I thought I should focus on my large format heavy-hitters for a change - where these 8 are some of my largest, most potent, and best favoured gain pedals. They are arranged here in alphabetical order, while they were released in the below chronological order. All 8 have featured heavily in my rig at different times - and all 8 are still very valid award winners and still in rotation. While the enormous girth of the Elektron Analog Drive means that is gets somewhat less of a rotation nowadays - ...
I believe this is the first time I’ve met Paolo’s lovely partner Nadège - and it’s her birthday today when this article goes live - so let’s all wish her well!
Nadége was on the door for most of the two days, and missed out on Sunday Roast - which Paolo and I had on the second day. I decided that Nadège and Paolo deserved to be this year’s covers stars - they put so much work into this event - to make sure it runs flawlessly smoothly - and the easy ambience and vibe of the event is a ...
Hearty congratulations to showrunner Jason Hunt for the most successful show day to date - with 3,000 visitors through the doors on the Saturday alone! The queue was already massive and nearly the whole length of the building when I arrived at 09:30.
It’s always good to attend on the first day - especially if you want to be sure of grabbing the best looking of the new releases - and particularly the one-offs on the Hello Sailor Effects stand!
This was another great show for me - with ...
36 outstanding Boost and Overdrive pedals featured here in various sizes - 35 of which are already in the reference collection - with the Superlunar SR-01 the last remaining straggler!
The rules of the game are that I can only finally recommend pedals that I own and have lived with, while I can also feature a few other intended targets in the overview which I fully intend to acquire (like the Superlunar SR-01) - but those can’t feature in the final rankings. So there is only one remaining ...
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!
My Klon/Klone journey started in December of 2016 with the Wampler Tumnus Mini - very near the start of my overall pedal journey - so very much in the first 50 pedals I acquired. That pedal had emerged a year earlier (2015) - and players were loving it for the extra bass / oomph it has in its low end. The Mini Tumnus is often selected as the favourite in Blind Tests - and has won a few of those Andertons rundowns.
It took me a while to run across my favourite Mini Klone - the Decibelics ...
For the first time - the two Titan UK Pedal Builders combine forces to elevate the simple accousic guitar into a more vibrant era. We’ve had little evolution of the acoustic guitar since the emergence of the eclectic finger-style players like Mike Dawes.
The mission here was to make the acoustic guitar as exciting as an electric - by imbuing it with the science of wood resonant frequencies - where the properties of Rosewood and Mahogany proved to be particularly suitable for those...
So - we’ve had 3 incredible guitar gear events this month - covering Birmingham, then Woking, and now London - in probably my favourite venue on the circuit. Studio 9294 is such a unique place - having the outside canal-side terrace, and superb next-door restaurant and bar - in the guise of Number # 90 - which always serve up a very decent lunch! With the sun out - like we experienced at the weekend - this venues is wholly glorious - there’s a cool nearby Sainsbury’s, and indeedned ’Bad Coffee’...
Hot off the press!
Well, I had a fabulous Guitar Show this year, best one yet for me personally! I picked up 5 pedals at the show, as well as bumping into Chris Buck, KDH (Kelan Hughes), and my very good friends Markus and Izzy Reeves, also - I had lunch with Jonny Brelliott over at Brew 23!
One of the big highlights for me was meeting the full GigRig Crew - and getting a team photo with all of them. I’m not one for selfies typically - but Dan was very strongly persuasive on this occasion. I...
I think most of you know this one already - that classic double dose of Cali76 Compression - for those who want more flavour, and use the compressor as a special effect. The pedal has been shrunken down, and enhanced at the same time - where previously you had 9/18V power, but now get 24V from a 9V input!
Controls - Dry, Out, In, Attack/Release 2, << Thru << Attack/Release 1.
Because of the nature of the effect, you don’t get that cool floating point meter that first appeared on the ...