WAH PEDAL- JAM PEDALS Whacko ...if it's not broke don't fix it!

 JAM PEDALS WHACKO WAH PEDAL 

If it is not broke don't fix it. The original Cry Baby Wha is still killer. The only thing I have heard that was a great but not perfect idea was the Dunlop signatures pedals. All they were was adjustments of the range of the sweep. Jam simply gives you six choices of sweep with a robust knob on the side of the pedal. In short it covers all the signature pedals in one unit. The sound was left alone!!! You get Jam's hand made and robust build. You get a stronger casing, higher grade pts etc. I short the sound is the same but the unit will not fall apart from getting kicked around under foot. Jam always has killer graphics ...this definitely makes a statement!!!

$320.00 USD

CONCLUSION

What's not to love. 

OK...OK ....the price!!!

FUZZ- JDM Pedals Hot Plate ... killer Fuzz!

$140.00 USD

 JDM PEDAL HOT PLATE FUZZ 

This pedal is a cross between a Tonebender MKIII and a Burns Buzzaround. The Tonebender supplies the nasty grit and the Buzzaround gives it it's thick and long sustain.

The layout is straightforward with volume, tone and gain. A switch kicks in a nice boost.

JDM is Joe Doc Music in Berlin Germany. It is not surprising that this is great sounding well made pedal. What is a surprise is that JDM pedals sell at budget prices.

CONCLUSION

Killer sound for a great price.

OVERDRIVE- TIESCO Distortion ... a 'why not have it all?'...Marshall-in-a-Box

 TIESCO DISTORTION 

$150.00 USD

Our friends in Singapore decided to make a Marshall-in-a-Box that could be tweaked to cover every sound you have ever heard that someone said is a Marshall. They just might have done it. You get your standard level, tone and gain as well as presence. You have a tight switch that tightens up your low end. Another switch labeled 'muscle' is a mid boost. They then added a switchable clean boost.

As always you get Tiesco's great graphics and robust build.

CONCLUSION

What it lacks in a detailed tone it makes up for with a brutal punch and balz. You get a total in your face sound yet still keep a nice Marshall vibe.

OVERDRIVE- ANIMALS PEDALS Diamond Peak Hybrid OD ... early Plexi sounds

$130.00 USD

 ANIMALS PEDALS DIAMOND PEAK OD 

Animals pedals has once again brought in Skreddy Pedals to design another OD.
This time it is an early Marshall Plexi featuring its cleaner sounds. That big open sound just edging into crunch that many identify with AC/DC.

CONCLUSION

It is the kind of sound that is fat and huge but can beautifully

lay in behind a vocal without competing for attention. We all

love or killer in your face OD's but if it all you have than what

do you have when your clean sound is just to clean.

This is the kind of sound you can find you nearly never turn off for the while gig. You still get Animals Pedals MIJ quality 

at a bargain price.

OVERDRIVE- NATIVE AUDIO Kiaayo OD ...a rarity ...both unusually good and unique tone

$190.00 USD

 NATIVE AUDIO KIAAYO OD 

From Mike Trombley from Dayton Ohio comes a pedal that although definitely has the Amp-in-a-Box vibe it sounds like no one amp in particular. It is highly responsive to your touch.

The layout seems to be the classic volume, tone and gain. The

difference is that the tone uses a low pass filter before the gain and not after.

CONCLUSION 

It is a medium gain OD with a very distinct sound. Every note is clearly defined yet it has a near liquid quality to the tone. It is usable over it's whole range. It is unlike most pedals with just a single sweet spot. Even with the gain off it makes a killer boost. It really is a unique sound that simply needs to be heard. 

WHAMMY- VEGA-TREM ....Strat drop in whammy as good as a Floyd?

 VEGA-TREM 

$295.00 USD

Who doesn't know about a Floyd Rose? The idea of being able to use a whammy bar to replace the Fender strat style that doesn't go out of tune has been the goal of many, many manufacturers. All have improved on it a bit. The Floyd Rose clamps the string down at both the bridge and the neck and this does work very well but it is bulky, cumbersome and requires a tech and to literally alter your guitar majorly to install it. If you then do not like it your guitar is F. ed!

V.G has designed 2 drop in replacements one for

a vintage style whammy and one for the modern style.

They come in the usual chrome, black or gold colors.

Installation requires a screwdriver and an hour of your time. 

It does not lock at the nut. Ideally you should get a graphite or Graph-Tech nut so your strings can move 

across the nut but can not bind. 

Locking tuners would also add a lot as you do not have 2 or 3 extra winds around the post that can relax then move back in a slightly different position out of tune.

CONCLUSION

Is it perfect??? No! but it is as good as it gets for a conventional whammy.

If used in traditional manner it probably will rarely go out of tune. If you are going to dive bomb and pull up and down on it you could put a string or two out but probably not so bad you could not finish a tune.

They are not cheap but to get this much accuracy they must be machined to a very high tolerance. Since it is a drop in you can put back your original whammy if you sell the guitar.

OVERDRIVE- MZO FX Ohm Drive ...versatile from low gain to high ...lacks character ???

 MZO FX OHM DRIVE v.2 

$200.00 USD

Justin TenCate couldn't find an OD he liked so he sat down in 2009 and kept working at it until he did.

In 2011 he finally had nailed it.

The layout is volume, treble and drive, the texture is a mid boost a switch lets you cut lows to tighten the sound and timbre controls the headroom. You can have full headroom or you can compress the signal and add a thick saturation and sustain.

The pedal runs on 18v so to give you all that headroom. The  timbre will give you amp like transformer like sag and sustain. It sounds as good using it for a low gain OD right through to nudging into a high gain.

CONCLUSION

It is very versatile but lacks the character of pedals tailored for one sound like for example a Plexi.

Ideal if you love your amp and wish to keep it's character basically intact but it won't turn a Fender

into a Marshall. An excellent pedal with a lot of

flexibility.

FUZZ- BEETRONICS Vezzpa Octave Stinger (Babee Series) ...New Fuzz from the maestros!

 BEETRONICS VEZZPA STINGER FUZZ 

$200.00 USD

It has been 2 years for a second pedal to come out in their Babee Series. Every pedal they make is knocked out of the park. Their larger pedals are one of the few you tend to find in possession of collectors in with original Muffs and Tonebenders. These smaller ones are easily equal to the bigger pedals but are voiced so newcomers to a Fuzz do not struggle with the foibles of the classics.

CONCLUSION

As usual the quality of the build and cosmetics is killer.

I can not think of better Fuzz on the planet to represent a 

'Fuzz'. You get the tones of the early Tonebenders, you get the the Octave Fuzz thing that followed and if you pull back its overkill features lol. You can get close even a Muff vibe.

If you did a tune and thought it needed a Fuzz thing there

is a sound here to do it. Best of all the pedal is fat and punchy and you can add a knurly thing on demand. No matter what your setting it maintains a raw organic quality.

In short it is not a one sweet spot pedal.

FINAL THOUGHTS

6 weeks later

I pulled out every candidate on my short list of Fuzz pedals in the last few weeks. I rechecked every Fuzz candidate I felt I really wanted. I put the best video I can get against this Fuzz. I was blown away that this either beat them out or left them in a stalemate. My other choices started at $130 though most are $200 or more. So to cover a lot of bases the Vezzpa is a steal. 

The Vezzpa can be tuned to acceptably cover every model and at the same time nudge past it for balz, fatness etc. If am stupid picky it is furthest away from a classic Muff. But the new EH Rams Head model is killer and only $100.

FUZZ- GCI Jugendstil Heavy Metal Fuzz ... stalking the a Boss HM-2

$185.00 USD

 GCI JUGENDSTIL HEAVY METAL FUZZ 

I have to tip my hat to GCI in calling a Fuzz a Fuzz instead of shrouding the truth passing this off as an OD. A great Fuzz is no shame to use no matter what the genre. GSI was one of the first to treat all genres of Metal as a legitimate musical expression and not some joke of the 'Dumble-ites'. 

