Exactly One Month until Alex Millar's FX Expo takes place at The Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge on June 19th!

Alder & Ash are best known for their high quality hardwood Pedalboards which they make in a variety of woods, shapes and sizes - off the shelf, as well as custom. They also build a number of different studio-style enclosures and offer custom pedalboard builds with wiring.

Flagships here have to be the Journeyman boards - Standard and Grande and as used by guitar heroes like Chris Buck. The standard Journeyman is available from £445, while the Grande is from £495.The above video shows the incredible work that goes into the build of each board!

A fledgling Manchester builder with 4 pedals to the range so far. Standout is the 4-way Clipping:  Quad Screamer Overdrive (£149) which is a really cool take on a Tube Screamer.

My new friend Phil which I very recently made contact with at the Birmingham Guitar Show - has a perfectly formed range of 4 pedals now, where the standout for me is the Tapescape Modulated Tape Style Delay (£120) - based on a really crunchy old Copicat Delay. The Peak District inspired artwork, moniker and beautifully textured output make this for me the current Bleak District flagship. Alas there is no official demo out yet - come and check it out at the show instead!

Bright Onion Pedals is a well known mainly Utilities Pedals brand - making Loopers, Switchers, Patchboxes and the like - also a couple or so effects pedals - including a cool Mūs Mini Rat. I have one of their micro switches for use with my Boss pedals that have a Remote jack. While I'm singling out their excellent loopers here - which are available from 4 to 12 Switches and offer a very competitive alternative to the likes of TheGigRig's Quartermaster and OneControl Crocodile Tail looper-switchers. Bright Onions Loopers range from circa  £90 for 4 Switches, up to £170 for 12. And you can customise much of the build too!

I've been peripherally aware of Emmergy for a while, but have yet to fully engage with the brand - which currently has 11 pedals in its range. As I'm mostly a fuzz-head - those kinds of pedals really appeal to me the most, and I'm singling out the Flaming Cake Fuzz here as my pick of the bunch (£125) where it gets a huge range of tones out of those 3 dials - partly as the 3rd 'Fuzz' dial is a Bias - which is just the kind of thing I love. The Dial-Up fuzz is another really cool one - while that will be a little too wild and unruly for some - but undeniably great if you like somewhat out-of-control fuzzes. The better control you're able to get with the Flaming Cake makes that my winner here!

I had a wonderful conversation with Tim Webster at The Guitar Show, and look forward to continuing that in June. I've much admired many of Tim's pedals for a while, but was waiting for a moment to properly collaborate to best introduce those pedals to you. Tim is in the process of revamping and streamlining much of his range - where he will shed those pedals which are no longer selling particularly well, and start a process of transitioning all the smaller pedals into a really attractive mini wedge enclosure - which you must check out at the show. Tim's flagship pedals are still the quartet of larger Wedges - namely Super Unpleasant Companion, Utility Perkolator, Dresden Synth Fuzz, and  Verzerrer Distortion. My pick of the bunch has to be the dual circuit Super Unpleasant Companion - which gives you both of Shin-ei's legendary pedals - the FY-2 Companion Fuzz, and FY-6 Super Fuzz. You also get an additional tone variant for each - all for £150. Note that I prefer the Nouveau version of the pedal - which has the controls on the top surface - versus on the Top Edge on the other one!

I'm still trying to get a bead on this fledgling brand which seems to be part of a Multimedia Studio style setup. Its pedals thus far seem to have been Clones and Mods in very small batches - with some interesting component changes but with nothing seemingly resembling any sort of flagship pedal yet - that seems it has still to emerge. I do really like their recent experiments with the Craquelure effect on some of their recent enclosures. I feel this brand has yet to find their feet as such - while I look forward to seeing what they bring with then to the show!

I've had my eye on this Cardiff-based builder for a while - a printmaker by trade - as can be seen by the really cool and consistent graphic artworks. Only 5 pedals on the roster, while the newer trio are really pushing the boat out. I've had the Angel Teeth DOD250 evolution (£110) on my wishlist for a while - which on this occasion gets pipped by the new Joystick-based Rorschach Tonal Manipulator (£275) as the pick of the bunch. It's a much handier form factor than Walrus Audio's not altogether dissimilar Janus - obviously based on different circuits, were the Rorschach is more of a Synthy Fuzz style variant - and where the joystick tweaks different parameters across its X and Y axes. Interestingly everything on the website is indicated as 'Sold out' currently - hopefully they can make some more in time for the show!

