Author Archive
The original 
This article concludes a journey that began back in 2023.
Teaming up with Liam Killen, our planned 10-video series on the best synth pedals by effect type became a deep two-and-a-half-year dive. Here, we distill it all down to one essential pick for each of twelve categories.... Click on the title for more
Portland's Catalinbread built its reputation on the Dirty Little Secret, a Marshall-in-a-box that conquered high-gain British roar. But every coin has a flip side. the Clean Little Secret is that flip, a low-gain foundation overdrive inspired by the Bluesbreaker, the combo amp that basically invented the "edge of breakup" before anyone had a name for it.... Click on the title for more
We were very proud to host the launch of the new 
Athens isn't the first place you think of when someone says "cranked British amp." But 
The 
Strymon built a reputation on digital wizardry—big boxes, deep menus, endless presets. But behind all that DSP lives an analog team that's been quietly designing circuits nobody gets to see. Times are a-changing.... Click on the title for more
Beetronics took their gloriously overcomplicated Seabee and stripped it down to the good parts.
The Seabee Lite is still a fully analog BBD chorus, but now you don't need a PhD to operate it. Three modes, six knobs, two toggles, and a pair of footswitches that do more than just bypass.
... Click on the title for more
Math class was useless. This isn't.
The Summer School Fuzz 101 features two BC108 silicon transistors. The same ones that made London sound like London in the '60s. High-gain, noisy, glorious. Summer School took that DNA, added a few legendary mods, and somehow didn't screw it up.... Click on the title for more
Here's a pedal that admits what most overdrives pretend isn't true: your favorite records sound the way they do because of noise reduction.
The CompanDrive 65 (aka 
The Source Audio Pathways is a tremolo and reverb pedal that understands its lineage. Spring reverb and tube tremolo have lived together since the days when amps came with both built in—because motion and dimension just work together. Pathways takes that classic pairing and expands it without overcomplicating it.... Click on the title for more
Meet your new tonal soulmate: the 