The layout is volume is volume and gain with a 'loud' control which is a fixed EQ that is taken from the Boss HM-2. The 'sweep' control allows you to control where you want the mid boost frequency to be centered on.

CONCLUSION

It sounds to me more the same than different. It does have more bass so bass player using the Boss may wish 

to move to it. I am a great believer in too much over too 

little. Adding bass by boosting is never as tight or clean 

as a pedal that makes it part of the circuit in the first place.

Considering it is very precisely genre specific versatility was

never it's intention. I think they hit the bullseye!

OVERDRIVE- DEMETER DV-1 Driveulator... old school company ...hardcore noise maker

 DEMETER DV-1 DRIVEULATOR 

$205.00 USD

A very old school company that have been around for 30+ years & still make tube products like amps, DI's etc. They also have a few pedals.

This OD has a basic layout of volume, gain and tone. A switch lets you choose between germanium or silicone diodes for a choice of voices. I do not think this is someone getting creative with old Fuzz or the Rat schematic but simply a very old pedal that is 'new' again.

CONCLUSION

Not a lot to say. A love it or leave it pedal. It does not sound like a Rat but it is definitely staking out the same territory.

More noticeable on the sites 'sound clips' The only video shows the pedal off using the silicon diodes and you can hear it gives you a very tight high gain sound. You would do well to compare it to the Amptweaker Tight Metal for these

sounds.

FLANGER- WALRUS AUDIO Polychrome Analog Flanger ... just wierd? or dead cool?

 WALRUS AUDIO POLYCHROME ANALOG FLANGER 

$200.00 USD

The analog Flanger has been with us for decades.The early Electro Harmonix and the MXR along with the Boss are all still popular to this day. The E-H was quirky but dramatic and the MXR & Boss were smooth rich and wonderfully to the point. The A/DA was the first of the 'everything possible' Flangers that although magic can easily turned into a dog's breakfast. many companies that make 'one of everything' skip the Flanger as it hard to make and easy to get wrong.

There are many newer pedals that are very good but boring and a few clones of the classics. Digital Flangers area whole different thing (I had 2 but hated them)

as for the classic clones most are terrible but the Retro-Sonic is a to die for E-H Electric Mistress. The one Andy Summers made famous with the Police. Even things that most thought were the Roland Jazz Chorus amp were the Flanger set to sound more like a Chorus!

CONCLUSION

The thing that struck me is unusual about the Walrus is it is unusually full like a Chorus. It is also very warm yet it does not get muddy or loose any clarity. It is different thing than the classics but definitely holds its with anything. Excellent!

OVERDRIVE- WAMPLER Gearbox ...Andy Wood sig. ...modded Tumnus & Pinnacle OD's

 WAMPLER GEARBOX OD 

$270.00 USD

The idea is simple take the must have bits of 2 of Wamplers best pedals. Throw in a gate and you are done.

Most of you know that the Pinnacle is Wamplers answer 

to a high gain Marshall-in-a-Box and the Tumnus is a Klon clone and is only second to a Tube Screamer as the pedal to stack on another  pedal or an amp to add as boost for more gain and a fat mid boost.It is laid out as 2 separate pedals with level, gain and a 3 way EQ for the Pinnacle side and level, gain and tone for the Tumnus. There is noise gate and a switch to choose which OD is stacked on which.

CONCLUSION

The Pinnacle is indeed a very good faux overkill Marshall style pedal. I had the Tumnus and hated it. The Klon thing to me is all about not just it's mid boost but a glassy sparkly tone. The Tumnus has none ...in fact I found it muddy and I did live with it for a year. I have noted that although it is really popular that it has been replaced on most of the fans of a Klon with a better Klon. BUT having said that most players have a Tube Screamer (which I also hate lol) or a Klon that is used as a boost or to tighten their dirt sound.

