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2024 August Pedal-Chain Update - Episode VIII - RaRaRaRaRaT!

Andertons.co.ukBeetronics FXBig Muff Style FuzzBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBrown Sound DistortionChorus and VibratoColortone PedalsCornerstone Music GearDelayDigital DelayDistortionDriveDrunk BeaverDual-DriveElectro-HarmonixFlattley Guitar PedalsFuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionHarmonizerHello Sailor EffectsJackson AudioJoyo EffectsKeeley EngineeringKinotoneKlone and Transparent OverdriveLichtlaerm AudioMarshall Style DistortionMetal DistortionModulated FuzzModulationMulti-DriveMulti-FXOCD Style OverdriveOctave FuzzODR Style OverdriveOpAmp FuzzOverdrivePedal ChainRat Style FuzzSentimental Bob ElectronicsSlicer and StutterStomp Under FootSuper-Fuzz StyleThorpyFXTone Bender Style FuzzTremoloTubescreamer Style OverdriveWampler+-
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As promised - this turned out to be quite a big month - we had 5 substantial pedal rundowns - where I hope you appreciate the time and effort put into those - they take a very long time to compile and write up! :

  • Reference Collection World Odyssey [25]
  • 32 Favourite Compact MIAB Distortions
  • Fuzz Pedal Olympics [25]
  • 32 Favourite Compact Rat Style Distortions
  • Drunk Beaver 15 Favourites

I attended just one show this month - but it was a great one - the #2 Alternative Guitar Show @ Hackney’s Paper Dress Vintage - where I picked up a cool HSE-Modded Octave Fuzz pedal, and got to see the fantastic  Uberfrank Guitars for the very first time.

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I rarely change my Amps, so the arrival of the new Gen 3 Katana Artist is a big event for me in several ways - and I’m still getting fully acclimatised to the new additions / features - and I love the Bloom and Pushed Amp Type in particular.

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I featured a number of new pedal launches as usual - with a particular flurry at the end of the month - Becos FX Twain MK2 Dual Compressor, EQD Silos Delay, Decibelics The Reverend V2 Mini Expandora, EHX POG III Workstation / Multi-FX, Catalinbread Antichthon Deluxe, Buzzing Bugs x Los Campesinos! Mortal Joy, Catalinbread Antichthon Deluxe, Fish Circuits Model One OD & Lunatique Fuzz, UAFX Anti 1992 High Gain Amp [5150], Origin Effects Halcyon Blue Overdrive Adaptive BluesBreaker, MXR Layers Harmonic Sustainer / Freeze, Chase Bliss Billy Strings Wombtone Analog Envelope-Phaser, and Anasounds x Third Man Records La Grotte Signature Jack White Real Spring Tank Reverb.

 

And of course I completed a series of first-hand reviews - Wampler Germanium Tumnus Deluxe, Licthlaerm Audio Ritual, Formula B Eighty Master V2, Drunk Beaver Seattle Driver, Colortone Parasite V2, ThorpyFX WOPR AtomIC Fuzz with Silicon RangeMaster, HSE x Joyo 'Voodoo Sailor' Octave Fuzz Mod, Andertons x ThorpyFX SixZero Tremor-Fuzz, Cornerstone Antique V3, Keeley Electronics 4-in-1 Noble Screamer, Sentimental Bob Tephra superior compact Life Pedal take, Flattley Valkyrie Vintage Analog BBD Chorus. I'm particularly proud of the work I did for the Colortone Parasite V2 and Cornerstone Antique V3 - both of those are the definitive accounts of those pedals.

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The eagle-eyed among you will have noted that I now have Keeley advertising banners on my site - hopefully the first of many such collaborations - where I'm also reviewing the entirety of the 4-in-Series - with the Noble Screamer review posted up already, the Blues Order coming up next week, then the Super Rodent, and Angry Orange - one per week - where I analyse those pedals and make my recommendations. I will probably do a final roundup article of all 4 where I pick out my overall favourites and rationalise as to why those were selected.

 

I will always do my best to unearth and showcase interesting and innovative brands and pedals - while also including as broad a representation as possible, admittedly I've not focused too much on budget pedals of late - but there will be a further smattering of those soon.

