Mmmmmmmmmmm….Plexi. Those classic Marshall amplifier tones that have been recorded for over 50 years just put a smile on all of our faces, don’t they? However….that exact sound is not the easiest to dial in or obtain, with out-of-production gear, soaring prices for the vintage amps and problematic parts and repair make up a few of the reasons why this tone is so cherished, and so hard to come by. Enter the...
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We’ve been trying to collaborate with Don Poniz for the last few years, and we’re finally making it a reality today! Presenting the Power Contol Unit, a massive silicon/germanium overdrive with a simple control section and a huge range of sounds on tap. The note that came with the pedal said, “Worth the wait, trust me, Mike!” and after playing this pedal, I believe that to be a very true statement… From...
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Today, we continue our journey of the exploration of the Ampworx Series of preamp pedals from our friends at TC Electronic. We’re looking at all six effects in the series (so far), starting with their three latest releases, and moving through the previous three, over the last several weeks. Let’s keep it going today with the JIMS 45 Preamp, a beast that faithfully recreates the sound of a 1965 Marshall JTM45 tube amp, for...
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Today, we continue our journey of the exploration of the Ampworx Series of preamp pedals from our friends at TC Electronic. We’re looking at all six effects in the series (so far), with their three latest releases, and moving through the previous three, over the coming weeks. Let’s keep it going with the JIMS 800 Preamp, a beast that faithfully recreates a modified Marshall JCM800 tube amp, and pays gorgeous tribute to...
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The My Little Klony and Fuzzy Rick were two of our favorite surprise pedals last year, coming from Drew and Aida at Daddy Daughter Pedal Works. Today, we’re checking out another effect from their lineup, the Clue’s Breaker Overdrive. Apart from a rad name and aesthetic, this versatile drive will give you all the boost, gain and grit you’d want, or maybe even need… The Clue’s Breaker is based on the famous...
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Over the years, the folks at Aclam Guitars have put out some extremely specific and well-done effects pedals that have certain iconic sounds in mind. The Dr. Robert replicated the soul of the VOX UL730 am, used by the Beatles on Revolver & Sgt. Pepper; the Windmiller captured the sound of the preamp from the rare Grampian Reverberation Unit Type 636; the Cinnamon Drive gave us vintage British tube amp sounds of the 60’s and...
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Mario Marino has been creating products under the name Axess Electronics since 1998, crafting custom buffered splitters, routers, switchers MIDI foot controllers and more, for names like Alex Lifeson, Peter Frampton, Richie Sambora, John Petrucci, Dweezil Zappa and Eddie Van Halen. Bringing decades of expertise to the effects pedal world, he has released the AXSGTR OBViouS™ Boost/Overdrive, an option-filled beauty that dirties up your...
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From the Archer Ikon to the El Hombre to the Mr. Moto and beyond, the folks at J. Rockett Audio Designs keep finding ways to pack a whole lot of effect into a small enclosure. This wonderful trend continues today with the .45 Caliber Overdrive, a dirt pedal derived from the classic rhythm playing of Malcolm Young and the face-melting goodness of Pete Townshend. If you’re on the hunt for your next amp-in-a-box pedal, this might...
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(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!) Message in a Pedal: How to Get Andy Summers’ Signature Sound By Steven Kendzorski for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons. Andy Summers joined The Police in 1977, and quickly catapulted the group to international superstardom. With hits like “Every Breath You...
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The Love Machine Octave Fuzz from All-Pedal has been one of the funnest pedals we’ve tried this year, and we couldn’t wait to test out some more gear from these guys. Today, we’re bringing you the Macrodose Envelope Filter, a powerful and options-laden creation that brings the funk and expands your consciousness. Get ready for an adventure, here we go…. Created in collaboration with Brian Marshall of Subdecay,...
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Jake Snider Tacoma, Washington Minus the Bear (minusthebear.com) Sharks Keep Moving Onalaska State Route 522 How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played guitar for something like 33 years. I was getting into metal and skate punk and wanted to play! Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? Too many to list! Descendents, Don Caballero, early Metallica, Jawbox,...
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What’s better than an amazing, killer, amp-pushing overdrive pedal? Well, not much, unless you have TWO drive circuits in ONE enclosure! Such is the case for today’s unit, the Browne Amplification Protein Dual Overdrive. Taking inspiration from a couple of timeless (but not necessarily accessible) circuits and combining them into a single, glorious pedal makes this one a must-have for any overdrive fan. Each side sounds...
