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Post-NAMM Projected Pedal-Chain, 2020 Roadmap and Wishlist!

AnasoundsBig Muff Style FuzzBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveChase Bliss AudioChorus and VibratoDelayDelay WorkstationDigital DelayDigital ReverbDistortionDriveDual-DriveDumble Style OverdriveEarthQuaker DevicesFlangerFuzzFuzz Face Style FuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionGated and Velcro FuzzGFI SystemGlitchJackson AudioJHS PedalsKlone and Transparent OverdriveLooperMetal DistortionModulationModulation WorkstationMulti-DriveOCD Style OverdriveOctave FuzzOpAmp FuzzOverdrivePedal ChainRat Style FuzzRedbeard EffectsReverbReverb WorkstationSilicon FuzzSuper-Fuzz StyleThropyFXTone Bender Style FuzzTremoloTubescreamer Style OverdriveUtilityVS Audio+-
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2020GPXSKSignalChainPostNAMM700.jpg

I’ve already largely decided what new pedals I will be targeting this year (that I know of!) - following on from the various reveals and announcements made over the last week, and other projects I’m aware of and various themes I will be pursuing in 2020.

 

First of all to explain the above visual - this features and extrapolation of my current pedal-chain - with the NAMM legend in front of various new / newish pedals - Green means already acquired - or at least already transactioned (yes you EQD Life Pedal V2), while Orange denotes pedals announced at NAMM that I intend to acquire at some point in 2020 - hopefully sooner rather than later pending availability, timeliness and of course funds. I have also just for fun mocked up a GFI System Specular Tempus 2 on slot #39 as I fully expect that to become a reality within the next 12 months or so!

 

Note that with quite a large collection of pedals and further acquisitions planned - there is a lot of ’rotation’ that goes on in the chain - while other slots remain pretty unchanged for the year.

 

So here are the actualities and likely changes :


Top Row

Actually no need for improvements here and nothing new which gives me any advantages over what I have already - besides I already have numerous rotational elements on all of those slots. I am toying with getting in a Subdecay M3 Monophonic 3 Oscillator Guitar Synth for a some time rotation with the Boss SY-1 but that is really a low priority.


Second Row

  • #10 : One of the first changes will be the new Jackson Audio Joey Landreth Signature Golden Boy Blues Breaker style 4-clipping Mode Overdrive + Boost - which will replace the incumbent Jackson Audio Broken Arrow - it's predecessor funnily enough - I still love that and may be rotating it in occasionally, but I feel I will largely prefer the slightly warmer tones of the forthcoming Blues Breaker style overdrive.
  • #14 : I formerly had two pedals here - including the very new Sinvertek N5 Drive Plus - which scandalously will be set to rotation duties once the Chase Bliss Audio Automatone PreAmp MKII arrives around late May time. Another pedal set to rotation will be the excellent Boss OD-200 Hybrid drive which still has a several months ahead of it in the former slot which will be absorbed by the MKII.
  • #16 : I only just brought the excellent Dr Scientist The Elements back into rotation - but that will need to yield its slot to the incoming JHS PG-14 Paul Gilbert Signature Distortion
  • #17 : One of my very long term favourites the MI Effects Super Crunch Box V2 will also need to vacate its seat for when the new Jackson Audio El Guapo JCM800 Distortion + Tube Screamer Overdrive arrives sometime around late Summer / early Autumns - so stilly plenty of time for Crunchy to do its thing

