Jason Boland Oklahoma Jason Boland and the Stragglers http://www.thestragglers.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’m 41 now. I started banging around on a guitar around 7th grade, writing songs senior year, and playing out at 21. The band and I started in September of 1998 and released our first album in January of 2000. I figured if Ralph Macchio could cut heads with...
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Chuck Garvey Cincinnati, OH moe. www.moe.org Ha Ha The Moose @chukg on Twitter moechukg on Instagram How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing instruments when I was young, just hammering stuff out by ear on acoustic guitar and piano, but started lessons for Tenor saxophone when i was in 5th grade. Played sax for 8-9 years and also started to play more acoustic and electric guitar...
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Sean Williamson Milwaukee, WI, USA seanwilliamson.net twitter.com/thesituation Sam Llanas – samllanas.com Velocihamster – velocihamster.net Shonn Hinton & Shotgun – shonnsshotgun.com Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? David Gilmour has been a hero of mine since as long as I can remember, and was my inspiration to begin playing lap steel guitar, but like so many others my age, my playing was...
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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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Forrest Whitesides Function f(x) Elk Grove Village, IL www.function-fx.com We have five partners: Dave F., Brian, Dave B., Jerry, and Forrest. Three of us are just outside of Chicago, one guy is a breath away from Nashville, and one is in NJ about 50 miles west of NYC. (Forrest has provided the answers below) How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I first started playing guitar in 1989. Just...
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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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If you’d like to gain more exposure for your company, and help expand our site throughout the global music community, please contact us HERE. If you like the site and what we’re doing, and would also like to contribute, you can send a donation HERE. These companies and distributors have selflessly contributed gear for review to Pedal of the Day, making this adventure a reality. We can’t thank them enough for their...
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(8/8/14) Guitars: PRS Custom 24 SE w/ Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker (bridge) & SH-2N Jazz Humbucker (neck) “The Trooper” Fender Standard Telecaster w/ Seymour Duncan STL-1b Broadcaster Lead (bridge) & STR-1 Broadcaster Rhythm (neck) Alvarez AD60SC Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Amps: Ampeg GVT 15-H All-Tube Amp Head > Dr. Z 1×12 Cabinet (loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30) Orange Micro Terror 20W...
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Old, vintage, not really talked about effects pedals are usually some of the coolest, and today we’ve got one for you all that I had NEVER heard anyone talk about. A fellow drummer friend of mine had it laying around at his studio, and I took it home, plugged it in and was WOWED. This Morley MOD-DDB Deluxe Distortion looks like it has been through the ringer and back, and both the sound it produces and the beat-up aesthetic make...
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We recently had the chance (in collaboration with Sweetwater) to check out the first couple of pedals from PRS Guitars, the Horsemeat Transparent Overdrive and the Mary Cries Optical Compressor. Today, we’re taking a look at the third and last pedal in their current lineup, the Wind Through the Trees Analog Flanger. This modulation machine provides 2 flanger circuits in one pedal, broadening what you thought was possible with...
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I’ve been playing PRS Guitars in some form for about 20 years now, and they remain, hands-down, the favorite guitars I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. From my first early 2000s Santana SE all the way up to my gorgeous Special 22 Semi-Hollowbody, each one creates its own unique tone, and they have all played as smoothly as can be. Today, we’re venturing into another section of the PRS world – PEDALS, and...
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Not being an engineer, or particularly skilled in the ways of electronics creation, I have never built an effects pedal. I love how they sound and what they can do, but their innerworkings completely baffle me, and I’m not alone. For all of us who want to tinker and experiment a little, without having to do too much actual work, Josh and the JHS Pedals crew have created the NOTAKLÖN, an effects unit based on that certain...
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When musical gear companies collaborate on a project, it usually ends up being something pretty special. When THREE companies team up with one of the most iconic bands in history, something REALLY special is gonna happen. Today, we’re looking at an effects pedal from the Sweetwater Exclusive Beach Boys Limited Edition collection, which teams up JHS, Keeley Electronics and Benson Amps to celebrate the release of “The Beach...
