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 picked up the 4th and final pedal from the Ritual Devices Flagship Quadfecta at the recent Kempton Park Show. Those are all part of the acid etched and enamelled series - which features the EVOL Fuzz, Grimalkin Fuzz, Fay Phase Filter Modulator, and this Rainmaker LFO Modulator.

The MVP control here is the Texture one - which controls the Dry/Wet Mix in such a clever way - taking you from subtle rain-drop like pitter-patter, through pulsing / pulsating tremolo, and onto vibrant fluttery ...

This Cauldron Parallel Blender device really could not be simpler - it’s something that Wub has always wanted for his own needs - and provides a simple single Mono Parallel Channel solution at an affordable level - of £120.

The Cauldron has just 2 Knobs - Loop Boost and Dry / Loop Mix - alongside the regular TS Ins and Outs - and also of course that FX Send-Return / Insert Loop - which interestingly connects to the top mounted jacks! It’s often the other way around - with the dry signal up ...

So - quite the anomaly of an event for me.

The day didn’t start off well - as at Waterloo - I was unable to see any trains for Kempton Park on the board. A National Rail staff member then informed me there were no direct trains to Kempton Park on the day - owing to works and diversions.

I was advised to catch a train to New Malden and then swap onto the Kempton Park train. Only upon arrival in New Malden the duty staffer there told me there were no trains to Kempton Park - but there might be a ...

So a quick second Woking Show in the same year - for reasons I will endeavour to explain. A bittersweet moment for me as I have really loved the Fiery Bird venue - it’s a great setting for these kinds of events - and so close to the town centre - just 5 minutes or so form the main Woking Train Station. The reason Jason brought the 2nd show forward is that the council has taken back the licence for the building - with a view to redeveloping the premises - so presumably demolition beckons - which...

If you didn’t make the first one - you really missed out! Check out my Inaugural Woking Show write-up to get a flavour of how good that first show was back in March - it genuinely had amazing vibes - in fact all the March shows - including The Birmingham Guitar Show and the London Synth and Pedal Expo - all had a really friendly and chilled ambience to them - and all three were a joy to navigate - where I often struggle to get around at the Birmingham show.

The Woking Boutique Guitar Show ...

This was an unusually busy month - with 3 significant Guitar / Pedal Shows and in-depth show reports by me for each - which I’m incredibly proud of - no one does those to the same degree of detail as I, and for the Birmingham show I really lucked out with some amazing pictures - including of me and TheGigRig Crew.

Fuzzes are very significant this month - with a 10 Unit Fuzztopia acquired overall - of which I could only fit 6 on the board in the end - where all of those though had an innings...

What we have is 2 Gain Stages Fuzz- where the 1st one is much louder, more open and lighter / brighter in profile overall, the 2nd Stage is a lot more Aggressive on the Clipping - so you need to crank the volume for that - it delivers a Darker, Denser and Heavier, Higher Gain Profile - while both Stages have wonderful Sustain.

I like both those options - while I tend to live mostly on the 1st Gain Stage - the extra volume there makes it somewhat more versatile and flexible for me. For Stage...

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...