sometimes, the simplest, plain-looking pedals will really throw you for a loop when you plug them in. For example, today’s featured pedal, the Gritt Fuzz from Marx Effects, does just that. With a basic design layout and minimal aesthetic to distract you, this little black box packs a wallop of sounds into a tiny and unassuming enclosure. There are only two control knobs present here: the Left side is a Gain knob, and the Right...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Daniel N. – find him on Instagram (@danielguitarist) and say hi! The .45 Caliber by J.Rockett Audio Designs is one beast of an OD pedal. It is based on a 1962 plexus and strives to get that AC/DC sound (Malcom and Angus). It does that sound very well and also has many other tones that are extremely useful. It can be a great low gain pedal, perfect for neck pickups. It can just easily...
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One knob pedals can be super-fun, space-saving and powerful, and today’s featured pedal is all of those things and more. The Dream Eater Fuzz, aside from having a horrifically awesome name, boasts a simple layout with a unique fuzz sound and style all its own. Here we go… The lone control knob here is a Gain knob, and features a broad range of sonic possibilities waiting to jump out and surprise you. One awesome feature is...
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Today’s “pedal” is a bit of a new territory for us, and one that we were excited to attempt and figure out. The PEDALpUNK! is an audio interface designed to allow analog devices to interact with digital workstations and computers without any quality loss. There’s a lot going on here, so let’s dive in and see what we can discover! The three control knobs are what you use to dial in the sounds emitted from...
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The band Mastodon has been one of our favorites for years, so we were super-stoked to check out a signature pedal from their bass player, Troy Sanders. Working with the crew from Wren and Cuff, the Elephant Skin Distortion was born, and havoc was unleashed on metal fans everywhere. Featuring a well-known Wren and Cuff pedal on one side and a boost on the other, this is one piece of gear that’s sure to find it’s way onto...
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Sometimes, you don’t actually have to spend a ton of cash to get a great-sounding pedal…no, seriously! Today’s featured pedal, the Mind Bender Vibrato/Chorus from BBE Sound proves that fact over and over again, combining monetary efficiency with some excellent tones that are sure to make you and your amp happy. Let’s take a gander at this blue beauty, shall we? The controls are nice and easy to use on the Mind...
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We love it when a pedal works equally for both guitar and bass, and today’s pedal is exactly one of those rare beasts. The El Oso Bass Distortion from Heavy Electronics adds some great dirt and crunch to both instruments, but somehow manages to walk the fine line between the two without overpowering either one. This doesn’t happen very often in the pedal world, and we’re excited to see what it can do for us. Aside...
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Tape delay/echo units have produced some of the most unique and recognizable tones in music history, used by countless artists and studio producers for decades. However, the older, “classic” units are big and bulky, and are extremely prone to damage, lack of replacement parts and near impossible upkeep. Fortunately, we live in a golden age of effects pedals, and companies like Danelectro re-create these machines with...
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One of our favorite things here at Pedal of the Day is when someone sends us a custom pedal with our logo on it – since we have no clue how to actually BUILD these pedals, seeing our design embossed on an effect is a pretty rare and cool thing that we appreciate a lot. The guys over at PuzzleSounds not only didn’t make us build the Deep Blue Delay they sent us, but they emblazoned it with our signature circle as well,...
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FUNK. You may dig it, you may not, but no one can deny the effects it has had on pretty much all genres of music, and musicians from said genres as well. One of the key tools in this head-bobbing odyssey of slap bass and synth-ish bliss is the beloved Envelope Filter effect, made popular by a list of artists too long to name at the moment (just Google it, k?). One of the most revered of these filters is the classic 440 from DOD, who...
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It’s always a welcome sight when a box wrapped in clear Walrus Audio tape shows up on our doorstep, and their latest offering is one for the ages. The 385 Overdrive is actually based off of an old film projector (huh?), giving it a unique sonic flavor and tone. How they replicated this circuit remains a mystery, but we sure had fun putting it through the ringer to see what it could do. Apparently, using tube-powered audio...
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What can you say about a boost pedal? If it’s made correctly, it boosts your instrument’s signal, driving your amp and letting everyone in the crowd know you f’n rock. The good folks at Way Huge Electronics / Jim Dunlop have created a boost pedal that not only pummels your amp, but adds in a special little lite and punch to your tone as well. The Angry Troll is a boost capable of pumping up to +50dB of gain into your...
