January has been a bumper start for the year - with lots of killer arrivals - especially the DSM & Humboldt Dumblifier which I’ve been hugely impressed with.
Also my most formidable NAMM coverage to-date - where I only started work properly on the 8th of January - but have managed to do 60 articles since that time - which is a record of course, as is the week of 20 posts.
I feel I covered all the key moments - and mixed up new and old in my usual inimitable fashion.
There was ...
This is the 2nd Iteration for this article - where we go from a selection of 13 to 16.
I landed 4 of these these last year - the Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Flattley Outlaw, Fortin Kali, and Tubesteader Gainlord.
And two early this year - the Car Martin PlexiRanger and Seymour Duncan Diamondhead
We have 4 distinct types of pedals here across 4 format sizes (Compact / Mid-Horizontal / Mid-Vertical / Large) :
I must start by congratulating Phoebe on her excellent artwork here - which is one of her best works to date. Where that all-green metallic flake finish looks so fabulous ’in the flesh’ and is beautifully accentuated by a matching green Halo LED.
This is my second favourite looking Flattley pedal after the recent all-red Outlaw. I’m really loving these tone-on-tone designs.
And as for the core voicing of this device - it really is one of the most vibrant and amp-like experiences I have ...
And here we have the GRAND FINAL- with all 36 Award Winners from the Group Stages - across all 5 categories!
The first two places have kind of been obvious for a while, where the 3rd / BRONZE position was actually the hardest to decide on - it was between the eventual recipient - the Tubesteader Gainlord, Boss’s XS-100 Poly Shifter, Blue FX Devices Fuzz Fields and Gamechanger’s Motor Synth - all of whom would have been worthy runners-up - while in the end I went for the one that overall ...
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 ...
This feature has been a long time coming. I have somewhere around 60 to 70 Marshall-style Pedals in my collection - while this selection mostly features Dual-Channel or Drive + Boost Pedals - which cover you both for Marshall Plexi and JCM800 flavours - actual and ballpark.
I landed 4 of these this year - the Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Flattley Outlaw, Fortin Kali, and Tubesteader Gainlord.
We have 4 distinct types of pedals here across 4 format sizes (Compact / Mid-Horizontal / ...
What a gorgeous pedal the sparkly Outlaw is (check the below last video t see it sparkle!) - with its holographic chrome metal flakes and glorious dipped paisley skull artwork. A killer red-on-red / tone-on-tone theme - with Enclosure, Knobs, Footswitch Toppers and Halo LEDs - all matching.
Flattley typically favours blue-hued devices with blue Halo LEDs - so the Outlaw is a glorious contrast to that norm!
The Outlaw benefits from the perfect complement of controls. I typically like my ...
Brighton is normally one of the easiest shows to attend - usually just an hour Journey from London Victoria to Brighton Station. But on this day - when I got to Victoria - it had been announced that all trains to Brighton had been cancelled owing to a landslide near Purley.
I was initially advised to head for Hove instead (Littlehampton service) as the nearest destination to Brighton. I had arrived around 06:30 at Victoria with a view to catching the 06:59 train - which should have got me into ...
This was funnily something of af 2022 Stourbridge Pedal Expo Reunion of sorts - where Audiostorm, Bleak District Electric, Emmergy FX, Fredric Effects, and Goliath FX were all present at that inaugural Pedal Expo. There are marked similarities between the two venues and events - both are similar sort of Mill House style building set within a kind of packing district and both relatively near to a waterway / canal. And both had a really friendly vibe to them. It’s incredible how far we’ve come ...
Hot off the press!
Well, I had a fabulous Guitar Show this year, best one yet for me personally! I picked up 5 pedals at the show, as well as bumping into Chris Buck, KDH (Kelan Hughes), and my very good friends Markus and Izzy Reeves, also - I had lunch with Jonny Brelliott over at Brew 23!
One of the big highlights for me was meeting the full GigRig Crew - and getting a team photo with all of them. I’m not one for selfies typically - but Dan was very strongly persuasive on this occasion. I...