3-In-1 effects pedals usually require, well, 3 switches, a huge enclosure and a control panel that rivals something at a NASA launch site. Today’s pedal brings the versatility of 3 pedals to one super-small enclosure, providing a bunch of tones all with a user-friendly mindset. The Bipolar from PFX is a Buffer, Boost and Overdrive all rolled into one – curious yet? The Bipolar features just three control knobs, but they...
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Drew Shirley Switchfoot.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? My mom made me take piano lessons. I quit when I got into high school and she said “you’ll thank me some day.” She was right. I picked up my older brothers guitar and taught myself a few chords to play in church youth group. After that I discovered Led Zeppelin and went on to write some songs, start a band and...
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In today’s crazy world of ambient pedal obsession, there are more and more incredible machines being produced, and today’s featured piece of gear is a unique and glorious ambient player’s delight. The Wash from Hungry Robot Pedals completes the arduous task of using both delay and reverb to create an organic, below-the-mix wash of sound, while only taking up a fraction of the pedalboard space usually required to...
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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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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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James Granuzzo Main.Ace.FX Colonia, NJ, not far from NYC www.mainacefx.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played the guitar for almost as long as I can remember. When I first started discovering new music on my own as a kid it was the days of late 80s / early 90s alternative and grunge. I saw the people in these bands a normal accessible people, and not the rock-gods of the 70s and...
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Joseph Morinelli Rochester, New York Joywave, The Meat Lovers Trio www.joywavemusic.com Twitter: @joywavemusic, @joeywave_ Instagram: @joywavemusic, @joeywave_ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I grew up with my father constantly playing records of legendary delta blues musicians. Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and so on. We would sit in our basement with our...
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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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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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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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Here at Pedal of the Day, we’ve had the pleasure to review a number of pedals by the always-entertaining and a bit off-the-cuff Paradox Effects, and we’re happy to have another of their enclosures on hand for today’s review. If you want fuzz, you checked out our website on the right day, to say the least. The Fuzz-E Cat pushes the limits of sound (and your eardrums), but in only the best ways possible. Let’s...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Scott W. – find him on Instagram (@honey.power) and Facebook (Scott Willems). Electro-Harmonix’s Stereo Pulsar is a fantastic variable shape tremolo pedal. The setup is very basic, featuring only three parameters and a switch to choose between square and triangle wave types, but the sounds you can achieve are far from it. The Pulsar has three knobs: rate, shape, and depth. You...
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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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Celestial Effects 22 Kane Industrial Drive Hudson, MA 01749 800-343-4492 sales@celestialeffects.com www.celestialeffects.com How long have you guys been musicians? How did you each get into it in the first place? Dom: Thanks to my dad, who loved music but never played an instrument, my formal musical education came from playing trumpet and coronet from 3rd grade through high school. In high school I played in the concert band, wind...
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John Snyder Electronic Audio Experiments Boston, MA http://www.electronicaudioexperiments.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? My first instrument was actually the violin, which I began playing at age six. I took private lessons for about twelve years, firmly establishing classical music as a big part of my musical DNA. I listened to all types of music growing up, but I only started...
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While not technically an “effect” pedal, today’s featured piece of gear is essential to certain setups (ours included), especially when running your rig in stereo. The Anole from Red Eft Electronics is both a passive signal splitter and a summing box, allowing for one of the most discrete passive signal routing options in today’s market. Here at Pedal of the Day, we use the Anole for all of our demo videos (except...
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Rob Compa Guitarist for Dopapod Wayne, NJ www.dopapod.com www.facebook.com/dopapod How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12, so if my math is correct that’s about 17 years, I think. My Dad always played guitar around the house, so that got me into it initially. Eventually, we played a little guitar in our music class in middle school, playing little riffs...
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Personally, I love volume pedals, and have had one on my board for over 10 years. While there have been some updates, features added and modifications galore as of late, volume pedals in general were always about the same size, shape and functioned as you’d think they would. The cats over at Tapestry Audio decided enough was enough, and set to building a revolutionary product that has forever altered the volume pedal landscape:...
