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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When one of the most talked about and anticipated effects of the year shows up on your doorstep, the excitement that has been building up in your brain finally becomes a reality. The aptly named Reverb pedal from Empress Effects is the pedal we’re talking about today, and it absolutely lives up to the hype. We’ll try to give you a good amount of info in this review and subsequent demo video, but this is truly a pedal that...
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The Supercollider Distortion/Fuzz we reviewed from Earthbound Audio a little while back was an absolute beast in a box, so we were hoping for more of the same when we opened up and plugged in the Centurion Fuzz. Well, turns out our dreams came true, as this thing also falls into the “beast” category, but with more fuzz focus and wooly, gritty tones. The Centurion is a 2-transistor fuzz, which has been built utilizing bc108...
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Having recently reviewed a killer fuzz from our friends over at Vick Audio, the Violet Ram’s Head, we were excited to test out another one of their fuzzy creations, as that one was just a blast to sit down and experiment with. Well, it turns out that these guys know a thing or two about fuzzes in general, and today’s pedal is yet another example of how they take the basic fuzz concept and turn it into an incredible piece...
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Well, it appears that we are in a familiar situation, reviewing another dynamite effects pedal from our friends at Keeley Electronics. It seems you can’t take 2 steps forward these days without literally stepping on one of Robert’s pedals (in our office, anyway), which is not necessarily a bad thing. Today’s gem of a pedal features a trio of effects again strewn together into one marvelous (and super space-saving)...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Max F. – find him on SoundCloud (@MaxFaith)! The Boss DS-1 is a classic circuit that most of us are familiar with. Players have been modifying the little orange boxes for years and the amount of modifications and spinoffs are too numerous to mention. Despite the variety of DS-1 circuit configurations, most specimens seem to impart the same familiar gain-structure that originally made the pedal a...
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Classic pedals are classic pedals, no bones about it. However, in today’s world of klones and circuit-borrowing and all the rest, there are a lot of great pedals “based” on vintage units from the past, that tend to offer similar tones as well as modern upgrades that actually improve on the original. Today’s featured piece of gear comes to us from a fairly unknown company, but the Rat Fink Distortion from...
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Ever since I first the opening notes of ‘Battery’ off of Metallica’s 1986’s masterpiece album ‘Master of Puppets’ as a youngster, I’ve been a fan of Kirk Hammett’s playing. Today’s pedal is not only a pretty kickass overdrive, but it comes to us from Kirk’s new pedal company, KHDK Electronics, making it just a bit more special coming from one of my idols. The Ghoul Screamer...
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Whenever we get pedals coming to us from halfway around the world, it’s always interesting to see the new and exciting ways used to create effects through the minds of builders in other countries. Today’s featured pedal is the flagship effects from Ratin Pedals in Munich, Germany, a country which seems to keep putting out more and more killer effects each year. The Blue Angel Overdrive is an original design, three-gain...
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Happy Labor Day to all our followers in the United States! Hope you’ll be kicking back with a cold one and some tasty grilled food later on this afternoon, and enjoying the day off (for those of you who have it). In other news…It’s pretty hard not to be impressed by the sheer volume of pedals that come pouring out of the Edmond, OK offices of Keeley Electronics – what’s even more incredible is how...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Coe S. – find him on Instagram (@coeschneider) and say Hi! I purchased this pedal many years ago I will admit right off. At the time I just needed a boost, I had a tuner, a Sparkle Drive, and and a Line 6 dirt modeler. I didn’t know much, just wanted something to get me louder for solos. I was not disappointed. The Freq Boost is BBE’s take on a treble boost, great for...
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Complex delay pedals can be confusing, sometimes hard to figure out and even extremely frustrating, but the payoff for hard work and actually reading the manual will ALWAYS pay off. That said, the Echolution 2 Deluxe Delay from our friends at Pigtronix features a more-than-slight learning curve, but it also packed with options and delay sounds not heard very often, in any pedal or context. This delay is set up sort of like other delay...
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We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing and testing out a couple of pedals from Crazy Tube Circuits here in the past, and since they were all in the dirt box category, we were pretty stoked when they sent us a reverb pedal, just to mix it up a little bit. Well, the Splash Mk3 Reverb did not disappoint in the least, further confirming that now is a true golden age of pedal production on Earth. Coming to you all the way from Greece,...
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Fun, fun, fun. Today’s pedal provides a great deal of, well, FUN, and sounds great as well. Not to mention it comes to us from a small (no pun intended) pedal company, and we love to see the non-mainstream stuff the little guys are working on, and help get the word out about their companies as well. Small Grey Pedals has a great name, a unique look and some great sounds, and their featured pedal today is the Europa Reverb. Level...
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We last reviewed some pedals by today’s company over a year ago, when they had a different design layout and even a slightly different name. Today’s featured pedal is a departure into glorious territory from the dirt boxes we reviewed back then, too, showing off their revamped style and technical prowess all at once. The Native Lung Reverb from Stack FX has a slew of different ambient sounds available, and a control panel...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Max F. – find him on SoundCloud (@MaxFaith)! Darkglass Electronics’ products are quickly becoming the hottest way to sculpt tone in the bass world. The Finnish company makes some of the most musical bass preamps, distortions, and amps on the market right now. Today’s pedal is the Darkglass Microtubes B3K Bass Overdrive. The B3K Overdrive has simple and intuitive controls for sculpting a wide...
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Today’s little piece of overdriven glory comes to us from a long ways away – Voronezh, Russia, to be exact. The crew at Blacksoil FX sent their first creation across the pond for us to check out, and what arrived was the excellent Alpha Centauri Overdrive. This little silver bad boy is based on the legendary Klon schematic, so the controls are a cinch to understand, but there’s also an added bonus feature to mix...
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Big, fat, thick and tasty fuzz pedals are always welcome on our review table, and the Dark Horse from Rock Stock Pedals was one we were particularly excited about putting through the paces. Another pedal that is excellent on both guitar and bass, this simple but intricate effect is holding a lot of tonal range in only three knobs, and is an amp-exciter to say the least. Volume sets the overall output, and you won’t get lost in...
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We dig it when a pedal arrives that is just plain HEAVY – plug it in, turn up your volume and hope the neighbors don’t get too itchy with their police-dialing fingers. The pedal we;re checking out today is exactly that type – raw, unencumbered, gritty, dirty, nasty and, above all, killer-sounding. The Supercollider is a distortion/fuzz pedal from our new pals at Earthbound Audio, and it’s sure to be a...
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It’s been a while since we reviewed a pedal from our friends at Vick Audio – they were one of our first pedal donators and supporters of the site two and a half years ago, and we’d like to thank them and acknowledge that once again. Their style, designs and pedals have become more sophisticated and versatile since the one-knob Fuzz Box we reviewed so long ago (as have our reviews, thankfully!), as evidenced by...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Harrison L. – find him on Instagram (@Harrison_xx), Twitter (@Harrison_Caesar), Facebook (HarrisonCaesar) or his band’s website (The Baxter Loop)! The TC Electronic Dark Matter distortion pedal is an OUTSTANDING distortion and drive pedal. With it’s sleek black finish and variable controls over Gain, Level, Bass AND Treble, not to mention a ‘Voice’ switch to...
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The folks at Keeley Electronics just keep pumping out awesome new pedal after awesome new pedal, and we are privileged today to check out not only one of their newest creations, but a Special Edition as well. The Monterey Special Custom Germanium is a fuzz, octave, vibrato, rotary and harmonic wah all in one, producing an exciting blend of some classic tones, while opening the gateway to much sonic exploration. The Fuzz channel...
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We dig the look and sounds that come out of the effects pedals from American Wizard Toneworks. Simple designs, simple enclosures, but a look that’s both classic and sophisticated at the same time. Today’s featured pedal is a one-knob beast, a pedal that’s sure to melt faces and pummel ear cavities. The Hera Fuzz has one control knob: Volume. As you turn it up, both the fuzz and the overall output grow and grow, until...
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Today’s featured pedal comes to us from a well-known and highly-respected source here at Pedal of the Day. The crew over at Celestial Effects has been consistently churning out some amazing pedals, and we are lucky enough to have them keep sending us new stuff to review and demo, and we couldn’t be happier. This particular piece of gear they graced us with is a 3-In-1 beast, boasting three wonderful effects in one...
