Since 2015 NEW PEDALS EVERY DAY! Over 3400 REVIEWS!
I use other reviewers vids & then critique from them __ If a pedal appears killer I buy one __ I try it out & update the Post__ If the pedal is SH@T I literally say so!__ I publish the street price a no brainer but few do. __ I save you time finding the best pedals & you get a second opinion. __OVER A MILLION VISTORS__
NO ONE OWNS ME___ I MAKE ZERO $ FROM THIS
MOSKY BC108 FUZZFACE Based off of the late 60's Dallas Arbiter Fuzzface as used by Hendrix. The original used germanium transistors than later switched to silicon transistors. The Mosky uses silicon transistors. The Mosky definitely has the sound nailed. The original had both a Fuzz and a volume knob but since everyone turns it up full to get the sound they wisely omitted it. CONCLUSION Unless it is your only dirt pedal or you are into Hendrix and about 2 or 3% more detail from a vintage pedal is worth it then this is it!!! I think 99% of the guys that buy one will still have it 10 years from now.
The big little surprise. This a nano pedal. If you have not had one held in your hand you will really be surprised. They look as if someone miniaturized a full size pedal as a novelty ornament? However this is no toy. It sounds like someone's take on a modernized Ram's Head Big Muff. Crazier still it easily sounds as good as many of them! At $30.00 USD this is nobrainer. Just grab one before the next guy that reads this ...does.
JHS MORNING GLORY v. 4
...this is their updated take on the defunct Marshall Bluesbreaker OD. I have heard all the versions which all sound the same except for more features added. The problem for me is it's reviews only focus on its medium gain and near high gain capabilities and I have lots of OD's I prefer much more for that. What they do not show is it's stellar low gain transparent abilities. I have bought several very expensive ones ...even the overpriced Japanese ones and I hated every one. This is killer for low gain ...Strats do not lose their chime or bell like tone and it is a dream for flat picking ....it warms up and sustains the tone but leaves the notes as clear as if I played them on my Martin. One cool thing about this pedal is if you were in a position to only have one OD this pedal with it's recent updates of more EQ and boosts will literally cover anything from low to high gain sounds with a totally pro sound throughout the entire range. If your gig is weddings and banquets etc. this is 'the' pedal to get ...nothing comes remotely close!
AMT B1 LEGEND
AMT have a whole series of 19 different gourmet Amp-in-a Box distortion pedals. The B1 is a Bogner. They are impressive.
C19 has been terrible in Russia where they are made and with lock downs etc. many companies are blowing out stock just to pay rent etc. So at $70.00 USD I just could not resist. It lives up to the hipe.The coolest thing is it has killer sustain. Nothing is nicer than on all the controls because it is easy to push it too much.
A26 TOM'S LINE PURE ECHO DIGITAL DELAY Just a straight forward Delay pedal ...no tap tempo etc. The big BUT is... it uses a high end parts that gives you a sound that goes nose to nose with the sound of Strymons etc. At $45.00 USD it was a 'must have' LOL ....and now I have it! A26
There are 3 kinds of Fuzz pedals ... retro that are true to or near true to the original 60's which have a lot of character, charm and a lot of novel spit, sputter and gasp. There is a second that turns that Fuzz into a blur between a Fuzz and a meaty Overdrive. Last but not least are a third kind a modern Fuzz that takes a bit of the other two and creates a wall of sound Fuzz great for grinding Metal styles. Fortin is in that third category. In fact company specializes in pedals to shape Metal tones. It is quite simply the best I have heard. Others are often in monster boxes with too few or worse still too many knobs that do F. all. They also lean towards all lows or biting highs but seldom do they get it right down the middle with a huge girth across the total range. Fortin pride themselves on using modern high end parts. Others often use NOS parts which may have charm but are unreliable and inconsistent. In short you can not even count on getting the sound of a pedal you choose because it was a mind blower in a vid. With the Fortin...what you hear is what you get! CONCLUSION It is massive as you could possibly want. You can stack it or even pull in the reins if you want it tighter or more focused. It is damn cheap especially for what it does. It is dead easy to use. It is a mini pedal so it will fit on a tight board. I ordered one!!!
