The original Fuzz Factory pedal from Z.Vex Effects has been a go-to fuzz for players across the globe for years, and has gained notoriety as one of the finest fuzzboxes available on the market today. Well, Z.Vex has upped the ante a bit more with another incarnation of this classic fuzz, it’s big brother, the Fat Fuzz Factory. Plus, mine is a limited hand-painted edition, which makes it that much cooler, right? Let’s have...
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If you use any MIDI capable pedals, this is the pedal for you! The DMC-7D MIDI Foot Controller from Disaster Area Designs can control 3 different MIDI capable pedals. Each pedal will need to be programmed to be controllable by the DMC-7D (explained in the Manual). The first pedal in your MIDI chain can be controlled manually by the 1st button on the bottom and top row. Those are the bank up and bank down buttons. The second pedal in...
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I’ve had a bunch of fuzz pedals come in for review recently, and they all have been sounding so good! Cheers to everyone making incredible fuzz pedals, as I think that’s a sound that is never going to get old. One of these such builders is Ryan from Big Game Pedals in Chicago, a small company with a good lineup of gear, and the awesome Nothing Is Dead Fuzz we’re going to take a look at today. This fuzz is...
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The Deluxe Drive72 (DD72) of Dangelo is an incredible overdrive boutique designed and built by Mr. Antonio Dangelo. The types of overdrive present on the market today are innumerable, and it is sometimes very difficult to understand the differences between each of them. The DD72 to classify it as simply as possible, I would consider it as a mix between a TS9 and a Vemuram Jan Ray. The peculiarities that in my humble opinion it is an...
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Designed by guitarist Paul Crowther of Split Enz back in 1976, the venerable Crowther Hotcake OD/Distortion pedal is all about crunch. Airy, satisfying crunch, like a warm basket of tortilla chips. Hand built in New Zealand, the Hotcake delivers that classic rock rhythm sound in spades, and produces a great old-school lead tone that will make it your first grab. According the builder, the Hotcake is different from most ODs in that it...
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We’ve got another great review from our buddy Kyle Ragan for you today: the Seastorm Distortion from HDR Amplification. Check out their website HERE, and don’t forget to subscribe to Kyle’s YouTube channel after you watch the video! Click ‘PLAY’ and enjoy the show! Submitted by Kyle, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter
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I dig pretty much every type of pedal out there today, but if there’s one kind of effect I have more of, use more of and love the most, it’s got to be the almighty Delay. They can be extremely simple, adding just a touch of color to your sound, extremely complex, with a multitude of bells and whistles, or fall somewhere in between the two. While the B-304 Analog/Hybrid Delay from Big Joe Stomp Box Company is relatively...
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There’s an age-old debate about Silicon versus Germanium transistors in fuzz pedals: which sounds better, which produces a truer fuzz sound, and which is an overall higher quality and better product. The fine folks at Center Street Electronics may have finally put an end to the debate, and just made an awesome fuzz pedal with BOTH transistors inside – the Rasputin Fuzz. The setup for the Rasputin is fairly simple: a Fuzz...
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From the very beginning of their production in 1965 out of the Marshall factory, there’s a group of amps that have been and are still some of the most coveted on the planet: the Plexis. Countless amp and pedal builders have tried time and time again to capture that sound once more, most being fairly successful, but never truly getting it “just right.” Well, the wait may just be over, as we examine the Plexi-Drive...
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A boost pedal is usually just that: a Boost pedal. Granted, while they do enhance your tone and give you amp a little kick where it needs one, mainly they just Boost, Boost, Boost. They can get your tone to that “just about break-up amp” sound, but what if you wanted (or needed) just a little bit more? Well, my buddy Nick and his cohorts over at Greer Amps decided that enough was enough, and they created a sort of hybrid...
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Along the way in this awesome pedal adventure of mine, I come across a TON of pedal builders, and try to do my best to help out all the little companies I can: get their name out into the world, get links from my site and social media pages to theirs and, of course, buy a pedal whenever the funds present themselves. I’ve been looking for a simple, one knob, always on boost/preamp pedal as of late, and decided to take a chance on...
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Throughout this awesome pedal review journey I’ve been on, I am always impressed when I come across a company that might not be really well-known, or is kind of flying under the radar, but putting out some incredible-sounding gear. Big Lloyde from Loon Lake, WA is one of these companies, and the F-6 Overdrive is most certainly a pedal that needs to be heard by the masses. As far as the controls for the F-6 are concerned, they...
