The Boss DS-1 legacy is vast - including as Boss’s all time bestseller (1.5+ Million sold), as well as Kurt Cobain’s weapon of choice! It’s fairly significant in my GPX reference collection too - as the Distortion Circuit I own the most variants of (not counting my Big Muffs which I classify more as fuzzes!).

This article was triggered by the recent launch and arrival of the superb PastFX OG-2 - which is probably my favourite of this type to date, while the others featured here each have a ...

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 - ...

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 ...

So when I first covered the HammerOn - alongside the MonoNeon Whammy release, I hadn’t fully gotten to grips with what this pedal was overall about. I think that at my time of writing there were no demos out at that time - while a few brief NAMM snapshots have emerged since - particularly around the 2-5 Note Sequencer and Trill Auto Repeater functionalities.

As the proud owner of the HammerOn’s adjacent siblings - the Drop, and the Whammy Ricochet - I thought I would break it down in the ...

We Geta new MonoNeon Signature Colourway Edition of the V5 Whammy with some custom modes - the pictured Yellow and Orange version. While the Whammy has always been a little over-sized for me and my needs, and where I’ve always preferred to use the somewhat more compact and simpler Whammy Ricochet.

While DigiTech has another ace up its sleeve - with the brand new HammerOn - which takes the Whammy Ricochet format further towards the fuller Whammy feature set, and adds a second Pitch shifter -...

It’s been a while since I covered loopers, and that topic is timely once more as there have been a number of very recent innovations.

I still feel that the TC Electronic Ditto+ is the one essential looper you need, while a number of the recent ones offer up some very interesting possibilities - in some intriguing formats. This selection focuses solely on ’Compact’ editions - so the Sheeran ones for example don’t qualify within that form factor. And a number of these combine a Drum Machine ...

I’m known to collect extended range editions of the DOD250 - mostly evolved and derived - while I’ve always harboured a desire also to acquire a genuine grey box 250 of some description. So this limited run seems to be the perfect opportunity for me.

This pedal celebrates the 1974 original in so many ways - including that it’s made / assembled in the USA with fully through-hole components - like the original - for easy modding.

The pedal also includes the essential original LM741 OpAmp,...

DigiTech launched its HardWire offshoot back in 2007 - billed as rugged and dependable hardware for touring musicians. While, though the pedals were generally well received and favourably reviewed at the time - that brand never really properly took off. HardWire had a mix of both Analog and Digital pedals in its range - and there was some confusion with its comparative price point versus its DigiTech parent. It didn’t help either that DigiTech further confused the issue by latterly re-branding ...

I believe this is the first new DigiTech branded pedal we’ve had for this Cor-Tek continuation of the brand. Of course we had the Chtonic Dark Silicon Fuzz from that same group - back in November of 2023 - while that one was for sister brand DOD.

As soon as I saw the new JamMan Solo HD I thought it was very obviously a competitor for Boss’s enduringly popular RC-5 Loop Station. There’s a degree of similarity between the two - and they’re obviously direct competitors - with each having it’s ...