2026 June Pedal-Chain Update - Episode VI - Verb-a-thon

25 new devices landed in June

Big Modulations and Verb Month!

In fact massive modulation month - with a couple of over-sized pedals a little tricky to fit in on the board - but we got there in the end - both the CTC White Whale Jr and Rainger FX Binary Pulsar had to be squeezed in - it required some re-jigging and manoeuvring - but all worked out in the end!

The board is getting increasingly more experimental in most ways, and will be even more so in the coming weeks!

• 4 x Boosts & Overdrives
• 3 x Distortions
• 5 x Fuzzes
• 12 x Modulations & Multi-FX
• 1 x Spatial & Immersive FX

A pretty stellar cast of new overdrives and boost! The Over-Drive+ could do with a touch more volume, but is otherwise nigh perfect - which indeed all the other 3 are - very impressive month for drives!

• Funny Little Boxes Treasure Chest Dual-Modded Overdrive : Klone-Screamer
• Hello Sailor Effects Höfner Harmonic Preamp / Boost
• Thermion PowerDrive
• ThunderTomate Over-Drive+ Rev G

3 really decent Distortions here, where I feel the OPFXS Gain Box is a little bit of a work in progress, and could do with some obvious refinements - while the other 2 are just pure unadulterated high octane fun. That's not to say the Gain Box doesn't have its charms, but it is somewhat underpowered overall - and I suggested several desirable refinements in my review!

• Drunk Beaver DP #40 Druzhkivka Grunge (DOD Grunge x SD-2)
• Holy Island Audio Angel Teeth Massively Evolved DOD250 w/ fuzz + octave
• OPFXS Gain Box Multi-Gain Machine : Boost / Overdrive / Fuzz / Distortion

A somewhat mixed bag for fuzzes this month - where the Small Cheese and Freaky Fuzz were absolutely blistering - and world-class, while each of the others could have done with some significant refinements. Some of it can be a little subjective in terms of what your expectations are, while other points are more empirical - in terms of range and overall output volume. Whichever way you want to look at it though - the Small Cheese and Freaky Fuzz totally put the other 3 in the shade!

It's a comparative thing too really - as I have around 800-900 fuzzes in the collection now - and I have fuzzes in pretty much every genre now - with a very substantial reference point for that fuzzes within those genres can sound like. Inevitably there will be some that come up a little underwhelming - especially compared to my favourites of that type!

• Airline Dirty Birdy Fuzz Vintage Pastels Edition
• Drunk Beaver Huliaipole Anarchy Fuzz (evolved Jordan Boss Tone)
• Gigahearts Small Cheese MK2 Fuzz (Expanded Lovetone Big Cheese)
• Pedal Pawn Freaky Fuzz
• Thermion PowerMuff

A quite magnificent addition to the Modulation Section - with a record 12 Modulation and Multi-FX pedals.

All of these are exceptional per each pertinent category - bar the Klowra South Zoo Animal Voice Synth - which I never really gelled with properly.

I've been super impressed with the Asheville Music Tools, Caroline Guitar Co. and Freqscene pedals I've acquired to date - all are brilliant. The Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Jr is a vintage-inspired modern classic, and Rainger FX's Binary Pulsar is a future classic. I'm not sure I've ever had such a strong Modulation selection before!

• Asheville Music Tools AFG-1 Dynamic Analog BBD Flanger
• B's Music Emily Hopkins / OBNE Parting / Purr-Ting experimental glitch delay, reverb, and crushing modulation
• Caroline Music Co. Somersault Black & Lavender Edition
• Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Jr Spring Reverb + Tremolo
• Freqscene Koldwave Warped Analog BBD Chorus
• Freqscene Slow Life (Slow Gear)
• Klowra Budding Bloom Series Mini - Dive Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter
• Klowra Budding Bloom Series Mini - Hane Dual-Engine Filter
• Klowra Budding Bloom Series Mini - Leap Polyphonic Octaver
• Klowra Budding Bloom Series Mini - South Zoo Polyphonic Synth
• Klowra Budding Bloom Series Mini - Whorl Rotary Speaker Simulator [Mono]
• Rainger FX Binary Pulsar Sidechained Stereo Tremolo / Panner / Distortion

The Hotone Verbera Convolution Dual Reverb has been a long time coming - I was so enjoying the Cornerstone Nucleo that I didn't really want that experience to end. Now I don't want the Hotone Verbera experience to end - this is the absolute perfect form factor and feature set for a Reverb Workstation pedal - 120 onboard IR's and 100 superb factory presets. Plenty to get stuck into - including Convolution Reverb.