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Richard Fortus St. Louis Guns N’ Roses https://www.4tus.com/ https://www.gunsnroses.com/ Past bands – Pale Divine, Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love, Thin Lizzy, Honky Toast, Rihanna How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Started on violin when I was 5 and studied the Suzuki method. Also started playing drums around the same time. Started on guitar around 12. My father was an accountant,...
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THE RAT. Few distortion pedals have as much instant recognizability, despite (usually) just bearing the colors Black & White. There are many iterations of this classic effect, but how could you possibly collect them all without breaking the bank? Well, as usual, JHS Pedals comes to the rescue, in the form of the PackRat Distortion. Taking different RAT circuits from the last 4 decades, from different manufacturers, this pedal...
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Greg Loiacono & Tim Bluhm Marin County, CA / Fairfax, CA The Mother Hips motherhips.com Greg Loiacono Band gregloiacono.com Green Leaf Rustlers Tim Bluhm w/ The Coffis Brothers timbluhm.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Greg Loiacono: I started playing guitar at age 11. I wanted to learn as soon as I heard “Purple Haze” for the first time. I stopped for a bit and got back...
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Ethan Miller Humboldt County Howlin’ Rain, Heron Oblivion, Feral Ohms howlinrain.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing music since about 7 years old when I started piano lessons. I took up acoustic guitar at around age 12. Electric guitar at age 14. I first got into playing non-classical music at a California State Summer School for the Arts that they used to...
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As we continue on with our Flamma Fridays series, we shift gears just a bit this week, from modulation to DIRT. The Flamma Innovation FS06 Digital Preamp provide 7 different preamp flavors to explore, with each one being based on a different well-known amplifier. Covering classic and modern tones alike, this purple-headed warrior has a ton of stuff going on, so let’s jump right in! The 7 different models you can choose from on...
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The legacy of ZVEX Effects now stretches back over a quarter of a century. Beginning in 1995, Zachary Vex has become known for his innovative and genre-bending pedals, gracing the boards of folks like Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, J Mascis, Billy Gibbons, Jack White and many more. Today, we’ve got one of their classic pedals for ya – the Box of Rock Distortion 25th Anniversary Vexter Series. The Box of Rock is a staple in...
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Since the inception of Pedal of the Day, Josh Scott and JHS Pedals have been on board, sending us pedals to review and demo over the last 7+ years. Somehow, their most famous pedal, the Morning Glory Overdrive, has never passed through our shop, for whatever reason….until today. Unleashed in collaboration with The Pedal Movie (which is fantastic, if you haven’t seen it), this Morning Glory 2009 Limited Edition Throwback is...
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We’ve all heard the classic Tone Bender Fuzz so many times, on so many timeless songs, whether we knew what it was or not. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Mick Ronson, Pete Townshend…the list goes on of great guitarists who utilized this fuzzy effect. However, they are now rare and extremely expensive to obtain if you can find one, so many pedal companies have taken it upon themselves to re-create affordable (and updated) versions...
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After the success of their Dr. Robert Overdrive Preamp, we were wondering what would be next for the crew at Aclam. Well, their latest invention is here, and it harkens back to another band from the 60’s, and a particularly well-known guitarist. The Windmiller Preamp is based on a secret weapon that Pete Townshend of The Who used as a boost, and gave him his signature tone during the latter portion of that decade. Let’s...
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Enrico Preuß KMA Audio Machines Berlin, Germany www.kma-machines.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Well, I started playing guitar with the age of 18. A friend from school was playing a red Squier Strat and a Peavey Valveking 100W 2×12 combo and he showed me some Green Day, Ulver and Anathema riffs…oh, and he was using a Marshall jackhammer pedal (the first pedal I ever heard...
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James Bowman Gainesville, Florida Against Me! http://www.againstme.net https://bowmanaudioendeavors.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing when I was 15, kind of a late start. I’ve been touring and recording since 1998. I grew up in South Florida. There wasn’t much of a music scene, so I would sit at home and play along to CD’s. I moved up to St. Petersburg, FL and I...
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The guys at Analog Alien have been making incredible effects for years, and we’re excited to check out another one of their creations today. Going in a different direction than the FuzzBubble 45 and Alien Comp pedals, the Rumble Seat mixes Overdrive, Delay and Reverb into one gorgeous orange unit, saving valuable pedalboard real estate and giving you three primo effects in one convenient place. Let’s dive in and see what...
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The sounds of AC/DC have echoed through concert halls, dorms, bedrooms, vans, strip clubs and just about any other place you could think of for close to 50 years now. Many have tried to capture their classic sound, and many have gotten close. Today’s re-creation attempt comes to us from our pals in France, in the form of the Anasounds High Voltage Plexi Distortion. This dirty, overdriven beauty conjures up tones reminiscent of...
