Strymon is to the reverb pedal world what Gibson and Fender are to electric guitar. There is no brand out there that commands such a stake in this space; there is no equal to its influence. And for good reason. I can’t even begin to imagine the number of pedalboards the boutique effects pedal specialist has found itself on across the globe.

It isn’t just reverb, of course. The US pedal maker also specializes in delay, modulation, drives and more. But its 'verb pedals almost sit in a category of their own. The BigSky MX is the premium reverb workstation to beat. The smaller BlueSky tops best reverb pedal lists across the internet.

And then there’s the Flint. Strymon's twofer ambient pedal that has become the first-choice reverb-tremolo solution for players across the globe. It's almost laughable how many big-name players have – or have had – it on their pedalboards over the years.

John Mayer, Noel Gallagher, Billy Corgan, Gary Clark Jr., Graham Coxon, Chris Shiflett… the list goes on. For Mayer fans in particular, it is one of the most crucial components of his rig.

All of that is to say, the Flint is a very popular pedal, one that has stood the test of time thanks to its tonal superiority and foolproof functionality. But it’s got its fair share of competition. After all this time, does its latest iteration still hold up to scrutiny?

Specs

• Launch price: $349 | £315 | €369
• Type: Reverb and tremolo pedal
• Origin: USA
• Controls: Tremolo on/off footswitch, Intensity, Speed, three-way toggle switch | Reverb on/off switch, Mix, Decay, Color, three-way toggle switch
• Features: MIDI, Stereo/Mono Input, USB-C, Stereo Out, Class A JFET TRS stereo input
• Connectivity: 1/4" Stereo/Mono Input, L and R Stereo Output
• Bypass: True
• Power: 9V DC center-negative, 300mA
• Dimensions: 101.6mm (W) x 114.3 mm (D) x 44.5 mm (H)
• Weight: 1.1lbs (0.5kg)
• Contact: Strymon

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

The phrase ‘it’s built like a tank’ gets bandied about far too easily these days, but we should make an exception for the Flint. I wouldn’t recommend testing this theory, though.

Now, this is a review of the V2 – which I have spent plenty of time with – but before that I’ve had the V1 on every permutation of my pedalboard over the past two years. Therefore, I can say with some confidence that I’ve found it to be one of the most hard-wearing workhorse pedals money can buy.

I’ve had it on pedalboards big and small, and dragged it to venues of all shapes and sizes. Granted, it’s not the stompbox in my rig that has the highest stomps-per-night ratio, but it’s never shown any signs of weakness or any chinks in the armour.

What’s more, the robust box-like chassis has a nice brushed-aluminum finish that feels well equipped to protect the circuits inside. The toggle switches are firm with an authoritative ‘snap’ between modes – safe from any accidental switches when tweaking the innermost knobs – and the parameters all have a healthy sweep with a nice amount of resistance.

Between the V1 and the V2, the build quality and overall components are the same: top-notch. The looks is clean and classic – a Strymon calling card – and it all comes in a tidy package that, while not exactly on the small side, doesn’t take up too much pedalboard real estate considering the two effects it hosts. And any space you might sacrifice will be worth it.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

Another reason why the Flint has stood the test of time is because of how intuitive it is. If, like me, the sight of a BigSky MX gives you cold sweats, the Flint is an excellent entry point into top quality Strymon effects.

The reverb and tremolo effects get their own sides. On the left, you get a bypass footswitch for the tremolo, along with a three-way voice toggle and controls for Intensity and Speed. On the right, reverb has its own bypass switch, another three-way toggle, and Mix, Decay and Color parameters.

On the face of it, that’s all you need. For some, that might be limiting. But the V2 added MIDI connectivity, meaning you can save and store up to 300 presets that can be recalled using an external MIDI controller.

It can be a faff to set up, and for players (like myself) who try to avoid MIDI at all costs, the lack of any onboard preset slots is a bit of a shame. Regardless, normal operation is so easy you could practically do it in your sleep, so as long as your changes aren’t too drastic, you could probably get away with doing it on the fly.

There are also some secondary controls worth noting hidden away, including Pre-Delay, Tap Division, and Boost/Cut. To access these, you need to either press and hold both footswitches, or engage Live Edit mode by holding a single switch.

It can be a pain if these secondary functions are key to your tone, and it's not the most intuitive layout for them. Some additional tagging on which knob does what would be helpful here.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

Naturally, Strymon pedals excel when it comes to sound. And there are plenty of excellent reverb and tremolo tones to unpack here. For my money, you won’t find a twofer reverb/tremolo pedal that sounds better.

The V1 and V2 share the same core effects algorithms, but with hardware differences around them that I will get to. On the right side, you get ‘60s Spring Tank Reverb, ‘70s Electronic Plate Reverb and ‘80s Hall Rack Reverb, while the tremolo gives you ‘61 Harmonic Tremolo, ‘63 Power Tube Tremolo and ‘65 Photocell Tremolo. The nice thing about the Flint is that, thanks to the independent toggles, you can mix-and-match any reverb and tremolo combo you like. The V2 also lets you determine the order of effects.

On the reverb side of things, the Flint can be used as a ‘set it and forget it’ end-of-chain or effects loop ’verb, or you can have fun with it and move between modes depending on what you need.

I’ve done both, and the Flint can do them easily. At first, I used it similar to how Mayer did: locked on the ‘60s reverb mode, with Decay and Color around noon and Mix just below. With that, you get a no-nonsense, solid spring-style reverb reminiscent of vintage tube amps. It’s digital, but it could fool anyone, with a lovely three-dimensional dynamic feel that escapes some lesser reverb pedals.

The tremolo I initially used for subtle lead lines, again similar to how Mayer deploys it. Intensity around noon, speed around nine o’ clock, just for a tone tonic that can thicken and add a bit of character and personality when you need something to stick out in the mix. Lead lines, for example, or jangly melodies that would otherwise fall flat.

When I went ampless and started using the reverb in my Nano Cortex, I then deployed the Flint in a more ambient role, leveraging the experimental tones you can get from the reverb and tremolo effects.

Namely, I moved to the ‘80s Hall setting, cranked the Mix and Color, and used it for soundscaping: textural parts and atmospheric pads that sounded absolutely incredible in the mix. This is how I used the Flint when I played at Portman Road Stadium in the UK with a band, and the thought of those reverbs still gives me goosebumps. It filled the 30,000 cap venue absolutely magnificently.

The Color control really comes into its own when you give it freedom, too. When it’s bumped, you get a darker vibe that almost gives your chain a bit of grit. It affects the decays, so when your reverb time is bumped, you get this irresistible break-up that filters out in an incredible musical way.

The tremolo can get more involved, too. As well as those aforementioned subtle warbles, you can really crank the controls to get into gnarly, choppy territory. Dime the Intensity and it will make you feel seasick, such is the responsiveness of the control. Up the Speed and it could give you whiplash.

Again, I’ve followed the Mayer school of thought, but I’ve also paired it with fuzz pedals and overdrives for more bit-crush-y, shoegaze-y tones. Granted, it’s not easy switching between all those different effects without a MIDI controller, but it’s nice to have those options. There's also the option of using the Strymon MiniSwitch ($49, sold separately) to recall a favourite setting and switch between that what's dialed into the Flint at the time. You can also tap in tremolo speeds with it too. If that appeals, you'll just have to make extra space on your pedalboard as well as your wallet.

