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gear giveaway

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Pigtronix Gatekeeper Noise Gate

New York City based manufacturer Pigtronix has recently released a noise gate stompbox called The Gatekeeper. The pedal utilizes high speed J-Fet circuitry to quell any static or non-musical sounds from your signal path. With above the average headroom and wide range threshold control, the Gatekeeper enables fast and smooth playing that was previously only available in rackmount noise gate processors used in studios. The Gatekeeper is said to allow for musical gating even for demanding, high-speed genres like heavy metal, thanks to the release time knob, which allows the user to control how long it takes for the gate to slam closed.... Click on the title for more

Pigtronix Gatekeeper Noise Gate

Z-Vex’s new Step Sequence Pedals with Midi Synch

Step sequence pedals have become quite trendy in the last few years, probably because of their ability to create intriguing textures that manifest themselves as some kind of happy accidents. I find it really useful to have a piece of gear that allows me to approach the creative process in a different way than your usual "just play something!"- in particular when I can't come up with any interesting guitar line! Step sequences allow me to forge rhythmic patterns that integrate with the guitar lines, often mangling them into something that's completely different from the original, but entirely awesome.... Click on the title for more

Z-Vex’s new Step Sequence Pedals with Midi Synch

Celestial Effects’ Cancer Wah The Fuzz

Sometimes affordable, simple, great sounding stompboxes give us exactly what we need today, but their one-trick-ponyness fails to keep us entertained for very long. That's why exploring a distortion pedal priced just short of $500 like the hand built Celestial Effects' Cancer Wah The Fuzz can actually make sense. Another plus is that a pedal like this gives you a very wide palette of tones produced by effectd that are designed to work with each other at the source, therefore sparing you from spending time researching pedals from different manufacturers that integrate well with each other.... Click on the title for more

Celestial Effects’ Cancer Wah The Fuzz

Brick + Mortar and the Recording Process

New Jersey rockers Brick + Mortar are a refreshingly new sounding indie band bent on visual elements and electronic samples, which combined with their abrasive vocals, makes them stand out from the rest. We asked the duo, made up of Brandon Asraf and John Tacon, some questions about their sound, which is certainly not a dull one. Here’s what we learned!... Click on the title for more

Brick + Mortar and the Recording Process

T-Rex Effects releases multi-boutique effect Magnus

Danish effect manufacturer T-Rex Effects, in partnership with Guitar Center, announced today the new co-developed Magnus boutique tone controller, which will be available exclusively through the mighty musical instrument retailer and its online subsidiary Musicians Friend.... Click on the title for more

T-Rex Effects releases multi-boutique effect Magnus

Amptweaker introduces FatRock Distortion – a TightRock evolution

We became acquainted with Ohio based manufacturer Amptweaker - run by ex Peavey amp engineer James Brown - at our Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit last year, when we had the pleasure of displaying two of their pedals. Being mainly an amp designer, James makes stompboxes from a different vintage point than most manufacturers: specializing in distortions, Amptweaker's pedals are created to fit the needs of different musicians, thanks to a constantly open communication between James and his clients - he is always interested in suggestions for future pedals, which anybody can submit here. Amptweaker also tends to add unique signature features to those ideas, therefore improving them in the versatility and range department.... Click on the title for more

Amptweaker introduces FatRock Distortion – a TightRock evolution

Pedaltrain Volto – Powering Pedals Wirelessly

If you followed our recent Stompbox Exhibit at Summer NAMM 2013, you may have noticed these little white Pedaltrain boxes next to the pedalboards. Those things are called "Volto" and they actually powered most pedals during that show (not the 12v ones), and in most cases one of them lasted throughout the 3 day convention. About as big as a smartphone and powered by lithium-ion battery technology, this is an efficient and super quiet alternative to traditional AC powered options, providing two 9 volt outputs capable of a total output power capacity of 2000mA. Pedaltrain's Volto is not on the market yet, and its presence at our exhibit was an important testing benchmark for the company that's been also providing boards for our shows. The Volto should hit store shelves later in 2013.... Click on the title for more

Pedaltrain Volto – Powering Pedals Wirelessly

SNAMM Exhibit 2013 – The Boards

None other than Dr. Lonnie Smith spent 10 minutes trying this board (see video). Fairfield Circuitry also won our (sans-prize) award for the "Best Looking Board" at SNAMM.
Click on the link below to see all the boards. ... Click on the title for more

SNAMM Exhibit 2013 – The Boards

Stompbox Exhibit at SNAMM – interview with TSVG’s owner

Nashville, TN - Last week The Deli and Delicious Audio debuted their Stompbox Exhibit at NAMM during the summer leg of the musical merchants convention hosted in Nashville TN.... Click on the title for more

Stompbox Exhibit at SNAMM – interview with TSVG’s owner

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: DMB Pedals and the Lunar Echo

Founded in 2007 by Mike Blakemore and Daniel Minton and with an operational base split between Oklahoma City and Nashville, DMB Pedals is what we call an 'emerging-but-already-quite-established' stompbox manufacturer. DMB's mission is to offer original and inspiring hand made pedals (no clones), and will be showcasing all their ten creations at Summer NAMM later this week through our Stompbox Exhibit.... Click on the title for more

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: DMB Pedals and the Lunar Echo

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: TSVG Pedals, Angry Jeff and The Slow Ride

Philly based TSVG Pedals (another boutique manufacturer involved in our upcoming Summer NAMM Stompbox Exhibit) believe that every circuit is a work of art, and that is why they take the time to build all their pedals point-to-point - and in the US. Quality components found in classic vintage gear are combined with modern circuit designs to produce high quality gain related effects (mostly fuzzes and boosts) that don't break the bank.... Click on the title for more

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: TSVG Pedals, Angry Jeff and The Slow Ride

Spirit Family Reunion and the Recording Process

Spirit Family Reunion, from whom you can expect a classic kind of Americana performed by musicians who know how to pluck a banjo the right way, sat with us to talk about their recording process. What really makes this band stand out is that they don't sound like they're re-inventing anything. When you see them live, the sound is all their own, and the soulful yelps and gospel harmonies in jams like 'I am Following the Sound' and 'On That Day' should convince you of what you've been missing. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? The first stuff we just did ourselves, in a basement on the Brooklyn side of the east river. Usually on cassette or 1/4” tape. We’d use those recordings to try and book shows, or burn em onto CDs to give out or sell whenever we could. More recently we’ve recorded in some small studios with friends. If you use a studio, what do you record there and what do you record by yourself and why? We pretty much record everything in the studio now. We want everything to have a consistent sound. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home? When we think about recording at home, first thing that comes to mind is this Tascam 388. Its got 8 tracks, uses 1/4” tape, and most importantly is pretty easy to use. Also happens to sound pretty good. We probably first heard about the 388 from the early Dr Dog or Black Keys records. What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why?A really good 2 inch tape machine. I’d like to try to record on the same thing a lot of our favorite records were recorded on. ... Click on the title for more

Spirit Family Reunion and the Recording Process