I am pleased that gates are slowly creeping onto OD pedals. For years they got a bad name because pedal versions were single end designs that chopped off the end of your notes. With modern 'Smart gates' this is not an issue.

On the up side the pedal does have tweaks to fit Andy Wood's preferences and the Klon side seem to me to have been tamed back to a gentle mid boost that adds a touch of resonance which reminds me of the resonance of a good Marshall 4x12 cabinet. The Pinnacle side is what it is and after several versions there is little to bitch about. It is to me in the modded Marshall JCM 800 style of amps and I have few of those pedals myself and have come close to buying every version as they came out but one by one found the several made by other makers.

If you wanted one OD to cover it all it will do it very, very well providing you are not into a super low gain just past dead clean sound or you are into a chugging Metal style heading into a Djent territory.

PEDAL BOARD- Paul Gilbert's

 WHAT'S ON PAUL GILBERT'S PEDAL BOARD

FENDER USA 1950 ...how it was!

 FENDER and more FENDER *1950* 

FUZZ- FUZZSIMP FX Fuzzshrimp ...Fuzz Face?

 FUZZSIMP FX FUZZSHRIMP FUZZ 

$90.00 USD

When I heard it I the first thing I thought was Fuzz Face because it has thick warm germanium transistors kind of sound. It is apparently based off of the Interfax Harmonic Percolator. A Fuzz that uses one silicon transistor and a second germanium PNP transistor. The PNP is odd because it not an audio transistor in fact it's most popular use is for that are used in outdoor lights that turn on when it goes dark etc. Add to that it passes most even order harmonics. this is the big deal thing about the Tube Screamer but they could not be more different as the Interface is a nasty Fuzz not a transparent OD.

The layout is dead simply it is simply gain and level.

CONCLUSION

The pedal was just released and the first run is 5 pedals.

You can preorder for a run in June. The company has 

10 other pedals. They are primarily Fuzz and Drives with a 

twist on the classics. I already did the Shroot a take on a Muff? 

This one definitely has a Fuzz Face vibe. It is also 

just as simple a pedal. I do not have anything useable

with germanium vibe. I have a few antiques but they all

have issues. So this is very intriguing.

FUZZ- RUDE TECH 3MUF-14 Fuzz/Distortion ...from Russia with love :-)

RUDETECH 3MUF-14 FUZZ/DISTORTION

$230.00 USD

It certainly sounds promising but I always use my pedals the way I use them live with the one best sound they have. Yes there can be exceptions but I find that comes from using 2 different guitars with the same pedal where perhaps the level or highs need a tweak.

I have a Big Muff Op-Amp which is nearly into OD territory and a Caline M-Fuzz a take on the Rams Head and a Analog Fox Green Muff from Russia so this will have to impress me big time.

For a start it is 3 different Russian Muffs which means that like the originals are probably more the same then they are different.

The layout is your standard volume, tone and gain.

A 3 way switch to choose the voice and an EQ bypass switch.A second foot switch kicks in a mid boost.

CONCLUSION

It sounds basically the same as my made in St Petersburg Russia Analog Fox Green Muff which by theway uses all the original NOS parts. E-H in Russia was in St Petersburg so WTF. Better still it was $100.00 USD

OVERDRIVE- TC ELECTRONIC Magus Pro ...a Rat? with an LM308 OpAmp?

 TC ELECTRONIC MAGUS PRO 

$60.00 USD

Weird? Good ol! has just released a Rat pedal in their budget pedals. Not so strange ...except they make pedals in high volumes and you can not do that and use an obsolete part. The original Rat used as LM308 OpAmp that has been out of production for decades. Yes small builders can find NOS of the part but not on a consistent basis. If the info was not consistent in many ads including Sweetwaters I would think someone got their wires crossed.

The layout has the usual gain, level and tone. A 3 way switch gives you Fat, Classic and Turbo.

