End of Year Pedal-Chain Update - Final Formation - Class of 2021

14 Turnarounds :

• #03 : Boss SY-200 Synthesizer
• #05 : Fjord Fuzz Berserk Sillicon FF Fuzz
• #10 : Electronic Audio Experiments Halberd V2 Discrete Silicon Transistor Overdrive
• #12 : Fjord Fuzz Embla Fuzz / Fuzzy-Drive
• #16 : Pete Cornish GC-1 3-Stage Soft/Hard Clipping Overdrive / Fuzz / Distortion
• #20 : Rock Fabrik Effects Mind Abuse Super High Gain Distortion - Polished Silver Edition
• #21 : Drunk Beaver Fluff Muff + Octave + Boost
• #23 : Fjord Fuzz Odin Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)
• #24 : Fjord Fuzz Fenris Harmonic Octave Fuzz (Super Fuzz)
• #25 : DryBell The Engine Foundation Preamp - Plexi + RangeMaster
• #26 : Blackhawk Amplifiers Sauron Ultra High Gain Distortion
• #32 : DryBell V3 Vibe Machine Uni-Vibe
• #40 : AmpliTube X-Space Stereo Reverb Workstation
• #41 : Boss IR-200 IR Amp and Cab Simulator

10 Turnarounds :

• #05 : Reeves Electro RedDotSound MKII Fuzz
• #10 : Demiurge Instruments Chroma Drive Treble Booster > Electra Circuit
• #12 : Expandora Squared LM308 Edition Overdrive / Distortion / Fuzz
• #20 : Way Huge Atreides Weirding Analog Modulator Octave Phaser Filter Synth-Fuzz
• #21 : Demiurge Instruments Doomy O))) Compact Life Pedal Clone
• #23 : Blackhawk Amplifiers  Basilisk Warm Mid Gain Fuzz
• #24 : Blackhawk Amplifiers Fellbeast Xtd EQ High Gain Fuzz
• #27 : Blackhawk Amplifiers Balrog High FFain Distortion / Doom Fuzz
• #31 : Spaceman Effects Delta II Harmonic Tremolo
• #34 : Strymon Zelzah Multi-Dimensional Phaser

8 Turnarounds :

• #05 : Spiral Electric FX  Demhe Silicon Fuzz
• #12 : Pettyjohn Electronics Fuze Dual Channel Fuzz
• #16 : Caroline Guitar Co Hawaiian Pizza Fuzz CCCP Edition
• #20 : Big Ear Pedals Chaka Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)
• #25 : Drunk Beaver Heavy Bat Dual Channel Multi Clipping Distortion / Rat
• #31 : Spaceman Effects Aurora Analog Flanger
• #33 : Sitek Guitar Electronics Phasia 4/5/6 Stage Analog OTA Phase-Shifter
• #40 : Neunaber Illumine Stereo Reverb Workstation

The first year of the celebrated Boss Month - covering all things Boss! Not sure yet whether this will be an annual affair - we shall see! In any case an interesting exercise in slotting all the Boss pedals from my collection onto the appropriate slots. Boss Month also coincided with HM-2 Month - to this is dual purpose really - only 10 slots here have no Boss or HM-2 Placement.

There are 7 Boss pedals pretty much permanently anchored to the board :

• #03 : SY-1 / SY-200 Synthesizer
• #11 : Keeley Freak Fuzz Modded BD-2 Blues Driver
• #28 : Alchemy Audio Modded NS-2 Noise Suppressor
• #29 : EQ-200 Equalizer
• #35 : GT-1000 Core Multi-FX
• #37 : DD-200 Digital Delay
• #41 : RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station

Here are the other 24 Turnarounds for the month :

