Guitar Pedals
The video describes it as bringing the dynamics of distortion to playing clean. It sounds like it does a lot of dynamic based effects like panning, tremolo, and swells. CBA is usually out of my price range but they do genuinely cool stuff.
 Every single one fits and works perfectly. And the curves makes them feel great.
Bunged a couple of pedals from the B-team box onto a little board I’d bashed together a while ago. I’ve had to cut the right-hand end down a bit to plug the Dirty Robot in. I’ve been using this on synths, just as a bit of fun really. The dirty robot is fantastic, and very versatile. Seems redundant, using a synth pedal on a synth, but on rhythms it does all sorts of joyous things. The Bass Overdrive is a great little budget drive, and the wet/dry mix and low/hi tone shaping makes it well suited for synths. The Aurora is a nice, simple delay that you can manhandle nicely, and the Exosphere is a reverb that can be rather wild especially with the Little Monster expression switch.
This is my travel board of tone. I mainly stick to plugins for effects. The Nano Cortex is there just so I can capture and share tones I have nailed down, to give me a few effects when need a little something, to give me headphones out, and to act as a digital interface. I still haven't decided if it is a keeper. The Notaklön is there for tone and volume boost more so than distortion. 29 EUNA magic box of mystery. The Enigmatic's tones and a thing of absolute beauty. Don't sleep on the Lion's clean tones. The Woodrow is just a cool vibe sometimes.
www.uaudio.com
> Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp gives you the heavenly guitar sounds of Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Robben Ford, Joe Bonamassa, and Carlos Santana.* > > Perfectly capturing rare ODS amps spanning 30 years, from 1970’s Santa Cruz designs to later iterations built in LA in the '80s and '90s, Enigmatic '82 gives you the sound of the most elusive guitar amps ever made. Andertons review [here](https://youtu.be/_tp2PudYWzs?si=GoT9FZqe2aUcatf7).
Just came across this flautist using guitar pedals and it's pretty freaking awesome. I tried to post the MP4 itself but I'm getting a "too many frames" error and can't seem to find any guidelines on video file upload limits.
www.guitarworld.com
> The culmination of 45-plus years developing a sound that’s perfect in every possible way… Prepare to be amazed”: MXR’s new Yngwie Malmsteen signature overdrive pedal could be its most dynamic overdrive to date
> The MXR Layers Pedal blooms with rich, organic sustain that imbues every strum and pluck with resonance and depth. With a versatile suite of controls, this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need. > Whether you want to lengthen single notes or generate multi-layered soundscapes rich with ambience, the MXR Layers Pedal will extend the creative potential of your instrument. Pull off chord voicings you never thought possible, compose transcendent melodies, orchestrate harmonic ensembles, create lively stereo pads, and more—all from a standard MXR housing. > Soundtrack recorded using only guitars, amps, bass, drums, and the MXR Layers pedal.
- [CS 11](https://truetone.com/cs11/) - [XP 5](https://truetone.com/xp5/) - [XP 8](https://truetone.com/xp8-ps) Looks like the CS 11 has dropped the AC port and sag control from the 12, and it has an output to power an XP 5 or XP 8. The XP 5 and 8 drop the IEC power plugs, and have outputs to daisy chain to more XP 5/8 units. The XP 5 has SKUs for with and without a power supply, the XP 8 is only sold with a power supply.
I really wanted one of these when they did the limited release but couldn’t justify it at the time. Glad the brought it back and improved upon it. It’s a strange pedal and probably best for ambient effects or backing tracks. The DBA side is probably the most “usable” of the modes for more traditional guitar work. I have to play around with it more. I tried something weird by having it between my distortions and almost blew out my eardrums with the feedback when I turned on the plumes.
JHS Crayon and the previously posted Permission to Land found a spot. The Crayon is so broken, I love it. Paired with the low-bit modulators on all three of the top row it's like playing a chiptune on a Gameboy with dead batteries.
The Darkness Permission to Land guitar pedal was delivered today. It's my first Made in EU guitar gear and I gotta say, it's a finely crafted gain pedal. The Justin nob is fine but it's redundant when I kick the Dan nob into lead gain. I didn't already have a 3 range EQ so this is going right at the end of my gain loop. I suspect it's a two stage Klone with a low end scoop toggle. 
My take on the JRockett 45. It's a Malcolm Young tribute. Now I just have to learn to play like him.
