+++ pickypicker ____ the top 10 for 10

TOP 10 FOR 10 MINUTES 

A reader asked me to do a post of my top 10 pedals. It is definitely not the first time, maybe the 100th time, lol. So my procrastination is over.

It has been in flux years but the pedals listed here show every indication to be 'keepers'. I have reviewed over 3300 and there are more to come so changes are possible.

THE BEST FOR  WHO?

I have 68 pedals on my board.
Of these 51 are keepers I really think are at the very least as good as anything out there for the exact thing they must do for me at this very second. 

I quite literally play and only play my 34 original tunes. I have my pedals divided into 3 loops. Each loop is literally a self contained board. Each has its own compressor, delay and reverb. One is my clean sound low gain loop, the second is my medium gain the third is my high gain loop.

The basic concept for my board is for it to substitute an old school recording where one brings in different pedals and uses different studio processors etc to create a finished product. I want to record a tune that needs nothing but to be mixed with drums and a bass and it is finished.

Since my pedals are the tools to create and present my original music they are doing a very specific function. Each is critical to tunes that are played daily. Many guys have more pedals on a shelf than on their board as it is a hobby and pedals to play Country on Tuesday are not used to play Metal on Saturday.

I have a built in prejudice of why something is good. Yes it must do a stellar job for it's task but your task is different. There isn't a best of, nor any order to this list. All these pedals have a Post somewhere within the over 3000 Posts I have done.

HONORABLE MENTION 

I will always be updating if I find better pedals but I am posting an Honorable Mention section at the end as they are killer and you should know they exist. That list includes pedals that are candidates for near future purchases. So they may be moved into 'favorites'. Others are borderline pedals. I use the Rat II often but always to tighten a Fuzz. 

Is there better? Maybe, maybe not.

-----------------------------

LETS GET STARTED

CELMO PIMENTO SARDINE OD

They are a  French company that did some software plug-ins and a few pedals. Their site was in French. At the time when I bought it 7 years ago there was an online source in France and a small one in Brit that sold them. 

I do not know if they are still in business. Even at the time I got it I expected the company to vaporize over night, lol.

It was the first company to introduce the 'sag' from a dimed tube amp into a pedal. Explaining 'sag' involves explaining several factors but I will keep it simple. Many old classic amps have under rated transformers that can not produce the signal so the power literally drops out if you nail a chord or note hard and a second later it recovers. You get a drop in volume but then the volume returns. It is like the amp gasped then screamed. I exaggerate ...but the 'feeling' you get playing an old amp with 'sag' is totally euphoric. 

The pedal sounds like a few busted up old amps I played over the years that got repaired but probably with whatever part was on hand so I could get back on the road ASAP, lol. It ain't no thoroughbred it's a lovable mutt. One look at it's sardine can looking enclosure and it is love at first sight :-)

DANELECTRO COOL CAT CF-1 FUZZ

(V.1 Gold Label)

Yes the cheap and cheerful plastic pedal sold in a bubble pack for $35.00

I heard there are were only about 2 or 300 made before they got a 'cease and desist' letter from the lawyers of good old Fran Blanche of Frantone Electronics. It was a part for part rip off of her Peachtone Fuzz. Even the orange paint job is a rip, lol. An original Peachtone now sells for $1200.00 USD and this 'gold label' Dano sells for $200.00 USD to the 'serious' collector. It has a fat grainy but smooth and rich tone. Incredibly distinct. The Dano is not just a clone but a virtual part for part forgery. The replacement has a black label with V.2 in the middle. The V.2 is a piece of crap and an entirely different Fuzz. I got my 'gold label' mint for $50.00 USD. This is the going rate for any old Dano pedal from this era. Any of the first gen Cool Cat pedals are now 'novelty' collector's pedals.

It is still not well known that the gold label is special so you may still find one dirt cheap.

PedalPalFX PAL800 JCM ELIMINATOR

Eight years ago Luis took his JCM 800 amp and cloned it in a pedal replacing every tube with a transistor and then tuning everyone when it was done just like doing the BIAS on an amp. In short the actual amp and every pedal that got shipped sounds like his amp. About 2 years ago the newest the v.3 came out with 'the' classic 80's mod, the one in Slashes amp. The waiting list was about 8 months. Version 4 is now out. It is the v.3 but in a more compact enclosure. This one is now my crunch channel and the v.4 is my lead.

Check near the end of the Keepers for the 

PedalPalFX PAL 800 Gold v.4

NUX DCP-03 ANALOG DELAY

This is a clone of the famous, now $650.00 used Ibanez AD80 analog delay. It isn't just your average clone but it actually uses the reissued Panasonic 3102 and 3205 BBD chips. They even painted it the same color, LOL.

