Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Rainger FX reboots and super-sizes its 2017 Mini Deep Space Pulsar, now the killer interactive and enhanced Binary Pulsar Stereo Sidechainer / Panner / Tremolo with Warm Analog Preamp
David has massively evolved his 2017 mini Deep Space Pulsar (DSP) into a monster interactive performance modulator which can absorb 2 separate instrument inputs, and/or a Mic - side-chaining one input against the other, and outputting in a variety of fashions including panning ping-pong stereo. It works brilliantly with just a single input too - but much of the magic happens when you double up on your inputs.
I was particularly enamoured with the interplay between the Rainger FX Snare Trap ...
Meris Evolves and Super-Sizes its Bitcrusher / Sequencer / Texturizer - now the Ottobit X Modular Degradation and Texture Engine / Workstation
I’m a little late with this as Meris held back the press release until launch - so I was only provided with the details at the same time as everyone else - which is really rather unusual. I had a number of other projects already on the go - and so I’m a couple days late with this!
As always - each Meris device delivers way beyond its specific core category, its Enzo X for instance is almost as much a multi-modulator as it is a synth - and here we have lots of extras thrown into the mix - ...
Electro-Harmonix's Effects Interface Hardware Plugin Device connects your D.A.W. and Digital Plugins to your Pedalboard and vice-versa
Generally guitar players can mostly split into 3 categories - Just the Amp / Digital Plugins / Pedalboard (stompboxes).
Studio musicians and those that do a lot of guitar recording typically use quite a hybrid setup - while day-by-day they mostly use Plugins and Digital Effects - but switch to an amp when performing. Ola England is a good example of this - as most of the time you see him on YouTube, including SWOLA - he is playing direct into his laptop / PC. But then uses a full fat amp ...
End of Year Pedal Chain Update - Class of 2025
New Pedals in the Class of 2025 Pedal-Chain Snapshot = 41
[OCTOBER] = 9
[NOVEMBER] = 6
[MARCH] = 5
[SEPTEMBER] = 5
[AUGUST] = 4
[JANUARY] = 3
[FEBRUARY] = 3
[APRIL] = 2
[JUNE] = 2
[MAY] = 1
[JULY] = 1
[A-Z by Brand]
- Becos FX CompIQ Pro Yuna Soft Knee Blackmer VCA Studio Style Compressor [SEPTEMBER]
- Blue Colander Grimrobe Dual Cascaded Super Rat [OCTOBER]
- Blue FX Devices Fuzz Fields Ultimate Modulated Fuzz [SEPTEMBER]
- Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble Leslie / Rotary Speaker
2025 Best New Modulation, Pitch, Utility and Multi-FX Pedals of the Year
This has turned out to be the largest category for 2025 with 38 pedals in this selection. As I favour those pedals that I own first, and then the more pedalboard-friendly editions - inevitably there would be some casualties for the year. With the most significant of those being the larger format Meris Enzo X, and the Polyend MESS Multi-Effect Step Sequencer. I know there are some who favour each of those - but they just aren’t targets for me personally.
I always talk about having a lane - ...
Ritual Devices Cauldron is a Single Mono FX Loop Parallel Blender which allows you to cleverly combine and build up effects in parallel
This Cauldron Parallel Blender device really could not be simpler - it’s something that Wub has always wanted for his own needs - and provides a simple single Mono Parallel Channel solution at an affordable level - of £120.
The Cauldron has just 2 Knobs - Loop Boost and Dry / Loop Mix - alongside the regular TS Ins and Outs - and also of course that FX Send-Return / Insert Loop - which interestingly connects to the top mounted jacks! It’s often the other way around - with the dry signal up ...
Death By Audio unleashes Savage Dual-Band Resonant Filter Crossover Fuzz
This is the only brand that could dream of mashing up a crossover frequency filter with a savage Fuzz circuit. You should be familiar with the concept of a Crossover Circuit - as I covered my good friend David’s Great Eastern FX XO Variable Crossover Splitter + Blender not so long ago.
The big difference here is the addition of Resonance control - which makes the output more textured and gnarly, and you then split the frequency into dual Fuzz Channels which further clip and shape those ...
Chase Bliss's latest Small Batch Limited Release - consists of a 2nd Edition of the Reverse Mode C, and brand new Lost + Found Stereo Multi-Modulator Pedal
So - early this morning Chase Bliss announced 2 new pedals. I already have the Reverse Mode C Multi-Direction Stereo Delay in original edition, while I recognise that this newer second batch / edition has a slightly more attractive colourway than the original Chase Bliss always said it would release another batch of the Revers Mode C - and the new edition looks glorious! What a gorgeous colour combination!
At the same time we have the brand new Lost + Found Multi-Modulator / Multi-FX - ...
MXR Pedals Capsule Collection and Future Intended Targets
It’s about time I did a rundown on my MXR Pedals - where this episode was mostly triggered by the arrival of the Bass Synth - where I landed one of the first examples of those to land in the UK, landed with me on July 4th. I was doing some brand research on Reverb.com and I serendipitously came across the one pedal that had made it to Coda Music. It was already in someone’s cart - but evidently I completed the transaction quicker and it was mine.
I’ve adde 6 MXR’s to the collection this ...
Champion Leccy reboots and shrinks down its quirky Kilter now V2 A-B Loop Back and Forth Swing-Swanger Modulator
So the Kilter is a unique Modulator which modulates 2 Insert Loops - back and forth, and where you set the waveform for that modulation, the speed of back and forth transition, and the Blend / Mix between those two signals. On its own it can be used as a very unique Tremolo / Ring Mod - wile the more interesting stuff happens when you have 2 different pedals loaded in Loop A and B!
What’s new in V2?
- The main differences with the V2 are the smaller footprint and the top mounted expression
