2022 Birmingham Guitar Show Highlights
I spent pretty much the whole of Saturday doing the rounds at the Birmingham Guitar Show 22 at New Bingley Hall. Obviously Covid and Brexit Red Tape kept some previous participants away - while there was still a real upbeat buzz around the show.
People were seemingly really happy to be out and about again - and for many I encountered - this was their first big event since the last show - some two and a half years ago now. What I was acutely aware of though was an atmosphere of genuine and optimistic positivity - pretty much everyone I encountered was in good humour and full of hopes for the coming year.
There were far fewer pedal brands participating than in previous years - which really gave me the opportunity to spend some serious time on each of those stands. As is the case with all these shows - you need to make several circuits of the show floor - as certain booths are somewhat busier than others and you feel a bit strange hanging around to talk to someone for too long - so the form is that if your intended target doesn’t become available within 5 or so minutes you move on and try to catch them a little later.
The upper left hand corner of the floor plan was a particularly lucky spot for catching illustrious show attendees - and I serendipitously bumped into quite a few luminaries in and around the Pedal Patch Booth.
Not all the brands advertised showed up, but there was still plenty to get stuck into - and the early crowd was pretty decent - while there was some drop-off after lunch on my day of visit.
All-in-all a really enjoyable and positive show though with some great encounters - and I got to pop into Show-Runner Jason Hunt’s somewhat amusingly chaotic office for the first time.
Weirdly this is the first show that I’ve come away empty-handed from - I usually pick up something at the show - usually by prior arrangement. And while there are some pedal releases imminent - none of them were quite ready enough for an at the show pickup!
Note that most of the pictures here are taken from the respective brands’ Instagram posts - typically edited and refined for this format. Mikey Demus seems to have a real knack for capturing killer promo pictures - and his stand ’selfie’ from the show is one of the best promotional shots I’ve ever witnessed - which is why it’s the main featured picture here. Funnily Mikey was the star for me for the last show too - he’s obviously on something of a roll!
Here follow my key encounters from the show, roughly in the order of when they took place :
Redbeard Effects - Mikey Demus
Mikey was the first at the show whose attention I managed to capture early on. His Redbeard Effects Trifecta of Angry Rhubarb Overdrive, Honey Badger Sub-Octaves Fuzz, and Red Mist Distortion is one of the very finest first three pedals hat-tricks I've ever encountered.
I love each of those - and they're all classics for their respective genres - all supremely musical and versatile too. Mikey and Thorpy have done an amazing job with this brand - carving out a really strong and impactful killer pedal portfolio - all of these feature very regularly in my chain.
And they will relatively soon be joined by a mystery 4th Redbeard pedal - due out late Summer / early Autumn. I look forward to sharing the details of that in due time.
Mikey seems to be in his element at the moment - he's back to Touring again with his band Skindred - featuring at various summer festivals - while European touring is still proving to be somewhat tricky these days with all that extra paperwork ...
ThorpyFX - Adrian Thorpe (and Pete Honoré)
It's always a joy to catch up with Thorpy - he was my first proper Guitar Show buddy - where our association started off with an impromptu meet up on one of his show booths some years ago now. Thorpy is on a roll of some really strong releases - and it was a shame that he could not luxuriate in the glory of his fantastic Boneyard Limited Fuzz release (all gone!) - which was a triumph in every way and is for sure the leading flagship 'Multi-Bender' contender of tis kind - it's so cleverly engineered and calibrated - keep your eyes peeled for a forthcoming roundup of my own key Multi-Benders!
Before the Boneyard - we of course had the equally superb Pulse Doppler Phase-Shifter, Bunker Intermodulation Distortion, and Field Marshal Fuzz - all are worthy of having in your collection.
I own most of Thorpy's output by now with just a few exceptions - which I'm looking to get onboard fairly imminently - including a Deep Oggin Chorus. And Thorpy has another mystery pedal which should be released very soon indeed.
Our mutual friend and Guitar and Pedalboard hero - Steve Mac of the Australian Pink Floyd has sort of been road-testing Thorpy's newest and the early reviews are suitably stellar - so I hope to be sharing those details with you very soon!
My own Trifecta of Thorpy pedals are probably the Camoflange, Heavy Water, and Peacekeeper - while I love them all dearly - those are the ones that get the most rotation in my rig - and the Heavy Water is pretty much permanent on slot #8. I will for sure have all of Thorpy's eventually - currently I'm just missing the Dane Overdrive + Boost, FILR Buffer Mini, Deep Oggin Chorus, and Fat General Compressor - my tally to-date is 12 - where I will imminently get the Deep Oggin and the new mystery pedal - to take me up to 14 of 17!