• #02 : PS-6 Harmonist Harmonizer / Pitch-Shifter
• #04 : AW-3 Dynamic Wah / Vocal Wah
• #05 : TB-2W Tone Bender MKII Waza Craft Edition
• #10 : SD-1 Super OverDrive 40th Anniversary Inverted Edition
• #12 : JB-2 Angry Driver - Blues Driver + JCM800
• #15 : Klirrton Manufaktur Grindstein HM-2 Style Chainsaw + BottomShaker Distortion
• #16 : OD-200 Hybrid Drive
• #17 : BC-2 Combo Drive (Top Boosted Vox)
• #18 : ST-2 Power Stack MIAB / Plexi Drive
• #19 : FZ-3 Fuzz (Face Bender)
• #20 : FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz (Super Fuzz)
• #21 : Keeley Twilight Zone Modded MT-2 Metal Zone
• #23 : Decibelics Angry Swede HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion with Clean Blend
• #24 : Bardic Audio Devices HM-Demon HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion with Clean Blend and 3 Band EQ
• #25 : Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath 7K HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion with Clean Blend and 2nd Voicing
• #26 : KMA Machines WurHM Ltd Edition HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion with 4-Band EQ
• #27 : HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza Craft Edition
• #30 : VB-2W Vibrato Waza Craft Edition
• #31 : Alchemy Audio Modded BF-2 Flanger
• #32 : Alchemy Audio Modded TR-2 Tremolo
• #33 : PH-1R Phaser
• #34 : DC-2W Dimension C Spatial / Spectral Enhancer
• #38 : RE-20 Echo Space Multi-Head Delay + Reverb
• #40 : RV-500 Stereo Reverb Work Station

11 Turnarounds :

• #02 : Boss PS-6 Harmonist Harmonizer / Pith-Shifter
• #04 : Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah / Vocal Wah
• #05 : Boss TB-2W Tone Bender MKII Waza Craft Edition
• #10 : Redbeard Effects Angry Rhubarb Paradynamic Overdrive MKII
• #11 : Polarbear Effects V2 Compact Flora Green Dual Drive
• #12 : Cornerstone Gladio SC - D-Style Drive
• #18 : Tsakalis Audioworks Room #40 Preamp Plexi + JCM800
• #20 : Polarbear Effects Drowner Fuzz / Crush / Reverb
• #25 : DryBell The Engine Foundation Preamp - Plexi + RangeMaster
• #30 : Boss DC-2W Dimension C Spatial / Spectral Enhancer Waza Craft Edition
• #34 : Alexander Sugarcube Stereo Chorus / Vibrato / Rotary

9 Turnarounds :

• #03 : Kuro Custom Audio Bakeneko 3-Band EQ + Boost
• #05 : Crazy Tube Circuits Limelight Germanium Fuzz
• #10 : Demedash Effects 112+ Preamp
• #11 : Foxpedal Vixen Dimensional Drive
• #16 : Foxpedal Gross Multi-Clipping Distortion
• #18 : Pettyjohn Electronics Gold II Klon Mod Plexi Overdrive
• #20 : Emanating Fist Audio Dope Priest DP-70 Triangle Muff
• #21 : Beetronics FX Vezzpa Dual Action Fuzz - Gated / Octave
• #33 : ThorpyFX Pulse Doppler Analog Multi-Mode Phase-Shifter

7 Turnarounds :

• #04 : Crazy Tube Circuits OC41 Constellation Multi-Fuzz
• #12 : Pettyjohn Electronics Iron II Overdrive
• #14 : Coppersound Jack White Triplegraph Triple action Octave-Up / Down, Kill Switch, and FX Loop Insert
• #20 : Zander Circuitry American Geek Multi-Clipping Transistor Muff
• #21 : Zander Circuitry Siva Multi-Clipping Opamp Muff 
• #24 : Zander Circuitry Foxxton Woods Multi-Clipping Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)
• #30 : Drunk Beaver Jellyfish MN3007 Analog BBD Chorus

9 Turnarounds :

• #04 : Flower Pedals Hosta Wah-Filter
• #05 : Crazy Tube Circuits CV7003 (OC44) Constellation Multifuzz
• #10 : Pettyjohn Electronics Edge Log Gain High Headroom Overdrive
• #16 : Pettyjohn Electronics Chime II Vox Overdrive with Max Harmonics Mod
• #19 : TX Pedals Animalizzer Multi-Muff Fuzz / Boost / Overdrive / Distortion
• #20 : Drunk Beaver Cold War Bat Dual Opamp Rat
• #23 : Blackhawk Amplifiers Balrog High Gain Distortion / Doom Fuzz
• #25 : Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath 7K HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion
• #33 : Electro-Harmonix Attack Decay

7 Turnarounds :

• #04 : CryBaby CBM535AR Auto-Return Mini Wah
• #05 : Electro-Harmonix Ripped Speaker Fuzz
• #06 : JA Prism Preamp / EQ / Boost / Buffer
• #10 :  Pettyjohn Electronics ODI Vintage Style OD-1 Overdrive with Classic Mods and NOS Diodes
• #24 : Custom Audio Arts Ultrasonic Dual Rhythm & Lead High Gain Distortion
• #26 : Klirrton Manufaktur Oh My Goat Devil's Distortion
• #29 : Big Ear Albie 80's Multi-Modulator