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We’re continuing our “Asheville Week” here at Pedal of the Day today, with the first of three effects from a company focused on 100% analog sounds. The Asheville Music Tools AFG-1 Analog Dynamic Flanger is a Whooshless Resonant Comb Modulator, featuring a reissue Bucket Brigade Delay line to deliver classic Flanger and Chorus sounds with the most natural modulation possible. The synthesizer-inspired control voltage...
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Over the course of the next week, we have FIVE pedals that all come from right where we live: beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. Some new companies, some old, all local and all amazing. We’re starting this little run with a unit that isn’t an effect, but an extremely useful piece of gear for any FX Loop-equipped tube amplifier. The Master Volume Box Attenuator from Asheville Guitar Pedals allows you to crank your...
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After we got our hands on a GHOST Stereo Effects Processor from ENDORPHIN.ES last month, we couldn’t wait for their next creation to head our way. Well, we’ve got just that for you today: the GOLDEN MASTER Multiband Mastering Processor. Used at the end of your signal chain, it gives everything in your chain a polish, and edge, a sparkle, and with a ton of options and sounds, it’s a unit you didn’t know you...
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There are a lot of effects pedals out there shrouded in mystery – vintage units that have little public info about them, pedals only made for a short time, or reclusive builders who keep their secrets, well, secret. The HP-1 Harmonic Percolator is most definitely one of these pedals, a weird fuzzy distortion creation that creates an extremely unique sound. The effect we’re looking at today is a Harmonic Percolator Clone,...
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We’ve been powering effects pedals in our shop with help from Voodoo Lab for many, many years, as they’ve become a go-to staple in the power game. But what about the actual pedals themselves? Thankfully, they make those, too, and the first one we’re looking at today is the awesome, vintage-tinged Superfuzz. The rare Jordan Electronics Bosstone (circa 1968) is considered by many to be the ultimate vintage fuzz. The...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Guitar Tricks presents Delay Pedals Do’s and Don’ts By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. One of the best ways to add depth and space to your guitar signal is by using delay effects pedals. In fact they work great for any...
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After checking out the Berkeley 1973 a few weeks ago, we were excited to dig further into more new Legends of Fuzz pedals from JHS. Today, we’re taking a look at the Plugin 1973 California, which again features just two simple controls and a Mode switch. Don’t be fooled, however: there are a TON of sounds just waiting to be unleashed here… Grab a Plugin 1967 California at Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/3ej7ey...
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Where do we even start with a rare, out-of-production and highly sought-after pedal like this? The Goatkeeper 3 GK3 Tap Tremolo Sequencer has become a pedal of mystery and intrigue, not to mention hard to find and pretty expensive, too. Described as an analog tremolo sequencer, this big white whale is so much more, a giant tone machine just itching to be experimented with, and thanks to the genius minds at Lightfoot Labs, one that we...
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Flanging. Players love it and players hate it, but it has had an effect (pun intended) on music since its inception decades ago, and we think it’s a great tool to use for musical experimentation. Sometimes, however, flange units can get too crazy, almost to the point of unusability for some genres – that’s why we really dig today’s pedal, the M152 Micro Flanger from MXR and Dunlop Manufacturing. With two simple...
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A few weeks ago, we ventured into the Land of Bass when we reviewed the Gus-Plus Bass-Friendly Overdrive – today, we’re picking up that low-end instrument once again, this time in the genre of blistering fuzz and distortion. The Wren and Cuff Pickle Pie B Hella Fuzz strives to resolve many of the common quandaries bassists come across in their search for a fuzz that really works for their instrument and their playing...
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Distortion pedals are a finicky bunch – what sounds great to one player might sound like garbage to another. As with most pedals, personal preference always comes into play. But what if there was a distortion pedal that let you know it was focusing on high-gain tones, then gave you a slew of options to achieve your perfect sound? Well, the DSM & Humboldt Electronics Black Clouds High-Gain Distortion translates a clear...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) I Have Too Many Pedals, How To Pare Down By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. There comes a point where every guitar player realizes they have too many effects pedals! It’s true, it happens, but you don’t need to get rid of any, you just...
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The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. We recently had the chance to check out the FIVE newest pedals in their Original Collection, and today we’re heading back a bit to check out one of their earlier releases. The Fuzz-Tone FZ-M features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite vintage and modern fuzz tones to perfection…sounds pretty fun, right??...