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Let’s face it: sometimes mini pedals can leave something to be desired. Trying to cram a bunch of sounds into a super-tiny enclosure has proven to be a somewhat difficult task, but apparently not for the folks over at Malekko Heavy Industry. Their Vibrato pedal, part of the Omicron Series, packs a wallop of tone and flexibility into a itty-bitty pedal, perfect for saving space but not sacrificing any sound in your rig. Built...
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The first couple of pedals from McCaffrey Audio that we reviewed, the Zero to Sixty Drive and Green Vodka Muff Fuzz, were just plain awesome, and we couldn’t wait to see what their next creation was going to be. Taking a turn towards the unexpected, they have now released the Run Rabbit Run, which is their take on a Vibrato-type pedal, but with so much more going on than you’d think. Designed to give you that classic...
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Recently, we had the chance to review and demo a great pedal from a company who has been a supporter of our since practically the beginning: Stacks FX. Their Native Lung Reverb was one of the coolest pedals we’d checked out in a minute, and today we’re honored to be able to present to you guys another one of their fine creations, the Fuzz Gazer. This purple beast is a Silicon fuzz with a ton of tone on tap. Volume controls...
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Sometimes, companies release different versions of pedals, ones that have basically the same layout, but maybe a few less gadgets and gizmos, and sell it at a cheaper price. The Deluxe Memory Man 550-TT Analog Delay retains all the power and prestige of it’s big brother, the 1100-TT, but pretty much just shortens the delay time. Also, the 1100-TT’s first version were made with the coveted NOS Panasonic MN3005 chips, but...
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Boost pedals are Boost pedals, right? They make your instrument sound louder, and help push your amp sometimes into slight overdrive territory, and that’s about it…or is it? The crew over at Vertex has crafted a new kind of boost pedal, aptly named the Boost, that does an excellent job of performing its main function, but does so much more as well. First off, this is the first boost pedal we’ve ever seen that has an...
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WE LOVE DELAY. Alright, we admit it, happy now? Today’s pedal isn’t going to help to decrease our love of this glorious effect, as it is chock full of killer tones, massive options and both classic and more modern delay sounds. The Magic City Delay comes to us from Swindler Effects, and this particular edition happens to have a bit of a cool design backstory as well. Repeats, Mix and Time are all present as control knobs...
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Every pedal company strives to have their pedals be easily recognizable – whether it’s colors, shapes, design, graphics…the list goes on, but you want to make your mark. The guys at StoneFly Effects have most definitely accomplished that feat, with their crazy array of graphics, enclosure sizes, control knob placement and more, and today’s pedal continues in that realm. The Two Headed Werewolf is a fuzzy,...
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3-In-1 effects pedals usually require, well, 3 switches, a huge enclosure and a control panel that rivals something at a NASA launch site. Today’s pedal brings the versatility of 3 pedals to one super-small enclosure, providing a bunch of tones all with a user-friendly mindset. The Bipolar from PFX is a Buffer, Boost and Overdrive all rolled into one – curious yet? The Bipolar features just three control knobs, but they...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Ric N. – find him on Instagram (@ricnewsom) and Twitter (@ricnewsom). “What does that do?” “Drugs. It does drugs. All of them.” That’s how a lot of conversations start about my Count to Five. Granted, explaining what a delay/sampler with pitch, speed, and direction manipulation DOES is usually more than people can digest -including me. But I’ll do my...
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A lot of times, boost pedals just do one thing: Boost. While that is all well and good, sometimes you want a little more from a signal enhancer, and today’s featured pedal does just that and more. The Two Stroke Boost EQ pedal from Orange Amps is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill boost pedal, but a complex (yet easy to use) tone sculpter, instrument booster and EQ all rolled into one. The Two Stroke doesn’t look like your...
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REVERB! You love it, you know you do, and today’s pedal will make you love it even more. One of the highest-quality and well-known reverbs out there, the Space Reverb from Eventide is truly the next level in studio and live performance reverb effects, with up to 100 preset reverbs, studio-quality sound, stereo outputs and more. We’ll give you a little run-down of how this big black beauty works, and show you a demo video...