10 Turnarounds (more in visual, but did not all materialise until later) :

• #02 : Meris Hedra 3 Voice Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter / Delay
• #05 : Reeves Electro BlackHatSound MKI Silicon Fuzz
• #09 : Decibelics Golden Royale Dual Channel Klone in Imperial Green
• #10 : Zander Circuitry Surplus Elemental Dual Channel Overdriver
• #17 :  Friedman SmallBox Overdrive/Distortion
• #19 : Way Huge Atreides Weirding Analog Modulator Octaver Filter Phaser Fuzz-Synth
• #20 : Zander Circuitry Cranium Multi-Clipping Rat Distortion
• #22 : Sinvertek N5+ Preamp / Distortion
• #25 : Pushking Ironfinger Distortion
• #31 : JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk Harmonic + Amplitude Tremolo

25 Slot changes overall for the year - as detailed individually below:

No change on this slot for a while - as the KeyzTone EXchanger Pickup Remodeller has held its place for a good few years now. My main guitar - the PRS Classic Electric has 85/15 humbucker pickups, while the EXchanger gives me very decent Strat and Tele voicings in particularly - and a few more besides. Still a really useful utility for me - and I have not encountered anything better to update / upgrade to in all this time.

Another perennial favourite where I aim to possibly switch in  a Chase Bliss Audio Thermae on this slot at some stage - for now though the Hedra continues to reign supreme on this slot - although we may well see the Whammy Ricochet back here soon, a Bitcrusher (Bitmap V2) or Harmonizer (EHX IHM). During Boss Month PS-6 Harmonist took up residence on this slot.

The home of the SY-1 Syntesizer for the longest time - now supplanted by the obviously superior SY-200. This has near everything I would need in a Synth pedal - while I feel I need to tweak most of the presets to make them fully usable. Also, would have liked to have been able to scroll down and well as up through the presets via footswitch - say press on both footswitches changes direction!

Other pedals on this slot in 2021 :

• Crazy Tube Circuits OC45 Constellation Multi-Fuzz
• Kuro Custom Audio Bakeneko 3-Band EQ + Boost

The Flower Pedals Hosta Wah-Filter of course had the longest innings on this slot - and is still my favourite Auto-Wah pedal to date, while there have been a number of excellent alternative rotations this year on that slot :

• Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah
• Crazy Tube Circuits OC41 Constellation Multi-Fuzz
• CryBaby CBM535AR Mini Auto-Return Wah
• Demiurge Instruments Professor Quackers Auto-Wah
• Dr Scientist Dusk Dynamic Filter
• Spaceman Effects Artemis Variable-State Modulated Filter

Tough decision deciding on which pedal should get the accolade for the year on this slot - in the end it was between the Boss FZ-1W and this Spiral Electric FX Demhe - which I gave the win in the end on account of its better value, versatility and practicality - both are neck-and-neck really and I came very close to selecting the Boss - but felt that overall the Spiral Demhe was probably the right choice - I hope Tom Cram makes many more compacts now - especially since this has become his runaway best seller.

Other pedals that shared the rotation this year :

• Boss FZ-1W Waza Craft 60's Style Fuzz
• Boss TB-2W MKII Tone Bender Waza Craft Edition
• Big Ear Pedals Loaf Fuzz
• BTMB Classic Germanium Fuzz
• BTMB Classic Silicon Fuzz
• Chase Bliss Audio Bliss Factory
• Coopersonic Germaniac Fuzz
• Crazy Tube Circuits CV7003 (OC44) Constellation Multi-Fuzz
• Crazy Tube Circuits Limelight Fuzz
• Demedash Spidola Germanium Fuzz Device
• Drunk Beaver Taras Bulba MKI.V / MK II TB Fuzz
• Drunk Beaver Secret Sauce Harmonic Percolator Fuzz
• Electro-Harmonix Ripped Speaker Fuzz
• Expresso FX Custom Dual-Switching TB MKII Fuzz
• Fjord Fuzz Berserk FF Fuzz
• Fulltone Queen Bee Germanium Fuzz
• Kuro Custom Audio Apophis Silicon BC109 Fuzz
• Loe Sounds Superfuzz
• Menatone Law Bender Germanium
• Mu-Tron Octavider+ Octave Fuzz
• Reeves Electro BlackHatSound (MKI) Fuzz
• Reeves Electro RedDotSound (MKII) Fuzz
• Sitek Fuzzie V2 Germanium Fuzz
• ToneTuga Salvage Fuzz
• Vemuram Myriad Fuzz

Even with my fallout with JA at the start of the year I still have their Prism as my main always-on boost and first EQ. I tried to sub in the Thorpy Team Medic in January, but could not get the core signal to be exactly the same timbre as with the Prism - so the Prism was really only out of the chain for about a week. It seems to be a core component of my core signal - and so stays for now!

