Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
2025 Birmingham Guitar Show Highlights
Hot off the press!
Well, I had a fabulous Guitar Show this year, best one yet for me personally! I picked up 5 pedals at the show, as well as bumping into Chris Buck, KDH (Kelan Hughes), and my very good friends Markus and Izzy Reeves, also - I had lunch with Jonny Brelliott over at Brew 23!
One of the big highlights for me was meeting the full GigRig Crew - and getting a team photo with all of them. I’m not one for selfies typically - but Dan was very strongly persuasive on this occasion. I had good chats with Dan, Jake, and Joe - and it was great to finally put a face to Lizzie - whom we hear on every TGR podcast (but who has never been seen on the pod!).
Of course TheGigRig Crew is riding high after their recently Pedal Boards unveil - I of course sat in on the launch session. Surely Dan and crew have set a new benchmark standard for Pedalboard construction and design - so much thought has gone into every aspect of those boards - easy access for optimal cabling efficiency, the flexible side ports on both sides - the shelf construction and fixing points. The smart included lids, and optional touring bags - with plenty of space for additional cables and accessories.
I will be doing a feature article on the new GigRig Boards in the next week or two - it’s mostly a matter of finding the right images to illustrate the key points I want to make!
I met Dan originally and very briefly at the Boss 40th Anniversary event at the House of Vans, Waterloo - some 8 years ago now - that time seems like such a distant era. It was wonderful to get properly reacquainted. Dan is for sure Pedal Royalty to most of us pedal enthusiasts!
I will be starting my onsite tours again in April - and it would be cool to be able to add a GigRig HQ to the roster at some stage!
In the meantime - don’t forget to check our TheGigRig’s superb new Pedalboards - I will have a proper article out on those soon too - thegigrig.com/essentials/tgrpedalboards.
This article is a sort of Photo-Odyssey / PechaKucha - featuring of course 20 Picture Highlights. Some great snaps here - hope you all like it!
ThorpyFX - Thorpy, Georgia, and Mark
It's always a delight to catch-up with Thorpy and Georgia!
Thorpy finally acquiesced to making me a Birthday Cake edition of the FLIR Buffer - my perfect ThorpyFX 10 Year Anniversary Memento! It really looks just as amazing as I thought it would - surely the perfect slice of Thorpy!
I had meant to take some further pictures of the stand - and the new Side Artwork Enclosure Editions in particular - but alas never made it back to the stand - these shows are always pretty hectic for me - and even with best intentions - I never get around to do everything that I had planned. I will of course be doing a feature article on those new pedal Editions - hopefully next week, or very soon after!
There are some very exciting new pedals coming from Thorpy this year - and I look forward to revealing them to all of you when they'e ready for release!
Redbeard Effects - Mikey
Mikey is such a rockstar - he aways photographs so well!
Amd he has a fantastic new pedal to promote - which I've had the privilege of playing for these past couple of weeks. The Bearded Vulture is a quite brilliant take on the Culture Vulture Tube Rack Unity. Depending on where you set the Drive and Bias dials - this is an exceptional Overdrive, or Distortion, or Fuzz.
For me it mostly classifies as a beautiful searing saturating and sustaining fuzz/ It sounds every way execellent however you deploy it. You need to get used to the interactive nature of the Drive and Bias controls - but it's still so easy to dial in superior sounds. One of the best Multi-Gain pedals out there for sure.
You can never really go wrong with Thorpy or Redbeard - while the Bearded Vulture is a very special pedal for me - I look forward to publishing my review / feature - as soon as Mikey edits down his demo video - which should be sometime this week!
Hello Sailor Effects - Joe and Glyn
I have such an amazing rapport with Joe - he knows exactly what manner of pedals appeal to me - and every one of his bespoke masterpieces for me is absolutely as I would have made it myself! These are always presented to me as fully-made confections - where I've only once gotten involved in the selection of the final knobs - mostly it's just all-Joe - and so far we're spot on for every one of my HSE Pedals - each of them is very particular to me.
