I have the earlier version of this - in fact the earliest 2021 V1 version I believe. Since then I think there have been 3 further editions. The online manual refers to V3, while that is already out of date - so presumably this latest version is a V4. Very much confirmed as a V4, the V3 was out in February of 2023. Those where smaller, mostly cosmetic refinement - while the V4 is really quite significantly different.

For this Ultimate Edition, Polarbear’s Darko has essentially absorbed his ...

So in the wake of my ’9 Notable Brazilian Guitar Pedal Brands’ article I had a lot of people contacting me (as intended!) to tell me I’d overlooked this and that brand. The first mentioned was obviously Cachalote Audio which I liked so much that I did a separate article on that.

While altogether we had another 9 notable brands suggested - to include in this separate feature. In fact there are even more - including StarDust Electronic Art - where I’m waiting until I get enough suggestions to...

The original Spaceman I first came out in 2013, with the much larger Sputnik II materialising in 2017, and then the mid-size Sputnik III arriving a few years later in 2020. I missed out on the Spaceman I upon its original release, but picked up a pristine Red Cyrillic version of that in 2018 - which eagle eyed reader will note is my favourite American fuzz (vis-a-vis The Fuzz Pedal Olympics!).

I had the opportunity to get the Sputnik II at the time of release, but always felt that its ...

Who doesn’t like a bit of Japanese Cutesy Kawaii Culture. Fender certainly does - and has been onboard with Sanrio and Hello Kitty now for half a century.

This latest release obviously comes just in time for the Christmas season - in fact I would imagine a few princesses will be waking up to one of these guitars on Christmas Day. And Japanese princesses have even more to be excited about - as you can see in the overview video below - with some unique product available in Japan!

While ...

Jamie actually teased the concept of this pedal at the fairly recent Camden GuitatGuitar EQD Showcase Event - where I met Jamie and Julie for the very first time.

Jamie explained that IDLES guitarist Lee Kieran was a significant fan of the long discontinued Grey Channel (Dual DOD250 style Overdrive / Fuzz). I guess the conversation evolved into reviving that pedal in some sense but in essence taking it on a wholly different trajectory for its second channel. ...

These Hangman fx pedals have been doing the rounds somewhat of late - both Emily Hopkins and the Superfunawesomehappytime chaps received bumper care package of these fairly recently. And Intheblue’s Shane Diiorio and Mike Hermans have at least one apiece.

I do hope Guitar Pedal X can be more involved at the front of these sorts of brand launch events. I mustn’t grumble really - I do get included in many a release schedule, and plenty gets sent my way - but weirdly I still feel like I’m ...

I made a post very near the start of this year - which featured mostly the same visual, now a little more refined - where I indicated a desire to land the latest Nichols 1966 variant. Intriguingly Danelectro picked up on my visual and used is a couple of times on their social media - so I thought I was surely in for a discount on the Nichols 1966 - the third in the series. But no - despite some gentle nudging - Danelectro weren’t about to offer me an ounce of generosity - win some loose some as...

This is part of a long term project for Vitalii, where he’s sourced and circuit-traced most of EXAR’s Legacy Series pedals, alongside the odd one from lesser known smaller Polish brand PUE.

In a move sort of mirroring Boss’s opening 1977 salvo of 3 Original Compact pedals of OD-1, PH-1 and SP-1 pedals, from Drunk Beaver for 2024 we have two classic EXAR circuit replications & enhancements, alongside an evolved take on the PUE Sustain Filter Fuzz.

• OD-1 Over Drive from EXAR Series 1 [OD-1

When I did my recent ’9 Notable Brazilian Guitar Pedal Brands’ overview - a reader noted that I should have included Cachalote Audio also (Sperm Whale in Portuguese!) - which at the time was wholly unknown to me. They do have worldwide ambitions though - having an English language Website also, and a presence on Reverb.com - which I noted previously is fairly rare for Brazilian brands - who mostly seem to keep themselves to their native MercadoLivre Marketplace.

In any case - having been ...