Upon first glance you just surely can’t but concede that this Nero Fuzz is a most magnificent detail-oriented design masterpiece as ever there was -  and for sure one of the very best-balanced designs currently out there. I love Emilio’s new gun-metal grey / titanium coloured and engraved knobs, the raised surrounds for the mini knobs, and the back-lit lights - including the main Cornerstone Logo Ident.

The enclosure finish is beautifully textured too - with a fetching gleaming metallic ...

Where the Birmingham Show was a little sprawling and chaotic for me, I very much felt more at home at the Studio 9294 venue for this year’s London Synth and Pedal Expo. As Media Partner for the show, the second year in a row, I was of course in for the entirety of both the day, and actually in very early in particular on the Sunday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the two days -I love having the #90 Bar & Kitchen next door - for some very decent lunches - superb burger on the first day, and Sunday...

Cornerstone reached out to its community a while back to ask what its customers wanted it to make next. And the overwhelming response was that they wanted a Cornerstone Klon + Blues Breaker Combo.

This is by no means a unique combination and there are already several pedals that fit that profile - the Keeley D&M Drive, Ceriatone Horse Breaker, Nordvang ’83 Drive, and NUX Queen of Tone to name a few.

Of course Cornerstone have a reputation for doing things slightly differently and ...

I’d like to start by saying that I’m truly proud to have been a Media Partner for this Inaugural Synth and Pedal Expo. It was a superb event - really well attended, and paves the way for an even bigger follow-up - likely taking place over two days next time.

This is the first time I’ve met Stompbox Exhibit Organiser and Delicious Audio Auteur Paolo De Gregorio face-to-face. We’ve had a long-term friendly correspondence and association and greeted each other as long-lost friends. Paolo has ...

With me being a pedal aficionado first and foremost - that’s obviously my main area of focus for this imminent show and the above pedal brand visual - while there is an equal amount of killer Synth brands present too - as listed below.

This London Synth & Pedal Expo is my good friend Paolo De Gregorio’s first UK Event - who always has a fantastic multi-brand Stompbox Exhibit Booth at the NAMM Shows - and has organised a series of events for several years now throughout the North ...

With me being a pedal aficionado first and foremost - that’s obviously my main area of focus for this imminent show and the above pedal brand visual - while there is an equal amount of killer Synth brands present too - as listed below.

This London Synth & Pedal Expo is my good friend Paolo De Gregorio’s first UK Event - who always has a fantastic multi-brand Stompbox Exhibit Booth at the NAMM Shows - and has organised a series of events for several years now throughout the North ...

Another healthy selection - Modutility covering Modulation, Pitch and Utility pedal categories - for one of the strongest selection to date. Some of the pedals here are truly stellar, and I have a little over half here already in the collection.

I’m unlikely to ever get all the pedals featured here, but there are several already earmarked for acquisition in 2023 - with the Eventide H90 at the top of that list.

The ones I don’t yet own, or may never own even - include :

• Chase Bliss

We’ve known about this for a while, so the recent retirement of the much-loved Gladio Double Preamp wasn’t really a surprise. The plan has been for a while to combine the Antique Classic Drive with the Compact Single Channel variant of Gladio.

Controls - ANTIQUE (TS808) } Tone, Presence, Mids : TS808 / Cut, Comp : More / Less, Volume, Gain, Antique Footswitch, UNIVERSAL } Order : G > A / G < A, GLADIO (Dumble) } Tone, Clean, Comp : More / Less, Volume, Gain, Gladio Footswitch.

The...

So the recent launch of Origin Effects’ Halcyon enhanced TS808 type screamer prompted me to refresh my memory on what the competition to that was - and if the Halcyon was quite as appealing as it appeared to be. So I’ve trawled through all my usual resources, including my own memory banks - and come up with this list of 28 suitable candidates.

This list is specifically on enhanced / evolved Compact enclosure Tube Screamer types - so I exclude hybrids - such as Matthews Effects The Broker (...