 

I had a brief opportunity to acquire a Blakemore Deus Ex Machina in a decent condition - going for $600 on Ebay - but I thought about it for too long - and someone else snagged it - it obviously wasn't my time! I'm still trying to get back in touch with Blake Hickey, but besides that one response of his from around one year ago - I've not heard from him since - despite quite a few chasers - perhaps that's just never supposed to happen for me! I had kind of built up hopes that I would get one fairly soon, and I feel somewhat deflated at the moment as a result of missing out on the only genuine opportunity to acquire this pedal to-date. There have been others that appeared on Reverb.com - a couple I think, but those were a little too battered for my liking - and asking too much at the same time!

 

I'm still in the process of figuring out what to cover next month - while there are a few projects already in progress - but no grand plan or scheme yet. In fact I've felt a little rudderless of late - but I'm sure I will be back on track soon enough. If there are any areas or genres you would like me to visit / re-visit - then by all means let me know - it helps set priorities for the month!


August Acquisitions

20 Pedals added in August, obviously big on Overdrives and Distortions - with the Keeley 4-in-1 Series and Rat Rundown impacting significantly. A little bit of everything really - across all the key food groups. A little skinny on fuzzes for a change, and 2 Modulations at the opposite scales of complexity! :

  • 7 Boosts & Overdrives
  • 7 Distortions
  • 3 Fuzzes
  • 2 Modulations
  • 1 Time-based Effect

7 Boosts & Overdrives

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As part of my current Keeley collaboration I'm reviewing the 4-in-1 Series one-by-one - with just the Noble Screamer published to-date. Obviously these will mostly appear next month, and will feature very strongly in the September pedal-chain - where the focus is really on Rats for August!

3 fantastic overdrives right at the start the Beetronics Wannabee, Colortone Parasite V2, and Cornerstone Antique V3, with the Wampler Germanium Tumnus Deluxe on the end - all supreme examples and 4 of my all-time favourite overdrives for sure - the next Overdrive rundown is going to be insane - will be very tricky to distill down to just 32 favourites - but I will try!

  • Beetronics FX Wannabee Beelateral Buzz KloneBreaker
  • Colortone Parasite V2 JFET Overdrive
  • Cornerstone Antique V3 Screamer+
  • Keeley 4-in-1 Blues Disorder Overdrive and Distortion
  • Keeley 4-in-1 Noble Screamer Overdrive and Boost
  • Keeley 4-in-1 Super Rodent Overdrive and Distortion
  • Wampler Germanium Tumnus Deluxe

7 Distortions

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5 of these are Rat variants - with some really killer ones in the mix, alongside the superb Formula B 80 Master V2 JCM 800 Dual Channel Preamp.

  • Electro-Harmonix Flat Iron Distortion (Rat)
  • Formula B 80 Master V2 / JR Dual Channel JCM800 Preamp (MIAB)
  • Jackson Audio Asabi with Large Mouse Module (Rat)
  • Keeley 4-in-1 Angry Orange Distortion and Fuzz (Distortion / Muff)
  • Lichtlaerm .Ritual. Distortion (Rat)
  • Sentimental Bob Tephra Octave Distortion (Rat)
  • Stomp Under Foot Skinner Box Rat

3 Fuzzes

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3 Killer fuzzes - all new favourites of mine - two of them Octave variants, but quite difference sounding - and then Thorpy & Dan Coggins' new pedal - which could also have featured under Modulations - where I will always prioritise the Fuzz element typically, while the Tremolo on this one is amazing too - with the most exquisite pattern of decay!

  • Drunk Beaver Seattle Driver Octave Muff
  • Hello Sailor Effects x Modded Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz - 'Voodoo Sailor'
  • ThorpyFX x Andertons SixZero Tremo-Fuzz (Silicon TB MKI + Dynamic Tremolo)

2 Modulations

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This is a funny category this month - as the Flattley Valkyrie Chorus is so simple - just 2 knobs - while the Kinotone Sparks has LFO and Envelope Filter Mapping, as well as a hidden Polyphonic Synthesizer Module onboard!

