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Guitar Pedal News: Fairfield Circuitry-The Accountant JFET Compressor

Check out this petite beauty from Canada's Fairfield Circuitry. A talented pedal designer, Guillaume Fairfield, puts out a small footprint JFET compressor with lots of twists and turns. The use of 3 position switches for Pad and Ratio will make decision making pretty cut and dry. The big knob is for the final Volume which can be dialed in to bring your signal to the appropriate volume after choosing your flavor of compression. As with all things Fairfield Circuitry, the build quality is sure to be stellar. This looks very exciting. Also, stay tuned for my review of the Randy's Revenge Ring Mod coming soon. -Gus Green... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal News: Fairfield Circuitry-The Accountant JFET Compressor

Reviews: Dawner Prince Starla Tap Tempo Tremolo

The Starla Tap Tempo Tremolo effect by Dawner Prince, one of our favorite new makers coming to us from Croatia, is a really great audiophile-worthy Tremolo effect with Tap Tempo and some other bells and whistles worth mentioning. It comes encased in a sparkly purple enclosure. It has a relatively small footprint considering a pretty vast feature set.... Click on the title for more

Reviews: Dawner Prince Starla Tap Tempo Tremolo

Guitar Pedal Reviews: iRig HD

At this point I would say that the iOS platform is here to stay as far as music creation goes. With the advent of Audiobus, an iOS app for allowing the interconnection of audio apps, we've seen many new creative inventions and ideas for effects processing, amp modeling, new takes on the DAW, and completely new inventions not possible before iOS. One of the key elements needed to get the most out of these sound processing apps is a way to get audio into the device at the best resolution possible. Enter iRig HD, IK Multimedia's high definition audio input device with Hi-Z connection via a 1/4" jack with gain control!... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: iRig HD

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Jam Pedals Big Chill Tremolo

The Big Chill Tremolo pedal by JAM Pedals, out of Greece, is FANTASTIC! I don't normally open my reviews with all caps but it's that good. What makes it so good? I believe it's a combination of doing some traditional things very well and a few unique and innovative features that I have come to find invaluable in my own set up. Jam isn't really reinventing the wheel here. They are making the best wheel on the market.... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Jam Pedals Big Chill Tremolo

Pedal Reviews: TC Electronic Ditto Looper

As I said in my review of Pigtronix's feature-packed Infinity Looper, there seems to be something in the water that's making people gravitate toward the one-man-band setup. The proof is in the gear. Complex programmable loopers, in both hardware and software, are becoming extremely popular, but today's subject, the Ditto Looper by TC Electronic, is all about the simplicity. As a matter of fact, it has a meager 1 foot switch, 1 knob, 1 input, 1 output and 1 multi-colored LED. Yet, it is still pretty darn feature packed considering the footprint and minimalistic interface.... Click on the title for more

Pedal Reviews: TC Electronic Ditto Looper

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Pigtronix Infinity Looper

This is a great time for solo acts. The technology available for allowing a musician to be their own band has come a long way in the last 10 years or so. One of the main contributing factors is a device known as a Looper or Loop Pedal. These gadgets allow a solo performer to layer a performance so that there is a lot more going on sound-wise than would normally be possible for one person to play. Loopers have been around since the 90's but have recently gotten so robust that one could decide to leave the band behind altogether. I've also heard of a fair amount of projects that start out as a one man band aided by looping to later expand into a bigger band once the artist has made a name for him/herself.... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Pigtronix Infinity Looper

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: Enormous Door’s FOAD and SCUD

Austin based Enormous Door - who participated to our Austin Stompbox Exhibit and will be with us at Summer NAMM as well - specializes in rather extreme distortion pedals. They recently launched the FOAD, a classic distortion with amp-like realism, good for Huge Rock/Metal rhythms and blazing solos.... Click on the title for more

At the SNAMM Stompbox Exhibit 2013: Enormous Door’s FOAD and SCUD

Pedal News: iRig HD and AmpliTube Studio

IK Multimedia has become such a force in the realm of iOS interfaces for audio and software. They recently released two new items that the guitar pedal loving community may find useful. The first is iRig HD which is a high quality audio input for mono instrument sources and the second is AmpliTube Studio which is a new iOS DAW for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The two new items are detailed below. I've been excited about them since reviewing the iRig Stomp a little while back. This new stuff looks like a game changer!... Click on the title for more

Pedal News: iRig HD and AmpliTube Studio

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Mooer Micro Pedals Distortions

Back in April we reviewed four pedals from Mooer's Micro Series of miniature guitar pedals. This is the second installation and this time it's all about distortion. We've got four more pedals on hand from the fantastic series of pedals covering a wide range of distortion styles including the Flex Boost (Boost Effect), Rumble Drive (Overdrive Effect), Grey Faze (Vintage Fuzz Effect), and Solo (Distortion Effect tailored for solos). It blows my mind how many different flavors of distorted tone you can choose from these days, and these four stompboxes represent just a few of these flavors - presenting no conflict of interest!... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Mooer Micro Pedals Distortions

Pedal Review: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb

The TC Electronics Hall of Fame is a compact and convenient digital reverb pedal. With ten separate modes along with TC Electronics’ TonePrint options, the Hall of Fame is one of the most versatile reverb pedals in its price range. The pedal’s deceivingly simple design conceals just how adaptable it truly is. Through the Decay (sets the duration of the reverb), FX Level (controls the intensity of the effect) and Tone (determines how dominant the sound is), the Hall of Fame allows for a wide array of customization options. On top of these controls, it contains a Pre-Delay toggle switch which allows you to select either a short or long pre-delay. Whether you’re looking for the sound of a massive, cavernous hall or just trying to add a subtle ambience your guitar sound, this pedal can get the job done well, supplying some great sounding reverbs.... Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb

Guitar Pedal News: MI Effects Cross Over Drive

MI-Effects brings us the Cross Over Drive. It's a FET overdrive designed to capture the response and touch-sensitivity of an amp's organic overdrive. It will be available in August as a limited run of 250 due to a limited supply of transistors needed to make the pedal. The preamp design is all about the strumming hand - with the amount of drive determined by every nuance of the attack, be it finger-picking or plectrum.The pedal was dubbed the Cross Over Drive due to its seamless transition from boost to overdrive to distortion to fuzz with a sweep of the GAIN knob. At its lowest gain, it is a boost/enhancer adding some extra sparkle to the guitar's natural tone. Turning up a bit more GAIN gives some nice, complex, tube-like overdrive but allows clean-up of the signal via the guitar's volume knob that A/B's well against a standard clean. A bit more gain and you have a smooth, harmonic-rich, sustaining lead sound from 70?s rock to jazz-fusion.Find the right EQ spot with the DETAIL knob, and blend in the amount of top-end harmonics with the BALANCE control for one of the sweetest, responsive drive tones that will have you convinced you have found another channel in your amp!... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal News: MI Effects Cross Over Drive

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes

In a world of Fuzz overload (where every company''s first pedal is a Fuzz) it's kind of hard to stick out and do something innovative without stepping on the feet of innovators' past. However, I will have to say that the Fairfield Circuitry's Four Eyes Crossover Fuzz, consisting of three parallel JFET fuzz circuits driven by a voltage controlled state variable filter with resonance control and mu-amp input stage, is trying its darnest.... Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes