Witney Pedal Party 2 Highlights
So Doug Tolley’s / Chase Bliss’s 2nd Witney Pedal Party took place yesterday on Guy Fawkes / Bonfire day - in Witney’s Corn Street Fat Lil’s Venue.
I attended the inaugural event at Witney’s Truck Music Store back on July 1st, and I will surely be at the 3rd one too - around spring of next year!
Thanks to Doug Tolley for organising this all again - on this occasion we had 7 participating brands (in order of stand arrangement - clockwise) :
- Reeves Electro
- Blind Panic Devices
- Holy Island Audio
- Life Is Unfair Audio
- ThorpyFX
- Bleak District Electric
- Chase Bliss
The running order of the event was as follows :
- 12:00 - 13:00 : Early Bird Headphone Session
- 13:00 - 14:15 : Meet the Creators - quick round-robin introduction to each of the brands present
- 14:15 - 17:00 : Afternoon Headphone Session
It’s always tricky to select the ’Cover Shot’ for the event - while on this occasion I wanted to lead with the 2 brands that were exhibiting for the very first time - Reeves Electro, and Blind Panic Devices - so it made sense to cover things in venue layout / clockwise order!
I made it up to Witney pretty expediently even though my train inexplicable and surprisingly terminated at Oxford - it was supposed to be going to Hereford - which was several further stops down the line - with my destination being Hanborough - the nearest station to Witney. I ended up spending near £80 on taxis - or twice the return train fare - which was not exactly optimal - but worth it for how great the show was for everyone.
I got there fairly early - or around 11:30’ish - really cool venue - bar its sticky floors!
I had wonderful conversations with everyone - where the only one I had not encountered before was Blind Panic Devices’ Matt Valentine - a real pleasure to make his acquaintance at last. I also had the first face-to-face meet-up with my good friend Phil of YouTube’s ’Pedal Experiments’ - aka ’slap_me_thrice Phil’ per Instagram! We had a cool mini summit / lunch at Wtiney’s Como Lounge on the High Street!
I believe everyone had a grand time - me especially - where I picked up the Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz from Life Is Unfair Audio’s Grindle, and a T-Shirt from Reeve’s Electro’s Markus. Lovely to meet everyone - these events are really special - and it was a good notch up on the inaugural event - and pretty well attended - while I did not keep note on whether there was any degree of brisk business on the floor!
Looking forward to the next one already! This is the last show for me this year - in fact for most I believe - where the next big one most are attending is - The Birmingham Guitar Show on March 2nd & 3rd 2024 (actually Cranmore Park, Shirley!) - same new venue as last year’s.
As for last week’s Kempton Park show I asked the creators to hold aloft whichever pedal/s they were most promoting / pushing at the show - expecting typically one or two - while several here help up their full board - so I kind of get to choose the most pertinent ones in those instances! Typically 2 pedals mentioned per brand!
Reeves Electro - Izzy and Markus Reeves
reeveselectro.co.uk | www.instagram.com/reeveselectro/
Lovely to meet the Reeves family at the show - I had met Markus and Izzy at the last Witney Pedal Party - where they put in a whistle-stop appearance - while Markus's partner Sarah was also present on this occasion. I will actually be visiting them up in Kettering pretty soon - in the lead up to the next significant Reeves Electro release - to capture some photographs of the final stages of preparation for that.
Markus is such a detail guy - it was cool to see his stand setup - which included recently acquired on-brand light-box - and all pedals near enough were presented with back plates off / or transparent acrylic plates in place so you could see the beautiful handiwork of the internals.
The fool roster was present - including the forthcoming new Facet, and updated Supa-J format. And as predicted - we will be seeing different colour variants for the Darlington Flyer in the new year - plenty to be excited about.
Really lovely to meet and talk to Markus, Izzy and Sarah, and the two creators definitely deserve to be on the cover shot for this edition - Markus' brand overview was particularly strong - and all pedals demonstrated sounded properly killer!
