gear giveaway

The Best Octavia Fuzz Pedals in 2023: Clones and Evolutions

[lwptoc depth="4" hierarchical="0" numeration="decimal" title="TABLE OF CONTENTS (click to jump)" titleFontSize="125%" titleFontWeight="semibold" itemsFontSize="110%" skipHeadingLevel="h1" skipHeadingText="Octavia Fuzz Shoot Out Video|Related Delicious Audio Posts:"] List Updated on March 09, 2023 The original Octavia Fuzz circuit was designed in 1967 by engineer Roger Mayer specifically for Jimi Hendrix. The circuit uses ring modulation…Click on the title for more

The Best Octavia Fuzz Pedals in 2023: Clones and Evolutions

Updated Pedal: Vahlbruch Octavia V2 Fuzz

The Vahlbruch Octavia V2 is a high-end, handmade-in-Germany evolution of the Tychobrahe Octavia Fuzz (read: the octave-up-style fuzz used by Jimi Hendrix) that uses a custom-made transformer and Schottky diodes to reproduce the sound of the vintage units (v1 used new old stock germanium ones). A toggle switch lets you…Click on the title for more

Updated Pedal: Vahlbruch Octavia V2 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 on the title for more

Frost Giant Osiris Overdrive

Win a Bunch of Pedals with the London SBE! [ENDED]

To celebrate the launch of the (free!) London Synth & Pedal Expo, this week we have another KILLER pedal giveaway reserved for our UK readers! (The first one is still active, here). This giveaway involves some of the coolest companies participating in our upcoming event. Here’s the list of goods at…Click on the title for more

Win a Bunch of Pedals with the London SBE! [ENDED]

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 on the title for more

Custom Tone Ethos Overdrive Preamp

New Pedal: Spun Loud & Rare Buzz Phoezar

The Spun Loud & Rare Buzz Phoezar is a phase+fuzz circuit born out of an encounter of minds between two small US pedal builders, initiated by an Instagram comment posted back in 2021 which teaches us that a pedal can take much longer than 9 months to be born from…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Spun Loud & Rare Buzz Phoezar

New Pedal: Marshall ShredMaster

As implied by its name, the Marshall ShredMaster is a distortion pedal for guitarists with shredding tendencies, therefore of the high-gain variety. Released in the early '90s, it was one of the first pedals to target metal and hard rock guitarists. Marshall has reissued it in all its glory in…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Marshall ShredMaster

Carl Martin Axis Flanger

The Carl Martin Axis Flanger is, in a few words, a reissue of the classic Carl Martin modulation pedal in a compact case and with simplified controls, a treatment the Danish builder has reserved to its most popular original stompboxes. This is a bread-and-butter flanger pedal with controls for Speed,…Click on the title for more

Carl Martin Axis Flanger

Best New Pedals 2023 | February Edition

If we were asked to describe the new trends in stompbox manufacturing in this second decade of the millennium, we'd be hard-pressed not to mention a noteworthy contraction of new pedal releases. February 2023 was one of the slowest months we experienced in a while, and the months prior to…Click on the title for more

Best New Pedals 2023 | February Edition

New Pedal: Marshall DriveMaster Reissue

The original Marshall DriveMaster was a Plexi-style pedal released in the early '90s and voiced after a JCM800 amp. It was intended to be the successor of the Guv'nor, the first amp-in-a-box inspired by the Marshall Plexi tone, but didn't reach the same popularity. To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Marshall…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Marshall DriveMaster Reissue

New Pedal: Rift Amplification Elysium Low-Gain Fuzz

The Rift Amplification Elysium Low-Gain Fuzz is a very simple fuzz pedal that's getting a lot of attention. It's built by hand by a UK-based amp manufacturer that uses a point-to-point technique for all their creations. The curious approach to this circuit is to have a fixed fuzz (i.e. no…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Rift Amplification Elysium Low-Gain Fuzz

New Pedal: Spaceman Ixion Optical Compressor

The Spaceman Ixion is a stompbox take on the optical compressor circuit made famous in the studios all over the world by the legendary Teletronix LA2A rack unit. That device, with its two knobs for Gain and Peak Reduction (plus a switch to deliver compression or limiting), belonged squarely to…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Spaceman Ixion Optical Compressor