HANDS ON
It of course arrived. It works best pushing it hard. The highs are sweet but it negates the lows and in my band it does not have enough level to push just the lows.
I wanted it for what I perceived as serious lows. I do like it and use it but I do not use it for what I bought it for and that is for seriously extra heavy lows. I recently discovered a new pedal just released by Mattoverse Electronics the Bad Passenger Fuzz MKII. It is a much more course and rip your face off effort. The cool thing is it has those monter lows.
After comparing it to the best of the competition these lows are as fat as the best though not quite as dense
as the most pricey. The 'Passenger' is $100.00 USD the competition is between $150,00 USD to $350.00 USD.
I had to get a bit here and a bit there on the videos. I wanted to know how fat it got on a standard 6 string going through a clean amp. These videos are all over the map. The 4 amps 1 pedal was not exactly exciting but at 5:00 you get some Idea as to how massive you can or can not get it with an everyday rig.
RETRO-SONIC DISTORTION The company has been around forever somewhat under the radar supply good sounding toughly made pedals for the working musician. Their Distortion has no sexy name or flahy graphics. It does not claim to be the ultimate Marshall-in-a- Box. It is just a good gutsy dirt box that has shades of the old style hardclippers from the 70's. Yes this is definitely a spin off a the old Rat :-) CONCLUSION It is a great sounding spin off but you should really check out TL Pedals Rat which is an authentic clone of the original 'Big Box Rat'. I have one and it's a real keeper. I really like the sound of this pedal. Since I have an authentic sounding Rat I use all the time I can easily tell that this not a real Rat. If I had it I would use both but you need to compare them before you choose.
MESA BOOGIE GOLD MINE This the third in the series of new MESA pedals at a budget price. The Dynaplex was the first with a Plexi vibe followed by the Cleo which leans into a Fender Deluxe sound. The Dynaplex was exceptional but I honestly thought the Cleo was a big disappointment ...it was strident and thin sounding. CONCLUSION The Gold Mine is meant to have an American Classic Boogie sound. It is at it's best when really pushed hard. When pulled back it is a little lame on any richness in the tone. If I were to buy one of these 3 new pedals I would not hesitate to choose the Dynaplex. The tone is very rich and detailed.
FUZZDODEN MODEL A FUZZ Made mostly from vintage NOS and in some cases parts recycled from 60's radios. The key transistor being the much loved BC108. A simple single knob brings on the gain. CONCLUSION Simple but earthy sounding. At this price what is there to complain about. A great chance for anybody to get a legitimate 60's style Fuzz.
PEPPERS PEDALS & TRANSMUTATION DEVICES SATANIST DISTORTION A small builder from New Zealand and another from American ...teamed up to make a truly modern Metal sound that can 'Chug" with the best and has a tight but fat and full sound and a solid percussive attack. CONCLUSION There are a lot of other choices some arguably better but not measurably better ...nor are they as close to being this cheap! Well ...I always wanted a modern Metal pedal that defined the genre. I got a few real cheapies but ..I soon tired of them. I have several beefed up Marshall JCM 800 pedals that I love and a few crushing Fuzz boxes ...but no matter how fat and heavy they are they are NOT a modern Metal sound. So with the price and Mr. Picky Ola Englund himself giving it a thumbs up. lol ...so I ordered one! I do not play modern Metal per say. I do use elements of Prog that require extreme distortion but ridiculous definition on every note especially as I use elements like tritones and fast riffs between chords and a lot of little turnarounds. I also play odd time signatures that I have arrange with rests to allow the drummer to stay in 4's This way my music has interesting twists but the audience can connect easier to the classic western rhythm of the drums. This does create polyrhythms which can confuse both the drummer and the audience so precise definition is a must.
