___THE UPDATER___JANUARY 2026___NEW GEAR NEWS___UPDATED 24/7

THE UPDATER

JANUARY 2026

Seperate 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

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MY MONTHLY RANT

The only good thing is that Armageddon 2025 is over!!! Last time I checked the those that caused it still can't keep their f.-ing mouth shut from telling us we never had

it so good. 

YESTERYEAR'S  NEWS  

No I am not doing my Best Pedals of 2025 here. They will be in posts over the next few days. The BIG DEAL of 2025 were the Modellers. The big boys did updates and budget models. The smaller players all have stuff that have sonics that get at the very worse a 9.5 out of 10. In short if you heard them with a great player live you would be assuming you were hearing one of the big boys rigs and wouldn't even bother to ask. 

__________

A lot of reviewers are voting the best piece of gear of 2025 is the Valeton GP-5 that on AliExpress is $66.34 USD with free delivery.  In a blindfold test it could pass to your 

ears as a $1700.00 USD Fractal FM9 to anyone (but the guy who owns one), lol. 

 

TIME OUT TO SHOUT 

2015 to 2025

...selfie taken today

On December 30, 2015 I sat down and made a blog to give you what I thought would give maybe a few hundred at best a heads up on dirt cheap pedals that sounded Pro. I thought I would add a few posts over 2 or 3 months then call it a day. I fell off my chair when overnite it went viral. Here I am 10 years later having reviewed over 4000 pedals with up to 3000 players a day visiting to check them out There have been a total of 2,260,000 + . Yes over 

2 million visitors, It blows my mind.  

MY LIFE IN MINIATURE 

On Jan. 3 ...I will have crawled my way thru life and will be 79. I only play my original songs & have done that since I was about 23. 

I spent years in the West End of London UK playing the clubs that 99% of all Brit bands that ever became world famous played. 

My Prog Rock band Tallis once opened for Rush and at that gig about half the crowd  

there never heard of Rush and came to hear Tallis. 

I have met Hendrix 3 times, Clapton let me have his his guitar to check out. Ron Wood 

found me a new Marshall JMP 50 that I could afford, I hung out with Keith Moon and 

went to see Joe Pass play with Steve Howe. Every famous player I met I acted as a peer, 

not a fan. I introduced myself, and said only that I loved their sound and started talking 

about gear immediately. Every player gave me the same advice. Listen to others and 

learn but NEVER copy their style. In short do not learn their tunes. You can not 

un-learn them and they will show up in your tunes making those tunes second hand. 

Robert Fripp told me if I want to steal music ...steal it from Charlie Parker & Dizzy 

Gillespie's BeBop and from the composers Claude Debussy, Bela Bartok and Igor 

Stravinsky. I did just that! None of these guys played the guitar. I recommend the same!!  

∶∶∶

In a year I will be 80. my goal is to get a good live take of my best 35 tunes 

so I have a record that I even was alive. After 80 statically I am 

living on borrowed time.

 

BOB WEIR  FOUNDING MEMBER OF 

THE GRATEFUL DEAD 

    ...PASSED AT 78 

 

              

 

HARLEY  BENTON  50%  OFF

Tariffs killed the American branch. So anything 

left will be sold for up to 50% off. Now or never!!! 

> > > > > > >

NAMM 2026 

I was flooded with hits from gear 

manufacturers that they have reinvented 

the wheel with a new pedal I can not see 

unless I am at the NAMM show.

Jan.20 to 24.   ....STARTSTODAY ! 

 

 

TOYS FOR THE OLDER BOYS

Some old, some new

but all are cool !

KEELEY Super.Bass 

This is a take on the 200 watt Marshall Bass amp that Ritchie Blackmore decided was just perfect for giving his Strat the fattest and heaviest sound on the planet. 

The low end is monstrous but tight and the guitars attack cuts like a meat cleaver. 

I love using mine with a Super Fuzz stacked on it, lol. 

Best of all the pedal is $100.00 USD.

 

ELECTRO HARMONIX Swello 

Hit a note or cord with your guitar volume knob off then turn the volume up. This unit does this faster than you could possible do it by hand and increases the gain as it goes from off to full volume . It does this even playing very quickly. 

It can mimic the bow stroke of a violin or the sound of reed instrument or flute. It is not a new idea or something you can not do by hand or even a volume pedal. The big deal is it does it frighteningly convincingly. $150.00 USD.

 

JHS Charlie Brown v.4

Basically a take on a Marshall JTM45. The amp that is a clone of the infamous Fender Bassman. The Dumble is also a hot rodded Fender Bassman. Yes there are a few of these but I still find this one is the best. $200 USD 

 

 

WHEEBO JMP Drive

This MIAB has been around for 13 years. Yes it does the killer classic 'take no prisoners' power chords and leads. The BIG BUT is!!! You can also dial in the perfect Mark Knopfler Sultans of Swing tone. Or to the point a 100 watt cranked Marshall but set to a  hair before breakup sound. I figure I have easily spent over $2000 on pedals trying to find that sound. Many boasted they could give you the perfect Strat clean sound. All total bullsh@t. Eike Hintzen who designed and makes everyone of these pedal says nothing about it. 

Made in Hanover Germany and overbuilt with the best parts and an obsession for quality. $200.00 USD & worth every penny!!!

UPDATED JANUARY 6, 2026 

Every day for decades I put in time daily practising, learning theory and writing tunes. 

A slow day is 2 hours, 4 is closer to minimum but 6 is no big deal. I do it scattering  

half hour or even an hour breaks with new posts of new pedals and to add to... 

THE UPDATER ...that can be morning eveing or 2 or 3 am at night

So check back anytime for more!!!

 THE GUITAR KIOSK  

Ibanez ALPHA A527
$1900.00 USD
7 string
maple bolt on neck w/ebony board
Basswood body Fishman Fluence HB PUs

EVERYONE IS TWENTY ONCE 😎 ·