This V2 Edition moves on significantly from the previous V1 - going from 7 to 10 Controls - and introducing a whole load of more colour into the proceedings - both figuratively and literally.

The V1 Controls consisted of - Regen, Rate, Volume, Depth, Univibe / Phase 90 Switch, Phaser / Vibrato Switch, Waveshape : Ramp Up / Ramp Down / Square / Triangle / Sine / Lumps / Random / Stepped, On/Off Footswitch, Tap Tempo Footswitch.

While the V2 Controls are - Envelope, Rate, EXP Switch : ...

So scanning through this month it seems to have been mostly about Guitar / Pedal Shows, Japanese Pedals, and Pedals Delayed and Missing in the Post!

The Guitar Shows have been pretty fast and furious for March - with two of the most significant ones of the year, along with a fledgling grassroots one : The Guitar Show (Cranmore Park - Birmingham / Shirley), London Synth & Pedal Expo (Studio 9294, Hackney Wick, London), The Alternative Guitar Show (The Fighting Cocks, Kingston).

I of ...

Interestingly this is SolidGoldFX’s second take on a 2-Stage VibraPhase pedal - where it originally had the Athena VibraPhase out back in 2019 - which seems to have been discontinued for a while now. I’m not sure how much overlap there is between the two - while the new Aurras seems to be more of a carte blanche re-development than a straight-up evolution or iteration.

The text for the Athena does not mention the Optical components / Opto-Isolators - while both are described as being sort ...

I’m not sure any of us were really expecting the return of the Condor. A lot of us are rather waiting for a stereo Dark World, the assumption was that the Condor was largely obsoleted by the Automatone Preamp MKII.

Yet here we have a new and improved version of that well loved format - and whether this is exciting news depends largely on how you mostly use this pedal.

If you mainly use the EQ and Filter elements - then the newer lower noise, smoother breakup and higher headroom HiFi ...

I’m delighted to report that my friend and yours Vitalii Bobrov - of Drunk Beaver fame - at last has a proper website / webstore for his pedals - DRUNK-BEAVER.ROCKS - where his full current range of 19 pedals can be purchased - of course when in stock.

All these pedals are made in relatively small batches (20 or so at a time) and when there is high demand as there often is - then stock clears out very quickly and then there is typically a wait of around 3-4 weeks before more stock is ready ...

I kind of see the Tripple Threat as an update / replacement for Donner’s discontinued $69 Alpha Cruncher (High Gain Distortion + Chorus + Delay) - but now with All Analog effects - where the Distortion is likely the same / similar to the analog British-voiced (Marshall) High Gain Distortion found on the Alpha Cruncher, while the Tripple Threat’s classic Phaser is a tune-up of Donner’s analog Pearl Tremor, and the Analog Echo is a tune-up of Donner’s well loved Yellow Fall Analog Delay.

...

We’re steadily seeing the Boss 20-Series pedals being replaced now, and the VE-20 is the latest to get a very significant upgrade. The new VE-22 moves things on pretty massively and completely revamps and enhances the form factor, switches, knobs and overall control interface - with 3 core switches now in place of the former 2 - and really smart dedicated controls for each of the core functions - all served by a highly visibly and usable LED screen.

If you’re a singer or vocal performer of ...

The Modutility roundup combines Modulation, Utility and Pitch type pedals - it also includes Multi-FX and Multi-Modulation pedals of course. Some years this selection is relatively sparse - while this year it’s totally chock-a-block! In fact it was a struggle to whittle the Longlist down - and inevitably some pedals I wanted to feature did not make the cut - including the Endorphin.es Ghost Pedal Multi-FX and Subdecay Prometheus 3 Dual Super Filter.

I still feel that this selection of 26 is...

Here follows an in-depth look at the ALABS Audio Adam Adventures Series NovaDrift 9-Mode Modulator.

A pretty decent mix of algorithms - Vibe (Uni-Vibe), Chorus, Multi-Chorus, Phaser, Filter, Rotary, Flanger, Tremolo and Ring.

In my opinion really only missing the Roland/Boss Dimensions Chorus and Harmonic Tremol for a full house!

Generally I cite the Wampler Terraform as the Modulator which has the most perfect mix of Algorithms for my preferences - Auto-Wah, Envelope Filter, ...