Updated Feb. 1, 2024 | by Paolo De Gregorio

Welcome to our guide to the best guitar pedals of 2023, an article that only covers stompboxes released in that calendar year based on the “best of” list of the most established YouTube channels covering guitar pedals. This is a yearly article you can find ones from previous years here.

The Best Guitar Pedals Of 2023

This article will be updated regularly between now and January every time a new “best of” video will be published.

The last update was on January, 11th, 2024. Right now it gathers the pedals highlighted by these influencers and websites (in alphabetical order):

* The videos with this symbol feature a couple of pedals that were released previous to 2023 – we excluded them from this article.

Each stompbox in the interactive galleries below links to a YouTube video review, while descriptions are embedded in the images at mouseover or first tap.

All the pedals in this list were mentioned once in the aggregated videos, with the exception of the Benson Delay, the EartQuaker Aurelius and the Collision Devices Tars.

Best Gain Guitar Pedals of 2023

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electro-harmonix Hell Melter
$176 | a love letter to the “chainsaw” distortion, which gets widened tonally through an expanded set of controls, including a semi-parametric EQ section with sweepable mids, a Dry Level knob, a Gate knob, and a separate Boost footswitch. A Norm/Burn toggle delivers two different clippings: the latter is the classic chainsaw sound and the former a more open clipping option.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Poly Effects Flat V Drive
$399 | An innovative 2-channel stackable overdrive with controls for HPF (Treble), Volume, Gain and LPF (Bass) for each channel. A is transistor based with selectable clipping diodes, while B is an amp-style gain circuit with synth-style resonant parametric filters. Each channel has two presets, for a total of 4 that can interact through a tremolo-style LFO that fades each tone in and out.
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1981 Inventions LVL
$229 | A low gain overdrive based on a peculiar combination of light clipping and op-amp-based gain stages that conjures up a unique character and gain structure. On top of delivering sweet-sounding overdrive, this pedal is also extremely flexible, being designed to work well with bass and stack nicely with any other pedals, whether at the front or the end of the chain.
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greer Black Mountain
$199 | a British-style crunch overdrive by a Georgia-based boutique builder with a growing following. Delivers the classic mid-range emphasis and crunchy saturation, inspired at least in part by the post-Plexi era Marshall amps (also known for their metal panel) and the guitar sound of The Darkness’ 2003 album Permission to Land,
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
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BOSS BP-1W
$169 | it encapsulates in a compact pedal the preamp qualities of the vintage BOSS RE-201 Space Echo and the Chorus Ensemble, plus a clean boost option and two impendance options. The lower one produces a warmer tone and a smooth dynamic response that works best with passive pickups connected directly to the pedal’s input.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer Select
$329 | A multi-voice klon clone including the stock circuit of the original Archer plus 6 more voices, 2 based on Archer variations and 4 new ones. The alternate voices can be selected through the Clipping rotary knob and activated via the Clipping footswitch. It features a DI output with cab sim that allows direct connection to PAs or recording rigs. A toggle switch lets you lift the ground for the DI.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Electro-Harmonix Spruce Goose
$129 | A refined Blues Breake clone, of which it delivers the renowned smooth breakup. A 3-way LIFT switch intensifies the drive’s impact generating a compressed, saturated tone while preserving its dynamic and character. The EQ includes a TREBLE knob and an active BASS knob. It includes true bypass switching with latching and momentary actions.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Warm Audio ODD Box
$119 | An authentic-sounding clone of the Fulltone OCD: it's a hard clipping, op-amp-based drive with 20db of gain on tap delivering the articulation, dynamics, and breakup of a tube amp. A two voice toggle delivers brighter and darker tones and a Tone knob allows for extra coloring. The voice toggle switch, renamed here "UK/US" delivers a darker and less aggressive gain sound on the US setting.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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origin Effects DCX BOOST
$319 | a studio-grade preamp/EQ voiced after the UA610. In EQ mode it works dynamically, applying an increasing treble roll-off as the signal gets louder, for seamless transition between clean and overdriven parts. In OD mode, the top-end roll-off is always active. The Voice switch gives you 3 roll-off options: Flat, Dark & Medium. LF and HF knobs allow extra EQ tweaks.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Cult Pedals Tempest Distortion
$399 | a beautifully built distortion pedal with bass (depth) and high (presence) controls that simulates the sound of big, high-voltage guitar amps. It's a unique sounding, extremely complex circuit delivering furry tones with rough edges often bordering on fuzz.
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electric Love Aquatone
$199 | a Blues Driver variant built in collaboration with Brian Wampler to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It offers two voicing through the central toggle switch, providing the player with lower gain overdrive and higher gain distortion options, tweakable via an active 3-band EQ and Gain+Volume knobs. The pedal features buffered bypass switching.
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Winnipeg Electrical Co Blues