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Today, we’re going all in, taking a look at not ONE, not TWO, but THREE new effect boxes from our friends at Sundance Electric. The Cassidy Drive + Boost, Clean Fuzz V2 and Harmonic Incubator each bring a different flavor of unique dirt sounds to your pedalboard, featuring wide-ranging sounds easily conjured up by simple control sections. Lots to explore, let’s see what they’re all about… The Cassidy Drive +...
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The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. We recently had the chance to check out the FIVE newest pedals in Maestro’s Original Collection, and today we’re heading back a bit to check out one of their earlier releases. The Ranger Overdrive features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite distortion and overdrive sounds...
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We’ve had a blast checking out the lineup of pedals from the newly-revamped Maestro brand, and have a BIG surprise for you all today. They’ve just released FIVE new units, and we have got them all in one place for you. Today, we’re looking at the Orbit Phaser, Mariner Tremolo, Titan Boost, Arcas Compressor Sustainer and Agena Envelope Filter – 5 effects building on the first 5 pedals they initially released...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Effects Pedals for the Guitarist Who Has It All By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. If you’re a guitarist who has moved beyond beginner guitar lessons, you might have all the standard guitar effects pedals you’d need. Now you may be...
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Well, it’s time once again for everyone’s favorite game, Try to Describe the Pedal. While there are many versions of the classic Harmonic Percolator circuit, it has always been an effect that hasn’t been the easiest to classify, as it contains elements of fuzz, filter, distortion and more, all produced in a very eclectic and specific way. Today’s pedal, the Emerald Ox FX Chimeric Percolator, asks the question...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) The History of the Space Echo Echo Echo… By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. History of the Space Echo Echo Echo… Before the electric guitar was invented, guitarists were limited on using reverb and delay in their music. The...
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The recent revival of the Maestro brand has brought a couple of great pedals our way. The Discoverer Delay and Comet Chorus were both a joy to explore, and we’ve got the third pedal in this impressive lineup for you today. The Invader Distortion features three knobs, one switch and a ton of tone to shape and sculpt your favorite distortion and overdrive sounds perfectly…let’s see what it’s all about! The...
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Julep /ˈjo͞oləp/ – a sweet flavoured drink made from a sugar syrup, sometimes containing alcohol or medication. Today’s pedal, the Julep Stereo Pan / Phase from Mile End Effects, is by concept a semblance of the infamous Ibanez FP-777 Flying Pan, but functionally and electronically is an expansion and improvement on the idea. From syrupy, frothy vibe effects to dizzying, choppy stutters, this optical stereo panning/tremolo...
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Jake Snider Tacoma, Washington Minus the Bear (minusthebear.com) Sharks Keep Moving Onalaska State Route 522 How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played guitar for something like 33 years. I was getting into metal and skate punk and wanted to play! Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? Too many to list! Descendents, Don Caballero, early Metallica, Jawbox,...
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With each new release, Chase Bliss defies our expectations and manages to one-up itself as one of the top effects pedal companies in the world. Their latest effort, Habit, is a delay and looper, but it’s also much, much more than that. Combining elements of sonic manipulation, tape delays, free-form composition and shrinking subdivisions, to name a few, this is the next step in the evolution of what a pedal is truly capable...
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There aren’t a ton of effects pedals coming out of a city I lived in for 8 years, Boise, Idaho, so I’m proud to represent and bring a hand made gem to the masses today. The Red Velvet Overdrive Distortion from Vanilla Sundae Pedals looks deceivingly simple at first glance, but this crimson beauty is hiding some real power under the hood. Part overdrive, part distortion and all balls-out dirt, this bright beauty tears...
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Delay…elay…lay…ay…y… We just can’t get enough of it, and today’s simple yet extremely impressive pedal shows just why that is. The Mythos Pedals Oracle Analog Echo pays homage to classic Japanese echo pedals, but is a unique circuit and not a direct clone of anything in particular. Don’t let the 3-knob layout fool you into thinking this is a regular old delay effect – ’cause...
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Richard Fortus St. Louis Guns N’ Roses https://www.4tus.com/ https://www.gunsnroses.com/ Past bands – Pale Divine, Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love, Thin Lizzy, Honky Toast, Rihanna How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Started on violin when I was 5 and studied the Suzuki method. Also started playing drums around the same time. Started on guitar around 12. My father was an accountant,...