Note that my encounter with Pete Honoré was at the Pedal Patch booth - while the upper above picture here shows him in very fine form on Thorpy's stand - 6 months of no alcohol has shaved 5 years off the Pete we all know and love. I like to call him the Danish John Mayer - while we're both super fans of Prince - which was obviously instrumental in Pete's signature Purple colour choice!
Bleak District Electric - Phil Meredith
I was delighted to meet Bleak District's Phil Meredith for the first time - aptly based in Glossop, on the edge of the Peak District.
He has fairly rapidly evolved a compact and bijoux range of carefully considered pedals - which are all about enhanced flavour. He espouses high quality to value brand characteristics with cool pixelated graphics drawn from the Peak District landscape.
There are 4 to date :
- Landscraper Dual-Channel Overdrive / Distortion (inspired by DOD250)
- Miraj Phase Shifter
- Sun? No. Preamp (inspired by Model T)
- Tapescape Modulated Tape-style Delay (inspired by Copicat Delay)
The Miraj has yet to be officially released - but there was a cool prototype of it on the stand - just waiting for more Boss-style knobs to arrive as I understand.
Phil develops all his circuits very carefully by ear - aiming for a highly particular sound and texture he has in his mind. The Tapescape is for instance based on a fairly old / crunchy Copicat Delay with unusual texture and flavour. Each of these is pretty much its own thing and distinct from the inspirations.
We discussed pedal formats / orientation, jack positioning, knob types and the like - which is usually my way, For me the brand here is pretty spot on already - being highly distinct in its look - while the pedals could be a little more differentiated from each other - as from a cursory glance they can look a little similar from afar - which is good for brand recognition - but not so much for individual identification.
I was already peripherally aware of this brand courtesy of my friend Jim at Boost Guitar Pedals - who has stocked them for a while.
Certainly one to watch!
PS - before I forget, I was talking for a while to Phil's bass-player pal (name alludes me alas) - and I promised to pass on my own favourite YouTube Bassist Channel - Brit abroad Janek Gwizdala
Tate FX- Stuart Tate
Great to meet Tate FX's Stuart again at the show - where he was seemingly in very high spirts. I keep telling him I'm waiting for a custom Purple edition of the Germanium Raise the Dead variant. This started a conversation on the difficulties of small batch supply and the suitability and reliability of suppliers.
You will note that Stuart essentially has two slightly different graphics approaches - with some pedals in full-colour, and others somewhat more monochromatic. Obviously the monochromatic ones are easier, quicker and more cost-effective to produce - while the more intricate full colour designs need very specialised enclosure printing - which is costly and has certain minimum order quantities - meaning that limited edition runs of the Raise the Dead are not as easy as you might think.
Stuart has been fascinated with Rat and Germanium Fuzz pedals of late - and has made several variations of those - while his flagship pedals are still the Raise the Dead One Knob Fuzz, and the Antares Overdrive.
I really should have more Tate FX pedals in the collection by now - but am holding out for some prettier custom variants - the Purple RTD, and I would like a more detailed full-colour variation of the Antares - with some of those cosmic colour swooshes you typically see in NASA's galaxy pictures!
All these sound pretty great and more will surely be in the collection soon enough. I will for sure get a special Germanium RTD on of these days - and hopefully a special Antares too!
Ritual Devices - Wub Wainwright
Another first for me - where I had been aware of Ritual Devices for a while - but had still to do the due diligence on the range. This first meeting with Wub Wainwright, hailing from Pontypridd in South Wales - was really insightful for these pedals and really let me appreciate the craft involved here.
The very original varieties of Ritual Devices came in engraved shiny polished enclosures - with the Ritual Devices mystical / occult ident as a main feature in the centre of the pedals. These then evolved to intricate enamel looking designs - somewhat like Victorian trinket boxes - while Wub is applying some really clever acid etching techniques here which results in these fantastic looking enclosures. The first editions of those retained the earlier Ritual ident branding in the centre - as per the two pedals on the right of the above visual. While the latest designs have a new Logo - with the long swoosh on the 'R' tail - which now sits at the base of each pedal - with the Pedal name in the centre.
I feel I've engaged with this brand at just the right time - as it seems to have really found it's identity now - I pointed out that the logo is a little subdued currently - which may make the pedals a touch tricky to identify for some players - while they're all immaculately inhabiting that same design language consistently across the range. I have 4 of the current range pictured above, I was unable to find a suitable reference for the bestselling WTB+ Germanium Boost (Treble Booster).