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We’ve all been trying to find THAT amp-in-a-box sound forever, it seems, right? A lot of good pedals have come out that have achieved this goal pretty well, but to really make it convincing, you’ve got to have real tubes, and that just isn’t always possible. Fortunately, we have a unit today for you that utilizes TWO real preamp tubes to bring you a faithful recreation of the 1987 Marshall Plexi amp. Ladies and...
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The world of Strymon is a fascinating, intriguing and exciting place to be – anyone who’s ever used one of their pedals can certainly attest to that. For their latest release, they’ve gone in a bit of a different direction, but one that is most welcome, and will flip the way pedalboards are arranged and used from this point forward. Iridium is an amplifier and Impulse Response cabinet simulator, one that connects...
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Coming from such a compression-based pedal lineup for so many years, we were excited when the folks at Origin Effects announced they were releasing an overdrive pedal. After all, their studio-quality gear is second to none, and we knew they would put that expertise and high-quality craftsmanship into their new effect as well. With a $650 price tag, however, the first RevivalDRIVE was just a bit out of our range, so we were once again...
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Preamp and buffer pedals seem to get swept under the rug these days a bit, in part due to the incredible modulation, delay and drive pedals seemingly coming out every other week. However, these pedals are an absolutely essential part of any rig, and today’s pedal harkens back to a classic circuit and tone that has yet to be almost exactly replicated – until now. The Epoch Pre EP3 Preamp Buffer from Catalinbread emulates...
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A lot of the pedals we review and demo have a ton of buttons, toggles and footswitches, and are able to produce more sounds than you could possible use at once. While we love those effects and all they are capable of, it’s nice to sit back with a really great-sounding, 3-knob overdrive and just plain rock out. The BB-74x Blues Breaker Overdrive from Mr. Black allowed us to do just that, conjuring up classic 60’s amp tones...
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We love a good overdrive here at Pedal of the Day, and one that is both based on and sounds like an amplifier is right up our alley. Today’s featured pedal takes on a fairly specific and (to us) extremely nostalgic sound – the one coming from Slash and the classic Marshall 2555SL Jubilee 100W amp. With attention to detail, both sonic and aesthetic, rivaling the original head, the Jubilee Silver Overdrive from Alexander...
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My name is Anders Mouridsen, and I’m a Danish guitarist, living in Los Angeles and working all over the place. I currently perform, write and record with country artist Cam (www.camcountry.com). In the past, I’ve performed and recorded with artists like John Fogerty, Pink, Taylor Swift, Tim Timebomb, Meghan Trainor, Guy Sebastian and many others. You can hear some examples of my work as a writer, producer and musician on...
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Let’s face it: it can be difficult and expensive to find all the pieces you need to emulate some of your favorite rockers from the 1970s. Vintage amps and cabinets now fetch prices that most Joe Schmoe guitarists might not be able to afford, not to mention finding a place to unleash such robust and ear-smashing tones without getting a visit from your landlord or the friendly neighborhood police. That’s where the crew at...
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We’ve got another killer Guest Review today from Brian Johnston – you can find him and more demo videos he’s done on his YouTube channel, CoolGuitarGear – click now! Thanks once more, Brian! Victory Amps has won several awards through various guitar magazines/sites, and this preamp makes those reasons obvious, with its magnificent tone. The four valves running the Kraken V4 produces a rich tone and quality that I have not heard...
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The elusive Harmonic Percolator. Part distortion, part fuzz, all legend and pure myth, the original from Interfax has been a source of discussion to collectors and aficionados for years. We have had the opportunity to check out a few different copy versions here at Pedal of the Day, each is its own beast, with no two being alike, and none being a precise recreation of the original, either. Until, perhaps, today. The controls on the...
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We recently had the opportunity to check out the Distortion 1 from LunaStone Pedals, and were more than impressed with its build, layout and incredible sound quality. Following in those exact footsteps, today’s pedal from LunaStone is a different animal overall, but retains the quality that these guys are putting out in their effects. The Red Fuzz 1 gives you the feel and power of a true Marshall stack in a small box that will...
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There is nothing like the sound of a Marshall stack, particularly a vintage one, perhaps of the Plexi variety, with the classic 4 input configuration. Those in the know have discovered a special secret about these amps: using a patch cable to connect two of the inputs together. This results in the Volume controls from both channels becoming active, and able to be blended at will to produce gorgeous, soaring crunch tones. If...