I don't see why someone hasn't yet invented a Convolution Reverb Space Recorded - where you can instantly capture the profile of any venue! Currently you need to pop a balloon, record the sound and then put it though an algorithm converter which renders that sample as an IR - surely it would make sense to have a device that could deliver instant IR's - that you could just beam across to the relevant device! Make it happen Hotone!

Not too many new releases this month but still plenty of targets - including a number of new brands.

Much of the priorities have already been set for July - so much going on already, particularly with regards to the Brighton Guitar Show - where I'm hoping to pick up a significant number!

Priority acquisitions asterisked and in rough priority above!

• * EHX Percolator
• EHX Pico Shimmer Cosmic Reverb
• * EQD Sunn O))) HalfLife Octave + Boost Distoriton / Evolved Rat
• Eventide H9 Gen 2 Single-Core Multi-FX Processor
• JHS Fumble BBC-1 Boost
• Meris Ottobit X 80's Inspired Modular Degradation and Texture Engine
• * Mooer Meta FX : Reverb, Delay, and Modulation variants (x3?)
• Pettyjohn Electronics Moss X Soft Fuzz
• * Sonisfact VCP-80 Analog Chorus + Phaser, and VOS-80, VOS-81, and VOS-82 Overdrive Stations
• Stonegate FX The Figure Filter Fuzz
• * Sunhaus Colourway Series Ballam Dirt Fuzz, and Djandek Geological Fuzz
• Zorg Love Philtre Resonant Filter / Wah / Phaser+
• Zvex DB-1 Analog Pedal Output Meter

22 Slots updated this month with 25 new pedals in circulation and some prior editions, also with a few multiple rotation instances per slot.

Updated Slots : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #10, #11, #12, #13, #13b, #14, #18b, #20, #21, #24, #25, #29, #37, #38, #39, #47, #48.

3 Klowra pedals in rotation on #1, 2 pedals in rotation on #37, 2 on #38!

There are 4 out-and-out Reverb pedals on the board - on slots #24, #38, #47, and #50 - the first 2 are mono, the 2nd 2 are Full Stereo and both Convolution Reverbs. The H90 on #44 is a formidable Reverb Workstation, while #41, #42, and #48 have reverb abilities - a total of 8 'verbs therefore - and hence 'Verb-a-thon'.

Some significant reorganisation of the board - especially to get the Rainger FX Binary Pulsar in on #39. Will need to figure out how to accommodate the Rainger Snare Trap in future months. Was supposed to be July, but other priorities have gotten in the way!

3 Klowra Budding Bloom Pedals have shared this slot - they are featured here in order of preference - first the Leap Octaver, then the Hane Envelope Filter / Auto-Wah, and finally the Dive Drop-Tuner.

Each of those perform fantastically, while the Leap is the one that is the most useful for me, and the Dive the least useful - as I don't do that much drop-tuning, while I do love the 'Dive Bomb' effect.

4 of the 5 Budding Bloom Series are excellent - while I didn't particularly gel with the South Zoo Animal Voice Synth!

Freqscene has cut a swathe in updating and improving some of Boss's classic modulation pedals. This significantly improves and enhances the SG-1 Slow Gear - here the 5 controls Slow Live - with additional Compression, Range and Volume Attenuation controls. This is beautiful shimmery, but subtle analog effect - the EHX swell pedals are far more pronounced - the Slow Life sounds exceptional, and improves and expands that classic Slow Gear sound. Don't buy an over-priced second hand 2-knob SG-1 - buy this instead - it's a much better pedal!