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The stompboxes being put out over at Hungry Robot Pedals have really been coming on strong as of late, and their Hungry Robot Dual Overdrive is not likely to leave my board anytime soon. As for today’s review, HRP’s first foray into the world of delay is a good one, a no frills, basic delay that echoes (no pun intended) the tape machines and analog delays of ages past. Although the Moby Dick emulates the sounds and tones...
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There are a lot of choices when it comes to how you can get a reverberated signal these days for guitar players: some simple, some overly complex and some that fall somewhere in the middle of the sonic spectrum. Although the pedals with tons of bells and whistles can be super-fun, and definitely have their place in today’s pedalboard arsenals, it’s nice to kick back with a basic reverb pedal that just focuses on great...
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In my experience with guitar pedals and amplifiers, almost 8 years, I was always looking for a tube amp tone in a single pedal. The BB Preamp pedal from Xotic is by far the most mellow tube-like overdrive I’ve ever heard. It has so sensitive dynamics, it simply breathes together with your guitar. It’s not a high gain pedal that will turn your clean channel into crunch or lead (all knobs at noon) and I think thats the...
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If you are a big fan of fuzz pedals, and you haven’t checked out Center Street Electronics yet, you’re missing out. Plain and simple. You might have seen our review recently on the God Hates Fuzz pedal of theirs, and today we’ve got a completely different animal to try and tame: the Drone Station Fuzz. This little black beauty is a 2-stage gain pedal that can do a fairly broad range of tones, going from a pretty...
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A pedal this size is bound to be intimidating, at least a little, to even the most experienced of pedal users (even me). However, The Swell Reverb/Delay from Midnight 30 Music takes a couple of great pedals and combines them into one great-looking enclosure, allowing you to mix-n-match tones and sonic soundscapes every and any which way you choose to, with great depth, clarity and presence. The first pedal on the far left is the...
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I’ve been a fan of Keeley compression for about 10 years now. Thats when I first purchased the regular Keeley compressor. It is the only pedal that has consistently stayed on my board for these past 10 years. In fact, it became such an integral part of my “sound” that I didn’t turn it off that entire time. Because of this I was almost sad when I saw that Keeley Electronics was discontinuing this classic...
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The Lumpy’s Tone Shop 7 Series Lemon Drop Overdrive is a fantastic but unusual overdrive. It’s great for what it does but it’s not for everyone. There are so many overdrives out there; it’s very difficult to figure out the difference between each, let alone which to choose. Broadly speaking, the most popular categories of overdrives are (there are definitely other categories but I’ll keep it simple):...
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First off. Full disclosure. I’m a self-taught guitarist. I’m okay. But there are absolutely no chances for Grammys in my future.I play for me and me alone. Sometimes I play for Sparkey, my pup (he thinks I’m amazing on guitar). I play mostly through low wattage tube amps. I run an A/B/Y switch to a Blackstar HT-1R and an Orange Micro Terror that my board is connected to. I’ll admit, I have developed an...
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As much as I love my TimeLine Delay from Strymon, I find the banking system to be a little bit difficult at times. Having to hit 2 switches at once to go up or down scrolling through presets is not my favorite part about that pedal…well, I must not be the only one, because Strymon has heard our complaints and come up with an elegant, easy-to-use and multi-functional solution: the MutliSwitch. Compatible with the TimeLine, BigSky...
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Thick, rich chorus and vibrato have been a staple of music since the 1960’s, when those sounds first appeared and sent music as we know it into an entirely new dimension. Based on the big amps and new effects of that era, the Warble Tron from JHS Pedals is a classic take on an age gone by. The controls are laid out neatly here, with the smaller Depth (effect intensity) and Volume knobs tucked away on the left, near a toggle...
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Reverb has always been a presence in guitar music, at least over the last 60 years or so, but it seems like it has really become a force as of late, with many specific reverb pedal models popping up on everyone’s boards throughout the guitar community. T-Rex has done something fun with their Whirly Verb reverb pedal, and added another dimension that many of these pedals do not possess, which makes it unique to hear, as well as...
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The EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath is the chocolate and peanut butter of the pedal world. It uses a whole bunch of delays to make some crazy reverb sounds. It’s the best of both worlds. A single note can become an entire soundscape through the Afterneath. It does really like higher frequencies, and can self-oscillate into awesomeness! It did take me a while to figure out what the knobs do. EQD also likes to give creative names...
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I’m always excited to find a rare pedal, something that was a prototype or a one-off, that hasn’t been mass-produced, and frankly, can’t be had by other players. Maybe that sounds a little selfish, but hey, you all feel the same way! Case in point: this Tremolo pedal from our friends in Iceland, Pedal Projects. Now, there’s nothing too fancy about this tremolo, which is one of the things I like about it. As...
