2024 April Pedal-Chain Update - Episode IV - Maximum Overload

Both absolutely killer overdrives, I can't speak more highly of the Trifecta of Tanabe pedals that I now own - each of them is an all-time favourite of mine, and the new ThorpyFX Electric Lightning is another beautifully executed Tube Preamp - with all the dynamics you would expect you needed to satisfy Signature Artist - Chris Buck!

• Tanabe Santanabe Sustaining Drive
• ThorpyFX Electric Lightning Chris Buck Plexi Tube Preamp

Three killer distortions too - I've still to complete the review on the Audiostorm Grand Classic - just waiting on a few more details from Sean. And the Tanabe May Queen and TWA Hot Saké are each brilliant in their own way. The May Queen being my favourite ever Brian May Style Pedal!

• Audiostorm Grand Classic Distortion NMB
• Tanabe May Queen Distortion
• TWA Hot Saké Overdrive / Distortion

Funnily I had known about all of these for a while - and it was really just a matter of timing for each of these to enter the reference collection. The Cornerstone Nero seems to have been somewhat misunderstood by some - while it's an amazing Dual-Bias Fuzz Face style Pedal - with innovative touches in every area! The Sound Boutique Beefeater and WEC Homework Series Fuzzes are also some of the finest Silicon and Germanium Fuzz Faces that you could get your hands on - funnily enough the Nero is my Fuzz Face #99, The Beefeater is #100 and the Homework Series Fuzz is #101 - so my Fuzz Face capsule collection is now over the #100 mark - while the Big Muffs are sill somewhat numerically in the lead at around #110!

• Cornerstone Nero Dumble-Fuzz
• The Sound Boutique Beefeater BC107 + BC108 Fuzz Face
• TWA Triskelion 3.0 Harmonic Energizer EQ / Fuzz
• Winnipeg Electrical Co Homework Series Fuzz (Face GE)

I'm so happy to have finally added the Krozz Devices Airborn Flanger to the reference collection - my 19th Flanger in total - and one of the special ones for sure. Thanks again to Murilo at Krozz Devices, and Steve at FX Pedal Planet for making it happen at last!

• Krozz Devices Airborn Psychedelic Analog Flanger

3 very different Utilities here - and each a proper innovator in its own space - sure there are overlaps with other pedals, but there's also something distinctly special about each of these! The Audostorm MXP-1 will be covered in the same forthcoming review as its sibling Grand Classic Distortion!

• Audiostorm MXP-1 Bypassable Expression Pedal
• Becos FX CompIQ Stella Pro MK2 with DITOS board
• Great Eastern FX XO Variable Crossover

I've long since lost count of the numbers of pedals I have on this now very extended list (going back nearly 10 years now!) - which is why it's called the 'Infinite Wishlist'. Each and every month I re-rationalise and re-calibrate my priorities (sometimes several times in a given day - dending on what I get exposed to and when). And there's no way all of these can enter the reference collection - but many surely will. It's all about the connection, opportunity, availability and timing of each priority - which shifts all the time.

As I'm on a Tremolo Tip this year - I will typically favour Tremolos first - until that capsule collection reaches a certain level, and then I will check the next priority and next one (usually juggling about 30-50 priorities concurrently) - to see what acquisitional opportunities exist for each those - how can I acquire each of those favourably - via collaboration, discount or various other means! It's mostly a matter of what works for both parties and when - and I'm of course endlessly in negotiation! Some are very generous to me, others much less so, and some don't formally recognise my prowess at all. I still spend exorbitant amounts of funds in pursuit of this mission - which I certainly would not do if I no longer had GPX as a prime mission! ...

• AC Noises Ricorda Stereo Granular Reverb + Freeze/Loop
• AmpliTube ToneX One Modelling Pedal
• Beetronics Wannabee Beelateral Buzz KloneBreaker
• Bleak District Electric Miraj V2 Vibe Shifter
• Catalinbread StarCrash 70's Style Sustaining Fuzz
• Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale 3-Mode Analog Tremolo with Real Spring Tank Reverb
• Cusack Project 34 Selenium Rectifier Pre/Drive
• DSM & Humboldt Simplifier X Dual Analog Stereo Amplifier with Digital Reverb
• Friedman IR-D Dirty Shirley Tube Preamp with DSP Power Amp & Its
• Lastgasp Art Laboratories - Cyber Psychic Parametric Oscillo Filter, Lluna Oscillo Fuzz Drive, Misty Cave
• Analog Resonance, Echo, Sandstorm Envelope Noise Generator, Tone Mosaique Envelop Pixelator.
• Mastro Valvola LFO Optical Tremolo
• Obie Audio Great Raven Full Spectrum Gain Platform (Boost + TS808 + EQ)
• Origin Effects Cali76 FET Compressor
• Vick Audio LV Fuzz, and Midnight Sun Fuzz.
• Walrus Audio Monumental Stereo Harmonic Tremolo

