I’ve obviously featured the Pico POG previously as the first in this particular series / range to be released - where we now have 9 fully formed candidates - 7 mini editions of EHX Classics - and 2 brand new formats - the Rerun Tape Delay, and Triboro Overdrive + Distortion + Fuzz pedal - all DSP types.

These are somewhat streamlined in feature sets mostly compared to their Nano / Compact equivalent forebears - while some here actually have a little more to them - including the Pitch Fork, ...

I loved the concept of the original Infinite Sample Sustainer - basically a significantly evolved version of that classic freeze / pad effect (a la EHX Freeze etc.) - which is essentially a short loop on continuous repeat. The Infinite Sample Sustainer has a smarter and fuller sounding algorithm which plays back the sample simultaneously forwards and reverse - to produce a wider and more enriched soundstage.

The 3 Main Controls are the same - Decay (Layer Sustain), Level (Output Level), ...

Another healthy selection - Modutility covering Modulation, Pitch and Utility pedal categories - for one of the strongest selection to date. Some of the pedals here are truly stellar, and I have a little over half here already in the collection.

I’m unlikely to ever get all the pedals featured here, but there are several already earmarked for acquisition in 2023 - with the Eventide H90 at the top of that list.

The ones I don’t yet own, or may never own even - include :

• Chase Bliss

The first thing that has to be said here is that this is not in any way one of the more typical Reverse Delays or Reverbs. This is rather a pure Reverse Playback pedal which samples your input and flips it around before output!

Controls - Mix : Dry > Wet, Volume, Clock Slider : Sample Rate and Length, Speed : Playback Speed.

Mix lets you introduce some of your Dry signal back into the mix for further signal balance, and Volume is of course the level of output.

The Variable Clock ...

TCE’s new Infinite Sample Sustainer essentially fades in layers of sustained samples over the top of each other. It catches snapshots of your input and allows you to set the Freeze / Sustain Level via Decay, as well as the Pace of Fade-ins. You can choose number of layers that get swapped around - from a single over-written one to two, three, and infinite layers. You also have 3 customisable TonePrints for even more nuanced effect, and a built in Reverb voicing - which you select via the Dry/...

This post was triggered by a number of readers asking me for my take on the recent Modular Synth Multi-FX phenomenon. Where I composed a fairly long-form answer for one Joe D - and promised to make that part of a more circumspect review (this one!) where I compared the different approaches of Canada’s Empress Effects and the more recently highly newsworthy Poly Effects of Australia.

I myself am very much your typical guitar pedal enthusiast - who deploys a rather insanely complex but highly...

Pedals are still my favourite guitar-related field - nothing yields the same degree of instant satisfaction as a smart pedal, and there were quite a number of intriguing ones on offer in this year’s crop. I started aiming for 20, then chopped and changed quite a bit - to end up with this current selection of 21. All of these hold significant interest for me and would be / are being considered for inclusion within my pedal chain and compact and mini collections - for which I currently have...

Throughout this year I’ve covered most of the typical pedal type categories - probably somewhere around 25-30 types overall, yet there are many more oddities that sit outside the scope of what’s regular or even marginally mainstream. Certain categories I haven’t covered yet include various utility pedals like ABY types - I may tackle those eventually, but certainly not this year. Yet I still like to spice things up every now and again with pedals that are often quite ...