ao link
Amps
Boost and Overdrive
Delay
Distortion
Fuzz
Guitars
Modulation
Pitch
Reverb
Utility
All
All

End of Year Pedal Chain Update - Class of 2025

Ambient EffectsAnalog DelayBeat MachineBecos FXBest in ClassBig Muff Style FuzzBitcrushing and Lo-FiBlender and MixerBlue ColanderBlue FX DevicesBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossBrelliottBrown Sound DistortionButterfly EffectsChase Bliss AudioColortone PedalsCompressorCoriolis EffectsCornerstone Music GearCosmic Loop FXCrazy Tube CircuitsCryBabyDelayDigital DelayDigital ReverbDistortionDown-TunerDriveDrive WorkstationDrunk BeaverDryBell EffectsDual-DriveEarthQuaker DevicesEchoverbElectro-HarmonixExpressionFlangerFlatley Guitar PedalsFortin AmpsFuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionGermanium FuzzGlitchGranular DelayGreat Eastern FX Co.Hangman fxHarmonizerIK MultimediaIntensive Care AudioJim DunlopLo-Fi DelayMarshall Style DistortionMetal DistortionModulated FuzzModulationModulation WorkstationMulti-DriveMulti-FXMulti-GainOctave FuzzOctaverOpAmp FuzzOverdrivePastFXPedal ChainPitchPitch-ShiftingPlate ReverbPlutoneium EngineeringPoly EffectsPolyendRack Style ReverbRat Style FuzzRedbeard EffectsReverbReverb WorkstationRotary SpeakerShimmer ReverbSilicon FuzzSinvertekSolar PedalsSpaceman EffectsSpacey ReverbTeaching MachinesThorpyFXTone Bender Style FuzzTubesteaderTweed Style OverdriveUtilityWah and Fixed WahWampler+-
2025-December-Class-Of-GPX-Pedal-Chain-700.jpg

New Pedals in the Class of 2025 Pedal-Chain Snapshot = 41

 

[OCTOBER]  = 9

[NOVEMBER] = 6

[MARCH] = 5

[SEPTEMBER] = 5

[AUGUST] = 4

[JANUARY] = 3

[FEBRUARY]  = 3

[APRIL] = 2

[JUNE] = 2

[MAY] = 1

[JULY] = 1

 

[A-Z by Brand]

  1. Becos FX CompIQ Pro Yuna Soft Knee Blackmer VCA Studio Style Compressor [SEPTEMBER]
  2. Blue Colander Grimrobe Dual Cascaded Super Rat [OCTOBER]
  3. Blue FX Devices Fuzz Fields Ultimate Modulated Fuzz [SEPTEMBER]
  4. Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble Leslie / Rotary Speaker
...
Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

2025 ThorpyFX Capsule Collection - Full Stack - 31 Strong!

Best of BrandsBig Muff Style FuzzBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBufferCompressorDistortionDriveEQFlangerFuzzFuzz Face Style FuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionGermanium FuzzKlone and Transparent OverdriveMarshall Style DistortionModulationOpAmp FuzzOscillating FuzzOverdrivePreAmpRat Style FuzzSilicon FuzzSuper-Fuzz StyleThorpyFXTimmyTone Bender Style FuzzTremoloTube OverdriveTweed Style OverdriveUni-Vibe and VibeUtilityVox Style Distortion+-
2025-GPX-ThorpyFX-Capsule-700.jpg

My close association with Thorpy started back in late September of 2018 - at the now defunct Olympia UK Guitar Show. He was the first pedal maker I reached out to, and the first I connected with.

Since then ThorpyFX Pedals have become my 3rd most populous selection after Boss and Drunk Beaver. Those 3 brands alone contribute over 200 pedals to my reference collection!

