We’re steadily seeing the Boss 20-Series pedals being replaced now, and the VE-20 is the latest to get a very significant upgrade. The new VE-22 moves things on pretty massively and completely revamps and enhances the form factor, switches, knobs and overall control interface - with 3 core switches now in place of the former 2 - and really smart dedicated controls for each of the core functions - all served by a highly visibly and usable LED screen.

If you’re a singer or vocal performer of ...

I’ve long been a fan of Mooer’s potent X2 series - which typically has 14 Presets / Algorithms and stereo output alongside 6 controls and dual footswitches - and is the most capable variety of Mooer Compact Pedals. I’ve intended to add a few of these to the reference collection - while to date only the Preamp Model X is in the collection.

Here we have the X2 varieties of the Harmony and Tender Octaver pedals - where I really like the look of the Harmony’s Channel Separation capabilities - ...

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 here is the first more in-depth coverage of the ALABS Audio Adam Adventures Series - starting with the front-of-chain Orbital Pitch Shifter.

Superficially this would seem to be a very straight up (and down!) and straightforward pedal really - but it has a tonne of hidden depths and beautiful fluttery ambient nuance. I tend to think of it as an enhanced Boss PS-6 S-Bend / DigiTech Whammy Ricochet - while it is missing that rather essential Tom Morello style +2 Octave interval - that ...

When I first started doing the visual for this I thought I had amassed 10 Beetronics pedals to date - but it turns I’m one short of that milestone - it still kind of made sense to mark the occasion of the Custom Shop Nectar’s arrival - which is probably my favourite Custom Shop edition to date. I had to wade through 3 batches to pick out that one - I wanted metal knobs - and a pinkish hue to the core - and the one pictured really captured my imagination. I quite liked my SeaBee at the time of ...

I’ve obviously featured the Pico POG previously as the first in this particular series / range to be released - where we now have 9 fully formed candidates - 7 mini editions of EHX Classics - and 2 brand new formats - the Rerun Tape Delay, and Triboro Overdrive + Distortion + Fuzz pedal - all DSP types.

These are somewhat streamlined in feature sets mostly compared to their Nano / Compact equivalent forebears - while some here actually have a little more to them - including the Pitch Fork, ...

I’ve been a significant fan of the PLL format over the years, and have compiled a couple of significant roundups over that time - Large PLL Devices originally, as well as more practical Compact and Medium PLL editions in a later selection.

Not mentioned in those articles are the monster Glou Glou Moutarde Four Voice PLL Synth, Acorn Amps ADHD, and Fjord Fuzz’s recent Lillebjørn. Some PLL pedals have a tendency to be extremely unruly and overly complicated - and it’s often tough to get ...

The title here is just an odd confection to represent that the most significant additions to the chain this month were Choruses, Clones and Fuzzes. All-in-all a really special month - with my properly hooking up with hitherto correspondent pal Paulo De Gregorio - of Delicious Audio and Stompbox Exhibit fame. He was in London coordinating his first ever London Synth and Pedal Expo - and I was proud to be a Media Partner for that event. I feel Paulo and I are 2 of the biggest parts of the pedal ...

As is Beetronics’ way - they’ve taken a classic BBD Analog Chorus template and then thrown out the rule book. So you get that lush analog modulation goodness - output in either Wet / Dry split Stereo or Inverted Wet Phase Stereo. As per their recent Zzombee Filtremulator this is a highly complex pedal with a steep learning curve - and one that cannot really be navigated without the use of a manual.

You do though get 4 banks of 4 presets - for a total of 16 presets, with 8 factory presets ...