It flat out sounds killer, identical to the AD80. Clear, warm and very full. 

Better sounding than some brands that want nearly 4 times the price!!!

So! At $60.00 USD it is a no-brainer purchase!!!

I would go so far as to say this is the best value 

for money of all the pedals I have reviewed!

BROWNE AMPLIFICATION CARBON DRIVE

This is a take on a Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. It is filled with the best of everything for parts and a charge pump to give you infinity in the headroom department. 

The result is not a BB but a dead clean Booster with sustain even at unity gain. Think of it as getting the sound of the Dumble clean channel pushed so it just barely shy of Crunch.

I pulled it for months at a time for what I thought was better. I got what I thought was at least as good so I stayed with the new pedal until I compared and this pedal won as they say, by a nose.

The closest sound to it is a REAL Klon when you set the Klon at about 9 O'clock on the gain.

I have 25 Overdrives but this one I use the most.

AURA AMPS DIAMOND PREAMP

This is made by a Brazilian company that their main product are tube amps based on the MESA Dual Rectifiers. They also make pedals. 

In short this pedal is a convincing take on a Dual/Rec. I have never heard a pedal ever with the punch and balz and attitude this has. On it's own or stacked with a Fuzz or another OD it gives you one hell of a lot of 'Oh Wow' and 'WTF' sounds. 

Add to that the build quality could could be the yard stick to measure 'all' pedals on how to get it right. 

AMT ELECTRONICS P-Drive mini

This is a surprisingly good impression of the famous  Peavey 5150. Or not??? 

Knowing the builder/designer it is not a surprise if he did nailed it, lol

If nothing it has one of the best sustains of any of my MIAB pedals.

That alone makes it indispensable.

MXR M68 UNI-VIBE

The designers did not even try to achieve an all bells and whistle pedal.
They found out that you can't take the warts and basic mess the original really is without ripping the soul out of it.

Only the speed works in a linear kind of way. The level acts like a gain and changes the tone as you crank it so using it at unity gain is a compromise. The depth jumps once you get past 8 o'clock. The vibrato pumps and throbs like an outboard motor boat. All this is just like the original, lol.

But once you set the level and depth to the sweet spot, dial up to the right speed you get a killer sound. It is the 'secret sauce' for a Fuzz.

For only $150.00 USD I have no complaints :-)

 

DIGITECH POLARA REVERB

I bought the usual too expensive super cool reverbs. They all drove me nuts. Instead of having my guitar framed with a great ambiance they all overwhelmed the guitar. The tail was wagging the dog! It is long story but I had a word with a guy that 'really' 'knows' pedals. Dave Friedman ...yes that Dave Friedman. He said in the 80's everyone used the very pricey Lexicon rack for their verb. He also said the POLARA uses the same seven algorithms that were in that rack.

Problem solved!!!

DUNLOP EP-103 ECHOPLEX

Yes the famous tape echo in a box. How good does it sound? Mr. EVH who used the real one switched to the Dunlop when he was semi retired but needed it for the occasional gig. If nothing else the guy is far to picky to use second best. It really is a killer box. Just set and forget, even leave it as an always on. Possibly not surprising Pete Thorn has one on his board right beside his Eventide H90 $900 wonder pedal.

UNITED ARTIST FX ORION Tape Echo

The UA Plug-in for the Maestro EchoPlex is on more records than the original machine. UA simply put it in this pedal. It lives up to its hype.

It is unbelievably warm, rich and detailed which really comes through on low gain drives and cleans.

It nails the infamous Pre as well. You can if you wish leave the pre as an always on. 

As noted I have the MXR too. You can set them to sound damn near dead on the same but the MXR does not have all the minute detail in the overtones. That said used with all Crunch pedals it is a perfect match. Even EVH left his real tape at home and only used the MXR pedal live and on a few recordings for other artists.

I got the UA on a factory sale for $99.00 USD. It was a no-brainer to buy 

at less than half price. Having had awhile now I can attest it lives up to its hype.

LPD PEDALS Sixy8

LPD PEDALS Seventy4

LPD PEDALS Eighty7

All 3 pedals are exquisite MIAB takes on the actual year of a Marshall Amp/Stack.

All are beyond superb, and unique enough to have everyone. All follow the dynamics of your touch. The harmonic detail in the sound is second to none you have ever heard.

The 68 has that classic crunch of the first EL34 Plexi, the 74 is just that same sound but with aggression and the 3rd is the essential JCM 800.

