OVERDRIVE- KINGSLEY AMPLIFIERS Harlot v3... kitten power ???

$435.00 USD

Kingsley 

Harlot V.3

Simon Jarrett is a player, session man, amp designer and pedal builder. Originally from the U.K. he know resides in B.C. Canada. He has 16 pedals to choose from but more via custom order than actual inventory. The tube amp is the soul of rock music but it was the transistor pedals that tore the doors off. Primarily because transistors are much easier to control and shape the sound with and therefore give you many very different choices from transparent to Doom. Kingsley is a hybrid with a single 12AX7 tube and FET transistors.  

The layout is Volume, Tone, and Gain. A second Gain is labeled More is a foot switchable boost. A toogle controls highs and another is a high pass filter to tighten lows. 

 

CONCLUSION __ 

It is a Cork Sniffers pedal with that expected price. Tailor made for what few session guys still can make a living. If you think it lacks any balz or raw guts . You are 110% correct, lol. I use both kinds of sounds and even in the same tune. In the end they are simply colors on a palette. EVH had a sound that was all but falling to pieces but he could tame the that tiger. He did not need a kitten for his OD.

OVERDRIVE- PHAEZ AMPLIFICATIONS Brown Sound ... or perhaps another color?

PHAEZ AMPLIFICATION

BROWN SOUND

$110.00 USD

This is made by Randy Fay who resides in Windsor Ont. Canada.
He has been making pedals and amps since 1990. Does it sound EVH ???

I give up. Does it ???

The layout is Volume, Tone and Gain.

           CONCLUSION __

It appears to use FETS not the usual OpAmp 

approach of most budget OD's. I quite like it 

for its Crunch sounds. They are open and full 

with a seriously good tube vibe to them. 

Excellent value for your $.

FUZZ- MOJO HAND FX Iron Bell ... a self proclaimed generic Muff

 MOJO HAND FX 

 IRON | BELL 

$170.00 USD

Mojo Hand were amongst a few regional small companies that started the first of the handmade gourmet pedal brands. Oddly so is Cusack that eventually bought the out. In short this is a Cusack pedal. They make reliable well made and popular classics at the lower end of U.S. made pedals.

The Iron Bell is basic Muff with a layout of volume, Tone and Gain. The 'Color' control is a Cusack thing that adds a bit of sparkle and bight and shows up in a few Cusack dirt pedals. 

            CONCLUSION __

Nothing sells a Muff faster than tagging the Gilmour name to it. Gilmour all but never used a fuzz that was not altered, hot rodded or boosted by other pedals. Add to that if he played 5 tunes on an LP you could end up with 5 different Muffs. But to get back to my point the Ad copy for this pedal calls it the Gilmour Fuzz. Which is 110% bullsh@t, LOL.

Well the Iron Bell has remained unchanged for 12 years so it certainly 

has it's fans, 😇

thefineprint                                                                                                                              

...the new Pigtonix Gas Giant is their take on a Muff. It has some serious extras with control of the BIAS and even a gate. You can get some seriously boosted  fat sounds. Add to that the quality build is a given and the price is $150.00 USD.  Check out the April 3rd review. 

Oddly enough Pigtronix is also one of the historical regional  upstarts from the past too.

DELAY- KMA MACHINES Geminus Double-Tracker ___NEW___ a better mouse trap?

KMA MACHINES

GEMINUS   

$270.00 USD

It is a faux double tracker. The idea is you play a part and it appears that your twin brother is playing the same part along with you. This can only happen with delaying that signal and varying that delay so it is not static and fixed to create that second signal. A slightly different tone and above all the pitch should alter between a hair sharp and flat. In stereo the effect is obviously more notable. 

            CONCLUSION__ 

The first EVH was just one live off the floor guitar part so the LP had an always on double-tracker.  

The most popular trick to get that fullness is stereo modulation or a simple slap back delay. I particularly like an analog slapback. 

This unit is very good. In fact arguably the very best. The big 'But' is it is faux and it sounds so.

OVERDRIVE- DOES IT DOOM Giza Overdrive... Green Matamp GT120-in-a-Box & more

$230.00 USD

DOES IT DOOM 

Giza 

The Matamp is that rare amp made for Stoner, Doom, 

Sludge and Drone Metal. We get a single voiced FET 

pedal fixed at the sweet spot. It is also boosted 

by a DOD 250 and a BOSS DS-1 circuit in this 

same enclosure. 

     CONCLUSION __

You love it or not!!! It nails just one thing 

but does that damn well.

FUZZ- THORPY FX Hanami ___NEW ___ book shelf budgets only

$521.00 USD

Thorpy FX 

Hanami 

It it is loosely a blend of a Muff and a Tonebender. It is more Bender 

than Muff as it uses Germanium transistors. Not only that but 4 of

them. In short it is an original. Like all Thorpy pedals it is not built to a price point. When it sound's like it should the parts and labor are added up and the price is somewhere between pricey and a WTF are you out 

of your mind, LOL.