This time around he'd been experimenting with trying to fit his superb recent SeaWolf Delay circuit into smaller enclosures - and he made me the amazing fish-skin edition pictured. He said that the process of fitting everything into such a compact enclosure was torturous - and he would likely never be persuaded to do another like it. I very much look forward to sharing my thoughts on my SeaWolf Delay once I've lived with it for a week or so!
I am pretty well covered for Hello Sailor Effects now - but am still missing Joe's signature Rangemaster - that's surely the next one to be added - unless Joe comes up with yet another new circuit.
I am due for an onsite visit to Joe's new workshop.Hopefully it will happen in and around April. Where I'm also already booked in for Markus Reeves' new tone shack too - also in April!
Brelliott - Jonny
Another big highlight for me - was finally meeting Jonny Brelliott in the flesh. He just happened to be Tim Webster's backup for the show (Fredric Effects).
It was actually my good friend Henry Kaiser that initially introduced me to Jonny - he so loved Jonny's TODP pedal that he felt I needed to experience it for myself! Henry is always an excellent judge of quality - and all his recommendations to me have been spot-on.
Jonny and I had one phone conversation a couple of weeks back - and I invited him to have lunch with me at Brew 23 during the show. It was as if I had know Jonny forever - it's always nice to find someone you have a natural rapport with.
Jonny handed over the TODP pedal pictured - which has a modular snap-in board design. He also provided a couple of additional boards - a Fetzer style one, and a Russian Pentode / Mixer style board - this means I have 3 versions of this pedal to check out and feed back on - so expect a very detailed review / report - in however long it takes me to fully get to grips with those options. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this one - I really love these kinds of expansive multi-gain pedals - and the tube elements deployed add significantly to the richness of texture of this pedal's output.
The TODP is an amazing pedal - and Jonny really deserves your support - he\s put a lifetime of amp knowledge and experience into this one unit. Hopefully I can help him get the proper recognition he so deserves!
Goliath FX - Matt
Matt was upstairs in the Bass Show section - the only of my pedal regulars to be situated there - and indeed he is mostly a Bass effects specialist - but makes some excellent guitar effects too - including a number of exceptional fuzzes.
I've featured his Hornburg Bass Fuzz here - which is proving to be really popular at the moment.
The lower inset is of a superb Vintage Silicon and rare parts take on a Tone Bender MKII - with Matt's signature craquelure enclosure design - Matt is ever the king of crackle! I've long wanted one of these, and Matt very generously made it happen at this show. I'm not sure he will be making any more of these as the parts are so hard to get hold of.
Even though it serves minimal promotional purpose - I will of course still be doing a feature review / report. It's always good to document the great pedals - even when they're hard to get hold of!
Ritual Devices - Wub
Wub is another pedal maker I have a great rapport with - he's also another I feel I've known forever.
I have long loved his intricate Victorian jewel box etched designs - and I was delighted to be picking up his EVOL Primal Hybrid Fuzz - my third one of his. Those flagship designs are really so special - and I helped Wub decide on the treatment for his logo a few years back now - to help make the pedal more instantly brand-recognisable.
The two of his I already have - the Fay modulator and Grmalking fuzz are really exceptional - great sounding , expansive and versatile, and I fully expect to find the same characteristics in the EVOL too.
Give me a few days to fully get to grips with it - and I should have a pretty special pedal report out fairly soon!
Kernom - Jérémy, Antoine, and David
Kernom are on a roll now - with a Hat-trick of ingenious innovations. - their build quality, innovation and design put them in a category all of their own. They're definitely a distinctly different and unique brand. They're kind of like the French Teenage Engineering - with that combination of modern timeless design with exceptional engineering prowess - while they're their own brand of original too.
I had a wonderful time on the Kernom stand - engaging on two of my favourite topics - brand personality, and strategy.
Jérémy, Antoine and I had a really involved conversation about stand designs and brand associations. We touched on so many different points - including the lifetime works of Braun's Dieter Rams.