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THE RAT. Few distortion pedals have as much instant recognizability, despite (usually) just bearing the colors Black & White. There are many iterations of this classic effect, but how could you possibly collect them all without breaking the bank? Well, as usual, JHS Pedals comes to the rescue, in the form of the PackRat Distortion. Taking different RAT circuits from the last 4 decades, from different manufacturers, this pedal...
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Admittedly, MIDI is not one of the things that comes easy to us. The way the messages work, the CCs and the PCs and the whatnot, have always been a bit confusing. Today’s pedal features a user-friendly interface, along with a straightforward phone app, to take all the guess work out of the complexity that is MIDI. The Hotone Audio Ampero Control MIDI Commander is a fully programmable Bluetooth MIDI controller, one that took only...
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We’ve got something special for you all today, a dual post featuring an effects pedal AND a guitar…from the same company. Sometimes, all you need is one good pedal with one good guitar (and an amp, of course), like the Dunable Guitars Eidolon Boost Delay Reverb and the Cyclops DE Series guitar. Both add key ingredients to a successful and tone-filled setup, each adding their own bits of flavor to compliment each other, and...
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We’ve had an influx of pedals sporting the classic Octave/Fuzz combination recently, such as the Red Witch Seraphina, Danelectro 3699, Sitek Electronics Pandora, Warm Audio Foxy Tone Box and Hochstrasser Hairy Eggplant. While this combination might seem fairly regular and obvious, today we’re going to look at a slight variation that doesn’t appear all that often. The Way Huge Purple Platypus Octidrive MkII combines...
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We love the weird and quirky when it comes to effects pedals around here, and we’ve got a wild one for you today (Happy Valentine’s Day, too, kids). The Way Huge Atreides Analog Weirding Module sounds about as eclectic as its name, making noises and tones that will shock and awe you instantly. Aimed directly at the heart of the sun, for all the experimenters out there, this is one you’ll want to keep playing again...
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The music of Dinosaur Jr is known throughout the world, and for guitar fanboys, so is lead singer and guitarist J Mascis. With one of the most recognizable fuzz tones in the business, he has become synonymous with the Big Muff family of pedals, both as a player and as a collector. Today’s pedal, the Garbage Face Fuzz Boost, is a collaboration between J and Matt from Wren and Cuff, featuring a uniquely Muff-inspired fuzz side, a...
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From the big box Cali76 Compressor/Limiter to the smaller Compact Cali76 to the Compact RevivalDRIVE, we’ve had the pleasure to check out some wonderful machines from Origin Effects. However, everything became completely surreal and eye-opening when we plugged today’s pedal, the MAGMA57 Amp Vibrato & Drive, into an amplifier here in the shop. Suddenly, our hearts and minds were awoken, our brain was flooded instantly...
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Enrico Preuß KMA Audio Machines Berlin, Germany www.kma-machines.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Well, I started playing guitar with the age of 18. A friend from school was playing a red Squier Strat and a Peavey Valveking 100W 2×12 combo and he showed me some Green Day, Ulver and Anathema riffs…oh, and he was using a Marshall jackhammer pedal (the first pedal I ever heard...
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Hey Sef – it’s been a couple years since we spoke, what have you been up to? Hi Mike! First of all, I’m happy and grateful to chat with you! Yes, it’s been a while. The last interview we did was in 2017! A lot of things happened since then! My bandmates and I went to Tangier, Morocco to work on Alex (Your Favorite Enemies’ frontman) solo project, we went all across Europe to perform his album “Windows in the Sky”, I started my...
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Preamps, in our mind, are an essential piece of gear for any really great-sounding rig. Usually placed fairly early in your signal chain, it drives the front end of your amp into blissful breakup territory….but what if it was placed at the END of your signal chain? Introducing the Night Owl Industries Monolith, a Post-Amp. This custom-voiced clean boost features very high headroom and a powerful tone control. The increased...
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My name is Luis Aznarez, I am from Barcelona, Spain and I have a pedal company called Lefa Pedals located in Seattle, Washington www.lefapedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing bass more than 25 years ago. A friend from school told me to join his band. My musical knowledge at that time was practically non-existent, I thought that a bass was a 4-string guitar that did...
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