Some delay pedals have such a broad range of sounds that it can be hard to focus in on what you really need the delay to do. That is definitely not the case with today’s featured pedal, the Back Burner Vintage Delay from SFG Music Supply. This delay is focused solely on the famed “slapback” sound that started with country and rockabilly, and continues to have uses throughout numerous musical genres today. Short and...
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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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Today’s pedal is really a delay to end all delays, as long as you’re not running a stereo rig, that is. The Flight Time Delay (FT-1Y) from Free The Tone looks like the Flux Capacitor and the Millennium Falcon had a love child, with it’s vast control section and digital read-out parameters. Truth is, that’s not far from the truth, as it is just about as futuristic looking and sounding a delay that’s on the...
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Sometimes, your rig just need an extra bit of sparkle, a push to kick it into high gear and get to that one sweet sonic spot you’ve been hearing on your favorite recordings for years, but never seem to be able to quite achieve. In the case of today’s pedal, that magic ingredient is a Boost pedal. While there are a ton of these available on the market today, each one is unique in design, output and color, and I’ve...
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Happy Valentine’s Day, pedal people! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to some serious delay business, cool? Is there a better way to celebrate this most joyous of fake holidays than with a giant, pink pedal? I don’t think so, no. Maxon has been in the mix as far as killer analog delays are concerned for years, and today’s pedal is absolute echo beast, full of bold delay tones, classic sounds...
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There’s a little pedal company out of Denmark called Emma Electronic, and they’ve been putting out some sweet pedals for years now. One of our favorites here at Pedal of the Day is their envelope filter, the DiscumBOBulator (check out the review here), and we’ve got another rocker for you today. The OnoMATOpoeia (great name, by the way) is a Boost and Overdrive in one, but won’t color your original signal in...
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Boost pedals have been appearing on pedalboards all over the place the last couple of years, but few look as awesome as the Strategy Boost from CopperSound Pedals. An op-amp based clean boost with simple controls and powerful sound, this is one boost that will get your audience talking, about both the pedal and the sound. Just looking at this pedal will put a smile on your face. Even if you’re not the biggest Strat fan,...
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If you want originality in your pedals, one company you can always rely on to come through in the clutch is Dwarfcraft Devices from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Mainly fuzz and octave-based for the majority of their lineup, today’s featured pedal sees them jumping into a new genre, one that’s our favorite here at Pedal of the Day: delay. Not just any delay, of course – the Minivan Echo conjures up analog tones of the past,...
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Vintage pedals seem to always have a mysterious aura about them, whether there were only a few of one model made, or pedals made with certain inner chips no longer available, or obscure effects made famous by players who possessed them. Mu-Tron / Musitronics was known for creating incredible, state-of-the-art and technologically advanced effects back in the 1970’s, and their pedals were made popular by the likes of Jerry Garcia,...
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The Nova series of pedals from TC Electronics have been enthralling us for some time now, cramming a seemingly endless supply of options and effects into each pint-sized box that’s produced. Whether it’s in the realm of delay (ND-1, RPT-1), modulation (NM-1), dynamics (NDY-1) or Overdrive (NDR-1), or today’s featured pedal, the NR-1 Reverb, each of these pedals bring something new to the effects game, including this...
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Sometimes in this line of work, you come across a pedal that was produced by a now-defunct company, and there’s very little information available about it for you to really dig into a review. Today’s featured pedal is one of these rarities, although I’m going to try to do my best (plus, there’s a video at the end!). The Cedar Drive from Cedar Custom Effects is the overdrive on display today, There’s not a...
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How does one company manage to craft not ONE, not even TWO, but THREE of the most-used and highly regarded delay pedals in existence? Starting from scratch and perfecting Version One, that’s how. Although the Memory Lane 2 might be generally regarded as a better machine, and the Memory Lane Jr. might appear on more pedalboards throughout the world, it all started with today’s featured pedal, the Memory Lane Analog Delay...
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Today’s wicked rad and partially insane pedal is of the delay variety – a shocker, I’m sure, given how much we love delay around here. This one really steps it up a notch, though, and introduces some great features to accentuate and exasperate your delayed tone, feel and sound. DigiTech has been immersed in the delay world for years now, and the TimeBender Digital Delay might just be their most complex and...
