Brazil is a fascinating guitar pedal marketplace - mostly inward looking, and mostly closed off from the rest of the world. I was the first European I believe to get Aura Amps and Tone Ink pedals shipped out of Brazil. Some of those brands have some experience of shipping up the landmass and into Central and North America, but little or nothing ventures across the waters in either direction.

Andy Timmons has long favoured the GNI/ NIG Music OctaFuzz (as pictured left of centre) - where I’ve...

So this incredibly busy month was supposed to be all about Tremolos, culminating with the Rounder Sounds Zebra-Trem Review and 30 Tremolo Pedal Overview. But we hit some snags along the way - the Zebra-Trem was mysteriously held up in customs for a week, and then got slightly lost in the local postal network. And when it did finally arrive - evidently it had been dropped a few times, as the screen was no longer working. After trying various obvious remedies with Bill over a few days - with no ...

So Fractal Audio Systems has thrown its hat in the ring with its first non-modelling device / unit - the VP4 Virtual Pedalboard Multi-FX Processor - which is quite a departure for the brand.

It’s obviously gunning for Line 6 and Eventide in particular, but also looking to knock out Boss and Strymon Workstation pedals. It has several of its own advantages, but with a number of caveats too. Overall it’s well priced for what it delivers - but for my own preferences it’s still somewhat over-...

So I said I would expand the scope of the 10 Pedal Challenge to Mini and Large Enclosure variants if the original was well received. And in indeed that seems to be the case - with several readers encouraging me in particular to do the Large Pedals Edition.

So of course I’ve done the 2 remaining categories - Mini and Large! The Large Pedals were pretty much all obvious choices really and that board largely suggested itself. It was the Mini Pedals version that took the most cogitation!

It...

So a follower on instagram challenged me to shrink my elaborate pedal-chain down to just 10 pedals. My original plan was just to fill a Pedaltrain Nano Max board with 10 compact pedals. But I then decided I should do a Mid-Size variation too, using the Pedaltrain Classic 2 board or thereabouts. I may do further Mini and Large Format editions as a follow-up - depending on how well this article is received!

This was a trickier exercise than you would imagine - as I needed to shuffle through ...

Another strong month for sure! A little dominated by Keeley Electronics, but some solid releases over the month - with a crazy flurry towards the end - to coincide with Europe’s largest Guitar Gear Show - Mannheim’s Guitar Summit. It seems evident now that Guitar Summit is an event I should really be at - and I will make a concerted effort to be their next year.

As it was I attended just one guitar gear event this month - EarthQuaker Devices Showcase at GuitarGuitar in Camden - where I got ...

I have always liked the look of the Walrus Audio Mako Series of MI Multi-Modulator, D1 Delay, R1 Reverb and ASC1 Amp Cab and Sim. And feel that these latest changes have really propelled some of these to the top of their respective categories - particularly in terms of Compact Enclosure Editions!

The new control interface is actually remarkably simple and intuitive - the knobs above each of the 3 screen segments allow you to click through different ’pages’ or screen of options - where you ...

First launched in 2014 - the BitQuest Multi-FX / Multi-FX-Fuzz / Fuzz-Modulator - quickly became Dr Scientist’s most popular and best-selling pedal - and has held the line ever since - despite fierce competition from my other Frazz Dazzler Fuzz favourite! According to Ryan- there are only 2 core models of this pedal - the one which originated in 2014 - which holds all the way through to 2020 - while there are some circuitboard variations along the way too. Before 2020 you first move the Fuzz/...

Devin Townsend’s signature Ocean Machine Ambience Workstation first materialised back in 2017. It was packed with features even then - with much the same format and layout as the new one - while the black knobs onto royal blue enclosure made it look a little congested and complicated and somewhat dark and confusing in appearance. The updated look has improved the pedal 100% - helping you to separate out and easily navigate the different sections of the device. The new look and feel really looks...