For this V2 version, Strymon also adds a Mono/Stereo input signal switch. A bit of a gamechanger, especially for players like myself, who somewhat struggled with the V1’s placement, given the fact it had a sum-to-mono input. Not ideal, especially when you’re running it alongside stereo effects beforehand – like I would with choruses and ping-pong delays.

I should also mention the premium analog JFET input circuit of the V2, which is said to offer improved responsiveness to your playing. An A/B test with both shows there’s certainly a distinction there, with a great receptiveness to dynamic playing – particularly when rolling back the volume on your guitar.

Verdict

It’s easy to see why the humble Strymon Flint has played a starring role in John Mayer’s rig for such a long time, and become the go-to reverb/tremolo pedal for players across the world. As a standalone reverb pedal, you’d be hard pressed to find three better algorithms in one unit. Pair that with three wholly distinct tremolos, and the ability to match them as you see fit, and it really is a winning formula.

Sometimes, the simplest solutions are often the best, and while the Flint V2 did introduce some very handy features – MIDI compatibility, USB-C connectivity, and a stereo input switch – it would probably have retained its title without them. That said, as an avid fan of the V1, I’d definitely be looking to make a permanent switch to the V2.

It’s one pedal that has never left Mayer’s pedalboard and except for some very minor cases, I doubt it will ever leave mine.

Guitar World verdict: And still the reverb/tremolo pedal to beat, the Flint V2 updates an already world-beating two-in-one that has little to prove in this day and age. It's good enough for some of the most particular toneheads on the planet, it's good enough for me.

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Strymon

Mike Hermans

Andertons

It’s been a few years since the Strymon BigSky MX was released, so it’s about time we got around to reviewing it. Successor to arguably the most popular reverb pedal of all time, the MX looks to build on the success of the original, adding more sounds, more processing power, better connectivity, plus loads more.

The headline here is that you can now run two reverb engines simultaneously, whether that’s in series, parallel, or with each engine panned separately. The MX also significantly increases the power to do this, replacing the 366 MHz SHARC DSP chip with an 800 MHz tri-core ARM processor.

The impulse and chamber engines are fresh additions to the lineup, but it's not just new stuff that's been added. The spring, plate, hall, room, and shimmer engines have been rewritten from the ground up, with many of the other returning sounds getting additional functions and enhancements. The ability to load custom impulse responses up to 10 seconds long adds a lot of potential flexibility, and it ships with 22 stereo IRs as stock.

The footswitches have had some slight changes, with a dedicated infinite footswitch, while the A and B footswitches can now be set to toggle each reverb engine independently. It has USB-C, bringing it firmly into the future versus the original, which required a MIDI-to-USB adapter to use the Nixie companion app. It can also do MIDI over USB-C, TRS, or the traditional 5-pin DIN connection.

Specs

• Launch price: $749 | £699 | €699
• Type: Dual-engine reverb workstation
• Controls: Type, Value, Decay, Pre-Delay, Tone, Mod, Param 1/2, Mix; 3 footswitches (A, B, Infinite)
• Features: 12 reverb algorithms, dual reverb engines (Series/Parallel/Split routing), 10-second stereo impulse response loading and editing, Nixie 2 editor software
• Connectivity: Stereo in/out, MIDI in/out (5-pin DIN), USB-C (MIDI, editor, firmware updates), EXP jack (expression pedal / MultiSwitch / TRS MIDI)
• Bypass: True bypass (electromechanical relay) or buffered bypass, selectable
• Power: 9VDC, center-negative, 2.1mm, 500mA minimum
• Dimensions: 172mm x 127mm x 48mm (7" x 5" x 1.87")
• Weight: 800g
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Strymon

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Despite the workstation moniker, it’s not actually as big as you think it might be. The MX is slightly wider than the original BigSky but only just, and it weighs well below a kilo. It’ll take up the same amount of space as two and a bit Boss stompboxes by my reckoning. It’s not tall either, offering a relatively low-profile platform that won’t stick out too much alongside other pedals.

All of the parameter control knobs offer a nice, firm travel and feel robustly applied to the chassis. The endless encoders for selecting reverb engines and adjusting certain values, on the other hand, are a lot softer in their response.

There’s no ratcheting to the engines, which are instead dictated by an LED light, and when I turn slowly, it takes a second or two to move to the next option. The push-in function of each encoder is nice and tactile, but personally I’d like a little more resistance when turning them.

One thing I didn’t enjoy was the white text on the blue background. Great when playing on a dark stage, but at some angles could be difficult to read with the overhead lighting in my home studio. No such issues with the screen, which works brilliantly in any light thanks to the contrast of green on black.

The footswitches feel very robust, and they click quietly when I press them in. There’s no reason to suspect it’s any less durable than the original BigSky, which has graced players’ pedalboards for a good thirteen years and counting.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

To test its stereo capabilities, I plug the BigSky MX into my Universal Audio audio interface and started by seeing how easy it is to navigate the pedal without resorting to the manual. At the other end of my guitar cable is the Sire S7 HSS S-type.

Moving banks is handled by the ‘value’ encoder or by pressing the A and B footswitches to bank down, or the B and Infinite footswitches to bank up. The presets stay disengaged until you click one of the A or B footswitches, which could be quite handy for live players who want to tee a fresh sound up without necessarily engaging it. If you leave the pedal for too long, it engages a screensaver function that scrolls the preset across to prevent burn-in.

Due to the seven parameter-specific knobs on the chassis, hands-on control is an absolute breeze. Any time I want to change something about the preset, I’m easily able to dial in those most important controls with a quick turn of a knob. A handy up arrow marks where the knob was originally set to, should you want to go back to the original sound.

Pressing the value encoder opens up further settings, allowing me to change the low end, size, diffusion, output level, pan, and loads more options. It’s all quick and easy to change, and it's nice that Strymon has kept the way you interact with the pedal the same as the original.

Holding the ‘Value’ encoder down unlocks the global settings for the pedal, where I can get even more granular. Things like the display mode for the screen, screen brightness, MIDI settings, expression settings, spillover, and even the footswitch LED brightness are accessible here.

Downloading the Nixie 2 companion app, I’m surprised to find there is still no preset editability, despite the pedal having launched several years ago. The only real use for the software is for loading third-party impulse responses or adding new presets, so if you prefer doing your editing on a computer, there’s currently no option for it. Strymon hasn’t said when this is coming, but they have promised it will be part of a future software update.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

In order to test the stereo capabilities, I route the outputs to inputs 1 and 2 of my interface, then load a couple of clean amp simulations in Pro Tools and pan them hard left and right. Scrolling through the presets, I come across the ‘Drippy Spring’ setting. It’s a delightful tone, perfect for surf rock noodling and tremolo picking on the middle position of my Strat-style guitar.

It’s easy to see why the cloud engine got its own pedal when I switch to the ‘Silverscreen’ preset. It manages to be washy and atmospheric without drowning out your core playing, ideal for ambient players who want that huge reverb sound but still need to keep their original guitar tone clear in the mix.

