Caton Sollenberger The Jauntee www.thejauntee.com www.thejauntee.net Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and beyond How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar for a while, since I was about 5 I think. My father always played in rock bands, and my mom is also a musician, so that was certainly a big push for me. At around 8 years old I started taking classical piano lessons...
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Andy Greene Escape Plan Pedals http://www.escapeplanpedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played music for pretty much my entire life. I got my first guitar, a miniature steel string acoustic, when I was 5. I learned simplified versions of most of the standard position major chords and a few minor chords and would try to put on concerts for my family. I really got interested in...
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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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After hearing so much about and seeing the Caveman Overdrive all over the place over the last year, we were super-excited when the guys from Oddfellow Effects said they wanted to send us their newest pedal, The Bishop Overdrive, to check out and review. While the Caveman is a dual-channel drive, The Bishop is a more basic, stripped-down overdrive, but with a ton of punch and kick to get your amp sounding incredible. We’ve got...
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Apparently, there are still guitar players in existence that don’t like fuzz. Finding that fact difficult to imagine, today’s pedal gears specifically towards fuzz-haters, and has been affectionately dubbed “the fuzz for guitarists that hate fuzz.” Celestial Effects has been putting out some interesting and powerful pedals over that last few years, and the Aquarius Fuzz just might help to convert some...
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Chorus is a great effect, when used in the right context. I suppose the same could be said about any other effect, but chorus really seems to have a special following of haters, while other players consider it a crucial part of their signature sound. As with most pedals from EarthQuaker Devices, the Sea Machine is not a traditional chorus effect, but instead another gorgeous re-imagining of a classic effect with those very special EQD...
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If you’ve been to a concert, read a guitar magazine or had a jam session with anyone, there’s a good chance you’ve seen today’s featured pedal in one form or another. The DS-1 Distortion from Boss is one of the pedals that really made Boss famous, and has been used on more records and tours than any of us could ever count. Today’s model is a “vintage” one from the 80’s or 90’s,...
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The resurgence of Way Huge Electronics via Jim Dunlop over the last few years has been a treat for the effects-using world, and we’ve had the pleasure of checking out a bunch of these rad pedals (with more reviews to come!). Today’s reddish-pink enclosure brings us the Red Llama™, the first of the original Way Huge pedals, and one that is highly coveted for it’s great tone and response. Two knobs, one goal: to rock...
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Mike Gantzer Guitarist for Aqueous Buffalo, NY https://aqueousband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/aqueousband/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Incidentally, when I first started playing music was in the 3rd grade with the standard issue recorder they give out to everyone, and i HATED it. haha I picked up trumpet for awhile, but I recall being sort of turned off with the rigidity of the...
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Welcome to our first installment of Guest Review Fridays! Each week we will feature a guest reviewer who will offer their unique and personal look at one of their favorite pedals – if you’d like to be semi-famous and get published here on Pedal of the Day, click here to submit your own pedal review, and join in the conversation! Our flagship Friday reviewer is Scott W. – catch him over on Instagram (@honey.power) or...
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Sort of continuing a recent trend here at Pedal of the Day, we have yet another awesome envelope filter to check out today, and one that is based on a classic and sought-after effect. The WR-3™ from Guyatone has become a pedal of great legend, and since it’s discontinuation a few years ago, has also become rare and high-priced as well. Used by Guthrie Govan, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Salas and more, there’s a good chance you...
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We review a lot of overdrive pedals on this site, as our rabid readers can attest to, and each one is unique and special in its own way. Some have a ton of balls, some are more mellow and laid back and some are entities all on their own. Today’s overdrive, the Piper Drive from Westminster Effects, definitely falls into the laid back category, but features some great tone-enhancement and a well-rounded low-gain range. The hip...
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Yesterday, we reviewed a compact pedal that featured a bunch of reverb options, the Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb. Today’s pedal is also a reverb, with a bunch of options, except WAY more than the RV-5, and in a pedal about twice the size. The Cathedral Stereo Reverb from Electro-Harmonix is a beast of a reverb, with almost too many sounds and options to explain…but we’re going to do our best to try. Let’s start...
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Recently, we started teaming up with Celestial Effects to do some pedal reviews, the first of which was their excellent Sagittarius Overdrive Boost. After checking out that sick pedal, we were more than excited for the arrival of today’s featured pedal, the Aries Beast Distortion. Any dirt pedal with the word “beast” in it makes our ears instantly perk up, and this distortion absolutely stepped up to the plate and...
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One of the first “transparent” overdrives we reviewed here at Pedal of the Day was the EM Drive from Emerson Custom, and that awesome pedal is still spotted on a TON of pedalboards. Stepping up their game a little bit, and getting into a bit dirtier territory, the crew at Emerson designed a completely original circuit, and turned it into a pedal that is great as a mid-gain or second stage overdrive. Here is the Paramount...