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Pedals such as today’s featured behemoth are intimidating, plain and simple. However, once you sit down and chat with the Flanger Hoax from Electro-Harmonix for a little while, you’ll find that it’s a mellow, mild-mannered piece of gear, that just so happens to have a bunch of features and options, making it that much more lovable. A flanger, phaser and modulation monster all wrapped into one, this pedal has a bit of...
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Continuing our look at the killer and super-affordable lineup of pedals from our friends at Ninevolt Pedals today, we’ve got a tasty little delay pedal for you all to take a look at. The Relaxing Walrus is a simple, down-to-earth delay pedal, but don’t think for a second that means it doesn’t have a ton of tone on tap. Once again emblazoned with artwork by the fantastic Jonas Claesson, this little blue beauty...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Coe S. – find him on Instagram (@coeschneider) and say Hi! As part of the Skyline Series by Hotone Audio, the Verb caught my attention for three reasons; price point, size, and a cool glowing knob. This was my first reverb pedal, that being said, I had no reference point, and still don’t have much. I’ve watched a ton of demos though;) The light up knob is super cool, and...
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Robert Keeley and the folks he employs just keep releasing more and more dynamite pedals, and we’re going to take a look at another one of them today. Considered rather normal by the standards of most of the Keeley effects we’ve reviewed recently, the Oxblood Overdrive takes on the world of mystical creatures, powerful tone enhancers and ridiculous pedal price tags all at once. Sort of their answer to the gold and silver...
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A while back, we reviewed a couple of pedals from the Big Joe Stomp Box Company, the B-304 Analog Delay and the B-309 Texas Screamer, and were impressed by both. This time around, Big Joe has sent us a unique 2-In-1 pedal, with more options and features than most dual pedals we have come across, and with a tone of tones and sounds. The B-502 Empire is a dual-preamp overdrive, complete with an adjustable buffer, independent but...
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Where do we even start with a pedal like this? The Goatkeeper 3 has become a pedal of mystery and intrigue, not to mention hard to find and pretty expensive, too. Described as an analog tremolo sequencer, this big white whale is so much more, a giant tone machine just itching to be experimented with, and thanks to the folks at Lightfoot Labs, one that we get to indulge in for you today. The Goatkeeper is a pedal unlike most, utilizing...
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Today’s featured pedal come to us from a special place: Boone, NC, where we lived for seven years before venturing out West to our now-home in Boise. Our pal Brian is holding down the fort in our small mountain town for us, though, continuing to create some excellent musical gear as Keisman Pedals has been since 2011 in the High Country. Today’s particular gem is a boost/overdrive combo, with tons of tones on tap to enjoy...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Scott W. – find him on Instagram (@honey.power) and Facebook (Scott Willems). There are copious amounts of pedals based on the revered Big Muff Pi, but the Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz by Way Huge Electronics proves itself as a very versatile fuzz. Packed in the typical Way Huge anodized aluminum housing, it features three knobs for loudness, filter and sustain, and two external trim pots...
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We see a lot of fuzz pedals come through the shop, and today’s pedal is another representation of how we live in a marvelous and fuzzy age. Having recently reviewed their Rat Fink Distortion, we were excited to check out another pedal from Cathouse Pedals, especially since this time around it was gonna be a fuzz. The Bender Fuzz is a seemingly simple three-knob effect, but has some internal secrets and bold tones abound. Fuzz,...
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The crew at Westminster Effects in South Carolina has slowly crept onto the pedal scene, and has amassed a nice little lineup of pedals, of few of which we’ve gotten to review. Their first effects we got our hands on was the Piper Drive, a great little overdrive/boost, and today’s featured pedal expands on that model a bit, with some more options and tones to play with. Let’s take a look at the Edwards Overdrive,...
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In today’s crazy world of ambient pedal obsession, there are more and more incredible machines being produced, and today’s featured piece of gear is a unique and glorious ambient player’s delight. The Wash from Hungry Robot Pedals completes the arduous task of using both delay and reverb to create an organic, below-the-mix wash of sound, while only taking up a fraction of the pedalboard space usually required to...
