The final arrangement for the year - all the pedals that impressed the most!
The Modutility roundup combines Modulation, Utility and Pitch type pedals - it also includes Multi-FX and Multi-Modulation pedals of course. Some years this selection is relatively sparse - while this year it’s totally chock-a-block! In fact it was a struggle to whittle the Longlist down - and inevitably some pedals I wanted to feature did not make the cut - including the Endorphin.es Ghost Pedal Multi-FX and Subdecay Prometheus 3 Dual Super Filter.
I still feel that this selection of 26 is...
So right at the end of last month Rob Chapman posted up a YouTube video of a rundown of his all-time favourite guitar pedals. He initially states he’s going to name his 10 most favoured ones - but goes on to mention 20 - which I’ve fully included here.
Rob has a great ear for tone - as countless of his own and Anderton’s videos have proven time and time again. And I really love his everyman approach to guitar gear. I’ve encountered him in person 2 or 3 times now over the years - and he’s ...
This 3rd Edition of the Analog Synthotron Synth is a pretty magnificent achievement - with 7 key Control Blocks featuring a total of 28 controls - covering 4-Voice Synthesis, Sample & Hold / Envelope Filter, and a 2-Voice Analog Chorus.
Ben reports that everything has been updated and improved in this new version - with smarter controls, and greatly improved tracking. Considering the quality and price of this device I would have really wanted better knobs than those basic mini types - ...
I’ve been meaning to do this article ever since the Witney Pedal Party event - where we lucky few who attended - were spellbound by some David Rainger magic - courtesy of a sort of combination performance and demo piece which mostly made use of the above 3 core pedals but in fact included every pedal in the range at some stage.
The Snare Trap and Drone Rainger have a real Dubby / SoundSystem dynamic to them - where in this context - this particular combination kind of renders as a sort of 3...
I’ve been a significant fan of Acorn Amps Pedals over the years and have hitherto had to acquire mine direct from their Atlanta, Georgia Webstore which is not ideal in terms of overseas customs / import and shipping charges. I already had two to my name via said route - the ADHD Synth Fuzz and Kakarot 2-Transistor Fuzz, and I fully intended to get the Compact Solid State Preamplifier fairly imminently too.
I’ve reviewed quite a few of the Acorn Amps Pedals over the years on this site - ...
Boss’s Guitar Synthesiser history is somewhat complex - but generally it stems from a system / platform that Roland introduced in 1977 with the GR-500. Through the 80’s and 90’s we then had the GR-100, GR-300, and GR-700. These devices relied on specialist GK type guitar pickups which connected to the workstations via proprietary 13 Pin DIN connectors / cables. I believe the last significant Roland GR type was 1992’s GR-1.
In the latter 90’s Guitar Synthesisers waned a touch - before Boss ...
Similar to its recent and utterly superb Prometheus 3 Dual Super Filter which I have and love - Subdecay now takes the same kitchen-sink approach to its Tremcoder Pattern Tremolo and Sequencer. You can see that its control topology is almost identical to its predecessor Prometheus sibling - with 6 main control knobs, a 3-way Mode toggle-switch, and dual footswitches.
However Sudecay seem to have gone a step further forward with the newer pedal in that each of the 4 Parameter knobs now has ...
F Division stands for frequency division - where each of the number 1-3 switches divide the output frequency by a certain fraction / degree - resulting in progressive sub-octaves - you can use the switches in any combination - and each one denotes the level of Sub Octave generated 1, 2 and 3.
This is essentially a kind of analog Bass Synth really - while it produces really cool glitches at different combinations and settings - and particularly when you play below the 5th fret.
There are...
Another healthy selection - Modutility covering Modulation, Pitch and Utility pedal categories - for one of the strongest selection to date. Some of the pedals here are truly stellar, and I have a little over half here already in the collection.
I’m unlikely to ever get all the pedals featured here, but there are several already earmarked for acquisition in 2023 - with the Eventide H90 at the top of that list.
The ones I don’t yet own, or may never own even - include :