F Pedals Edstortion
Guitar

52 pedals, week 15—F-Pedals EK-Edstortion

I may have mentioned last week that I am writing a lot about distortion pedals this year. I can’t help it. They’re awesome. One thing I haven’t done a lot of this year though—and to be honest this is appalling—is write about some of the cool things I came across at the 2015 Winter NAMM. I saw so much amazing gear. Pedals? I saw plenty. Distortion pedals in particular? Plenty. Distortion pedals that didn’t require standard power to function? Just one—the F-Pedals Edstortion. It’s a tiny little power house that brings its own power. Nifty right?! … 52 pedals, week 15—F-Pedals EK-Edstortion

Vox V8 Distortion
Guitar

52 pedals, week 14—Vox V8 Distortion

I’m only 14 weeks into my current 52 Pedals series and already I have a predictable theme going on—Distortion. Maybe that’s because I like heavy metal. Maybe it’s because distortion is my favourite kind of guitar noise. Whatever the case, I simply don’t care. It’s a theme I have going these days. If I like something, I like it unapologetically. It’s probably a bit like people who say “To Hell with fuel prices! To Hell with the economy! I want a V8 engine!”

For those people and me, it’s likely that the Vox V8 Distortion is a perfect fit. I wonder if it’s an automatic or a manual? … 52 pedals, week 14—Vox V8 Distortion

Eventide Space
Guitar

52 pedals, week 13—Eventide Space

Back when I first heard the word reverb, I assumed it was in reference to a guitarist’s continual use of the same verb when practicing guitar. “Strum, strum, strum! Pick, pick, pick! Bend, bend, bend!”

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the true meaning of the word reverb—it refers to the reverberation of sound by the way. Fast forward several years to the time I discovered the Eventide Space pedal. Then conceptualise* my excitement towards the enhanced reverb options this pedal provides.

* I didn’t want to use the word imagine a second time. That would be re-verbing. … 52 pedals, week 13—Eventide Space

Pigtronix Gatekeeper
Guitar

52 pedals, week 12—Pigtronix Gatekeeper

I’ve been writing a lot lately about fuzz, distortion and overdrive pedals. That’s a lot of noise. As much as I love noise, you sometimes need the quiet. Especially when coupled with the noise. That’s a major component of good heavy metal music in my opinion. Brutal metal … Deafening silence … Brutal metal.

Often to get that absolute silence you need a good noise gate pedal. That’s actually a pedal I’m yet to purchase. I should resolve that. Maybe I’ll resolve that with the Pigtronix Gatekeeper. It sounds awesome.

And by sounds awesome, I mean it makes no sounds. Awesome. … 52 pedals, week 12—Pigtronix Gatekeeper

BIG EAR nyc CHAKA
Guitar

52 pedals, week 11—BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA

This week I thought I’d revisit my 2015 Winter NAMM experiences. Mostly because I don’t see myself actually revisiting the NAMM event anytime soon. Granted nobody else has heard this story before, so the revisiting is only for me. For all other readers, this is a fresh and exciting new story. I’ve probably oversold that.

Hopefully the BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA octave fuzz isn’t oversold though. People need to be able to buy this pedal. It’s awesome. … 52 pedals, week 11—BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA

Guitar

The Dialtone Pickups that I WILL install!

I have an embarrassing confession to make. I’ve owned a set of Dialtone Pickups since the end of the 2015 Winter NAMM and I have still not installed them. I’m lame. I embarrass myself. It’s not because I’m not keen and it’s not because I don’t want to install the pickups. No, it’s because of this stupid thing I’d only ever really read about up until February—the real world. I have to now say, I don’t like it.

I mention this because the real world is stopping me from doing the things I am truly interested in. For example, it was through my favourite online realms that I first discovered the beauty that is NAMM. I’d never heard of it until several years ago when Twitter went crazy one January. My Twitter feed was full of guitar porn. I was in virtual heaven. Many years later, I discovered Dialtone Pickups—once again thanks to Twitter on account of its awesomeness—and my fascination with pickup innovation began.

I became super-keen on the Dialtone Pickups. Super keen is like keen, but it wears a cape and is unrecognisable without glasses. I became so super-keen that I pre-paid for a set of pickups, got invited to join the Dialtone Pickups team at the 2015 Winter NAMM in Anaheim, assisted with some of their graphic design work and blogged about them like a madman. Fast forward to the week I returned to Australia after NAMM and this real world nonsense took a hold of my life like a NAMM attendee receiving free promotional gear. Trust me, that’s a grip you won’t break.

Like I said … I’m lame. But sometime soon—I hope—that all changes. Why? Because I just posted this article letting people know I have some awesome pickups to install. I better pull that finger out that I hear so much about. … The Dialtone Pickups that I WILL install!

ThroBak Stone Bender
Guitar

52 pedals, week 10—ThroBak Stone Bender

I’ve been trying really hard to get these articles out on a Wednesday, but I keep failing. This week I wanted to apply an element of emergency to the article’s importance when it was placed in my real world priority list. Unfortunately Wednesday passed and the article didn’t happen. I’ve failed once again. Why is this weekly article process so difficult? I’ve had kidney stones that have passed with greater ease than these blog posts.

Actually, that’s an exaggeration. I’ll tell you one thing though, I wouldn’t pass an offer to play through the ThroBak Stone Bender. That would be cooler than writing about it. Still, I’ll do that now. … 52 pedals, week 10—ThroBak Stone Bender

JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Booster
Guitar

52 pedals, week 9—JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost

Have you ever had one of those weeks when nothing seems to go right? I know I have. And as I select the pedals I’m drawn to, I’d like to think the pedals I’m interested in share some of my own traits. Why would they also not feel the need to get a bit of help from time to time? Everyone needs a boost right? Yes. Yes they do. That’s why I’ve selected the JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost this week. It’s the little helper pedal we all need.

Thank you considerate pedal. … 52 pedals, week 9—JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost

Fulltone OCD
Guitar

52 pedals, week 8—Fulltone OCD

Recently I broke what was most likely a pretty solid run of weekly articles for this website. It’s not that I’m lazy, but there’s this thing called the real world and it often pokes it’s nasty head out and screams “The grass isn’t going to mow itself” or “Get a haircut!” I usually tell that real world to pull its head in and mind its own business. That mentality allows me to write at the same time each and every week. That suits me because I am rather habitual. So much so that some people consider my infatuation with consistency to be a problem. Well if being OCD is a problem, I don’t care.

Also, if someone wants to send me an OCD pedal by Fulltone I’m perfectly OK with that. Wednesday (Australian time) articles are back people. Sorry for the inconsistency. … 52 pedals, week 8—Fulltone OCD