Introduction to the intriguing new and innovative Los Angeles Pedal Brand - Hangman fx

These Hangman fx pedals have been doing the rounds somewhat of late - both Emily Hopkins and the Superfunawesomehappytime chaps received bumper care package of these fairly recently. And Intheblue’s Shane Diiorio and Mike Hermans have at least one apiece.

I do hope Guitar Pedal X can be more involved at the front of these sorts of brand launch events. I mustn’t grumble really - I do get included in many a release schedule, and plenty gets sent my way - but weirdly I still feel like I’m missing out a lot of the time - particularly when I’m missing out on a brand like Hangman fx! 

Generally I don’t suffer FOMA, but I do sometimes feel left out on the pedal release front - even with all those many brands I already serve (350+)! In fact some of those even forget about me from time-to-time too - and I don’t even get the press-release or advance announcement!

When I first caught sight of this brand, it reminded me a little of Matthews Effects - with those kind of intricate / detailed sort of Victorian Science / Device / Blueprint aesthetics - with even a hint of steampunk in places. While the use of liberal gold accents (instead of say brass) - including logo plates,  knobs and washers - serves to further elevate the aesthetic of this brand. The slightly ’busy’ nature of those pedals’ graphics  makes them a little tricky to ’read’ at times. And so I feel the need to fully decipher them here - where with other brands - viewers might more easily be able to ascertain what’s going on from merely glancing at the surface of the pedal - while there’s a lot more going on here - inside and out.

These are mostly dual-channel / dual function style pedals - so there is a degree of inherent complexity in places, and where the often dense graphics can get in the way of legibility and clarity. I do find there to be a solid logic though in how these pedals and their control topologies are laid out - which is always a good thing.

There are some pedals out there that are just a little too idiosyncratic for their own good - while that’s certainly not the case here. Generally I really love what I’m seeing!

Judging from Instagram - Hangman fx first entered the fray in early June of this year. Hangman fx is Orange County native Paul J Meredith - of course since moved to and established in LA. Paul is a longstanding musician - very keen on exploring different musical soundscapes. His pedals combine musicality and artistry in a pretty striking format all-round

In fact Paul reminds me a little of Oliver Ackerman from Death By Audio, and Daniel Thornhill from Fjord Fuzz - all 3 are artist / performers in their own right - and develop their pedals to a large degree to help expand their own musical horizons.

Paul mentions that all his pedals are dual-natured, multifunctional and versatile. What I see is several highly unique and innovative circuits - distinct enough to be their own thing. Hangman FX has certainly made a very strong first impression, and particularly on me!

And Paul is obviously a man with an eye for detail - as there are little details to be found everywhere - including Meteor and Dinosaur Fragments within those LED Lenses (Note - for the first 100 pedals only!).

These pedals are fully artisan hand-wired and assembled is Los Angeles within a tight network of local artists and component suppliers. Paul is definitely off to a really strong start here, and I look forward to seeing where he ventures next - definitely a major new ’voice’ in the pedal landscape.

Readers will know that I love extended range compact pedals with dual-footswitches - so all of those pedals are right up my street as such. I generally favour stereo immersion for my spatial effects / delays / reverbs / rotary emulators. While the Meteoric Echo Monster is also highly intriguing even for my stereo sensibilites. And the two Micro pedals - in particular the light-sensitive Luma Express are a really neat and practical touch.

I will definitely be coming for those compacts (possibly more!) - hopefully some kind of deal can be struck - indeed that’s how I largely operate. I’m sage enough to know that not everyone will necessarily want to collaborate with me, while I do typically have an exceptionally high hit rate. I would definitely like to get my hands on some of these Hangman fx. We just need to see how open to collaboration Paul is!

Pricing-wise the 2 Micro pedal are at $30 and $80 (Luma Express), while the compacts are $220 / $240, and the Meteoric Echo Machine is at $270. Deliveries to mainland USA are mostly free - while obviously there will be more challenges in shipping to me in London! The standard pedals are in black or white and gold, while there is an aptly named ’Pinkman’ Editions Range - with a $50 premium - where all of that goes to Paul’s chosen charity - St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital - what a lovely gesture - especially if you love bright fuchsia pink! The gold accents and graphics are the same - just the underlying enclosure paint job is quite a different hue!

Note that there’s a lot of added smarts with these pedals too - which I can’t necessarily cover in an overview of this nature - that will have to wait for more in-depth individual hands-on reviews. Where you can feel the action for instance of the Meteoric Echo Monster - where 3 of its knobs have dynamic Press functions - where for the Level knob you trigger Oscillation, Repeats triggers a Freeze Mode, and you can Tap the Speed knob for Tap Tempo - really really smart. Pretty much all of these pedals have further internal dip-switches and trimmers for additional options and refinements.

Here follow the individual summaries for each pedal (with pertinent demos) - Paul has chosen his collaborators smartly :