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We get pretty excited about all the pedals we review here at Pedal of the Day, but when a box arrived from the UK with “Hudson Electronics” on the label, we knew we were in for a treat. Having already reviewed the awesome Buzzard and Fuzz pedals a while back, we were stoked to see what Michael and the crew had come up with this time around. In short, we were not even close to being disappointed – here is the...
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Being a pedal review blog, we love discovering new pedals and companies that we hadn’t previously heard of, and developing new relationships with them, which is the case with today’s pedal, the Sagittarius Overdrive Boost from Celestial Effects in Hudson, MA. 2-in-1 pedals are always welcome around here, and you really can’t beat the Overdrive/Boost combination. There’s a Volume knob to start us off, which...
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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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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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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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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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Let’s face it: boutique overdrive are fun to play. With higher quality parts inside, and hand-made the majority of the time, it’s pretty hard to find one in the bunch that’s a real dud. A prime example of this is the Hermosa Drive from Reiter Brothers Effects, a mid-gain overdrive that looks like a throwback version of some 1970s muscle car, with all the power and prestige that came with those vehicles as well. While...
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Today, we’ve got another awesome addition to our guest reviewer series, this time it’s Rob Compa from the excellent band Dopapod! I’d like to say thanks to him for taking some time out and writing this review on a very rare and unique pedal, looking forward to more reviews in the future, Rob! Enough of my spiel, here’s what Rob has to say: Hey guys! About a year ago, I finally got to that point where my...
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I was born in 1977. A year later, Reinhold Messner became the first human being to ascend Mt. Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen. Fast forward 37 years, and that brings us in a roundabout way to today’s pedal review. My buddy Colt and the boys and girls at Walrus Audio have created a low-gain, transparent overdrive that will make you feel as though you, too, have reached a peak of immense height and struggle....
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Most pedal builders boast about a versatile drive, but JHS’ Kilt is truly worthy of the versatile praise. The Kilt’s toggle and knob controls allow for the player to dial in clean to full out gated fuzz and anything in between. And while most pedals that claim to be versatile have maybe one or two “sweet spots,” the Kilt is special all the way through. Based off of the old Expandora fuzz, the Kilt takes a...
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These days, it seems like a lot of players (and pedal builders, too) have shifted focus to creating the most transparent sounds they can find. While those pedals definitely have use in many signal chains, sometimes you want you audience to actually hear the effects when you turn it on, and not just a little bit, but blow them away with it a little, you know? Today’s pedal, the Moonshine Overdrive from JHS Pedals, does just that,...
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In writing so many pedal reviews, I have had unique opportunities that not everyone gets, one of which is to discover smaller, lesser-known pedal builders and test out their products. I have come to find out that the little guys are putting out some incredible gear, and that you don’t always need to sport a big and popular name on a pedal for it to be great. LS Effects, out of Jacksonville, Florida, is a company I recently...
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There are a lot of overdrive pedals out on the market at the moment, and there have been for years and years now. Hi-Gain, Transparent, Low-to-Mid, etc…there are many sub-categories of overdrives, too, and sometimes you have to play a LOT of them to figure out which sound is best suited for you as an individual, and your personal style of music. The Howlerr Classic from SFG Music Supply up north in Canada is an instantly smooth...
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Tube Screamers: you love ’em or you hate ’em, so far as I can tell. The stock ones that I’ve played have never really overly impressed me much (although I’ve never had the opportunity to play one of the old classics from the early 80s) – they’re nice overdrives, but nothing too spectacular, in my book. The 808 we’re reviewing today is one of the reissues, but it has been modded by Analog Man,...
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The last few months have been busy for Joel and the crew at Chase Bliss Audio. After releasing brand new versions of their staple pedals the Warped Vinyl and the Wombtone, they’ve now released a THIRD pedal in almost as many weeks, and it will shatter your expectations once again. Keeping with the theme of “best modulation gear on the planet”, we present you with the Gravitas Analog Tremolo. As with the other Chase...
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So there are a few haters out there who say that the version 4 Fulltone OCD is not as good as the others. Well I’m here to say its a killer pedal! I have been through hundreds of pedals, whether trading, or selling, the OCD is the only pedal that has never gone off my board. I can say the difference between this pedal at 9v and at 18v are huge. At 9v it can be a bit fizzy and dare I say it “muddy.” At 18v the added...
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I dig a nice, easy-to-use, not a lot of frills and thrills, good-sounding, good-looking overdrive pedal (don’t we all?). Although a giant list of options and switches can certainly be fun, useful and awesome, sometimes it’s nice to kick back with a guitar, an amp and one nice drive pedal to get a great rock n roll tone without exerting too much effort. That’s definitely what I found in the Aerodynamic Overdrive from...
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The Harvester is a limited edition mid-range overdrive pedal produced by Walrus Audio of OKC USA The Harvester features bass, treble, level and drive knobs along with both a low gain and a high gain toggle switch. The amount of overdrive is entirely up to you. With the gain option set to low you’ll have extreme clarity, and a nice bit of break up to really help push your chords over the edge. Kick on that high gain though, and...