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Rarely does a pedal completely take me by surprise, to where I’m dumbfounded, amazed and excited all at the same time. The cats over at Center Street Electronics have managed to confound me with their weird, awesome fuzz oscillator pedal, appropriately named God Hates Fuzz. An ordinary fuzz pedal this is not; an extremely fun piece of musical equipment, it is. Basically, all the controls MUST work together to make up this...
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I have never had the pleasure of playing a real Klon Overdrive. I almost don’t want to, because I think the hype surrounding them is a little ridiculous, and am pretty sure I would be disappointed. That said, there are many, many clones being produced that have generally the same circuit layout and sound, and they cost $1000-2000 less than an original Klon. JC Audio has made one of these clones, and it is honestly one of the...
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The Sally Drive Classic DC from 6 Degrees FX looks like a race car on your pedalboard. Immediately jumping out at you visually, this thing is stunning to stare at, and then once you turn it on, you’re in for a real treat. The Sally Drive is a take on a classic, the 808 Tube Screamer, but with some beefy tonal properties and modern upgrades to make it a really special pedal. 6 Degrees took the general layout of the 808 and...
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I had never heard of E.W.S. when I went to review their Brute Drive Distortion, but I’m glad I decided to check out one of their pedals and see what they had going on. Packing a lot into small stompboxes seems to be a cool new thing lately, but some of them are just too small, and a little awkward to use. The Brute Drive is in a perfectly-sized enclosure, that sports not only 2 easy-to-maneuver switches, but a good deal of power...
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The Last Adam LM308 Distortion pedal is a vintage RAT clone with an added Feedback Loop…but it’s also so much more. Will over at Will Sledge FX made this one pedal, the only one of it’s kind, and now I am the proud owner of the LONE VERSION of this incredible stompbox, which I’m pretty excited about. Anyone who bothers to sit down and actually read the reviews I do knows that I love a good crazy, off-the-wall...
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The Wampler Euphoria (formerly the Ecstacy, but the good people at Bogner took exception) is an extremely versatile overdrive pedal that pushes well into distortion-pedal space before it’s done. Wampler promotes it as their “Dumble Box,” a description I think their marketing department should give another once over. The dark green metallic case sports four knob controls – Volume, Gain, Tone and Bass, which all...
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I’ve seen the Swollen Pickle Fuzz pop up around different guitar forums and stuff, and it always seemed to have a pretty good reputation, so I was eager to see what all the hype was about. This big, fat, green beast is one of those pedals that you plug into and turn on, and are instantly blown away. I immediately loved the fuzz sounds coming through my amp, and I hadn’t even adjusted any of the knobs yet, which is always...
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I bought a Moogerfooger MF-103 12-Stage Phaser back in the mid-2000s, and for some dumb reason, decided to sell it (I think I was short on rent). Regardless of why, I have been missing that void in my musical life for a decade…until a week ago, when another one arrived on my doorstep (complete with expression pedal this time). This phaser is just incredible, as are most toys from Moog, and I had as much fun rediscovering this...
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J. Rockett Audio Designs builds really interesting gear with unique layouts and funky-shaped pedals, which really make them stand out in a crowd. Not to mention, they sound pretty rad as well. Take the Tim Pierce Overdrive/Boost, for example. Based on one of Tim’s favorite amps, the Naylor SD60, the TP is an overdrive with big punches and warm overtones, plus a power amp boost switch, making it a killer 2-In-1 overdrive. The...
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I love a good compressor, and while some I’ve tried in the past haven’t blown me away, and some didn’t really even do too much to my signal, less is more when it comes to compression, and that’s the name of the game with the Fish Press from our friends at Greer Amps. Your basic two-knob layout for the controls makes this pedal none-too-difficult to dial in. Based on the vintage Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer,...
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While on tour in Australia, I had a day off in Brisbane. I already knew what that day would consist of: TYM’s Guitar Shop and nothing else! As usual, a lot of his pedal line was sold out. Bummed out that I couldn’t try his Ramshead clone, I decided to give the Reverse Big Mudd a try. I am very glad I did! This model is based on the rare ‘Reverse Graphic’ V6 model. Having owned a few V6 models in the past, I...
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Rarely am I at an immediate loss for words when plugging in a new pedal for a review, but that was absolutely the case with the Grizzly Fuzz from Stonefly Effects. This is one of the fuzziest, quirkiest, glitchiest fuzz pedals I have ever come across, and getting it to play nice was an awesome challenge. First off, there’s no power input: battery only. That should give you a hint as to how this pedal was conceived, and what it...
