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gear giveaway

OVERDRIVE PEDALS

TC Electronic ZEUS Drive

Music Tribes' TC Electronic just unveiled another pedal from their new series of affordable mini-stompboxes, the ZEUS Drive, which, from the sound of it, seems to be at least in part intended to deliver Klon-style gain goodness at a decimal fraction of the cost. It's presented as a dynamic and…... Click for more

TC Electronic ZEUS Drive

ELM Effects Sky Bridge Drive + Boost

Designed by pedal videographer Eric Merrow as an all-in-one gain solution for any pedalboard, the ELM Effects Sky Bridge (initially presented under the Lefty Guitars Daily The Cannon moniker) is multi-gain stage overdrive featuring an extra boost with separate footswitch and controls. The amount of boost can be controlled through…... Click for more

ELM Effects Sky Bridge Drive + Boost

Kasleder FX Toxic Twins Dual Tweakable Overdrive

Those among our readers who enjoy highly configurable gain pedals should take a look at the Kasleder FX Toxic Twins, a dual overdrive from Hungary with two sets of internal DIP switches to fine-tune clipping and bass response. The Kasleder is based on an original circuit utilizing a combination of…... Click for more

Kasleder FX Toxic Twins Dual Tweakable Overdrive

Expandora Squared Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz

The original Expandora pedal was a round, sonically multifaceted dirt box released in the mid-'90s by Japanese builder Bixonic. It's now being reissued and relaunched by a New Jersey-based company that's also offering a "squared" version of it, hosted in a compact orange enclosure. Although the original wasn't particularly successful,…... Click for more

Expandora Squared Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz

Whimsy Machines King Spark Overdrive + Filter

If "Tube Screamer-inspired" overdrive is a soundbite that instantly turns you off, even just the looks of the Whimsy Machines King Spark Overdrive should make you reconsider your first instincts. A quick glance at the manufacturer's description of the pedal will likely trigger intrigue: King Spark is a highly modified…... Click for more

Whimsy Machines King Spark Overdrive + Filter

Cornerstone Gladio SC

The original Cornestone Gladio, a two-channel Dumble-Style overdrive pedal that quite literally took the electric guitar community by storm in 2020, placed in the top 10 of the most searched pedals in our blog. The Italian company started 2021 by unveiling a single channel version of that same pedal, the…... Click for more

Cornerstone Gladio SC

Westminster Augsburg Deluxe Amp Sim

We spotted the Westminster Effects Augsburg at our Summer NAMM 2021 booth and it's now shipping. Built on the same concept as the company's recent Geneva Amp Sim, the Augsburg is a version of that pedal with a different character, since it recreates the sound of a Fender Silverface and…... Click for more

Westminster Augsburg Deluxe Amp Sim

LPD Pedals Eighty7 Distortion/Overdrive

Guitarists inspired by the iconic distorted guitar sound of the '80s (think the modified Plexi tones and feel that Los Angeles recording studios were tracking in the 80's) have a new friend in the LPD Pedals Eighty7. It's a flexible overdrive/distortion pedal with a full three band + presence EQ…... Click for more

LPD Pedals Eighty7 Distortion/Overdrive

Caveman ODR1 Overdrive

For such a small country, Denmark has a surprisingly rich pedal-making history (for example, we could easily name half a dozen relevant Danish stompbox builders, but none from neighboring countries of the Benelux). Caveman Audio may not be as well known as others from the Nordic country, but the brain…... Click for more

Caveman ODR1 Overdrive

Blammo! Electronics Zap Master Treble Booster

Portland's Blammo! Electronics dropped a new, Dallas Rangemaster treble boost clone called Zap Master consisting of one knob (Level) and a 3-way toggle switch that adjusts the amount of bass frequencies. Designed to sound and look like the original unit, the Zap Master's circuit sports upgrades that make it quieter…... Click for more

Blammo! Electronics Zap Master Treble Booster

DryBell Unit67 EQ/Boost/Compressor

Up until 2019, Croatian manufacturer DryBell has been very focused on building the best possible Uni-Vibe pedal recreations. Everything changed today, with the release of their first non-vibe product called Unit67, a utility pedal that - knowing the company's designing rigor - promises to be a very useful and great…... Click for more

DryBell Unit67 EQ/Boost/Compressor

Valco Five-O Drive/Tremolo/Reverb

While the cutting-edge pedal manufacturers of today are busy in a competition involving packing more and more features in increasingly smaller enclosures, some smaller up-and-coming builders defy this shrinking trend with ginormous (but great-looking) devices. Valco belongs to this category. The Five-O is their latest release, a beast of a…... Click for more

Valco Five-O Drive/Tremolo/Reverb