 

The fact that I’m now at 31 ThorpyFX Pedals is a major milestone - and features every mainline MKII pedal Thorpy has made. ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

13 of the Best Extended Range Marshall Pedals with Plexi + JCM800 Coverage

Blues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBrown Sound DistortionCrazy Tube CircuitsDistortionDriveDryBell EffectsDSM & HumboldtDual-DriveEmpress EffectsFlattley Guitar PedalsFormula BFortin AmpsFrost Giant ElectronicsFuzzJackson AudioMarshall Style DistortionMulti-DriveOverdriveSinvertekThorpyFXTsakalis Audio WorksTubesteader+-
2025-GPX-Exended-Marshall-Plexi-JCM800-700.jpg

This feature has been a long time coming. I have somewhere around 60 to 70 Marshall-style Pedals in my collection - while this selection mostly features Dual-Channel or Drive + Boost Pedals - which cover you both for Marshall Plexi and JCM800 flavours - actual and ballpark.

 

I landed 4 of these this year - the Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Flattley Outlaw, Fortin Kali, and Tubesteader Gainlord.

 

We have 4 distinct types of pedals here across 4 format sizes (Compact / Mid-Horizontal / ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

CopperSound shrink their Foxcatcher BluesBreaker take - now in sleeker V2 Compact Edition

Blues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveCoppersoundOverdrive+-
2025-GPX-CopperSound-Foxcatcher-V2-700.jpg

CopperSound has a new version of hits FoxCatcher BluesBreaker type - now in V2 Compact Edition - minus the Boost from the V1 edition.

 

There are significant changes to the control topology - where we have lost the Nature control from the V1 - but gain a new 3-way Gain Switch, and 3-way Shape / Bass control, Those actually give you a life more overall granularity - where the Gain Switch - kind of replaces the Boost from the original.

 

I of course much prefer compact formats - but the jury’...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

Warm Audio takes on the BluesBreaker and King of Tone with its expanded features Throne of Tone Dual Channel Overdrive

Blues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveDriveDual-DriveOverdriveWarm Audio+-
2025-GPX-Warm-Audio-Throne-of-Tones-700.jpg

Another smarty rolled out Warm Audio Device - albeit a tiny bit clunky for me - while you can’t dispute its exceptional feature set. The 4 knobs per channel are the KOT controls - where typically the Presence is internal to that pedal. While on my JHS 4-Star Modded Edition - the Presence Trimmers have been externalised as knobs, as have the voicing switches - allowing you to change between Boost, Overdrive and Distortion for each channel.

 

So my version of KOT has the Presence Knobs and Main...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

2025 August Pedal-Chain Update - Episode VIII - The Double Down Paired Edition

Ambient EffectsBlind Panic DevicesBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossCatastro FXChorus and VibratoColortone PedalsCornerstone Music GearDelayDigital DelayDigital ReverbDistortionDrunk BeaverEarthQuaker DevicesFjord FuzzFlangerFuzzFuzz Face Style FuzzFuzz ImpGermanium FuzzHarmonic OverdriveHarmonic PercolatorKlone and Transparent OverdriveMetal DistortionModulationModulation WorkstationMulti-FXOctaverOddball FuzzOscillating FuzzOverdrivePedal ChainPhaserPitch-ShiftingPreAmpRack Style ReverbReverbRhPf ElectronicsShimmer ReverbSilicon FuzzSpaceman EffectsSpacey ReverbSwellThorpyFXTimmyTone Bender Style FuzzTremoloUni-Vibe and VibeWalrus Audio+-
2025-August-GPX-Pedal-Chain-V2-700.jpg

August turned out a little bit different than expected. Not so many releases - as expected - but really busy regardless - with a number of Marquee Events and Articles throughout the month. With the king of the crop being the Extended Capacitor Primer - to which I’ve just added a further section on Capacitor Lifespan. Obviously I hit 15,000 followers on Instagram - which is a significant achievement - a really killer month all-round with some big articles - meaning I’m a little bit burned out ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

Mad Professor re-launches its Handwired Series - with the Deep Blue Delay, Royal Blue Overdrive, and Sweet Honey Overdrive

Blues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveDelayDigital DelayMad Professor EffectsOverdrive+-
2025-GPX-Mad-Professor-Hand-Wired-700.jpg

It’s great news that Mad Professor’s high quality Handwired Series is back in circulation with 3 of its best loved pedals. I’m not sure any of these are specifically for me - as I already have the Anniversary version of the Royal Blue, and I prefer the more expansive shaping of the Deluxe format of Sweet Honey Overdrive. So I’m very happy to see these back - while the one Handwired pedal that’s high on my priority list - the Sky Blue Overdrive - has yet to be re-issued!