The shimmer engine tracks brilliantly and allows me to select basically any harmony I can think of, including tritones. It stays on point even with complex chords and non-linear harmonies, and I can add two different harmonies at once when running dual engines, making it a very flexible tool for some soaring tones that coalesce beneath whichever note I’m playing.

The chorale engine is similarly superb, providing a lush undertone for pretty much any kind of sound. Riffs with prominent drone strings ring out with clarity, all underpinned by the soaring or impending (depending on what I'm playing) synth pad-like sounds.

The magneto engine is an interesting one. On the face of it, it's actually tape echo emulation, but at higher diffusion settings it blurs the line between echo and reverb. It’s cool but feels slightly out of place initially. It really comes into its own when I pair it with another reverb in dual mode, which results in some incredible sounds as I feed the delay tails into the reverb algorithms.

There are so many sounds here that it’s not possible for me to list them all within the constraints of this review. But the main takeaway I got is how good they are at not completely overpowering your playing. The engines can all do this with the right mix setting, of course, but the presets are remarkably good at balancing the wash of reverb whilst still keeping the attack when I strike the strings.

Verdict

The Strymon BigSky MX succeeds in delivering some spectacular reverb tones that will cover all bases, whether it’s a classic room tone or you want huge waves of ambient wash that drown your guitar completely. The sheer quality of the sounds is unbelievably good, up there with anything Line 6, Neural, Eventide, Boss, or any other manufacturer is putting out there, and it's easy to see why the BigSky has been such a popular pedal for such a long time.

Its real strength, though, is in how refreshingly easy it is to dial in the sounds. There is no companion app with preset editing for the BigSky MX at the time of writing this review, but I didn’t miss it at all. A lot of pedals like to hide functionality behind an app these days, so having all the controls on the front of the unit is a breath of fresh air. For those who do prefer doing their tweaking on the computer, the immediate lack of app editing could be a deal breaker.

Is it overkill for a lot of players? Absolutely, and especially when you consider the price point is well north of $600. If you just want one or two reverb sounds, then this pedal would likely be wasted on you, and some players could easily get lost in option paralysis instead of just concentrating on their playing.

Guitar World verdict: The Strymon BigSky MX is a worthy successor to arguably the most popular reverb pedal ever made. It’s not just a quick rehash either, with entire engines being rebuilt to improve the quality, and the addition of running dual algorithms seriously expanding the sound-sculpting possibilities. Despite the huge depth, it’s incredibly easy to edit and adjust sounds, which is the real strength of this pedal. It’s a worthwhile upgrade for anyone who already owns a BigSky, as well as a potentially huge boon for players who want a wealth of top-quality reverb tones at their fingertips.

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Secret Weapons

Andertons

Chords of Orion

It’s hard to believe that the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is over 30 years old, heck, it’s almost as old as I am. This tiny, yet pioneering stompbox launched way back in 1995 and proved that not all boutique pedals had to recreate historic units from the past. Instead, they could innovate and push the medium forward into bold new territories.

Used by everyone from Deftones axeman Stef Carpenter to resident Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, and noise junky Trent Reznor, the Fuzz Factory has a long list of famous admirers – and it seems it’s just as popular today as it was back in the day.

The unit is built around a pair of new old stock germanium transistors, and it ditches the traditional tone-shaping of level, tone, and gain in favor of direct control over transistor bias and stability to unlock everything from Velcro-like sputter and gating to infinite, self-oscillating synthy squeals – but it can do some classic Fuzz Face sounds as well, if you like your fuzz tone boring...

As you’d expect from an old-school boutique pedal, the vast majority of Z.Vex pedals are hand-painted, hand-assembled, and produced in relatively small batches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That said, the model I’m reviewing is part of the Vexter series. This is a slightly more affordable version of the Fuzz Factory. While the innards are the same, this one features UV-printed artwork and is assembled in Taiwan.

Those who like to run pedals on batteries will be happy to hear the pedal draws very little current: a tiny 3 mA, to be exact. For context, and as Z.Vex points out in the manual, an Ibanez Tube Screamer runs at almost 40 mA. Of course, the pedal can also run on a standard 9V center-negative pedalboard power supply.

Today, I’m taking this famous box of fuzz for a test drive to see if it lives up to its stellar reputation and to see if, after 30 years, it’s still one of the best fuzz pedals on the market.

Specs

• Launch price: $229 | £189 | €199
• Type: Germanium Fuzz / Self-Oscillating Fuzz Effect Pedal
• Controls: Volume, Gate, Comp, Drive, Stab
• Features: NOS 1960s Germanium transistors, interactive self-oscillation, velcro-fuzz to synth tones, silk-screened graphics, LED indicator
• Connectivity: 1/4" Mono Input, 1/4" Mono Output
• Bypass: True Bypass
• Power: 9V DC center-negative / 9V Battery (~4mA current draw)
• Dimensions: 4.70" x 2.38" x 1.82" (119 mm x 60 mm x 46 mm)
• Weight: 0.5 lbs (0.23 kg)
• Options: Hand-Painted Fuzz Factory, Fat Fuzz Factory (with bass switch), Fuzz Factory 7
• Contact: Z.Vex

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

It's fair to say the Fuzz Factory is an iconic-looking pedal. Now, while it does do other enclosure styles, this small horizontal format has become somewhat of a trademark of the brand. Yes, it may not be the most practical when trying to Tetris together a pedalboard, but I’ve always thought it looked cool – and it certainly stands out among the sea of other boutique stompboxes.

Another trademark is the cartoony, colorful hand-painted graphics, which are unfortunately missing on this version. That’s not to say the UV-printed graphic is bad; I actually think it looks great, but it doesn’t quite have the charm or uniqueness of the original.

Really, though, it’s not about how a pedal looks, it’s more about how well it’s built, and like all Z.Vex units, this one feels expertly put together. There’s a reassuring heft to the pedal, the knobs are smooth, and the footswitch is robust. Really, what more do you need in a pedal?

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

When I say this is one of the most interactive fuzz pedals around, I really do mean it. Each dial parameter seems to morph and change depending on how the others are set. Even in the manual, Z.Vex jokes, “Although the five knobs are named for the parameters over which they seem to have the most control, please don’t hold me to it.”

The result is a pedal that’s genuinely fun to experiment with. It’s somewhat unpredictable in its nature, and that’s what’s so engaging about it. A few small adjustments can make wild changes to the tone.

Going through the controls, the first, aside from the output volume, is Gate. As you’d expect. This can be a noisy little pedal, so this is used to fully kill any unwanted buzz, hiss, or feedback. Now, it can even be used to tune the feedback pitch, too, if you’re a fan of things getting a little unruly and a touch mad.

The Comp control adjusts the overall attack character of the fuzz. Turn it left for a softer sound, and right for a harder, more immediate one. Again, though, like the other controls, its parameters change when used in conjunction with the other dials.

Drive is used to dial in the amount of distortion. Well, it is if you’re running the Fuzz Factory as a traditional fuzz pedal. This control doesn’t really do anything if you have the Comp dial maxed out.