~$129 |
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keeley noble screamer
$199 | A TS+Nobels ODR-1 blend that allows you to use the gain structure of each with the Tone character of either, through the combination of two toggle switches, for a total of four tones: two "pure" and two "hybrid." The pedal also features true-bypass or buffered, and truly silent switching.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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beetronics Nectar
$273 | a straighforward dirt box that, with only 3 knobs + 1 toggle, delivers an incredibly wide and dynamic range of tones, from vintage tweed-style crunch to a full-bodied overdrive, and even a modern high-gain fuzz. The toggle selects the mode (drive or fuzz), while the Taste knob is an EQ control and the Honey one deals with the gain.
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Benson Germanium Boost
$199 | a boost pedal delivering uniquely consistent performance thanks to a voltage-controlled error-correction circuit that compensates for any variation in performance. The result is a clean germanium boost free from the artifacts that were previously associated with this kind of device, including temperature sensitivity, drift, and suboptimal input impedance and headroom.
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Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium
$269 | marries a Klon-style overdrive (on the right) and a D-style amp in a box (on the left), featuring voicings for Special Overdrive and Steel String Singer. The Emphasis knob affects the presence and the low end of the signal before the drive stage, while the Tone knob sets the post-overdrive high-end. The Klon side has two voices: the stock clipping/compression or a modified one for extra gain and headroom.
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Messiah Eddie Boostdrive
$280 | a 2-in-1 pedal featuring a one-knob MOSFET boost placed before a two-mode soft-clipping drive with a 3-band EQ - each with it own footswitch. The toggle switches between a wither silicon diode clipping (traditional compressed overdrive) and a LED clipping (more open, amp-like tone). A Tight switch on the side of the case tames the low-end for a leaner and edgier tone.
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Warm Audio Centavo
$179 | A klone by a US company specializing in accurate recreations of various vintage and rare gear that won't break the bank. It includes a Mod switch on the back panel that recreates the modification asked by Jeff Beck for his original Klon, which extends the bass response.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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NRG Effects Gnawer Drive
~$399 | based on a NA5534P op-amp, it's a RAT-inspired dual-channel overdrive with a very usable range of tones. The Loud, Hair and Claw knobs are shared among the channels, delivering warmer and less aggressive tone; then each channel has separate Bite (treble) and Gnaw (gain) controls to get things more aggressive. The 3-way Hair switch adds two settings with extra headroom.
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Tallon Electric Dual Drive
$340 | two overdrives in one pedal, with separate footswitches and controls, one inspired by the Blues Breaker and the other by the Centaur Klon. The BB side adds an extra toggle for soft or hard clipping, while the Klon side features a Low control that’s missing on the original units. A toggle switch lets you reverse their order, widening the tonal possibilities.
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Westminster Armistice Overdrive
$199 | a collaboration with AZ guitar store Pedal.ly aimed at supporting veterans, this is a versatile overdrive that can deliver tones useful for genres as disparate as blues and metal. Controls for Timbre, affecting the high-mids, and Texture, adding compression and saturation, are integrated by a Treble knob. A Cut toggle lets you tighten up the sound by removing part of the lower end.
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Walrus Audio Fundamental Drive
$99 | a drive offering 3 classic overdrive tones that can be dialed in with easy-to-use controls. Smooth is a clean and smooth soft-clipping silicon drive; Crunch is edgier, adding an extra stage with two stages of Silicon clipping, one soft and one hard; Bright uses the same configuration as Crunch but with a pre-clipping low-end cut for a bright and glassier tone.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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oneder Old BLue Drive
$244 | a low to medium gain overdrive that can get heavy as well via the Weight knob.
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Spruce Effects The Arborist V2
$180 | V2 of the company's Silicon overdrive that replaces the Tone control with independent passive treble and bass controls, and a new 3-way voice switch delivering 3 modes: smooth, dynamic, and comp. These are based on a unique germanium feedback/diode clipping arrangement and expand the sonic palette of this overdrive in unique and compatible ways.
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revv chat breaker
$199 | born from an exchange of ideas with the most famous AI engine (Chat GPT), the Chat Breaker is a flexible three knob overdrive in part reminiiscent of the Blues Breaker. Its range goes from edge of breakup to full distortion crunch.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Tubesteader Eggnog
$249 | The first compact pedal in the roster of this tube-obsessed Canadian company, this is a Tweed-style amp in a box with an extra boost and a 3-way EQ section. Powered by a 12VDC which is stepped up internally to 250VDC, it employs a high-voltage MOSFET as a clean gain stage in front of the 12AX7 tube that’s pushed into overdrive, with the adjustable boost there to add more gain to the transistor.
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Best Fuzz Guitar Pedals of 2023

