Updated Nov. 13, 2022 | by Paolo De Gregorio

Best New Pedal 2022 | October Edition

October 2022 was a rather slow month as far as stompbox releases are concerned.

This being said, some pretty rad pedals saw the light of the day, in particular from emerging builders like Vongon, Life is Unfair, DryBell, ValcoFX and Ola Englund’s Solar – we’ll let you explore them in the galleries below, organized in Non-Gain, Gain and Fuzz Pedals!

As usual for our galleries, a mouseover or first tap will open a description, while a click or second tap will open a video.

(Older monthly articles like this one can be found here).

Best New Non-Gain Pedal 2022 | October Edition

2387365650
Vongon Polyphrase
$449 | a creative stereo echo/loop with separate sliders controlling the L and R delay times that can be locked in an infinite feedback loop, and 3 Echo Styles: Dual Stereo, Ping-Pong and Mono Delay, which transforms the R in/out into an FX loop. The Time knob is shared by the channels and provides 9 different maximum times. A modulation section adds chorus or vibrato, while the Tone control allows to darken the repeats.
Perf. Circuit | Reverb | Amazon
737989184
Death By Audio Exploding Head
$225 | three delay circuits connected in series, each with controls for Time, Feedback & Blend. This is a wild stereo pedal can also produce regular delays. The Infinity footswitch momentarily feeds the output of the third delay into the first one, creating multi-feedback sonic madness. The Blend knob in the black channel controls the feedback's volume.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
3857669243
Drybell Module 4
$315 | a two-mode compressor voiced after the Dan Armstrong’s Orange Squeezer, a little box from the ’70s with a unique character both dynamics and color, applying a pleasant shift in the mid and top-end frequencies that’s more pronounced on heavier struck notes. That character can be removed by engaging the second mode, called "Full Frequency." 6 knobs allow plenty of control, whereas the original had very little.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
3077780284
JHS Artificial Blonde Madison
$249 | a stereo vibrato custom-created for two-Grammy nominated songwriter Madison Cunningham. It produces a subtly 3 dimentional pitch vibrato effect and offer two "analog" presets through separate Speed and Depth knobs for preset 1 and two. The right footswitch lets you toggle between the two.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Reverb Amazon
2073175348
Valco KGB Loop
$279 | a utility pedal built for guitar, bass, and synthesizer/keyboards featuring an FX Loop with blendable controls, a boost, and a Variable Input Impedance that can also be used for sculpting purposes. The FX Loop is linked to the Blend fader, which allows the mixing of the dry signal (as it’s fed to the external pedal) and the return signal from the external pedal(s).
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1403222584
Swamp Witch Pedals Season of the Witch
$250 | a PT2399-based modulated delay with 7 waveforms and 4 controls per effect. LFO and CV/Exp In can be set up to affect also the delay's time and feedback. A third toggle switch swaps the phase of the feedback modulation that can change the tone of the repeats quite drastically depending on the settings.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1097746862
Red Witch Lyria
$349 | Printed in a limited number of 49 pedals, the Lyria features controls (placed in the back of the case) for Speed, Depth and Volume, and two internal trimpots to control the frequency splits of the signals (high and low bands). An external Frequency control determines the frequency of the low-end signal – ranging from sub to mid-range throb.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
3385151594
Mask Audio Line Blur
$165 | an EQ with parametric mids with audiophile-grade op amps, tuned for guitar and bass. It can act as a clean boost when the three EQ controls are in neutral position, or a clean EQ when the two gain knobs (Loud and More) are down. Turning More up will add saturation to your input signal ranging from overdrive to distortion, and even fuzz when the EQ controls are turned up.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
619017317
Harley Benton Duality
$82 | an affordable delay+reverb pedal that can be cleverly routed in three different ways at the flick of a toggle: Delay into Reverb; Reverb into Delay; Separate channels (in this mode they won't play at the same time). The Reverb offers modes for Studio, Church and Plate, while the Delay can deliver Analog and Tape-style 5 ms - 780 ms repeats and a "Real" mode that stands for digital.
Alt Seller | Reverb | Amazon
4199343466
Harley Benton Double Vision
$66 | a $66 dual effect pedal featuring a Chorus circuit on the left side and a Tremolo on the right. Recycling circuits made popular by Mooer’s mini-pedals, the two effects here can be routed one into the other or triggered in a way that only allows one of them to be on at one time.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon

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Best New Gain Pedal 2022 | October Edition

2254960619
Solar Pedals Chug
$199 | Ola Englund first release: a high gain preamp with gate with a deep EQ section featuring controls for Bass/Bass Depth, Mids, Treble and Presence. On top of that, the Gain section is also contributing to the sculpting of the tone: the signal is split in two and is then sent to two different gain circuits, one dealing with high frequencies and the other with low ones each with its own knob.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
2892930198
Warm Audio Centavo
$179 | A klone by a US company specializing in accurate recreations of various vintage and rare gear that won't break the bank. It includes a Mod switch on the back panel that recreates the modification asked by Jeff Beck for his original Klon, which extends the bass response.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Reverb Amazon
3172028117
Warm Audio Warmdrive
$149 | An affordable replica of the now discontinued and highly sought-after Hermida Zendrive. Just like the original, the Warmdrive adds an extra perk with the Voice control, which, in combination with the Tone one, allows for extended sculpting, letting the player modify the frequency both before (voice control) and after (tone control) the clipping stages.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1880395636
KSR VESTA PREAMP
$399 | a tweakers’ dream two-channel preamp for high-gain tone seekers. The Rhythm and Lead channels feature an identical set of controls for Gain, Bass, Mids, Treble and Level, and toggles for Brightness, Feel, and Mode, while there are master controls for Level and Tone. The Mode toggles deliver Crunch, Full Saturation or Vintage Hih-Gain tones, while the Feel has Fat, Tight and Thick settings.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1094268361
CopperSound Gravity Bomb V2
$129 | it updates the original mini boost by adding a Mid-enhance toggle that allows to boost lower mids (750 Hz) mids or mid mids (1 kHz) – ore neither in the center position. Powered by a Burr Brown Op Amp, this pedal can add 20db of clean or mid-boosted gain to your tone, and when operated at 18v it can have increased headroom.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
2956040512
Fish Circuits Model One
$186 | A versatile overdrive that. at lower gain settings, will give you dynamic and touch-sensitive amp-like breakup tones, while when cranked will deliver anything up to fuzzstorted sounds, with loads of sustain and depth.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
691043499
missing Link Audio AC/OD
$189 | a pedal that puts AC/DC's Angus Young's tone at your toe tips. Its high impedance input and circuit based on two premium dual opamps let the unadulterated sound of the gain stages uncompressed come through, while the Tone knob has a wide range that helps tailor the tone to any amp.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
2940490657
Vaderin Pedals Kroaked
$119 | a transistor dirt-box that can go from pristine clean to saturated/compressed distortion. The LVL knob, by itself, is a clean boost. The 2nd gain stage, DRT, delivers from nuanced saturation full of even-order harmonics. Past 9’o clock it gets a lot noisier… CMP will make the sound more squashed the higher you set it, delivering saturated/squished tones when DRT is down.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon

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Best New Fuzz Pedal 2022 | October Edition

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