Third Row

  • #19 : The Beetronics Swarm was on here pretty much since it came out last year - I then rotated in the Demon Pedals Parvati Muff, and currently have the excellent KMA Audio Dead Stag Muff on that slot waiting for the arrival of the EQD Sunn O))) Life Pedal V2 - which was due at least a week ago, but is now supposedly being delivered sometime around February 14th - so the Dead Stag gets an extended innings!
  • #20 : Once the Jackson Audio Golden Boy has been out for 2-3 months Brad has said he will then launch the Modular Modern Fuzz + Octave - although that may arrive sooner. This will unseat a the very firmly rooted-to-the-slot Dr Scientist Frazz Dazzler which has been a very long-term favourite fuzz of mine
  • #22 : Another pedal that will need to yield its throne is the excellent Sitek Wuffy Fuzzy-Distortion - to be replaced by a slightly different Fuzz-edged distortion - Thorpy's excellent new The Bunker Intermodulation Distortion. I will also be getting the ThorpyFX Field Marshal Gated Fuzz - but still need to decide which slot to rotate that in on - obviously there are various different timings here and some of these pedals aren't due until a lot later in the year
  • #23 : I'm still loving my Redbeard Red Mist MKIV and will be dropping in the new Honey Badger Sub-Octave Fuzz on the slot right now occupied by the REVV G3. Obviously there is a very large number of rotational pedals on that slot - so it will be interesting to see what settles by the end of the year!

Fourth Row

  • #29 : I still love my Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinly MKII - but I've long thought to mix things up on this slot with a new Chorus or two - meaning I will very likely get the Boss CE-2W and DC-2W this year - and am of course heavily considering the VS Audio Alchemy - which I believe will be extremely handy with its 6 footswitchable presets
  • #30 : The glorious Camoflange has been on that slot since it came out, and I really don't see it budging any time soon. I will though be keeping an eye on the forthcoming Buffalo FX Reticon Flanger - just to see what that's up to - it's a similar footprint to the Camoflange so I may get in for the occasional rotation - while I fully expect the Camoflange to be my favourite for many years to come - I also mustn't forget my CBA Spectre which I have a soft spot for too and which deserves a rotation now and again
  • #31 : Another pedal I have long loved and thought unshiftable really is the Chase Bliss Audio Gravitas - while I am actually currently fancying a bit of change there - and the touch-sensitive Anasounds Analog Harmonic Tremolo looks to be the perfect candidate to fit the criteria there
  • #33 : Alas the Blooper has only had a brief look-in on this slot as I'm still somewhat obsessed with the CBA MOOD and Generation Loss - with the latter getting quite a prolonged shift at the moment - I have yet to decide when Blooper take-over day will be - not for a week or two yet by my current mood
  • #34 : My favourite pedal of last year and one of my favourite pedals of all time - the GFI Synesthesia continues to awe and amaze with its smart functionality and finely tuned algorithms - this is the future of Modulation pedals as far as I am concerned - I may still though get a Wampler Terraform for the very odd occasion I want something simpler!

Bottom Row

  • #39 : I've been little cheeky here and mocked up a GFI System Specular Tempus V2 in the exact same form factor as the exceptional Synesthesia which I would have thought would be a shoo-in for GFI. They already have the category leading platform - they just need to load it with the Specular Tempus Delays and Reverbs and apply slightly different control variables - I feel it could happen this year - certainly by early next year!

2020 Roadmap and Themes

Those who follow this site will know that 2018 was my 'Year of Fuzz' although that quest is still very much ongoing with a number of further targets on the acquisition / wishlist. I am already dealing with Dave Friesema of Function F(x) / Pickdropper fame for a series of Mini fuzzes - including the just officially launched Clusterfuzz Micro - which will end up in a feature on this site.

 

I will also be continuing my informal collaboration with Sof Tebboune of Expresso FX - he will be making me one of his new custom edition Il Signor Bender Fuzzes (Vox TB) - which combines CV7005 and CV7007 germanium transistors to amazing effect.

 

I still have some left-over business from 2019's 'Year of Glitch' I have to at least still acquire the Banana Effects Mandala, and I also really like the look of the new Cooper FX Outward 2 Digital Delay / Sampler / Time-Stretcher - although I have no idea where I would accommodate it.

 

2020 will likely be something of a mixed media year as I've been thinking of rounding off my Boss collection - there are a number of wishlist targets that I just need to get sorted and/or move on. Also following my Mini Pedals State of the industry piece I'm looking forward to focusing a little more on mini pedals this year - and looking forward to another Mini collaboration with my good pal Guillem Vilademunt of Decibelics fame - home of the best Klones!


