Author Archive

Walrus Audio at Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit

Based in Norman, Oklahoma, stompbox manufacturer Walrus Audio has made a name for itself in the last few years through a series of pedals that sound great, and in some cases feature some completely unexpected twists. The stompbox that obviously sticks out in their current "roster" is the Janus, a tremolo/fuzz featuring two... joysticks?!?... Click on the title for more

Walrus Audio at Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit

Pedal Review: T-Rex Alberta II Dual Overdrive

In case you're in any doubt what genre the T-Rex Alberta II Dual Overdrive's designers had in mind, it's blue. It's also pretty expensive, at $279. Does the world need another expensive blues overdrive? That's between you and your credit card, but if you are in the market for a professional-sounding overdrive, the Alberta II might be for you.

It's actually two pedals in one, hence the II. What you get is identical controls for both sides — dual levels drives and tones, which double as the pedal's “on” lights. “I” is a more compressed tube-under-duress sound, and “II” sounds pretty much the same but opens things up a bit, like an old Marshall and an old Fender. Oddly, it isn't possible to cascade one channel into the other, Stevie Ray Vaughan-style, and it won't distort that much, but when you get past the pedal's limitations, meandering into its possibilities is like finding an Eames chair when you expected a rocket-powered barstool.... Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: T-Rex Alberta II Dual Overdrive

MOOG’s MiniFoogers at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit

There was buzz building on the internet about the new MOOG stompboxes weeks before the Asheville manufacturer announced them. This new line consists of 5 analog pedal effects called Minifoogers: The MF Drive, MF Delay, MF Trem, MF Boost, and MF Ring. Assembled by hand at the Moog factory in downtown Ashville, NC, the Minifoogers are a big step into the market of the more streamlined stompboxes for a manufacturer that used to focus mostly on deep, complex "mastodon" effects, featureing tons of options and knobs but a little intimidating. If these boxes will be able to keep up with MOOG's legendary reputation, they could do really well, even at a price approaching $200 each.... Click on the title for more

MOOG’s MiniFoogers at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit

VL Effects’ Bullitt Od-oNe at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exbhibit

VL Effects is a Paris based manufacturer of guitar pedals founded in 1982 by electronic engineer Vincent Loret. His "shop" offers  a range of high quality pedals from stock ones to fully customized and "personalized" effects and pedalboards.... Click on the title for more

VL Effects’ Bullitt Od-oNe at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exbhibit

HUGE PEDAL GIVEAWAY! [ended]

Delicious Stompers, To promote our upcoming Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit at Main Drag Music we are launching a ginormous giveaway involving many of the participating manufacturers. HOW DOES IT WORK In the list below, each item links to a web page (mostly Facebook posts) where you can find instructions on how to apply to win that single pedal. Follow link and directions to submit!... Click on the title for more

HUGE PEDAL GIVEAWAY! [ended]

Rainger FX at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2013

Of all the 250+ pedals participating in our upcoming Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit (October 19-20, RSVP here), the Rainger FX ones are definitely the most intriguing looking ones. This London based company, founded by musician/engineer/pedal builder David Rainger, will be present at our show with two crazy looking babies, the Dr. Freakenstein Fuzz (pictured) and the Air Traffic Controller.... Click on the title for more

Rainger FX at the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit 2013

T-Rex Alberta II

The first version of the T-Rex Alberta Overdrive was one of the post popular distortions released by the Danish manufacturer, probably because of its versatility, which allowed guitarists to easily forge tones that worked both for creamy rhythm sounds and cutting ones for solos.... Click on the title for more

T-Rex Alberta II

DOD Pedals are back!

DigiTech's DOD pedals have a place in the heart of many guitarists into extreme distortions. Founded by Mr. David Oreste Di Francesco in the 70s, the company in the span of a few decades created a multitude of pedals effects of all kinds, but became well known mostly for its heavy distortion stompboxes - some original ones currently sell on Ebay for hundreds of dollars. DOD was eventually bought by Harman/DigiTech, and in the 90s, when digital multi-effects  became DigiTech's main focus, the line of DOD pedals slowly faded into oblivion.... Click on the title for more

DOD Pedals are back!

Fredric Effects announces 3 new pedals

North London pedal (hand)builder Fredric Effects specializes in stompboxes that are small in size, simple in use, tastefully decorated and reasonably priced. They recently announced three new pedals - check out the demos here!... Click on the title for more

Fredric Effects announces 3 new pedals

TEEN and the Recording Process

A former member of ambient indie pop group Here We Go Magic, Teeny Lieberson formed TEEN in 2011. Her sisters Katherine and Lizzie and friend Jane Herships completed the line-up, and the group started exploring Teeny’s musical interests, which had veered from the quirky indie pop of her previous band to percussive, organ heavy rock ‘n’ roll with psychedelic flourishes.... Click on the title for more

TEEN and the Recording Process

New Pedals: TWA’s Great Divide

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was The Great Divide. Over three years in development, this pedal (aka the TWA GD-02) combines classic analog octave division with proprietary Synth technology to create an powerful tool for musical expression.... Click on the title for more

New Pedals: TWA’s Great Divide

Human Factor in Electronic Drum Loops

My feeling as a music producer is that in Electronic Music today there is WAAAY too much to-the-beat quantization. For the uninitiated, “quantizing” is the process of aligning the hits of a musical phrase to the song tempo and its subdivisions (quarters, eights of a note etc). Sure, there are plenty of people out there who are happy to dance to the strict “uhmp-tz-uhmps” embedded in the majority of dance tracks. But why not try to feed the crowd something that’s even more contagious in setting booties in motion? ... Click on the title for more

Human Factor in Electronic Drum Loops