LOWNSBURY NIGEL TOUCH OD Handmade point to point and kept simple.Although touted as a Plexi. No I don't think so. It is FET transistor based it is clipped very hard. In most cases gives you a very aggressive in your face sound. In this case you get a really Blues vintage Combo amp kind of a sound. It has a simple layout of only level and gain.the guy has an ear ...it is voiced beautifully. the gain is useful through it's entire range! CONCLUSION Personality plus! The pedal has it's own vibe and character. I could list a half dozen faults if we were to compare with the very best Plexi pedals. Pull off that name and just call it an OD and it just sounds so damn good that I can not fault it for what it is. It seems pointless to say what it is not! Checkout the video starting at 15:30
LONE WOLF AUDIO LEFT HAND WRATH It had to happen ...and why not it is a good idea. A company that is not only focused on a Genre but a subgenre. In this case it aims to nail the pedals that are Death Metal specific! The colors are obvious to it's Boss pedal roots ...but this takes that sound a few giant steps further. It is a large pedal but those who are big fans of many Metal genres do not really need a lot of pedals. They are likely to be bedroom rockers, garageband soldiers. Even the most ambitious will find there are too few clubs to get more than a gig or two a month. All I can say say is F. the critics and go for it!!! The layout has it all ..level, gain, 3 way EQ and presence. CONCLUSION Mission complete! LWA set out with one thing in mind and they nailed it!
GREENHOUSE EFFECTS NOBRAINER DISTORTION Shades of a Marshall JPM 900 even if the boys at G.H. tell me it is an 80's Brit pedal. The layout is simple with volume, tone and gain with that all important mid knob. CONCLUSION It has a very impressive mid boost that gives you a monstrously huge fat sound. It is definitely not a Modern Metal sound with a knife edge attack for those lightning fast chugs. The attack gives you some raw bite but to be fair it never set out to do that in the first place. For such a fat sound it unusual clear sounding ...not muddy at all. It is really all about the mids as the tone has very little range at all. Between a multitude of genres and subgenres of Metal it could be an ideal choice for many of them or even a nobrainer :-) The price and the prices??? I have notice lately that all the new OD released lately are under two hundred of your paper friends. A sign of the times. It is just low enough for many of us to justify what among other things is a distraction as we wait for better days ahead. _
VARI-TONE MR HEATH VeriTone a small Italian one man show run by Adriano. that has been around for years and years with a solid cult following for his beautifully built and sounding pedals. Big amongst players with a few chops. This pedal is based off of the Vox UL730 overdrive circuit heard on several Beatle tunes. If that sounds familiar it is perhaps from hearing about the award winning Acclaim Guitars Dr. Robert pedal. Straight out I will tell you that the Dr. Robert is a better pedal. It has more features and goes way beyond the simple Vox UL730 limits. BUT! The Dr. Robert is much bigger, and more expensive at $340.00 USD Tone wise they are both totally convincing. CONCLUSION I love the sound especial on chord with a catchy rhythm but I would only use it here and there. So for me a smaller cheaper and very simple to use pedal is all I need .
OK ..OK before you start to cringe. Question? Have you ever played one or even heard one? No? Yes it is in a plastic case ...so NO! You cannot chuck it about like a Boss pedal. Secondly you can only 'stomp' on it with your work boots on for a few months before you break the foot switch. BUT! If you have it on a board ...the board should itself keep it from being used as a baseball. Furthermore if you have switcher pedal you can turn it on by hand at the start of a tune. The big deal is it is a clone of a Boss FC2 Hyper Fuzz built on a decent circuit board using the same schematic and the same value for each part. CONCLUSION It sounds just like the Boss and the Boss itself is a knockoff of original Shin-ei Super Fuzz. Even so neither sound like the original but sound cool enough in their own way to be very useful. Even the color of this pedal is asking you ...is it 'trick' or 'treat' ??? Check out the comparison. The Boss has a tad more lows but otherwise they are nose and nose at the finish line!!!
I had an original Ram's Head Big Muff back when you either had that or a Fuzz Face. In those days you bought what the music stores offered. The only way to know there was a choice was to see someone like Hendrix in person and get close enough to actually see what else there was. At the time the Muff was cutting edge because it really had a modern OD quality. A Fuzz before this was very buzzy with little sustain. I had mine plugged into a 50 watt Plexi head and 'never' turned it off. If wanted a clean sound I played my Ovation Electric Legend s/n 2 as John Mclaughlin had sn/1. LOL So what we have here is a classic with a nice modern tweak with a 'instant fat sound' mids control and the sustained pushed into the stratosphere and a bullet proof build. CONCLUSION First and very important you get a pedal with a build and parts quality the is second to none! When I say 'none' I am not using this term as an expression ...I mean it literally!!! The build is simply KILLER!!! Ok as for sound ...how can you loose. This has been the Muff sound that ever Muff ever made since is compared to!!! You add to that a killer build, a cool look modern mid boost and a sustain that far exceeds the original and you have one bullet proof Fuzz. Hell ...it just may be the 'PERFECT' Fuzz. Finally the price? You can't buy the parts in this pedal this cheap!!! If you buy anything else it is either a lot more money or a lot less quality ??? In short...it is no brainer purchase!
