gear giveaway

High-Gain Distortion

DSM Humboldt Black Clouds Distortion

The DSM Humboldt Black Clouds is a new pedal by the collaborative Chilean company that rose to prominence through the Simplifier, an analog amp/cab simulator. It's their own take on the flexible high-gain distortion pedal (read: this is not a clone of an existing circuit). The flexibility here is delivered…Click on the title for more

DSM Humboldt Black Clouds Distortion

2023 UPDATE! The Best Distortion Pedals | A Buyer’s Guide

This regularly updated page gathers a list of what can be considered the best distortion pedals on the market according to a list of reputable online sources and reviews. Together with fuzz and overdrive, distortion stompboxes fall under what electric guitarists commonly refer to as the "dirt box" umbrella. If…Click on the title for more

2023 UPDATE! The Best Distortion Pedals | A Buyer’s Guide

The Best Reverb Pedals with Modulation or Fuzz/Distortion in 2023

Go Back to List of Categories Strymon Cloudburst An ambient reverb effect followed by a particular effect that goes beyond modulation (referred to as an "Ensemble engine") that continuously analyzes different frequency bands of your signal, generating upper harmonic partials of what it finds in each frequency band. A 3-way…Click on the title for more

The Best Reverb Pedals with Modulation or Fuzz/Distortion in 2023

JPTR FX Katastrophe Octave Up Distortion

German buitique pedal builder JPTR FX likes to make its devices big and noisy and also original, and the Katastrophe finds its originality angle in being an octave overdrive/distortion (as opposed to an octave fuzz). This is a pedal that allows you to radically tweak your tone through two gain…Click on the title for more

JPTR FX Katastrophe Octave Up Distortion

New Pedal: Westminster Piper Drive V3

The Westminster Piper Drive V3 is a high-gain pedal inspired by the Fulltone OCD but optimized for metallic musical genres. The simple control layout allows to dial in tones ranging from open and transparent to fully distorted with a mid-push. A two-voice toggle switch delivers two different tone flavors, one…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Westminster Piper Drive V3

Westminster Effects 2716

Westminster Effects have collaborated with Seth Morrison of Christian Hard Rock band Skillet to create the 2716 signature distortion pedal. Meant to emulate Morrison's live setup, the 2716 takes cues from classic high gain tube amps such as the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rev F, creating professional tight high gain…Click on the title for more

Westminster Effects 2716

JHS PackRat Distortion

We were wondering if the novel YouTube star Joshua Scott of JHS Pedals was still actively working on new stompbox designs, considering how important (and presumably, time-consuming) the video channel appears to have become for him and his team. The release of the PackRat multi-mode distortion answers that wonderment with…Click on the title for more

JHS PackRat Distortion

Overdrive vs Distortion vs Fuzz: What’s the difference?

Click on the links for our coverage of recently released Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz pedals. For the beginner rock guitarist, a gain pedal is, in most cases, the third item on the gear-related shopping list (after a six-string and an amp). But, considering the wide choice of stompboxes out there,…Click on the title for more

Overdrive vs Distortion vs Fuzz: What’s the difference?

Sinvertek N5+ Drive

A boutique Chinese manufacturer on the rise, Sinvertek offers a "more is more" approach to stompboxes by providing extremely deep functionality for each one of their product, with a price tag that is extremely competitive compared to similarly fully-featured pedals made in the US or Europe. Their latest drive, the…Click on the title for more

Sinvertek N5+ Drive

Haunted Labs Old Ruin Distortion

North Carolina's scariest boutique pedal company Haunted Labs just unleashed their first distortion pedal, the Old Ruin, which delivers a variety of tones from low-gain overdrive to terrifying howling distortion. The ubiquitous Gain and Volume knob are joined by a Texture knob that - to quote the builder - "summons sonic…Click on the title for more

Haunted Labs Old Ruin Distortion

Source Audio Ultrawave Multiband Distortion

After an initial limited batch sold directly through the manufacturer, The Source Audio Ultrawave is now widely available through all the shops that carry the Boston company's pedals. We also learned that there is a bass version of it. This is a multi-mode, multi-band distortion pedal presented as a "Stereo…Click on the title for more

Source Audio Ultrawave Multiband Distortion

Joyo Dark Flame R-17 Distortion

Metal guitarists in search for something new should take a look at the new Joyo Dark Flame, a high-gain distortion that doesn't break the bank (it's only $59!) featuring a 3-knob EQ and three different voicings (Stock, Bright and Dark). You can hear its aggressive tones in the videos below.…Click on the title for more

Joyo Dark Flame R-17 Distortion