Our first foray into the world of Matthews Effects is a good one – today, we’re checking out the Astronomer V2 Celestial Reverb. If the name itself doesn’t intrigue you, maybe you just don’t like reverb. If it does, you’re in for a real treat, as this thing launches you into outer space and back again in seconds flat. Made up of two channels, each assignable with one of three different algorithms,...
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Hello all! My name is Sam Ralbovsky and I play guitar in the Adirondack jam band The Hasbens (The band that has Bens. We have two) Instagram: @thehasbensband Facebook: The Hasbens How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I first picked up the guitar when I was in the fifth grade. The guitar, at that time, was an escape from the monotony of trudging through each Suzuki piano book I was assigned...
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Hi! My name is Knut Olai. I run Pladask Elektrisk, located in Bergen, Norway. www.pladaskelektrisk.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I grew up in the countryside listening to Tom Waits and Rammstein through my father who played classical guitar. I started learning the electrical guitar in primary school after discovering Nirvana. I’ve never been very active as a musician in bands other...
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Over the last couple of years, we’ve had a blast testing out and investigating the affordable lineup of effects coming from CNZ Audio. Delving into delays and echoes, overdrives, octaves and even a phaser, there was always one pedal that we had out eyes on specifically, and we’re bringing it to you today. The SMD-10 Mod Station traps a ton of different effects into one tiny enclosure, then unleashes them unto the world one...
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We’re not exactly sure why is happens or what the circumstances have to do with the outcome, but every time an amplifier company gets into the pedal game, chances are it’s going to be something pretty rad. Taking all of that electrical prowess and harnessing it into a smaller form is a tricky thing to pull off, or so one would think. Milkman Sound becomes the latest to attempt such a feat, and their solo flagship pedal is...
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A couple years back, a pedal came onto the market that was unlike any we had all seen before, the Dream Sequence Filter/Tremolo/Sampler/etc. from Hologram Electronics. After the success of that beauty, the Hologram crew came up with another astonishing effect, which we’re going to check out today. The Infinite Jets is a wildly ambient machine, with a ton of sustain and exquisite sampling abound, making for a creative and...
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Reverb pedals come in many shapes and sizes, from a simple one or two-knob configuration to the most outlandish, extravagant effects machines on the planet. Today, we’re going to look at one that harkens towards the simpler side, but that by no means means isn’t absolutely powerful as can be. The Moby Depth Reverb from Jonny Rock Gear utilizes Accutronics™ (Belton) digital reverb technology, resulting in a lush,...
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Let’s face it: we all know about Chase Bliss Audio and their contribution to the effects pedal world by now, right? From their classic Warped Vinyl and Wombtone flagship effects to the uber-popular Tonal Recall and Thermae delays, as well as the most recent M O O D Granular Looper and a bunch of others in their lineup, the innovation and advancement they’ve brought to the table is quite stellar. In keeping with this slew...
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The effects that have previously come from Dr. Scientist have always had a little bit of a learning curve, so we expected the same when today’s pedal arrived….but WOW! The Atmosphere Reverb is an absolute sonic mammoth, covering the bases of just about every single reverb mode, sound and option you could want, with a couple of other things thrown in for good measure. It even has a colorful display screen, MIDI and the...
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At first glance, the JUNE-60 Chorus pedal from TC Electronic appears to be a piece of gear send back in time from the future. In fact, it represents the PAST, as it is a faithful recreation of the lush chorus circuit found in the legendary Roland Juno-60 Synthesizer. Upon seeing pictures of this vintage machine, you can easily see where the inspiration and aesthetics for the JUNE-60 came from. Paying homage to a classic polyphonic...
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We’ve got another killer Guest Review today from Brian Johnston – you can find him and more demo videos he’s done on his YouTube channel, CoolGuitarGear – click now! Thanks once more, Brian! Victory Amps has won several awards through various guitar magazines/sites, and this preamp makes those reasons obvious, with its magnificent tone. The four valves running the Kraken V4 produces a rich tone and quality that I have not heard...