14 slots updated this month - Slots #1, #4, #5, #8, #9b, #10, #12, EXP, #15a, #15b, #15c, #21, #23, #25, #26, #31.

Some of those temporary extended slots are in heavy use currently. Obviously the Kernom Moho has to take a breather for a month or two - but that will be back in action again soon enough!

13 New Pedals in total for April, with 2 sharing slot #4.

The most complex arrangement to-date - with 47 pedals active in the chain! Hence the 'Maximum Overload' moniker for this article, there are lots of firsts in this arrangement - which in many ways is one of my favourites in a long time - such a cool collection of pedals in action there - and each is pretty much one of my favourites! Which doesn't necessarily happen every month!

Keyztone Exchanger Pro back on duty! I had to feature the Peterson Mini for at least one month, but as I've often said on this blog - I mostly use the V2 Roadie Automatic Tuning Peg Tuner for my guitar/s. I prefer the 'pistol grip' of the V2 variety vs the newer version which you have to hold somewhat more awkwardly - at least for my preferences!

Winnipeg Electrical Co. Homework Series Germanium Fuzz (Factory-7), & The Sound Boutique Beefeater Fuzz. Two different sides of Fuzz Face - one somewhat vintage circuit - slightly minimal Silicon variety, and a very maximal Fuzz Factory style Germanium variety - both superb in their own way - obviously the Fuzz Factory one delivers quite a bit more versatility than the simpler variety. These two were numbers #100 and #101 in my Fuzz Face capsule collection.

I've been hugely impressed by Cornerstone Music Gear's Nero Twin Bias Dumble-Fuzz! It's such a beautiful engineered Fuzz every which way, with a really smart modern sensibility - which should appeal to Fuzz Haters as well as the usual Fuzz Fanatics - such as myself! This was my 99th Fuzz Face!

Same Heavy Water just with a custom GPX Artwork - the twin of the give-away pedal! There was originally just going to be one Custom GPX Heavy Water Artwork Pedal - and I had to negotiate with Thorpy for a second one. I'm all about recommending my own favourite pedals - so it did not feel right that I was recommending and giving away something that I did not have on my board myself. Inside it's actually the very same standard Heavy Water circuit - but the placebo effect of the additional GPX branding makes it sound even better! :)

I keep saying how blown away I've been by my recently acquired Trifecta of Tanabe Pedals. And the Tanabe Santanabe Sustaining Drive is for me the very best representation out there in pedal format - of Carlos Santana's beautiful sustaining liquid lead tone!

The same can be said for the Tanabe May Queen Distortion - which is my all time favourite Brian May Top Boosted Vox Style Distortion - just sounds full on Bohemian Rhapsody on the Main Green mode - something I've been actively seeking for a long time!

Audiostorm's MXP-1 Bypassable Expression Pedal is a genuine innovation - which allows you to bypass the Grand Classic onboard MDK Moogy LPF/Wah Module / Daughterboard via smart switch within the treadle. It really adds a lot to the Grand Classic experience - and is one of my favourite expression devices to date - works wonderfully with the Grand Classic / MDK Moogy!

The reappearance of the Free Fall Diver Huge Fuzz (Muff) is all in service of the recently added Great Eastern XO Variable Crossover on the adjoining slot - which beautifully blends with the Decibelics The Reverend Mini Expandora on the other side!

Great Eastern FX Co.' XO Variable Crossover Frequency Splitter & Parallel Blender is for sure an innovation on the fairly similar KMA Tyler - it has a neater control topology for my purposes, and a huge advantage in the pedal footprint stakes. A really smart pedal which works beautifully!

Decibelics The Reverend Mini Expandora is the pedal which pairs with the Free Fall Diver Huge on the other side of the XO Variable Crossover. Since I added the MXP-1 Bypassable Expression pedal to the board - I can only fit in mini pedals in the allotted space. This is the most crammed / rammed pedalboard arrangement in the history of GPX! With no less than 47 pedals on active duty!

