John Snyder and crew have created one of the most striking pedals of the year - which will supposedly only be available from the Merch Stand of long-term Post-Hardcore Collaborators Touché Amoré who are on a worldwide tour from April 17th - taking in various locations in the USA, then Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, The Netherlands, and 3 dates in the UK - Wembley Arena on June 24th, and Outbreak Festival - Stretford and Manchester on the 27th & 28th...

This project has been a long time in the making - I actually started off this compilation properly last autumn, and then have iterated the final selection a number of times since then - before reaching this final format. I apologise to anyone whom I’ve inadvertently left out - I still have a number of Octave Fuzzes to require - that task is never ending!

I own around 80 octave fuzzes so far - and this is near enough half of those - where I’ve mostly leant into compact editions - and ...

I came too late to this very recently released pedal - whose first batch is sold out everywhere - including at my good friend’s Joe’s Pedals in the UK.

I’m typically a fan of thunderously Bassy Overdrives - and this is one of the most formidable - with 50 Decibels of Gain onboard and a really Smart Control Topology for maximum impact.

Controls - Level, Gain (50dB), Mids : Flat Mids / Full Mid Cut / Slight Mid Cut, Bass, Attack (Pre-Gain Tone / Sharpness / Bite).

I think I would have...

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 - ...

Probably the strongest selection of the year - each one of these is amazing and sounds killer. But then agin similar was true of the Overdrives. I’m very much a fuzz fanatic - so his selection has to take the edge - what a selection!

This selection includes 3 from EarthQuaker Devices, 2 from Drunk Beaver, 2 from Fjord Fuzz, and 2 from ThorpyFX.

It also includes the likely pedal of the year - within a selection of 10 award winners here - these are so good - I could have labelled even ...

Another super busy month for me - particularly towards the end - with numerous large scale articles out this week. That also coincided with my busiest week of the year for my other day job. Meaning that I was up until 4-5 in the morning every day - just to keep up with my commitments.

I was already somewhat shattered and burned out before I even got to this super busy period - and it’s a relief that all that work has now been completed on schedule.

I’m especially proud of my work on the Bucket ...

I’ve described this as a blistering opamp octave fuzz right from the start - and that still very much holds true - its potency is immense - and you really don’t need to go much above noon on the Level and Fuzz controls - this one gets so loud and saturated - where you’re never going to want to get near to diming it - as it really reaches extremes at max Level and Fuzz - too much for me for sure!

So in tandem with that potency it has the most gorgeous fuzz sound - really warm and articulate ...

I have a real love for full-on and powerful fuzz pedals - that go to ’11’ and beyond. And I love several different Octave Fuzz circuits - including Octavia, Foxx Tone Machine. Super-Fuzz and Life Pedal - where this is another further distinct take with a somewhat expanded control topology.

Controls - Level, Fuzz (+80dB Gain), 3-way Low Pass Filter / Hi-Cut : Strong Hi-Cut / No-Cut / Mild Hi-Cut, Squelch / Gating : Strong / Off / Mild, Weigt (High Pass Filter Cutoff), Texture (Analog Octave)...

June was influenced by a few key events. Obviously the Leeds Pedal Show had a massive impact on me - and I picked up 9 pedals at that show - all excellent, and later picked up a Hudson Electronics AP-II Broadcast. So the reach of the Leeds Show has been massive - particularly the brace from Emmergy FX and SoundLad Liverpool. Then also my visit to good friends Hello Sailor Joe and Glyn - which resulted in a further brace of superior pedals, all featured on the blog this month.