I’m not sure it was Brian’s intention to become a Compressor specialist - but he now has 3 full size offerings covering all the different basis.
This time around it’s his UREI 1176 FET Studio Compressor - and for me comes with the perfect complement of controls. Those are pretty much exactly the control parameters that I would specify for a compressor :
Controls - Tone, Attack, Release, Level, Blend, Compress.
On the stock EGO variety (supposedly based on Ross Compressor), he has ...
Before I jump into talking about this fantastic pedal it’s good to do a little background on Ben Carlin’s essentially ’Electric Love’ sort of Foundation - a pedal business specifically set up to raise money for cancer research.
Both Ben’s Wife and Daughter have had serious and significant cancer scares in the past few years - which were overcome through wonderfully attentive service and effective treatments delivered by a variety of healthcare professionals - who brought both those family ...
I had both of these pedals on my wishlist back in the day, but never quite got around to getting either. If I still wanted them - now would be the prime time to real them in. The Black ’65 presumably the ’65 Deluxe Reverb, while it could also be a mix of that, the Princeton and Super Reverb - the details aren’t clear on that point. The ’57 Tweed is most likely a Custom Deluxe, but could also be a Custom Champ or a mix of both. Essentially you’re getting two of the most iconic Fender Amp ...
It seems like barely a month goes by and we get another fantastic and distinct take on a Compressor - this time from Funk Master Cory Wong - with a little help from Brian Wampler!
This is one of those few signature pedals which is both very artist-specific but also incredibly versatile and smart for everyone else at the same time. It consists of 3 core modes of operation - Compression, Sustain and Boost - which you can bring into effect as and when you need to.
Controls - Attack, Tone, ...
Most people consider JHS Pedals’ 3 Series launch back in October of 2020 as the catalyst and forerunner of this particular effects pedal industry Budget phase / development. While I would go back to August of 2019 to EarthQuaker Devices’ first $99 pedal - the Plumes Small Signal Shredder OD - as the starting point of this trend.
Of course Josh Scott was the first to issue a full range of $99 pedals - where he launched with 7 white utilitarian / industrial style 3-knobs + 1-switch - somewhat...
So it’s about time for another round of ’12 Degrees of Saturation’ - featuring an updated selection and including most of the more recently released notable Mini Gain Pedals. Please note that as before - this is something of a Grey Science with simply approximated best fit positioning - as all those pedals have slightly different gain ranges, and certain ones within each selection / category can have vastly more extended range than others - and often cover more than one of the categories.
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^ 2022 Final Arrangement - December
So the time has come again to to the final reckoning of the layout and composition of this year’s ultimate pedal chain arrangement. I’ve introduced a new ’⚓’ symbol into the visual - which indicates those Slots / Pedals that are unchanged from last year’s Class of 2021 arrangement. That element really is testament to how much has changed between years. It’s also indicative of how much I love those particular pedals - and pretty much find them ...
So this is the first selection here where I only own a handful of the candidates - it’s easier to say what is in the reference collection than out :
Of those the Gen Loss II ...
Obviously the big Distortion story of the year for me was my recent Full Metal Racket High Gain Distortion roundup - and roughly one third of this selection was in service of that feature alone. Even then I didn’t get to everything I wanted to as a couple or so builders weren’t particularly responsive. This is often quite a thankless task of revolving and closing doors - in any case case I’m proud of what I managed to accomplish regardless - and some of the candidates are quite superb.
The ...
So it’s that time of year again when I trawl through the releases over these past 12 months or so and endeavour to extract the pedal highlights of the year. This exercise is all about drawing a line in the sand and figuring out which pedals deserve to be on the notable side of the line.
Of course everything I publish on Guitar Pedal X is highly curated - those are my own particular preferences and choices, and those are the pedals that I like the look of. So everything that appears on ...