When it comes to the Stability control, there’s a warning in the manual, “Use all the way right. Do not adjust this control below 2:00, unless you like your fuzz soft and squishy.” Very basically, Stability regulates the voltage supplied to the pedal's internal germanium transistors. By starving or feeding the circuit power, it dictates whether the pedal behaves like a “normal” fuzz or a spitting, sputtering noise machine.

Rarely do I get to play with a pedal that’s so simply laid out, yet invites so much experimentation. I think a large portion of the success of this fuzz is how fun it is to dial in. I lost hours of my life finding cool and interesting settings, and I don’t care one bit – in fact, I loved spending so much time endlessly tweaking.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

For testing, I’m running a Gibson Les Paul directly into the Fuzz Factory and then into a Vox AC30 set fairly clean and open, with a smidge of reverb.

With so much talk of experimentation, it's easy to write off the Fuzz Factory as only for those who like absolutely feral fuzz tones, but it does the classic sounds very well indeed. Leaving the Gate and Comp dials all the way down for the moment, I push the Drive to around halfway and keep the Stab on max. The tone is somewhat Fuzz Face-like. It’s smooth, seriously dynamic, and plays very well with my guitar’s volume pot.

Push the gain further and bring in the Comp, and things start to get very heavy and thick with tonnes of compression. I did start to dial up the gate here too, trying to catch some of the buzz. Things get pretty filthy in this setting, and in the best possible way.

These settings alone are worth the price of admission, but this tiny stomp can do a whole lot more than that, it is a factory of fuzz, after all.

If you max out the Comp and Drive, and pull back on the Stab, you get that quintessential “Velcro” fuzz sound that is addictive to play. It sounds fierce and unpredictable, and it's perfect for garage rock-style single-note riffing. I genuinely love this setting.

Would I use it all the time? No, of course not, but it’s bags of fun. The tone here shifts from something you’d instantly recognize as a standard guitar sound to something that could be considered synth-like, especially as those high octaves start to creep in.

Moving the dials while playing can create filter sweeps. At times, it almost sounds like tuning an old radio, with wild feedback screams and other equally mad, noisy sounds that are all part of the fun with this pedal.

It isn’t for the faint of heart, or guitarists who like a mild Tube Screamer into a slightly overdriven tube amp to go with their equally beige cup of tea. It’s for lovers of over-the-top filthy saturation and those who don’t mind more than a little knob tinkering.

Verdict

The Z.Vex Fuzz Factory is a true icon in the world of effects pedals, and after three decades, it still stands out as a bold, innovative stomp that more than lives up to its reputation.

Unlike troves of boutique pedals that simply pay homage to the past, the Fuzz Factory has always forged its own path, offering a unique and experimental approach to fuzz that has attracted a legion of devoted fans, famous and normies alike.

For me, what sets the Fuzz Factory apart is its sheer versatility and interactivity. The unusual control set invites hours of sonic tinkering. Each knob interacts with the others in unpredictable ways, making the pedal as much an instrument as an effect. Whether you crave classic, dynamic Fuzz Face-like tones or wild, synth-like oscillations and velcro-gated textures, the Fuzz Factory delivers it in spades.

The Vexter Series provides the same legendary circuit at a more accessible price point, trading the original hand-painted graphics for sleek UV-printed artwork. Despite the change in aesthetics, the build quality remains exceptional, with robust components and a solid feel underfoot. Honestly, outside of the printed graphic, most of us would be hard-pressed to notice, or indeed hear, the difference.

Okay, I’ll admit that this pedal isn’t for everyone. Its unpredictable character and penchant for chaos make it best suited for players who live on the wilder side of the street. But for those willing to dive in, the rewards are immense.

I genuinely think the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory remains one of the most creative, inspiring, and fun fuzz pedals ever made. It’s a modern classic in every sense of the word, and one that continues to push the boundaries of what a stompbox can do.

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Pedal Of The Day

Matt Kelly

You will always stand out with an Orange amplifier in your backline, not only because of its brightly colored aesthetic, but also because of a classic tone that has been powering players since 1968. With that sort of heritage, some brands would be content only to lean on past successes and put out re-issue after re-issue, but Orange has consistently launched creative new products alongside its classic amps. Case in point: the new Baby Terror.

It joins Orange’s ‘Baby’ line of products, which utilizes tried and tested solid-state tech but with interesting features aimed at the gigging musician. It’s stable mates include products such as the Pedal Baby, which is a rack-mount power amp built to work with the relatively modern convention of pedalboard pre-amps, and the two-channel Dual Baby, the first channel of which informs part of the Baby Terror's design.

Form factor-wise, Baby Terror takes obvious influence from the Micro Terror line and is an impressively tiny 20-watt guitar amp head. Like the rest of the Baby series, it is solid-state and boasts a couple of interesting features. Namely, the Tubby switch first found on the Dual Baby, a footswitchable volume boost and a balanced XLR output, all of which we will dive into.

If you are a tube amplifier aficionado, don’t let the solid-state thing put you off. Orange has form for using this tech in a way that feels impressively tube-like, not only in the Baby lineup but also in the Crush series of products.

In other words, the Baby Terror has a pretty high bar to meet.

Specs

• Launch price: $249 | £199 | €236
• Type: Lunchbox head
• Origin: China
• Output: 20 watts
• Channels: 1
• Controls: FS Volume, Volume, Gain, Presence, Treble, Middle, Bass, Tubby switch
• Connectivity: 1/4" input, speaker output, effects loop, XLR direct out
• Footswitch: Purchased separately
• Weight: 3.3lbs/1.5kgs
• Dimensions: 165x140x100mm/6.4"x5.5"x3.9"
• Contact: Orange

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

A metal chassis, a big, chunky metal handle, and some equally chunky rubber feet give this baby box a rather hardy feel. Being solid-state too, the internals are not as sensitive as fragile glass tubes, so it really makes an impression as a tough little thing.

Little being the operative word, as at 165 x 140 x 100 mm and just 1.5kg, it is delightfully small, even for a lunchbox-style head.

The controls on the front panel all feel robust in use, as do the inputs and outputs on the back, with the exception of the external power adapter. With a product designed to run straight into a mains socket and potentially gigged with, I would always rather see an IEC cable instead of the comparatively flimsy DC adapter included here.

All of this is protected within a handy soft case, which is thick enough to feel premium and offer some shielding from the inevitable scuffs that come with taking advantage of the amp's portability.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

As a one-channel amplifier, the Baby Terror is, by nature, a simple beast. On the front panel sit the three-band EQ, Presence, Volume, and Gain controls, all of which are clearly labeled and self-explanatory.

I say clearly labeled, as Orange has forgone its trademark icons in favor of simple text to label these controls. Personally, having previously criticized those icons for their lack of beginner-friendliness, I am a fan of this choice.

Also on the front panel lie two of the features that make this amp interesting beyond its diminutive stature. Namely, the Tubby switch, which thickens up the low end on cleaner settings, and a second footswitchable Volume control.

The latter is particularly handy for providing a little boost to get your solos to rise above the mix in a live band. To be clear, it is not a second channel, but rather a second volume to control the single channel with.

What is a shame, though, is that, unlike a lot of amplifiers, the Baby Terror does not come with a footswitch, so you'll need to invest in an Orange FS-1 Mini or similar to make full use of this.