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Joe and Dom over at Celestial Effects are some of the biggest supporters of Pedal of the Day, and they’re also making some pretty incredible pedals as well. Today’s moose of a beast is actually a FOUR-In-1 pedal, trying to outwit the usual 3-In-1 lackeys (just kidding, you guys all rock, too). The Cancer Wah The Fuzz? features Fixed Wah, Octave Fuzz, Muscle Fuzz and Tube Overdrive, all in one relatively-space-saving pedal...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Marlin M. – find him on Instagram (@goes_by_fish), Twitter (@goes_by_fish) or Facebook (Marlin.Morin)! The NuX Mod Force is a multi effects pedal boasting an impressive 12 modulation types in a compact, pedalboard friendly enclosure. This unit has a full color LCD display (128×128) to adjust parameters for each of the modulation models. These models include chorus, tri chorus,...
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A few weeks ago, we got to review one of the coolest and most effective rehouse pedal projects we’ve ever come across: the DD-20 Rehouse by Chesapeake Effects. As it turns out, they not only do rad rehousings, but they make a pretty mean overdrive pedal as well. Let’s check out the Flagship Overdrive, shall we? Based around the popular Marshall Blues Breaker circuit, the Flagship adds in a couple key elements to make it...
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We recently reviewed an excellent overdrive pedal from our friends to the north, Canadian-based Ground Control Audio. They’re back at it again, this time with their newly released “discrete distortion”, the Locust. Pushing silicon amplification into loud and sluggish distortion territory, this pea green monster has a lot of power, and will put a smile on your amp’s face as soon as you plug it in. Volume, Gain...
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Continuing right where we left off yesterday, we’ve got another awesomely oddball pedal for you today, and it is also one of the most fun ones we’ve had come through our office. The 8Bit-Tron is a strange and marvelous creation from Mammouth Machine, an envelope filter that wants to be a fuzz but is trapped in the body of a bitcrusher and listens to a lot of Jerry Garcia and Stevie Wonder (from the 70’s, of course)....
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Where to even begin with today’s featured pedal? It’s kind of a fuzz, and a partial distortion, but it’s also a tone-shaper, ring mod, oscillator, cosmic sitar and more. A truly unique pedal in a sea of effects, the Frequency~LSD from Mountainking Electronics is guaranteed to make you laugh, cry for help, weep uncontrollably and jump for joy…all in the same half hour. Out is the overall volume control. Done....
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Max F. – find him on SoundCloud (@MaxFaith)! While octave pedals are available in a variety of configurations it’s hard to find units that operate in the desired octave range and track well enough to be useful and musical. Enter the Walrus Audio Luminary Quad Octave Generator. The fine people at Walrus have designed this pedal to work in the lower and higher octave ranges with some of the finest...
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Years and years ago, I bought a fuzz from a new company called Wren and Cuff: it was green, with a single silver stripe down the front, and is to this day one of the favorite fuzz pedals I’ve ever owned. Sadly, I had to sell it many moons ago to help pay rent, and have regretted it ever since. Fortunately, I’m now in a position to have befriended the owner of said pedal company, and he decided it would be a good idea to...
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Right off the bat with today’s featured pedal, there’s something very unique. While most pedal enclosures feature some kind of graphics or etching or something along those lines, the Scenic Drive from Square Amps is completely see-through, letting us all see the insides for all their glory (well, at least to those who can understand what’s going on in there, which definitely leaves us out of the loop). Not to mention...
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2-In-1 effects pedals are always an adventure, and today’s featured pedal takes us on yet another glorious sonic journey. Having previously reviewed the Battering Ram from Wounded Paw Effects, another 2-In-1, we were pretty stoked to be able to check out another one of their marvelous creations. The Echo Drive is a delay and reverb pedal, with additional overdrive on just the delay signal. Basically, your original tone still...
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Germany seems to be pumping out some awesome pedals lately, and today’s is another in that spectacular lineup. The White Fuzz from °red sun fx is based on the Silicon Fuzz Face, and produces those warm and fuzzy (pun intended) classic fuzz sounds. Boasting a simple setup but producing huge sound, this fuzz, like most of ’em, was an absolute blast to sit down with and explore. Nothing ground-breaking in the control...
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