Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
2026 January Pedal-Chain Update - Episode I - A Flying Start!
January has been a bumper start for the year - with lots of killer arrivals - especially the DSM & Humboldt Dumblifier which I’ve been hugely impressed with.
Also my most formidable NAMM coverage to-date - where I only started work properly on the 8th of January - but have managed to do 60 articles since that time - which is a record of course, as is the week of 20 posts.
I feel I covered all the key moments - and mixed up new and old in my usual inimitable fashion.
There was ...
16 of the Best Extended Range Marshall Pedals with Plexi + JCM800 Coverage : The Next Iteration
This is the 2nd Iteration for this article - where we go from a selection of 13 to 16.
I landed 4 of these these last year - the Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Flattley Outlaw, Fortin Kali, and Tubesteader Gainlord.
And two early this year - the Car Martin PlexiRanger and Seymour Duncan Diamondhead
We have 4 distinct types of pedals here across 4 format sizes (Compact / Mid-Horizontal / Mid-Vertical / Large) :
- Dedicated Dual Channel Plexi + JCM800 Overdrive / Distortion with
2 of the best from Seymour Duncan have just recently landed - the Diamondhead Multistage Distortion + Boost, and Polaron Dual Modulated 2-16 Stage Analog Phase Shifter
I first covered the Diamondhead back in November of 2019, and it’s been on the wishlist ever since. I guess I was never presented with the right opportunity - until I came across it during my Christmas visit to Reykjavik’s 2 main pedal shops - Tónastöðin and Hljóðfærahúsið.
It turns out that it was the only reasonably priced pedal that I encounter in Iceland - where it was priced at 32,500 ISK which amounts to around £192 equivalent. I had my father in tow - and he managed to wrangle a ...
MXR unleashes EVH Modern High Gain Distortion Pedal - based on the EVH 5150 III Amp's Red Lead Channel
Most are familiar with this format by now - as it’s near enough the same as MXR’s 5150 Overdrive. Obviously this Red edition is the 3rd Channel - the Red Lead Channel from that EVH 51510 III Amp.
Apart from the extra gain, sear and saturation we also have a new Bass Shift control - which gives you two options of the Bass Centre Frequency.
Controls - Gate, Output, Bass, Bass Shift : 55Hz / 80Hz, Mid, Treble, Gain, Boost.
I wonder how much this was influenced by the equally red Anti ...
The forthcoming Sinvertek MGAT-1 EVO Marshall Real Amp Abstraction Preamp comes in 2 limited-run Great Era and Abstractionism Editions and is one month away from landing now
Readers will know that I’m a huge fan of Sinvertek’s N5 / MGAT series - where I own each of the key editions released to date - since 2017.
This is the 3rd and ultimate edition of the MGAT-1 MIAB circuit - which retains the same topology as the other 2 MGAT-1’s - but slightly repurposes some of those controls - and aligns them more with specific Marshall Amp Profiles.
Controls - Volume, Marshall Amp Frequency Character : JCM / JTM / SLP & JVM, Gain, Low Frequency Response : Full / ...
Mr Wu has expanded the envelope further - another evolved and improved MGAT-1 Pedal is incoming - the Marshall EVO Edition Sinvertek Real Amp Abstraction
I already thought we had witnessed Peak Full-Range Marshall back in 2022 with the original MGAT-1, then Mr Wu significantly improved that circuit in 2024, and the new one promises to be even better!
So far we’ve only had a teaser on Instagram - where I got the EVO pic from - while there is no web page yet or much in the way of further details.
Like the MGAT-5 - the first batch will contain especially mojo components - so it’s worth getting involved early on.
The actual control ...
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 Distortion Pedals of the Year
And so onto the Distortions of the year - the smallest group stage this year! There’s no particular logic as to why there are just 20 Disortions this year. There were a further couple of acquisitions that I was disappointed with - and I deliberately left out of this selection. It’s mostly a case of what appeals each year - and evidently there weren’t that many appealing ones beyond those I acquired. I’m not aware of any particular ones that are still in the wind. The last one in was the ...
2025 Full Metal Racket - 32 of the Best Compact High Gain and Heavy Metal Pedals
So we’re at that time of year again for another Full Metal Racket Rundown. I meant to have it coincide with halloween - but was so inundated with new releases work - that I really struggled to fit this one in. And it now appears a month later than I wanted it to - but still very much at the appropriate end of the year!
As is ever the case - this selection continues to evolve over the years - and inevitably some previous candidates get bounced for more impressive newer variants.
For this...
13 of the Best Extended Range Marshall Pedals with Plexi + JCM800 Coverage
This feature has been a long time coming. I have somewhere around 60 to 70 Marshall-style Pedals in my collection - while this selection mostly features Dual-Channel or Drive + Boost Pedals - which cover you both for Marshall Plexi and JCM800 flavours - actual and ballpark.
I landed 4 of these this year - the Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Flattley Outlaw, Fortin Kali, and Tubesteader Gainlord.
We have 4 distinct types of pedals here across 4 format sizes (Compact / Mid-Horizontal / ...
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