It's important for every pedal brand to find their personality and a genuine and notable point of difference - which is benefit based!
Kernom are definitely going places - and it will be interesting to see where they go next, and how much of my advice they heed in the end! I feel there are going to be more exciting times ahead!
Hamstead Soundworks - Brian, and Fidelity Guitars - Matt
and
Always good to catch-up with firm friends Brian and Matt - those two brands have been inseparable for years - and always share the same stage.
I was hoping to see the guitar that Matt featured on Instagram on February 7th - but alas that one has long since been dispatched to its owner who happens to live in Germany!
There was an attractive dark green Stellarosa on the stand - but not quite the showstopper as the one destined for Germany.
In the meantime Hamstead are still enjoying a lot of success with their TPS Redwing Collaboration - which of course I have and love.
I'm still waiting for the new elusive Stereo Harmonic Tremolo to emerge - but Hamstead have still to decide on the actual release priorities - and there are at least 4 new pedals in the work.
I was due to do an onsite visit to Hamstead HQ - to coincide with the release of the Harmonic Tremolo - while I've no idea when that is likely to happen - will probably be quite.a bit later in the year, I'm of course still very much looking forward to that event!
Zona Guitars - Wayne and Jim
Always good to catch up with good friends Wayne and Jim - also the show-runners for the Alternative Guitar Shows. There should be an Exeter event eventually, while both Warren and Jim have been unduly busy o late - so there's nothing in the bag quite yet!
Wayne has been working on 6-string basses most recently.- and has taken a break from perfecting his own tremolo / vibrato take. All his guitar are still very much hard-tails as such. And the search goes on for the perfect knob replacement for those chrome and rubber-ringed ones that look so iconic. Wayne was only able to secure a relatively moderate batch of those - and it's proving to be quite difficult to find the perfect replacement - while he believes he may have found something usable now. If any of you dear readers know where Waye can get hold of those chrome and rubber-ringed knobs - do let us now.
My favourite Zona design is still the Asgard one - I would just need one with a Tremolo Bridge!
PedalPatch - Phil and Ian
Phil and Ian of course look distinctly different - but I still somehow keep addressing Ian as Phil - I see the signage and presume Phil is on duty - which is not always the case!
Phil is of course also the fantastic show-runner for the Brighton Guitar Show - which is one of the best in the land - I always have a good time in Brighton! The next Brighton Guitar Show is on July 5th.
Phil is still very much mostly concentrating on his solderless patch cable kits - that's for sure the natural starting point to engage on - you can never have too many cables!
Making Waves - James and Matt
It's lovely to see James and Matt back on the show circuit again. Looks like they had a slight hiatus last year - and I always get concerned when I don't see certain brands in circulation.
So it's good to have them back again, and they now have another pedal in the works and are finally at the point of fully selling through their unique Sunburst overdrive - with that elegant curved / sloping facia.
I see Making Waves to be very much on a 1981 Inventions kind of tip / trip - where their design and engineering credentials are top notch, while I would probably have handled their first release somewhat differently overall. I'm glad to see that the plan is gradually coming together nicely - I've offered my assistance and counsel - while admirably they are determined to keep doing things their own way!
Funny Little Boxes - Andy and sidekick
I have 2 of Andy's 3 - just missing the Skeleton Key one so far - it will happen one day for sure - probably a show pickup too - of course pending various other timely priorities - while the mission remains to secure all-three!
I asked Andy to pick a pedal to promote - and he grabbed all of his! As seen by the boxes in the above picture.
All 3 of these are very iconic pedals - replicating a particular band sound - with the 'Alice in Chain' inspired 'Dirt' - the latest of the trio!
For all the other features I've focused on a single pedal mostly - but not wishing to prejudice Andy's selection - I'm honouring his wishes - in letting the unadulterated photo above speak for itself!
Fredric Effects - Tim and Jonny
I'm still looking forward to paying Tim an onsite visit in the not too distant future - pending when he gets his Luthiery Workshop up and running - a collaboration has been in the works for a while now! The timing is entirely up to Tim's discretion - and it doesn't seem to be happening with any degree of alacrity - but it will happen one day.