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Fender Shields Blender
$499 | a modded version of the '70s Fender Blender dual Fuzz/Sub-Octave Fuzz realized in collaboration with My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields. It has a new, foot-switchable Sag feature, which simulates a power supply voltage dropout for velcroy and sputtering tones. and a new Octave Blender mode that sends the signal separately to the fuzz and the sub-octave fuzz.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Kernom Moho Fuzz
~$375 | A fuzz pedal that claims to do it all, mostly through the clever Mood knob, which works as some sort of history of fuzz, taking you from the gnarly tones of the '60s to the fuller and punchier modern fuzz standards and... beyond! The Post-Tone and Pre-Tone knobs give you ample EQ control, while the Electricity knob introduces +/-1 octaves and a ring mod effect.
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collision Devices TARS
$390 | a tweakable fuzz interacting with a resonant filter that can produce a range of tones from warm-to-piercing fuzz to synthy sounds. The two effects can work either in series (fuzz into filter) or in parallel (both routed to the output, with the LPF Volume knob setting the level of the filter). In series mode a toggle lets you add an extra fuzz after the filter. The Expression input accepts CV.
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Beetronics FX OctaHive V2
$199 | V2 of this super high gain fuzz with chaotic leanings and a switchable octave-up. In BUZZZ mode (octave off), it unleashes a high-gain fuzz ideal for low riffage and powerful chords, while the OCTAVE mode delivers tones reminiscent of psychedelic sounds of the ’60s. The modes can be switched by double-tapping the footswitch, and tweaked via the three very interactive knobs
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Electro-Harmonics Lizard Queen
$99 | a rather peculiar collaborative EHX/JHS effort on an octage fuzz, born from a video shot by the JHS show showcasing a prototype of a pedal designed by Josh Scott and his staff “pretending” to be Electro-Harmonics, and now actually re-engineered and released by the NYC builder.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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DOD Chthonic Fuzz
$149 | a dark and sludgy take on the early fuzz circuitry. In perfect DOD style, it caters to alternative guitarists, in this case those using single-coil pickups and looking for a thickness that most ’60s inspired fuzz can’t deliver. There’s nothing complicated about it: the three knobs deal with Fuzz amount, Output and Tone (here labeled Lustre), which lets you turn down the treble of the fuzz.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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KMA Machines Mandrake Octo Shrieker
$169 | an octave-up fuzz based on a transistor design with enhanced rectification circuit topology, for a more robust low end great for doom tones. The Timber control sets the amount of gain; Filter is an EQ knob that gets bassier at higher settings. The two smaller knobs control the amount of dry and octave-up signal.
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Mythos Hephaestus Mini Variable Voltage Fuzz
$139 | a one-knob fuzz that, instead of a gain or “fuzz” knob, features a “Warning” controlling the voltage fed to the circuit. To the max it delivers a modern version of the Jordan Boss Tone. Turning it down it will “starve” the circuit, with changing results: a velcroy effect at first; a more pronounced breakup at lower levels; and then, around 1 o’clock, the resemblance of a sub-octave.
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Champion Leccy The Dunsh
$230 | super flexible dirt box with a wide gain range (from boost to distortion), tons of volume, and plenty of tweakability thanks to its 6 knobs and 3 toggle switches. The Dunsh circuit is highlighted by a red knob, it’s triggered by the left footswitch and unleashes that devastatingly fat fuzziness. It has also a 2-way semi-parametric EQ and a Bias knob that starves the circuit for gated fuzz tones.
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Reeves Electro Darlington
$390 | a fuzz with two very different voices both leveraging a different silicon transistor. Via the toggle switch on the right, you can select a 1979 Motorola MPSA013 Darlington transistor for a smooth and compressed sustain, or an early ’70s Micro Electronics ME4003 for a more open, gritty tone with a slightly gated character.
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KINGTONE Minifuzz V2
$299 | a high-end fuzz that can deliver a huge variety of tones, in Germanium or Silicon variety. The big volume knob can be controlled with your foot while the bias knob lets you starve the voltage for extra spittiness. The three-way switch toggles between Fat/Full (smooth muff-type sounds), Zonk (hairy bender-style tones), and Vintage (mid-focused Fuzz Face tones. Six DIP switches on the side allow extra tweaking.
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Best Amp/Cab Sim Pedals of 2023

