Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
2026 Birmingham Guitar Show Highlights
Hearty congratulations to showrunner Jason Hunt for the most successful show day to date - with 3,000 visitors through the doors on the Saturday alone! The queue was already massive and nearly the whole length of the building when I arrived at 09:30.
It’s always good to attend on the first day - especially if you want to be sure of grabbing the best looking of the new releases - and particularly the one-offs on the Hello Sailor Effects stand!
This was another great show for me - with effortless on-time travel up and back - and a great vibe at the show once more.
I picked up 7 pedals on the day - which you can read about below!
Several industry giants were in attendance - including Dagan Wilkin (ex PMT, and now with Andertons), Henning Pauli / HP42, Kelan Hughes / KDH, and even Markus Reeves. I witnessed Dagan arriving at the venue and going straight in, and Kelan was in the queue a little bit back from me. I encountered Henning during the show - but he was recording a bit at the time - and there wasn’t really the opportunity to interject. I never spotted Markus - whom Joe Branton went off to hunt down at one stage.
I was hoping to meet my good friend Adam from Noise Maker Market - I had been led to believe he would be in attendance - but he chose the wrong day and went on the Sunday instead supposedly.
As always there were stands I didn’t quite get around to - some I was intending to visit - but then just inadvertently overlooked them later in the day - inducing Tom Cundall hosting my good friends DryBell.
I had lots of great chats at the show - everyone was friendly and I feel everyone enjoyed the show. I checked out the Main hall and the Acoustic Room - but did not make it upstairs to the Bass hall. There was plenty on the ground floor to keep me occupied for the whole day!
I had lunch with Johnny Elliott (Brelliott) at Brew Twenty Three next door - and got my favourite circular table once more - the Brew Club is a fantastic sandwich - something I always look forward to - alongside those frothy freshly squeezed orange juices!
My highlights here include all the most notable moments - starting with the various pedal acquisitions. I talked to quite a few more people at the show - but often forgot or was interrupted before I could grab a photo.
Overall though I really enjoyed it! I think I’ve fully got the measure of the show now - and it’s all very familiar now and a real delight actually!
The only thing I would note is that there are a lot of distributors at the show - with Audio Distribution Group, Face MI, and First Line Distribution carrying a big chunk of the show brands. I often get excited to see some of my favourite brands in attendance - while apart from the proper boutique brands - it’s actually mostly distributors and dealers plus some of the larger brands like BOSS!
Fredric Effects - Tim
Tim is my cover star for this year's show - I felt it was his turn! I picked up 2 new pedals from him - the Petite Super Unpleasant Companion - which I was expecting, and also the new edition of the Verzerer East German Distortion which I wasn't aware of previously. Both are in dark grey livery, and both look superb with really smart features.
Tim has just secured a great new enclosure maker who can provide the quality he needs. It's taken him while to find someone fully reliably - and now that's he's found the right partner - expect a load of new pedals to come through the ranks!
As always - we will need to wait for demos to materialises - and I will have my Reviews out - as soon as those demos materialise.
Hello Sailor Effects - Glyn and Joe
I picked up no less than 4 pedals from Joe - my modified Keeley I Get Around - with its companion Reverb / Control pedal. A Leia Abbey Road Fuzz + Range Master - which for me was the prettiest pedal on the HSE stand for the show. There were around half a dozen that I really liked the look of - and I feel I picked out the best one!.
I also picked up a unique Dual Pot RangeMaster with rare Orange Cap Mullard OC45 Transistor Onboard.
Features and reviews coming up for each of those!
Joe had a blistering first day at the show - with signifcant pedal sales - one of his best away days!
A grand selection of new pedals - Joe has really doubled down on RangeMasters here, but there's a fair amount of Abbery Roady and Monmouth Octave Fuzzes too, and a really gorgeous Kossoff Drive which sold very quickly!
Joe still has my Alice FreeRange for modification - which I will hope to pick up at the next show we jointly attend!
Funny Little Boxes - Andy and Simon?
