The RhPf Electronics’ Nerd Lab Tone Maps is an incredible pedal resource which I already use a lot - and which plots, maps and compares the output profiles of a large variety of devices - where you can compare up to 5 at a time - and even [Stack] them together to view Combined Output Profiles.

While I mostly have the resource in [Compare] Mode - where you contrast the output profiles of up to 5 different devices in the same chart - where each device gets its own distinct coloured line with ...

This article is built on and updated from the 2022 original - with further additions and categories, and a different current--appropriate covershot

The 5 x 5 visual above is not necessarily definitive, but surely largely representative of the best demoers active today - spiralling out from the 3 OG Elder Statesmen / Godfathers of Demos in the centre (Andy, Brett and Mike) and covering 25 of my own favourite demoers. The selection features most of the big names along with many of my own personal ...

An incredibly ambitious project which took place  between July 2022 and Dec 2023 - right on the cusp of the Covid Lockdown - an exercise of such depth, complexity, and magnitude - that it is unlikely to ever be repeated - but if it is - then Cohen Hartman will likely be the one to pull it all together again!

This was a coordinated project covering more than 160 pedals across more than 70 brands - so a lot of moving parts!

Cohen is one of the most gifted pedal demoers out there - so many...

So I’ve been seeing Pasta Pedals fairly regularly in my Instagram feed - for a few months now I think, and starting with the Green Line Delay I believe - I think that’s the first one I encountered.

I’m a sucker for a well-place LED or two, and Charles Costa here has a real knack for a striking artwork punctuated by precision-placed LEDs. It’s a pet peeve of mine if there is a creature with eyes as part of the visual - and those eyes are then not used for the actual LEDs. For these following...

3 elements inform this particular curated selection of pedals. Firstly these are all distinctive and striking designs of pedals - and some of these are absolutely at the top of that form. Also these all have unique proprietary designs of knobs exclusive to those brands, and finally all 9 of these are from my own Pedals Reference Collection!

Ever since I published my ’101 Pedal Knobs’ article back in 2019 (pictured below) I have been championing the creation of unique knobs for each brand - ...

So we’re finally at 15,000 followers on Instagram - it’s been a relatively slow slog from 10,000 - 15,000 where 5,000 to 10,000 happened fairly rapidly - it’s kind of a quick slow, quick quick slow dance. This is all steady organic growth - and we’re only really at the starting gate of my ambitions - I aim to go far!

To celebrate 15,000 followers I thought it best to touch on all the Instagram Posts that have amassed more than 1,000 likes - the top 10 is very impressive! Here in descending order...

The most popular post on this blog to date is ’A Brief Hobbyist Primer on Clipping Diodes’ which has to date been read 117,610  times! It was always on the cards to follow up that article with deep-dives into Capacitors and Resistors too. I wanted to be even more encompassing than before - and go into more detail - and it was a matter of finding the best possible partner and collaborator for that task.

And no one has a deeper exotic-filled parts bucket than my good friend Joe Halliday at Hello ...

So we have a new kid on the block in the guise of Rock N Roll Relics - a California Outfit - who were hitherto known for just their Relic’d Guitars. They have just released a couple of equally beaten-up and weathered pedals - supposedly using NOS components on the inside - while visibly scratched and rusty even on the exterior.

Oddly the guitar sector is one of the very few where beaten and battered products retain a high value cachet. I do believe there is a difference between guitars and ...

It’s been a while since I did one of these colour roundups - per the below visual - all the way back in 2020 in fact. I’ve done quite a few of these over the years and there’s a whole Section dedicated to ’Colours’ on the ’Highlights’ Tab of this site.

Every time I do this exercise I try to be more thorough and expansive. Last time I identified 12 primaries, while this time around we have no less than 26 pedals across 20 categories - and I hint at several more - which means there are 6 ...