The casing is new for the line. It is 3/4 the size of a Boss pedal.

CONCLUSION

Well it is definitely in the ballpark and you get a choice of 

3 voicings. A real ProCo Rat II is only $10 more.

I quite like it! But then I already have a clone of the original and a Rat II so do I need a third RAT? No! 

....but :-)

OVERDRIVE- COLUMBO AUDIO ELECTRONICS Plexi Breed ...total KILLER !!!!

 COLUMBO AUDIO ELECTRONICS PLEXI BREED OD 

$230.00 USD

None of this is new a lot of pedals boast to cover all the classic Marshalls. They never do. Often it is really nothing but gain. You are expected to believe that more gain in the pedal is supposed to be a different model. In short there is a lot of bull in many Marshall pedal ads. 

For a start the only classic that has significantly more gain is a JCM 800. This pedal does not do an 800. It is a good sign 

if it claimed it could do that I would want to see much bigger pedal.

As for the actual amps the 1987 is a 50 watt Plexi. The '87 amp does have more gain and a very aggressive sounding voice, the 1959 is the 100 watt Super Lead which is killer fat with rich thick lows and lower mids. It was never capable than more than a excellent crunch. You seldom hear it on a recording without a boost or a Fuzz put thru it. The JCM 45 was a beefed up Fender Bassman. It was actually a bit light in the bass end but it had killer sustain and a beautiful singing quality.

The big, big, big, surprise is that this pedal nails the actual amps in question.

The old model is the horizontal version. You can now also get the more board friendly vertical model.

The layout is unique. Each model of amp is accurately voiced and on a 3 way switch. You have a basic level control and a tone control that lets you get the right overall sound with you rig. On the real vintage amps you had a bright and normal input. Each input had a pair of jacks and a volume for each and a knob for each next to the jacks. 

(check the amp picture)

A player would would chose one or the other channel or put a short patch cord going between the extra jack on each channel and have both teamed up. I have always done the paired up thing on my Marshalls and blended the two with the bright a bit hotter. So on the pedal you get two controls to allow you to create the same setup.

CONCLUSION

First what it isn't is a larger than life OD

that is based off of the sound of a recorded Marshall with a Fuzz and a booster overloading the amp and lots of post production EQ added.

What it does is reproduce the original

3 amps uncannily accurate.

This is the work of Luco Columbo.

I tip my hat!!! Well done!

HANDS ON
So I just got the pedal today. Is it is as impressive as it seems here?

Let me just say ...it is the Ferrari of the Marshall-in-a Box pedals.

....just buy one!!! 

...it is the only thing more you need to know!!!  :-)

WARNING

Luco has done it again.

Check out my new Post :COLUMBO AUDIO ELECTRONICS TRILOGY

This time you get a JCM 800, the Silver Jubilee and the JCM 900.

WTF ...I tried to talk myself out of it!!!

It didn't work ...mine is in transit do in a week!!! LOL

FUZZ- SOURCE AUDIO Ultra Wave ...if a Fuzz is like ripped jeans why is this a tuxedo?

$250.00 USD

 SOURCE AUDIO ULTRA WAVE 

S.A. have been around for years and were one of the first to make digital pedals. I think they all but went under until they brought 

out a serious but conventional reverb. Now the world has caught up or maybe just got bored with a lot of 'more of the same' pedals.

So this was one of there first pedals that they pulled out 

of oblivion and with help or better chips etc they pulled out all the stops.

I will try and keep it simple. Like any instrument the guitar 

signal has different frequencies in the signal. Nothing pulls them out and exaggerates them more than a Fuzz. so what they did was divide the frequencies up into 10 and treated them with filters, modulation etc from the synth world and then blend them back in. Some frequencies may border on crazy noise but a good deal left in tact. 

The result is you still get a solid stable note. This means you 

can play in a conventional manner on a conventional tune.

In short unlike other pedals of this ilk it is not a toy that 

can only make sound effects for a SciFi movie.