If you never had a MIAB I would recommend the 87 as it has that larger than life Slash thing you imagine all Marshalls to have.

KEELEY COMPRESSOR +

Compressors have more bullsh@t written about them than the best 'transparent' OD. 

I have and use 4 comps in the same way I use several OD's.

First no compressor is transparent. Each has its own tone that will change your sound. 

On a guitar an old style MXR/Ross style comp if done right can blow away a beyond stupidly priced 'Studio' comp,

I repeat ...all comps have a 'sound' just like an OD has a sound or Phaser etc. has a sound. So ask yourself why is this Keeley the biggest selling comp on the planet.

It has 'the' sound.

PROCO RAT II

The Rat II got a bad rap because the original Rat used an OpAmp that is just a bit smoother and warmer and the 'Cork Sniffer' reviewers tell us it is better. LOL. Especially stupid is that they only made 200 of them so 99% of all recordings that really got us to want one use the current Rat II. The thing is since day one guys bought the Rat for its over the top aggression. Well the Rat II has more aggression. These days with lots of ODs from transparent to silky smooth etc. one gets a Rat for its raw sonic attitude. Clones go for the original sound than dumb it down so it is just one up from a Klon. WTF is the point?? ProCo make many spin offs including a mini they claim is the same. PLEASE, NO!!! Just buy this one. It is a lifetime keeper!!

EARTHQUAKER ACAPULCO GOLD

It is a very good take on a SUNN Model T amp dialed into it's classic sound that was the heart of the original Doom sound. The only secret addition was a ProCo Rat II. Not a necessity as I use it with and without.

There at last count a dozen other choices. Many have the Rat sound built in as a boost. I listen to them all but none stood out as must haves over the other and this with a Rat easily could stand up to the best.  At $145.00 USD it is a third the price of many and with a Rat better than many.  The Rat II is $80.00 USD and then you have 2 great pedals.

DIGI-TECH MOSAIC

It is quite simply a 12 string guitar in a Box. 

A twelve string doubles the high E, B and G string with the same or lighter strings but for the D, A, and G it uses octave higher thin strings. It is why you get all that jangle to the sound. This unit puts the the D, G, and low E voices up an octave. It also modulates all the faux string voices since when you strike a real 12 string guitar all the strings will modulate a bit. So this fakes that really well. In application it does a damn good job. 

I have had mine since 2016. I did not have as a keeper as with chips improving I thought something with greater detail in the harmonic 

content or even modeled strings. But ... zip, so it has become a keeper.

ANANASHEAD BYRD SONG

I have had this since 2019. I have s/n 02. 😇

I did not just want a 12 string effect pedal but 

I wanted the Byrds's sound.

In 1966 for 2 years we had the VOX 806 Treble booster. A little box you plugged into your amps input jack that gave you piercing treble. Both Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty used them to give you that classic Byrds 12 string sound. This pedal uses NOS parts to give you that dead exact sound. I never use my 

DigiTech Mosaic 12 string FX without this on. I instigated the project and helped with the research to get an authentic schematic with a list of original manufacturers of every part. It took a year. Then more time to trace the parts.

JV EFFECTS TRANSMISION

This is Pre amp/boost pedal. It was taken from a single channel broadcast board used by the hundreds of small independent radio stations across the globe. In those analog days signals hitting the consumer were dark and even muddy and need a clean very bright boost before transmission. To be fair Hudson Electronics thought of the idea with their Broadcast, pedal. This is a clone that does not disappoint at a 3rd of the price. As a clean boost you can simply keep your signal intact but louder. You can add edge to the point of ice pick. Or you can crank the pedal for the worlds most nasty sounding Fuzz on the planet. I use it for high end sparkle on my very dark, dense & heavy Metal Distortions & Fuzz pedals.

DEMON FX Z-drive

Not surprising this a take on the first pedal we all felt nailed a Dumble. The Hermida Zen-Drive. It was made as tribute to a Robben Ford record where he did indeed use his Dumble amp. Oddly enough when Robben got one as gift he found it really could cover for his Dumble. Most of his gigs required a 'Fly Rig' of a guitar and a few pedals. He was provided with a rented Fender or worse. He just went to the UK and did a tour. He is still using the ZenDrive. The Z-Drive is a part for exact part duplicate of the Zen Drive.

I just re-discovered it from a Robben Ford interview

& felt it perfect for my Strat & Tele sounds.

PIGTRONIX PHILOSPERS TONE COMPRESSOR

The large predecessor of this comp was the first and only alternative to a MXR DynaComp. 