The two key pedals being promoted at the show - indeed as being held aloft by Izzy and Markus were :
Daughterboard Darlington Flyer Single Switchable Transistor Fuzz- £299
Controls - Fat Controller / Narrow Gauge switch, Master Volume (Fixed Fuzz / Gain), Transitor selector : Darlington Flyer / Bipolar Junction
A really cool expressive Single Silicon Transistor Fuzz with single knob, Fat / Skinny EQ switch, and Transistor selector switch - Motorola MPSA013 / Micro Electronics ME4003 or Philips Silverface BC546.
BHS-D Square Wave Modifier (BlackHatSound-Deluxe - ±TB MKI) - £450
Controls - Output Strength, Squarewave gain, Transistor Bias : 1V-8V, Wideband Frequency : 60Hz-10Hz, Midband Frequency : 500Hz-3kHz.
The amazing extended range / features Tour Grade Tagboard edition of the BlackHatSound MKI style fuzz.
Blind Panic Devices - Matt Valentine
blindpanicdevices.co.uk | www.instagram.com/blindpanicdevices/
Lovely to meet Blind Panic Devices' Matt V for the very first time. He's only been active for a few years, but boy has he been prolific over that time.
I thought I should do a very quick overview of Matt's output as this is the first time he's featured on this site! He was mainly promoting the middle row of pedals - which for right to left were :
Siren's Call Quirky Modulated Delay, Pitch-Warping + Time Bending Delay, Super Clean Boost, Fuzzy BEElay, QuackHead Autowah / Reactive filter. And of course those Furry Monster Tribbles Expression pedals with Light-Sensor Eyeballs!
The Super Clean Boost styling is inspired by Fight Club Soapbar - with cool suds effect. Also reminds me a touch of superstar French DJ Etienne De Crecy's 'Super Discount' series of EPs.
Matt is holding up the Dilitium Li2 Delay, and I thought both the Fuzzy BEElay and QuackHead filter sounded pretty great during the demo.
Matt is still working on his website - so if you want one of these - you need to connect with him on Instagram - while he's also very active on Reddit!
Dilitium Li2 Pitch-Warping + Time Bending Delay - £200
Controls - Time, Tone, Feedback, Dry, Wet, Warp 3 Mode x 3, Sense, Depth.
Relay cool sounding deliberately wayward delay - with some really cool details.
Fuzzy BEElay - £120
Controls - Level, Sting (Tone), Bees (Mix), Knees (Pitch), More Bees (Feedback), Swarm (Time).
Perfect combination of Fuzz and Delay - always sounds immense!
Holy Island Audio - Gwion Christmas
holyislandaudio.bigcartel.com | www.instagram.com/holyislandaudio/
Always great to catch up with what Gwion's been up to - even though it's been a pretty short time since the Bristol Wassup Nerds! Show. Gwion's involved in so many different projects these days - surely the busiest man in the West of Wales.
On this occasion he was mainly focusing on two very close to being finalised Prototypes - the Deforming Envelope Warped Echo, and Celestial Firing Squad Fuzz - which both handily featured 'Prototype' stickers at the show.
He's done a brief YouTube overview of the Deforming, with the intention of doing a similar take on the Celestial some time soon too. Not too much longer to go now - these should both be fully ready around year end / early next! :
Deforming Envelope-Warped Echo - TBC
Controls - Time, Reflection, Blend, Input, Waveform : 1-8, Length, Warp Footswitch, On/Bypass Footswitch.
Cool sounding interactive / dynamic echo unit with multiple waveform triggers.
Celestial Firing Squad Gated + Modulated Fuzz - TBC
www.instagram.com/p/CxVm9gBsWNe/?img_index=2
Controls - Wave, Frequency, Depth, Rate, Switches, Volume
You need to access the above references Instagram feature for latest sound samples - really cool sounding Modulated Fuzz.
Life Is Unfair Audio Devices - Grindle
www.lifeisunfair.co.uk | www.instagram.com/lifeisunfairaudio/
Not long since I caught up with Grindle at the Bristol Wassup Nerds! Show - where I very much signalled my intend to pick up the Pedal Partners Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz - which I very much did on this occasion.
