Updated Oct. 9, 2021 | by Paolo De Gregorio

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR YEAR-END BEST PEDALS OF 2021 ARTICLE

Best New Pedals

There goes September, and, with it, the summer of 2021!

Luckily, we had some cool new pedal released last month to bring some consolation, here’s our monthly recap of the best ones.

As usual, we organized these “best new pedals” in two interactive galleries. Interested in checking out similar lists from previous months? You can find them on this Best Pedals of the Year page.

For those who aren’t familiar with our galleries, mouseover or first tap on the thumbnails will open a description of the pedal, while a click or a second tap will open a video in a pop-up window.

Best New Non-Gain Pedals released in September 2021

2544544001
Boss SY-200
$399 | Built on the SY-1 foundation, it adds an expanded sound set, more tone-shaping possibilities, 128 memories for storing your presets, and two footswitches for preset navigation and other editable controls. Its 12 modes can be modified via three assignable knobs (1,2,3) and three more fixed ones (D Level, E Level and Variation). Also Midi, USB and FX Loop.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
https://amazon.to
Pigtronix Echolution 3
$299 | A redisign of this stereo modulated delay with smaller case and longer delay time (5"). A series of push buttons allow to access 4 modes (Tap, Reverse, Jump and the stereo Ping Pong); 3 Subdivisions; 4 Presets; and three modulation functions through the same knob (Speed, Depth and Tone). It includes Tap Tempo, I/O options, MIDI sync, and additional footswitch features.
Sweetwater | Reverb | Amazon
2715172501
Pladask Elektrisk Baklengs
$~300 | A 2nd generation granular pedal with greater dynamic control through footswitch options. It includes delay, time-stretch, pitch transposer, modulation, forward-reverse and a granular looper, with a footswitch that can be configured to deliver two momentary effects.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
3215279305
Geckoplex EP5 Delay/Reverb
$529 | a high-end Echoplex-inspired pedal with reverb and a motorized time fader. Features include Sound on Sound mode, 3 presets, Tap Tempo, Warp knob for worn tape character, and a FET input with up to 11db of gain. Shift makes the echo time fluctuate when a note is played, causing variations in pitch.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
4160250267
Keeley Compressor Mini
$129 | A 2-knob mini compressor delivering parallel compression, consisting in blending compressed and clean signals for a more natural and dynamic-sounding tone. An automatic tone recovery circuit ensures clear highs at any compression level. The transient release time is set to make both single coils or humbuckers sound expressive.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
3737511555
Mooer Groove Loop X2
$170 | a stereo/dual drum machine + looper with separate footswitches for Tap Tempo and loop navigation, 10-minute recording, 121 drum grooves, and 14 save slots. Drum machine and loop can be routed to the L and R channels. It features three recording modes: Count-in, automatic and normal. Justify function lets you sync drum machine and looper. A software editor allows to export and import audio files.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
32019993
Intensive Care Pedals Vena Cava
~250 | a unique distortion circuit with an auto-filter and ring modulation. There are 8 LFO waves for the autofilter, with the various controls concocting rather complex interactions between the three effects. Watch the video to get a better idea!
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1355681889
Carl Martin Ottawa
~$165 | a 3-mode envelop filter powered by an optical circuit, offers deep control over the filters affected frequencies not only through the three-way filter toggle (High-Pass, By-Pass and Low Pass), but also through a Q knob that selects the cutoff resonant frequency and a Tone knob that's essentially a high-cut filter that works interactively with the Attack to deliver the desired amount of "wah effect" on each new note.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
980600960
Donner White Tape Stereo Echo
$49 | True, this pedal has six knob, but that's because it's a dual channel stereo delay. Each channel has its own In and Out and a 3 knob control set (Level, Time and Feedback). So buying one of these it's like having two 3-knob tape echos in one pedal! The two channels cannot "leak" into one another, but stay entirely separate on either side. 
eBay | Reverb | Amazon

