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12 Sep

Lovepedal Purple Plexi

Gladesville Guitar Factory | guitarfactory.net | RRP: $319

Minimising controls and maximising tone, that’s the mantra of Lovepedal stompboxes. The boutique pedal manufacturer is responsible for making the one-knob pedal not only a viable option, but also a vehicle for distinct settings and a myriad of tonal options. Next to pedals of greater stature, excessive functionality and overcomplicated controls, Lovepedal units hold their own with skilfully sculpted tone. The ‘less is more’ approach is one that they take very seriously, perfectly embodied by their updated Purple Plexi. Now with three control knobs instead of four, this new redesign aims to tap into decades of Marshall Plexi tone.

12 Sep

24 Aug

Keeley Electronics Silver Bullet Fuzz Pedal

Keeley Electronics | www.robertkeeley.com | RRP: $255

Robert Keeley has been building, modding and refining pedals
 for many moons. A lot of his creations have become staples on pedalboards around the world, from uber rock stars to studio cats 
to bedroom bashers and those just beginning their foray into tonal exploration. A respected engineer, his enthusiasm for tone has never seemed to wane, and the recent revamp of the Keeley look, website and a tonne of new designs shows that he’s working as hard as ever.

24 Aug

10 Aug

Hammond Leslie Cream Pedal

Musico | (03) 9872 5094 | www.musico.com.au | RRP: $699

The names Hammond and Leslie have been around in music for longer than most of us can remember. But one usually thinks of big organs and killer rotary speaker cabinets when these names are mentioned. The last thing I would have thought about was a guitar pedal, until this landed on my desk this month! Now, Hammond have delivered a pedal that captures the behaviour of Don Leslie’s original cabinet designs, with four separate cabinets modelled in the one pedal. For keyboards and guitars, this offers a whole lot of life and character in one pedal.

10 Aug

10 Aug

Sherlock Amplifiers V3 Distortion Pedal

Sherlock Amplifiers | (03) 8802 0499 | www.sherlockamps.com | RRP: Contact For Pricing

Personally, I’m a longtime fan of Dale Sherlock’s amps. The Fat Head, the Angry Ant and the Grid 30 are particular favourites, but pretty much anything Dale Sherlock turns his considerable talents to is going to turn out great. Enter the V3. It’s a two-channel distortion pedal, which takes the high gain circuitry of the Fat Head and shrinks it down to pedal form.

10 Aug

5 Aug

Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo

Gladesville Guitar Factory | (02) 9817 2173 | www.guitarfactory.net | RRP: $299

Catalinbread are masters at infusing classic sounds and unique parameters into newly produced stompboxes. Their entire pedal range is characterised by an appreciation for subtlety and control – an approach hinged upon authenticity and attention to detail. The Belle Epoch Tape Echo – their latest vintage throwback to pass through Mixdown’s doors – is a prime example of this very philosophy. This pedal is a recreation of Maestro’s highly influential Echoplex EP-3 tape delay effect. In offering echo, sound-on-sound functionality and the superb colouration of a quality preamp, it garnered use from the likes of Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page. This is why Catalinbread have gone to such great lengths to recreate its distinctive set of controls and sonic configuration in a modern unit.

5 Aug

27 Jul

TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up Octaver

Amber Technology | 1800 251 367 | www.ambertech.com.au | RRP: $289

TC Electronic boast a formidable pedal range, with the Danish masters of sound alteration currently at the height of their powers. So when the audio equipment manufacturer teased earlier in the year the forthcoming release of a new pedal, the industry buzz was palpable. Following widespread speculation about the pedal’s identity, we were finally introduced to the newest member of their heralded pedal effect family – the Sub ‘N’ Up Octaver. In true TC Electronic fashion, this is a high performance octaver, modernised and reinvented, yet undeniably authentic. As the new face of pitch altering, it looks the part and plays like a well-oiled machine.

27 Jul

20 Jul

Vox V860 Volume Pedal

Yamaha Music Australia | (03) 9693 5111 | www.voxamps.com | RRP: $249.99

There are some pedals that continue to show up on guitarists’ pedalboards no matter what they play and how they use effects. One such unit is the volume pedal, an indispensable tool that can transform the way you control your dynamics and change the way both your guitar and amplifier interact together. But, there aren’t that many good volume pedals readily available, so it is nice to see Vox adding the V860 to their product line-up this year.

20 Jul

18 Jul

TC Electronic Wiretap Riff Recorder

Amber Technology | 1800 251 367 | www.ambertech.com.au | RRP: $219

The last few years have been an exciting time for pedal-heads. All it takes is to watch any video taken 
at a NAMM convention to realise that long gone are the days where only two major manufacturers had
a stranglehold on the stompbox market. There are hundreds of boutique, bespoke and bedroom builders hunched over enclosures, soldering iron in hand, pushing the boundaries of what goes on between guitar and amp. And for a long time, TC Electronic has been one of the most ingenious names at the forefront of this charge.

18 Jul

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