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IK Multimedia Amplitube Tonex
$249 | a stereo pedal/USB interface that puts the full power of the AmpliTube software at your toetips, including IR loading technology that allows you to model your own amplifiers. It offers hundreds of amp, preamp and effect simulations, storable in 50 banks of 3 preset slots each. It can be fully integrated with your studio, the latest Amplitube software and your live MIdi setup.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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DSM and Humboldt Simplifier mkII
$349 | | A stereo amp and cab emulator with a true analog preamp that recreates in fine detail the most popular clean channel preamps, a power amp sim and dual independent Cab sims with spread control. Stereo FX loop, headphone amp with Aux input for monitoring/ practicing, two XLR DI out, and two bypassable ¼-inch jacks round up the features. MkII adds reverb and Speaker type knob.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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BOSS IR-200
$399 | An uber-comprehensive stereo device for performing, rehearsing, and recording for both guitar (8 amp types) and bass (3 amp types). Up to two Cabinet IRs can run at once at once in mono or stereo, with individual and global parametric or graphic EQ, and 3 reverb options. 128 User Presets and 128 IR slots, with an onboard library of 144 IRs. Stereo FX Loop, Midi and deep Exp control options.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Universal Audio OX Stomp
$399 | boasts 22 speaker/cab combos and a Speaker Drive knob simulating the cab's input breaking up. Cab recording techniques are emulated via two virtual Mic controls (dynamic, condenser or ribbon) plus a Room Mic knob. 6 onboard presets and lots more via the free app, which also gives access to EQ and various effects. Two footswitches and dual in/outs are fully configurable.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Universal Audio UAFX Lion
$399 | a stereo Plexi-style amp-in-a-box with presets. It offers 3 amp emulation modes (Lead, Bass and Brown) and 3 cab ones, with an added 3 available at registration via the free app, which adds an extra layer of tweaking. A 3-band EQ and (mono) FX loop capability round up the features.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Boss IR-2
$199 | a compact but still stereo version of the IR-200 with 11 amp emulations each paired with cab simulation curated by Celestion, plus the ability to load third-party IR files. A 3-way EQ section lets you tweak the tone, while the ambience control lets you add reverb. An FX loop lets you add other effects between the preamp and cab section of the circuit. It includes headphones out and Channel selector 1/4" in
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Friedman IR-X Dual Tube Preamp
$499 | a two-channel guitar preamp with boost that employs two high-voltage 12AX7 tubes to faithfully capture the harmonic richness and touch responsiveness associated with full-sized Friedman amplifiers. Ch. 1 offers a spectrum from pristine British-voiced chime with a Bright switch, while Ch2 is high gain with a Tight switch. Each channel has a 3-way EQ and it's Midi compatible.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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tc Electronic combo deluxe 65
$149 | a Fender Black Panel amp-in-a-box with with 2 different channels with independent volume, EQ, gain, and reverb controls. It sports dedicated DI and headphones outputs and Celestion Cab Sim true to the original.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Best Delay Pedals of 2023

