Ring Modulators have long been a weapon of choice for sci-fi foley artists and sound effects gurus - where they can lend a clangy metallic otherworldly edge to almost anything - including voice. As a result they’ve been much used on a variety of sci-fi TV and Films - including of course as the voice of the Daleks for Dr Who.

As Stockhausen discovered - the ring modulator works brilliantly as a sort of sympathetic resonator for piano - and adds a lovely timbre to the core piano voicing ...

The Boss DS-1 legacy is vast - including as Boss’s all time bestseller (1.5+ Million sold), as well as Kurt Cobain’s weapon of choice! It’s fairly significant in my GPX reference collection too - as the Distortion Circuit I own the most variants of (not counting my Big Muffs which I classify more as fuzzes!).

This article was triggered by the recent launch and arrival of the superb PastFX OG-2 - which is probably my favourite of this type to date, while the others featured here each have a ...

Fun fact! -  The very first pedal I bought when I returned to guitar in 2016 - was the Boss DS-1 Distortion - which was the worst pedal I could have acquired for my Clean Pedal Platform Rig. The DS-1 was originally designed to bring further flavour to an already cooking amp - as ably demonstrated by Kurt Cobain.

So my first encounter with the DS-1 was shatteringly disappointing - while the DS-1 is the Distortion pedal I now have by far and away the most variations and takes on. All those ...

PastFX continues its brilliant 2026 release cycle with 3 more exceptional re-worked, evolved and enhanced. They do the very best compact takes on classic effects - typically with a tonne of extra, special mods onboard!

There are already demos out for the OG-2 and Ring Modulator - so I will tackle these in the reverse order that they appear in the picture - that arrangement made visual sense - but since there is currently no demo out for the I.C. Mufnstuf it makes sense to tackle them in ...

Electro-Harmonix first released the Echoflanger circuit back in 1977, that then became the Polyflange in 1979, and ended up as the Polychorus in circa 1981. Mostly the exact same circuit throughout - just with different names and artworks applied - where the final jade-accented Polychorus is the prettiest of the lot. Those 3 editions are distinct from the later 1997 Stereo PolyChorus Reissue - so we’re keeping ourselves to the 70’s and 80’s here alone!

Verlie has done her usual magic in ...

After the quiet comfort of February, March unleashed an avalanched of work - both in terms of new releases and acquisitions, but especial in the field of Guitar and Pedal expos - where I attended 3 within a month - first The Birmingham Guitar Show at Cranmore Park, then the London Synth and Pedal Expo at Studio 9294, Hackney Wick - and then back to Birmingham for the Noise Maker Market at Centrala, Digbeth - all grand events.

I burned myself out a little this month, and came back willingly empty...

If you read my recent PastFX OG-1 piece - you would know that I initially intended to pick up an original long-dash OD-1 with the very original 14-pin JRC3403 OpAmp onboard. There’s hardly any of those available in the wild - and typically they are battered and way over-priced. I had intended to get one and have it modified with an additional tone-stack - as I always felt that was a key element missing from the original, and one of the reasons for the greater success of the Ibanez TS808 Tube ...

The Boss OD-1 OverDrive pedal is widely considered to be the first of its kind. It had asymmetrical amp-like clipping, and just 2 controls - Level and OverDrive, and the very original version had a rare JRC3403 14-Leg opamp chip onboard. Many have rationalised that the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer became more popular because of its softer clipping, while I’m of a mind that the reason the Tube Screamer outsold the OD-1 at that time was significantly because of its 3rd tone control.

I’ve always...

Verlie has outdone herself once more - with 3 more killer takes on notable vintage effects - utilising the same rarified components as those originals.

For her Klon take - she has removed a number of previously core circuit elements which can otherwise generate excess noise for some players. In removing those trouble-making parts - she has delivered an utterly unique take on the Klon - which she further enhances with 2-Band EQ, and an extra Presence switch. It has the usual Buffered Bypass ...