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Happy 4/20, kiddos! We’ve got a pedal today that seeks to build upon an already existing design, giving you two different sounding but equally incredible pedals to choose from (who are we kidding, you’ll probably buy both). The original Warped Vinyl Analog Vibrato Chorus from Chase Bliss Audio was a monster modulation pedal in its own right, as was the subsequent MkII version, which took things up a notch. Their new...
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Joey Lewis Buffalo, NY Funktional Flow www.funktionalflow.com facebook.com/FunktionalFlowMusic youtube.com/user/funktionalflowmusic/videos How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? From what I can remember, a man in our neighborhood growing up gave an acoustic guitar to my older brother Justin and he quickly lost interest in it. That’s when I swooped in and nabbed it lol. But it was ok...
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A couple years back, we reviewed and demoed one of the finest MIDI controllers we’ve come across, the MC6 from Morningstar FX. Fairly easy to use and full of possibility, we have continued to use it around the office ever since. We were justifiably excited, of course, when the announcement came about the ML5, a loop switching counterpart to the MC6, and one that looked just as simple to operate and efficient as well. If...
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It’s no secret: WE LOVE DELAY. Old, new, analog, digital – bring it on. There’s a special place in our instrumental hearts for a good tape echo, though, and the Tapex 2 from Mr. Black Pedals is a top-notch inspirational charged delay that echoes (see what we did there?) the echoes of some classic players, songs and tones. A Stereophonic Tape Echo, this silver machine glistens and drips with analog sound, with a ton...
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After the success of the DD-500 Delay pedal they put out late in 2015, Boss decided to ride the wave and issue two more similarily-shaped but vastly different effects machines, one of which we’ll take a look at today. The MD-500 focuses on modulation effects, and we have a review coming up for that one, but let’s check out the RV-500 right now, a mega-powerful reverb with more ambient options than you can shake a Fender...
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We’ve always admired the small footprint mentality of the mostly no-knob effects pedals coming from our friends at Henretta Engineering. Get the sound you want, set it, forget it, play your ass off. Perfect. However, we were excited to see that they had collaborated with the crew at Chicago Music Exchange to make a bigger pedal with some control knobs to play with, too. The Planetarium is a combination of Henretta’s Moody...
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Michael Weavers Christchurch, New Zealand Flux Effects www.fluxeffects.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar and drums when I was 15. We had a crappy nylon-string acoustic guitar with a cracked neck lying around which I began playing around with. I’d try to play U2 songs off the Joshua Tree album with the 3 chords I had learned. In my late teens I bought a...
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My name is Trevor Shelley de Brauw. I’m from Chicago, IL and I perform in: Pelican: http://pelicansong.com/ RLYR: https://www.facebook.com/RLYRband/ Chord: https://chordgroup.bandcamp.com/ And solo: https://trevordebrauw.bandcamp.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar since junior high school. At some point around age twelve or thirteen or so music became a complete...
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Chris Houser Dayton, Ohio The Werks thewerksmusic.com We’re trying something new today – our first face-to-face Interview! We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Chris when he was in Boise for Treefort a couple weeks ago, here’s what we talked about: [Pedal of the Day] Where are you guys from? [Chris Houser] I’m from Dayton, Ohio. Overall, we’re just from Ohio – half the band lives in Columbus,...
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Mike Beigel Mu-FX Encinitas, CA www.mu-fx.com [Mu-FX by Beigel Sound Lab is a division of Beigel Technology Corp.] facebook.com/BeigelSoundLab How long have you been a musician? How did you get into musical effects in the first place? My main musical training was classical music on clarinet, but I also played Saxophone for a local high school dance band (“The Crescendos”), and for some local rock & roll bands and guitar just for...