I had expected to pick up the new Treasure Island Dual Modded Boost Overdrive Klone-Screamer. But it wasn't ready yet - Andy is still waiting for enclosures to arrive - they're taking a while to come through. I will pick one of those up at one of the later shows Andy is attending.
Instead I picked up a rare Blue Limited Edition of the Skeleton Key Josh Homme inspired Dirty Boost - where Andy found a few hidden among his stock - which he then brought with him to the show. Most handy really - as besides the Treasure Island this was the only one of his that I did not yet have. I've already done a feature on the Skeleton Key - I will need to see if I think it's wort doing a follow-up!
Manson Guitar Works - Adrian, and John out of shot!
www.mansonguitarworks.com/guitars
I had to pop over to the Manson stand to thank MD Adrian for helping me out in getting one of the early excellent Super Massive Black Fuzzes.
Also to congratulate him on the triple release of the legendary Matt Bellamy fully loaded 007 Blackie edition - which came in three varieties - ranging fro £12K to 30K in price. I would have loved to own one - but it's intended for customers with far deeper pockets than me!
I'm not sure I could entirely do that guitar justice - I've likened to having a Formula 1 car in you carriage!
Great to meet Adrian face-to-face. I also encounter John from Heavy Repping on the stand - which was a big surprise for me - to see him in a Manson shirt - I didn't know he was involved!
The most affordable edition of the Manson 007 'Blackie' fully-loaded Matt Bellamy Signature Guitar!
Flattley Guitar Pedals - Paul & Jan
flattleyguitarpedals.com/shop/
Paul was riding high on the success of the NAMM-launched Joker Boost / Overdrive. He has a number of new releases planned for the year - where he's doing more dealer custom editions and limited artwork edition variants of his pedals.
All looking very good - should be a great year.
I was there to hopefully pick up an Ace Tone Boost - but that''s one of those getting a cool new paint job real soon!
Jackson of ThorpyFX, and Nico and Matt from BOSS
Boss had a flurry of activity in the lead up to NAMM - which I already feautured on this site. I understand we will need to wait until much later in the year to see further new releases.
The big news in the lead up to the show - was that my good friend Matt was promoted from BOSS European Sales and Marketing Manager to Global Sales and Marketing Manager. And he's recruited Tore 'PedaL Jesus' Mogensen to take over his old job - very exciting news indeed! And a hearty congratulations to both!
Very well deserved all-round!
Alas my good friend Mark is no longer at BOSS - I wish him the very best at his new job!
Tore 'Pedal Jesus' Mogensen is now at BOSS!
Tore was the key figurehead for TC Electronics - when that company was at its height and challenging for the Top Pedal Company in the world. He fronted numerous promo and explanatory videos - and was an essential part of the company's success.
His previous employer was Universal Audio - where he was still working from home in Denmark, and I don't feel UA really made best use of his enduring charisma. Last time I saw Tore he was clean-shaven and eager to start his posting to UA - while I feel that he eventually found the company's culture a little stifling. And I'm sensing he never got fully empowered to deliver his best. Had he been still working for TC at its height - I feel those UA pedals would have been a whole lot more practical.
It's a little like football teams who play with a set system - they need to recruit players who are comfortable with serving within that disciple. I'm guessing the culture / environment at UA was not quite as lively and free-flowing as that at TC.
I wish Tore the very best of luck at BOSS - and I hope we get to see a lot more of him than we did for his UA years! He up there with Chappers and Ola in his Internet charisma. BOSS will need to figure out how to make best use of his talents!
Redbeard Effects - Mikey
redbeardeffects.com/collections/effects
Most recent Redbeard release was the Bearded Vulture - which has featured a lot on this site - and is my faourite reheard to date - it's so versatile and sounds totally killer.
My good friend Henry Kaiser has recently ben captivated by the Hairy Squid Fuzz again - and that's back on his board again!
This is likely the only show Mikey will be attending this year 0 as his band Skindred launch their new album on April 17th and will be trying to get it to number 1! The last album missed out on the top spot by the tiiniest of fractions, Skindred were ahead at the midweek mark - but then the large record company behind the other main contender threw a tonne of money into that promotion - meaning Skndred were pipped to the post on pretty much the last day. Hopefully this new one can do even better!