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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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It seems like there has been a bit of a tremolo resurgence in the pedal world as of late, and we here at Pedal of the Day couldn’t be happier about it. Lots of innovative pieces of gear keep appearing out of the woodwork, pushing the effect to the limits, and offering a whole new array of tone-shaping, sound-crushing effects that can really send your guitar signal into the atmosphere and beyond. As expected, the fine folks from...
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What can you say about Greer Amps? Nick and the gang just keep putting out incredible pedal ofter pedal (among other things), consistently topping their previous endeavor somehow. Today’s pedal continues on where their famed Southland Overdrive left off, bumping up that great tone into the realm of a true high-gain overdrive/distortion pedal, but keeping with the same smoothness and crispiness that their pedals are all known...
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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 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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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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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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Sometimes, a pedal comes through the office here that is hard to describe, or put into one specific category, as it makes so many different sounds that it almost seems an injustice to limit its description to one lone genre of effects. Such is the case with the Liquid Ambience from Flux Effects. Labeled as an “Atmospheric Reverb”, this blue beauty is capable of a wide array of sonic textures and gorgeous soundscapes, thus...
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As it turns out, there are some very interesting guitar pedals being made in Russia. I’m not sure what it is – maybe the cold, maybe the vodka, but the inventions coming out of the former USSR are something to behold. A prime example is today’s pedal, the Reverber Reverb from Beard Custom. Not your everyday reverb, this thing boasts some powerful options and gorgeous tones, sure to bring a smile to many faces the...
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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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A number of pedals from our friends at Fuchs Audio Technology have been reviewed here at Pedal of the Day, and they are always a real audio treat. From delay to distortion and everything in between, Fuchs makes some great effects pedals, and they have also created some stunning high-end amplifiers as well (check them out HERE). Today’s pedal, the Crème de la Trem, is a tremolo that features a little different flavor from the...
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After recently reviewing a couple of new pedals from Backwoods Music, I came across an older version of one of their pedals for a price I couldn’t pass up, and was excited to see what it could do, after being thoroughly impressed by the Nightcap Reverb and Mockingbird Delay. I’m not a huge Boost guy in general, but I thought “what the hell”, and went for it anyway! Not knowing what to expect, I sat down and...
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Have you ever seen LOST? Were you on the edge of your seat, week after week, on Thursday nights for way too many years? If you didn’t watch this miraculous television phenomenon, well, you missed out, plain and simple. Plus, you won’t really understand the clever name, sweet graphics and subtle show inclusions that are present in today’s review pedal: the Dharma Drive from WychElm Effects. Graphically, the Dharma...
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Have you been searching for a delay that has a ton of sonic options, but a small pedalboard footprint? One that has a switchable boost section for you to power through those killer solos with? One that has optional Vibrato and Flanger modes, for thick and tasty delays across the board? One that has tap tempo AND switchable note subdivisions? Well, if you thought something this fantastic couldn’t possibly exist, you’ve...
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Don’t you just love to hear the sound of a good tape echo delay coming out of your amplifier, or stereo speakers, or a YouTube video? Of course you do, we all do! Problem is, to be able to get that authentic sound, you have to find AND be able to purchase a big, clunky machine, which may or may not even work properly, then take a short 6 week course on how to use it, switch tapes and keep up the general maintenance of the unit....
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Having recently reviewed their Mockingbird Delay, I was excited to see what Backwoods Music had in store for their newest reverb creation, the Nightcap. Featuring only 2 control knobs, the amount of ambience oozing out of this pedal is a bit astonishing, not to mention it has a few key options that all pedal users love and seek out. The first control knob lets the user select from FOUR different reverb modes: Slapback, for short...