Another JA pedal that I've considered replacing but cannot find anything equivalent as I use all 3 footswitchable functions all the time - the Compressor, EQ and Boost - and the granularity in control here is second to none - it pains me to say it, but this is a really great utility pedal every which way. I do still plan to get a CTC Phi Golden Ratio V2 at some stage, and probably a Becos FX CompIQ Pro Stella - while those would only be relatively rare appearance as they have only 1 of the 3 functions of the Bloom ...

Another perennial favourite that hasn't shifted from its slot all year. I briefly considered getting in the Benson Germanium Boost, while the Heavy Water is really a 3-in one for me - where I use both sides independently and jointly - so it doesn't really make sense - would have to be something equivalent or better - which is a tall order here!

The Decibelics Golden Royale was the first new pedal of the year and it didn't budge all year. I had thought I would occasionally alternate with the King of Tone, but I so enjoyed using the Golden Royale that it has remained firmly in place throughout. Most definitely my ultimate Klon - everyone should try one!

We've had a lot of great new overdrives in this year and the Redbeard Angry Rhubarb Paradynamic Overdrive MKII stood out in terms of how versatile and how easy to dial in it is. That single-band Parametric EQ really works wonders and gets you into all kinds of territories quickly and easily-  in tandem with those also pretty smart Pre and Post EQ Gain knobs.

Other pedals in rotation on this slot for the year were :

• Becos FX Ziffer Overdrive Mini
• Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive 40th Anniversary Inverted Edition
• Cornerstone Antique Vintage Style Overdrive
• Demedash Electronics 112+ Preamp / Drive
• Demiurge Instruments Chroma Drive
• Drunk Beaver (Boba) FET OverBooster
• Electronic Audio Experiments Halberd V2 Transistor Overdrive
• Pettyjohn Electronics Edge Overdrive (High Headroom Chime)
• Pettyjohn Electronics ODI Vintage Overdrive - with Mods
• Polarbear Effects Floral Green V2 Compact Dual Overdrive
• Spun Loud Effects Litigator Overdrive
• Zander Circuitry Surplus Elemental Overdriver

For the most part slot #11 belongs to the magnificent Keeley Phreak Fuzz Modded BD-2 Blues Driver - while it also saw significant cameos this year from the Foxpedal Vixen Dimensional Drive and Polarbear Effects V2 Compact Edition Floral Green Dual Channel Overdrive. 

Another home of a classic perennial favourite - the Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku D-Style Drive - which mostly occupies this slot in perpetuity, albeit now somewhat threatened by the equally impressive Fjord Fuzz Embla (current champion) - and a few other cameos

• Boss JB-2 Angry Driver Dual Drive / Distortion
• Catalinbread Dreamcoat Richie Blackmore Aiwa TP-1011 Reel-to-Reel Style Preamp/Distortion 
• Cornerstone Gladio SC Dumble-Style Overdrive
• Demiurge Brainbox Dual Channel 250 Distortion (compact EQD Grey Channel Clone)
• Drunk Beaver Bloom Expandora Clone + Clipping
• Drunk Beaver Distortion V2 (DS-tort1on)
• Drunk Beaver Trainer TS-15 Preamp/Drive/Distortion
• Electronic Audio Experiments Dagger V2 Opamp Distortion
• Expandora Squared LM308 Edition Overdrive/Fuzz/Distortion
• Pettyjohn Electronics Fuze Dual Fuzz/Distortion
• Pettyjohn Electronics Iron II Overdrive

This slot is pretty much permanently occupied now by the super versatile Strymon Riverside Multistage Drive - which I use typically either as a mild boost, low gain overdrive, or 80's style liquid distortion - just super easy to dial in and suitable for all kinds of quick / smart deployments  - a key gain utility pedal for me!

This slot was basically created this year to accommodate the CopperSound Jack White Signature Triplegraph Triple-Action Pedal - Octave Up and Down, Kill-switch and FX-Loop Insert. My main Octaver to date - mostly set to momentary mode - sounds great and is beautifully ergonomic in every way - although I do quite want it to be able to do the Tom Morello glide-up / down effect and be able to set Octaves to ±1 or ±2! I can definitely see a deluxe version of this coming down the road!