It is an optical compressor. It has never been out of production for decades!

It sounds like it has germanium diodes in its preamp. In short it does nice comp but it adds this really warm sound. It is not so dissimilar to some boost pedals where the tone added is more important then any extra level slamming the pre in your amp.

It is like a great spice where you don't want it all the time but it is total magic on some tunes.

MXR PHASE 95

This little hundred dollar miracle does a stellar take on a Phase 45, a Phase 90 and even a vintage 'script' Phase 90. I bought the 'script' when it was new. Is it better? No! I do know in a band context the sound difference is not perceivable if not at least negligible. I also had the Strymon Mobius. I did not like it. Analog sounds better.

In short the 95 sounds like an MXR Phaser and when I hear it in a tune I am playing I get the sound I want.

Pete Thorn has one on his board. Right beside his Eventide H90 $900 wonder pedal.

NUX REISSUE SERIES ANALOG CHORUS

I laughed when this came out as the year before it you could buy it painted yellow for $30.00 USD. it was the only pedal that NUX made and kept making since the day they went in business. I sold mine when I bought the digital Strymon Mobius and I bought it a second time when I sold the Strymon, LOL

It is a killer chorus. If you pull back on the blend especially on a dirt sound it gives you a faux doubler effect and fattens the crap out of a sound yet is hard to tell it's even on. In other words it is a total workhorse. 

Even at $60.00 USD its a steal.

Mind you I will stick to  my old friend   😇             

VALETON CH-10 CHORUS

It is quite simply a dead on mini version clone inside and out of the Classic BOSS CE-2 that you have heard on a thousand plus recordings. Zero bells and whistles like a modern pedal. Just that one sound, and to most of us that one perfect sound. I do like my NUX for a fattener and faux doubler but when on a clean sound I want an Andy Summers Jazz Chorus vibe this nails it with a 6 inch spike!!! It also teams with high gain for that really thick sound that took off in the 80's and has started to become cool again with newer players.

RETRO SONIC FLANGER

When I first went looking for a Flanger I went to many often well known companies only to find they made a Chorus and a Phaser but not a Flanger. 

WTF !!! Eventually I found out they are hard to make and even harder to get sounding good. After buying and selling several I found out most were crap. 

My favorite sound from a Flanger is the one that Any Summers uses. He has an original E-H Electric Mistress.

Many makers tried to make a clone but most are bad. A couple are close. I feel that if only by a hair the Retro-Sonic nails it. Got it ! Love it!

NUX REISSUE SERIES PLEXI CRUNCH

A serious MIAB. Arguably a take on the Ramble FX Marvel Drive. Tim Kruger who is Mr. Marvel FX has long since passed away so it is great we can still get that sound.

I have many MIAB pedals but this one loves a Tele and a Tele loves it, lol.

At $60.00 USD a no-brainer buy.

MATTOVERSE BAD PASSEGNER FUZZ MKII

A simple one knob Fuzz with this one huge sound with the bass, mids and highs all equal making a wall of sound yet it has an incredible organic warm tone full of character. 

It is also very tight yet open at the same time.

It is made by Matt Olson that I swear he would come to your home and help you hook it up as a courtesy if he could.

EARTHQUAKER DEVICES SPECIAL CRANKER

It is an OD that when pushed beyond stupid it sounds like a Fuzz tearing your speakers to pieces. You have a choice of silicon or germanium voices. I use it with gain off and the germanium voice as a booster that adds warmth and chime at the same time. @ $100, no complaints.

SUPRO DRIVE

Years ago I was listening to a home made video of a guy doing a demo on his old Supro amp. He simply had a blurry camera shot of the amp without any talking. So I got up to make a sandwich. The damn thing went on forever so I went to turn it off. To my surprise the video was over and second video was playing the Supro pedal.

WTF ...they sounded identical. I went back to the first video and double, then triple checked.

I use it where other guys have bought a Tweed pedal to cover the same territory. Their Tweed is not better nor is it dead on clone of an actual old school amp. The Supro is.

JV EFFECTS TRANSMISSION

A replica of the Hudson Electronics Broadcast, which is based on a preamp made for radio announcers in the 60's. Usually for a one man show of an announcer or DJ who was his own engineer and spun his own records.

The Hudson has become a 'cork sniffers' delight and so the price is 3 times the JV.

If pushed past its best before it has the nastiest Fuzz sound you ever heard. It is of course a to die for R&R nasty. The clean sound with its lighter gain is the most transparent on the planet. It makes my Strat tone chime sound like it is being doubled with a xylophone. If you have a Strat this is a 'Must Have' for its cleans alone.

