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gear giveaway

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DOD Badder Monkey Overdrive

Following a surge of interest spurred by a viral demonstration video, the long-discontinued DOD Bad Monkey overdrive has been resurrected in a significantly expanded form by its original creators at DOD. The Badder Monkey is far more than a simple reissue; it’s a comprehensive reimagining that retains the core green-voiced circuit of its predecessor while introducing a host of novel, and frankly eccentric, features for unprecedented tonal exploration.... Click on the title for more

DOD Badder Monkey Overdrive

GFI System Solis Ventus Delay/Reverb

Hailing from the Indonesyan brand that gave us the Specular Tempus (also a stereo, multi-algorithms reverb + delay pedal), the GFI System Solis Ventus expands on its predecessor offering a dual DSP engine, powered by two 32-bit ARM processors.... Click on the title for more

GFI System Solis Ventus Delay/Reverb

Jam Octaurus Fuzz

Born in (or at least near) the ancient Athenian caves where trapped men saw shadows hinting at greater truths, the Jam Octaurus is an octave-up fuzz pedal designed for versatility and creative exploration across diverse musical genres and applications.... Click on the title for more

Jam Octaurus Fuzz

New Pedal: EarthQuaker Devices Bellows Jr.

The EarthQuaker Devices Bellows Jr. is a two-knob wonder that does something most dirt pedals can’t: it sounds like an amp falling apart in the best possible way. Somewhere between tweed grit and fuzzy saturation, it covers everything from “I just turned my Princeton up past three” to “what happened to my speakers?”. It’s not based on anything in particular — EarthQuaker says so themselves. Instead, it’s a nod to the non-master-volume amps of yesteryear, capturing that vintage tweed-type breakup without mimicking any specific amp or pedal. The Drive control works like a non-master amp’s volume knob: lower settings give you wider, grittier breakup, and cranking it delivers blown-out fuzz territory. In between, you get every era of rock and roll, no vintage replica required. Originally a limited run, the Bellows is back in a mini enclosure because people kept asking. Two knobs. Top jacks. That weird, wonderful space where clean isn’t clean and dirty isn’t quite fuzz. It’s the sound of a tube amp being polite right before it loses its mind. Hand-built by a bunch of bearded dudes and a couple ladies in the comedic drama section of Akron, Ohio, USA — the heart of it all!... Click on the title for more

New Pedal: EarthQuaker Devices Bellows Jr.

Keeley RK2000 Funk Siren Delay

In 1983, Ibanez/Maxon built something absurd: the DM2000, a 12-bit digital delay so over-engineered that it made everything else look like a toy. Forty years later, Trey Anastasio has been abusing one onstage, using its Hold function to create infinite, warbling loops called the "Funk Siren." The only problem? Vintage units are dying. Justin Stabler, Trey's guitar tech, begged Keeley to save him the heartache. The Keeley RK2000 is that rescue mission.... Click on the title for more

Keeley RK2000 Funk Siren Delay

MXR EVH Modern High Gain Distortion

The MXR EVH Modern High Gain. is Channel 3 of Eddie's 5150III head, stuffed into a pedal so you don't need a full stack. Same controls on paper. Different animal entirely.... Click on the title for more

MXR EVH Modern High Gain Distortion

Strymon El Capistan V2 Tape Delay

The Strymon El Capistan is a lush stereo emulation of a vintage Tape Echo device, in a cleverly simple box. It offers three Tape modes emulating different reading head configurations (Fixed, Multi and Single) and three ways to slightly tweak each one of them. Separate controls for Tape Age and Wow and Flutter. Sound on Sound mode allows you to use it as a looper.... Click on the title for more

