So I’ve had my Hamstead Redwing for barely a week now, where I adapted to it incredibly quickly. My only challenge was in using a Strymon Mini Switch for the Hold function - possibly I need something else in that situation, while the Expression Speed Control is a breeze. UPDATE! - My DryBell F-1L kind of works for the Hold function - albeit it’s not entirely ideal - need to know what Mini switches are recommended for use with the Redwing Hold function?

Controls - Gain (Makeup Gain > +6dB), ...

So this is the big one - all the top performers from the year in one selection.

We’ve already covered :

• 35 Boost & Overdrive Pedal Finalists
• 34 Distortion Pedal Finalists
• 32 Fuzz Pedal Finalists
• 38 Modutility Pedal Finalists
• 25 Delay and Reverb Pedal Finalists

Total Overall Finalist Selection of 164 Pedals!

Distilled down to the final favourites selection, where I own 27 of them, and will try to secure the final missing ones next year :

• Coffee Shop Pedals London Fog Tape Delay -

There’s an incredibly rich mix here of no less than 38 killer Modulations, Utilities and Pitch-Shifters - no one does rundowns quite like me! I always dive in at the deep end of things - and give you maximum expansive scope!

There are several here that I don’t have yet, in fact some hat I’m somewhat unlikely to ever have - for reasons of rig compatibility, size and overall sensibilities, practicalities, and preferences!

These 19 are still to be acquired or eventually overlooked :

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...

I’ve just recently covered the phenomenal Tavysh HARM Multi-Gain pedal, and thought I should look at which similarly potent multi-gain pedals I had in the reference collection. In fact while doing the preliminary for this I realised I hadn’t yet acquired the All-Pedal Devil’s Triad Essentials - which landed around a fortnight ago. I had to go to Thomann, as there were none available in the UK at the time. I actually really like using Thomann - it takes a little longer to get packages from there...

It was quite the deliberation - deciding which image should be the cover shot for this feature - on balance I think I made there right decision by picking the very first photo of the day - where Hello Sailor Effects certainly delivers that Technicolour Rainbow which looks so appealing. Moreover I snagged a one-off pedal from that stand - a few minutes before the show was officially opened - but more of that later!

Showrunner extraordinaire Phil Steere above (at the show entrance), AKA PedalPatch Head Honcho.

What a wonderful show!

Just as good as the inaugural one, in fact by several measures even better!

These shows are really like family reunions for me nowadays - I know most everybody on the pedal scene now and seemed to be mostly warmly welcomed into their company. I was up really early on the Saturday - in fact when I walked in at 08:15 only Boss and NRG Effects were close to having set ...

I’ve really taken to the Kempton Park Reacourse venue for this show - with its superb viewing platform of a Panorama restaurant at the top of the building - in fact there are a few places you can seek refreshments. The whole things had / has an easy family vibe to it - where several exhibitors brought part of their family with them for the day - some the whole shebang, while others had their Dad or Brother in tow - just a really nice easy breezy atmosphere - and so easy to get to for those of ...

This article has been a long time coming - where I originally started this ahead of the Mini Edition - which went live on January 24th. I was waiting for a couple of new pedals to be released - while the article has been iterated around 20 times now with a number of recent additions.

And the pedal I was waiting to launch still hasn’t quite happened, while the builder has authorised me to tease it in advance of its official release. And if I were to do the same exercise tomorrow - no doubt ...