The Standard Fuzz is understandably doing very well at the moment - and is the pedal Tim chose to feature. That one is very much on my target list, alongside the Deeply Unpleasant Companion II, and the Silicon Harmonic Percolator - those 3 happen to be the 3 latest releases.
I look forward to getting them into the reference collection in due time!
Tim is ever the pioneer and I believe is the first and only British brand to attend the Cracow, Poland Guitar Fest on March 23rd - the same time that I will be at the London Synth and Pedal Expo!
Buzzing Bugs - Dan and Dad!
I love catching up with Dan and his father - I've encountered that dynamic duo at several shows now. They're obviously celebrating the very recent Stargazy Reverb release - which is the first pedal from the new 'Lore' Series - based on Cornish Folklore and Beasties!
I really like the original compact geometric enclosure styles - where there will be more releases in that line eventually. While the focus is currently on the landscape 1590BB format - in line with the Stargazy release - will be interesting to see the follow-ups with that similar style of illustration - and mostly Boss' style knobs - in place of the milled aluminium ones on the Geometric series.
I understand several 'Lore' pedals are planned - and it will be exciting to see just how that range evolves! It's off to a strong start in any case.
Flattley Guitar Pedals - Paul
Always good catching up with Paul - he's the most journeyman pedal builder of all - turning up at the most shows typically - a little bit ahead of Tim Webster at Fredric Effects. And one of the very few Brits to attend the main Italian Pedal show.
I was sorry to hear that his missus Jan has been rather poorly of late and thus wasn't in attendance - best wisher to her for a speedy recovery.
Flattley Pedals are going very well these days, having been fairly recently rolled into Andertons - so you have maximum options of where to buy Flatley now - inducing that heavyweight support from Andertons - who are focusing more on homegrown brands these days.
Paul and Jan very much deserve your support - their incredibly multi-step metal flake finishes are really worthy the price of admission - such beautiful depth of sheen on those! As before I'm particularly a fan of the DG Fuzz and Revolution Overdrive - with the relatively recently reissued Valkyrie Vintage style Analog Chorus - sounding pretty lush too!
Origin Effects - Joihn and Jacob
It's always fun catching up with John and Jacob - where this time around I mostly covered with John - who was understandably in very good spirits after the recent launch of the smaller Cali76 Stacked Compressor - which now fully aligns with the recent Cali76 JFET Compressor.
The Origin Effects boards looked very slick this time around - with GigRig Quartermasters on each board - for easy switching between pedals.
Origin Effects are also riding high after the fairly recent Deluxe 55 Tweed style Preamp preamp - near enough everyone seems to love that one - including me!
I still have a fair few Origin Effects pedals to catch up on - to bring that capsule collection up tu speed - there will be a more concerted effort now to get a few of those onboard - of course fuelled in part by how opportunistically I can acquire them. Generally Origin don't do discounts - and their prices hold very well!
There will be more Origin Effects incoming for me though - they're and important brand, and I really should have more of those by now!
Reeves Electro - Markus and Izzy
I was so fortunate to be near the lobby - just around the time Markus and Izzy entered the show - a similar spot to where I ran into Chris Buck - and unlike with Chris - I had the presence of mind to remember to catch a picture of that fortuitous meeting.
I think it was one of if not the longest chat I had with anyone at the show! Those two are so easy going! Truly the nicest of people!
I am due to do another onsite visit with Markus and Izzy - where that will happen some time in mid to late April now - to coincide with a brand new release - the first in a while!
In the meanime I will be participating in the bunfight to capture an Etched Edition Darlington Flyer. I had not got around to getting one of those yet - and this is the perfect opportunity for a special edition. Alas only 10 are going up for sale next Saturday - so there will likely be some disappointed people! I just hope it's not going to be me. I don't always have the best of luck with those kinds of event - my Internet has glitched out far too many times during the heat of the action - and I have missed out on some of these previously. Those kinds of events always make me nervous - and while I understand the need for these kinds of releases sometimes - I really don't like that format. But if I really want something - I will just have to suck that all up - and gamble with the rest of them!