Somewhat long overdue - but still so worthy the wait - Audiostorm's Grand Classic High Gain Distortion is not the same pedal that was advertised at the start of the Kickstarter campaign - it's the Even Grander Classic - with a whole heap of new features and functions - including the modular Expression powered MDK circuit - which Kickstarters got to have for free essentially! Sean has totally revolutionised his manufacturing process at the same time - building his own pick-and-place automation line - with lots of smart added 3D-Printed component to help make everything work slicker and more efficiently. Do please support Sean! He's way over invested in this fantastic project and deserves some degree of payback. The Grand Classic + MDK Moogy + MXP-1 Expression Rockers are simply brilliant - you should all certainly buy a set!

Totally Wycked's Audio Hot Saké is yet another sort of secret weapon take on the SD-9 Sonic Distortion - and surely my favourite to date. It's much more Humbuggy-friendly than the SH9 for instance!

If you ever conceived of Chris Buck playing his own personal custom-tuned Plexi - then his Signature ThorpyFX Electric Lightning Plexi Style Tube Preamp + Lows Boost is exactly the sound signature you might expect - nuanced and exquisitely textured! Oh - and really touch-sensitive and dynamic too!

It actually took me a while to figure out Totally Wycked Audio's Triskelion 3.0 Harmonic Energizer Frequency and Gain Shifter. I started using it mostly as a tone-enhancing EQ in combination with other pedals, before I realised its stand-alone brilliance as a Fuzz - with the Amplitube Knob at or near fully cranked!

I'm actually very excited to finally have the Krozz Devices Airborn Psychedelic Analog Flanger in the reference collection. It's been a long time coming, and it involved a fair amount or relationship building and cooperation between both Krozz Devices Murilo, and FX Pedal Planet's Steve. I'm hoping to repeat the exercise with the Krakenheart next - which I'm desperate to get into the reference collection too!

I've been rushed off my feet every day of this month - so much going on, and so much cool stuff to write about. I also introduced the 'In Memoriam' style of articles where I covered Mastro Valvola and Vick Audio on this occasion - both of which decided to cease operations late last year.

Hopefully you appreciated those two retrospectives. Do let me know if you think of others that could / should be covered. We should always be respectful of the fleeting nature of lifecycles  - very few products or brands endure across several generations. And we should celebrate each and every one which connects with us. I never knew Luca Romanelli at Mastro where I loved much of his output, while I consider Mike Vickery a very good friend - after all he was my Big Muff Mentor!

I will next be attending the Witney Pedal Party 3 Event on Sunday May 12th - very much a reunion for me as I know all of those brands and individuals pretty well. I'm also looking to set up a local meet-up for my Patreons - possibly with a Saturday Swap Shop theme! Also will be organising the first of the Patreon Jitsi Video Meets! So get onboard with the GPX Patreon if you wish to participate in either of those.

I think I will start doing a 'Tip Sheet' of 10 must-buy pedals for each month - with some rationale attached - another activity solely for Patreon members of course.

I have a load of incoming pedals, some have arrived already for next month - while May will heavily feature pedals by Lastgasp Art Laboratories and Lichtlaerm Audio. There will be a brace of New and Newish VS Audio Pedals, alongside hopefully my JAM Pedals Octaurus, and Reeves Electro Facet IZ.

Lastly, Markus Reeves is in the throes of moving house - and moving to a new Studio / Tone Shack - which still needs a fair amount of investment to get to where he needs it to be! To which ends Reeves' Waitlist Wednesday is back on May 8th - where all of his and Izzy's pedals will be open to orders for a 24 hour period, and because of the new Tone Shack there will be a number of specialty Menu items available for the first, and possibly only time! Look out for a significant article on that on the day before (May 7th).

There's also a couple of top secret releases planned for May - which I will be revealing more about in due course - including of course Thorpy's not very well kept secret sort of Captain Coconut riff - in the guise of his Top Secret Project #3 'The Great Escape'!

There have been a number of further recent pedal releases I still need to catch up on - including several related to the soon up-and-coming Witney Pedal Party 3 Event!

I'm very much looking forward to meeting up with so many good friends again! And yes I will be wearing the Cap, and Red trainers - which is now my show signature look - for easier recognition - do say Hi / Hello / Hell-no if you see me!