This was always a no-brainer for TC Electronic - really just a matter of when they decided to pull the trigger, and this is truly a fantastic proposition - coming with Bluetooth App Control by default for just  a $179 / €189 / £179 outlay. You get the creme-de-la-creme of TC Electronic Flagship pedals all in one unit! If you have any passing knowledge of TC Electronic Effects then this is a must-have acquisition.

So this doesn’t cover off the various recent Ampworx pedals, in fact none of ...

I’ve known for a while that Hamstead was working on a secret artist projects - initially due to launch around Easter this year, but evidently it took quite a while longer to perfect - which timing seems somewhat easily explainable now based on what has been achieved here.

I did not know that the artist in question was TPS’s Dan Steinhardt, and I had no idea that the project was based on a flanger. I know Hamstead has been working on its own take of Harmonic Tremolo - which has been going on...

November has been a crazy month! With such a flurry of activity from around the middle of the month onwards. So many companies took full advantage of Black Friday promotions - and the smartest of them started early, and extended their campaign through to the 2nd or 6th of December - in order to be able to take advantage of 2 pay packets!

If you started your Black Friday sales with just a week to go or less - then alas you’re bang out of touch with the new paradigm shift. The early bird ...

When the original version of Walrus Audio’s Mako Series I [M1] emerged back in 2022 I wrote that there was much to like, but I kind of missed the absent Flanger and Dimension algorithms which are core to a couple of my other favourite Multi-Modulators (Terraform & Synesthesia) - and which I use a lot. I also use the 16 Modulations on my Eventide H90 - which has most everything I need, but lacks a Dimension Chorus too.

In fact the most expansive pedal in that category is the GFI System ...

So for circa 30% less outlay, and a 38% saving in footprint - you get mostly the same device as the larger GX-100 unit. The obvious differences are the 5 fewer footswitches, and lack of CTL/EXP and In/Out Settings buttons. You also loose the 5-pin MIDI In & Out - where you need to use the USB port for that instead on the GX-10 Unit.

Other than those few elements we’re mostly talking about the same device - it has the exact same 4.3" LED Touch Screen, and same high fidelity sound engine as ...

So Fractal Audio Systems has thrown its hat in the ring with its first non-modelling device / unit - the VP4 Virtual Pedalboard Multi-FX Processor - which is quite a departure for the brand.

It’s obviously gunning for Line 6 and Eventide in particular, but also looking to knock out Boss and Strymon Workstation pedals. It has several of its own advantages, but with a number of caveats too. Overall it’s well priced for what it delivers - but for my own preferences it’s still somewhat over-...

So I said I would expand the scope of the 10 Pedal Challenge to Mini and Large Enclosure variants if the original was well received. And in indeed that seems to be the case - with several readers encouraging me in particular to do the Large Pedals Edition.

So of course I’ve done the 2 remaining categories - Mini and Large! The Large Pedals were pretty much all obvious choices really and that board largely suggested itself. It was the Mini Pedals version that took the most cogitation!

It...

So a follower on instagram challenged me to shrink my elaborate pedal-chain down to just 10 pedals. My original plan was just to fill a Pedaltrain Nano Max board with 10 compact pedals. But I then decided I should do a Mid-Size variation too, using the Pedaltrain Classic 2 board or thereabouts. I may do further Mini and Large Format editions as a follow-up - depending on how well this article is received!

This was a trickier exercise than you would imagine - as I needed to shuffle through ...

I have always liked the look of the Walrus Audio Mako Series of MI Multi-Modulator, D1 Delay, R1 Reverb and ASC1 Amp Cab and Sim. And feel that these latest changes have really propelled some of these to the top of their respective categories - particularly in terms of Compact Enclosure Editions!

The new control interface is actually remarkably simple and intuitive - the knobs above each of the 3 screen segments allow you to click through different ’pages’ or screen of options - where you ...