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 ...

So the somewhat scuzzy garage punks’ favourite fuzz gets the Reeves Electro Daughterboard treatment with additional external Bias control!

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This is another distinct 2-Transistor circuit - a little rawer and more edgy than the classic Fuzz Face. And this particular model makes use of those exceptional 1984 ME C1016 Red Dot Silicon Transistors that Reeves Electro favours, and has indeed used on a few of is circuits to date.

I own 2 Catalinbread varieties of this - including a Germanium ...

Readers will know that I’m something of a fan of Brian May’s Treble-Boosted / Top-Boosted Vox sound, and I’m on a mission to pick up as many variants of the Treble Booster as I can!

I’m off to a bit of a slow start - as the only one I’ve collected to date is the HSE Brian May style Treble Booster. I mean to get the official KAT BMG Treble Booster Classic (£275), and I also mean to get this Reeves Electro May Boost. While that lands too late in the month for me - and the budget is long blown...

Here we have the latest of the BlackHatSound family - which I believe is the 5th in the series :

• BlackHatSound (BHS-ORG) [2020]
• BlackHatSound Professional (BHS-PRO) [2022]
• BlackHatSound Deluxe (BHS-D) [2022]
• BlackHatSound Germanium (BHS-GE) [2025]
• BlackHatSound Alpha One Knob Fuzz (BHS-A) [2025]

This time around it’s all about simplicity and purity of output - which is ever raw and visceral with this type of circuit. Here suitably loaded with a pair of vintage 70’s Micro Electronic ...

We have a beautifully point-to-point handwired Zonk Machine II in similar wedge enclosure to the original format of that legendary pedal. It features 2 x Rare NOS 60’s General Electric Silicon 2N3416 Transistors, where my original Reeves Electro ZO has late 60’s Motorola Gold Leg MPSA05’s - both are excellent choices!

Controls - Swell (Volume), Texture (More Grain), Drift (Fuzz/Bias), Bass Boost / Fat Switch.

The Zonk Wedge is mostly the same controls as before - but with a fully granular ...

Markus has created another special edition BlackHatSound Fuzz - the 4th variant edition as far as I’m aware. And this time around he’s gone with rare Germanium Transistors - which is quite a departure for him - as he’s long been about getting the most out of Silicon components.

The rarity of the components is reflected in the £450 price tag - which is fairly steep - while very much on par for Reeves Electro’s point-to-point hand-wired series.

Had I not been over-committed for May I ...

The month started off strong with the unique ThorpyFX and Origin Effects Thorigin Folked Up Fuzz April Fool’s - but genuine product collaboration. The NAMM teased DigiTech HammerOn finally landed, and we saw the release of the stunning ThorpyFX Purple Edition The Dane Drive + Boost.

I introduced the Butterfly Effects Dobbo Granular Playground - whose second batch should be out be the ned of next month - that is a major target for me!

I also visited Reeves Electro on the 10th - while ...

This is quite a different device to the original point-to-point £490 ($649) Leo Dual Channel Tweed Drive - where that is all about the granularity of its gain output and structure. Where the new Leo : Twelve introduces a fully variable Tone control into the mix.

Controls - Volume, Tone (< More Bass | Less Bass > maintains top end throughout), Gain.

There’s plenty of range on every dial - and all is fairly self-explanatory besides the very unique Tone Control. Said Tone Control loads in ...

This was an unusually busy month - with 3 significant Guitar / Pedal Shows and in-depth show reports by me for each - which I’m incredibly proud of - no one does those to the same degree of detail as I, and for the Birmingham show I really lucked out with some amazing pictures - including of me and TheGigRig Crew.

Fuzzes are very significant this month - with a 10 Unit Fuzztopia acquired overall - of which I could only fit 6 on the board in the end - where all of those though had an innings...