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I have yet to come across an Ibanez pedal in their 10 series from the 80’s that I haven’t found to be exciting and exceptional all at once. I mean, these things are all built like tanks, usually have a ton of options, regardless of what type of pedal it is, and sound like they were decades ahead of their time…which they were, in fact. Today’s shining example is basically a multi effect, although it’s...
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No doubt you’ve heard of the old pedal company Ross, who are probably most famous for what many consider to be the finest compressor pedal ever made, the ever-cloned Grey Compressor. In addition to this expensive and much sought-after grey box, Ross made a slew of other awesome (and extremely underrated) pedals in the 70s and 80s, and we’ve got one for today’s featured pedal. Simple to use but great-sounding and...
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Although they reside in different categories, guitar and bass pedals can be fun to interchange instruments with, as is the case of today’s featured pedal. The Octamizer Analog Octave from Aguilar Amplification is specifically geared towards the lower frequency register, but it sounds wicked rad on guitar as well. Let’s see what this sweet bright red can do, shall we? Right away, the first two controls you see are essential...
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Having reviewed such classic Selah Effects’ pedals as the Feather Drive and Scarlett Love, we were excited to check out their first foray into the world of fuzz, and were not disappointed. Exemplifying a broad range of sounds, from thick and driven to glitchy and wacky, the Misty Mountain Fuzz offers something for everyone who digs this genre of pedal, and with simple controls in a gorgeous enclosure, dialing in a distinct but...
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Having just reviewed the Mercury Flanger from Source Audio’s lineup of One Series pedals, we couldn’t wait to dive in and check another of their offerings, the Vertigo Tremolo. Again loaded with a ton of options to create a multitude of sounds, this tremolo boasts a huge range of tones, and will most certainly add a little hint of what’s been missing to your pedalboard. With 3 completely different tremolo voicings to...
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Colt and the crew at Walrus Audio are continually popping up with new pedals that change the way you think about certain effects, and how to use them in your rig. Today’s featured pedal takes a classic effects and essentially turns it around, flips it upside down and magically creates a powerful phaser tool that’s sure to make your playing improve and your tone sparkle. The Vanguard Dual Phase is a series phaser, with 2...
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The Flanger effect is one of the most recognizable in all the land, and one that generally is not in the forefront of a lot of music these days (or, in the past, either, really). Sort of an oddball effect, the lone kid on the playground that’s kinda weird and is sometimes difficult to approach, flanging is mostly used in very specific settings, and even then only for short bursts or passages. Until now. Joel Korte and the team...
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We here at Pedal of the Day have been hearing about and seeing the big, rad-looking and apparently amazing-sounding line of compressors from Origin Effects for a while now, but the price tag was just a bit out of our reach, and the opportunity to acquire one just hadn’t yet presented itself. So, you can imagine our joy when the new line of Compact pedals was announced recently, featuring both a smaller size AND a smaller, more...
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Sometimes it just seems impossible to get just the right fuzz sound, and the harder you look the harder it gets to achieve it. As you keep looking the more peachy you become about it and suddenly you come to decide anything will fit your non realistic expectations and kinda led you into a big depression. That’s how I got to Vntage Tone (www.facebook.com/vntagetone), a Mexican custom pedal and pedalboard builder who seems to hit...
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Today’s pedal builder is a relative newcomer to the community, after trying out some dead-end jobs and realizing building pedals would be more fun and worthwhile. Ruffian Pedals’ flagship pedal is today’s featured piece of gear, The Feels Overdrive/Distortion. A sleek and stylish-looking pedal, it packs a wallop that’s sure to get both your amp and your crowd moving in a hurry. The control layout of The Feels...
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The gang over at Source Audio has been creating some unique musical gear since their inception in 2005, and their lineup of One Series pedals have taken the guitar community by storm. Seemingly simple in layout and design, these pedals house some secret functions and sounds that really make them stand out from the crowd. Today’s featured pedal just happens to be one from the One Series, the Mercury Flanger, which has a ton of...
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Recently, we reviewed a dual fuzz/boost pedal from some friends of our over at Pusher Pedals, a prototype of their newest creation, the Bad Dancer. Now, this pedal is a combo of their first two flagship pedals, the Dirty Darling and today’s featured pedal, the Leap of Faith Boost. A simple but powerful pedal, this baby will give your guitar’s signal some oomph, and a bit more as well. Featuring one lone knob, such as most...
