We have so many beautiful things, this is but a fraction!
Pedals, pedals, pedals. We here at MusicMaker simply adore effect pedals - the many types of folk who use them, and the various ways they can be used. From budding young rockstars looking to recreate the sounds of their heroes, to the more experimental sound shape-shifters just looking to put some dusty dense eerie weight into their mix, effect pedals can alter a lot of sonic ground. Found a sound you like? - There’s a pedal that can recreate that. Wanna make your bass sound more like a synthesizer? - There’s a pedal that can do that. Trying to recreate rare instruments like mellotrons or Wurlitzers with just your guitar, without all the spec limitations and "midi enabled” jargon? Welcome to the world of effect pedals in 2023 - where your pedalboard has become your spaceship, as you explore multi-dimensions of sound and where your pedals are just as important as your guitar, and maybe even more important than your second guitar player, who’s always late to practice and never remembers “the way this next song starts” (…there’s even a pedal for that now… oh hello there, 6-track stereo Loop Stations!)
The universe of effect pedals is constantly changing and morphing according to a combination of demand, technology and or course, players imagination. Only a mere decade or so ago you would have to check the compatibility of inputs, or midi pickups, if you really wanted to stretch the boundaries of what your pedal could do, and your guitar could sound like. These days, it’s a far more easier, “plug in and play” affair, with huge advancements in audio tracking and beefier (yet smaller) tech within the pedals. High end pedals are basically mini computers nowadays, powerful, robust, and can literally create huge cinematic, orchestral, ethereal soundscapes, all within a single monolithic effect pedal. And of course there’s always the less ambitious, but equally important pedals for the tamer players, the likes of basic reverbs, delays, or modulation effects such as tremolos, flangers or chorus pedals - even these type of pedals have had huge renovations under the hood, and have never sounded better or behaved so cleverly. Built in tap-tempo functions, stereo outs, detailed expression pedal compatibilities, drop down menus and impressive midi functionality tying it all together - effect pedals have come a long way in the past 15 years alone.
Oh yeah
Ever since we opened our doors in 1981, we’ve been a huge advocate for effect pedals. Even within the limited market of the early eighties, we still stocked the likes of BOSS, PRO CO, MXR, DUNLOP, IBANEZ, DOD, ARION, ERNIE BALL and EHX pedals, flying off our shelves and into the hands of curious players, altering the face of rock music around Ireland ever since. And it’s a true testament that we still deal with some of these original pedal companies today, 40 years later and thousands of stepped on effect pedals after, although our pedal ranges have since been expanded by the likes of STRYMON, MERIS, DARKGLASS, EBS, JHS, KEELEY, EARTHQUAKER DEVICES, BLACKSTAR, HEADRUSH and GAMECHANGER AUDIO, to name a few..
So. Rather than just telling you how much we love effect pedals, this year we decided to put a lot of focus on showing you how much we love them, what they sound like, and what they can do. Did you know that we have over 100 pedal demos over on our YouTube channel? Featuring reviews of pedals from all the above brands, even some essential die hard pedals from the past. Head over here to view the lot.
We’ve rounded up a top 5 (an almost impossible task) of our all-time favourites from what we reviewed over the past year - from exciting new pedal companies breaking brand new sonic ground to stubborn classics that still nail what they do all these years later. We’ve also linked the videos so you can suss out what it is that made us fall in love with them. Enjoy!
…and in no particular order…
#5: DARKGLASS MICROTUBES X ULTRA
Okay, I’m just gonna say it. If you’re a bass player who’s unsatisfied with their rig, be it how it sounds, how reliable it is, or just how friggin’ awkward it is to lug around, well, you’re welcome - this single pedal will change it all. The Darkglass Microtubes X Ultra not only gives you unprecedented EQ controls, various drive stages and supremely detailed filters, it also boasts a juicy direct out, meaning that you can just run it to front of house and leave that weighty bass amp behind. And it’s no gimmick - it genuinely sounds amazing in this configuration. Or just use it as a supremely powerful EQ & Overdrive pedal, it’s board friendly size gives option to both. (Ps, in case we haven’t mentioned, the overdrive is astonishing) It also has an internal stereo headphone amplifier capable of driving a minimum load of 16 ohms from the 3.5mm stereo jack, so it can be used for silent rehearsing, or practicing along to tracks/beats via the dedicated Aux In. Plus a Micro USB B connector allows you to connect the pedal to PC/Mac to load cabinet simulation impulse responses to the pedal and control various other settings via the Darkglass Suite software. Massive sounds, massive controls, massive range; recording, playing live, or just sparring with your tone at home alone, the Darkglass Microbes X Ultra truly is a bass players best friend/secret weapon.
#4: FENDER SHIELDS BLENDER
It’s probably no surprise this made our top 5 list, it’s pretty much one of the most talked about pedals of the year. When Kevin Shields, from My Bloody Valentine, a man who has more fuzz pedals than bones in his body, decided to get together with Fender to recreate an old discontinued 1970’s fuzz pedal, (a favourite of Shields), things were bound to get interesting. That pedal was called the Fender Blender fuzz pedal, a fuzz known to shave the eyebrows clean off the faces of all who stood before it. This new 2023 version, the Fender Shields Blender, still has the same edge, but has been multiplied by newer features and doubled up in it’s octave fuzzed out glory. Two footswitchable channels of fuzz, each with dedicated level controls, offer the ability to blend the fuzz voice with your clean signal or to blend the fuzz voice with a beefy suboctave fuzz, while the sag footswitch introduces sputtering and ducking effects like never before heard, all controlled by the intensity of your playing dynamics. It’s nasty. It’s noisy. It’s downright beautiful. Fun fact: It pretty much sold out everywhere within weeks, BUT we do have a new batch approaching us in January 2024 - do NOT sleep on it!