The Chase Bliss Audio Automatone Preamp MKII continues to hold its own - as the favourite Multi-Drive - and indeed favourite guitar pedal of mine probably of all time!. There were a couple of incursions from other oversized pedals this year - first the Klirrton Grindstein, and then the KMA Machine Guardian of the Wurm - obviously on that HM-2 theme - and both equally impressive - while for the main part the Automatone really owns this slot!

This slot has largely been occupied by the Shnobel Tone Daily Driver, and more recently the Pete Cornish GC-1 3-Stage Soft/Hard Clipping Overdrive - those two have just incredible range coverage - with the Daily Driver extending down towards the Lower-gain end and the GC-1 toward higher gain - with very significant overlap - while the GC-1 has a touch more granularity by way of its smart and expertly calibrated 3-Band EQ.

A few other pedals have been in circulation here too :

• Boss OD-200 Hybrid Drive
• Caroline Guitar Co. Hawaiian Pizza Fuzz CCCP Edition
• Joe Gore Gross Multi-Clipping Distortion

I thought that the Menatone TBIAC Vertical Edition would be my perfect Top Boosted Vox Pedal - and I still love that of course, while I've developed a real fondness for the Max Harmonics Mod Pettyjohn Chime II - which has taken over as the mainstay of this slot. Those two have held sway for the whole year pretty much - with a brief foray by the Boss BC-2 Combo Drive during Boss Month / July.

This was similar to slot #17 where the Menatone King of the Britains Vertical Compact Edition had pretty much affixed itself to the spot - while latterly the Pettyjohn Gold II Klon Mod Overdrive took up residence in the latter part of the year. In-between there were a few additional rotations :

• Boss ST-2 Power Stack
• Friedman Small Box MIAB Overdrive
• Tsakalis Audioworks Room #40 MIAB Preamp - Plexi + JCM800

For the most part the Chase Bliss Audio Brothers Analog Gainstage lives on this slot pretty much undisturbed - where I almost entirely deploy it as a Fuzz pedal - with the Fuzz voicing set at least on one if not both Channels. The Brothers has reigned supreme on this slot for several years - and was only very briefly disturbed during Boss Month - by the FZ-3 Fuzz.

Slots #5 and #20 are the two most heavily rotated spots - which are supported by a vast array of fuzzes and distortions that actually change on a weekly basis, sometime several a week even. Typically #5 has been more about Germanium Types - say Fuzz Face, Maestro and Tone Bender types, while #20 is largely Big Muff and Rats for the most part. So the Exegol is a little unconventional in this position - being more of a high gain preamp / distortion - still fits perfectly though!

Here are the many pedals that have been in rotation here this year :

• Abominable Electronics Hail Satan Muff
• Big Ear Pedals Chaka Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)
• Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz
• Dr Scientist Heisenberg Molecular Overdrive
• Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff
• Emanating Fist Electronics Dope Priest DP-70 Triangle Edition
• Fjord Fuzz Bifrost Delay-Fuzz (PT2399 Delay + Embla Jr)
• Joe Gore Dual-Bias Filth Fuzz
• Polarbear Effects Drowner Fuzz-Crusher-Reverb
• Rock Fabrik Mind Abuse Ultra High Gain Distortion - Polished Silver Edition
• TX Pedals Animalizzer Multi-Muff/Boost/Overdrive/Distortion
• Way Huge Atreides Analog Weirding Module Filter / Octaver / Phasing / Synth-Fuzz
• Zander Circuitry American Geek Multi-Clipping Transistor Muff
• Zander Circuitry Siva Multi-Clipping Opamp Muff

So many great pedals on this slot this year - meant it was particularly tricky to select an overall winner - which goes to the EQD Hizumitas Fuzz Sustainar - by a hair! Lots of other magnificent pedals enjoyed a stint on this slot this year, including :

• Bardic Audio Devices Thunderclap V3 Fuzz/Distortion (Rat)
• Black Mass Electronics 1312 V3 Fuzz/Distortion (Rat)
• Boss Keeley-Modded MT-2 Twilight Zone Metal Zone
• Beetronics Vezzpa Dual Action Fuzz - Gated and Octave
• Demiurge Doomy O))) Compact Life Pedal Clone
• Dr Scientist Frazz Dazzler High Gain Fuzz
• Drunk Beaver Cold War Bat V1
• Drunk Beaver Standard Bat V2
• Drunk Beaver Disambiguation MuffRat
• Drunk Beaver Fluff Muff
• JHS PackRat
• Wampler Ratsbane Distortion Mini (Rat)
• Zander Circuitry Cranium Distortion (Rat)
• Zander Circuitry Foxxton Woods Octave Fuzz
• Zander Circuitry Siva Opamp Distortion