Best New Gain Pedals released in September 2021

4021851011
BOSS IR-200
$399 | An uber-comprehensive stereo device for performing, rehearsing, and recording for both guitar (8 amp types) and bass (3 amp types). Up to two Cabinet IRs can run at once at once in mono or stereo, with individual and global parametric or graphic EQ, and 3 reverb options. 128 User Presets and 128 IR slots, with an onboard library of 144 IRs. Stereo FX Loop, Midi and deep Exp control options.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
3913267448
Walrus Audio Eras
$199 | A 5-mode high-gain distortion with 3 tight and 2 rhythm modes: LED hard clipping with slight mid-cut, Silicon hard clipping with slight mid-cut, LED + Silicon hard clipping with slight mid-cut, LED hard clipping with deeper mid cut, and Silicon hard clipping with deeper mid cut.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
864771313
Fairfield 900 Fuzz
$199 | Based on two JFET gain stages, this is an aggressive fuzz with a ton of gain able to deliver a wide range of sounds through its multiple internal gain stages: from high-headroom cleans, to thick walls of fuzz. Bias controls the saturation simmetry and can create interesting gating effects at high settings.
Perf. Circuit | Reverb | Amazon
https://amazon.to
Pigtronix Gamma Drive
$129 | a drive with a unique mixture of germanium, LED and silicon diodes delivering natural saturation that increasingly breaks up as the player’s dynamics get heavier. Produces a range of tones from clean boost to a full-on distortion, while the two-way EQ section allows for sculpting of treble and bass frequencies.
Sweetwater | Reverb | Amazon
3731480299
Electronic Audio Experiments Halberd V2
$249 | this compact version ditches the NOS germanium transistor while adding a 3-way Voice Toggle that delivers Clang (aggressive with sharp attack and high mids hump); Standard (moderate gain, slight mid push); Deep (full range boost with woolly saturation and fuzzy attack). The Depth does low-frequency filtering at the input and Tone high-frequency shelf cut at the output.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
2143444712
KMA GUARDIAN OF THE WURM
$294 | It marries KMA’s WURM metal distortion with a versatile and ultra-fast Noise Gate. Through tweaking of its numerous controls and a three clipping options (Silican, Asymmetric and Off) it can deliver pretty much any dirt tone for genres ranging from hard rock to epic doom. The 4-band graphic parametric equalizer, allows for incredibly precise EQ adjustment across the entire spectrum of your signal.
Alt Seller | Reverb | Amazon
2086702678
Dusky Toasted
$180 | an update to this low-to-medium drive with expanded sonic range and voltage (9-18v). Based on a pair of pair of MOSFET gain stages cascaded one into the other, this discrete, class-A circuit can be used as a tool to take your amp’s tone in new places in both the color and saturation realms. An internal MEAT switch allows to boost the low end.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
1505005057
Frost Giant Architect of Reality
$250 | a preamp running internally at 36v with two blendable channels. Modeled after the preamp section of a Laney AOR configured in a way that lets you cascade the low and high gain stages when the Channel footswitch is turned on. A 3-way EQ section + Presence allows for precise tone sculpting, with the added option of boosting each frequency through a dedicated toggle.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
672528406
BSRI Audio TFZ Fuzz
$199 | a vintage transistor-based fuzz that can cover dirt tones ranging from overdrive through distortion and even splattery fuzz with hints of octave. The Texture knob affects the voltage, changing the dynamics and character of the clipping. The three toggles offer three clipping voices (clean, high gain, higher gain), voltage range of the Texture control, and, with the "Tuba" control, selects between two frequency ranges feeding the clipping circuit.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
2842268847
Tone Cloud Jaffa Fuzz
$339 | a touch-responsive fuzz with four silicon transistors for tonal stability and an extra gain stage than your traditional fuzz face circuit for extra flexibility. The Cut/Fat toggle gives you a brighter or warmer tone. The Cue toggle switch reconfigures the circuit so that the two knobs act as a pre-amp gain (Fuzz) and master volume (Gain).
eBay | Reverb | Amazon

This is it, for now, see you next month!

P.S. Releases after September 2021 can be found on the Delicious Audio homepage.

Related Delicious Audio Posts: