This is a slightly odd assortment really - I was aiming to theme it in some way or wait for some other new arrivals - but despite scouring various different news feeds and all the usual sources - there is not much in the way of new that we weren’t already aware of.
So that pretty well-known Canadian amp manufacturer launches their first pedal - based on the best-loved Channel of their best-loved amp. Amp-voiced pedals are always a particular favourite of mine.
At the other end we have brand new pedal brand - Flower Pedals, which names their pedals after flowers, and is looking to mass-produce 2 mini pedals, and 2 compacts, including a Geranium Germanium Drive, and this Dandelion Harmonic Tremolo. Of the 4 pedals announced - I am so far only interested in one - and the Indiegogo campaign seems yet to have taken off properly.
I caught Gear Gods Trey Xavier's live demo of the REVV G3 pedal quite by chance the other week. I was familiar with REVV Amps via a number of different sources, and however much I like those, they lack a few of my home-playing essentials - particular in combo format, so I am indeed delighted that I can 'acquire' their most formidable amp's sound in a significantly more compact and cost-efficient package.
This is really my perfect format for a drive/distortion pedal - full 3-band EQ with a voicing toggle which takes you from relatively mild to wild. I already had a couple more high-gain pedals on my wishlist, namely the Amptweaker TightMetal Jr and Keeley Filaments, but this one has somewhat pipped those, to the extent that I've already put in an order - pedals are due to be shipped 8th of May, but as with most new launches I expect some degree of delay.
What I particularly like about this pedal is how 'tight' it sounds, it has built-in components which ensure low noise floor, high signal-to-noise ratio, and a very tight attack with no flub at high saturation. I will use this in my Friedman BE-OD slot - it may become the permanent / primary option there with the BE-OD as its secondary, and I will save the TightMetal Jr and Filaments for a later time - it really does not harm to have various alternative tones available. I feel that the REVV has slightly more range than the BE-OD, but time will tell.
A couple of weeks ago 'That Pedal Show' reviewed the Supro Analog Harmonic Tremolo and stated that there weren't a lot of that type around. And while there are obviously nowhere near as many as the more conventional Tremolo types, there are more Harmonic ones than most might think - including the Chase Bliss Audio Gravitas, EarthQuaker Devices Night Wire, Strymon Flint, and Walrus Monument - of the major mainstream brands.
The Flower Pedals Dandelion now looks set to join that number, although Indiegogo campaign numbers don't currently look great. The Dandelion gives you 4 waveforms, and 3 smart voicing toggles - Type, Voice, Double to give you a huge range in such a compact format - it also has dual footswitces, including a tap-tempo control. According to Indiegogo the various Flower Pedals are due in July.
I have 3 Tremolo pedals to date - my mainstay being the Chase Bliss Gravitas, then the Stone Deaf Tremotron, and with the Mooer Trelicopter for fill-ins. Those are of course more than enough, but I've also long had a thing for the Strymon Flint - which stays high on my wishlist. And after that I would be torn between the Swindler's Effects Stereo Red Mountain vs this Dandelion. As I said, the Indiegogo campaign is quite underfunded so far, with just a month remaining. This pedal would certainly not oust my existing ones, but may be a decent tertiary occasional / temporary swap-out - so still under consideration. Sounds great though.