Another unassailable pedal - which is oddly my key downstream boost - where I particularly like using the Treble Booster option on upstream Fuzzes - and indeed some of my distortions too. Much like its Riverside sibling - there is something about these Strymon hybrid drives that makes them incredibly easy to dial in on. I do use some of the overdrive voicings occasionally - but for the most part - it's about the boosts!

This is another slot that has changed quite a bit over these last couple of years, but was stable for a long time before then - with the MI Effects Super Crunch Pro V2 on there as the favourite for the longest time, more recently it has become the Tsakalis Audioworks Room #40 Dual Channel Preamp MIAB - which has more coverage of JTM and Plexi types. The Room #40 initially started out on slot #18 before moving to its new semi-permanent home.

Other pedals that have featured on the slot include :

• Blackhawk Amplifiers Basilisk Warm Mid Gain Fuzz
• Blackhawk Amplifiers Valhalla Fuzz (Silicon XR FF)
• Decibelics Angry Swede Mini HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion
• Fjord Fuzz Odin Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)
• Sinvertek N5+ Preamp / Distortion

Weirdly the Sinvertek N5+ was anchored to the previous #23 slot, while its successor has taken over the #24 slot - albeit both of those can have fairly extreme rotations in some years, this year not too bad really - for sure there is something special about the N5 Series, and the recent N5+ 3D Gold is just incredible!

• Bardic Audio Devices HM-Demon HM-2 Style Chainsaw Distortion
• Blackhawk Amplifiers Balrog High Gain Distortion / Doom Fuzz!
• Blackhawk Amplifiers Fellbeast V2 High Gain Fuzz with Extremely Powerful EQ 
• Blackhawk Amplifiers Mithrandir Octave Fuzz (Super Fuzz)
• Fjord Fuzz Fenris Harmonic Octave Fuzz (Super Fuzz)
• Redbeard Effects Honey Badger Sub-Octave Fuzz
• Zander Circuit Foxxton Woods Octave Fuzz (Foxx Tone Machine)

The Toneczar Openhaus Distortion was on this slot at the start of the year, then the Custom Audio Art Ultrasonic - and where gradually DryBell's The Engine, and the Drunk Beaver Heavy Bat in particular took this slot over - in truth there are really 3 pedals sharing this slot mostly - the Heavy Bat, The Engine, and the Ultrasonic - so these are the ones which have been active throughout the year :

• Custom Audio Art Ultrasonic Dual-Channel High Gain Distortion
• DryBell The Engine Foundation Plexi Preamp + RangeMaster
• Drunk Beaver Heavy Bat Distortion/Fuzz (Rat)
• Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath 7K Distortion
• Toneczar Openhaus EQ (6-Band) High Gain Distortion

There have been a few pedals on this slot in circulation through the year - including the list below. While ever since the Blackhawk Amplifiers Sauron Super High Gain Distortion arrived - that has been incredibly tough to shift - I have plenty of other alternatives besides for this slot - while I would have thought the Sauron will reign supreme for a while - with the occasional rotation from the Ironfinger and WurHM - and I imagine my various other mid-size HM-2 type pedals will be putting in an appearance too :

• Blackhawk Amplifiers Heimdall 2 HM-2 style Distoriton
• KMA Machines WurHM Ltd Edition Distortion
• Kuro Custom Audio Exegol Model-T style Preamp / Distortion
• Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath 7K Distortion
• Pushking Ironfinger Distortion

Klirrton's Oh My Goat Devil's Distortion was the first in on this slot in January, and is the last one standing at the end of the year too - could have been the HM-2W too, which is pretty much just as flexible - considering how many Boss wins there were this year - I decided to hand this one to Klirrton!