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Many, many pedal builders have taken the infamous Klon circuit and recreated it, added to it or changed it completely, depending on their tastes. One of the things that makes the Klon circuit so special is that it splits your guitar signal into 3 sections, morphs them and then combines them back together to get it’s unique tone. VFE Pedals has taken that circuit and concept and put it into an impressive klone-like overdrive, the...
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How does one begin to review a legend? In part because of the difficulty of getting one, in a larger part due to its unique sound, a legend has certainly grown around the Hermida Audio Zendrive. I’ve just taken delivery of my second one, and can testify that it’s status is well deserved. First, the tone. No overdrive pedal I have owned or played through (and that’s a long list) does quite what a Zendrive does: a smooth, hairless...
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This pedal is a one off custom job from Trevor at TSW Pedals, and is one (well, 2) of my favorite drives combined into one pedal. This is definitely my coolest pedal as it has my signature image laser engraved right onto the front panel. He takes his Dragon Slayer, which is a take on “plexi in a box” and combines it with his Infinite Drive (similar to a tube screamer but with a smoother tone control and more gain on tap)...
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The latest offering from the folks over at Strymon is based on some classic sounds throughout the past century: the Deco Tape Saturation and Doubletracker. Conjuring up the sounds of ancient reel-to-reel tape machines from the 50’s and 60’s, the Deco provides all the vintage echo and delay sounds you’re after, and the Tape Saturation side aims to fatten up your sound using tasty compression and just a bit of...
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Tremolo pedals have always been one of my favorites: they can be extremely simple or utterly complex, but they all have that same distinctive sound in some regard. The Josh Smith Dual Tremolo from J. Rockett Audio Designs is no exception, and is one of the coolest tremolos I’ve come across in quite a while. Designed in conjunction with Josh, Rockett Pedals and Tim Jauernig, this tremolo is made for working musicians, by working...
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I’ve never been a huge fan of the classic Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal. There, I said it. It might be because I’ve never had the opportunity to play one of the “great ones” from the early 80’s, or maybe it’s just how they’ve always reacted with the amps I’ve played, but it just never grabbed me like it has other folks. So, I was a little skeptical to try the TS9 Strong Mod from JHS Pedals,...
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The Vilan Family is a small pedal company making “homebrewed guitar pedals from Mother Russia!” Their first offering sent to me is a take on a distortion pedal, but it’s actually much more than that. Hand-painted and enclosed in a cast silumin enclosure, the Seaside Monster Distortion has wide range and dirty tones. Upon opening the pedal up, I discovered that the insides were extremely minimal, with a small circuit...
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Eric Clapton. Ritchie Blackmore. Brian May. Tony Iommi. What do these fine gentleman have in common, besides being incredible guitar players? They achieved tones that are still being sought out today, by way of using a Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster. These pedals were made to push an amplifier into a gorgeous overdriven tone, and were featured on some real breakthrough albums back in the day. Our friends at Tribute Audio Designs...
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Here is the awesome HDR Amplification Sunstorm Distortion! Two mode Silicon based drive. Gritty, meaty goodness right here! Check them out HERE, and don’t forget to subscribe to Kyle’s YouTube channel after you watch the video! Click ‘PLAY’ and enjoy the show! Submitted by Kyle, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter
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Today, we’ve got another killer high gain pedal from the folks at 6 Degrees Music: the R3 Distortion. This bad boy is a heavily-modded RAT, basically, with 3 different (and highly useful) clipping modes to choose from. This sexy beast will do monster tones in a huge range, going from a tasty, warm overdrive to a ballsy sonic distortion in one roll of your guitar’s volume knob. Here we go… There are three main...
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Delays have long been a favorite effect of mine, and I always like to see pedal companies take them in new and interesting directions. Red Witch Pedals has done just that with the first pedal in their new Chrome series: the Violetta Delay. Though it looks small, this little shiny beauty has a lot of options and great sounds sure to please any delay fan. If you’re looking for space-saving pedals, the Violetta is the way to go. I...
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This 1s Myne (T1M) 2-in-1 overdrive pedal “The Pearl” is an overdrive machine! The left side of the pedal is T1M Touch drive. A light OD that is fantastic for stacking with other OD pedals, that light gain for meaty rhythm tone, or boosting those lead lines. The right side of the pedal is T1M Punch drive. This OD is amazing and sets the pedal apart from others in my eyes. It is a smooth OD with lots of sustain, that can...
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The classic RAT Distortion pedal. That big, thick, metal box that has sat upon many a pedalboard, and will continue to do so, is a staple of effects pedals if there ever was one. In keeping with that vintage style and sound, Pro Co and RAT distortion have come up with the “RAT on steroids”: ladies and gentlemen, the FATRAT. A titch bigger than it’s little brother, the FATRAT has a few more controls as well. The...
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