There’s been quite the trend for Tube Preamp pedals of late - what with Friedman’s IR-D and IR-X, ThorpyFX Electric Lighting, Tubsesteader Lightkeeper and Magnesium, obviously some fairly large format solid-state types too like Thermion’s Freeway. And longer-term players too like Kingsley and Victory Amps. There’s never been more choice! And so much of what is now available is fantastic.

This new Tsakalis Mothership is another really smart take on floor-based tube amp / preamp with 2 ...

I’ve gone a little bit movie poster on this one! The saga of the forgotten Top Gun :

’The Bluesman!’

I’ve long been a fan of Chris Buck - and indeed named him as one of my favourite 25 Guitar Heroes back in a 2022 article. His incredibly expressive touch is second to none! And he can wring out the most impressive detail and nuance over several bars - from just a single note!

So it’s entirely fitting that Thorpy has built him an equally dynamic and expressive pedal to match Chris’s ...

The #20 Drunk Beaver Pedal Drop is a major milestone in that series - utilising a special small format Pentode Tube - with the purpose of warming up your core signal, and adding some magic and sparkle to the final output!

There seems to be something of a vogue for tube-powered preamp pedals these days - with each builder seeking rare and unique small format tubes. Vitalii has discoverd a stash of fairly rare / unique Ukrainian small format tubes - including the 6Ж45Б-В ones featured here - ...

So a couple of years after the Valvenergy Series launch - Vox has 4 more NuTube candidates for your consideration, where the template has supposedly been somewhat refined and simplified. I believe the first 4 were originally priced at around £169 (c. $215), where currently they go for £119 / $129.

The original quartet consisted of VE-CD Copperhead Drive Distortion (Plexi), VE-CE Cutting Edge Distortion (Tight Metal), VE-ME Mystic Edge (AC30), and VE-SD Silk Drive (Fender Black Face). Of ...

So in my recent ’Guitar Elements’ series it’s finally come to Amps now - where I list out what I believe are the most historically significant and therefore Iconic amps. A lot of you are still conflating Iconic with Vintage, and discounting some of the more recent models - while Iconic does not necessarily infer a long term history and provenance - just that said item or element is a major marker or step forward in the evolution of that device - whatever it may be.

I’m not the first to do ...

I’ve long considered getting in one of these Tube-Powered overdrive / preamps - I’ve had a few Kingsley Amplifiers Pedals for instance on my wishlist over the years, and I’m well aware of all-tube brands like Effectrode - whose pedals sound amazing but are just too large for my preferences and not at all pedalboard friendly. With the current status being that I don’t have any kind of tube-powered pedal in the collection yet. I’m partly conflicted for Eco / Sustainability reasons too - as Tube ...

So following on from the Reticon Flanger - here are the 6 other pedals so far released in PastFX’s Spectrum Collection Buffalo FX Revival Range. These are all very much Gilmour inspired - with the Canberra (Carrera) being a more modern take on the TD-Y (TD-X).

These were released throughout the latter half of 2021 in the following rough order :

• TD-Y (TD-X) - based on the B.K. Butler Tube Driver
• Patriarch (Patriot) - based on the Civil War Big Muff and Pete Cornish P-2
• Power Booster (

I would like to start by thanking Matt Knight and Joe Branton of Guitar Nerds who made this all possible and put me in contact with Steve Mac - guitarist and original member of the Australian Pink Floyd. This all stems back to the Guitar Nerds’ podcast for Friday 3rd July - an interview with Steve Mac, and the accompanying social media pictures of Steve’s home studio pedalboard - or literally ’wall of sound’.

I’m a considerable Floyd and Gilmour fan and avidly follow Björn Riis’s Gilmourish...

Crazy Tube Circuits, or CTC as I like to refer to them, seem to be on a roll of late with lots of smart innovations and updates happening across their range. Following hot on the heels of the excellent Cyclone Phaser and Killer V Vibra-Drive which I recently featured, we now have majorly enhanced and updated version of the Space Charged and Splash Reverb pedals.

The Space Charged Real Tube Drive gets two extra knobs to go with a new second Boost Footswitch - Boost Volume and Boost Gain...