Kernom Ridge - "The Overdrive to End All Overdrives"
The KERNOM RIDGE is an award winner, and for good reason; and the engineers just established a new precent that surely will be followed. When most guitarists are thinking what drive may be the best f…
Vertex Effects Systems ultra-phonix HRM - "Good OD"
It sounds good. Obviously I didn t compare to a dumble amp (and if so which one, etc....). But it s a nice and articulate Overdrive. Going in the Marshall direction to my hears. A Guv'nor-ish tone…
Hagerman Amplification Reactivator - "A Tone Game Changer (tube drive)"
I now realize why Hagerman Amps calls its latest true bypass pedal Reactivator – “it’s alive… it’s alive!” This is a low to moderate gain pedal, a two-transistor/two-triode overdrive, but its tube dr…
Carl Martin PlexiRanger - "OD and Treble Booster in one, with a wide range of 'cutting' tones"
Carl Martin produces some very solid pedals, in that they sound good, are easy to operate and deliver what’s promised. The PlexiRanger is no exception, as it combines Carl Martin’s classic Plexi in a…
Greedtone Overdrive II - "Pro Overdrive that Adds Note Definition and Harmonics"
What guitarist doesn’t like effects? Certainly, there are some purists, including jazz or blues musicians (plug in an amp and play), but most of us like things that add some dazzle to our tones. My …
nUX Fireman (NDS-5) - "Amp-Like Distortion with Dual Channels"
Some distortions are warm, others are fat, and still others are chewy. The Fireman Distortion was meant to sizzle and cut through the mix. The grain is fine to medium overall, but the two channels do…
Brière Pedals Drive Factory - "Great Sound and Plenty of Options, from Clean Boost to Heavy Distortion"
Christian Briére hit a homerun with the Drive Factory, and in a number of ways. First, the most important aspect of a drive is its sound, and the Drive Factory sounds darn good. It has a medium grai…
CeriaTone Horse Breaker - "Merging the Centaur with the Bluesbreaker, a Plethora of Tone is Yours for the Taking"
BACKGROUND: Take two of the most popular drive pedals, the Klon Centaur and the Marshall Bluesbreaker, and combine them into one pedal that allows each to function separately or together and you h…
Cusack Music Meta Plexi - "Individual Crunch & Lead Channels with a lot of Tone Flexibility"
SOUND: I’ve worked with a number of Plexi-based pedals and find the Meta Plexi to have the best sound and the greatest diversity when working with various amps (including pushing the Gain on the ped…
Empress Effects Heavy - "From biting sizzle to massive tones"
SOUND: There are some good demos of the HEAVY and playing one live does not disappoint. However, it does proves that YouTube compression does not do HEAVY justice. As the manual indicates, Channel …
Doc Music Station Mystère - "Get a Marshall JCM800 in a Pedal"
SOUND: The Mystere, by Doc Music Station (France) is a fully analog preamp, allowing you to achieve the tone of a Marshall JCM800 in a pedal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV65q22B8Rs&feature=y…
Black Arts Toneworks Skyboost - "Increase Note Definition and Harmonics with Any Amp or Pedal"
SOUND: The YouTube video below demonstrates the SKYBOOST, a boost/overdrive/fuzz combination pedal with true bypass switching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJZmX_kX7X8&feature=youtu.be Offe…
Carl Martin DC-Drive (2018) - "Make Any Amp Sound Better!"
SOUND: Below is a video demo that utilizes a Taurus amplifier, but also various amp simulations (via Positive Grid’s Bias 2), and later the Carvin Legacy (Vai) Drive. https://www.youtube.com/wa…
Zvex Box of Rock (Vertical) - "Box of Rock gives you the 1966 Marshall JTM45 Amp Sound (Townshend/Hendrix)"
SOUND: Certain guitars and amps have become desired collectables because they just happen to have gotten something right. The 1966 Marshall JTM45 amp head is such a beast. If unfamiliar with this …
Zvex Box of Metal Vexter - "Classic Metal with Box of Metal"
SOUND: From a heavy pounding boom to a sizzle reminiscent of Dimebag, it’s possible to dial into several different tones with ZVEX’s Box of Metal. What really stands out about this pedal is how its…