My birthday came and went, with two new pedals for my board. The expression pedal is the EP-25k, for use with the Pitch Fork and the tremolo. But alas I only have the one TRS cable for now, so I've only tried it with the Pitchfork. Really fun, and pleasantly different than using a vibrato arm on the guitar. The EQ I haven't hooked up yet. I need to flip the board and look at my power situation as I don't have any slots left on the C-spot. The main intent for that pedal in the near-term is for when I switch from humbuckers to single coils. Presently plugging in my Strat is just really underwhelming as everything is set more for my PRS 24-08 and Epi 335. A longer-term interest with the EQ pedal is for splitting my chain for wet/dry between the Prince of Tone and the Micro Flanger.
youtu.be
This was a limited release a few years ago. Glad it’s getting a wider release with new features.
Does anyone here own one? I have questions! Kind of lusting for one, but, I need to know a little more about the functionality of selecting and combining patches (and people on youtube seem to only go through the sounds). Thanks!
Ok, I've cracked. I have a nice pedal board and I can get some nice sounds from it. But I'm selling almost all of it and moving to Helix. Keeping a rams head muff and blues driver. But the expandability, versatility, simplicity of setup and no need to worry about patch cables, power supplies etc.. Am I going to regret it?
Big Cheese by Lovetone clone. I added a blend knob so it'll be a little more bass friendly. Waterside decal. And a uv led.
www.youtube.com
Looks like ALM is getting in on the guitar pedal game. They're a Eurorack module manufacturer that makes some of the best modules on the market. This is a pedal version of their effects module.
Not surprised about the Strymon presence, he has a lot of nice layers and texture from the middle of his career. I've never heard a bad review of the Duelist, but seeing it on Ian's board certainly bumps it up a notch in my book. He was playing through a Holy Watt amp head/cab, which I'd never heard of. I assumed the Holy Watt pedal was like a channel switcher. But looking at their site, not only is it a standalone drive pedal, Ian has a signature line with them! https://holywatt.com/products/ian-moore-signature-prestige-cl15/ https://holywatt.com/products/ian-moore-signature-prestige-cl30/ https://holywatt.com/products/ian-moore-signature-2x12-cab/ He mostly played through his Tele-Strat (Tele neck on a Strat body). He had two that he swapped between every song (guessing they had to be re-tuned after every song). But he also played a Les Paul Junior for one song (Today, very emotional tribute to his late brother-in-law), and a Supro, maybe a Rhythm Master, for a slide track (Nothing).
Finally got to try etching. The pattern is the pcb layout of a classic Pi. Bonus point to anyone that can name the typeface, or at least where it came from. Man, I love these big Boss style knobs. I got a 10 pack and I'm almost out already. Next diy project is a Lovepedal Cheese clone with a dry blend add on.
I know in my last post I said I was going to do an etching on a Big Muff next, but I didn't have the right photo paper. So I tried doing a print on water slide for my GGG Brassmaster. I can say this is my second favorite fuzz but the build is not for the faint of heart.
www.youtube.com
New version of this pedal that includes the presets knob from Aurelius/Ledges and EXP control. I have the V2 version of this pedal and EXP control is a huge plus as it let's you use it like a regular wah. Or you can assign it to one of the other knobs. Looks like they changed how the filter knob functions (or at least labeled it). I mostly use my V2 on Bass and it's pretty good for the funk but it can scream if you use it on distorted guitar.
Just bought one a couple of weeks back and have been using it since then. The tone seems to do nothing as far as I can tell. A few people have said this is a Klon clone, and it does have that sound at higher gain settings. To my ears its like a wider TS pedal if you put it after a hard clipper (think HM-2/Metal Zone) as it still gets that cocked-wah sound. I put some [sound examples up here](https://youtu.be/kSIO3eN9lmk) if you want to hear them. Its not much, as the pedal doesn't do that much to be honest, so there are 3 sounds I put through a Helix (iirc a v30 speaker/Fender Princeton model). I found it worked ok into a Karma Suture fuzz, too, sort of made it glassier and oddly gruntier... the volume knob just barely reached past unity on my unit, so possibly thats why it reacted that way. I might open it up at some point and mod it. Another oddity is how it has 3 different potentiometers - all different heights. So the knobs all sit at different levels. Changing those out and sorting the tone control would be relatively simple.