Other pedals in on the rotation included :

• Abominable Electronics Pedalboard-Friendly Chaotic Evil Ned
• Bardic Audio Device HM-Demon Distortion (HM-2)
• Blackhawk Balrog High Gain Distortion / Doom Fuzz
• Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Distortion Waza Craft Edition
• Boss MT-2 Metal Zone Keeley Twilight Zone Modded Edition
• EarthQuaker Devices Hizumitas Fuzz Sustainar
• Redbeard Effects Red Mist IV Distortion
• REVV G4 Fat High Gain Distortion
• XIX Tech HMD-1 Distortion (HM-2)

My Alchemy Audio Modded Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor is still my perennial Noise Gate of choice - I was slightly tempted by REVV's new G8 - but the NS-2 serves me so well I really don't feel like looking anywhere else. If I do make a move at some stage it will either be to the TC Electronic Sentry, or the REVV G8. The Modded Boss NS-2 has never let me down - so long may it reign!

The Boss EQ-200 is absolutely the perfect EQ for me - and turns out to be my sort of perfect solution for the Boss IR-200 - where I can split off the Modulation and Stereo Section to run that into the IR-200's Stereo FX Loop, while the gain signal goes direct into the one Mono input of the IR-200. I've looked at Source Audio's EQ2, and Free The Tone's PA 10G - but I really need hands-on sliders to manipulate and both those others use scrolling one-by-one digital controls. The EQ-200 does everything I need - and I really don't see that being shifted any time soon!

My all-time favourite Flanger is Thorpy's Camoflange - classy EHX Electric Mistress Vintage style masterpiece. While this year I added the Spaceman Aurora which is more of a modern / experimental Flanger - or really the other side of the coin. Together they provide everything I need out of flanging - although I still aim to make 2022 my 'Year of the Flanger' starting with one very worthwhile revival which arrived just before Christmas and will be the first feature for next year. I quite liked Walrus Audio's Polychrome, but it sort of underwhelmed me too - I was hoping for a few more bells and whistles. I think the Camoflange, Aurora and the one arriving next year will be my vanguard - while I feel I will add quite a few flangers next year - I already have several really decent ones. Will for sure be getting a Retro-Sonic one and a few more I've already earmarked - and as will all be revealed early next year!

My favourite Harmonic Tremolo to date is still likely the JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk - which is the richest and juiciest I've come across thus far. I still love all my other varieties - including the newest Spaceman Delta II - while the Monk is still king of the crop for its texture. That doesn't mean that the Delta II is not hugely impressive too - that really does its own thing and takes Harmonic Tremolo into other uncharted territories - while if you want the thickest and juiciest version of that - well that is the Harmonious Monk. For Boss Month - my Alchemy Audio Modded TR-2 took up the rotation. Otherwise it's really all about the Harmonious Monk and Delta II!

This used to be the last in the row in the analog modulation section - in fact just after- where it has mostly featured Chase Bliss Audio's looper pedals and the Cooper FX Arcades Recently - which id did again for a short stint when I was checking out the Satellite Card earlier this December. Before that we've had a number of other modulation pedals in place - including most notably the magnificent new V3 version of DryBell's Vibe Machine Uni-Vibe - which is for sure my favourite of that type!

Other pedals that have been in rotation on the slot this year include :

• Alexander Pedals Sugarcube Stereo Chorus / Vibrato / Rotary Effect
• Boss DC-2W Dimension C Spatial / Spectral Enhancer Waza Craft Edition
• Boss VB-2W Vibrato Waza Craft Edition
• Chase Bliss Audio Blooper Modifier Bottomless Looper
• Chase Bliss Audio Mood Micro-Looper
• Cooper FX Arcades Modulat Multi-FX
• Electro-Harmonix Attack Decay
• Tech 21 NYC RotoChoir Stereo Rotary Pedal

Right at the start of the year the fabulous VS Audio Alchemy was pride of place as my favourite Chorus - while a lot happened in that department in this year, and we had some very impressive other alternatives - including the quite brilliant Demedash Effects T-60 which is now my equal first choice for 'Chorus' with the Boss DC-2W and VS Audio Alchemy. These choruses were in rotation on the slot this year :

• Big Ear Pedals Albie 80's Style Multi-Modulator
• Boss CE-2W Chorus Waza Craft Edition
• Boss DC-2W Dimensions C Spatial / Spectral Enhancer Waza Craft Edition
• Boss VB-2W Vibrato Waza Craft Edition
• Drunk Beaver Jellyfish Analog Chorus
• VS Audio Alchemy Analog Chorus - with Footswitchable Preset

This being the Year of the Phaser - I obviously had a number of different alternatives on this slot. Where at the start of the year it was the Crazy Tube Circuits Cyclone - around the middle I was sure it was going to be Andy Sitek's superb new Phasia or Thorpy's killer Pulse Doppler - while the overall winner emerged in the end as the most versatile and capable of phasers - the Dual Channel 4-Stage + 6 Stage Strymon Zelzah - which is pretty much a modulation workstation on its own! So the Zelzah won out in the end - and in being fully stereo - while there were some other truly killer phasers on this slot this year :