SOURCE AUDIO PROGRAMABLE EQ

An EQ can take a near perfect pedal and make it perfect. It can turn a Fuzz or OD into a massive monster or tighten up a woofy pedal.

A quality standard graphic EQ is still very usable. I also use use a IRIN Instrument Band EQ to reshape my clean channel to make my clean Marshall passive as a clean Fender sound. The main problem is if and when you need to change it to go with different pedals you can not be moving 5 or more faders between even one tune let alone several. The 'Source' unit is digital and with 4 memory locations. 

EQ fader's sound sweeps into its neighbor with any Graphic EQ and where two faders meet you can get 'smearing' where the same frequencies interfere with each other. It is not intolerable or makes an all analog pedal unusable but with digital its simply does not happen. NICE!!!

SOLID GOLD FX IF 6 WAS 9 MkII

This is the best Fuzz Face on the planet for all but the posh and culturally elite. Yes the cork sniffers. It has the sound you imagined as opposed to what you often get no matter what you pay.

A Fuzz for players not displayers. It goes on your board not your bookshelf beside your wifes Royal Doulton figurine.

It's $200.00 USD but reasonable for a solid gold pedal. Pun intended, 😎

SOLDANO SUPER LEAD OVERDRIVE

Mike Soldano did 13 prototypes until he nailed the sound of his own
$4000 amp. Put them side by side and prepared to scream out ... 

...WTF !!!

The question is is not how he got a pedal to sound like the amp but how did he get the amp to fit into a standard size pedal ????

I use this one in many tunes.

MOVALL GALATIC GROOVE FUZZY DRIVE

A generic everyman's Tone Bender. On its own through a clean amp ??? BIG BUT! Stack it on a MIAB and I instantly get that Tone Bender V.1 pushing a stack that sound I never thought possible.😲WTF !!! and only $35.00 USD

I use it on my Tele with the NUX Plexi Crunch thing. Some guy named Page 

I believe mentioned that I give it a shot, LOL

IBANEZ SUPER METAL MINI

In 1985 Ibanez brought this out as the SM9. Too little too late. A pedal that did a great job of emulating a Plexi with a Jose mod. The big deal at the time was Synth Pop ...and guitars were all but history until 1987 when Van Halen changed everything. Unfortunately for Ibanez ...Super Metal to the modern player means something with beyond crazy gain an entirely different thing. Except for a few that know this is the perfect Jose/Plexi with cutting high end and tight low end it goes unnoticed. 

A nice plus is that it is MIJ and $110.00 USD.

IRWIN INSTRUMENT BAND CONTROLER EQ
A simple 8 band graphic EQ. It is about the size of a Boss pedal. 

It is built like a tank with 16dB of boost. 100% clean it is indeed audiophile. I have it kept on just one setting to turn my Marshall amp into a faux Fender when I need to get the right clean sound with Strat or Tele PU's. It gives me exceptional and best of all usable sounds that I can not get with a straight Marshall clean. 

It cost me $25.00 USD and that included free shipping!!!

PedalPalFX PAL 800 Gold v.4

Yes over the years bells and whistles were added for more gain etc. This was because although the pedal sounds like an 800 just out of its shipping carton it does not sound like a modded one that the superheroes owned. The V.4 fixed past attempts permanently. It includes the 3 best modded voices you could put in the amp from from the 80's. Yes you get #34 the one Slash chose for his and still uses. Just toggle it on.

It is also in a compact B sized pedal. The best part is it sells for $200.00 USD which is cheaper than anything out there that has had glowing reviews in the MIAB category. It is cheap enough to own the sound that Slash hears at rehearsal and still have one of the better theatrical MIAB that other companies make. I have both. I love both.

As for the V.4?  I will keep my original but having the Slash sound is enough to have both.

If I had to pick my second or third favorite OD I just couldn't do it. 

If I had to pick my go too #1 ...this is it. WTF ...to die for good.

GUPtech QUEBEC

An EQ Enhancer with just a Presence and a Depth control. It creates boost, depth and presence ....takes any dirt pedal & adds definition and pulls out all the overtones. It then can add tightness and incredible balz without having to cut any lows. In fact you can get stupid adding more, lol. If you want you can put it in your effects loop. For most it becomes an always on pedal. I have it last in the chain. It does all the above plus at low levels I get a faux infamous Marshall stack cabinet 'Thump'. It is what gives a stack mega punch. It makes my 1x12'' cab sound like a half stack!!! Designed by James Brown who designed the Peavey 5150 amp. 😇

BIYANG FZ-7 FUZZ

The pedal looks like a real deal Electro Harmonix Big Muff. It sounds like one too. Rough but ready, warts and all. The company have been making it unchanged for over 15 years.

