Someone had to do it - and that someone is new pedal brand Olinthus. Whose first pedal - the Cicada Overdrive - is the world’s smallest fully functioning Screamer style pedal - in fact the world’s smallest pedal full stop!

I’m not sure the world necessarily needs another Tube Screamer as such, but it’s definitely a better place for it - with this supreme engineering achievement. It’s an unusual design in many ways - where most of the sides are largely open to the elements - which you can ...

This is part of a long term project for Vitalii, where he’s sourced and circuit-traced most of EXAR’s Legacy Series pedals, alongside the odd one from lesser known smaller Polish brand PUE.

In a move sort of mirroring Boss’s opening 1977 salvo of 3 Original Compact pedals of OD-1, PH-1 and SP-1 pedals, from Drunk Beaver for 2024 we have two classic EXAR circuit replications & enhancements, alongside an evolved take on the PUE Sustain Filter Fuzz.

• OD-1 Over Drive from EXAR Series 1 [OD-1

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...

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-...

When I first glimpsed the HARM pedal - it very much appeared to me to be the full-fat embodiment of my ’12 Degrees  of Saturation’ Methodology. Now that I’ve been road-testing it for 3 weeks, I can absolutely vouch for its potency, versatility, and prowess - its range of coverage is extraordinary!

This is the one compact pedal that can pretty much cover all your gain needs. That’s not to say it wholly accurately 100% replicates every gain pedal, while it most definitely gets well beyond the...

So we get another couple of stock Multi-Pedal units as JAM like to call them. Obviously where besides the David Gilmourish ’Pink Flow’ those are typically wholly custom shop pedals. While on this occasion Greg Koch’s Kochness Monster enters the main range - in 2 editions - Standard, and Supreme.

The Standard Kochness Monster Edition will retail at $790 and comes with 4 Effects - Lucy Dreamer Overdrive, Eureka Fuzz, Harmonious Monk Tremolo and Delay Llama.

The Supreme Kochness Monster ...

So I’ve obviously covered each of these pedals individually and in real depth - so please refer to the earlier articles if you need more details. The purpose of this exercise is to pick out my favourite/s from the series - which is really about comparing those 4 pedals head-to head across my 2 favourite settings for each - pitting one against the other - back and forth - until we have a preferences.

Note - that if you want to skip all the preamble - you can just scroll down to the bottom ...

So I attended a GuitarGuitar Camden 20th Anniversary EarthQuaker Devices Showcase Event last Tuesday the 24th! The guests of honour obviously being Pedal Power Couple - Husband and Wife team Jamie Stillman and Julie Robbins. This was actually only their second visit to the UK - the first being another whistle-stop tour in 2018 or thereabouts. This time around they were being chaperoned around by good friend of ours Tom Bodfish from Northern Europe EQD Distributor - Audio Distribution Group.

 ...

As promised - this turned out to be quite a big month - we had 5 substantial pedal rundowns - where I hope you appreciate the time and effort put into those - they take a very long time to compile and write up! :

• Reference Collection World Odyssey [25]
• 32 Favourite Compact MIAB Distortions
• Fuzz Pedal Olympics [25]
• 32 Favourite Compact Rat Style Distortions
• Drunk Beaver 15 Favourites

I attended just one show this month - but it was a great one - the #2 Alternative Guitar Show @ Hackney...