gear giveaway

Distortion Pedals

Review: Klon 3 aka KTR

I’ve always wanted a Klon. I played the first Centaur in the late 90's at a friend’s studio in San Francisco and by then they were already over $600. Somehow I missed the second model. I must have given up on being able to afford one by then. But a…Click on the title for more

Review: Klon 3 aka KTR

New Pedal Manufacturers: Lone Wolf FX

Any guitarists out there looking to sculpt a tone for a niche sub-genre of metal, post hardcore or noise rock should take a deep, hard look at boutique pedal manufacture Lone Wolf Audio. This Austin-based shop (run by Joe Anastasio of now defunct Enormous Door Pedals) has been ramping up…Click on the title for more

New Pedal Manufacturers: Lone Wolf FX

Pedal Review: BOSS MO-2

When Boss introduced their line of new pedals last year with “Multi-Dimensional Processing” (MDP) technology, I admit I was a bit skeptical. The technology, created in tandem with Roland, sounded like flashy marketing but based on the verbiage alone it wasn’t entirely clear what MDP actually did. To paraphrase Boss’s…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: BOSS MO-2

New Pedals: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

In the eternal search for the ideal distorted guitar tone, Groveland, MA based Amzel Electronics definitely belongs to the group of manufacturers who choose to try new paths rather than limit themselves to recreating vintage circuitry. The small upstart has just unveiled its debut, 100% analogue distortion pedal called Cheshire Cat…Click on the title for more

New Pedals: Amzel Electronics’ Cheshire Cat Tone Evaporator

New Pedals: Seymour Duncan’s Dirty Deed Distortion

After years of silence in the realm of pedal releases, renowned pickup designers, Seymour Duncan, return triumphantly with the Dirty Deed Distortion. The Dirty Deed deviates away from the design of previous SD pedals with a re-worked housing and a tightly condensed face. Whereas usually SD pedals used a much…Click on the title for more

New Pedals: Seymour Duncan’s Dirty Deed Distortion

Pedal Review: Rocktron’s Metal Embrace

Looks like we've got another entry from Rocktron's Boutique line of stompboxes. I reviewed the Sweet Spot fixed wah in an earlier review and was very impressed with the build quality and solid sonics. This time it's the Metal Embrace. The first thing I noticed about the Metal Embrace was…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: Rocktron’s Metal Embrace

Pedal News: Electro-Harmonix Tortion JFET Overdrive

The folks at Electro-Harmonix are always working on something. This time it's a new JFET Overdrive unit that they consider to be one of their new flagship devices. This looks to be a well rounded pedal that can achieve all sorts of distorted tones. Under the hood we're looking at a…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: Electro-Harmonix Tortion JFET Overdrive

Pedal Reviews: El Rey Lucha Fuzz

I played bass in a band in high school, but because I was 16, I wasn't familiar with the concept of discretion and constantly played through a cheap fuzz pedal with all the knobs turned all the way up. My band mates would complain that I was too loud and…Click on the title for more

Pedal Reviews: El Rey Lucha Fuzz

Mixed Boards at the SXSW Stompbox Exhibit 2014

As you probably know, at our Stompbox Exhibits we always have some mixed boards organized by kind of effect - this year Guitar World had also their featured mixed boards. DISTORTION/FUZZ BOARD DELAY BOARD MODULATION BOARD PITCH + OTHER BOARD GUITAR WORLD MIXED BOARDSClick on the title for more

Mixed Boards at the SXSW Stompbox Exhibit 2014

Pedal Review: Dutch Kazoo Fuzz

The greatest pitfall of many boutique pedals is over-indulgence; putting together a pedal that is physically and sonically unique enough to stand apart from its competition and simultaneously triumphs as a marvel of effect trailblazing is no easy task. This often warrants inclusion of too many clashing features within a…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: Dutch Kazoo Fuzz

OD Glove: another new EHX distortion

Electro Harmonix has been quiet on the distortion front for a while until what will probably be remembered as... the summer 2014 DISTORTION EXPLOSION! We already blogged about the East River Drive and the reissue of the Hot Tubes just a few months (if not weeks) ago, and here we are…Click on the title for more

OD Glove: another new EHX distortion

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…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: T-Rex Alberta II Dual Overdrive