Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
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 ...
Lichtlaerm Audio now has a Quadfecta of superior Compact gain machines with this potent Lennart Bossu Signature Thorn 3-Mode High Gain Distortion, newly in at Joe's Pedals in the UK
Readers should know that I’ve long lauded Lichtlaerm’s previously High Gain Trifecta - the Altar, Gehenna, and Medusa. And now we have the 4th killer compact candidate to join that elite!
I believe the first batch (which sold out very quickly!) was only available on the EvilGreed.Com Webstore - while the second batch is more widely available, including at Joe’s Pedals in the UK - where indeed I got mine from.
Lennart Bossu, of Amenra, Living Gate, Oathbreaker and Predatory Void bands - ...
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...
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
The Magnificent Teaching Machines' FuzzBillion is one of my all-time favourite pedals - its combination wheel gain-shaping delivers myriad exceptional tones across the gain spectrum
I have spent a week now with the magnificent analog mechanical marvel that is FuzzBillion - and I’ve been utterly dazzled by its brilliance. This pedal is genuinely extraordinarily high fidelity and is a superb enclosed breadboarding device and analog sound-design machine.
Leon and his colleagues at Teaching Machines (+ Frank, Luke, and Mat) recommend you work left to right - and start off every sound design task - with all wheels at zero - and then mix your favourite sound cocktail from ...
2025 September Pedal-Chain Update - Episode IX - 55-Part Lunacy!
Another super busy month - where the lack of a holiday is really starting to impact my wellbeing - as I’m about as shattered and burned out as is possible without going entirely into meltdown - I’m teetering on the edge!
Here follow the highlights of the month - which I normally try to limit to around 10 elements - but stand at 12 for September. No show or onside attendances this month - while plenty of other activities - and some killer releases of course!
- Jo Quail @ the Roland Store,
REVV G3 and G4 High Gain Distortion Anniversary Updates added to the reference collection
Autumn is normally the time that I do the Full Metal Racket rundown - and the next one is fairly imminent. In fact I have only one pedal remaining now the Fortin Kail - to complete the set for the rundown.
I was a big fan of the original G3 and G4 and felt obliged to check out the new improved editions - which both seem tighter and more balanced. I have the Sinverek MGAT-5 and Fortin Meshuggah already on the board - and even though the REVV’s are improved over their predecessors - they ...
The Fuzz Imp Furia Chainsaw Distortion takes you well beyond its HM-2 origins into new exquisitely textured territory
I’m not stranger to the HM-2 Heavy Metal format - in fact I’ve celebrated that circuit over the years across several different variants - and I really enjoy adding further new and interesting varieties to that growing collection. There are already a number of blistering takes in that capsule - including the Klrrton Grindstein, KMA Guardian of the Worm, and Lichtlaerm Medusa, not to mention the recently Boss HM-2W. I think I’m over 20 now!
And this Furia I distinctly different again - with ...