It pretty much sounds like the Big Muff NYC designed by Fran Blanche. In short it is a Jack White-in-a Box, lol.

MOVALL MP104 FALLING STAR DELAY

Very simply an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man clone. The E-H concept was meant to be an analog delay with modulation to fake tape wow and flutter and invent the poor mans EchoPlex. Like many great pedals trying to improve on a specific sound changes it so much that it leads to a whole different sound that is its own thing and not a clone of anything. For years and years Andy Timmons used two of these E-H pedals and they became the basis for his much praised Keeley Halo. Ironically I thought the Hallo was the sound I was looking for. The fact I am getting a very, very similar sound from the Movall blows my mind. The Hallo is $300.00 USD. I paid $32.00 USD for the damn Movall, LOL, and am 100% happy with my sound.

TONE CITY TINY SPRING v.2

This is a very impressive take on a Fender Accutronics Spring reverb.

It sounds very, very similar to the Mad Professor Silver Spring that Robben Ford 

uses both to tour and indeed on recordings. In fact he was touring Europe using 

it this year (2024). At $55.00 USD if I did not own one and you told me it 

sounded high end I would think you're crazy.

BEHRINGER SF300 SUPER FUZZ

The Univox Super Fuzz was the first octave Fuzz and it was cloned and beefed up by Boss with their FZ-1. Both collectors items. The SF300 is not just a clone. Just think of it as a Boss that someone built into the the wrong enclosure. At $29.00 USD it is best value for money on the planet. The guts are super reliable. Behringer got the bad rap because the foot switch can not take a guy with a heavy foot stomping the crap out of it. If Boss still made it I love it enough to treat myself to the Boss.

The bottom line it is simply a flat out total killer Fuzz. Already I find it a keeper!!! 

IBANEZ SD-1 SUPER OVERDRIVE

This pedal was meant as the replacement of the OD-1. The OD-1 was the first pedal that had a convincing amp-in-a-box vibe. It was a huge seller. Maxon decided they needed to make something similar. The result was biggest seller of all time the Tube Screamer. Boss decided to fight back with the SD-1. It is literally a ts clone. You read that right!!!

All they changed were the clipping diodes. Boss use asymmetrical tube like distortion and the Tube Screamer uses symmetrical distortion which they chose, because Boss had a patent on asymmetrical distortion.

The thing is that the Boss can do the boost like thing that the ts does but also stand on it's own as an amp-in-box pedal. 

JOYO JF-26 TINY-HUGE FUZZ

My guess it is their take on a 70's silicon VOX Tonebender. Some say it is a Muff, others a Fuzz Face. It doesn't matter, lol. Nothing new, but that is the whole point of it. It is a simple straight ahead Fuzz. It totally holds its own but is equally at home stacked on an Overdrive. Absolutely my #1 choice to recommend for a guy buying his first Fuzz. The closer is it is only $40.00 USD.                                                                                               

CKK ELECTRONICS ANKA DISTORTION

The guy that designed and built the first one of these now builds limited editions of pedals at $600.00 USD and they sell out too. He has a rep of being a totally anal perfectionist. This is V.5. which is the current model. It is his take on a Marshall JTM45/100. Yes the Hendrix stack. The most notable thing is that when set to a good Crunch you can easily hear that glassy sound of a Strat with that bell-like chime coming through that put Jimi's sound into history. Trust me no other pedal does this. Sure perhaps the glassy sound. BUT the bell-tone chime ...NO!                            

CALINE PURE SKY OVERDRIVE

This is best known as Calines take on a Timmy. Tech detectives say it is a Veruram Jan Rey. Both are dead similar to the 2010 Timmy. It is made on a conventional hole-thru board instead of a Perf. In short sonicialy nothing is changed. _______You do not have to like the Timmy to 'NEED ONE'. We all have times when we are forced to lower the level of our amps. It typically kills your tone. With the Timmy on you simply turn your 50 Watt Marshall down to bedroom levels then tweak up what knobs are needed. It is 'the' must have always on pedal that sits on top of your amp. Smiles that come with it are free. The pedal cost $30 or less. I paid $23 with free shipping.