I've been aware of Tom Oakes' Horrothia brand for a while and am quietly impressed with how he goes about things. I love the identity he has created for his pedals - with very distinctive look and utilising arcade style button footswitches. I recently featured his Berkely in my 'Best of Mid Size Pedal' feature - for the Uni-Vibe category. All 3 of his pedals are excellent - the one-knob Type One Chorus [CE-1](£195), Teeth Discrete Low-Gain Overdrive (£235), and latest Berkely Vibe (£370) which is sort of the pick of the bunch - but where I really like all of these. Interestingly Tom seems to be following Markus Reeves' pricing policy where each pedal is progressively more pricey than its predecessor!

Adam Paul's Indifferent Engine is a guest on Tom Wilson's booth / stand - mainly a Cambridge-based self-described Post-anxiety Metal band as far as I understand (largely a one-man band). Adam has also created an amazing proper Janky Tape Echo as featured here. I've not seen any official pricing on this yet, but I presume this is what will most likely be featured at the show - I look forward to sharing further details once I have acquired them!

James Gascoigne's eponymous Stourbridge-based store has become something of an institution in a relatively short time - where it covers every angle of guitar tone enhancement - from pickups and modifications through guitars and pedals. They cary Millimetric Instruments Guitars - really cool modern guitars where I've always fancied one of those. While on this occasion I feel they will largely be focusing on their pedal selection - which includes Benson Amps, Ground Control, Marcus D'Luxe, Redbeard Effects, Tate FX, ThorpyFX, Very Good Amp Co, Yellowcake Pedals and Zvex Effects. I feel that the Very Good Amp Co stuff is still relatively rare in the UK and worth a focus. Their flagship is the EP Drive V3  (£230) - while they've also recently added a couple of minis - the Fuzz, and Slap Echo.

I am certainly looking forward to seeing my good friend Joe Light - and finding out what he finally decided to bring with him to the show - including which headphone amp he went with. He has an amazing roster of really unique brands - including Black Arts Toneworks, D*A*M, Foxrox, Fuzzrocious, Hungry Robot, Idiotbox, Joe Gore, Klon KTR, Lauren Audio, Lone Wolf Audio, Maneco Labs, Mu-Tron, Pigdog Pedals, Skreddy Pedals, Spiral Electric FX, Stomp Under Foot, Subdecay and TEFI Vintage Labs. I recommend you get yourself one of the Spiral Electric Demhe Fuzzes (£145) if you haven't already - just superb, and supreme value!

I've been unable to find out who Leyland Pedals is from the Internet, while he seems to have started off modifying Boss pedals - and in particular the DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion. I had been intending to get a DF-2 for a while - and had been unable to find a pristine example at the right price until right now - where I was encouraged to seek one out by the Leyland Pedals site - and where I will be dropping that one off at the show for every available modification! The DF-2 is obviously significant as Leyland has its own HUM-Along (£130) evolved take on that inspired by HUM's Matt Talbot. That is the pick of the bunch for me and I may very well get that too at the event. While the Tactave Dual-Tone Octave Fuzz (£125) came really close too - I took a point off for the pedal not having a second footswtich to toggle the Octave mode - in place of the toggle-switch!

Life Is Unfair is a brand I'm very familiar with while I don't have any in the collection yet. They're another Welsh brand which I know best for making a variety of fuzzes and a rather large format Multi-Waveform Synaptic Cleft Tremolo. Also for a significant period they made Devi Ever pedals after she retired from duty - while she is apparently resurrecting her own production now. The one here I've come closest to owning is the Awkward Breed Compressed Friction Fuzz (£100) that I rather like the sound off - really nice raspy texture!

Life Is Unfair is also hosting Triungulo Lab on its stand - for which I recently reviewed the excellent Scar Muff Fuzz (£189) - which is well worth getting hold of too!

I made the horrible mistake of calling Neil R Grimes 'Nigel' at the Guitar Show - not sure how that happened - but I apologised profusely at the time. I'm very familiar with Neil's colourful output - those cute line-drawn animal graphics pedals with names like Purrer, Roarer, Gnawer, Mauler and Poker - and where the parameter / control labels are equally creative. These are the kinds of pedals that look beautiful inside and out - with similarly pretty colourful neatly point-to-point wired circuits of a similar ilk to what Markus Reeves has become so well known for. Neil does Monochrome as well as Full Colour editions - and the Monochrome varieties might be preferred by some in that they typically have labels (which the coloured ones don't) - while you sometimes need to decipher those also. It's a tough call to select a pick of the bunch here as all these are all amazing really - I've decided in the end to go for one of the newer editions - The Mauler Aggressive Fuzz with Feedback Oscillation (£299).

