Guitar Pedal

This article was originally published in Playback Issue 004. Subscribe to Playback for free to stay up to date with our latest articles, interviews, product reviews and more. What’s the old adage? Teach a guitarist about pedals, and they’ll never go a day in their life without doomscrolling through gear demos, Craigslist, and forums. Maybe we’re a bit off, but it’s something like that. The truth about building the perfect pedalboard is that you can do it at any price. It’s all about scalability. Whether you want to spend $500 or $5000 on your rig, you’ll find something to get you on your way, and if you get bored, you can always trade up to get something different.  Continue reading →

IK Multimedia is expanding its guitar pedal line in a big way with the new TONEX Pedal, which puts the power of their Amplitube TONEX modeling software in a gig-friendly stompbox format. Continue reading →

Close your eyes and picture a Strymon pedal. Chances are, you’re envisioning a double, perhaps triple-wide hunk of aluminum sporting two or three footswitches and an array of knobs, lights, and toggles covering its face. From their size and complexity, you can almost feel how much glorious sound is packed into Strymon’s pedals, but their latest release bucks that trend. Continue reading →

Led by a Strymon co-founder, a professional multimedia designer, and a former Line 6 DSP engineer, Meris combines these disciplines to produce creative, original, and thoughtfully designed guitar pedals and 500 Series processors. Last year, after two full years of design and development, Meris brought to market their most ambitious product yet: the expansive LVX Modular Delay System, an advanced stereo delay processor that’s as powerful and customizable as it is easy to use.  Continue reading →

API has announced the introduction of the API Select range, a new product lineup that breaks from the brand's classic mold. These fresh offerings incorporate unique technology that API has purchased through the decades with its own homegrown designs. "Over the years, we’ve acquired the technology and experience to engineer and produce audio products that don’t necessarily conform to API’s classic component structure or topography," API President Larry Droppa says. “API Select gives us the opportunity to offer gear that’s very high quality, but that’s different from API’s legendary line of classic products." Continue reading →

You know how we do around these parts. At the start of every month, we drop a new YouTube giveaway and offer our followers the chance to win a killer prize. We've got something special for our July giveaway that is sure to please pedal connoisseurs, synth fans and engineers alike. The Meris Hedra is a three-voice rhythmic pitch shifter that will fit just as comfortably on your mix desk as it does on your pedalboard. Each of the three voices can be delayed and detuned for a wild array of sounds. This pedal can literally do it all; detune and fatten drums, create harmony voices for monosynths, double-track guitars, autotune vocals and so much more. Continue reading →

At the beginning of 2021, Universal Audio introduced the world to its new series of UAFX pedals, including the Astra Modulation Machine, Golden Reverberator and Starlight Echo Station. Each pedal features three impeccable UAD emulations of vintage studio gear with six knobs, three switches and two footswitches for controlling your sound. Universal Audio is now expanding your ability to command its UAFX pedals with the new UAFX Control Mobile App. This free app for iOS and Android phones enables users to control aspects of each pedal via Bluetooth connectivity. As of right now, you can rename your pedal, control switchable bypass options for effect trails and customize your footswitch modes. Continue reading →

Those who are fortunate enough to take the journey to the annual NAMM Show know that when you step out onto that floor, you're bound to find something that completely rocks your world. Something huge, something wild, something you've never seen before. For the past four years or so, Chase Bliss Audio has been the brand doing most of the mind blowing in the pedal realm. Let's go back to the 2019 NAMM Show. Chase Bliss Audio owner and designer Joel Korte debuts a first of its kind pedal dubbed the Automatone Preamp MKII. It features motorized faders that adjust automatically when cycling through presets. We've seen it in the studio for years, so why not go there with a pedal? And just like that, the pedal becomes an instant success because of its innovation and fantastic sounds. Continue reading →

The beloved pedal makers at Strymon recently unleashed the brand's latest release, NightSky. This pedal takes on the form factor of the popular Volante Magnetic Echo Machine and gives users instant access to 13 presets (300 via MIDI) of lush, warm reverb with endless possibilities. NightSky is ideal for those who want to experiment with their reverb. The pedal offers up nine different knobs with additional button-based controls for dialing in the sound you're dreaming of. You can select different waveforms using the MOD section, sculpt the EQ of the effect with the TONE section, use GLIMMER and SHIMMER to enhance different frequencies and pitch shift your reverb... That's just the tip of the iceberg. Continue reading →

Keeping up with current guitar pedal releases can sometimes seem like a full-time job, there are just so many innovative brands who keep pushing the envelope and finding new ways to recreate classics. We wouldn't trade this embarrassment of riches for the world and that's why we put together a new video featuring our choices for the hottest pedals and effects of 2020 so far. Our list starts with the Vongon Paragraphs, an outstanding analog four-pole resonant low pass filter pedal that has been flying off the shelves for the company. Next, the legendary Shin-Ei line is back, and we're talking specifically about the picture-perfect fuzz of the Companion. Rounding out the pedal selections on our list, Strymon discontinued its long-time compression option in the OB-1, but it's now back with the impeccable Compadre. Continue reading →