MOOER AUDIO YELLOW COMP

Quite literally a one-to-one clone of the Diamond Compressor. Mooer have made it unchanged for 10 years. The Diamond is still made, lol. It is an Optical compressor. They do not squash your notes and are only noticed to be on if you had it on but then turned it off. I use it like a studio comp always on at the end of the chain on but very lightly to even out the sound. Especially good on chords behind my singing. These days at $45.00 USD it is one of the best bargains for such a piece of totally pro sounding kit.

CKK ELECTRONICS FL/2

(FLAMING LIPS)

This pedal has been out for 9 years plus. This is v.2. The guy that makes it is totally anal about getting a pedal perfect. He gets by making special editions of some pedals that sell for $600, WTF. He lives in China. Tough being a small builder making handmade gourmet pedals in the West. In China it is near impossible. This pedal is beyond high gain. It has a real tube vibe and has got more balz, bite and punch than of any OD I have heard. My big deal with it is you can set it to give you the percussive attack of a piano. This lets you get a massive sound and still be able to get articulation when you play triplets even at very fast tempos.

NUX '63 DIAMOND

It is quite simply a take on the 1963 Vox AC30 amp. I have tried many and owned a few. Some were pleasant enough overdrives but they were as close to a Vox as a motorcycle is to a pickup truck. This is damn convincing! and at $60.00 USD it is worth having if for nothing more than a welcome contrasting sound to your other overdrives. I use it teamed with Strat sounds to get my spin on a Mark Knopfler 'Sultans' sound.

JOYO JF-12 VOODOO OCTAVE FUZZ

This is a serious take on the original 1968 Shin-ei FY-6 Fuzz sold stateside as the Univox Super Fuzz. It is not the in your face Fuzz some think. That honor goes to the Foxx Tone Machine which although it does it has a weak low end and lacks balz. In fact owners of the Univox would often seldom use the octave thing but use the Fuzz for a Doom vibe before the word Doom had been a label. The Joyo has been making this unchanged for 12 years. That says to me they got something right. It popped up in a sale for $37.00 USD shipping incl.

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HONOURABLE MENTION

DOLAMO D4 DISTORTION

It is a generic take on a high gain dirt pedal that can chug. It really does a fair and I believe totally unintentional take on the Fortin HAMAS Metal amp. These pedals were meant to be aimed at an entry level 'cheapy, 'getcha by' market. Most are to be honest lame but a few hop onto the the first rung of the pro ladder. It has a scooped sound but the lower mids were left intact. It has a gentle nudge around 800Kh pushing the upper mids. At the moment it squeezed onto my board. Maybe a 3 month trial for this new employee.

M-VAVE FUZZ

This is a clone of the now 8 year old ZVEC Wooly Mammoth. A massive fat, velcro, gated Fuzz. The ZVEC is $259.00 USD. The M-Vave is $26.00 USD. I have it on order with a mind of using it stacked on a Fuzz or 2 have great mids and highs but cutting their tone robs some bass that this may add back in. If so it it could move into the keepers. 

MOOER AUDIO PITCH BOX

It is Mooers take on a Digitech Drop. It can go both up or down in pitch but it is primarily used for drop tuning especially in many Metal genres. That said a few players use one on their acoustic for an electronic capo. I am not sure how I will use it. My Bass player will not want to rewrite their parts on tunes that I think sound a bit cooler and only have to press a button to screw theirs, lol. I have one but have not integrated it into any tunes. All features work well and are totally Pro and usable. The detune function is meant for faux double tracking. These thing only do that effectively in stereo. Oddly in mono this one adds punch, bite and definition. It is easily worth the $37.00 USD the pedal cost me. I have it on trial using a dropped D tuning.

J.ROCKETT AIRCHILD SIX SIXTY

It is quite simply a take on the rack mount tube Comp the Fairchild 660. Like Origins Cali 76 that does a take on the UREI/UNIVERSAL AUDIO 1176. It too nails a sound of an era. It does a perfect Mark Knopfler Sultans of Swing Strat sound. That alone says "Buy Me''!!! It is the first Comp I felt checked all the boxes. 

BLAMMO ELECTRONICS SKRONK MACHINE

A take on V.3 of Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine that was a modified Tone Bender v.1. You can set it to do a convincing take on any early Tone Bender or Brit spin off. It is buffered to stop any interference by other pedals in the chain or other foreign signals like your AC/DC power adapter etc. It is the Brit answer to the Big Muff. Have both and you have all but the totally crazy sh@t covered in Fuzz-land.

WAMPLER PHENOM DISTORTION

This is a take on a Peavey 5150. It sounds excellent through it's full range from medium to high gain. 

