I always get pangs of sorrow when a pedal brand retires for one reason or another. Late last year Luca Romanelli announced that he was pulling the plug on his Mastro Valvola pedal brand - which at times I have referred to as ’The Strymon of Italy’.

There are so many complications and complexities with pedal-building in general - chip sets and key components increasingly harder to source, and numerous challenges with logistics and red tape. It’s a wonder more of these don’t go to the wire. ...

I say the Rabea Sabre is fully available - while noting that the Limited 30 Run Frenzied Flame Burst Edition sold out in just a couple of days or so. The Standard Vileblood Burst will be available at all Music Man Dealers, including at Andertons - where it’s priced @ £4,299 (Music Man = $3999).

My upper ceiling for guitar acquisitions is usually at £3.5K, but I would most definitely make an exception for this fantastic guitar. It’s designated as a Sabre Model - but there are so many cool ...

While there will be one more Heavy Water feature on the final Monday of this month, that will be more of a roundup and last-minute reminder. So this is the last therefore of the main feature articles.

Most of you will be familiar with the 29 Pedals EUNA Elite Unity Amplifier / Buffer - which combines a Buffer, Harmonics & EQ, High Headroom, and a very unique and potent Power Management circuitry. It’s core mission of course to make your effects chain sound better. The EUNA is a front-of...

The StarCrash 70’s Collection re-skins 4 Catalinbread classics (Adineko, Katzenkönig, SFT, and Valcoder) and adds 2 brand new period correct pedals - a Screamer-type SideArm Overdrive, and a 70’s style StarCrash Sustaining Fuzz.

I really like the styling of these - which enclosures come in a really appealing apple-green sparkle, and where prices vary from $179 to $209 for the Adineko delay.

I only own the standard Katzenkönig from this circuit selection, I’ve had the SFT on the wishlist...

I’ve long championed the CompIQ Stella - which is the closest you can get to a studio rack compressor in pedal format. The Stella is simply the most powerful and tweakable compressor in its category. And I’ve finally got one in the reference collection - many thanks to Becos FX for organising that for me in such a timely manner!

I’ve had my Stella for a couple of weeks or so now, and this will be my first article of a series - a sort of short-term first impressions take. Which I will then ...

A collaboration between AC Noises and Andrea Degli Esposti from BunkerNoise using a powerful modular synth DSP for AC Noises’ first ever stereo pedal.

This is a unique confection of conventional reverb with diffused and reflected grains - essentially adding further texture and dimension to the Reverb ambience.

The clear knobs are the conventional reverb, and the mini black ones control various aspects of the Grains. That mini-knob row is then  followed by 3 switches - which set further ...

Boss has really been showing Bass Players a lot of love recently - with superb dedicated devices for the lower range of playback. For April we get a Bass Edition of the ME-90 - wholly re-designed with Bass Players in mind and the precise effects they favour in their rig. There may be some superficial similarities to the ME-90, but the ME-90B has been wholly re-engineered for Bass. In my describing all the effects, features and functions - it’s almost overwhelming just how much you get on the ...

Before we get into the detail of the Santanabe, it’s important to note that both the May Queen and Santanabe pedals are derivations of the the core Zenkudo circuit - with certain EQ, Voicing and Gain Tweaks / Alterations. For instance the Gain curve on the Zenkudo and May Queen has a Linear B Taper, while the Santanabe is of the Logarithmic A type curve.

Both the May Queen and Santanbe have significantly more gain onboard than the Zenkudo - with 3 times the amount of the Zenkudo at Max ...

CTC has wholly updated its White Whale All-analog Trem-Verb with a slew of extra features and modes, and increased fidelity and versatility - this surfer’s delight just got even better!

Both effects now are entirely separated internally - and each comes with 3 modes of operation - different spring combinations on the Reverb Side, and now 3 different Tremolo Modes - including a brand new Harmonic variety. You can set the relative position of the Tremolo - Pre/Post, and the Reverb’s power amp...