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Sometimes, we at Pedal of the Day discover a pedal that is so fun, has so many options and expands our current version of musical enlightenment that it’s hard to play anything else for a while. Today’s featured pedal is exactly along those lines: genre-bending, hard-to-define and definitely in-your-face, the BitQuest Multi-Effect is a site to behold, and a pleasure to hear. From our neighbors to the north, Dr. Scientist,...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Scott W. – find him on Instagram (@honey.power) and Facebook (Scott Willems) and say Hi! The CE-5 Chorus Ensemble is another solid modulation pedal from Boss, packed in the typical Boss housing painted a very satisfying baby blue. It features four knobs: level, rate, depth, and filter – the filter being a dual concentric pot for separate filtering of your bass and treble. A problem I have...
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New pedal companies always bring a smile to our face, as we can’t wait to see what exciting features, designs and sounds creative minds at work will produce. Sometimes we have to wait a while for said pedals to arrive, especially when they’re traveling all the way from Europe, but in most cases, it’s worth the wait, and today’s pedal is no exception. The Distortion General from Orion Effekte is a simple but...
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We’d been seeing the name Providence floating around the forums and gear pages, but until now hadn’t had the opportunity to test one out and see for ourselves what the hype was all about. Luckily, our good buddy Sean Williamson, who we interviewed a few weeks ago, is a Providence artist, and set up talks between the two of us to get some reviews rolling. Our first foray into their world is the mighty Heat Blaster HBL-4...
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Another compressor pedal review is upon us, and if you haven’t grown to love them yet, we’re gonna try again and again until you do. Today’s “invisible” pedal comes to us from Japan, via a small company called Ninevolt Pedals, whose gear we’ve reviewed before (and will again). The 1927 Home Run King Compressor seeks to achieve the same tones as high-end studio compressors, all wrapped up in a nice,...
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After reviewing the new Mu-FX Mu-Tron 3X a little bit ago, we were blown away by what Mike Beigel and Co. have done with their new lineup, and couldn’t wait for more. One day, a magical box arrived at our doorstep, and what lay inside was an incredible 3-In-1 pedal that gives new meaning to an “always on” pedal: the Boostron 3 Boost Compressor Distortion box from Mike and Mu-FX. The Boostron 3 is based on three...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Coe S. – find him on Instagram (@coeschneider) and say Hi! Hey! Those Seymour Duncan guys make pickups! But this, my friends, is a pedal. I picked this bad boy up used at a screaming deal. I was looking to get a delay with tap abilities, but outside of that I didn’t have any preference other than cost. The feature set on this delay is great, not only does it have tap functions...
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One of the most anticipated effects of 2016 has got to be today’s featured piece of gear, and rightly so on all accounts. The Nemesis Delay from Source Audio combines vintage analog and tape sounds with pitch-shifting abilities, modulation, MIDI, tap tempo and more. All crammed into a super pedalboard-friendly enclosure, this delay was three years in the making, and the final results are nothing short of astounding. Let’s...
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We were recently privileged to test out and review an awesome fuzz pedal from a relative newcomer (at least to us) in the pedal world, Spruce Effects. The Lichen Fuzz was a great fuzz pedal, and we were impressed by its quality build and sound as well, so we were super-stoked to check out another one of their creations – the Growth Ring Boost. Right off the bat, the mismatched knob selection drew us in, as we dig some wackiness...
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Testing out totally new and unique pedals is something that really gets us all excited here at Pedal of the Day, and our featured gem today couldn’t be more unique or more original if it could try. Utilizing an ancient (!) form of audio recording to produce its sound, the Landscape HC-TT Human Controlled Tape Transport is a sonic manipulation device that blends the past, present and future into one funky and quirky little silver...
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We’ve got another classic pedal reproduction for you all today, and one that unequivocally and faithfully reproduces the sound, feel and vibe (pun intended) of the original units, with all the modern amenities we’re all always seeking out. The Vibe-Bro from Shin-Ei is an updated version of the classic Uni-Vibe machine, made famous for forty years by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Robin Trower and countless...
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Let’s face it: we all love delay. Sure, you can tell your friends or your buddies in the local death metal band that delay is weak and has no place in music, but as soon as you get home, you bust out your favorite delay and noodle for hours. You can admit it. Speaking of killer delays, today’s featured “pedal” just might top the list for modern analog echo recreations, and certainly holds a spot near the top of...
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We’re taking next week off to get settled into our new office space, so we have a rare Saturday review for you to tide you over for a bit. Today’s featured pedal comes to us from Ninevolt Pedals, a company from Japan who we are featuring throughout the next few months, and will be reviewing their entire lineup of pedals. This little black beauty is the I Was A Wolf In The Forest Distortion, and while the pedal is great in...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Wesley S. – find him on Instagram (@wesleystuart1) and say Hi! Emerson Custom (though mostly known for their wiring kits) has also dipped their fit into the pedal making business; one of their two offerings being the Paramount Overdrive. I recently bought this pedal as I just wasn’t satisfied with the drive tone I’d been getting from my rig and hated how the pedal I was...