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Some pedal companies (well, a lot of them, actually) are small, unique and hail from a different country. I always like to see what other countries and cultures are doing in the massive pedal world, to see what influences they are using, and how their ideas about pedal building differ from the ones here in the U.S.A. I’ve recently been in contact with Fuse Electronics, all the way from Chile in South America, and they sent a...
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Devi Ever FX has been one of the leading companies in effects pedal fuzz now for years, especially since our friends Dwarfcraft Devices bought them a few years ago. I have reviewed a number of their pedals here on POTD (Big Distortion Sound Machine, God Zilla, and I love each one differently every time they appear on my doorstep. One of my favorites is the Soda Meiser (it’s one of Nels Cline’s as well), and just when I...
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Vibe effects are some of the funnest, most intriguing and awe-inducing pedals in the world, especially when it comes to tremolos. They can be simple, one or two knob deals, or complex machines with expression jacks and toggle switches out the wazoo. The Trembulator from Gojira FX falls somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, with a relatively simple control layout and loads of great tones to be heard. Four basic knobs make up...
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I review a LOT of overdrive pedals. A LOT. While the majority of them sound awesome, once in a while I will plug one in and it blows me away right from the get-go, one that I immediately say to myself, “You have to find room for this on one of your pedalboards NOW.” One of these pedals is the Sucker Punch Distortion from Greer Amps, so let’s check it out! As soon as you unleash this thing onto your favorite amp of...
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If you haven’t heard it, or of it, yet, the Warped Vinyl Analog Vibrato/Chorus pedal is one of the hottest pieces of gear on the market right now, but Chase Bliss Audio didn’t stop there. They managed to revamp another of their flagship pedals, the Wombtone Analog Phaser, and somehow make it more incredible than it was previously. I got the chance to check both pedals out recently (click here for my review of the Warped...
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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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Sometimes, in this really rad hobby that I have, a pedal comes along that you wouldn’t suspect could have an affect on your sound and playing the way it does, and you’re hard-pressed to remember what your sound was like before it. The fact that today’s pedal can do more than just shape your tone or boost your signal is just the icing on the cake here, as we explore the Boxidizer Pre-Amp from Tronographic. The...
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Next to Delay, Overdrive is my favorite type of pedal, hands down. There are so many little additions, changes, options and tones that can come to fruition while building a drive pedal, and while I don’t know jack about how to do it, I love listening to how they sound once the work is complete. Having quite a collection of overdrives myself, it was really fun to test out the Zero To Sixty Overdrive from McCaffrey Audio, as they...
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Space-saving pedals are awesome, I mean it. The fact that pedal builders figured out a way to pack a ton of tone into such small enclosures boggles my mind, but then, that’s not too difficult to do in general. The majority of the ones I have seen or played have been drive, and why not? Leave the huge pedals to the modulation and delay departments, and keep the drive sections neat and tidy. A nice example of such a pedal is the...
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I really dig the fact that more and more delay pedals are coming out that include the option of some type of added modulation. Not that this is a super-new idea, mind you, but I like that it has caught on, and that there are some great options for pseudo-tape delays out there now, most for a reasonable price. If the old machines weren’t so huge and so expensive, we’d all have one, but alas, that is not the case. One of...
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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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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’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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Opening the box to the SwirlPool Tremolo/Vibrato from Amptweaker was immediately daunting. So many knobs and switches, 2 effects loops, a weird fat switch right in the middle: what had I gotten myself into? Turns out, looks can be deceiving…but not really in this case. This pedal has a learning curve, for sure, but it’s super fun to figure out, and even more rewarding when you get there. Right off the bat, I had to dig up...
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I dig it when I get to review a bunch of pedals from the same builder all at once, and the crew over at 6 Degrees FX is making some pedals that I am going to have a lot of fun testing out, the first of which is the Millie Fuzz. This pedal just looks cool, like some kind of race car from the mid-70’s, and it’s a big, thick piece of metal, with nice big knobs and easily accessible footswitches. Not to mention is sounds...
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