Strymon El Capistan V2 Tape Delay

Updated Pedal: Eventide H9 Gen 2 Multi-Effects Pedal

Eventide just did something rare in the gear world: they gave away the farm. As of June 1, 2026, every registered H9 Standard and H9 Core owner gets upgraded to H9 Max for free. No fee. No hardware swap. No fine print. Register your pedal, sync through H9 Control, and the full 52-algorithm library loads onto your unit. The tiered model—Standard, Core, Max—is dead. Every H9 is now a Max. Why now? Because the Eventide H9 Gen 2 started shipping on June 24. Same ARM architecture as the H90. 74 algorithms. Over 1,000 presets. Full parameter control from the pedal itself—no app required. USB-C. MIDI. Bluetooth coming via firmware. Effects spillover between presets. It’s a proper next-gen box. But the MaxOut upgrade is the real story. Eventide could have left Standard and Core owners in the dust. Instead, they unlocked the full algorithm set on existing hardware. That’s not a marketing stunt. That’s a company clearing out the old pricing structure and treating early adopters like they matter. If you’ve been sitting on an H9 Standard wondering if you should upgrade, stop wondering. You already did. Go sync your pedal. Eventide H9 Gen 1 Few manufacturers can claim […]... Click on the title for more

Updated Pedal: Eventide H9 Gen 2 Multi-Effects Pedal

Updated Pedal: JHS NOTADÜMBLË V2 Pedal Kit

The original JHS NOTADÜMBLË was a beautiful disaster. JHS accidentally loaded the John Mayer BBC-1 preamp into the clean side instead of the intended “Box It Later” buffer. Josh Scott called it the biggest mistake of his career. Discontinued the pedal. Offered refunds. The whole thing sold out anyway because gear people love a collector’s item with a good story. Now the V2 is almost here. Drops around June 30th. This time it’s got the correct Box It Later clean section paired with the overdrive channel that was right all along. Two footswitches. An order toggle. An added effects loop. Still a solderless DIY kit, still $119. Meanwhile, if you want that BBC-1 preamp on its own, JHS released The Fumble earlier this month. $89. Fully assembled. Compact enclosure. Josh turned his biggest fuck-up into a standalone pedal and named it something self-deprecating. That’s either good marketing or genuine humility. Probably both. — JHS NOTADÜMBLË V1 Following the success of their first DIY pedal kit, NOTAKLON, JHS Pedals is launching its second build-it-yourself project—this time inspired by the legendary Dumble amplifier: the JHS NOTADÜMBLË. Known for its ultra-rare, highly sought-after tone, the Dumble sound has been famously used by artists […]... Click on the title for more

Updated Pedal: JHS NOTADÜMBLË V2 Pedal Kit

New Pedal: Stonegate FX The Figure Filter Fuzz

Stonegate FX is a Toronto builder we’ve been familiarizing with at our Canadian Synth and Pedal Expos, and the Figure Filter Fuzz is exactly the kind of pedal that makes you glad you showed up. Most fuzz pedals hand you a wall of noise and say “good luck.” This one lets you carve it. The fuzz circuit itself is rich and expressive—woolly, saturated, the usual suspects. But the dual active filters are what separate it from the pile. Mid filter sweeps 1kHz to 4kHz—the upper mids where guitars actually cut through a mix. High filter covers 9kHz to 14kHz—air frequencies, top-end sparkle, the stuff that makes a fuzz sound expensive instead of muffled. Each has its own Cut/Boost knob with a center detent, so you can scoop or shove those frequencies with precision. Active filters, not passive. That means boost as well as cut. Internal trimpots let you adjust the Q width of each filter. Clockwise narrows the focus, counterclockwise widens it. Set it and forget it. Pickup simulator means you can place it anywhere in the chain without tone suck. Top-mounted jacks. True bypass. Matte black sand texture with UV-printed art. Gold-plated PCB. Lumberg and Switchcraft jacks. Nothing cheap. […]... Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Stonegate FX The Figure Filter Fuzz

Way Huge Doom Hammer Fuzz

The Way Huge Doom Hammer Fuzz delivers thick saturation born from high-desert riffage and a '90s sonic palette. Its lineage traces back to 1998, when designer Jeorge Tripps modified a late-'70s op-amp fuzz circuit for the band Oranger. Prized for its less pronounced mid-scoop than many vintage fuzzes, the circuit was refined for tighter low-end response and reliable live performance.... Click on the title for more

Way Huge Doom Hammer Fuzz

Walrus Audio Highpoint Optical Compressor

The folks at Walrus Audio looked at the compressor section of a Neve console, realized nobody was going to tour with one, and built the Highpoint. It's an all-analog optical compressor that runs on a ±15V internal rail—double the headroom of most pedals, zero starved-voltage compromise. ... Click on the title for more

Walrus Audio Highpoint Optical Compressor