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The gang at Fairfield Circuitry are well-known for creating new and exciting pedals, so we were super-stoked when we teamed up with them and they sent us our first pedal for review, the Four Eyes Fuzz. Having reviewed their Barbershop Overdrive and Meet Maude Analog Delay pedals so far, we were excited to test out their take on a fuzz pedal, and it did not disappoint. Containing three parallel JFET fuzz circuits driven by a voltage...
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For me, the words “Texas Flood” bring one thing immediately to mind: the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn. Not just the man himself, but that classic Screamer tone he is known for, one that many, many of us have tried in some form to replicate. Today’s pedal, the aptly named Texas Flood Overdrive from Cast Engineering, takes that original tone and builds on it, adding in some more low end and still maintaining the sound...
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Sometimes when you review a particular pedal, you get to do a little research and discover another pedal in the process. The flavor of the day today focuses on the classic Shin-Ei Super-Fuzz FY-6 pedal, which was produced from 1968 until the late 1970s. Our featured pedal today not only made a long journey to us via India, it also has the innards and homage that make it an excellently-modified version of an awesome vintage effects...
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We recently reviewed a great preamp pedal from RST Custom Effects, the Magic 6, and were extremely impressed by what it could do, so the thought of reviewing more of their effects was welcome for sure. The next pedal we got was the aptly-named Queasy Seaman Vibrato, a true vibrato pedal that produces sounds not likely to come from your standard tremolo or phaser pedals. Featuring a simple control setup and nausea-inducing graphics,...
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Well, since today just so happens to be my birthday (thank you, thank you), I thought I’d review a pedal that’s almost as old as I am…almost. Graphic Equalizer pedals tend to be easily dismissed by a lot of pedal people, but I’m here to reassure you that they have their place in any rig. This one in particular, the GE10, was made from 1985-1989, so it’s got a couple of miles on it, but don’t let...
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Sometimes, a package arrived at the shop and when you open it up, you’re both excited and completely baffled. Such was the case with today’s featured pedal, the Nitro Fuzz from Elta Electrolaboratory. These cats are based straight out of Moscow, Russia, and the graphics and text on the Nitro convey that clearly, as I could not read a word, and could only figure out a couple of the controls by eyeing it. Luckily, I got some...
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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 have been some incredible reverb pedals coming onto the effects market recently, and we have been fortunate enough to get to review a bunch of them. Today’s featured pedal continues this awesome streak of awesome effects, in the reverb department, and is a welcome addition to anyone to needs easy and great-sounding reverberation. A Level control starts us out, adjusting the overall presence of the Wet reverb signal. The...
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When it comes to compact, simple delay pedals, you usually only have the option for one specific sound for each pedal: analog, digital, warm, crisp, dark, etc., resulting in the delay section of your pedalboard constantly having to expand. Well, the crew at Alexander Pedals and Chicago Music Exchange have created a pedal that will trim down that portion of your board immensely, with a full spectrum of delay tones from classic decades...
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One of the favorite reverb pedals we’ve had the privilege of reviewing here at Pedal of the Day is the Surf Rider III from SolidGoldFX, so we were pretty stoked to try out one of their delays, the ElectroMan. Boasting some cool features and incredible sound, this delay will add new dimension to your guitar’s sound, and make you more inclined to push some sonic boundaries you never thought possible before. The control panel...
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There are a lot of “Screamer” pedals out in the world, being manufactured by a ton of different companies, and rightly so, as it was one of the first truly awesome overdrive pedals in existence. However, with so many floating around, it’s sometimes hard to decipher which one is from where, as they can tend to all start to sound fairly similar. Enter today’s pedal, the Relic Drive from our friends at Greer Amp...
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We were recently introduced to a pedal company in New Jersey called Pusher Pedals, and had the pleasure to review one of their first gear offerings, the Dirty Darling. In chatting with them some more, we came to find out that they were in the process of making a 2-In-1 pedal, combining their first two flagship pedals (the Dirty Darling plus the Leap of Faith Boost), and we could not have been more excited. The result is a fantastic...
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I have found that a lot of old pedals, like from the ’70s old, like ME old, really rock. Hard. Today’s pedal is absolutely no exception, and has been used by some of rock and roll’s most famous guitarists as well. The Distortion + from MXR has a bit of a misleading name, as it is definitely more of an overdrive, but can get into relatively chunky territory with ease. A pretty easy to use pedal, there’s really...
