End of Year Pedal-Chain Update - Final December Formation - Class of 2024
33 slots updated this year - #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #9a, #9b, #10, #11, #12, #15a, #15b, #15c, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #22a, #22b, #23, #24, #25, #26, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #36, #38, and #41.
There’s been a fair amount of re-routing and re-organising this year - which you should be able to pick via the pattern of changes. The introduction of the stereo Poly Amplitude introduced the biggest change to the board order - to get th most out of that format!
I try to limit acquisitions /...
2024 Best of the Best New Pedals of the Year
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 -
2024 Best New Modutility Pedals (Modulation / Pitch / Utility)
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 :
Empress Effects celebrates 10,000 units of Zoia sold - with a Special '10K' 500 limited run edition
I was one of the early movers on the Zoia - all the way back in 2019, it’s incredible really that 10,000 units of this pedal have been sold to-date. Right from the start I called it out as more of a tabletop device - and one more at home with modular synth types really.
For the average guitarist - the control interface is ever somewhat clunky, and doesn’t really allow fluid tweaking on the fly like we’re used to - as you only have a singular rotary encoder. And moreover no Bluetooth ...
TC Electronic combines 14 of its mainline flagship pedals into the one Plethora X1 Bluetooth Enabled All-in-one Multi-FX unit
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 ...
Jack White's Eventide collaboration yields Giallo inspired Knife Drop Octave Fuzz with Monophonic Analog Synth
Jack White has done it again! - producing his most exciting pedal collaboration since the Gamechanger Plasma Coil - at least for me. A cool off-kilter Octave Fuzz combined with Analog Monophonic Synth - which delivers suitably creepy supernatural horror thriller Giallo tones!
The keywords here are texture and ambience - where this delivers soundtrack-like atmospheric tones - perfectly timed for Halloween surely!
Interestingly - even though I have the yellow limited edition Plasma Coil -...
Fractal Audio's new VP4 Virtual Pedalboard Multi-FX Processor goes head-to-head with Line 6's Helix HX Effects and Eventide's H90
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-...
2024 September Pedal-Chain Update - Episode IX - Bob-Rob Cavalcade
Another strong month for sure! A little dominated by Keeley Electronics, but some solid releases over the month - with a crazy flurry towards the end - to coincide with Europe’s largest Guitar Gear Show - Mannheim’s Guitar Summit. It seems evident now that Guitar Summit is an event I should really be at - and I will make a concerted effort to be their next year.
As it was I attended just one guitar gear event this month - EarthQuaker Devices Showcase at GuitarGuitar in Camden - where I got ...
Keeley's Octa Psi Transfigurating Fuzz is a marvellous confection of Fuzz, Octa-Fuzz and Polyphonic Ramped Pitch-Shifting
The Octa-Psi has been over 3 years in the making - and I can see why! A pretty potent richly textured Fuzz voicing - particularly on the PSI (Max Undertones) Mode. On the other side we have the most fantastic polyhonic octaver and pitch-shifter with multiple Interval choices, and smart blending functionality - to accentuate, elevate, or ameliorate the key constituents. Also with killer Momentary Pitch Ramping - which climbs up to the selected interval and drops back down to the root - kinda ...
Electro-Harmonix's POG III massively expands its capabilities, and levels up to full Multi-FX Workstation territory
Electro-Harmonix often does superb introductory demos for its new pedals, and I must admit I was totally blown away by the vast Multi-FX territory covered by this launch. This POG III takes the Polyphonic Octave Generator circuit into entirely new territory - and has you covered for all kinds of other advanced effects.
Watching the demo, the following key territories are touched on :
- Slow Polyphonic Attack - backwards octave blend, somewhat Attack Decay -like
- 12 String sound with Chorus