• Alexander Pedals La Calavera 3-Mode Phaser 
• Boss PH-1R 4-Stage Analog Phaser
• Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone 2/4/6 Stage Analog Phaser 
• Crazy Tube Circuits Cyclone Multi-Phase
• Flower Pedals Castilleja 4-Stage Optical Phaser / Vibe
• Fuzzrocious Electric Ocean OTA Fuzz-Phaser
• Magnetic Effects Eye to Eye 4-Stage OTA Phaser
• Mattoverse Electronics Just a Phase Analog Phaser
• MXR Deep Phase 4/8 Stage Mini Phaser
• MXR Phase 95 2/4 Stage Mini Phaser 
• MXR Phase 99 Dual 4-Stage Stereo Phaser 
• Sitek Phasia 4/5.6 Stage OTA Phase Shifter 
• Strymon Zelzah Dual Channel 4 + 6 Stage Multidimensional Phaser
• ThorpyFX Pulse Doppler 4-Stage Multi-Mode Analog Phase Shifter
• Zvex Vibrophase 4-Stage Vibrato/Phaser

So these last two years have been all about the Boss GT-1000 Core on this slot - while this is really supposed to be a slot for a digital multi-modulator - and was in the past occupied by my Strymon Mobius, Boss MD-500, Empress Zoia and GFI Synesthesia. I highlighted  a number of operational issues when I first acquired the GT-1000 Core - and Boss haven't done anything in particular to fix or resolve those in the interim. I love the Synesthesia - while that is hobbled by a single Mono in- which you cannot run TRS. So current thinking is to go with the Wampler Terraform - which I always enormously admired - so that may indeed be the move for next year!

As I keep saying - this is proper fairy dust for stereo rigs and a must-have always-on pedal for me - significantly enhances the soundstage for great depth, width and dimension. Like switching on Dolby Atmos! Will always be essential for me - one pedal I'm not looking to change in the slightest!

Still the best Medium-sized Delay Workstation for me just ahead of the Source Audio Nemesis - has a fantastic mix of algorithms - including the amazingTera Echo and Pad Echo. I in fact recommend this over and above the bigger more granular DD-500 - and I know several readers who downsized to the DD-200 and prefer it - just a superb all-round delay unit! This has been in place ever since it first came out and is unlikely to ever budge!

I do love a good Tape Style Delay - where the Volante is still my main delay unit - set to Tape Mode of course for a classic Space Echo style delivery. For Boss Month I also rotated in the now new-enough discontinued RE-20 - Boss may very well have a few surprises in store for us next year - so there may be a new unit here in place eventually. While I will always have a fondness for the Volante and its really dynamic control topology.

Eventide's dot9 Series has just reminded me how formidable the H9 Max pedal is - as it already has the Blackhole, MicroPitch, TriceraChorus and UltraTap onboard. I just wish they would update and improve the core H9 pedal interface - which otherwise is exceptional. I know of players who have as many as 4 of these on their boards - to serve all the key roles - Modulation, Delay, Reverb and Utility - just a supreme workhorse really.

At the start of the year I was still loving the Strymon NightSky - in fact one of my favourites still - while this year saw the arrival of the Neunaber Illumine and AmpliTube X-Space - which are both superb. I only meant to have the X-Space in for a short while - while I was testing it - but I loved it so much that it's still in place. Both the Illumine and X-Space are totally perfect for me and sound and work amazingly - albeit the X-Space has a little more variety in its presets - where many of them sound like they're straight from a classic sci-fi soundtrack - just immense!

So for the main part the Boss RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station is the mainstay on this slot - while I've been dabbling a little with Boss's superb IR-200 Amp and Cap IR Loader / Sim. Of course I need to rearrange my chain somewhat when using that as I can't just go full stereo into the pedal. Instead I need to split the signal at the EQ-200 which does that job brilliantly - the split-off signal then goes into the single mono input of the IR-200, while the full stereo out at the end goes into the Stereo Effects Loop In of the IR-200 - actually there are a few more complexities than that - but there is no doubting the quality of Boss's Amp and Cab Sim - which raises the bar further in that area. Neither solution here is perfect for me - I still have a few niggles about each pedal - but there's nothing else out there that I prefer currently - meaning I'm largely in a holding pattern for now ....