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After a quick day off yesterday to move the shop, we’re back with a bang! From the insanely talented and innovative brain of our pal Joel Korte over at Chase Bliss Audio comes one of the most talked-about and anticipated effects pedals of 2016. The Tonal Recall Analog Delay not only manages to squish a TON of options into a regular-sized, pedalboard-friendly pedal, but takes the entire genre, dumps it on its head and reinvents...
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Today, we’ve got yet another powerhouse pedal from our friend Jorge Tripps and Way Huge Electronics to throw at you. The Saucy Box Overdrive is a downright simple pedal, but with a wide range of sounds available and an excellent clean boost, this Klon-esque gem will make you rethink your whole gain section. Three controls for an overdrive pedal: nothing new or ground-breaking here, featuring Volume, Tone and Drive knobs. The...
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Alright, kiddies, you’re in for a real treat today. The Dream Sequence from Hologram Electronics is one of the hottest pedals out at the moment, and if you haven’t heard it or heard of it, we’ll try to give you a great review and demo so you can know it’s true power. Part envelope filter, part tremolo, part pitch shifter, part sampler and part sequencer with a dash of synth thrown in for good measure, this...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Andrew L. – find him on Instagram (@andrew.s.lingrell) and say Hi! Pedalboards can get full quickly. And real estate on a pedal board is valuable. Sometimes however you’ll find yourself wanting many different sounds but you only have limited empty space on your board. What to do, what to do…BUY A SLATE. The Slate is a stereo ‘blank slate’ pedal by Neunaber. Stay...
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In this chaotic world of reviewing so many differing and complex pedals, opening up a package and finding a one-knob pedal waiting inside sometimes produces a big sigh of relief. Just knowing that there’s probably not a 50-page manual to read or try to decipher, and you won’t need a physics degree to write a review can be quite a nice change of pace. Today’s pedal, the Squatch Stank from Kinnatone, provided that very...
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Continuing our streak of evaluations from the great pedal lineup over at Celestial Effects, today’s featured gem is a big green monster in a little green box. The Taurus Blues Overdrive features some unique controls and excellent overdrive tones, giving you all the blues sounds you can handle in one well-sized and expertly-priced package. Volume, Tone and Gain start off the controls, and will give a nice mix of boost, low-gain...
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We start off this shortened week with the first of many pedals we’ll be reviewing from a great little company located in Japan, Ninevolt Pedals. With unique graphics and a lineup of effects that are sure to have something for every guitar player’s needs, these guys are putting out some affordable and great-sounding pedals. We’re going to start things off with a favorite effect of ours, and one of the nicest...
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Wishing all our USA followers a Happy July 4th – hope the food is hot, the beer is cold and the fireworks are loud. CHEERS!
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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). The Third Rail is a dual overdrive with multiple switching modes. Both sides have clipping options via a toggle for Schottky Diodes, Standard Silicon Diodes, or no diodes. Volume, Gain, and Tone available on both sides. The right channel features a low cut toggle while the left side...
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As stated before in many, many reviews, we love fuzz pedals here at Pedal of the Day. While we’ve checked out a LOT of them over the years, there’s still something special about plugging into a new one for the first time, hitting that bypass switch and immediately going “Whoa”, ala Neo in The Matrix. Today’s tasty little fuzz morsel, the Lichen Fuzz, did exactly that when we turned her on, and continued...
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A couple weeks ago, we reviewed a pedal like none we had seen before, the S-AMP Cabinet Simulator/Headphone Amp from Nunomo LLC. Today, we’ve got their next adventurous piece of gear for you to check out, and it’s defying all logic and traditional overdrive building as well. With a new set of controls to dial in some excellent overdrive tones, let’s check out the new and exciting Limbo Overdrive, k? While most...
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Having access to two different pedals in the same box, and sometimes the ability to combine them together to make one super-powered effect, is one of the greatest things ever in the effects world. Today’s pedal from our friends halfway around the world, Red Witch Pedals, does exactly that, but also features a ton of options, sounds and quirks that make it a truly special modulation pedal. May we present to you the Medusa...
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