Guitar Pedal X News

I’m very proud of this project - which had some influence from yours truly, while new friend Attila of Pause & Effects did all the heavy lifting.

This is quite the ramp-up - as the original 33 Boost was just a simple single knob boost - and now we have 3 knobs per channel, 7 knobs in total, 2 footswitches, and 2 side slider-switches as part of the Amp Channel Controls.

So here we have the 5th of the larger Tubesteader Double Twin Triode Dual-Channel Preamps, following on from the Beekeeper, Sunkeeper, Magnezium, and Gainlord, and the 3 Compact Single Twin Triode Preamps - Eggnog, Lightkeeper, and Roy.

I’m a huge fan of Germanium Diode Clipping - and indeed, already have such on my board courtesy of the ThorpyFX Heavy Water - it add harmonics and texture to everything and makes is sound richer and more luxurious.

The original standard / stock Tone Oven had the Bass Cut and Comp controls as internal dip-switches.

For me - Fender CEO Bud Cole and Ed Sheeran have been on a similar journey - both entirely on the wrong side of history - and still carrying on digging themselves a deeper hole!

The original MXR flanger/doubler Rack Unit which emerged in 1976 - used a Reticon SAD1024 BBD chip for the Flanger effect, and a RD5101 chip (4096 Stages) for the Doubler.

This has been a long time coming, and dates all the way back to the end of May, when I very first received my V7 unit.

One of the best sounding and most flavourful Wah Pedals since 2008 - gets further improved, with some really neat touches.

Boss delivers a really fantastic Multi-FX Pedal here - which has a super intuitive and visually appealing interface - and which is a joy to deploy.

The Crosstown Fuzz is a Hybrid Fuzz Face - utilising one Germanium, and one Silicon Transistor.

This is quite a notable period for me as I picked up 3 Germanium Devices within a month, while one of those probably won’t land until next month.

Mad Professor has just announced preorders for its new Handwired Germanium Fuzz - while it doesn’t really provide too many details beyond the below statement, the nature of the control topology, and a picture of the insides from a jaunty angle!

When the Big Time was first announced at the end of April, I wasn’t sure it was for me.

One of EHX’s best loved pedals is back!

I have a couple of CV7005 Transistor Fuzz Faces to my name already - including my first one from Expresso FX.

A really cool amp-like Overdrive which ramps up 9V DC [-] input voltage to circa 280V internally.

RockBoard may have fallen a little under the radar for some of late - where it’s actually a killer supplier of superbly practical and capable Pedalboards in 16 core variations.

So here we have the further evolved Block 3 Edition of the ThorpyFX ER-2 Uni-Vibe.

A killer magnificently saturating Extreme Gain Distoriton - which does the Grinding Metal thing exceptionally well - with almost limitless saturation and sustain.

This article was composed and assembled in collaboration with good friend Vitalii Bobrov of Drunk Beaver Pedals - a fantastic engineer, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of effects pedal components - which you can see in all his smart circuit builds.

This is officially the 10th in Walrus Audio’s Fundamental Series, while I’m not clear on whether all 10 are still fully available.

So EarthQuaker has significantly evolved its mini Easy Listening ’65 Deluxe Voiced Headphone Amp.

Former Power Supply Champion Cioks used to have the industry leading Max 660mA per Isolated Outlet, and Jackson Audio has found a way to deliver more than 3 times that amount of current to each Isolated Outlet.

I’m a huge fan of SGFX Compact Fuzzes - where I already have 10 to my name.

This will possibly appease those who aren’t overly fond of the curves on the latest Compact Soloist Overdrive.

I apologise for being a little out of sorts and off-balance these last few days, I would hope it was understandable under the circumstances.

A potent take on the dual-gain-stage Boss MT-2 Metal Zone architecture — this MD-1 Metal Mind pedal overhauls that vintage topology with modern low-noise op-amps, robust power supply filtering, true-bypass switching, and an active three-band EQ with fixed…

I have to start things off by saying that I’m not currently in the market for one of these devices - as I typically favour a more mostly analog stomp box approach - featuring an assortment of pedals rather than a single substantial all-in-one-unit.

This article was engendered by the recent arrival of my very own Keeley Electronics Tube Drive - which becomes my 13th Tube Preamp / Overdrive to date.

The Kupiansk Sub Fuzz is an entirely custom design, a Vitalii original!

It’s been a while since I did my Key Power Amp Tubes Overview - back in April of 2024.

There’s a lot going on with this pedal - with multiple functions on each control - whether Knob, Toggle-switch or Footswitch.

The original limited 100 Run Sylvania 12AT7WA Edition (as below) caught a lot of us by surprise - I dare say even some of the dealers and distributors.

Boss and Strymon have for a long time included a JFET Input Stage to enhance the output of their digital pedals.

All of us who attended Doug Tolley’s 4th Witney Pedal Party event last November witnessed the final prototype of the then code-named ’Mu-Filter’ - which has mow picked up the ’Moof’ moniker!