I will be doing the rounds at The Guitar Show this coming Saturday - there are around 40 or so Guitar Pedal related vendors. Feel free to stop by and say hi if you spot me at the show. I already have a few meet-ups set up for the day. Drop me a line if you wish to be in on the circuit.
Wren and Cuff’s forthcoming Muff-Style Fuzz features no less than 20 tone-sculpting dip-switches alongside dual pairs of Germanium and Silicon Transistors - which can be switched. There are supposedly around a million combinations possible here! And I as an avowed pedal-tweaker and fuzz fan definitely have this one under consideration.
Walrus Audio launches its first compact format phaser as far as I’m aware - a really stripped down version of its Dual Phase Vanguard - with a choice of 4 or 6 stages, Rate, Width, Feedback and Dry/Phase/Vibrato controls. Fully analog with some great vintage swirly tones - I would have really liked a second tap-tempo footswitch here - like on the Arp-87!
After being first introduced as a prototype at NAMM 2017 the Foxpedal Quiver Harmonic Tremolo has spent some significant time in development - with a particular emphasis on getting the Midi connectivity correct. You get tap-tempo, 5 sub-divisions, 5 waveforms, and 10 onboard presets - looking to ship this Spring.
Alexander updates probably their most popular delay pedal to-date - the Radical Delay. You get 6 modes all with a significant range of signal degradation / lo-fi-ness. The six modes are Mod (Modulated), Bend (Pitch-shifted), Dual (Dual-tap delay lines), Rev (Reverse/Tape stop), Arp (Chiptune arpeggiation), and Dyna (Sensitive Dynamic delay) - and all the usual NEO features.
Eventide’s first new pedal in a very long time is the pedal version of its EuroDDL Eurorack Delay. You get a dual footswitch medium enclosure pedal with one multi-assignable, 6 control dials and lots of options - including 5 onboard presets. Looks like a very capable proposition, albeit its mono output limits its usefulness in my own stereo rig.
Greer’s new super hi-fidelity Soma ’63 is supposedly based on a Fender Brownface Princeton Combo with 10" speaker. The XFR denomination denotes a steel core audio transformer, and the pedal features fully replicated circuit including phase inverter and power section. Sounds like a smaller scale version of what Origin Effects did with the RevivalDrive.
Most beloved of Luthiers and Guitar Techs - Peterson has long been the tuner of choice for Guitar Setups and Intonation. This latest pedal takes all that stroboscopic tuning know-how and melds it with a very modern form factor - should compete nicely with pedal leaders Boss, TC Electronic and Sonic Research.
The New Tsakalis Fully Analog Drive pedal derives its name from its six modes - BS Boost, OD1 Smooth Overdrive, OD2 Creamy Overdrive, DS1 Natural Amp Distortion, DS2 Amp Distortion with Bite and OD1+DS2. Its new cap-less circuitry delivers a more open and dynamic tone compared to most - colour me intrigued!
Frenchman Olivier Armbruster really has a way with full-featured pedals - usually a pedalboard’s worth in a single over-sized enclosure. All his pedals are maxed-out masterpieces of musical circuit-bending, and his multi-voice take on the Schumann PLL looks like another winner. I personally am waiting for him to create something a touch more compact!
by Stefan Karlsson