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The folks at Free The Tone are making some absolutely phenomenal effects pedals, and have been for some time. Today, we’re going to take a look at their latest offering, an effect genre that is as popular now as it’s ever been, and one that continues to gain traction moving forward. The Ambi Space AS-1R is a digital reverb that has a warm and analog-ish feel, while supporting digital interfacing and harnessing modern...
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Joel Cummins Venice Beach, CA Umphrey’s McGee umphreys.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing piano at the age of 8 when my parents told me I had to pick an instrument and practice 30 minutes a day. Umphrey’s McGee started in late 1997 and we haven’t looked back since. I started with sight reading, mainly focused on classical music, but also did some ragtime, blues...
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Sometimes, we at Pedal of the Day discover a pedal that is so fun, has so many options and expands our current version of musical enlightenment that it’s hard to play anything else for a while. Today’s featured pedal is exactly along those lines: genre-bending, hard-to-define and definitely in-your-face, the BitQuest Multi-Effect is a site to behold, and a pleasure to hear. From our neighbors to the north, Dr. Scientist,...
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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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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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The Memory Man. In all its various forms and models, it has always been regarded as one of the, if not the very, best delay ever produced. With famous guitarists such as The Edge of U2 and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead employing it in their rigs for years, this pedal is no slouch in the echo department, and although some may be more coveted than others, they all sound pretty amazing. Today, we’re going to focus on the Memory...
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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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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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Andy Green Andy Green Pedals We are located in Hollywood Florida about a mile from the beach. www.andygreenpedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I grew up in New York City around all the vintage guitar stores and legendary shops on 48th St. Ken Parker had his shop there and Mike Mathews had Electro Harmonics in the 70’s right there. I got a job in a vintage shop in 1981 and have been...
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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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The highly-successful 9 Series of effects pedal from Ibanez demonstrated how innovative and adventurous the company was in the early 80’s, and this series produced some of the most recognizable and most used pedals in history, such as the TS9 Tube Screamer, the AF9 Auto Filter and the incredible AD9 Analog Delay. Another of my favorites from this series is the FL9 Flanger, the pedal we’ll be checking out in this review....
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I’m a fan of chorus effects….there, I said it. Seems a lot of players are either on board with chorus or think it’s the worst thing to happen to guitar since C.C. DeVille (I love Poison, that was just the first name that popped into my head). If there was a magical pedal that somehow housed an incredible analog chorus, as well as a kick-ass flanger (another of my favorites), I just might have to buy it. So I...
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The EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master was the first pedal I ever bought, and it is still on my board today. It is a DSP based reverb/delay combo with decent analog voicing. On the left are reverb and mix knobs, allowing you to dial in how much decay you want, and how the pedal is blended with your dry signal. I tend to lean toward ambient soundscapes, so this reverb is almost always on, and always set to be very prominent. The mix...
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Normally I am not a great seeker of weird sounds or most modulation effects for that matter, I am a guitar, amp and distortion pedal kind of guy. And the only reason this pedal ended up in my collection is the fact the pedal I ordered was out of stock and I took this one for a substitute. And how did I end up picking the Vahlbruch Chorus? I saw a Youtube review for it, of course, and was blown away by how lovely it sounded for a...
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The Quantum Time Modulator from our friends at Pigtronix is an extremely fun, fairly easy-to-use modulation pedal, with lots of possibilities and sonic exploration to be had. Not your typical chorus pedal, this guy doubles as a sort of Uni-Vibe as well, all with a simple, easily accessible toggle switch. The controls are pretty straightforward, but the ranges in both the Chorus and Vibrato modes are BIG, and will put a smile on your...
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The Flint Tremolo / Reverb is an incredible dual pedal from Strymon. Used separately or in conjunction, both the Tremolo side and the Reverb side have many different functions and tonal possibilities, all running through a supremely-built and gorgeous looking enclosure, which also happens to be true bypass. Along with the usual Speed and Intensity control knobs, the Tremolo side features a 3-way switch where the user can select from 3...
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