 

The re-issued ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

ThorpyFX releases lower gain Peace2Keeper Overdrive with Germanium Diodes onboard for a grittier more harmonic sound - which gets beautifully overblown when cranked!

Blues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveHarmonic OverdriveKlone and Transparent OverdriveOverdriveThorpyFXTimmy+-
2025-GPX-ThorpyFX-Peace-2-Keeper-700.jpg

Thorpy has always wanted to make a lower gain Germanium edged variant of his fantastic all-rounder Peacekeeper Overdrive - which is here rendered in a slightly more lower gain, lower range Peace2Keeper edition - but which benefits from the extraordinary clipping prowess of those dual Germanium OA90 Diodes. The standard version of this circuit I believe uses 1N4148 Silicon Diodes or similar - which already sound fantastic in that circuit - but where the output profile is now further elevated by ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

MXR Pedals Capsule Collection and Future Intended Targets

Best of BrandsBlender and MixerBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveChorus and VibratoDelayDigital DelayDumble Style OverdriveEchoverbFuzz Face Style FuzzGated and Velcro FuzzGermanium FuzzGuitar Synth and SequencerHarmonic OverdriveKlone and Transparent OverdriveModulationMXROCD Style OverdriveOctave FuzzOddball ModulationOverdrivePhaserSilicon FuzzTimmyTone Bender Style FuzzUni-Vibe and Vibe+-
2025-GPX-MXR-Capsule-Collectionr-V2-700.jpg

It’s about time I did a rundown on my MXR Pedals - where this episode was mostly triggered by the arrival of the Bass Synth - where I landed one of the first examples of those to land in the UK, landed with me on July 4th. I was doing some brand research on Reverb.com and I serendipitously came across the one pedal that had made it to Coda Music. It was already in someone’s cart - but evidently I completed the transaction quicker and it was mine.

 

I’ve adde 6 MXR’s to the collection this ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions

Mad Professor Capsule Collection and Future Intended Targets

Best of BrandsBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveChorus and VibratoDigital DelayDigital ReverbDistortionDriveDumble Style OverdriveFlangerFuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionHarmonic OverdriveKlone and Transparent OverdriveMad Professor EffectsModulationMulti-FXOverdrivePreAmpSilicon FuzzTimmyTubescreamer Style OverdriveTweed Style Overdrive+-
2025-GPX-11-Best-Mad-Professor-Gain-Pedals-700.jpg

It seems a long while since I first met the new owners of Mad Professor the Iconic Finnish Pedal Brands - Jussa and Mikko - at the London Synth and Pedal Expo back in March - where they announced their new MK2 Simble. They were sort of queuing up the pre-sales for that pedal - which started a week or two later, but it took quite the while for it to be officially launched and in stock.

 

I’ve been a big fan of Mad Professor pretty much from the start - especially as it’s somewhat connected to ...

Stefan KarlssonPopularCommentsRSS FeedContent Subscriptions
News Navigation






















































Cyril Demaegd
2025 Best New Modulation, Pitch, Utility and Multi-FX Pedals of the Year
"The bass synth really catched my eye this year. I "...
4 days ago
Stefan Karlsson
2025 Best New Fuzz Pedals of the Year
"This year is the best for Fuzz to date for me - "...
4 days ago
Paul Smith
2025 Best New Fuzz Pedals of the Year
"2023 was a great year for fuzz. Do you think this "...
4 days ago
Jared Brooks
Also Engineered by Thorpy!
"My Manson SMBF finally arrived (they oversold the "...
5 days ago
Waiting