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BOSS DM-101
$499 | an incredibly powerful analog, stereo delay pedal that embraces new trends in the stompbox industry, offering plenty of features including stereo, presets, Tap Tempo, modulation, and trails functionality, as well as a multi-mode approach normally reserved for digital devices. It provides 12 widely varied modes of analog delay with distinct flavors and functions.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Walrus Audio Meraki
$599 | A super-tweakable, stereo, 1200 ms analog delay with modulation. It has 3 stereo modes (Parallel, Ping Pong, Series) allowing separate feedback settings per channel, and a desynch mode that lets you set up completely different settings per channel. The second footswitch triggers momentary oscillation. It also features Tap Tempo with subdivisions, Expression Input and Midi Integration.
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benson delay
$279 | a tape-style echo with a distinctively warm sound that oddly employs an obsolete PT2399 chip, surrounded by a circuit normally used with BBD chips. The two-knob modulation circuit adds character reminiscent of tape, and a second footswitch deals with Tap Tempo and self-ocsillation duties.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Universal Audio UAFX Galaxy '74
$349 | A stereo pedal that encapsulates the essence of the ’70s Roland Tape Echo, adding extra features like presets, dual stereo effects, tap tempo, a momentary footswitch, and doubled delay times that allow subdivisions not possible in the original. The complimentary app allows tweaking footswitch settings, managing presets, adjusting real-time effects, and customizing oscillation sounds.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Diamond Pedals Memory Lane Delay
$249 | a modern recreation of the first analog delay with tap tempo, based on a digital chip recreating the sound of the BBD. 3 modes: Modern: fixed sampling rate with and 50 – 1200 ms delay time; Warm: darker repeats, variable sampling rate and 150 – 1200 ms delay time; Vintage: variable sampling rate, 65 – 550 ms delay time with automatically halved tap tempo divisions.
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Universal Audio UAFX Del-Verb
$349 | stereo dual delay+reverb with separate footswitches and 3 modes per effect. The delay has a separate knob for modulation and modes for Analog, Tape, and Digital. The reverb modes are Spring, Plate, and Hall. All algorithms are borrowed from Universal Audio's library of pro audio plugins. A free app allows tweaking settings and managing presets.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Templo Devices REEL DEALuxe
$259 | a pedal recreation of the Studer Revox tape machine, preamp included, with a Vibrato fx for wow and flutter with its own footswitch. The Zenith and Offset knobs on the side control the shape of the vibrato, while the Tape Speed switch is a filter taming the bass frequencies. The Limit switch applies a tape-style compression that muffles the high frequencies for a warmer tone.
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Best Reverb Pedals of 2023

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Strymon Cloudburst Ambient Reverb
$279 | an ambient reverb effect followed by a particular effect that goes beyond modulation (referred to as an "Ensemble engine") that continuously analyzes different frequency bands of your signal, generating upper harmonic partials of what it finds in each frequency band. A 3-way toggle switch lets you set the effect to Off, Mezzo Piano or Forte, with the latter being more intense. A Mod knob increases the effect's actual modulation.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Walrus Audio Slöer Reverb
$349 | it's the stereo version of the Slötva, with two new algorithms: Rain (Delay Tap Diffusion) and Light (High Octave Shimmer) . Two faders set the inherited, mode-dependent X parameter, and control the new Stretch function, which changes the reverb’s sample rate for lo-fi effects. A 3-way Width toggle, which delivers three stereo modes from normal to wider.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Meris MercuryX Reverb
$599 | a DSP-driven reverb unit with a modular core. Inspired by Blade Runner and classic studio sounds, it offers 8 carefully crafted "reverb structures" like Ultraplate, Cathedra, 78 Room, Plate, and Hall. Its core, the Modifier section, allows creative control, enabling routing signals to parameters such as Chorus, Vibrato, Vowel Mod, and Tremolo for enhanced creativity.
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Poly VERBS Reverb
$399 | a unique stereo reverb with touch controls, convolution reverb capabilities, and a momentary crescendo effect. The 48 factory presets offer a variety of ambiances, emulating architectural and natural spaces, vintage technologies (like spring and plate reverbs) and "irregular" reverbs. 8 banks are open for imported IR files. Four sliders allow to tweak Onset (pre-delay), Mix, Low Cut and Swoosh (reverb density).
Perf. Circuit | Reverb | Amazon
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earthquaker Devices Ledges
$199 | a quality 4-knob reverb with Room, Plate, and Hall modes, and a Damping knob that lets you tame the reflections' high-end for warmer ambiance. It lets you store 6 presets through a rotary knob, and features an Expression in that allows remote control (also via CV) of Length, Damping or Mix. Different EXP assignments can be saved in each preset.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Shift-Line Astronaut V
$299 | an intriguingly deep and surprisingly small stereo reverb. Version V, hosted in a slightly wider case, offers 22 different reverb, delay and sampling algorithms. The pedal's most unique feature is that it can listen to your signal in bypass and play full and massive reverb tails immediately when switched on.  Sustain lovers will also want to try the infinite sustain mode. 
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JET Revelation V2.0
$229 - A three-mode stereo digital reverb with 3 presets and a streamlined control panel featuring just three knobs: Mix, Decay and Cntrl. The modes include Cyan (modulated), White (shimmer) and Yellow (warm hall with blendable lower octabe). A momentary pressing of the Preset footswitch gives you infinite decay.
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Best Modulation Pedals of 2023