CONCLUSION

Well the only downside is unless you waiting original material there 

is a limit to how useful this pedal is. I can't fault it. Unlike other pedals 

that are outside the box this pedal is dare I say? Totally useable!!! 

Yes unlike those overpriced reverbs and delays you can actually  

play a tune with this one. LOL

WHAT ORDER SHOULD YOU PUT YOUR EFFECTS IN ???

COME TO ORDER 

I run my rig as 4 separate boards with a switcher that changes from one board to another. This does not change how I prefer to set up each board. It does however make me very focused to do things like where possible keep all my Fuzz pedals on one of my 4 boards. 

Or not. LOL 

With pedals there are many either-or situations :-)

OVERDRIVE- COLUMBO AUDIO ELECTRONICS Eruption ...Eddie-in-a-Box ? YES!!!

 COLUMBO AUDIO ELECTRONICS ERUPTION

$200.00 USD

I will get right to the layout. You have the usual volume gain and tone. Yes ...BUT! You get a 'Variac'!

Most of you know that Eddie used variable voltage control box that can reduce the amount of power being sent right from the wall plug to the amp. In short the amp was starved of power. He initially did it because he ran his 100 watt Marshall dimed. At small clubs the owners would go ballistic so he tried this to lower the volume. It did do just that. It also increased the distortion and sustain big time!

The pedal is voiced bang on so the single tone control is all you need to match your amp and guitar to the pedal. You can zero in killer dirt and sustain from the 'Variac'

CONCLUSION

Damn it! Where's my wallet? Damit ! I need my credit card! NOW !!! LOL

OVERDRIVE- TONE INK Red Brit Distortion ...all the bells & whistles

 TIE INK RED BRIT DISTORTION 

$190.00 USD

Another pedal maker from Brazil that is under the radar.

The pedal has 3 switchable voices to give you a 3 Marshall amps a JTM 45, a Plexi and a modded high gain JCM 800 kind of sound. You can also change the saturation by another switch which mimics the headroom or lack of it with a 25, 50 and 100 watt amp. You have the usual level and gain and a 3 way EQ. In short you have a lot to work with.

CONCLUSION

The sound is very raw and in the room. Arguably harsh.

Most makers go for the kind of post produced sound that we hear on a finished recording not the sound of a Marshall at a small club with none or the rasp and gnarliness removed. It does however remove some of the warm and breadth to the sound that other makers spoil us with.

OVERDRIVE- TONEWAVE Bright OD ...WTF ?

 TONEWAVE BRIGHT OD 

$200.00 USD

It never ends another Tube Screamer! Well yes and no. OD pedals changed dramatically when the Pro-Co Rat made an OD using a new device that had just hit the market ...the OpAmp. Virtually a tiny amplifier in a chip. You plug in a guitar signal and it makes the signal louder or at least loud enough if you attach diodes to it then it will overload the diode and out comes a distorted signal. One of the most famous is the Japanese JRC4558. It was the basis for the Tube Screamer, Boss OD-1 etc. It has long since been defunct but many makers feel it is a very special element in the formula. Keep in mind the OpAmp itself puts out almost no distortion. The JRC4558 was only at best 5% of the sound. 

My point is now a legendary pedal so myths on it's construction sell new pedals that find old stock of these OpAmps and build a hotrod ts or boss OD etc. LOL

CONCLUSION

Another Tube Screamer? Yes. 

I would check out the Caline CP-75 Emerald Night it is as exact as you can get to an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and it sells for $35.00 USD

BASS PRE- WR AMPLIFYING Goliath Bass Tube Preamp Std... is low tech a better sound?

WR AMPLIFYING GOLIATH BASS TUBE PREAMP STD.

$560.00 USD

Very simple old school tech that may still be the best sound you can get sweat free.

You can simply run it into to your present rig or you can always buy an amp without a pre that is used for sound reinforcement or a studio power amp. 