Grindle is best known for their Dual-Axes Expression Joystick Controllers - the single Pineal Gland and Dual Cerebral Cortex - which are always a feature of these shows. Grindle was working on a new version of the Rorschach with Holy Island's Gwion, as well as what I believe was a collaboration with the band Boston Manor - a take on the Boss FZ-2 with all the Mods and a couple of further enhancements - named 'Bad Machine' after one of the band's songs.
So the Cerebral Cortex was the Pedal Ambassador for the show, while I picked up a Pink / Glow-in-the-Dark edition copy of the Violet Oscillation - which I should be doing a review on fairly soon!
Cerebral Cortex Quad Expression Controller XY Axes x 2 - £170
Controls - Twin Joystick Controllers can handle 4 effects pedals at a time
Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz (Pedal Partners Collaboration) - £220
Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Bass, Treble.
ThorpyFX - Adrian Thorpe + Mark Rehling
thorpyfx.com | www.instagram.com/thorpyfx/
Thorpy was the very first pedal creator I made friends with - many many moons ago now - seems like I've known him forever! Here he is doing is best strongman impression - I could see him following in the footsteps of Geoff Capes and Eddie Hall if he ever decided to make a go of that.
It was easier to lift the entire board than separate out the recent Dane MKII Drive + Boost, and ER-2 Uni-Vibe. Recent owners of the ER-2 include certain Analog Man, and Radio Head personalities - while for various reasons it is likely that unit may be discontinued to soon - so get one now while you still can!
Other favourites on that board include the first 2 Thorpy pedals - The Gunshot and Fallout Cloud, also the superb Scarlet Tunic, Peacekeeper and Warthog, and perennial favourite - Heavy Water Dual Boost!
The two most recent ones are obviously singled out on this occasion :
Pete Honoré The Dane MKII Overdrive + Boost - £264.99
Controls - Level, Clipping : HC (Ge Hard Clipping) / DP (Silicon Smooth), Boost, Gain, TOne, Lowe, Drive Footswitch, Boost Footswitch.
A marvellously further improved version of the soon to be bestselling Thorpy pedal - just about to overtake the Fallout Cloud!
ER-2 Super Articulate Uni-Vibe - £299.99
Contols : Intensity , Speed, (Dark) Offset, Volume, Vibrato/Chorus Footswitch, On/Off Footswitch.
Uni-Vibe with amazing note clarity and output shaping - hasn't quite set the world alight yet - but miss this at your peril!
Bleak District Electric - Phil Meredith
bleakdistrict.co.uk | www.instagram.com/bleakdistrictelectric/
My good friend Phil hasn't been quite so prevalent on the show rosters this year - so it's always good to catch up. He's very much focusing on new product development at the moment - which means we will likely not see much of him for the next year.
I've covered 3 of this roster on the side this year - most recently the new version of the Tapecape Lo-Fi Delay.
In fact the only one I haven't covered yet is the very recently updated and reissued Sun? No))) Model-T style Preamp V2 - which sounded massive in Phil's demo.
I'm already in the process of getting one of those in - to complete my full Bleak District Range Overview - hopefully you will see something in the next few weeks - keep your eyes peeled!
So the two featured pedals here are the 2 most recent - the just re-issued V2 Sun? No))), and fairly recent Tapescape V2 :
Sun? No))) Model-T style Preamp V2 - £145
Controls - Volume, Gain, Gain / Saturation Mode : Vintage (Less) / Reissue (More), EQ : Scooped / Flat, Tone.
Killer sounding Sunn Model-T style Preamp - can be subtle on Vintage Mode - or totally Immense and Beefy on Reissue Mode!
Tapescape Magnetic Ambience Generator Lo-Fi Delay Pedal V2 - £225
Controls - Expression type : Time / Off / Rate, Delay Time : 30ms - 110ms, Feedback / Repeats, Mix = Repeats Level, Wow (Warble / lower end slow artefacts degradation), Dry options : In / Out, Modulation Type : Sharp Random Modulation / Smooth Random Modulation / Sinewave Uniform Modulation, LPF Low Pass Filter : Darkest / Standard / Darker, Flutter (high end rapid artefacts degradation), Flutter Rate, Swell Feedback + Intensity, On / Off Footswitch, Ramp / Swell Footswitch (Momentary).