The rear of the amp sports the input for a footswitch, the 8/16ohms output, as well as an effects loop that is particularly handy on a single-channel amp that likes to break up, and a balanced XLR direct out.

It’s great to have that direct output, but it is not cabinet-emulated, so you will have to run your own Impulse Response or cabinet emulation externally to properly use this. With so many other options to go direct without this added hassle, un-emulated direct outs feel a little superfluous in the current market.

On a related note, Orange says that the Baby Terror is suitable for desktop practice. I disagree.

While of course you can use it at home, that unemulated output makes utilising the XLR out for this use a bit of a faff magnet, and for most, using the Baby Terror with a guitar cabinet at home will take up more room than is convenient. You could buy a small cabinet specifically for home practice, but it would make more sense to put that cash into one of the many, and generally very affordable, home practice amps on the market that tend to boast home targeted features such as Bluetooth connectivity.

It's worth mentioning the Orange Micro Terror here, as its auxiliary input makes it a slightly better option for jamming at home. However, its headphone output is also un-emulated, so it runs into the same issue.

Still, the Baby Terror is an amp that costs just $249/£199, so I am not expecting a smorgasbord of bells and whistles, and I am appreciative of those features that are here. Assuming that they don’t come at the expense of tone, of course.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Thankfully, there is nothing to worry about as far as that goes. I am putting it through its paces via an Orange PPC212V cab, a Gibson SG, Fender Elite Stratocaster, and a humbucker-loaded Orangewood Clementine semi (because, orange).

The Baby Terror possesses the familiar, mid-forward growl with a high-end presence that we have come to expect from Orange amplifiers. Like most Orange amps, it is built to drive, as it gets into edge-of-breakup territory relatively quickly at about halfway on the Gain control with my Stratocaster, and a little before that with my SG.

The Gain control needs to be set at least a quarter of the way up before any decent volume comes out of the amp too (even with the master volume set at full), meaning that there isn’t much clean headroom to play around with here.

So it's not for the country pickers, but perfect if you want an amp that breaks up without pushing too many decibels. Assuming you don't want to distort your time-based effects, this is where the effects loop comes in handy too and keeps the amp viable as a pedal platform.

Because of this, and as a solid-state amp with just 20 watts, it’s not suited to situations where you need things loud, but it will give you enough to monitor yourself on smaller stages, at rehearsals, or to do some studio recording with, while using the DI to send things to front-of-house.

Getting a clean tone, then, is all about rolling back the volume control on the guitar. Knocking just a little off the volume control with the amp set up on the edge of breakup gets straight into sparkly cleans with a little bit of grit as I dig in. It’s an old-school approach, but one that yields a very dynamic feel.

It does not quite have some of the luscious overtones of more expensive amplifiers, but that does not stop it from being a ton of fun to play.

Pushing the gain further reveals that the Baby Terror is capable of some meaty saturated tones, comfortably within heavy rock territory.

Throughout all of this playing, I find the amp to be relatively tight in the low end, with a tendency to get a little muddy as the gain gets cranked. For this, though, we have the Tubby switch, so I flick it to see if it solves the problem, and the answer is a resounding yes.

It reduces the low end, which results in those distorted palm-muted riffs sounding incredibly tight, and lends leads a little more cut. It is a subtle change, but one that is in exactly the right place. It’s almost as if Orange have been doing this for nearly 60 years.

EQ-wise, the Mid control is pretty subtle, leaving me feeling like I could do with a little bit more range here. The Bass, Treble and Presence controls, however, all offer enough to allow plenty of room for tweaking.

Lastly, I dig out my Browne Amplification Ethane pedal and find that the amp takes pedals incredibly well. Pushing it with the Tube Screamer-esque side of the overdrive pedal cuts the bass further, reduces airy highs and boosts the gain into a territory more than suitable for metal and heavier styles of music.

Alternatively, the Blues Breaker-inspired Carbon side of the pedal boosts the amp into more gain, with the pedal reflected in the way the tone stays bright, perfect for those classic rock riffs.

In short, it may not do clean all that well, but it can do just about everything else.

Verdict

The Baby line of products is proof that solid state can sound great, and the Baby Terror, as the newest addition to this lineup, is no different.

Built to rock, it is a low-headroom machine that reacts well to your guitar's volume control and responds dynamically to your pick attack. It has a delightfully old-school feel about it, furthered by the lack of modern digital wizardry that often complicates things.

The other side of that coin is that the Baby Terror doesn’t boast a ton of fancy features, but the footswitchable second volume control, an effects loop, and the Tubby switch are great additions that add facility in the places guitarists most need them.

For a lot of users, the Baby Terror is going to fall between the cracks as it does not have quite enough volume for big stages, nor is it practical for use as a home practice amp in the current market. But for studios, smaller gigs where space is often a premium, and rehearsal rooms, it’s a capable little thing.

Guitar World verdict: A tiny amp that delivers big, the Orange Baby Terror is perfect for the studio, small stages or rehearsals, when you need an amp that will happily break up at lower volumes. It’s the classic Orange bark, alongside some well-chosen features in a fun and affordable package.

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Gear 4 Music

zZounds

Electro-Harmonix likes to describe it as a “distortion/sustainer,” but the rest of us think of it as a fuzz pedal, and arguably one of the most important. This massive stompbox may have launched way back in 1969, but it’s still being used today by a list of guitar legends that reads like a who's who of the greatest ever to strum a six-string.

The humble Big Muff helped David Gilmour get comfortably numb, disarmed Billy Corgan, and was there when J Mascis defined the freak scene. It’s a staple of alternative music, and as such, it’s had more variations than you can shake a Jazzmaster at.

Over the years, transistors were swapped out, and the circuit was tweaked, refined, and improved to evolve alongside the players who used it. Today, there are a whopping 11 options to choose from in the current EHX catalog, all based on the various versions through the pedal's long and storied history – and that’s not counting the boutique clones and copies that have used the Muff as inspiration.

Today, I’m looking at the iconic Big Muff Pi. For most players, this is the most classic version of the Muff, at least from a visual point of view. Standing proud in its over-the-top, giant enclosure, the pedal relies on a classic 4-stage silicon transistor circuit to create its famous singing sustain and crushing distorted harmonics.

The unit features a basic three-knob layout with dials for Volume, Tone, and the gain knob labeled as Sustain. It's true bypass and can run on a 9V battery or a pedalboard power supply.

The Big Muff is pedal royalty at this point, and with a long list of famous admirers, it certainly doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. That said, today I’m going to take a closer look at the stomp that defined good guitar tone for so many, see how it holds up today, and see whether it’s just nostalgia or has a place on modern pedalboards.

Specs

• Launch price: $101 | £75 | €89
• Type: Fuzz
• Controls: Volume, Tone, Sustain
• Features: Quad-transistor fuzz with true bypass switching
• Connectivity: 1/4" input and output
• Bypass: True bypass
• Power: 9V
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 75 mm x 175 mm
• Weight: 450 g
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Electro-Harmonix

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

Right, first things first, this pedal is massive. Like, seriously big. Fun fact: it’s called the Big Muff because it was larger than Mike Matthews’ compact original Muff Fuzz, which predated this one by a few months. Well, it certainly lives up to the name.