  • Flattley Guitar Pedals Valkyrie Analog Chorus (Boss CE-3)
  • Kinotone Sparks Analog Harmonic Processor

1 Time-based Effect

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It sometimes happens that I don't get to spend too much time with an effect - as there are other priorities ongoing! This arrived at the same time as the super Seattle Driver Octave Fuzz - which rather dominated proceedings - along with the various Rat pedals this month. The Vinnytsia was only on the board briefly to make sure it worked, and get a brief insights into its sound. Sounds pretty great actually, but is Mono only - which makes it very difficult to accommodate within my signal chain!

  • Drunk Beaver Vinnytsia Echo Machine [PD #22]

August Infinite Wishlist Additions

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Not the busiest month for new release - but plenty of interesting ones nonetheless.

 

I was really impressed with the MXR Layers - where I still intend to pick up the Joshua Ambient Echo too alongside that - I guess I'm just waiting on the right opportunity for that - as well as to try and snag the 'Prohibition Era' Chase Bliss Wombtone Envelope-Phaser. I have and love the MKII edition - and the new Billy Strings Custom Edition improves it in all kinds of interesting areas!

Obviously I'm still on the hunt for the right Oneder Effects Red Ryder variant, and I will be getting in the NRG Effects Gnawer - which I kind of mocked up for the Rat pedal rundown!

  • Anasounds x Third Man Records La Grotte Signature Jack White Real Spring Tank Reverb
  • Buzzing Bugs x Los Campesinos! Mortal Joy Lo-Fi Drive / Filter / Tape Saturator
  • Catalinbread Antichthon Experimental Chaotic Oscillating Bias Fuzz
  • Chase Bliss Billy Strings Signature Wombtone Analog Envelope Phaser
  • EHX POG III Polyphonic Octave Generator / Multi-FX
  • Fish Circuits Lunatique Juiced-Up Octave Gated Fun
  • Fish Circuits Model One Classic Natural Overdrive
  • MXR Layers Harmonic Sustainer / Freeze
  • NRG Effects 2024 Edition 5-knob, dual-footswitch Gnawer
  • Oneder Effects Red Ryder Rat Distoriton Cream Colourway with Wood Facia!
  • Origin Effects Halcyon Blue Overdrive Adaptive BluesBreaker
  • Universal Audio UAFX Anti 1992 High Gain Amo [5150]

August Pedal Chain Status

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12 Slots updated this month - #2, #5, #9a, #9b, #10, #11, #15a, #15b, #15c, #18, #31, #33.

 

Obviously the signal-chain is dominated by Rats! You also have a couple of HSE Octave Fuzzes in the mix, 3 new exceptional overdrives, and Thorpy's beautifully dynamic recent Andertons collaboration. Interestingly no changes in the middle or bottom rows - but otherwise a flurry of activity. Including also the exceptional successor to the Drunk Beaver Fluff and Mykolaiv Grunge pedals - the Seattle Driver - also based on the Boss PW-2 Powerdriver - lots of these ones are worthy getting - and there is not a weak one among them - all sounds superb!


Slot #02 : Octaver / Pitch-Shifter / Harmonizer / Modulator / Bitcrusher / Utility / ANO Input-sensitive Effect

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One of the surprises of the month! Actually not so much for me, as Thorpy had told me something was coming - but he played his cards rather close to his chest this time around - stating that this was largely an Andertons joint! Turned out to be a rather tasty Silicon Tone Bender MKI (probably a forerunner to the Silicon version of Boneyard - which is due some time next year most likely!). Paired here by a wonderfully dynamic Tremolo - which circuit Dan Coggins designed as a 14 year old. Deliberately somewhat over-sized - but a really fantastic sounding pedal. Currently Andertons have a raffle - where you have the chance of winning one of 15 that are up for grab! More importantly, the announcement has been made that Thorpy will be making more of these - albeit in a different colourway and with difference graphics!


Slot #05 : Germanium / Sensitive Fuzz

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I'm so happy that I snapped up the first one of these Joe Halliday / Hello Sailor Effects Mod of the Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz - which I dubbed the 'Voodoo Sailor' it's an absolutely blistering 3-voice Octave Fuzz - with element of Foxx Tone Machine and SuperFuzz - and mine came in a really beautiful enclosure - where I changed up the knobs to make it 'pop' a little more - my version looks fantastic. And it sounds like Joe will me doing more of this mod - in fact possible even evolving his own similar circuit to those mods!