In any case - I had a wonderful catch-up with the pair of them, and I'm really looking forward to my April visit - they're both splendid hosts!
Audio Distribution Group - Tom and Andy, and Bruce - out of shot!
My favourite distributors I think - ADG have always been very good to me over the years - and I in turn help promote their brands!
It's always a delight catching up with Bruce and Tom in particular, and I connected properly with Andy too at this event. I'm still a little sad that Phil moved on and out of the picture as such - and his replacement Rasmus - was seemingly landlocked in Denmark for the occasion - so I've not had a proper face-to-face meet-up with him - where I was very well acquainted with Phil,
Bruce is always great with industry intrigue and gossip - and I was a little sad to find out that some industry bigwig has been bad-mouthing me behind my back - where I've had very little direct contact with them, and the little I have had was very courteous and complimentary. I've always felt that I serve the industry very well, as I have the particular brand involved. Seemingly one of the partners is always very pleasant and even tempered - and the other one not so much! This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me - all of us get a little bad press from time to time - wholly irrespective of whether it was deserved or not. I'm always genuinely surprised when these sorts of things happen - while I'm increasingly learning not to be surprised by anything in this industry - often the herding cats of herding cats!
For many it was a little surprising that the Meris Enzo X was not being showcased - as the biggest of the recent ADG releases. Those kinds of releases always take a while to get through to Europe, Most American brands prioritise USA retail - and so Europe will always get those quite a bit later on - where invariably they get stuck in customs too - which always results in them missing these kinds of shows. It's an enduring frustration for ADG - for nearly every show they attend - that they're always waiting for at least one of their more notable recent released to be released from customs!
So I could not featured the Meris Enzo X here either - and focused instead on the rather recent Tsakalis AudioWorks Phonkify funk-master pedal.
Talking about Meris - one of that lovely core trio contacted me in the wake of my Meris Enzo X intro feature - the wonderful Jinna, who is responsible for Meris's smart prEDITOR App - that gives you even easier control over your Meris workstation pedals - already out in support of the LVX, and Mercury X - with Enzo X support imminent.
Janni let me know that I could plug in a special Yamaha Midi Cable - the MD-BT01 - which would give me Bluetooth connectivity to the app - instead of having to run a physical cable to my laptop - which I'm not really a fan of!
That revelation resulted in my committing to bring my LVX back into rotation - and to do a proper review of the prEDITOR too - and see if that changes my mind on the ease of using those pedals. March is obviously very busy for me - while I should be able to accomplish this task in April / May!
It for sure feels good to have Jinna on your side! She's such a great ambassador for the brand.
Finally, Jake at TheGigRig is such a master of the original Meris Enzo - he uses that for so many purposes that I just wasn't fully aware of - Jake and Meris should definitely team up for a masterclass on that device! And possibly include the new one too - once Jake is up to speed with that!
Boss - Matt, Mark, Nico and Adam?
Some of my very favourite people! - I've long been an honorary member of the Boss family - and I'm delighted that the Katana : GO is finally back. If you watched the Andertons review - the Nux one has the most options, the Fender one has the best interface, but the one that sounds the best - yes indeed the Katana : GO - I really love mine - I consider it an essential tool!
Another devices that's going really well is the slimmed down Waza Tube Amp Expander - also pictured above. That one has so flown off the shelves that there were hardly any left in this land - certainly none could be found to take to the show.
Boss were piggy-backing of their PMT alliance - where a number of those stores carry in-store Roland / Boss operations which have their own Roand / Boss Product Experts - including Birmingham's PMT Store - which provided the 4th Boss member on the stand - Adam I think he was called!
I didn't get too much opportunity to speak to get gang during the show - they were so busy. I was told to come back at the end-of-play to get a team photo - which was my last task of that day.
A wonderful end to a fabulous show - and as I said at the start - the best one yet for me!