BARBER ELECTRONICS SMALL FRY BURN UNIT OD An oldy but a goodie ...just like that expression. How else could this be called a Small Fry. It definitely has a Plexi vibe with it's fat low end it mimics the thump of a full stack. A simple set up of level, tone.gain with a contold for dynamics which sets up the 'feel'. Lastly a toggle with 3 different EQ curves to match it to your rig. CONCLUSION Simple ...it sounds f.ing great! If you like the Small Fry than check out the Post ...BARBER ELECTRONICS Direct Drive v.4 The previous v.3 covers the sounds of both a JMP45 and the 1987x but v.4 gives you switches to vary the tones from the mid 60's to the early 80's. killer pedal!!!
EFFECTS PEARL PEDAL FUZZ So what happens if you take a modern Fuzz design and put in a vintage BC109 bipolar silicon transistor. The layout gives you the usual level, gain/distortion tone controls and intensity. A switch lets you boost the low end. CONCLUSION In the lower bass setting you get a modern OD/Fuzz sound reminiscent of a 70's hardclipper.With the bass switched on you get a massive low end with a bit of spit and spatter but not so much that the overall sound does not have a nice smooth mass. The graphics with a wide frame from the edge of the pedal and the large lens over the pilot light is very appealing. Go to 1:50 if you wish to skip the bass guitar demo.
this was shown at Winter NAMM 2020 and has only recently come out. I expect it was meant to be available for the canceled Summer NAMM. Yes it is the same 'Shnobel that for years has had his own YouTube show where he demoed pedals. The goal was to look at the Klon and the King Of Tone and give that customer an OD that was better. Better??? I for one agree I find both the Klon and the KOT very good at what they do but neither has an amp vibe at all. They seem contrived and unnatural. The KOT started life as a Marshall Blues Breaker pedal and then was heavily modified. I feel the Daily Driver might have started that way too because it has that vibe. CONCLUSION It sounds great throughout it's whole range. It seems to have ticked all the boxes. The magic is in that it never takes anything beyond what seems to sound natural. Take for example it has punch but it would never give you a bruise. It has bite but never draws blood. It never feels dumbed down to be Fusion style cool! Nothing Less than exceptional and as a 'first' pedal it will be great to see what's next.
THE BEST ELECTRIC GUITAR BRANDS BETWEEN $600.00 USD TO $1000.00 USD
Lots of surprises. They are reviewed by list of criteria many which may have more or less importance to you personally. Like if you do not get a choice of colors or different models. There are 40 reviewed. I agree with the number one choice and was impressed with what came in at number 8 as it is relatively new brand that really has gone the extra mile and has earned that spot. They would naturally lose a few points on resale because they are not an easy brand name to recognize like many who have been around for decades. Once better known I expect them in future years to soon be in the the top 5.
TORTUGA EFFECTS CORAL ADDER From Idaho comes Matt Johnson with his one man show. For 12 years he has amassed a collection of 20 guitar pedals ...most are dirt pedals. Having heard a few one thing that got my attention is the raw quality of the sound. The great majority of builders go for the post produced sound of the kind of dirt sounds you hear on recordings. Not surprising because most of us listen to a recorded sound of a player we love and want 'that' sound. It is not the sound the guy has at rehearsal. lol ...Matt gives you that!!! CONCLUSION It is a trade off. A real Plexi does not have a lot of sustain. On its own it counts on a lot of db flying thru your speakers causing feedback to get it. A pedal can beef it it up with artificial saturation but that can mess with the tone. To be honest having both is the serious answer. That said ...I love the sound Matt gives us. It is ideal on the bulk of any tune just get another pedal for shredding.