Is it totally impractical by today’s pedal standards? Absolutely, but I don’t care one bit. I’ve always thought the Big Muff was a cool-looking pedal, and the ginormous and unwieldy enclosure is a lot of the appeal. From a build point of view, it’s a pretty lightweight pedal; in fact, it feels almost like there’s nothing inside it, but that’s not to say it feels cheap. Far from it. It feels solidly put together and well made with smooth controls and a firm but satisfying footswitch.

I’ve gigged many versions of the Big Muff, from this one to the Little Big Muff, the Nano, and even a Russian one, and I can reassure you that they always hold up to the harsh rigors of stage life. Genuinely, I’m yet to break one, and I’m not exactly light on my feet when I’m stomping around on stage.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

With just a trio of dials, this pedal works just like any other three-knob drive pedal – and it’s not exactly difficult to dial in. In a world of complex modern pedals, I think the control layout here is refreshingly simple; even pure beginners can get a usable sound with very little fuss. The three knobs of Volume, Tone, and Sustain are clearly labeled and large enough to grab mid-song if you wanted to make on-the-fly adjustments on stage.

Obviously, the volume knob controls the overall output level, allowing you to match or boost your signal to sit perfectly in a mix. The Tone knob is a sweeping EQ that shifts the pedal’s voice from dark and woolly to bright and biting; use this dial to season the high-end to taste.

Of course, the Sustain knob is where the magic happens. Turning it up increases the gain, and adds more clipping and saturation, pushing the fuzz from a subtle sizzle to the classic, roaring Big Muff wall of sound. I’d honestly say the interaction between these controls is very intuitive. There’s really no bad setting, and you can quickly find usable tones without endless tweaking.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

I don't think it’s hyperbolic to say the sound of the Big Muff Pi is instantly recognizable. It's thick, saturated, and loaded with sustain. Personally to me, this is the archetypal fuzz tone – it’s at least the fuzz sound I’m the most familiar with.

There’s something about the huge, creamy, and harmonically rich tone that flatters both chords and single-note lines, and I just can’t get enough of it.

Sonically, the pedal delivers a massive low end with smooth highs, but the mid-range is noticeably scooped. This lack of mids is perhaps both the Big Muff’s calling card and, for some, its Achilles heel.

Many players love the scooped sound, but others think it lacks definition, and well, that’s a fair comment. It can sound a little unfocused, and when playing in a band, it can be easily lost in the mix.

Playing a Gibson Firebird through the Big Muff into a mid-focused amp like my beloved Vox AC30, I found that pairing helped balance the pedal’s inherent lack of midrange. This amp’s natural pokeyness added focus and punch, letting the Muff’s character shine through without sounding too hollow.

Stacking the Big Muff with other pedals opens up even more tonal possibilities. Placing a transparent overdrive in front can tighten the lows and bring the mids forward, while running it after modulation and delay can create lush, swirling shoegaze soundscapes.

I found that the pedal responds really well to different guitars and pickups, but always retains its unmistakable Muff-y identity.

Verdict

The Big Muff is a stone-cold classic in my eyes. You certainly don’t get to enjoy 57 years on the pedalboards of iconic players unless you sound the part, are dependable, and easy to use – and well, the Big Muff Pi ticks all three boxes.

Its instantly recognizable voice, massive sustain, and rich, creamy fuzz have inspired generations of guitarists and shaped the sound of countless records.

Despite its undeniably bulky enclosure, which is sure to frustrate anyone trying to maximize pedalboard real estate, the payoff in tone is more than worth the inconvenience.

The straightforward three-knob layout is refreshingly simple, allowing you to dial in everything from smooth, singing leads to thick, wall-of-sound chords with minimal effort. While the classic mid-scoop can make it tricky to sit perfectly in every mix, it’s also a key part of the Big Muff’s character, and a clever amp or pedal pairing can overcome this small limitation.

What truly sets the Big Muff apart is its versatility and enduring appeal. Whether you’re chasing Gilmour’s soaring solos, Corgan’s alt-rock crunch, or J Mascis’s fuzz-drenched riffing, the Big Muff delivers in spades.

Yes, more feature-packed or compact fuzz pedals are on the market, and some variants offer greater flexibility, but none capture the iconic sound and spirit of the original quite like the Big Muff Pi. If you want classic fuzz in its purest form, this pedal remains the gold standard.

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That Pedal Show

When it comes to cramming a lot of tone into tiny units, Positive Grid's Spark Series of amp modelers has led the industry for years. From combos and practice amps to headphones and the pocket-sized Spark Go, the Sand Diego-based firm has proven a formidable player in the field.

It’s a surprise, then, that it’s taken this long for the tech to be converted into the more traditional pedal format. With the say-it-as-it-is Spark Pedal, that’s changing.

Crafted as an all-in-one amp and effects pedal, with a looper and partner mobile app for scrupulous tone sculpting, it’s super compact and caters to electric guitars, acoustics, and bass in equal measure. Flexibility is also the name of the game, with the pedal ready to become the epicenter of someone’s entire rig, a recording tool, or a versatile practice station.

Under the hood is the same Spark tech that has impressed players worldwide. It packs 33 amp models, 43 effects, and grants users access to over 100,000 tones through Positive Grid’s online ToneCloud community. That creates near-infinite tonal possibilities in a unit that easily slots into a guitar bag.

Other features include a rechargeable battery for up to seven hours of shredding (there’s no mains power option), Bluetooth connectivity with users funneled through its partnering mobile amp for operation, and AI tone building.

The latter is the same prompt-generating feature that first launched in its impressive Bias X plugin, and it can craft tones on demand from the array of amp models and effects baked into the pedal.

Positive Grid's software is typically quick and easy to get great results from, and its track record of releases attests to that. So, is the Spark pedal another victory for the series, or does the new format fall short?

Specs

• PRICE: $199 | £179
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Amp and effects modeler pedal
• FEATURES: 33 amps and 43 effects, plus access to the Positive Grid ToneCloud community, looper, Bluetooth, MIDI-compatible 
• CONTROLS: Drive, three-band EQ, amp type, volume, three preset footswitches
• CONNECTIONS: Input, mono and stereo outputs, expression pedal, MIDI in/out, USB-C port, headphone jack
• POWER: Built-in battery with up to seven hours of playtime, rechargeable via USB-C
• DIMENSIONS: 170 (w) x 100 (d) x 30-50mm (h)
• CONTACT: Positive Grid

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

At 0.58kg, it weighs just a little more than a standard Boss pedal, and about half of a Crybaby Wah. And with the Spark’s signature black-and-gold drip, it walks a tightrope between classic pedal and modern aesthetics, in my book. It’s small but mighty.

All the in/outputs are housed to the rear of the pedal, and with expression pedal compatibility as well as MIDI – with 3.5mm jack-to-MIDI port adapters coming in the box it ships in – it’s well equipped and neatly assembled. The Power and Bluetooth buttons, however, sit by the input, so an angled jack is slightly ill-advised, as it gets in the way. It’s a small note.

Intriguingly, the Spark Pedal follows the lead of the Spark Go in that most of its outer shell is textured rubber, yet it looks and feels durable. The real benefit here is that the entire bottom skirt of the pedal means it’s never really in the mood for sliding about.