           CONCLUSION __ 

Like 99% of you I do not hear or see over $500 of my budget spent on a pedal where the world offers equally if not better sounds for around $200 and occasionally less.

TWEED-in-a-BOX ___ which is best???

  TWEED vs. TWEED  

thefineprint

...there is no such thing as a Fender-in-a Box pedal. With a MIAB ...the Marshall sound quite simply overwhelms and overloads whatever amp is under its sound and drowns that sound out. The Fender is all about subtly. Subtle does not drown anything out. If what you really want is as closes as possible to 50's American amp sound there is only one choice that nails it. the Supro Drive literally clones its own Supro amp as long as you have a fairly neutral vanilla clean amp it is going into. There is nothing wrong with todays pedals as pleasant interesting dirt noises but they clone absolutely nothing. The Supro pedal even uses a transformer in it to act like a power amp transformer. You get one great sound in it with zip all to tweak. That one  perfect sound has been on my board for 9 years!!!

___ ANOTHER ___THE GREAT KLON SHOOTOUT

KLON vs. KLON

FUZZ- WHITMAN AUDIO Wave Collapse ___NEW___ the unexpected, a Fuzz Face, lol

$200.00 USD

WITMAN AUDIO

WAVE COLLAPSE

Yes another company that can put a very good spin of a tale that they reinvented the wheel, lol. Perhaps ???

The layout is Volume, Tone and Gain with our old fave, a BIAS control 

for a bit of the Velcro sounds. A filter sweeps the mids with a tilt EQ . 

A toggle gives you 3 positions to tighten the sound with a highpass filter.

It uses BC108 transistors which 99% of all cloned Fuzz Face uses. 

The big differences is it uses FETS for a tube like sounding booster 

on the input. The term Fuzzy Drive describes the pedal. 

CONCLUSION ___ 

It does make a wide variety of sounds of really interesting sounds. But that said one tends to be looking for an elephant herd in a full charge not Fuzzy ornamentation.

Too Shoegaze for this guy.  

 

OVERDRIVE- REVV G3 v.2 and REVV G4 v.2 ___NEW___ the best got better

REVV G-SERIES   

G3  & G4 

Seven  years ago REVV brought out a series of pedals that faithfully cloned their  

pricy amps. They were killer and stared a whole thing of other companies following  

behind. For a couple of years there was a waiting list. Awhile ago they brought out 

the anniversary models with a few tweaks. The original pedals were based from the amps they made at the time. These are based on their current amps.

 

$320.00 USD

$320.00 USD

The layout is Bass, Mids and Treble, Volume and Gain with toggle to switch 

from the Crunch channel to the solo channel. The G3 has more of an old 

school hot rodded classic Marshall vibe where as the G4 is more of a 

modern metal sound. Both are exceptionally tube sounding. 

      CONCLUSION __ 

They do have their own sound. It is excellent but it is not a Marshall etc. 

I had an original G4 for 2 yeas but I eventually swapped it out for a MIAB. 

 

OVERDRIVE- LIGHTLAERM AUDIO CULT FX Total Worship MK II ___NEW___ nailed!!!

 lightlaerm audio CULT FX 

TOTAL WORSHIP  MK ll 

$300.00 USD

What are Berlin Germany friends have made is a 90's Death Metal in a box. The layout is Level, Gain, Cut, Boost, Focus 

for Mids, graphic EQ and Gate.

It has more than enough flexibility to give you modern 

sounds as well. 

       CONCLUSION ___

I can not even find a piece of lint to pick. I always say 

if a pedal does just one thing dead right it is worth any money. I see no point in having a 'second best' sound.

___THE UPDATER___MAY 2025___NEW GEAR NEWS___UPDATED 24/7

THE UPDATER

May 2025

Separate those pedals that are a steal from 

those that are stealing from you at any price!

IF IT IS WORTH KNOWING IT WILL BE HERE FIRST.

__________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

MY MONTHLY RANT

Welcome to the world of 145% tariffs WTF!!! A beginners guitar will be 

$500.00 USD. 

THE GOOD NEWS

There were a few cool things last month. The Dunlop Mick Ronson Cry Baby, Mojohand FX resurfaced with several really cool pedals , The Marshall one is a $150.00 USD. Fortin Amps brought out the Meshugga Pre Amp.

GROUNDHOG'S Tony McPhee 

I saw the guy in the 70's and he had infinite sustain on a solo with his very own 'magic horn'. He took a small full range early 50's Public Address Horn and attached it to a mic stand set at his waist level and leaned into it causing instant feedback.

 TOYS FOR 

THE OLDER BOYS

JOYO JF-25 BRIGHT DAY OVERDRIVE 

A Boss Waza Craft Blues Driver clone. The sound is dead on. It couldn't get closer. $40.00 USD. I love it!!!  

Hey!!! New month,
I just got started
more everyday!!!

UPDATED APR.28