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.
This is a really interesting new pitch-modulation circuit - a tiny bit reminiscent of EQD’s Rainbow Machine - but it’s significantly adjacent to that and very much its own thing! I also much prefer this slimmer form factor here vs the Rainbow Machine. The Mirror House is really cleverly engineered - and calls on a Smart Control topology to shape its output.
It’s best to approach it from the control topology first :
Controls - Mix (Dry>Wet Mix), Amount (Degree of Shift / Pitch ...
There’s an incredibly rich mix here of no less than 38 killer Modulations, Utilities and Pitch-Shifters - no one does rundowns quite like me! I always dive in at the deep end of things - and give you maximum expansive scope!
There are several here that I don’t have yet, in fact some hat I’m somewhat unlikely to ever have - for reasons of rig compatibility, size and overall sensibilities, practicalities, and preferences!
These 19 are still to be acquired or eventually overlooked :
John Snyder seems to be consistently the hardest working man in this industry - and features on so many brand collaborations that sometimes it feels like he’s responsible for half of everything out there!
I’ve had this article in mind for a while, and over that period we’ve seen many a limited colourway editions for this pedal - where I’ve seen versions in green, and copper, silver, and white even I believe. I still feel that the original black take is a beautifully balanced creation - with...
As narrated by John Snyder (presumably) :
"The Prismatic Wall emulates the Resonance of Sympathetic Strings, producing an effect which is somewhere between a synthesizer and reverb... The Prismatic Wall is what’s known as a Physical Modelling Synthesizer - a type of audio processor that emulates the vibrations of real objects. Here we’re using a variation on a technique called Karplus-Strong Synthesis - which uses a filtered delay line fed back upon itself to recreate the behaviour of a ...