#3: STRYMON IRIDIUM AMP & IR CAB SIMULATOR
One of our favourite new pedal companies over the past 10 years has to be Strymon. Taking higher end pedals to the next level in terms of sound quality and detailed controls, with the likes of the unmatched BIG SKY and TIMELINE models changing the face of how reverb and delay sound, to the more affordable and compact versions of similarly jaw-dropping effects. What with the refined sounds of the DIG, DECO, EL CAPISTAN and FLINT effects, you may be surprised that we chose the IRIDIUM in our top 5 (because frankly, these effects are pretty much constant best sellers and just sound so. gosh. darn. good.) but what the IRIDIUM does is nothing short of a back-saving miracle - Yep. It’s an amp simulator pedal. That’s what it does. It’s all it does. BUT IT GENUINELY DOES IT. Don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of really good amp simulators out there, and to be fair, probably more bargain-for-your-buck type simulators to be found, with the likes of the super packed-to-the-brim-with-features & extremely versatile Headrush gear, or even the mighty muscle and distinctive character of the Blackstar AMPED range (AMPED I, II or III for that matter). The Strymon Iridium certainly has less features than those mentioned, but what it lacks in diverse menus it certainly makes up for in quality of tone. It feels like a real amp. It acts like a real amp. And with the right settings, it might even just sound better that your real amp! Giving you 3 iconic amplifiers, with a total of 9 impulse response speaker cabinets that adjust the tonality of the amp, plenty of gain an EQ control, and if that’s not enough connect it to your laptop and fine tune a ridiculous amount of detail via the Strymon Impulse Manager software. We guarantee you couldn’t tell the difference if you close your eyes. But your back will know all about it, and thank you later.. When Strymon do something, they tend to really nail it.
Not gonna lie, it was a tough decision to decide between the new Boss RE-202 Space Echo and the new BOSS DM-101 Delay Machine - a fantastic analog delay released early this year, that truly sounds impeccable. (Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnjbAZRidVQ)
But alas, we have decided! While clearly vintage-inspired, the Boss RE-202 Space Echo boasts all of the contemporary features you'd expect from an advanced, modern day delay pedal. I mean, it is a modern delay pedal, it just sounds as convincingly vintage as the vintage original. Twice the delay time is available however, along with a fourth virtual tape head that unlocks five additional sound combinations. There’s also an echo type that changes the distance between the heads, something not possible with the original 1974 mono RE-201. Classic controls for bass, treble, repeat rate, and more will feel familiar to experienced users yet easy enough for first-time players to access that special Space Echo charm, with added Saturation and Wow and Flutter knobs to dial in extra colour and modulation. There’s super trippy 'Warp' and 'Twist' effects with footswitch controls, MIDI compatibility, true stereo Ins/Outs.. yep, it’s feature heavy, but none of it get’s in the way of it’s true intention - unique rhythmic tape echo sounds, warm character, and highly-playable sonic quirks. It overloads just like the real thing too, and combined with the onboard reverb options, you could easily end up forgetting what year or decade it is! Built by the original makers, for people seeking the original sound.
Here at the ‘Maker, we sometimes feel like we’ve seen it all. You just never know what’s going to come in our store next. So when we finally put the Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Pedal out on our shelves, we all joined in unison turning our heads sideways trying to figure out what the heck this gigantic Bigsby Tremolo Arm was doing, sat inside our effect pedal display, and what exactly it does. Well folks, sometimes looks aren’t deceiving, and that Bigsby Pedal, is in fact, a Bigsby…Pedal! For the uninitiated, Bigsby is a company that specialise in trem arms for guitars. A lot of Gretsch’s, Fender and Gibson’s are known to use them. Now you can too - whatever the guitar, or even instrument for that matter, and with the funnest results of all! The Bigsby's specially developed hybrid algorithm delivers smooth polyphonic pitch-shifting in real time and at low intervals. It has been painstakingly tweaked to preserve the natural timbre and sound of electric and acoustic string instruments, including, guitars, basses, baritones, mandolins and banjos. Featuring a unique spring-loaded pedal design, the Bigsby seamlessly incorporates pitch bends into complex picking patterns and melodic lead lines for a uniquely expressive playing experience. Better still, you won't have to keep tweaking your guitar's tuning, which is often the case when using vintage tremolo/vibrato systems, breaking the hearts of many guitarists and guitar techs over the years.. but that’s not even the half of it - it also features full MIDI functionality and PC control over all parameters, and you can easily save and recall presets, making it a great asset on stage or in studio. The Blend control unlocks some incredible chorus and harmoniser sounds whilst the expression output lets you take control of other audio gear either in conjunction with or separately from the pitch shifting. It’s way more than just a gimmicky looking pedal, it’s a super powerful polyphonic octave pitch shifter with stunning, clever controls. You absolutely need to hear and feel it to believe it!
Honourable Mentions!
As I previously mentioned, a top 5 pedal list is pretty much an impossible task, these merely pipped the post of impressing us the most this year. There are so many others that deserve a shout out, for either the quality of the sound (eg, Meris LVX; Blackstar AMPED III; Strymon DIG) or the amount of versatility (eg, Electro Harmonix Mel9; Headrush CORE; Keeley Dark Side) or just even for their downright sheer fun and madness of it all (EarthQuaker Devices Data Corruptor, Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal; EHX Mono Synth)
We certainly look forward to what 2024 will sound like! Have a noisy Christmas and a spring reverby New Year!