Guitar World Gear Editor Paul Riario chooses his top five new effect pedals of 2012.

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02. Z.Vex Effects Sonar

Z.Vex has always been one of my favorite effects manufacturers because they always seem to have an innovative spin on every new stomp box they introduce.

The Sonar ($329, hand-painted; $219, Vexter Series, not hand-painted) is not just an ordinary tremolo pedal but one that slices and dices and chops up your signal in a multitude of ways.

It can be made to sound somewhat traditional but who wants just that? The Sonar can get very machine-like and quirky in its tremolo sounds — kind of like if Kraftwerk decided to cover Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Born On The Bayou.”

All the knobs and mini toggles play with the idea of when and where you wish to hit peak volume of the tremolo and when it ramps up or down to the end of the signal. It excels when using a high-gain amplifier to create helicopter sounds or very quick stutters. Get the hand-painted version because each Z.Vex pedal is a work of art. Trust me.

More info: zvex.com

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