Phil Steere's PedalPatch has only been active since 2018 - while he promotes his business so well that it seems to have been around a lot longer than that. Obviously his principal offerings are Pedal Patch and Instrument Cables of various stripes - both own brand and named brands. He carries his own excellent solderless patch cable kits that you can wire up either straight or right-angled. He has the superb EBS Flat Patch cables, although not the Gold variety I use on all my pedals, also a full range of Ernie Ball including strings, cables, picks, and merchandising. A decent selection for sure and reasonably priced - he needs to add the two other EBS ranges - I swear by the Gold Flats, and there is an even better High Performance range now too. My pick of the bunch would typically be EBS Gold Flats or High Performance, but I will go with the Solderless Cables here as they are really well made and reasonable value - in kits of £43, £65 and £80 for Small, Medium and Large.

David Rainger is a genius Mad Professor inventor who produces the most creative of circuits and where I seem to be somewhat fixated with his fuzzes. I have each of the original Dr Freakenstein in limited Black edition, Bleep and DFST-1 Stealth fuzzes - and love those all dearly. David has also produced the amazing Drone Rainger Delay, and Snare Trap Beatbox - and of course that cool and quirky Minibar Liquid Analyser Overdrive amongst other supremely creative pedals. I'm amazed to see that there are still some of those DFST-1 Stealth Mini Modulated Fuzzes (£229) out there in the wild - quite a few new ones still listed on Reverb.com - mostly in the USA. It's an incredibly cool fuzz and really potent for its size - strictly limited to just 240 units - I suggest you snap one up quickly before they are all gone!

I met yet another Welsh builder - Wub Wainwright at the recent Guitar Show and got along famously - where I feel that I will for sure be doing a feature on these pedals really soon - and where I'm really keen in particularly on the Grimalkin Octave Multi-Fuzz, and the Evol (Evolved Muff Fuzz / Distortion) - both at £150. Both are incredibly versatile and look amazing in their new acid etched and colourful almost enamel-like enclosures. My pick by a hair is the Grimalkin Fuzz - just so versatile and sounds fantastic every which way!

It was great catching up with Stuart again at the recent Guitar Show - and he was full of the joys of spring then - things still seem to be going well for the brand. He's been experimenting a lot recently with variations on Rat and Germanium Fuzz Face pedals, while his signature and flagship pedals are still the Raise the Dead Fuzz (£175), and Antares Overdrive (£185) - with the Hot Coals Rangemaster not too far behind (£169). I have a limited lime green edition of the Raise the Dead Fuzz and am waiting for Stuart to do a limited purple edition of the Germanium variant of that! I feel that the Raise the Dead artwork is still the most iconic of all of these and still the pick of the bunch for me here - one of the greatest one-knob silicon fuzz faces there ever was - every collection should have one!

Tom Wilson has many strings to his bow as such and an involvement with a number of different companies and brands, so it's not entirely clear who or what he will be representing at the expo. While we know he is guest-hosting Indifferent Engine on his stand / booth. This is a bit of a wild card entry in truth as we don't know what exactly Tom will be presenting at the show - will be exciting to find out!

Will Carluccio's Triungulo Lab is known for is CE-1 clones, Barbanera Low Pass Filter, Malombra Warped Chorus, and of course the new Scar Fuzz (Muff) which I recently reviewed. There's a bit of overlap here with PastFX - while Will was the original purveyor of those kinds of CE-1 Chorus clones. My pick of the bunch is the recent extended-features Scar Fuzz (£189) - based on an evolution of John Frusciante's favourite 2000 NYC Big Muff Pi Fuzz. Triungulo Lab is being hosted on the Life Is Unfair stand.

Since I last checked, Vein-Tap has amassed quite a significant range / roster now - with over 30 pedals now catered for. I last covered the Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser (£140) - which is probably still my  favourite pedal here. I quite fancy the look of the Dark Triad Overdrive / Distortion (£80) too - but on balance I feel the Phaser is the most accomplished and formidable pedal on the roster.