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...

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-...

First launched in 2014 - the BitQuest Multi-FX / Multi-FX-Fuzz / Fuzz-Modulator - quickly became Dr Scientist’s most popular and best-selling pedal - and has held the line ever since - despite fierce competition from my other Frazz Dazzler Fuzz favourite! According to Ryan- there are only 2 core models of this pedal - the one which originated in 2014 - which holds all the way through to 2020 - while there are some circuitboard variations along the way too. Before 2020 you first move the Fuzz/...

Catalinbread has done an amazing job of transforming the quirky 2002 Alesis Bitrman into a compact stompbox pedal format. The Bitrman had 4 different Signal Mangler Flavours / Modes - which are combined with distortion and dual phaser effects for maximum impact, and where you can control the Dry > Wet Mix also.

There’s an excellent article on Catalinbread’s Kula’s Cabinet Blog which goes into further details about the Alesis Bitrman.

Catalinbread refers to this pedal as a Hyper-Deranged...

So this has been on the cards for a while, in fact I needed to get an update of both boards featured here, as the first version I had was almost a year ago now. The idea was always to feature reader’s pedalboards - which had been somewhat noticeably / significantly inspired by this very site.

And I’m delighted that Long-term GPX friend and pedal fan Cyril Demaegd, board game designer / developer (founder of Ystari Games) and touring musician, has been somewhat ’Inspired by GPX’ since December of...

A really cool sort of fuzz oddity, which is even less of a proper fuzz than the Mattoverse AirTrash. We’re dealing with various Bit-Crushed and Sample Rate Reduction and essentially modulation of the incoming signal - which renders some very sci-fi sounds. Mostly leaning into the synth side of things. You don’t get anything approximating traditional fuzz - but what you get is an extraordinarily versatile noise box - but one which requires patience and diligence!

Besides the two mode ...