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The TonePrint collection of pedals from TC Electronic have been pretty outstanding so far, enabling some exact dialing in of flangers, delays, reverbs and chorus, among others, all with pretty good sonic results. Today’s pedal ventures into a bit different territory, and into an effect that most players have a love-it-or-hate-it relationship with: The Compressor. Some swear by it for their tone, some can’t stand it, and...
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In reviewing so many pedals, there can be periods where a group of effects all seem really similar, and although they may have slight differences, they feel like pedals we might have already reviewed before. There are, however, some pedal production companies who really set themselves apart from the rest, in terms of innovation, creativity and all-out awesomeness. A couple that come to mind off the bat are Red Panda, Dwarfcraft...
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When you think about the best, most-used and highly-sought after amps ever produced, everyone’s list almost always includes a Blackface Fender of some sort, and for good reason. Those amps made in the 1960’s have a character and tone not easily reproduced, by amp or pedal, putting them truly in a class of their own. The Magic 6 Preamp from RST Custom Effects seeks to reproduce some of those coveted tones, but in solid...
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I’d always heard good things about the TS10 Tube Screamer, and if Stevie Ray Vaughn and Mike McCready used it (and even John Mayer, too!), it had to be AOK in my book. Having reviewed and played many different iterations of the infamous Tube Screamer over the years, I had never had the opportunity to play one of these bad boys, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. TS9 and TS808 comparisons aside, the TS10 has an ongoing...
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2-In-1 pedals are always fun, but more often than not, they come in the form of overdrives. Don’t get me wrong, I love dual overdrives, but a Dual Delay pedal? Now that’s something else all together. The Dual Tap Delay, made by the now-defunct Visual Sound (actually, they’re a new company called Truetone), is one of these rare delay breeds, and one that is a hell of a lot of fun to figure out. Each of the 2 separate...
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Well, it’s official: Reverb has been creeping up into our subconscious for a while now, and it has firmly planted itself in the Number Two spot on the list of effects we love the most right now (Delay is Number One, and that will probably always remain). That said, when the opportunity to snatch up a Proverb Reverb from Mantic Effects came up, it was a basic no-brainer, as they create some of the most unique and wacky pedals out...
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We’ve played almost all of the pedals that have been released by Spaceman Effects, and each one has been a real revelation to the pedal world, containing powerful, unique and rare tones found only hidden inside these precious few stomp boxes. Their latest release is another one-of-a-kind, as it offers true analog spring reverb in the form of a pedal! We’d like to proudly announce a wonderful addition to the Spaceman...
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The crew over in Portland at Catalinbread have been pumping out some awesome pedals for years now, and we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing some of their best ones (in our opinion, anyway!). From overdrives to analog echoes to “Sabbath In A Box”, the diversity and craftsmanship are second to none, which is why we were so excited about checking out’s today’s featured pedal, the Adineko Oil Can Delay. From...
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At first glance, the Fix’d Fuzz Deluxe from Blackout Effectors looks as though it might be a little tricky and complicated, with its vast array of knobs and switches. Turns out, it is, but in the best possible way. With all of these adjustable options, this brilliant fuzz truly allows the user to dial in a wide range of distorted and fuzzy sounds, and will take you from a simple, basic fuzz to sonic dementia that you may well...
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The crew at TC Electronic has had a long-standing reputation for building some truly innovative and awe-inspiring delays, and possibly the best delay ever in the 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay. Shrinking the principles and options down to fit into a smaller enclosure that fits nicely onto a pedalboard, they’ve created the Nova Delay, a compact delay full of sonic options and tones for days – all the best features of the old...
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I knew not what I was getting myself into. I think, at some point, most of us buy some piece of gear because someone we admire uses it. For me, that was the MXR Blue Box. True Page uses it on “Fool In The Rain” but I became interested because Jesse Lacey of Brand New uses it. And on top of that, new it’s fairly cheap, as far as pedals go. The Blue Box also introduced me to some terrific noises. A fuzzy, synthy, sub-octavey box is how...
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For the most part, multi effects pedals are pretty fun, and can be super useful if you are traveling a lot, or have a small pedalboard that you need to cram a bunch of stuff onto for gigs. The Rocket Train from Movall Audio covers the bases for three pretty common and oft-used effects, all in one relatively compact box that should fit on any pedalboard with ease. I decided to go right to left on this pedal, as I usually like...
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