Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
2026 August Pedal-Chain Updated - Episode VIII - Rainger Danger and Ge/Si Fuzztopia
August has been a tough month for me - beset by personal and professional challenges and setbacks. Only around half the pedals intended for August actually landed - so overall August has been a touch lacklustre - while as a consequence - September should be pretty spectacular!
There have still been some killer releases this month - including the Sinvertek Imperium, Martian Sound Cydonia, Empty Head Effects Seafarer, Keeley Tube Drive, OBNE V2 Beam Splitter, MXR M226R Flanger/Doubler, PigDog...
Coriolis Effects' Face Deluxe Extended Range Transistor and Settings Switching 2-Stage Fuzz is a killer S-Tier Fuzz Face
I’m obviously a huge fan of transistor-switching / hybrid Fuzz Faces and own around a score of those varieties. This new Face Deluxe reminds me a lot of the Palmer Custom FX The Solarist Fuzz - which also does that A/B and Transistor switching - while the Face Deluxe is a touch more compact, but where the Solarist also has a RangeMaster in the mix, and 3 footswitches - so not the same at all, but with some overlapping similarities.
We’ve seen the A/B and Transistor Switching Before, while ...
I so love the Spaceman Effects White Light Dealer Editions - that I had to add another Rumblefuzz II to the capsule collection!
For me - these Dealer special White Light editions - are some of the prettiest varieties Spaceman has released to-date - with the white-out / snow-blind livery and striking cyan / teal LED’s - just gorgeous. I was missing the Atlas IV and Apollo VIIb - and Cream City Music and Axe and You Shall Receive were enormously helpful in getting those shipped to me in short order. I then spotted that my friend Scott at Axe and You Shall Receive also had a White Light Rumblefuzz II remaining - and I just...
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 of the Best Pedals of the year
And here we have the GRAND FINAL- with all 36 Award Winners from the Group Stages - across all 5 categories!
The first two places have kind of been obvious for a while, where the 3rd / BRONZE position was actually the hardest to decide on - it was between the eventual recipient - the Tubesteader Gainlord, Boss’s XS-100 Poly Shifter, Blue FX Devices Fuzz Fields and Gamechanger’s Motor Synth - all of whom would have been worthy runners-up - while in the end I went for the one that overall ...
2025 Best New Fuzz Pedals of the Year
Probably the strongest selection of the year - each one of these is amazing and sounds killer. But then agin similar was true of the Overdrives. I’m very much a fuzz fanatic - so his selection has to take the edge - what a selection!
This selection includes 3 from EarthQuaker Devices, 2 from Drunk Beaver, 2 from Fjord Fuzz, and 2 from ThorpyFX.
It also includes the likely pedal of the year - within a selection of 10 award winners here - these are so good - I could have labelled even ...
2025 October Pedal-Chain Updated - Episode X - Big Thrills and Overspills
October was a super busy month - one of the busiest ever - with such a scope and scale and body of work covered - I’m quite shattered as a result!
We had of the penultimate Events of the year :
- The 2nd Woking Boutique Guitar Show
- Kempton Park London International Guitar Show
And around one dozen key posts as below also :
- Letter from Dr.No
- Teaching Machines FuzzBillion Component Combinations Wheels Gain-Shaper
- Hangman fx DAGG’R Dynamic Auto-Gain/Gate Mighty Morphing Gain-Ramper
After a near 10 year chase - I finally have a Spaceman Effects Gemini III Dual Fuzz Generator - in gorgeous Blue Edition
This has officially been my longest chase to-date - where I’ve been chasing this pedal / circuit since 2016 - when I got back into guitar and launched Guitar Pedal X. This Gemini III was initially launched in May of 2011 - so by the time I caught wind in 2016 - the price had trebled to $1,000 and above. In fact whenever I came across one of these they were always listed at well over and above $1,000 - some even over $2,000 and equivalent.
The fact that I now own this #06/15 edition has much...
Coriolis Effects releases its second superb Compact take on the Spaceman Effects Gemini III - the improved Grissom Young Dual Fuzz II Edition - with fully variable gain controls
So I’ve been after a Spaceman Gemini III Dual Fuzz Generator ever since I got back into guitar in September of 2016 - right at the start of the Guitar Pedal X Journey. I came across the Gemini III very early on during that phase, but since it was released way back in May of 2011 (some 5 years earlier!) - market prices were already high by the time I came across it - if I recall correctly - typically fetching a price of around or just over $1,000- which makes it all very dear once you’ve then ...
9 Cool Compact Edition Stackable Dual Overdrives
We’ve seen two new iterative editions of mid-size dual overdrives recently - namely the VS Audio Royal Flush+ and the Browne Amplification V4 Protein. My mind immediately turned to the recent Chase Bliss Brothers AM Dual Overdrive - and I though it would be a good idea to feature a selection of compact enclosure dual overdrives - as many of those are as formidable as the mid-size editions.
The Rules for selection are that these must be Compact Dual Overdrives with independent stackable ...
