//

Author Archive

New Pedals: Visual Sound V3 Route 66 American Overdrive + Compressor

A lot of guitarists are most familiar with Tennessee pedal manufacturer Visual Sound for their popular pedal power line, the 1 Spot, but the manufacturer is first and foremost an effects shop with an emphasis on reliability. Before we get to the company latest offering, the V3 Route 66 American Overdrive, it bears mentioning that Visual Sound’s V3 line of pedals offers a lifetime warranty that not only includes the purchaser, but it even applies to second or third owners of the pedal. They also design their stomps to withstand 10 million hits with what they call the “forever footswitch”. How’s that for putting your money where your mouth is?... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: Visual Sound V3 Route 66 American Overdrive + Compressor

A look at Red Panda Lab’s Bitmap – a bitcrusher pedal

Remember when all recording engineers and pro audio magazines were saying that digital recordings sound awful? Well, we guess that was so long ago that people are starting to actually miss that sound...... Click on the title for more

A look at Red Panda Lab’s Bitmap – a bitcrusher pedal

Pedal Tricks: The Shimmer Effect

The_Edge_360_Tour_Foxboro_2009_2[1]

A lot of cool stuff can be done using creative pedal routing. A common sonic technique employed by U2's The Edge among others is "The Shimmer," an effect that creates an ethereal string-like reverb under your guitar's regular signal.... Click on the title for more

Pedal Tricks: The Shimmer Effect

New Pedals: Keeley GC-2 Limiting Amplifier

Keeley's compression pedals have an incredible reputation, so the release of a new "Limiting Amplifier" (called GC-2) is certainly an event that should get many guitarists interested.... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: Keeley GC-2 Limiting Amplifier

Pedal Reviews: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

Now here’s a clever pedal that was a blast to demo. Frankly, the Amzel Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator is just a great idea in terms of a new way to think about distortion. To visualize how this pedal works, start off by imagining a traditional sound wave as a starting point. It’s nice and round and symmetrical, right? Then, think about traditional distortion. It occurs when the wave gets clipped at the top and bottom peaks of the wave where it effectively becomes a plateau.... Click on the title for more

Pedal Reviews: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

New Pedal: The DigiTech Polara Stereo Reverb

Just in time to stuff those stockings and with another stompbox, DigiTech has a new one out that will catch your attention both sonically and visually. In early November, DigiTech launched their new Polara Stereo Reverb pedal, which not only delivers seven settings of studio quality reverbs but it also comes encased in a notably hallucinatory design. ... Click on the title for more

New Pedal: The DigiTech Polara Stereo Reverb

MXR Il Torino Overdrive

MXR pedals have been among the best selling stompboxes in the past decade, and the brains behind the US brand - originally based in Rochester, NY, but now owned by California based Dunlop Manufacturing - must have thought that a little bit of Italian (sonic) flair might be something good to keep the guitarists' interest alive.... Click on the title for more

MXR Il Torino Overdrive

New Pedals: TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay

If you often find yourself thinking, "I friggin' love delay, but I need EVEN MORE of the same sound over and over," it might be time to look at a multi stage delay pedal. The TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay can satisfy this need, and probably many others. This pedal means business; it is versatile and big in both features and footprint. It would take a blog post's worth of space to even transcribe the silkscreen labels, let alone describe all the fun stuff it can do.... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay

New Pedals: TWA Little Dipper MkII vocal formant filter

Whether you own the "holy grail" Colorsound Dipthonizer, or you don't know a diphthong from a Frampton solo, there is a new pedal from TWA that might tickle your ears. The TWA Little Dipper MkII is an envelope-controlled vocal formant filter that is based on the original Dipthonizer.... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: TWA Little Dipper MkII vocal formant filter

WOLVVES: About Gear and Recordings

It's rare to find top notch musicians and producers giving their soul to a musical project that puts edge and experimentation before anything else. Such is Brooklyn band WOLVVES, formed by the Valleau triplets, who forge suspenseful (if not terrifying), noir, experimental electronic rock. We asked a few question to the knob fiddler in the band, producer/multi-instrumentalist Joshua Valleau.... Click on the title for more

WOLVVES: About Gear and Recordings

3 Delays and 1 Looper you’ll be able to try at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2014

There will be many more... more info about the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit here). Click here to see other featured pedals.... Click on the title for more

3 Delays and 1 Looper you’ll be able to try at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2014

Bass Mixed Board at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2014

For the first time this year at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit we'll have a mixed board for bass pedals! AND... it will play through a real bass amp in one of Main Drag's iso booths!... Click on the title for more

Bass Mixed Board at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2014