Fantastic new full-fat textured Freaky Fuzz from Pedal Pawn - with heaps of range / versatility / dynamics. Starts off as a bright harmonic overdrive, and then ramps up the sear somewhat rapidly. Superb guitar volume cleanup too - a perfect fuzz. The first 3-knob fuzz that Pedal Pawn has made - all of their fuzzes should be 3-knob, with either Bias or Tone as the 3rd option - just makes the pedal so much more versatile!

Gigahearts MKII edition of Small Cheese evolved Lovetone Big Cheese Fuzz - with more granularity and extended range. A really high-octave and vibrant take on said circuit  - sounds amazing every which way!

Hello Sailor's excellent new Höfner Harmonic Preamp - which very much acts as a Harmonic / Textured boost - Höfner designed those Preamps to be wired into their guitars in the 50's and 60's to give their output  tone a distinct, warm, and slightly compressed color - which otherwise did not alter the core sound of the guitar.

This is a fantastic tone-enhancing preamp / boost, intended to be always-on typically - it adds grit and harmonics to your signal, without colouring the core tone. Other germanium boosts often make the output brighter, while this one is incredibly neutral in that regard - so it almost sounds like it getting darker, but it's really just the impact of the additional texture. A really cool boost pedal, where the pot on mine seems to be logarithmic - as it ramps up very rapidly after noon!

My preferred of the 2 recent Thermion PowerBolt Series - the PowerDrive - this is very much Marshall-leaning, and covers BluesBreaker, Klone, Plexi and more. It's decent enough - while I always feel once you enter Marshall distortion territory you're best served by 3-Band EQ. A cool all-rounder - very well priced!

The OPFXS Gain Box is a really cool pedal, but kind of feels like a work in progress for me. None of the individual voicings are particularly strong - but they stack really well. It really needs more output volume though. While the fundamentals here are pretty solid. Ideally the Presets would preserve all knob settings - otherwise you're quite limited in how you ramp things up!

Funny Little Boxes latest Treasure Chest - is a fantastic dual modded Boost Klone-Screamer - each of those voicings have been finely honed by JSA's Simon - they are two exceptional takes on those original source flavours - and they combine beautifully too!

My 3rd Holy Island Audio pedal - this Angel Teeth is one of the most fun - with additional Octave and Fuzz voicings on top of an already potent DOD250 style circuit. Everyone should have one!

ThunderTomate's OverDrive Rev G is a beautifully balanced natural / organic circuit - with normal, bright and full (fat) modes. I actually really like the Bright mode the best, while the Full mode is excellent for full-frequency boosting. It's nigh on perfect in its delivery - but could do with a few more dB of output. Really great sounding, warm and neutrally textured overdrive.

The most unusual of the recent Klowra Budding Bloom series - the animal-voiced South Zoo Synth. Decent froggy sounds, passable cat sounds, and just plain weird 'horsey' noises. At its best when combined with other pedals - like cat + auto-wah. Limitied utility for my own purposes - quite evidently incredibly quirky!

www.instagram.com/p/DZnaEXNN9SF/

Drunk Beaver's PD #40 - the Druzhkivka Grunge is one of the best of that kind - really sounds great for me - has that 'nasty' distorted grungy sound - pretty much a flavour of high gain - here delivered by a combination of DOD Grunge and Boss DS-2 circuit dynamics. The slider format of the pedal makes it even more appealing. One of the Pedal Drops to get. Incredibly there are still some remaining on the Drunk Beaver Rocks Webstore - well worth seeking out!

The Thermion PowerMuff is a very unusual Big Muff take - with 3 internal trim-pots, universal Bass level, and then Starve and Sustain Cut - which set the fundamentals of the 'Modern' mode. I've said before that I prefer Muff to have Mids EQ's - or switches - even binary - scooped vintage / mids-pushed modern. While this PoweMuff is not that - it's very much its own thing. A little fiddly on adjusting the Modern side - as you need to remove the back-plate of the pedal - all of which I find a little fiddly and inconvenient. I personally would have preferred just to have the Vintage / Modern switch to impact EQ as mentioned. Still sounds pretty distinc t- very much its own thing!