At $100.00 USD it makes many $250.00 USD pedals look like robbery! It is a 

no-brainer purchase if you have nothing in it's category.

KING TONE BLUES POWER

Designed by Jesse Davey a Brit Blues player who appeared to all that he would take the SRV Crown from Stevie after he died. In 1999 the timing was not right to make a reasonable living playing blues. There were not any record companies left but those that did Hip Hop or purely disposable Pop. So he went into making pedals. Every one of them won awards. He still gigs but simply because he loves it and his pedals pay the bills. This is his always on going into a Fender Super Reverb SRV pedal. The pedal 100% nails the sound. You hear it played for just a few bars and jaw hits the floor!!! Nothing else can touch it. NOTHING!!!

$300.00 USD but worth every penny!!!

DEVTECH AUDIO SUMMONER

Terry in Australia does a very superb take on a Pete Cornish GC-1 OD. A pedal that can still be had for a chilling $600.00 USD. It sounds killer from very low gain up to a high gain Crunch. It has a chimey clean but never harsh glassy ring through its whole range. With 3 way active controls you can literally dial it in to anything including the perfect boost left dead clean or with any amount of gain. Hand made with zero shortcuts. The insides are a work of art!!! At $150.00 USD it leaves nothing to complain about.

BOSS OD-3 OVERDRIVE

This pedal is met with a yawn by critics. It is still selling well after 27 years just by word of mouth. Often a guy has one, his buddy tries it and ... 😊                        __It was not based off of Boss's older OD's. It was not a improvement but designed from scratch to nail the hard clipper hardrock with a dash of blues sound. At a time just before Marshalls on 10 got help with mods and started being called Metal. From there gain started going up by the month not the year. ___The OD-3 nails that perfect crunch sound of that short era!!! __When Outlaw Country influenced mainstream Country it was prefered by many over the Nobels ODR-1.

STRYMON CLOUDBURST AMBIENT REVERB

The only ambience reverb not made to piss off those that do not
want to have a pedal that demands they write tunes to fit it because it is useless to have turned on and play any tunes that they know how to play or indeed need to play in their band. Yes it has a dreamy Shoegaze Star Wars patch that you can ignore or entertain yourself with. _____The big deal is you can click a switch to the Ensemble Effect and get the sound of a 70's Solina String Ensemble keyboard Synth that will follow your chords and riffs like you had a keyboard player playing along with you & doubling your parts. ____REVERB did their 2023 biggest selling pedals Post. This was #1. Pedals like a Timmy that are half the price and fit even guys that only have a couple of pedals are usually #1. So it had to blow a lot of minds to even pony up with the money. It was likely the most pricy pedal on a lot of buyers board at $280.00 USD yet they bought it anyways.

LM383-432   LMXR 330-372

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TECH 1 VORTEX STEREO HEADPHONES

WTF is this doing here ??? Well we all need to hear a pedal on YouTube with some idea that what we hear is what we get. I bought many in all price ranges. I use them hours a day so I need both sound but robustness. None lasted more than 3 months, some 3 days. One day they died on a holiday and the only thing open was the Dollarama. A local dollar store. 

I grabbed the cheapest just to get thru the holiday. 4 years later I still have them. $3.25 USD. Better than anything except high end studio jobbies. Comfortable good highs that sound natural as is the low end. They can bounce off anything and not break.

NOTE: 

It is a day later, I convinced myself enough to go and buy another. 

It is crazy not to have a backup,😇.

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MY BOARD TODAY 11/14/2024

NOTE:  To see more detail put your mouse cursor over the picture and click to enlarge it. 😎

the fine print

Building up a board that works for your rig and your music is much like building a house.  

You may need a certain kitchen or bathroom etc. but 

you still need a basement. I have many pedals that I bought but they are 

mostly part of the basement. Other pedals are the best I could find to do 

the job but there are others as good but not better so they are not on 

this list as they could be bumped one day if I find better. 🙉 

 

SIDE NOTE: 

As I mentioned above I only play my 34 original tunes. I tend to write in the middle of the night by just grabbing a guitar and playing what is in my head. The thing is I never plug into anything. in most cases I just grab the closest solid body. 

Which just happens to be an old Silvertone 1449.

I have no idea until the following day which pedals will work with the tune or even if I find that I must chose a different guitar to get the tune to happen. Often over time I re-write by adding and editing. sometimes I find the tune changed so much I must both chose a different guitar and/or pedals.

MODELING- build/component construction

PROFILING-record

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visitors

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Boss enclosure -YU3 (since CH-2)

Hammond enclosure H 1590 B

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IK iLoud micro monitor pro