As with most other Spark products, there’s a real marriage between the unit and its mobile app, which means I’m tethered to both a lot of the time. For more traditional players who don’t want extra screens and tech to get a pedal to sing, it’s likely to prove off-putting. But it also makes a lot of sense.

Often, these products are better managed through a mobile or desktop app, but still let you craft tones and edit settings within the unit itself. That's the case here with EQ, amp and effect type editable on the hardware but further control requiring the app. In truth, I imagine most players intrigued by the Spark Pedal will not be put off by this phone-and-stompbox marriage, given that it’s very much a futuristic, tech-filled product; it’s digital through and through. The app makes the experience far better.

Setting up the app and using it was pleasingly intuitive. But without coming across as ‘old man yells at cloud,’ the thought of tweaking a tone via my phone at soundcheck is pretty bizarre.

The pedal itself looks really smart and makes great use of the limited space. Its row of six knobs has multiple uses and, at a glance, makes the powerful pedal look much prettier and far less intimidating. They’re quite stiff to touch, in a pleasing, sturdily built way, and they give the Spark Pedal a fairly premium feel considering it’s almost entirely rubber and plastic.

From there, a series of seven lights flicker and flash to show players what mode it’s in, whether Bluetooth is on, the power status, and more. It takes me a minute to get to grips with everything, but I find it as intuitive as it can be. Still, the app is where I tend to gravitate, because it displays the amps and pedals, etc., in a more obvious way – I can see the green tube screamer or the Marshall-looking amp head – it feels far more tactile and less like I’m getting dressed in the dark.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

In amp mode, the dials are straightforward: Drive, a three-band EQ, the big center dial for choosing the amp type (Clean, Glassy, Crunch, High-Gain, Metal, and Bass), and the master volume. While the dials have lines on them, as is tradition, each is also surrounded by LED lights that show how much, or how little, something is dialed in. It’s all very clear.

Pressing the center dial switches the Spark Pedal from Amp to FX mode, and the dials now offer different functions. The far-left dial houses the Boost, Distortion, and Fuzz effects, increasing in intensity before switching to the next effect. The next dial does likewise with modulations – Tremolo, Chorus, Phaser, and Flanger. On the other side of the center dial, there are choices of Digital, Vintage, Multi, and Reverse delays, and Studio, Chamber, Hall, and Ambient reverbs.

If I press and hold the center button, the tuner engages, which, for me, is a really important feature if Positive Grid has any real hopes of players using the Spark Pedal live. The pedal doesn’t display the name of the note being played; it only tells me if it’s sharp, flat, or just right. For minor adjustments on the go, it’s useful enough, but for any more specifics, the app becomes a crutch – for better or for worse.

The same applies elsewhere. Spark Pedal sans app is well-suited for making smaller adjustments. Sure, adding a little fuzz, delay, and reverb to a crunch tone can make it sound wholly different, and I am having a lot of fun making those more wholesale changes on the pedal’s face, but there’s also a ceiling. For anything more involved, like tweaking the speed of the Tremolo, the feedback of the delay, or the specific amp at play, the app becomes a necessity.

One benefit of being chained to the app is making the most of Positive Grid’s AI tone generator. I first typed in “modern prog rock rhythm,” and within about a minute – there was a short wait – it served up three presets and a breakdown of how it got there. The three presets are previewable and savable, making for an easy addition to my bank of tones.

The crunch tone I found a little underwhelming; it was a bit too scuzzy for what I was looking for, but the middle option paired a Friedman BE-100 (down as BE-101) and matching cab with a Tube Drive and a few other accouterments. The problem is that when I accidentally press back on my phone, it closes the app completely and takes a few seconds to reconnect to the pedal. It also takes me back to the home page, which is frustrating, as I lose that tone entirely.

The Amp Type dial is also smart. Once I find a tone I like - for instance, I found a user-made Slash/Guns N’ Roses tone using a Marshall - I can tweak the amp type, as it says on the tin. So if that crunch amp needs a shot in the arm, I can turn it to high gain while leaving the other settings alone, or pull it back for a glassy clean. It also changes the cab to match the head, which is the best way to work it.

So yes, it’s designed to be used almost always in conjunction with the app, which is like the key to the Spark Pedal’s tonal kingdom, but the pedal itself is also really well laid out; everything makes sense, everything’s easy to find and tweak, and it’s hard to find any major downsides here.

Also, with three preset footswitches per bank, and each bank wholly customizable, that should leave most players with enough tones to cover a song each for live. For example, preset one could be a glassy clean with a little chorus, with the other two for rhythm and lead channels.

Naturally, it’s not as plentiful as Neural DSP Quad Cortex, a Line 6, Kemper, or the other leading built-for-live modelers, but there should be more than enough to get by. Preset changes are also lightning quick. But for those looking to take this into the rehearsal room and beyond, I think it's a drawback in terms of flexibility that it's completely battery-powered – you can't use your pedal power supply or any other mains adaptor here. You always need to consider battery depletion and recharging.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

From my experience with Positive Grid's Spark range of modelers, it’s nigh-on impossible to craft a bad tone. Its products are always really easy to use and very forgiving. The Spark Pedal is no different. Even with some of the built-in metal tones, which were initially too nasal, old-school, and cliché for me, a simple nip-and-tuck with the EQ quickly fixes things. Not once have I managed to concoct something downright awful; it’s just taste that dictates whether what I dial in is exciting or not inspiring enough to lock that particular amp in place.

You can see that by scrolling through the provided presets. From a pure clean tone provided by a model of a Matchless DC-30, to some really lovely, warm-but-gritty crunch tones from an Orange AD30, and searing 5150 lead tones (all from bank B), the bar is high, and the versatility of sounds on offer is hard to argue with. I rarely tweak the other presets; they’re finely tuned to begin with.

I plug a variety of electric guitars into the Spark Pedal. From a Fishman-powered Charvel San Dimas Tele to a seven-string Strandberg Boden N2 Standard and a 30” Gear4Music baritone tuned one octave below drop-D, it handles everything I throw at it with ease. There’s no tuning so low that the amps fall apart, and really, given the breadth of options, no genre that feels out of reach.

With tones so quick to dial in, or find via provided, user-made, and AI-powered presets, there’s a sense of a great well of inspiration for players to draw upon.

There are rare moments when I’m left a little disappointed. The Reverse Delay, for instance, has an inherently digital sound and doesn’t track quite as well as I’d like. It’s a little glitchy. But more often than not, reaching for an effect gives me what I want, from fuzzing up a bass tone (which sounded great with my baritone) to embellishing a clean tone with a nice, wavering chorus. Largely, very few moments of using the pedal have left me wanting more.

For those looking to call upon cornerstone tones for covers, this is an excellent value option. Whether it's a Marshall JCM-800 for tight, British rock and metal tones, or a Blackface Duo (based on a Fender Twin) for spangly, John Mayer-inspired cleans, the Spark Pedal nails the brief time and again. The quality is high enough to gig with, and versatile enough to make a solo practice an absolute hoot. Playing also feels dynamic under my fingers, and the amps the tones are modeled off are easy to recognize the majority of the time – something a lot of cheaper modelers can struggle with.

