Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Electro-Harmonix's latest 3-Mode Pico Cosmic Shimmer Reverb borrows parts from its Oceans, Canyon, and POG Pedals
For sure another cool Pico pedal - derived from a combination of algorithms from existing larger EHX pedals. I personally tend to favour stereo formats for all spatial effects - Reverb, Delay, and Rotary Speaker Emulators. And had hoped that since NUX and Nobels had rolled out a number of Stereo Mini enclosure pedals - that others would follow suit, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case so much - for whatever reason. It should be fairly easy to accommodate TRS Sockets and the required DSP...
2026 March Pedal-Chain Update - Episode III - Giga-Muff Multiplier
After the quiet comfort of February, March unleashed an avalanched of work - both in terms of new releases and acquisitions, but especial in the field of Guitar and Pedal expos - where I attended 3 within a month - first The Birmingham Guitar Show at Cranmore Park, then the London Synth and Pedal Expo at Studio 9294, Hackney Wick - and then back to Birmingham for the Noise Maker Market at Centrala, Digbeth - all grand events.
I burned myself out a little this month, and came back willingly empty...
40 of the Best Upper Octave Fuzz Pedals - from my own collection
This project has been a long time in the making - I actually started off this compilation properly last autumn, and then have iterated the final selection a number of times since then - before reaching this final format. I apologise to anyone whom I’ve inadvertently left out - I still have a number of Octave Fuzzes to require - that task is never ending!
I own around 80 octave fuzzes so far - and this is near enough half of those - where I’ve mostly leant into compact editions - and ...
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 ...
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 ...
Electro-Harmonix rolls out Pico edition of its Intelligent Harmony Machine
EHX first introduced its Intelligent Harmony Machine in November of 2021, and 5 years later we now get a Mini / Pico edition of that circuit - with very slightly fewer controls, but all the main parts fully intact.
The new diminutive Harmony Machine is at $149 vs the original’s $241.50 - so a circa $90 saving - which is significant.
Controls - Volume, #Button : Normal / Sharp, Dry>Wet Mix, Key : C Major (A Min), C# Major (A# Min), D Major (B Min), D# Major (C Min), E Major (C# Min), F ...
You still have a choice of getting the large format Big Muff 2 from JHS, or the compact version at less than half that price - from EHX, or something possibly with better knobs!
As I predicted - very shortly after the JHS-led large format Big Muff 2 (which is still available), we got the compact EHX variant at half the price, and less than a third of the size!
Readers will know how I feel about unnecessarily large format pedals - which is why those original / styled EHX pedal types are far from my favourites. Where I will almost always prefer a compact pedalboard-friendly take on that circuit.
My friend Ian at Gigahearts has done his own personal take on that ...
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
JHS Pedals' second collaboration with EHX unearths lost alternative OpAmp Muff - the Big Muff 2 - after a rummage through Bob Myer's Workshop
So back in the 70’s EHX’s Mike Matthews commissioned both Howard Davis and Bob Myer to make the next generation of Big Muff - using the newly release OpAmps / IC’s rather than the individual quartet of Transistors. Each engineer came up with their own version - and Mike picked out the Howard Davis one for production - which then became the 1978 EHX OpAmp Big Muff.
Meanwhile Bob Myer’s version sat abandoned and forgotten in the mist of time - until Josh Scott and Daniel Danger came upon it ...
2025 Best New Delay and Reverb Pedals of the Year
In many ways this is the most straightforward category with singular award nominees - GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE.
It’s the second smallest category after Distortions - and the one where I own the least number of pedals in proportion to the whole - just 10 out of these 26.
The order pretty much set itself - with the Cornerstone Nucleo being the clear winner from the start. I’m so impressed with every aspect of that pedal - it’s a perfect Trifecta of Design, Feaures and Playability - pretty ...