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Sometimes, a small adjustment to an effects pedal layout can make all the difference. Today’s pedal is a distortion, yes, with the usual trio of controls, but their positioning is instantly a head turner, and as you delve in, you’ll find them to be additional functional, too. The Distortion 1 from LunaStone Pedals also sounds fantastic, everything you want in a high gain rocker, so let’s check it out, shall we? The...
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We were recently fortunate enough to review and demo the String Slinger Overdrive from our friends at Free The Tone, and what an overdrive that was. Seeing as how they released TWO overdrives at virtually the same time, we were understandably excited to see what lay in store for us with the Fire Mist FM-1V Overdrive, a different spin on another classic amp, packed into one pedal and ready to rip. Where the String Slinger focused on...
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TWENTY-FIVE VOLTS OF POWER? Welcome to today’s beast of an overdrive, folks: the Two Five 25V from classic noisemakers Wren and Cuff. It’s been a minute since we had a pedal of theirs pass through the shop, and what a way to return! This yellow monster reminds us of those striped, buzzing insects you hope don’t sting you on a picnic, full of terror, gusto, determination and oozing with grit and tone. Not only do the...
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Since the inception of Pedal of the Day, Mike and Vick Audio have been one of our biggest supporters, and we in turn have had the pleasure of checking out many of their pedals over the years. Consistently putting out beautiful, excellent-sounding machines, we’ve come to expect killer sound and fantastic build quality from them, and the pedals always live up to these high standards. The V-2 Overdrive Distortion is no different, a...
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Chris Traynor Topanga, California Bush bushofficial.com www.instagram.com/ct3guitar/ twitter.com/CT3GUITAR How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I feel like I’ve been a musician since birth. My parents took me to Suzuki method when I was a toddler, and although I don’t remember much from those days I feel like it really gave me an interest in communicating through music from a very young age. I...
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Today’s guest review comes to us from Nikki King – you can find her and the band Spank on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and on their website as well. Thanks again, Nikki! I wanted something similar to the Marshall Shredmaster, but its not in production anymore and the vintage models go for lots of cash. I asked Pepers if they could make me something like that, and he totally obliged, I’d spent heaps trying to find...
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There are pedals and amps that produce tones which just make you take a step back the first time you hear them. A good number of these have been produced by Marshall, and today’s pedal is a take on possubly their most famous pedal: the Blues Breaker. Taking that awesome piece of gear, tweaking it a bit and adding more options, the Mount Pleasant from Vick Audio aims to reproduce those vintage tones, but in a smaller footprint...
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The last couple of pedals we’ve checked out from ZVEX Effects have been pretty wild, untamed and crazy, to say the least. Today’s pedal brings us back into reality, if just a hair, for a truly powerful and rocking overdrive/distortion effect, via the Box of Rock. A classic in its own right, this little silver gem appears on pedalboards and in rigs throughout the world, and we were lucky enough to get our hands on one to...
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Discovering new pedal manufacturers is always a pleasure here at Pedal of the Day, and we’ve got another rad one for you today. Straight outta NOLA, Retroactive Pedals’ first offering is a fuzz/overdrive effect that has both aesthetic and sonic wonders for everyone. Loaded with options, the Designated Driver is easy to use and fun to dial in. Designed to be of the “Marshall” sound when strumming chords and...
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Ben Bloom Seattle, WA Polyrhythmics www.polyrhythmics.com We had the honor of chatting with Ben in person when the Polyrythmics played here in Boise during Treefort Music Fest last month – here’s our conversation: [Pedal of the Day] Where are you guys from? [Ben Bloom] Seattle. I grew up in New York, but we all met and live in Seattle. I’ve been there since 2001. [POTD] What got you into music in the first place?...
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Chris Houser Dayton, Ohio The Werks thewerksmusic.com We’re trying something new today – our first face-to-face Interview! We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Chris when he was in Boise for Treefort a couple weeks ago, here’s what we talked about: [Pedal of the Day] Where are you guys from? [Chris Houser] I’m from Dayton, Ohio. Overall, we’re just from Ohio – half the band lives in Columbus,...
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Johnny Hiland Nashville, TN http://www.johnnyhiland.net/ It is a sincere pleasure, and honor, to be doing this interview. I am a huge fan of Pedal of the Day, on Twitter, as I am truly a pedal nut. I just want everybody to know that you can find out anything you may want to know about me on my website, www.johnnyhiland.net. How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I have been a musician now for...
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Kyle Sipress Niles, Michigan The Devil Wears Prada God Alone tdwpband.com godaloneband.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I was in choir when I was super young, then played saxophone briefly in 5th grade band. I’ve been playing guitar since I was about 12 or 13, so for about 15 years or so. My dad got me a cheap Cort acoustic for Christmas one year and i’ve been playing ever since. When...
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