BELLE AMPLIFICATION BELLE FUZZ A company that has been around forever doing a few niche market gourmet amps out of Austin Texas. In short Lance Keltner and crew have a bit of a Rock & Roll lifestyle. Working to live but not living to work :-) even having a gigging band that takes the odd small tour. Always a fan of early Brit Fuzz pedals especially the Icon of the Iconic unique Fuzz pedals the Tonebender Mk2. he actually used a real one in his band. Eventually he got tired of its unreliability and set abot to make his own. Keep in mind the original Tone Bender one was ln effect the second fuzz ever made. The first being the Gibson/Maestro Fuzz Tone. The Fuzz tone being very crude with virtually no sustain. I should know I bought one in 1965. It was my first pedal! It was an easy choice there weren't pedals of any kind. It was a hit with half of the buyers others still wanted the MKI. The MKIII was cross between the two. All were great but different enough to have legions of fans. Although I have a MKIII perfect part for part clone I have to admit the MKII wins the race by a nose. Lance spent a few ions nailing his take on the two with an exacting tone but dding much needed reliability. Adding a volume control and giving you control over the BiAS are much needed extras. CONCLUSION It is actually made by Keeley so you definitely get a quality build. The tone speaks for itself!
ROWIN FRENZY FUZZ This little Nano Fuzz is made by Joyo it is probably based off of their Ironman JF-320 Purple Storm. At the moment it is only available under the Rowin brand. Ammoon do several re-branded Joyo pedals from this line at half the price but not this one. Yet. ;-) The picture to your right is probably very close to actual size. LOL The Fuzz has a classic 60's era Brit Fuzz sound but without the side effects of excessive, sputter splatter and total drop outs. lol In spite of a reasonable price I spent a lot of time looking for it rebranded by Joyo for another company. lol CONCLUSION Cuvave do a very similar Fuzz for $25.00 USD. It sounds fabulous but has a very weak output. The Cuvave has a slightly fatter sound but this is close and the sustain is far longer. What the hey! I will order one and we will see :-) HANDS ON ...first it is definitely made very well. I plugged it in without even touching the knobs I got beautiful smooth upper mids singing sound that made me think Dave Gilmour! W.T.F! So I start twisting the knobs and hitting the toggle. Yes oh yes ..this pedal sounds like a modern twist on the Rams Head Muff. I find it less gritty and pushing into OD territory ...not necessarily a bad thing. I soon found myself making music with it for a half hour or so and not even thinking about the Fuzz. my first sound was great and I will use it ...but I soon found another that was much fatter and more usefull for my more Metal like slant of my music. Verdict! Just get one! Soon since the next guy reading this will!!!
MXR M303 BROWN ACID FUZZ Oh my it's a Fuzz Face? Jim Dunlop owns both MXR and the Dunlop Fuzz Face line. So surprise, surprise someone really had to sweat it out designing this pedal! Or not? CONCLUSION It has been out know since last Nov. It is a Ltd Ed. of 500 pedals. They still have lots left and the price has dropped from the $200.00 USD slapped on them since then by fifty. Not that it is bad but there are so many better choices. The JHS Smiley is an obvious choice. It gives you a killer take on the original keeping it's soul but including a switch that turns it into a high gain gated fuzz.
SINVERTEK M5+ Oh my like clockwork this pedal just will not give up. Yes they return again and again with a new version. This time it has had a few tweaks. The pedal has more switches and knobs than a Neve board how could you tell? lol The original idea was to give you a basic Marshall style OD with a generous amount of bells and whistles to tweak the pedal to your whole rig, your taste and your personal playing style. Over time it morphed into being able to tweak it enough to get it scary close to any gourmet amp you like. Today's version I imagine puts a cherry in the middle of this sumptuous cake. CONCLUSION It was hard to win me over. Anytime I got and paid for an OD with more knobs than paint I ended up selling it for another OD with 3 or 4 knobs. lol But I think this pedal is the real deal. I may choke on that statement. LOL The new Shawn Tubbs video makes sense of the whole pedal. After days of going back to it I more than once redid the math every time and went ...W.T.F. No! But today I went W.T. F. and tried to buy one lol. It was hard to find a dealer that was a dealer. In short they did not even have the Sinvertek listing under their list of pedals? They are listed on Reverb but again their store was bare! So stay tuned ...I do not quit easily!