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EarthQuaker Aurelius
$199 | an evolution of the BOSS CE-1 with 7 presets and modes for Vibrato and Rotary via a 3-way toggle. The CHorus mode sounds like a blend of chorus and flanger, with the Width control increasing the flanging effect. Vibrato can do also a pitch vibrato when 100% wet, while in Rotary mode the Width knob controls the amplitude of the LFO which can produce bassier or more "horn-like" tones. It has also a Preset/Live mode.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Thorpy FX ER-2 Univibe
~$299 | a quality boutique uni-vibe clone sporting the same a lamp-powered LFO system as the original. The Offset knob subtly changes the way the lamp ramps up, delivering sharper or softer rise and fall of the LFO curve. This can add beautiful yet subtle new textures that expand on the classic uni-vibe sound. A second footswitch allows to switch between the pedal’s two voices (Vibe and Chorus).
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Old Blood Noise BL-52 Phase Repeater
$179 | not exactly a phaser, it's a repeater of phase that sounds “almost like a room constantly changing in size and materials, with a clear repeat one moment and a diffuse repeat the next.” The Clock fader controls the circuit's timing, creating faster or shorter delay repeats and affecting their quality, from clear (short) to diffuse (longer). The Feedback knob controls the delay's decay.
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Catalinbread STS-88
$209 | a flange + reverb compact pedal with a unique yet classic sound, that works as well both on clean and dirty tones. The flanger has controls for Depth, Rate and Mix, while the reverb can be added through its dedicated knob
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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mythos The Fates
$229 | a high-quality analog, mono chorus pedal inspired by the classics of the '80s with bread-and-butter controls and the typical Chorus/Vibrato toggle. A JFET buffered bypass keeps the noise level down but also helps the signal stand out with an output bump and a pleasing color. The Vibrato mode has been tuned to sound more subtle to avoid excessive wobbling at high depth settings.
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BEETRONICS SEABEE HARMOCHORUS
$349 | a wild chorus with 3 regular modes including Roto (rate ramp footswitch), Depth (depth ramping) and Sting, (chorus delay time ramping) and 3 weirder Harmonichorus modes. These let you control the delay time of the chorus, causing its pitch to bounce up and down in a very controllable way, in three flavors: Dual. Arp and Mad. It also has presets, Tap Tempo and Midi.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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Warm Audio Mutation Phasor II
$149 | a clone of the legendary and recently out of production Mu-Tron Phasor II, which sounds thicker and richer than the MXR 90 and also allows for more control, thanks to the Depth and Feedback knobs. Featuring quality components and matching the largish size of the original, it works well with all sorts of instruments, including guitar, keys, or bass.
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Coppersound Telegraph V2
$249 | A complete redesign of this autostutter/killswitch that includes a square tremolo-like "Burst" mode, with speeds set by the Burst knob starting from 110bpm to impossibly fast. A quick press of the footswitch/key with turn it on, while a prolonged pressure will activate it momentarily. An internal DIP switch allows to make it always momentary. The other two modes mute the signal when the pedal is on or off.
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krozz Airborn Flanger
$229 | a clever flanger design with an Oxidation high-frequency filter that acts only on the modulated signal and interacts with the effect’s Feedback, for a more subtle flanging at lower settings. The “+/-” toggle selects the feedback’s direction. A Filter-Flanger switch inside the pedal that lets you lock the oscillator so that the Range knob will select a static frequency range for the flanging.
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Best Multi-FX/Creative Pedals of 2023

