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Note - New and Revised Article - [Here]

So another chapter of the Tone Quest is nearing its momentary end-point. In the ongoing efforts to arrive at the perfect Tone, I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time experimenting with and researching overdrives, fuzzes and distortions. Being somewhat eclectic in my tastes, there are a number of the deemed key / core sounds I like. Some players sit squarely within ’Blues’, ’Rock’ or ’Metal’ or ...

It’s really cool that Eventide in its PitchFactor workstation pedal - has a big box equivalent to the usual modulation, delay and reverb types. Yet Eventide is alone in compiling / combining such a full range of pitch-shifting and harmonizing effects into one pedal - there really is no other equivalent to that collection of 10 modes - Diatonic | Quadravox | Harmonic Modulator | MicroPitch | H910 / H949 Harmonizer | PitchFlex | Octaver | Crystals | HarPeggiator | Synhonizer. Everyone else ...

Note : updated 2018 version [here]

There’s a lot of players out there who are big fans of ’analogue’ delays (analog in USA). These were originally developed back in 1969 using a new type of Capacitor known as a Bucket-Brigade Device (BBD). Each BBD capacitor can store approximately 200 to 300 milliseconds of signal - and most of these Analogue Delays use a pair of BBDs for a maximum of around 600ms of delay. Deluxe versions of analogue delays typically use 4 or more -...

Following on from the Summer NAMM highlights post and the standout Pigtronix Mothership 2 pedal, I decided to compile a top 9 list of guitar synth pedals. Some of these are a little highfalutin and over-large for my own pedal chain, but all have merit. There are a few pedal makers who dominate the ’Synth’ category of pedals - historically it has been Electro-Harmonix, and they still have the most offerings in this sector, more recently they’ve had to fight off a mini assault ...

When I got back into guitar, Modulation was not an area I was overly familiar with initially. I understood overdrives, distortion and fuzz, and had a good handle on delay and reverb, as well as a touch of tremolo. For the longest time I thought tremolo was my favourite modulation effect, but I was often confusing that with vibrato, high oscillation chorus or stuttery phaser even. It’s only been relatively recently that I’ve fully got to grips with all the different flavours of ...

This is probably the most hotly contested area of guitar pedalology - which is the ’best’ overdrive pedal you should get - should it be a mid-bump Tube Screamer type, or a more neutral so-called ’Transparent’ version, and should you go with something closer to the original inspiration or something which evens out and tackles its inherent flaws and weaknesses. The guitar world is a strange place - full of staunch traditionalists who persists with ancient tropes despite ...

UPDATE - Based on feedback and input I’ve tweaked some of the pedal placements - the core methodology still stands, while relatively positioning of certain pedals can be fairly nuanced!

This subject matter has become the most popular of all the different articles I’ve posted. And the original piece went up in February 2017 - so I felt it was opportune to revisit, review and revise that original methodology. I’ve tried to strip out the more branded naming conventions ...

There have been 3 legendary analogue tape-style delay engines that everyone agrees on:

• Binson Echorec 2 (1961-79)
• Maestro Echoplex EP-3 (1970 - 1991)
• Roland RE-201 Space Echo (1974 - 1990)

All those 3 have a significant influence and impact on many if not most of those featured here - which are either direct simulations of those former classics, or pay some sort of lip-service to them. T-Rex have a full-size faithful modern reproduction of the Echorec in the works which is imminent for ...

If you are a pedal fan like myself, you will know by now what there are 4 universal full-range pedal makers - i.e. have a pedal for every occasion, we are of course talking of Boss, Electro-Harmonix, MXR and TC Electronic. And while the latter two have a number of mini pedals out, those are very far from being representative of all the pedals available in regular or medium-sized enclosures. In fact the only company that really has a mini pedal for every purpose is Mooer with its Micro Series. ...

All-in-one ambient pedals are a relatively new thing. I had toyed with including ones like the Mooer Ocean Machine and the Boss RV-500, but I ended up leaning more towards slightly simpler pedals which give you those lovely ambient washes when you crank up the reverb - and fill in the spaces between with elegant musical repeats generated by simultaneous delays.

The first of these I experienced were the EQD Avalanche Run and Foxpedal The Wave - which are at the more feature-rich end of ...