gear giveaway

Electronic Audio Experiments Halberd V2

Massachusetts' Electronic Audio Experiments unveiled V2 of its Halberd overdrive, an original circuit presented as "a medium-gain device with the harmonic fullness and grind of a much higher-gain pedal." Version 2 comes in a compact enclosure (about 2/3rds the size of V1) and features a redesigned circuit that ditches the…... Click for more

Electronic Audio Experiments Halberd V2

Best Dumble-Style Pedals for your Needs & Budget | A Buyer’s Guide

Check out also our Guide to Overdrives by Type. Most of us will never get to play through an original Dumble amp, and in all likelihood, nobody reading this article will ever own one. Dumble tone has become legendary, and the fact that these amps sell for the price of a…... Click for more

Best Dumble-Style Pedals for your Needs & Budget | A Buyer’s Guide

New Pedal: Empty Head Effects The Lover Overdrive

The Empty Head Effects The Lover is proof that dirt boxes (overdrives in particular) don't have to be straightforward and lacking gin imagination. With its controls named after love-related nouns, the Lover reminds us that love can be found everywhere, and feeds both the guitarists' passion for pedals and the…... Click for more

New Pedal: Empty Head Effects The Lover Overdrive

Cornerstone Nero Fuzz

The Cornerstone Nero Fuzz is a hybrid fuzz/overdrive circuit designed by an Italian builder that's been churning out a series of impressive overdrive pedals, but no fuzzes until today. One of these overdrives is the company's bestseller Gladio, an amp-in-a-box inspired by the rare line of Dumble amps. That circuit…... Click for more

Cornerstone Nero Fuzz

2024 Best Plexi Pedals & Marshall-Style Distortions: a Buyer’s Guide

(Almost) everyone familiar with the electric guitar loves the sound of a cranked Marshall amp. From Eric Clapton and Angus Young to Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, Plexi amp and their later, higher gain reincarnations from the JCM series have been used by many guitar players over the years…... Click for more

2024 Best Plexi Pedals & Marshall-Style Distortions: a Buyer’s Guide

Volta 1987 PRO Hot Rod Plexi Drive

The Volta 1987 PRO is the "deluxe" version of the company's 1987 overdrive, a hand made dual Plexi-style pedal (read, it sounds like a Marshall Plexi amp) by an emerging Italian builder that has turned heads and years in the last few years. As specified in the "subtitle" the pedal…... Click for more

Volta 1987 PRO Hot Rod Plexi Drive

Formula B Fuzz Rangers

Hand building their pedals in the small town of Todi in the beautiful region of Umbria (Italy), Formula B specializes in anything related to gain, in stompbox format. Their brand new Fuzz Rangers was born from an interaction with the company's user base that was asking for a pedal that…... Click for more

Formula B Fuzz Rangers

New Pedal: Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive

The Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive is a Tube Screamer variant that doesn't reinvent the green overdrive's tone but expands its range through two push buttons: Lows and Clip. The circuit delivers an authentic TS tone when both buttons are in the up position. The Lows switch pushes up the lower frequencies,…... Click for more

New Pedal: Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive

Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion

The Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion (listed at $249) sports a circuit Based on the company's Chimera 30 watt guitar amplifier (going for $1949), but substitutes FET transistors for the vacuum tubes. The result is an extremely amp-like and versatile clean boost/overdrive/fuzz pedal that imparts rich harmonics and a very musical EQ to your…... Click for more

Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion

Most overdrive and distortion pedals are based on pre-existing circuits if not downright clones of stompboxes that have stood the test of time. That can't be said for the JHS Hard Drive, a high gain distortion publicized by the brand as their first attempt "at a full-blown and respectable modern…... Click for more

JHS Hard Drive

New Pedal: J. Rockett Blue Note Select Overdrive

JRAD reliably churns out quality pedals in the most compact and sturdy builds on the market. A low-gain overdrive, the J Rockett Blue Note is considered by many as the company's take on the Blues Breaker circuit, although the company has been challenging that assumption. This "Select" model is in…... Click for more

New Pedal: J. Rockett Blue Note Select Overdrive

Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force Drive

The Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force (CSOF) is an all-analog, discrete overdrive pedal, that forgoes opamps or diode clipping relying entirely on cascading transistor gain stages to deliver a versatile and uniquely textured overdrive. The most interesting control of this pedal is the bias switch, which delivers vintage pushed…... Click for more

Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force Drive