2020 Acquisition and Wishlist Priorities

Note that these are simply in alphabetical order and cover just a small part of the overall rather infinite pedal wishlist! :

 

Top 40 or so rolling acquisitions/wishlist

  • Anasounds Ages Analog Touch-Sensitive Harmonic Tremolo .
  • Banana Effects Mandala Mini Glitch Pedal
  • Blackhawk Balrog V3 Distortion
  • Boss CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus
  • Boss DC-2W Waza Craft Dimension C Chorus
  • Boss Waza-Air Immersive Bluetooth Modelling Headphones
  • Chase Bliss Audio Automatone PreAmp MKII [May]
  • Chase Bliss Audio Dark World Reverb (Yeah I know - late to the party!)
  • Crazy Tube Circuits Killer V Vibra-Drive
  • DanDrive Working Man Fuzz
  • Danelectro 3699 Fuzz [April]
  • Decibelics Secret Mini Project III
  • Earthquaker Devices Afterneath V3 Otherworldly Reverberator
  • Electro-Harmonix '73 V2 Violet Ram's Head (JHS Mod)
  • Electro-Harmonix Oceans 12 Stereo Dual Reverb
  • Engl Powerball High Gain Distortion
  • Expresso FX Custom Il Signor Bender (VTB) CV7005 + CV7007 Transistors, Bronze w/ 3 cream knobs
  • Expresso FX Custom Compact Tup Fuzz!
  • Expresso FX Secret Project Fuzz
  • Free Fall Diver Huge wall-of-sound Mini Fuzz
  • Friedman Smallbox Overdrive/Distortion/PreAmp [March]
  • Function F(x) Clusterfuzz Micro .
  • Function F(x) FaceBender Dual Fuzz Micro
  • Function F(x) Hive Mind Fuzz Micro (Buzzaround) .
  • Function F(x) Professional MKIII Fuzz Micro (TB MKIII) .
  • Function F(x) Ram's Head Fuzz Micro
  • Function F(x) Skeleton Rat Distortion Micro
  • *GFI System Specular Tempus 2 Dual Channel Delay + Reverb Dream Machine
  • Jackson Audio El Guapo JCM800 style Distortion + Tube Screamer style Overdrive
  • Jackson Audio Fuzz - Modular Fuzz + Octave with swappable core circuit cards
  • Jackson Audio Golden Boy Joey Landreth Signature Blues Breaker style Overdrive + Boost [March]
  • JHS Pedals PG-14 Paul Gilbert Signature Parametric Mids Distortion .
  • JPTR FX Add Violence Planetary Disorder Unit - High Gain Fuzz (Super Fuzz) .
  • Lichtlärm Gehenna Distortion
  • Magnetic Effects Dual Drive Rat + Tube Screamer .
  • Menatone Vertical Fish Factory / Dual Overdrive - Red Snapper + Blue Collar
  • Menatone Vertical King of the Britains + Boost (Plexi/JCM800)
  • Menatone Vertical Top Boost in a Can (Boosted AC30)
  • MXR CSP027 Timmy Overdrive Mini
  • Old Blood Noise Endeavors Expression Slider .
  • PLBR Effects Drowner Drone Modulator
  • Rainger FX Minibar Liquid Analyser Overdrive
  • Redbeard Effects Honey Badger Sub-Octave Fuzz [March] .
  • Seymour Duncan Diamondhead Multistage Distortion + Boost
  • Spaceman Effects Apollo VII Overdrive [March]
  • STL Tones Revenant Andy James Signature Distortion
  • Subdecay M3 Monophonic 3 Oscillator Guitar Synth
  • ThorpyFX Field Marshal Gated Fuzz [March] .
  • ThorpyFX The Bunker Intermodulation Distortion [March] .
  • Vs Audio Alchemy Analog BBD Chorus with 6 Presets .
  • Way Huge Smalls Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz MKIII (V6 Big Muff) [April]
Stefan Karlsson
Posted by Stefan Karlsson
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Stefan Karlsson
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