I don’t usually cover Pro Studio Microphones on this site - while since two of my good pedal-friends Bruce and Rico are involved in this excellent venture, I felt I owed it to them to help put this new Pro Studio Gear company on the map - and its really cool initial product offerings - which have been several years in the making.

My two friends are part of a consortium of audiophile technology entrepreneurs with long roots in Pro Studio Gear, interestingly and back in the day - Rico helped ...

It’s been quiet a while since Boss completed its Digital Delay Range Revamp with the DD-3T and DD-8 - back in September of 2019 - that selection is fully rounded and up-up-to-date still - with each of the 4 pedals at the top of its respective game - DD-3T, DD-8, DD-200, and DD-500!

We had to wait an age for the RV-200 to arrive - where the DD-200  was part of the original June 2019 200-Series quartet. The current generation of compact Boss Reverb is the RV-6 - which was released as long ago...

And so the moment is finally upon us - at least mostly that is to say. We’re in for a step-change for sure, and there will likely be some teething troubles for the first few days hereafter as we continue to refine the experience - but do please bear with us - all the stuff you loved will still be here - just easier to find and bookmark.

GuitarPedalX.com was officially launched around 5 years ago - on August 1st of 2018. Before then some of those posts (212) had appeared on the blog of my ...

Some of you may recall my seminal Knobs-focused Pedal Design 101 article from 2019 where I highlighted most of the more commonly used knobs, alongside some more distinctive and bespoke types - some made specially for / by those brands, where others have just been cleverly procured.

Some brands are very much instantly identified with a certain style of knob - while the majority of builders still make use of mostly Davies Moulding types and derivatives, Boss and MXR types in particular, some ...

Many thanks to my now good friend Sebastien at Farmer Factory Effects with whom I collaborated with on this article. His latest Fresh Fuzz is the featured pic for the Turret Style of construction - a really beautiful design spiralling out from a metal can JRC 4558 Opamp - onto a colour-coordinated board, and with several colour-coordinated parts matching the red exterior paint job - a real Object d’Art.

Sebastien is the only one I personally know that has completed a Manhattan style circuit...

So this is the second of this series - where the first was more about the uniqueness of the enclosure shape - more structural really - covering the overall form factor. While this edition is more about ’Trade Dress’ or the Memorability of the Aesthetics - style of graphics, consistency of theme, and consistency of control topology - doing something in a consistently measurable way that makes that pedal instantly recognisable from afar as belonging to a certain single brand.

So this one is ...

I’ve championed various causes over the years - including ongoingly encouraging brands to evolve their own style of knobs - to help distinguish and differentiate themselves from the myriad alternatives. As a component - knobs are highly visual and can really lend a certain look or aspect of quality to a pedal. Generally Milled Aluminium or Sculpted Ceramic Knobs are top of that pack - and yet 99% of brands use a handful of very ubiquitous and commonplace designs.

Far less visible - as much ...

Do please note that this is the 3rd roundup in the series - for those looking for more classic / vintage guitar designs - then the first part is the more pertinent for your preferences. Part 2 became a little more eclectic and avant-garde, while this Part 3 is an even mix of more classic / traditional designs and more modern and futuristic.

This part plays some fan service in covering some of the more popular omissions from the previous posts - while I don’t subscribe to the same view for ...

As this is principally a Guitar Pedal blog, I only feature Guitar articles fairly rarely here - and when they feature something particularly special. And in recent weeks I’ve been really vowed by the Emerald Guitars Virtuo Hybrid Model.

This not only combines Acoustic, Piezo and Electric playback in a single guitar, but also gives you a 13-pin MIDI output - which allows you to control Roland and Boss guitar synthesizer pedals - which combination has to be the most potent of any guitars made...