Slot #09a : Neutral / Light / Organic / Transparent / Klone Overdrive

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Last month's selection of overdrives was incredibly strong, but possibly this month's is even more potent - with 3 exceptional candidates - including the fantastic Cornerstone Antique V3. For various reasons I was a little late getting mine - while I think I delivered the best article on the subject by far - hopefully I did this new pedal justice - it looks amazing in the flesh - with so many beautiful design touches - and an output to match! For some it's going to be just another Tube Screamer - but this one is pretty special as far as I'm concerned!


Slot #09b : Additional Occasional Extended Slot

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And here we have the new shrunk down edition of the Colortone Parasite Full Spectrum Everyday JFET Overdrive - a magnificent all-rounder Overdrive which has you covered for all manner of tones. If you through your mind back to Josh Scott's Bad Monkey episode - then this is like that pedal - but on steroids - with those fantastic additional low and high boosts - which deliver so much - including an expiation Dumble Drive tonality, and even touching on classics like the Honey Bee - for its softer and smoother voicing. A couple of Herberts on Instagram were casting dispersions about the potency of this overdrive - in that they did not believe me that it was this versailte - I guess we need to wheel in Josh Scott again to do another Bad Monkey -like exercise on this one! Much like the Cornerstone Antique V3 - this one is beautifully design too - with an output to match its superior looks!


Slot #10 : Mid Gain / Dynamic / Blues Breaker / Harmonic Overdrive / JTM45 / Screamer

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When the Beetronics FX Wannabee Beelateral Buzz KloneBreaker was originally release I thought it was an April fool's joke - because of its timing, and perceived vanilla nature - where Beetornics is usually known for doing more unusual and unique effects - but here was pushing out a Klon + BluesBreaker Dual Overdrive. Actually - this pedal is a revelation really - those extra options onboard really beef up the output - and this is one of the very best sounding of its kind. And much like the other two just mentioned - with an output to matching is glorious looks. This one pushed out the Wampler Germanium Tumnus Deluxe - it was between those two as to which one landed the slot - and the Wannabee hit me harder!


Slot #11 : Mid Gain / Blues Driver

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The Drunk Beaver Seattle Driver Octave Muff (Boss PW-2 x Fluzz Octave Fuzz) has been all over this site since its launch a couple or so weeks ago. It essentially combines and replaces two of my favourite Drunk Beaver Pedals - the Fluff Octave Muff Fuzz, and the Mykolaiv Grunge Boss PW-2 Power Driver take, Combing the very best of those each of those two pedals for a beautiful Sustaining Octave Muff output - sounds immense!


Slot #15 (a) : Main Multi-Drive - Oversize

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One of the really great Rat pedals out there - the Sentimental Bob Tephra Rat Distortion + Clipping + Octave + Boost [Life Pedal]. You have +60dB on the Distortion channel, and +30dB on the independent Clean Boost channel - its output is immense - and each of the 6 Clipping Modes sounds superb!


Slot #15 (b) : Custom extended slot

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Another totally killer take on the Rat format - all 5 Rats in the chain this month are superb - with probably the PastFX, Sentimental Bob, and this Licthtlaerm Audio one being the outstanding varieties of the most recent releases. Each of those is extended range with a massively expanded potential and tonal palette. And some of them are so wide-ranging on the gain side that they deliver proper Heavy Metal Distortion sounds! The JAM Pedals Rattler 2 also gets included in that extended range category - while it's the Tephra and Ritual that have the highest gain!


Slot #15 (c) : Custom extended slot

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I already onwned the El Guapo non-modular predecessor to the Asabi - where I recently snapped up an Asabi which included the Large Mouse Rat Module. Actually really decent - as long as you get the Clipping Modes right - best output for me was with the Asymmetrical on the Rat Module, and LED on the Plexi Channel - and the two of those combined. You fairly need to crank a lot of those dials, and some of the clipping options are somewhat anaemic compared to other pedals in my recent selection - but the Asymmetrical one sounds great. I typically gravitate towards LED Clipping for Rats - but on the Asabi that option is not as potent as I would usually expect!