The current range consists of :
- EVOL Hybrid Fuzz / Distortion (Evolved-Muff!)
- Grimalkin Hybrid Op-amp/Transistor Octave Multi-Fuzz
- Harma Fuzz (Hybrid Harmonic Percolator)
- Rainmaker Vibrato / Preamp
- WTB+ Germanium Boost (Treble Booster)
While we also have have the Banshee Fuzz (Super-Fuzz), and Deface Fuzz (Silicon Fuzz Face) - which Wub is deciding what to do with - either bring them back in some sort of adapted format or else replace with new circuits.
I'm particularly keen on the EVOL and Grimalkin Fuzzes, while the Rainmaker is actually really clever to - which with its cool Preamp - can function as an Overdrive as well as Vibrato - where the vibrato is really on the edge of being a Uni-Vibe. Wub mentioned that he would also like to develop his own photocell based Uni-Vibe at some stage - which I would certainly be down for too.
These are incredibly well considered devices with lots of smartly engineered circuit-based solutions of Wub's own design. I feel I've encountered this at just the right time - as everything seems to be cooking with gas currently - and the brand is realy hitting its stride. These really need to be viewed up close - proper jewel box pedals!
Fredric Effects - Tim Webster
My final pedals stop-off on the Saturday was Tim Webster's Fredric's Effects - which I've been meaning to do a feature or two on for a while. There was some kind of communications snafu, and I presumed Tim just wasn't interested in being featured on Guitar Pedal X, while that seems to have been a misunderstanding on my behalf - I thought I was being ghosted, while Tim doesn't recall having seen my messages - such is sometimes the case with email.
In any case we had a really decent chat on the day, and I will now for sure be doing a feature or two on Fredric Effects - just need to sort out the logistics of that! In the first instance I would like to do a feature on Tim's 4 flagship larger wedge-shaped pedals, as pictured immediately above :
- Nouveau Super Unpleasant Companion (Extended Feature Companion Fuzz)
- Dresden Synth Fuzz (Parallel Dual Octave Fuzz)
- Utility Perkolator (Harmonic Percolator Fuzz)
- Verzerrer East German Distortion
Size-wise I've always considered these just a touch over-sized - while they are pretty much the same footprint as the regular Beetronics pedals. With top-mounted jacks - still relatively easy to accommodate within your pedalboard real estate.
So likely I will start of with those 4. Tim is also attending Alex Millar's FX Expo on June 19th - so I will attempt to negotiate some sort of project then.
The Big Fredric Effects News at the show was that Tim will be introducing a Mini / Compact Wedge Enclosure across the entire standard range - as stock clears out obviously. It can already be seen on the new Zombie Klone pedal - and it looks amazing. Tim will how have a coherent shape across his range - in both regular and large sizes.
There are at least 4 of those standard range pedals I'm interested in - of course the Zombie Klone, but also the Blue Monarch, Duo Face, and Square Wave Fuzz I think it was.
Tim has decided to do a spring clean on the range too, and will be discontinuing a few of the pedals that don't sell particularly well any more - also the Big Muff series as there is just an overabundance of those types on the market currently!
So I will do the Big 4 first, and then probable a range roundup once Tim has decided what's staying and what's going. There was some talk of consolidating certain options into a single variety - but we will wait for the dust to settle before we report on that. For sure some exciting developments afoot at Fredric Effects - and I will endeavour to keep you all up-to-date!
Stone Wolf Guitars - Mike Payne
I'm a huge fan of Mike Payne's Stone Wolf Guitars, and I've for a long time wanted one of his incredible blends of precious woods and resin. His guitars are cool, distinctive, ergonomic and incredibly well built, and I'm delighted that he has had so many commissions of late - as he really deserves to do well,
I decided a while ago that I wanted one of these - with those cool exposed-coil Oil City pickups. Mike does so many different shapes - that it's something of an option paralysis scenario in deciding what your preferences are. I know I would need a whammy bar, and multiple pickup combinations - coil-splits etc.
At one stage I had decided that my favourite Stone Wolf Model was The Faroe - while I still remain open to influence. I love the concept of the Faroe in terms of being Islands of Wood Burr, surrounded by a blue-green sea-like resin. Just with more pickups and a Whammy Bar - and I would like to see the concept extended to the headstock too. With key fret markers being Burl Islands too surrounded by veins of blue-green, like on a glacial delta.
Obviously all my hard-earned cash is currently going into pedals - but I for sure intend to get one of Mike's masterpieces one of these years ... prices are typically around £3K-£4K.