The advantage is with these amps you have a lot of headroom relatively cheap. The Art SLA-2 is a good example as it has 560 watts into 8 ohms and is only $350.00 USD. It has been around for years unhanged. It well made very reliable

and is used to run studio monitors in thousands of pro studios.

CONCLUSION

What can I say. It is simple enough. Yes pricy but are you surprised? It is German made built like a tank and been around for years. For $680.00 USD they have the

'Plus' with built in XLR Di.

Most players these days have never tried a tube amp or pre. It can really be an eye opener. Instat punch, better sustain and generally a fatter sound.

FUZZ- ELECTRO HARMONIX Bass Big Muff... yes? or same old lame ...?

 ELECTRO HARMONIX BASS BIG MUFF 

$82.00 USD

Most Bass players are not to crazy over FX. I do not blame them. Many of these pedals are sold as miracle Synths. What they are, are variations on an envelope filter follower or in plain English an auto-wah. They want you to make bow-wow sounds like a barking dog in a cartoon. There are a few Fuzz pedals but they either kill the low end, turn your tone to mud or force you to use a pick. The original Sovtek Big Muff was a medium gain Fuzz that gave a warm and lightly distorted dirt sound. If you play with a tube amp or tube pre they are rather redundant as you do not need more of what you already have. 

The Bass Muff may be an exception? 

The layout is simple with volume, tone and gain and a switch lets you boost the lows and add in a bit of clean signal to keep the definition and fight any mud.

MORE OR LESS?

The Nano is smaller and does not include the bass boost. It is oddly not cheaper and Sweetwater do not even stock them ??? The clue may be the obvious omission of a bass boost? You can not have the boost and clean on together with either? So?

Enter the large Deluxe which has all the bells and whistles. You get a blend for the clean signal a gate that kills noise and tightens the sound and a pad for an active bass. 

Of course it very large and naturally more money. Good luck ...LOL.

$130.00 USD

$82.00 USD

CONCLUSION

I will give it my biggest compliment I can give to an effect for Bass.

USABLE!

OVERDRIVE- CKK ELECTRONIC Anka Distortion ...anything as good is 3 times more?

CKK ELECTRONIC ANKA DISTORTION

 $75.00 USD

I find both this pedal and all the work and care put in it impressive. This is the 5th version since it's inception. The company also makes the Sinvertek M5+ that is easily a competitor for the Origin Rival Drive Compact. The CKK is $225.00 USD and the Origin is $445.00 USD. The value for money of all CKK products is more than impressive. 

It appears to me that the Sinvertek's name hints at its origins as it is called '5' and the Anka version '5' is the 5th and final version of this pedal. I suspect it got down to costs. The company wants the Anka as the affordable option. Both pedals definitely have a very, very similar tone. The Sinvertek has quite literally dozens of option to fine tune it to the perfect medium gain right up to a silly high level of gain etc. 

I nearly never use a dirt pedal for more than one sound as all my dirt pedals are used live and used for the one sound they do best. It is not a thick syrupy kind of sound. 

It is all about clarity and detail and version '5' has taken that a step 

further. Unfortunately there are no new video's of the latest and last version. 

But there is no denying that even the older versions are very impressive.

CONCLUSION

If it said MXR or Wampler or JHS on it who wouldn't be impressed. If it was $225.00 USD would not look priced overly high.  It is only one third of that $75.00 USD on Aliexpress. WTF ...enough said!

BOOSTER- BLAMMO Voltage Booster... a beefed up Colorsound Power boost!

$170. 00 USD

 BLAMMO VOLTAGE BOOSTER 
The original was designed by the Gary Hurst who designed the original Tone Bender Fuzz. The first model had an 18 volt with  huge headroom and the second model was 9 vot that gave the pedal a lot of saturation and an OD crunch. The Bammo does both. Like the original it has 2 band/treble and bass Baxandall EQ.

CONCLUSION

At 18v it is good but other really clean boosters are as good. With the 9v setting it has a killer crunch that is beautifully nasty on the lows.