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chase Bliss MOOD MkII
$399 | An updated, stereo version of this creative looper + reverb, that also adds extra momentary functions and new algorithms for overdubbing, freezing, syncing, fading, filtering, balancing, blending, smoothing, A Classic mode lets you use it exactly like the original.
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1368737407
Hologram Electronic Chroma Console
$399 | A fully stereo multi-fx pedal with a modular heart including 20 Effects, 4 Rearrange-able Effect Modules, the ability to record knob movement via the Gesture feature and to sustain and loop audio via the CAPTURE feature. It features also 80 Presets and Midi compatibility.
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1684070111
Eventide H90 Harmonizer
$899 | An upgrade to the popular H9, which doubles the number of channels, adding 10 new algorithms on top of the 50+ old ones, five knobs vs 1 in the H9 and 3 assignable footswitches vs 2, plus a satisfyingly large OLED screen. A new software allows in-depth editing. The routing has been greatly expanded as well.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
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1136938609
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Beam Splitter
$229 | designed for both stereo and “trereo” use, this is a creative pedal with ample routing capabilities that allows to blend and combine 5 effects: a Transistor Overdrive, two Distorions (one hard and one soft-clipping), a Chorus and a Double tracker. The Deviate control introduces random shifts to your delay times while Decay tweaks feedback and repeats.
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1426239366
Crazy Tube Circuits Sidekick Jr.
~$299 | an '80s-inspired 3-in-1 compact effect combining 2 delay and 6 reverb modes, and 3 modulation types (Dimension, Flanger and Ensemble). The first two effect have a dedicated footswitch but either can be swapped to trigger the modulation. The delay modes are tape and digital, while reverb offers a variety of options from classic to modern, including Shimmer and Gated.
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Best Lo-Fi Pedals of 2023

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chase bliss lossy
$399 | a (stereo) pedal version of a plugin by Goodhertz recreating the sonic imperfections of old digital audio technology like overcompressed mp3s, broken cellphones and other artifacts. It includes also a reverb and a 3-mode lopass filter. A host of new features not in the plugin include a built-in limiter, evolving spectral freeze, All Wet mode and Slow mode.
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2864898002
Mojo Hand FX Stylus
$159 | a 3-knob pedal with Hi-Fi and a Lo-Fi modes that does both vynil and tape artifacts. Lo-Fi mode adds a limited frequency bandwidth and vinyl-style crackles. The Warble knob introduces tape style pitch wobble, and Saturate adds the analog grit of an overloaded tape. The Degrade knob introduces random volume dropouts and scratchiness.
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3873413542
Bleak District Electric Rec Head
~$150 | a compact pedal that does all the things your old cassette tape did to your favorite music: tape saturation, flutter, and lo-fi filtering. Sensitivity controls the intensity of the wow and flutter modulation effect, which also responds to the dynamics of your playing. Character applies saturation and lo-fi EQ to the signal, while Tape Return is a dry/wet control, or a volume control if the Kill Dry switch is on.
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Best Other Non-Gain Pedals of 2023

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GFI System Enieqma
$399 | a 3-mode EQ + Boost with graphic display, presets and deep functionality that can operate in stereo or dual mono. The 3 modes are 5-band parametric, Simple EQ (with 7 different types available), and a Pultec mode. Combination mode lets you use Parametric along with one of the other modes. A Prototype EQ library lets you craft wahs, cab-sims, and more.
Perf. Circuit | Reverb | Amazon
3201826750
Flamma FS08 Octave
$88 | a compact polyphonic octave pedal by one of the most successful Chinese makers of affordable pedals. It delivers four octaves (-1, -2, +1, +2) each with its volume knob, plus a Dry control and seven presets. The perfect tracking and simple but flexible control layout allow for a variety of beautiful tones.
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