gear giveaway

Pedal Update: Poison Noises The Crook V4 Overdrive

Highlighted by the JHS show as one of the best new guitar pedals of 2021, the Poison Noises The Crook is a $99 (v3) and now $119 (v4) Mosfet overdrive made by a prolific upstate NY company that's rapidly gaining momentum. The device was updated to V3 in late 2021…... Click for more

Pedal Update: Poison Noises The Crook V4 Overdrive

Way Huge Red Llama MkIII (Smalls)

The original Way Huge Red Llama was the first pedal released by the Californian company in 1992, a mid-gain, crunchy, Tweed-style drive that found a solid fan base after it ended up becoming Tom Petty's go-to overdrive. After being discontinued for more than a decade, the company resurrected it in…... Click for more

Way Huge Red Llama MkIII (Smalls)

Formula B EIGHTY Master

Hailing from Italy, the Formula B EIGHTY Master is a tweakable amp-in-a-box distortion with a couple of interesting tricks up its sleeve. The 3-band EQ section and knobs for Gain and Volume are the "expected" features you'll find in this circuit. On the other hand, a unique set of controls…... Click for more

Formula B EIGHTY Master

Marshall The Guv’nor reissue

Dating back to 1988, the Marshall The Guv'nor was one of the first “amp-in-a-box” pedal ever created, pioneering, at once, a massive trend that lasts to this day of overdrive pedals emulating specific guitar amps, but also a smaller niche inside that trend known as the "Plexi-style overdrives." This late…... Click for more

Marshall The Guv’nor reissue

Spaceman Redstone Preamp

The Spaceman Redstone Preamp is a redesign of the company's Mercury Harmonic Boost, which was also powered by a vintage NOS germanium transistor. This device, also handmade, adds a 3-band EQ section, higher headroom when run at 12v and up to 40dB of gain, all within a smaller case compared…... Click for more

Spaceman Redstone Preamp

Reissue: EarthQuaker Devices White Light Overdrive

The EarthQuaker Devices White Light was one of the early pedals released by the Ohian company, helping to put it on the map when it wasn't yet established. With the reissue of this 2011 pedal in a limited 2,000-unit run, the builder is launching a series revisiting its older stompboxes,…... Click for more

Reissue: EarthQuaker Devices White Light Overdrive

Legendary Pedals: Analogman King of Tone Dual Overdrive

In a market (the pedal one) where more and more companies seem to focus exclusively on growth and margins while giving up craftmanship for industrial assembly and replacing real-life connection with YouTube videos, it's refreshing to know that there are still a helluva lot of guitarists who value what companies…... Click for more

Legendary Pedals: Analogman King of Tone Dual Overdrive

Demedash Effects Spidola Germanium Fuzz

Winnipeg, Manitoba's Demedash Effects got us used to original pedal circuits that defy tradition, and the company's first fuzz pedal keeps faith to this approach, with more subtlety than their other designs. The company's new Spidola Fuzz uses the same Germanium transistors found in the vintage fuzzes of the '70s,…... Click for more

Demedash Effects Spidola Germanium Fuzz

Frost Giant Osiris Overdrive

The Frost Giant Osiris is an original overdrive circuit based on a circuit that introduces some innovation in a pedal niche that's been mostly developing around a few established designs, with the specific goal of turning small amps into huge-sounding tone monsters. Running internally at 18v, the Osiris is a…... Click for more

Frost Giant Osiris Overdrive

Custom Tone Ethos Overdrive Preamp

Designed by Vermont-based builder Custom Tone, the Ethos Overdrive is the original, "deluxe-expensive" version of what became, after its release, a family of increasingly more streamlined pedals inspired by the tone of the uber-boutique Dumble amplifiers - aka D-Style Overdrives. An extremely versatile and tweakable analog device, the Ethos features…... Click for more

Custom Tone Ethos Overdrive Preamp

Wampler Tumnus V2 Overdrive

In the seemingly neverending competition to build the best Klon Centaur Klone, the Wampler Tumnus, with its mini format and tone remarkably faithful to the original, has been one of the most successful pretenders. There's also a Tumnus Deluxe version with extra sculpting options. Here are the demos of the…... Click for more

Wampler Tumnus V2 Overdrive

EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold V2

The EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold V2 is an authentic emulation of a Model T Amp from Sunn, a solid-state amp known for its loud and bassy tones manufactured by a Portland-based company founded in 1967 that was acquired by Fender in 1985 and unceremoniously terminated in 2002. The amp's dark…... Click for more

EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold V2