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Mr. Black Shepard’s End – Infinite Flanger

Collector//Emitter took a fresh look at the Mr. Black's Shepard's End, presented as an "infinite flanger" because of its peculiar behavior of going up (or down) continually, rather than cycling through up and downs. There is no cycle, just a stairway to heaven - or hell! Also: As if that…Click on the title for more

Mr. Black Shepard’s End – Infinite Flanger

Spaceman Orion Spring Reverb

The Spaceman Effects Orion is the smallest reverb pedal with real springs in it, fitting two springs in a case that's only 6 ¼' wide by 4 ¾' deep. Entirely hand soldered in Portland Oregon, the Orion features three standard controls like Tone, Mix, and Volume, while the Dwell knob…Click on the title for more

Spaceman Orion Spring Reverb

New Pedals: 6 Degrees FX Hyper Catalyst

6 Degrees FX, a Vancouver builder specializing in high-end gain pedals, just unveiled a new JFET Preamp Overdrive called Hyper Catalyst, a flexible stompbox that can be used either as a regular overdrive or as a versatile "stacking device." When feeding other drives, the Hyper Catalyst can add saturation, harmonics, tighter…Click on the title for more

New Pedals: 6 Degrees FX Hyper Catalyst

Alexander Pedals Radical Delay DX (Neo)

The Radical Delay DX is an '80s flavored delay from Garner, North Carolina's Alexander Pedals - the "neofied" version of the previous model (Neo is the company's series of pedals with high connectivity features and preset function). Time (8 D. Q) — Changes the delay time from 0-920ms. In Tap mode, this…Click on the title for more

Alexander Pedals Radical Delay DX (Neo)

Amptweaker TightFuzz Jr.

You can certainly say that Amptweaker subscribes to the "more is more" approach to knobs and switches. The Cumming, GA builder was one of the first boutique pedal manufacturers to take the trend of knob and switch tweaking to the next level, and the TightFuzz series perfectly exemplifies this: a…Click on the title for more

Amptweaker TightFuzz Jr.

SubDecay Octave Theory Octave Modulator / Synthesizer

Portland Oregon's Subdecay was one of the first boutique manufacturers to predate the "synthification" of guitar pedals in the beginning of the decade with models like the Octasynth and the Promotheus DLX filter. After a few years spent on focusing on more "normal" effects (although always approached in very personal ways),…Click on the title for more

SubDecay Octave Theory Octave Modulator / Synthesizer

Orange Getaway Driver Overdrive

Known for their guitar amps (very dear to early Oasis, among others), UK manufacturer Orange has entered the stompbox market a few years ago and keeps churning out new gain pedals on a regular basis. The latest one is the Getaway Driver, an amp-in-a box kind of pedal with 18v of headroom and cab sim output.…Click on the title for more

Orange Getaway Driver Overdrive

Best New Pedals of 2019 Readers’ Poll – Results

Please go to our Best Guitar Pedals of 2019 article for a more updated year-end list that includes all pedals released in 2019 as voted by the videographers and websites focused on pedals - rather than readers. --- We can hear you perfectly: "Best Pedals of 2019 list? We are…Click on the title for more

Best New Pedals of 2019 Readers’ Poll – Results

JHS Pedals’ VCR becomes the Space Commander

The VCR, now retired (but keep reading...), was a collaboration between JHS and North Carolina's alt-country star Ryan Adams. Its name was an acronym for Volume, Chorus, Reverb and it was said to be inspired by the tones of The Smiths, The Cure, and other angsty bands of the '80s - which is…Click on the title for more

JHS Pedals’ VCR becomes the Space Commander

Mastro Valvola Area Multi Reverb

It turns out Italian "tube master" Mastro Valvola (that's what the company's name means) excels also at designs lacking tubes, like the Area Reverb, a digital reverb featuring 4 mono reverb flavors: Reverb (Room, Plate, or Hall), Mod (chorus with reverb), Shimmer 8th (2 octaves higher) and Shimmer 8th/5th (higher…Click on the title for more

Mastro Valvola Area Multi Reverb

OVNIFX Smoothie Opto Compressor

Portland is a hotbed of pedal manufacturers and OVNIFX is certainly not the most well known in the list. Notwithstanding, the company's only creation, called Smoothie Opto Compressor, has built a very good reputation for itself. This is a transparent, "in-depth" kind of optical reverb with a couple of interesting twists.…Click on the title for more

OVNIFX Smoothie Opto Compressor

SolidGoldFX Athena Vibra-Phase

Montreal SolidGoldFX's fascination for Greek mythology is getting deeper with the release of the Athena Vibrophase - Athena being the daughter of Apollo, the god of Sun in ancient Greece and flagship phaser in SolidGoldFX's world. Athena was a kewl lady actually, goddess of war and wisdom but also handcraft, some…Click on the title for more

SolidGoldFX Athena Vibra-Phase