So despite this being a relatively quiet month for releases - I was somehow manically busy throughout!

The month started with custom editions of ThorpyFX and Empress pedals, and I then did 2 massive articles for the Glou-Glou Flancher Series of Stereo Analog Delays / Modulators, and in-depth coverage of Henrik Nordvang’s excellent 1590B3 Series. I’m not sure people realise just how much works goes into those kinds of articles!

Also this month - Mini Pedals were a major feature - all ...

So it made sense that after I did one of the most obvious ’4 of a Kind’ initial groupings - with the 3-Band EQ Boost pedals - largely EQD Tone Job adjacent - that surely the almost as obvious Timmy quartet should be next up for this format!

Interestingly the first massively popular ’Transparent’ Overdrive - Bill Finnegan’s Klon Centaur - first materialised in 1994. Then in 1998 we had Brian Mena’s Menatone Red Snapper , and a full 10 years after the Klon in 2004 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee ...

I’ve been on something of a Tremolo kick this year - I decided that said capsule collection was a little slim in comparison to my other modulation categories - so I determined that I would focus on Tremolo for 2024.

The Drunk Beaver Chernivtsi Trembita Optical Tremolo kick-started this year’s journey, and I already have the Lastgasp Flikrrr and Tru-Fi Ultra Tremolo inbound - which will take that capsule to 15.

I had further identified around 8 or 10 targets for the reference collection ...

I did a fairly substantive feature on the original set of 8 Fundamental Series - and how they stacked up against the other competing Budget Boutique Series. I love this format - while there are still questions about how long-term robust those sliders are - but so far so good! And then there’s the price - which sits mostly at the $129 which is quite significantly above the usual $99 price tag.

Overall though I feel Walrus have about got the formula right - while I feel that they may not have...

So we get two interesting fuzzes appearing at the same time - Beetronics’ Abelha Tropical Fuzz, and this Walrus Audio + Hagerman Amplification Silt Harmonic Tube Fuzz. Funnily Jim Hagerman has 7 Tube-powered pedals in his extensive pedal range - and the only variety he doesn’t cover in his own Tube range is Fuzz!

When I think of Tube Fuzz - the first that comes to mind is Effectrode’s Mercury Fuzz, and then I recall that Friedman also used to have a tube-powered fuzz called the Fuzz Fiend. ...

And so to the final category - where competition is extremely fierce this year. No doubt some of your favourites will have missed the cut here - but hopefully this selection is fully representative of the best of the year. Obvious I lean more towards immersive stereo effects - mono doesn’t really do it for me so much - while there is a smattering of mono pedals in here too. Price, format, versatility and practicality - everything counts!

Of the 23 featured in the selection - I own around ...

And so to my roundup of the best gear of the year - apologies of course if I’ve overlooked one of your favourites - and note again that this year I’ve split out Boost & Overdrive - and Distortion separately - as there are so many new pedals that it’s tough to fit them all into a single summary overview. Some of these pedals are incredibly extended range - and if I’ve used them more on the distortion side - you will find those listed in the very next Distortion Rundown article - like say the...

I recall back when Suhr released their Discovery Analog Delay a couple years back - I was momentarily very excited until I realised that despite appearances it was still just another mono delay - everything else about that device was brilliant. I was keeping my fingers crossed for the eventual arrival of a Stereo Analog Delay - and Boss was first out of the gate I believe with its superb DM-101 on June 22nd - a totally genius device which I still really love - although that is alas just a M.I.S...

So back in 2019 - Reverb.com coordinated Black Friday Limited Blacked Out Editions across 17 Brands and 19 Pedals - and by and large it was a resounding success - a lot of those sold out very quickly - and overall pretty much every special pedal maid was sold in fairly short order.

I always thought it a little surprising that this exercise wasn’t repeated more often as I kind of expected it to be an annual or biennial thing following on from the 2019 event. While we’ve had to wait 4 years ...