youtu.be
Keeley has dropped 3 new pedals following on the Noble Screamer design, allowing you to mix and match the gain and tone stacks from two other pedals, all at $199. - [Blues Disorder](https://robertkeeley.com/product/blues-disorder-overdrive-and-distortion/): Bluesbreaker and OCD - [Super Rodent](https://robertkeeley.com/product/super-rodent-overdrive-and-distortion/): Rat and SD-1 - [Angry Driver](https://robertkeeley.com/product/angry-orange-distortion-and-fuzz/): DS-1 and Muff Andy's Reverb Tone Report video [here](https://youtu.be/rANL5OpskUg).
odysee.com
Hopefully this is cool to share. Bought this week for a silly price (apparently nobody gets/understands this pedal according to the retailer). Its a clone of the Big Cheese by Lovetone - an amazing company from the 1990s. The Cheese Ball is just as versatile. A damn sight smaller. All sounds are a Fender Strat into a Helix (used as simply a pedal platform, but two sounds had an octave effect, minimal amp drive to add "compression"). The guitars are then lightly compressed in Ableton, a bit of subtle EQ on panned guitars to make them sit. I've got a Shredmaster and ZZTop style pedal to try still, but have been enjoying this too much. 😊 Any questions, let me know and I'll try and answer.
I REALLY fancy building a Maestro Fuzz clone based on the original. Point to point wiring etc.. I've got a soldering iron sitting there doing nothing and some spare time during week days due to my job. Does anyone know where people get housings, resistors, capacitors etc etc in the UK? Amazon seems to sell a load but I dont want 100x some value part that I wont ever use. Also where do others find the right schematics?
www.chasebliss.com
Looks like they're letting OG Condor owners send in their pedals to get upgraded to this new version. Kind of neat.
This is an incredibly versatile pedal. I got a JHS Pack Rat and after a few hours, I went back to my HM-2 for my default distortion.
youtu.be
Fender has launched the [Switchboard Effects Operator](https://www.fender.com/en-US/effects-pedals/switchers-controllers/switchboard-effects-operator/0235150000.html) loop switcher. > Unleash the full potential of your pedal board! The Switchboard Effects Operator is a streamlined and compact effects switching solution with a remarkably simple interface, bringing complete signal path control, multi-pedal preset recall, and convenient effects switching right to your feet.
youtube.com
This is an interesting open hardware and software project for creating a multi fx pedal. The cool thing is that it's fully customizable, new plugins can be created or added from other members of the community, or buttons can be remapped etc. The guy that made this video has developed some plugins to run some neural network models that imitate real gear (similar to NAM), although due to the limitations of the processing power of the chip they are simplified so they are less cpu intensive. Nonetheless it's a cool project!
Some interesting pedals that didn't receive a lot of attention in the last year. I'm only about 35 minutes in, but the Josh Smith Flat V from Poly looks pretty fun to mess around with.
Alright y'all. As 2023 comes to a close, lets share how our boards have changed, and maybe plans for 2024 How it started:  TC Polytune 3, Vox wah, EHX PitchFork, EHX Soul Food, Boss SD-1, Boss DS-1, Danelectro Cool Cat, Danelectro Dan-echo, MXR Tremolo, Boss RC-5 How it's going:  TC Polytune 3, EHX Pitchfork, DOD Carcosa, EHX Soul Food, Analogman Prince of Tone, MXR Micro Flanger, MXR Phase 95, Danelectro Cool Cat, MXR Tremolo, Strymon El Capistan, Boss RC-5 In 2024 I may replace the Cool Cat with another chorus, and put together one or two other boards from my spare pedals: Danelectro Dan-echo and Fab Tone, Boss BD-2, SD-1, and DS-1, TC Ditto).
Fun and interesting exploration of what made the Klon unique, inspired by the JHS Notaklön, by deconstructing it.
Really bizarre pedal that I picked up while on my vacation in Colorado. Vibrato, tremolo, and phaser all in one (I think)! It can generate some cool sounds, especially when the controls are dimed. So far, I like it best as a subtle trem with some added phase and vibrato for coloring cleans. Not sure if it’ll stay on the board but its fun for now. I picked this up because I was a big fan of DOD/Digitech when I started playing in high school. My first pedal ever was the Digitech Death Metal pedal and then I got a DOD grunge shortly after (both played through my Fender frontman 😎). Now I play very different styles so I’m hoping I can incorporate this weirdness into my playing.