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There’s something special about any pedal you can put on your board and have it stay on all the time. Whether it’s a slight reverb, a bit of drive for some crunch or a nice boost to beef up your tone, it takes some creative circuitry to build an always-on stompbox. Today’s pedal does exactly that – it’s the MORE Boost + Tone Enhancer from LD Effects. Housed in a wonderfully plain and cleanly-designed...
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A good echo pedal should first sound good, then maybe have a cool feature or two, and finally look cool. Ok, so the last one doesn’t really count, but it’s always a bonus, right? Fortunately, the Fuzzy Memory (V2) from Escape Plan Pedals has all of these characteristics, which makes for a good test time and fun review session. The Fuzzy Memory is a lo-fi delay that maxes out at 350ms of delayed time. That short time span...
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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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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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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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First things first, I’d like to say how slick the pedals being produced over at Will Sledge FX look, all scuffed up but classy, very minimalist but bold. Dig it. Anyway, the real reason we’re here is to talk about one of their awesome pedals, the small but powerful Slim Drive. The latest in our review crop of space-saving pedals, the Slim Drive features 2 control knobs and a bypass switch (the one I’m reviewing also...
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The JHS Morning Glory is a discreet/transparent overdrive based off of the legendary Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit but with 2x more headroom and gain. This pedal, which some consider to be the one that brought JHS into the mainstream gear spotlight, is a transparent light to medium overdrive that brings life to any rig. With only three knobs for volume, gain, and tone and a bright cut switch, this simple pedal packs a lot of options...
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Ladies and gents! If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing anything made by the hands of Dan from this1smyne, you are truly missing out. For your viewing and gear addicted pleasures, I bring you the Touch Drive. Hands off!!! This one’s mine… (see what i did there) – get your own. If you are searching that endless search for the right “tone” or finding your “sound”, consider the...
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It seems that certain low-priced pedals from Boss have a reputation as being terrible and unplayable by an overwhelming number of folks in the guitar community. For how long this has been going on is unknown, but these pedals are an excellent introduction to beginning players who are still searching for their sound, and the tools with which to do so. Plus, if you can pony up a few extra bucks and get them modded by companies like JHS...
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Low-medium overdrives are popping up everywhere these days, and for good reason. They often add a nice layer of boost and slight crunch to your guitar signal, not coloring it too much, and not driving your amp into unnecessary levels of distortion. The Aurora Overdrive from Kauffman Audio Appliances is one of these overdrives, smooth and transparent, but can still get a little dirty if you need it to. Right away, I liked how this...
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PB&J Pedals out of North Carolina have been cranking out some great pedals recently, if you haven’t heard of these guys yet. We’ve reviewed their Surf Drive, Viper Drive and Billy Goat Fuzz, all of which were great pedals, and today we’ve got another one for the books: the Sweet Clarity Junior Drive. This particular pedal is a slimmed-down version of PB&J’s larger Sweet Clarity Overdrive, which has a...
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Seafoam Pedals are a small company based out of Mobile, Alabama, making all hand-wired pedals with some interesting designs and layouts, mainly doing Tap Tempo and Expression-type pedals in pedalboard-friendly sizes. Their first foray into an actual effect pedal is the Low Tide Overdrive, a small, 2-knob transparent drive that features smooth sounds and just enough grit to make it interesting, while keeping your guitar’s tone in...
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These pedals from Sublime Guitar Company are really rocking my world lately, and the Pep-Pep Delay is another awesome piece of gear from this Florida company. In our current world of massive, complicated and sometimes frustrating delays, the Pep-Pep is a welcome breath of fresh air, and while it might not be able to do everything those other delays can, it will add character and stunning texture to your guitar’s tone. This is a...
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One-offs. Custom graphics. Scratch-N-Dent. One-of-a-kind pedals have a special quality about them that regular pedals just don’t, whether it’s a rehousing of an old pedal, a personal message or graphic, a banged-up enclosure…or a 2-in-1. This particular custom pedal comes to us from our friends Pepper Pedals in Atlanta, GA, and is a combo of their awesome Chipotle Distortion and Jalapeño Overdrive. Look out for this...
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First off, let me say that I love Emerson Custom Guitars’ EM-Drive as it is, being a wonderfully transparent overdrive with great character and warm, smooth tones. However, I also like my overdrives to have a little more BITE than the stock EM has got, and that’s where this fantastic mod from my friend Ásgeir over at Pedal Projects in Iceland comes in. Just wait ’til you see what he’s done now. The Pedal...
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I got a surprise package in the mail the other day from Nick over at Greer Amps: the yet-to-be-released Southland Harmonic Overdrive, their newest killer pedal creation. I’d seen the pictures on Instagram and was excited to test this baby out, knowing it was gonna rock after previously testing out a couple of other Greer pedals. Well, let’s just say it did rock…and then it rocked some more! The Southland was...
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