Haynes Guitars - Neil Haynes and James Blackburn
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I caught sight of my old acquaintance James Blackburn, formerly CEO of Crimson Guitars - with whom I had chatted at a number of shows. He received an amazing employment opportunity in the USA - which took him from Crimson, yet Covid restrictions intervened, and he was alas grounded and trapped in the UK. Meaning said opportunity fell by the wayside.
He has though of course landed on his feet with Neil Haynes Guitars, whom I wasn't particularly aware of until I clocked James on the stand. These guitars are very much in the Fender mode - while better made, with cooler features - and far more ergonomic. Slightly slanted headstock means no string-trees for instance, the headstocks are really elegant, and the output jack is now more ergonomic on the guitar's edge - as it should be!
These reminded me very much of a sort of PRS take on Fender - but with some obvious ergonomic and modern improvements - locking. headstocks etc. The PRS analogy stands true as Neil has originated his own iconic series of fret markers - utilising classic British Autumn Leaves. Neil also is a master of finding high quality unusual woods which really suit his guitars. I believe bodies are mostly Alder, Necks are mostly Mahogany, while Fredboards come in all kinds of exotic woods - very Rosewood-esque typically , while not actually Rosewood itself - because of ongoing SITES complications.
Prices are around £2,600, while you pay £200 more if you want that cool colouring-changing paint - e.g. the classic Purple-to-Green.
The guitars at the show were universally gorgeous - I of course had a preference for the Strat type shape ones, where the Purple/Green version was particularly attractive. All these pedals are fresh off the production line - with the website looking a little out-of date currently. I feel that Neil has finally hit his stride - everything about his new range looks and feels just right. Necks are mostly seemingly Satin style too - which is my own favourite preference.
These really deserve to do well!
AC Guitars / Reiver Guitars - Alan Cringean
It's become a regular thing that I check in with my Scottish pal Alan Cringean of AC Guitars to see how things are going at each Guitar Show. And this was for sure the most cheerful I've every encountered Alan - seemingly full of the joys of spring.
His main thing has always been Bass Guitars, while for a while his Reiver Guitars sold pretty well too. The current reality though is that Alan gets about 25 or more Bass commissions to every 1 Guitar one - and so he has decided to sell off the remaining stock of Reiver Guitars and focus solely on Basses from hereon.
If you want an immaculately made, uniquely shaped guitar - then there are some serious discounts available on the remaining Reiver Guitars (minimum 25%) - these I believe are pretty keenly priced - while I guess you can always take a gamble on Alan's mood and put in a reasonable offer - where appropriate.
Alan's guitars are really well made and distinctively and ergonomically shaped - I dare say in a different life I would now one or two of those too! Great to see Alan at the show again!
Cici & Dave and Other Notable Encounters
You often bump into interesting people at these shows - and this one was no different. I initially had a couple of near misses - where I crossed paths twice with Ben Crowe and Chris Buck, but was unable to way-lay or intercept either of them on those occasions.
Weirdly the Bermuda Triangle of the show floor was the top left corner of the map - and the Pedal Patch stand in particular where I first encountered the trio of Danish Pete Honoré (Andertons), Jackson Brooksby (DipSwitch Demos)m and Neil R Grimes of NRG Effects all just generally milling about.
Pete looking pretty trim after 6 dry months, and one of the few that can carry off double-denim. Pete had a sport on Monthy's Guitars Live Showcase - which is why he was there enjoying a day off from the family! While Jackson and Neil were just generally checking out the various stands.
Just around the corner from there I later encountered Andertons 'Sounds Like' Dynamic Duo - Cici 'Bass' Powell and Dave 'Guitar Hero' Simpson who I feel make for great replacements for the originals - Rabea Massaad and Matt Hornsby.
I also got to pop into Show-Runner Jason Hunt's office - to witness the chaos of organising such an event. Generally I witnessed unbridled joy and enthusiasm from all corners of the show - it seems everyone - exhibitors and attendees alike were happy to be out and about again!
I look forward to doing this all again next year. Going on Saturday means that I forego the That Pedal Show Live showcase which usually takes place on the Sunday - while I really need the Sunday to properly write up the event in time for publication on the Monday.
In any case, these were my highlights - for those that visited the show - I would love to hear from you too - hopefully you had as much fun as me - a great day out for sure - even though all that walking around is totally exhausting!
I will next be attending Alex Millar's FX Expo in Stourbridge - on June 19th - will hopefully see lots of you there too!