New album out on the 17th April, Skindred start their tour to support the release in early April
You can see the Live dates below the Music listing - on the same page referenced above.
Team ThorpyFX - Adrian, Mark and Jackson; Georgia just out of shot!
thorpyfx.com/collections/thorpyfx-pedals
Great to catch up with the full Thorpy Team at the show. They did not have anything new to show - but are still riding high on the success of their superb 'The J' Dual Channel Tweed Drive / Preamp.
We all know that Thorpy is working with Dan Coggins to release updated versions of those legendary Lovetone Pedals. But those release are still a little further down the road.
I was privileged to get previews of 2 of Thorpy's forthcoming pedals - and it looks like it's going to be another stellar year for ThorpyFX!
I now have 31 Thorpy Pedals in my Reference Collection - and near enough every other variety he's had a hand in!
Actually - I've still to land a Victory V1 Duchess - I will try to round that up this year!
Ritual Devices - Wub
Always good to catch up with Wub!
He has a packed year ahead of him - with several new releases due.
I recently did a roundup of his 4 flagship pedals - as below.
Where I seem to have inspired him to roll out more modulation types!
Beautiful etched / enamel style designs - really striking and original designs to match the unique circuits within!
Origin Effects - Jacob; John away from stand
I had a good chat with John - where he was alas interrupted before I was able to snap a picture. When I returned - only Jacob was on the stand at the time - so he appears solo here.
John tells me that Origin have always been strong for Bass Players - who are the ones who buy the majority of Origin Compressors. So this year Origin will be doubling down on their Bass Heritage - with further essential releases for Bass Players.
We guitar players should see a product or two later in the year too - while the focus is currently on BASS!
Lost Soul Leather - Krystian
www.lostsoulleather.co.uk/shop
Krystian had his brand new 'Rockatansky' strap at the show (£250) which is of course gorgeous and reassuringly expensive!
His customers had taken to attaching his straps the other way around - as they preferred having the thin section up front. This meant that the shoulder section was often not properly aligned for that configuration. So the Rockatansky has buckles / adjustments at both ends - so you can wear that strap any way you like!
Really cool execution - beautifully made!
Audio Distribution Group - Tom and Simon, Bruce out of shot
www.audiodistributiongroup.com
Great catching up with Tom mostly at ADG. Bruce was in attendance for the latter part - but was mostly away from the stand.
I've not had any new ADG Press Releases particularly recently - the last one was for Emily Hopkins' OBEN Parting Pedal Collaboration - which has seemingly gone down a storm and sold beyond expectations.
I would quite like a copy of that - bur perhaps the B's Music PurrTing edition - which is super cool - and has a less cluttered artwork in a more attractive colourway!!
Face MI - Niels
Great to catch up with my good friend Niels on the Face MI stand.
He told me that Walrus Audio were selling particularly well in Europe, J Rockett was doing alright, while for some reasons Beetronics hasn't fully transferred its massive US success over to Europe. The Crazy Tube Circuit Venus also remains a bestseller, And Face MI had the new Triptych Multi Fuzz pedal on their board too!
I chose to focus on J Rockett here - as a reminder that the Aqueous Chorus and Blue Note Select are still on my wishlist as targets.
Niels told me that a lot of my favourites had been discontinued - some will get later iterated editions - while for pedals like the Archer Select - you just can't get those super rare diodes any more! The stocks have finally been depleted!
Zona Guitars - Wayne and Jim
And rounding things up with aplomb - we have the beautiful new Custom Petrol Blue Asgard / Sulis Hybrid guitar - which looks so good that ideally Wayne would like to hold onto it.
Probably his most attractive guitar to date!
I also got news that Wayne and Jim are starting to plan another Alternative Guitar Show episode - and it may entail a revisit to Richmond!
The Custom Asgard / Sulis was one of the most striking guitars I saw at the show!
As below!
I can't see a listing for this guitar yet! Only currency mentioned on Instagram - and I forgot to ask Wayne how much he would need to agree to part with this stunning guitar!
KDH Guitar & Bass Roundup!
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