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I’m not entirely clear on how I first got into Basic Audio / John Lyons, but I did get the Scarab Deluxe very early on in my Fuzz ToneQuest - followed then by the Futureman and Gnarly in rather quick succession, and leading to where I now have 11 from this very extensive and flavourful range. Update! I’ve just added the Foxton to make it 12 now.

I think if you are a fuzz fan like myself then you really cannot ignore John Lyons’ Basic Audio Fuzz Pedals - there is no ...

Latest is not always greatest! Like many other pedal aficionados no doubt, I am quite particular about the function, aesthetics and format of each effect pedal I acquire. Many a pedal has been in production for numerous years and has seen all manner of iterations throughout its lifetime - not specifically special editions, just the core default pedal naturally changing and evolving over time - of course there are custom, limited and special editions too along the way but we’re focusing on...

When I started down this road many moons ago, my intentions were to keep things as simple as possible - but that particular rule book has long since been torn up and thrown under the bus. My rig has evolved pretty organically into a stereo setup - where I always have and most likely always will have a Solid-State amp on the Left Channel, and an All Tube variety on the right (along with 40 or so pedals in my pedal-chain).

My current incumbents are the Boss Katana KT100 and Carvin V3MC -...

I will start the preamble by saying I’m a touch disappointed I wasn’t in on the launch run of this pedal as I was one of the first to produce a detailed overview of the original RevivalDRIVE Custom version. It was all due to happen at one stage but possibly my day job got in the way of the main pre-launch briefing event. In any case I already voiced some opinions and concerns on the likely final format of the RevivalDRIVE Compact - way back on the 11th of February (soon after the ...

This post was sparked off by the recent launch of the Magnetic Effects Zig Zag Dual Stage Overdrive, my relatively recent acquisition of the Aleks K Production Maple Leaf Royal Drive and ThorpyFX Heavy Water Dual Boost pedals, and the hopefully fairly imminent arrival of my on-order Loophole Pedals Grey Matter Overdrive. They got me thinking about other pedals of this type which allow you to blend 2 separate circuits together essentially for more versatility and more complex and richer tones. ...

As with many pedal builders, the roots of Daniel’s Fjord Fuzz are firmly embedded in a particular music scene. In this instance Bergen on Norway’s West Coast - one of the 4 main corners of Norway’s creative arts - alongside Oslo, Stavanger and Tromsø, and famously home to a number of internationally celebrated artists including Annie, Erlend Øye / King’s of Convenience (sic) / Whitest Boy Alive, Datarock, Kygo, and Ralph Myerz / and the Jack Herren Band. ...

This article was inspired by the recent launch of the Caroline Guitar Co. Somersault Lo-fi Modulator which is really a sort of Chorus - which all these others are indeed near enough all too at least to a degree. In fact Josh Scott of JHS fame kind of beat me to the punch on this with his last Thursday’s YouTube video - which I share in Final Thoughts below. Yet I had already drawn up my own shortlist of 9 in advance of that and Josh and I only overlap on 4 - the Somersault obviously, ...

This Twisted Tale started almost a month and a half ago (in part) when Dan and Mick of That Pedal Show announced that they were working on a limited edition Rattler collaboration with leading Greek pedal builder JAM Pedals. I’m a huge fan of Rat pedals and had 13 already in the collection at that time - with the Rattler having been firmly on my wishlist for quite a while (couple of years or so) - I had long intended to get one - just not got around to it yet. With the TPS announcement it ...

With very little fanfare Electro-Harmonix has launched the 3rd of its Nano Multi-Effects Workstations - following the extremely well received Canyon Delay & Looper, and the Oceans 11 Reverb. I have featured the Canyon and Oceans several times on this site, while I’ve often bemoaned the lack of a full featured compact multi-modulation pedal.

I personally have always favoured multi-effects units at the tail end of my own pedal-chain - obviously the larger workstations. I ...

My first encounter with Aleks K Production was courtesy of a Brett Kingman demo of the Maple Leaf Royal Overdrive around a year and a half ago. I’m a fan of Brett’s and he’s one of my regular favourite resources for new pedal demos alongside many other guitar luminaries. Once I had checked out his 2 demos of the Maple Leaf, I next viewed the Red Scorpion 2 Mega Distortion, then the Hot Ice Sweet Distortion, Honey Moon 2 Sweet Overdrive and Sun Beam Magic Drive.

After ...