Really expansive and beautifully calibrated Lo-Fi Echo Machine with the loveliest of Wow Warble and Flutter Shimmer - sound amazing every which way - wish that it could be Stereo!
Chase Bliss - Doug Tolley
www.chasebliss.com | www.instagram.com/chasebliss/
Even though I only properly connected with Doug at the spring-time Synth and Pedal Expo show - it feels like I've known him for years - always a delight to catch up with him - where increasingly his son is part of proceedings too - this time around as a sort of semi-official photographer for the event.
Obviously the Empress Effect Collaboration Reverse Model C Delay Pedals are all landing around now - many have theirs already, I get mine tomorrow according to recent updates.
It made sense that Doug would solely focus on this fantastic new pedal - while your eyes cannot fail to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous 10 year Anniversary editions of the MOOD MKII and Gen Loss II. I would have love one of each - but since I already have the standard editions for those I can't justify owning duplicates in different designs - when there are so many other builders and pedals I need to feature too. It's not just a case of expense - but storage space too - and I'm more than happy with the standard graphics - while the Anniversary Editions are probably just a smidge preferable - I guess I could have sold and replaced - but I don't see the point in such frivolity when there are so many more important tasks to be seen too.
Chase Bliss is still definitely on a roll, and having Doug as the UK Ambassador for that brand is just the perfect match. I love how he patiently listens to every player's noodling - and tweaks dials and dip-switches for them to ensure they get the most out of the Chase Bliss Pedal Experience.
The Pedal Party 2 even was much improved over the inaugural one - better structured, and now at the right venue really. Look forward to many more of these - I really like the format of how you can showcase a handful of brands really well, The 5 hour running time was just about right to - although me and Pedal Experiments Phil - did struggle to get final pictures and recording in respectively - in fact we both took it right up to the wire!
Doug is invariably the busiest man on the day - so you can only really properly catch up with him at the end of each show!
Reverse Mode C Multidirectional 3-Voice Stereo Delay - $399
Controls - Time, Mix (Ramp), Feedback, Offset / Depth , Balance / Rate, Filter, Modulation } Sync / Off / Free, Vibrato / Trem / Freq, Sequence : Run / Off / Envelope, Tap Tempo Footswitch, Preset : 1 / Manual / 2, Tap Tempo Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch, +16 Dip-switches
Lifted and Evolved Multidrectional Delay - based on the legendary Empress Effect Superdelay.
MOOD MKII 10th Anniversary Birthday Cake Edition - $399
Controls - Time [Stereo Width], Mix [Ramping Waveform], Length [Fade], Modify-S [Tone], Clock [Level Balance], Modify-L [Direct Micro-Loop], Modifiers-S [Sync], Routing [Spread Solo], Modifiers-L [Loop Length], Spatial / Ambience Footswitch, Looper Footswitch, +16 Dip-switches
Killer version of the MOOD Ambience Generator / Micro Looper
Generation Loss MKII 10th Anniversary 80's Tape Edition - $399
Controls - Wow, Volume [Ramp], Model x 12 [LP], Flutter, Saturate [Gen], Failure [HP], Aux : Stop / Filter / Fail, Dry : None / Small / Unity, Noise : None / Mild / Heavy, Aux Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch, +16 Dip-switches
Killer version of the Gen Loss Tape FX Tape Multi-FX!
Special Mentions
Many thanks to Doug Tolley and the Event organiser team, including Fat Lil's venue staff.
Thanks to all who attended of course!
We must make special mention of the ultimate 'behind the scenes' guy - one Jonny ’Guitar’ Davies who was at the heart of everything at both the Pedal Party shows - an extraordinary mix of Guitar and Amp Tech, Roadie and Fixer - ever so fleet of foot.
And thanks as ever to Chase Bliss graphic designer Eric Nyffeler who is responsible for so many fantastic pedal, field guide and poster designs - including the ones for both Witney Pedal Party events to date.
Hope to see many more of you at the next one - which Doug says should be some time around spring of 2024!
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