Everyone should be familiar with the MXR Rockman X100 Headphone Amp / Analog Tone Processor by now - which the MXR pedal of the same name is derived from. It was one of last year’s big releases - where I acquired mine back in March of that year.

But the XR100 was only one of several Tom Sholz signature devices. He made a far more expansive Rockman Sustainor Rack Unit - which is here in HTJ-Works’ beautifully streamlined 10-Controls HWS-100AS Sustainor PreAmp compact unit - which for me is ...

This has turned out to be the largest category for 2025 with 38 pedals in this selection. As I favour those pedals that I own first, and then the more pedalboard-friendly editions - inevitably there would be some casualties for the year. With the most significant of those being the larger format Meris Enzo X, and the Polyend MESS Multi-Effect Step Sequencer. I know there are some who favour each of those - but they just aren’t targets for me personally.

 I always talk about having a lane - ...

My close association with Thorpy started back in late September of 2018 - at the now defunct Olympia UK Guitar Show. He was the first pedal maker I reached out to, and the first I connected with.

Since then ThorpyFX Pedals have become my 3rd most populous selection after Boss and Drunk Beaver. Those 3 brands alone contribute over 200 pedals to my reference collection!

The fact that I’m now at 31 ThorpyFX Pedals is a major milestone - and features every mainline MKII pedal Thorpy has made. ...

So I spotted both of these at the same time - where both kind of share an army green colourway - while the Pique is a slightly lighter hue, and the Utility is slightly darker. In any case - because of their similarity of hue - I decided to tackle them together! Think of it as simply a colour-themed association - while both somewhat overlap in certain aspects!

Both of these have a large Boost / Volume knob, and then some extra switches / controls for smartly ramping up / re-shaping or re-...

When the NOTAKLÖN materialised last year, I was intrigued, but never felt like I really needed to add one of those to the collection. The horizontal format is not my favourite enclosure type - where I much prefer the vertical orientation / arrangement we see for the somewhat more expansive NOTADÜMBLË.

Readers will know that I’m a big fan of Dumble Drives, where I have a number of favourites already, but very few dual channel takes like the one.

The NOTADÜMBLË featureds 2 Channels - a ...

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...

So January 2025 sees a momentous milestone - where we have the peak possible number of pedals in the chain - which now numbers no less than 52 Pedals. It’s an incredibly tight squeeze - and all the available space is now fully used up.

I’ve re-flowed the main visual - where I used to try to have a fixed format arrangement - but now have re-numbered the slots entirely corresponding to the number and order of those pedals. Last January I noted that I was going to switch out my 2 Friedman ...

So in a move that is slightly reminiscent of OBNE, EarthQuaker Devices has rolled out its own utility pedals line - mostly small in stature with simple yet useful topologies.

I typically like for my buffer to be foot-switchable, but don’t mind that the Buffer/Preamp here is an always-on type. The 2-way Buffer Splitter is another handy always-on utility - before we come to the 3 switchable ones. A cool mini powered A/B box and larger passive ABY variety. And then the dearest one of the bunch...

Considering my well documented fallout with this brand - this is a slightly odd article for me. I might not get along with said brand name head honcho - but Jackson Audio still make some very decent pedals. They’re not necessarily always the best sounding overall, but in terms of their format innovation, build quality, feature set and usability they’re still a formidable force.

Pedal industry relationships are always complex - as they don’t just involve the builders, but distributors and ...