Slot #18 : Marshall in a Box / Plexi

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I really love my Formula B Eighty Master V2 Compact Dual-Channel JCM800 Preamp - it's an exceptional MIAB pedal with instant satisfaction - it delivers a beautiful Marshall voicing already with every control at noon - and is cable of covering Plexi through JCM800 - looks really attractive too - while I would have positioned the two LED's more in line with the controls and the footswitches - they look a little odd inset in the way they currently are!


Slot #31 : Analog Chorus / Vibrato

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The Flattley Valkyrie Vintage Analog BBD Chorus is a beautifully balanced, rich and warm sounding vintage leaning Chorus. It uses a CE-3 style chipset, but renders more CE-2 style tones as intended. Paul Flattley has calibrated this circuit superbly - a fantastic simple but impactful chorus with plenty of range despite just having 2 controls!


Slot #33 : Analog Tremolo / Harmonic Tremolo / Uni-Vibe

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I'm still getting to grips with this beast - it has so many controls, and I've not fully imprinted it on my brain yet - so still having to refer to the manual quite a bit. Just as well that my pal Phil at Pedal Experiments has recently covered this pedal - as I definitely needed a few pointers. It's not so much the entirety of the control interface - but more how you dial in fully usable tones and presets from scratch - like say the perfect Harmonic Tremolo tones! A really capable device. I'm sure it has some killer fuzz voicing onboard - while I've still to dial those in successfully - this is.a pedal you need to spend a lot of time with to eke out every essence on tone onboard - a really clever device, but one with a fairly steep learning curve - Phil seems to have adapted to this one very quickly though!


Final Thoughts

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I always turn my mind to what's happening next month - and we have a few fairly significant releases this month - one towards the start of the month from Boss, one in the middle from Rainger FX and one towards the end of the month from Keeley. I've had the Boss one for a couple of weeks already, I picked up the Rainger FX one this Wednesday just passed and with my connection at Keeley now - I'm hoping to be in on that release too!

 

I have at least one significant rundown planned for next month - a Tremolo Capsule Collection feature - where all the parts are now in play - I still have a couple of those to physically land, but they're all ordered and in progress now. One is coming from a little further afield - so I need to see exactly when that lands - but we have the whole of September to get that done!

 

I also get my first 2 NRG Effects pedals next month - full fat editions of the Fuzzer and Purrer models in the standard Silver colourway. And I'm already committed / contracted to getting the Gnawer and Mauler in Black - when they are in theory released later this year, but possible early next! I included my mockup of the Gnawer in my recent Rat rundown feature.

 

I'm getting a couple more pedals from Sentimental Bob - more of that later - I obviously really loved the Tephra. And I will be doing a budget Marshall + Vox pairing article featuring NUX this time around,

 

I'm also looking to bring my Past FX collection fully up to date next month - obviously the Kurt's Cologne Chorus is new, but there are some pedals that I already have in my collection - but they've been superseded by later more extended feature iterations - so I'm hoping to get as many of those that I can manage this next month - and then I will be doing my two PastFX rundown features - one on the Spectrum Series, and another on Verlie's Superior Modulations - which now number 11!

I don't have any events to attend in September - where the next ones for me are Wassup Nerds in Bristol near the start of October, and the International Guitar Show at Kempton Park near the end of that month. One of these years I will make it to Guitar Summit in Germany for sure, but not this year!

I've also just had a Fjord Fuzz Mâne Filter Fuzz in - so expect a review of that next week,

As always - I would love to know what you're all up to - and which pedals you've recently acquired that you love.

I'm in the process of redesigning the GPX logo once more - as Elon Musk seems to have overly negatively impacted me - and a lot of the Americans in particular don't like my 'X' ident as it's too reminiscent of Elon's - even though mine precedes it by a number of years. In any case I want everyone to be at ease with my logo - and so it's going to be vastly different within the next few weeks - while depending on how the design work goes - it may noe be launched until October!

Please also consider supporting GPX on Patreon - every little helps - while I know times are tough for many these days - but if enough of you contribute just $1 / £1 /  €1- you can help secure the future of this site, and its influence on fx pedals innovation and evolution! We're still finalising the onsite AI features for Patreon Members - a number of key staff were on vacation in August, and the team has just recently gotten back together - while there are always further updates and advances to be made - and sone final fine-tuning - we shouldn't be too far away now!

Stefan Karlsson
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