Posts tagged "pedal"
The greatest pitfall of many boutique pedals is over-indulgence; putting together a pedal that is physically and sonically unique enough to stand apart from its competition and simultaneously triumphs as a marvel of effect trailblazing is no easy task. This often warrants inclusion of too many clashing features within a single housing, which is why I was so surprised by the Dutch Kazoo’s approach to the fuzz pedal. Its simplicity piqued my interest, and its attention to detail instantly won me over.... Click on the title for more
NYC based stompbox maker Pigtronix follows up their 2006 Echolution delay pedal with its badass sequel, the Echolution 2 standard and deluxe (pictured).
With basic delay function that spans from 10ms to 10s repeat time and secondary delays to generate multi-delay patterns, this pedal is already extremely versatile, but it’s the extra-delay effects that give the Echolution 2 added character over its predecessor.... Click on the title for more
There is obviously a competition among stompbox manufacturers these days to see who can build the guitar pedals with the smallest footprint, and it seems like Chinese builder MOOER is comfortably in the lead. After releasing, in recent years, a ridicolous amount of tiny rectangular pedals for every taste (called the "Micro" series), MOOER just announced they will present a new series of even smaller stompboxes at NAMM 2014, called Spark Series.
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Eccentrics sure know how to get noticed, which is an important first promotional step. Then - if they are talented - people will remember them, otherwise they won't.
Jack White doesn't need introductions, but the announcement that his record label Third Man Records released a... guitar pedal is so surreal it reminds us of those legendary Dada conceptual art provocations. But the pedal does exist indeed: it's called TMR Bumble Buzz, and - for now - you can only hear it in the video below, where guitarist Olivia Jean, violinist Fats Kaplan and Jack White hinself take turns demoing it.... Click on the title for more
In case you're in any doubt what genre the T-Rex Alberta II Dual Overdrive's designers had in mind, it's blue. It's also pretty expensive, at $279. Does the world need another expensive blues overdrive? That's between you and your credit card, but if you are in the market for a professional-sounding overdrive, the Alberta II might be for you.
Simple but infinitely charming, Tremolo is an effect that never seems to go out of fashion, making its way in most musical genres, from folk to... industrial. There are a bunch of rather unique tremolo pedals out there, and the Red Witch Pentavocal is definitely one of those.
This stompbox offers all your typical tremolo option: the Velocity knob controls the speed, Depth the intensity, while the left footswitch triggers various wave settings that change the character of the tremolo (square or round). But that's not it.... Click on the title for more
Sometimes affordable, simple, great sounding stompboxes give us exactly what we need today, but their one-trick-ponyness fails to keep us entertained for very long.
That's why exploring a distortion pedal priced just short of $500 like the hand built Celestial Effects' Cancer Wah The Fuzz can actually make sense. Another plus is that a pedal like this gives you a very wide palette of tones produced by effectd that are designed to work with each other at the source, therefore sparing you from spending time researching pedals from different manufacturers that integrate well with each other.... Click on the title for more
Austin based Enormous Door - who participated to our Austin Stompbox Exhibit and will be with us at Summer NAMM as well - specializes in rather extreme distortion pedals.
They recently launched the FOAD, a classic distortion with amp-like realism, good for Huge Rock/Metal rhythms and blazing solos.... Click on the title for more