The RV-426 Spacey Sci-Fi Reverb is back on the board, as the perfect pairing for the Denton. The RV-426 into the from of the Denton delivers the ultimate Shoegaze sound. It's a great Reverb on its own, and works brilliantly with the Denton as a bonus!

The Denton Mids-Boosted Opamp Fuzz is officially out now - so all of you can get your hands on it! My friend Henry Kaiser owns both the Denton and the Deus Ex Machina and did a comparison of the two, the core voicings are nigh identical - while the EQ impacts a little differently - the Deus Ex seems sharper and brighter, while the Denton is a touch warmer and with more body. Props to Ian for delivering something even better than the excellent source inspiration. As just mentioned, it also delivers killer shoegaze tones with the RV-426 into the front of it!

Here we have the 5th of the Klowra Budding Bloom Series - the Whorl Rotary Speaker Emulator. It's very decent for a mono version, but can't match the dynamics of fully immersive stereo. For me Rotary Speaker Emulation really needs to be fully stereo for the full doppler effect. While this Whorl is about as close as you can get with a Mono variant.

2 choruses shared this slot for the month - mostly the Freqscene Koldwave Warped Chorus, but also the Caroline Guitar Co. Somersault Lo-Fi Modulator. Both of those ar exceptional, while the Koldwave is a little more immediate and full-on!

Another slot with 2 rotating Modulations - for first half of the month the Asheville Music Tools Analoger AFG-1 BBD Flanger, and for the second half - the Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Jr All-Analog Tremolo and Real 3-Spring Reverb. Both are exceptional!

This part of the board had to be rejigged a little to accommodate the new larger format Rainger FX Sidechainer Pulsating Tremolo + Distortion. This is now the Mono to Stereo bridge with the pedal-chain - with the option to connect the Snare Trap and / or Microphone at a later stage. I love that distorted pulsating ping-pong effect it delivers - but its odd shape and dimensions meant that a few of the slots needed to be switched around. Amazingly the board has never sounded better!

The excellent Hotone Verbera Convolution Reverb finally gets a spin on slot #47 - I've been hugely impressed with it - right from first encounter. A perfect form factor really, and relatively easy to control and adjust!

It's been a while coming - but the B's Music version of the OBNE Parting - the Purr-Ting has finally arrived! I'm in the early stages with this one so far - but really loving it so far. I'm also in the process of changing around some of the knobs. The control topology is essentially in 3 parts - and I want a different colour for each part. Diffusion in white etc. I've ordered in knobs from both Love My Switches and OBNE - the customer service at Love My Switches is much much better - and those knobs have been landed for a week, while the OBNE ones have yet to arrive - when both were ordered at the exact same time!

July is already looking busy, but I'm trying to slow it down a little as June was slightly chaotic for me. Besides - there are a number of high ticket price items - and budgets need to be managed and maintained.

These are some of the ones I'm looking to order in for July, while as aways - not all will necessarily land during the month - some will inevitably arrive later.

Here's what's planned so far, several of these have already been ordered! and landed even :

• Blue FX Devices Pillux Mini Switch Fuzz (Brighton show pickup)
• Chase Bliss Big Time Hybrid Delay / Filter / Preamp
• Demiurge Swamp Coffin Signature High Gain Fuzz
• Drunk Beaver Ivan Mazepa 2 Fuzz
• Drunk Beaver XR Series Cherry Picker Fuzz
• Drunk Beaver XR Series Metal Mind Distortion
• Farmer Factory Colombeta Ge/Si Fuzz
• Gigahearts PumpTrack Portastudio Preamp
• Hello Sailor Effects Billy Gibbons Llama-Ranger [Brighton show pickup]
• iStingor MS-1 Metal Shredder
• iStingor SL-1 Super Lead
• Mentha.Works Monk Echo Reverb + Delay - Choral Infused
• NRG Effects 2026 5K Gnawer Distortion [Brighton show pickup]
• RhPf Secret Weapon Pedal - TBA
• Talisman Audio Deluxe Face Blender Ge/Si Fuzz [Brighton show pickup]
• Talisman Audio GP7 Soviet Gas Mask Filter Capsule Fuzz [Brighton show pickup]

Here are some of the stands I'm looking to hit up!