Moreover, it tracks really well, so using it to record, practice, and gig are all tasks it’s more than capable of handling. Add in an expression pedal and MIDI switching, and this is a serious bit of kit for a price closer to a single effect pedal or wireless guitar system than the big dog modelers of the world.

Verdict

Positive Grid's reputation with the Spark family of products has preceded it here. Its track record of delivering impressive, highly versatile tones in really affordable, user-friendly packages is a standout. So it’s perhaps wise that it’s taken this long to add a more traditional amp-in-a-box format to the celebrated series; it’s gone into this task emboldened by previous successes, and it comes out on the other end with flying colors.

Tone-wise, there’s no compromise compared to the rest of the range. It’s the same great array of options, all tweakable and re-shapable on the pedal itself, and, to a larger, more detailed extent, via the partner app.

For $199, it feels like a real steal, and certainly has its head above a lot of the other competitors circling that same price point. Sure, it’s no (much more expensive) Quad Cortex or Tone Master Pro, but the drop-off isn’t insane either, and it’s packed with more than enough features to get almost every player by.

My playing experience was 10x better with the app loaded, even just as a visual aid to see what amp and effects a preset offers, and whether I wanted to swap anything out. The tuner was also far better on the app than the pedal alone, so that reliance on a mobile phone companion may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and will make it more suited to the home environment for others.

But with three presets per bank, AI tone building, and enough amps and effects to handle all genres, there’s a hell of a lot going for the Spark Pedal.

Guitar World verdict: For those new to the modeling world, or players with tighter budgets, this should be top of mind for practice and gigs alike into an FRFR cab or PA. For more experienced players, and those with a little more cash to splash, it’s more of a practice and recording companion plugged straight into a DAW, or used via Bluetooth to jam along to songs, rather than something that might replace your trusty amp or a higher-end modeler. With its price, ease of use, and some really nice features, this pedal makes a very welcome addition to the Spark’s genuinely brilliant range of low-cost modelers.

• More info: Positive Grid

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• Best amp modelers: rack-mounted and floorboard options for every budget

With the PR for its new drop-tuning pedal, the Chug Capo, Ola Englund’s Solar is coming out of the traps with confidence and at least two potential aces up its sleeve.

The pedal’s shtick is simple: It pitches the entire guitar signal by a set number of semitones – stretching up and down one octave each – and does so, the firm reckons, with a greater clarity than ever before. Yet many other pedals, like the long-adored DigiTech Drop, the new and impressive challenger, the Boss XS series, aren’t going to take such hype lightly. The Chug Capo can’t be deemed the new gold standard without winning a fight or two first.

Chiefly, Solar points to two standout factors that go in its favor. Firstly, the “digital bi-directional capo” pedal promises the lowest-latency performance, roughly half that of the other big players. That means players can chug to their heart’s content without it feeling like it’s dragging; it might make them forget the signal has been pitched altogether.

Secondly, there’s talk of retaining "sonic integrity" even with the shifting at its most extreme. That means full, detailed note clarity with single notes and chords. The Boss XS-100 proved remarkable at this; with its artifact-free shifting, it made it one of 2025’s most impressive pedals. The bar is high.

The overarching idea from Solar here is that this pedal could feasibly replace the need to gig with multiple guitars, as it can handle tuning changes in a flash and it also benefits from a preset slot. At the same time, a Mix dial also lets it double as an octaver. It could become a real cuckoo piece of gear.

Lastly, there’s also the option of plugging in a non-latching switch, which is not included, and would need to be purchased from a third party. The Boss FS-5U and the Harley Benton Tap Tempo Switch have both been confirmed as compatible.

So then, the Solar Chug Capo is a pretty straightforward design, and its makers are talking a big game. But how does it fare against the pedals it claims to be ready to slay?

Specs

• Price: $249 (approx £186/€217)
• Type: Pitch shifter and octaver pedal
• Controls: Pitch +/-, mix, Fav, on/off footswitch
• Connectivity: 1/4" inputs, outputs, 3.5mm non-latching switch input, 9V DC, USB-C
• Power: DC 9V, 180mA
• Dimensions: 120mm x 70mm (4.72 x 2.75 Inches)
• Contact: Solar Guitars

Build quality ★★★★½

The pedal is an absolute tank. Coming in a little boxier than your average Boss pedal, it should sit on most pedalboards with little fuss, and honestly feels like it could survive a nuclear holocaust and still be able to down-tune the world’s last-ever electric guitar. Its metal face makes it clear what kind of guitar playing it’s aimed at – even if I’ve never been a fan of how on-the-nose Solar is with the cliché metal aesthetic – and its four interface buttons and sole footswitch are equally rock-solid.

Curiously, it boots up at -2 by default. I find it a shame that it doesn’t recall the last setting used, but it’s an easy fix nevertheless.

Meanwhile, the on light glows red when the pedal is engaged. There are no color discrepancies between up and down shifts, but it glows blue when the Mix mode is on.

Still, its lack of MIDI connectivity harms its compatibility in modern rigs. It’s built to either be on or off throughout a song, but it feels like an oversight all the same.

Usability and features ★★★★☆

The Chug Capo's interface is as simple as it gets, and that works in its favor. The screen is bright and clear, with arrows on either side for pitching the signal up and down. A dot appears above the Mix and Fav mini switches to indicate when they’re engaged, and on the darkest stages, visibility should be no issue.

Pressing the Mix button turns it into octaver mode, blending the dry and pitched signals. Holding the switch down for around four seconds displays a number between 1 and 99, which is the percentage of the pitched signal that’s audible. The higher the number, the drier the signal I get. Conveniently, it defaults to a 50/50 split, unless I’m recalling a preset.

Speaking of which, the Fav button instantly brings up a saved setting, and a new favorite can be saved by holding the button down for 4 seconds again. It’s a doddle to do. However, given that Englund and Solar see this as a trusty gigging companion, I think this feature should have been taken further. There is only one preset slot, so for sets where more than one shift is needed, I’d need to squat down and dial everything in manually. Nevertheless, having presets at all is still a feature the compact competition of the Boss XS-1 and DigiTech Drop don't offer.

Granted, hitting the Fav button a second time restores the pedal to its last setting, including whether Mix is on or off and its percentage. That means there are, in essence, two settings you have access to, which does give its practicality a shot in the arm – even if the non-preset mode will need to be freshly dialed in every time I boot up the pedal. But there’s another issue, too.

I feel the Mix and/or Fav buttons could have benefited from being footswitches. There are feasibility issues here, of course, with Solar wanting to keep the pedal as small as possible. But even the smallest of feet are going to have issues trying to hit any of those buttons on the fly, while not simultaneously hitting one of the arrows. Of course, this is where the extra non-latching switch comes in, connecting via a ¼” to 3.5mm cable handily provided in the box. I can confirm the Boss FS-5U works a treat, but it also increases the pedal’s surface area and, in fixing one operational problem, causes clunky problems of its own.

Another feature Englund is very happy about is how fast the pedal turns on/off, and does so without any weird glitches. Bashing the footswitch repeatedly confirmed that, which is great for peace of mind when making changes mid-song.

Sounds ★★★★☆

In Englund’s own words, the pedal has been created to satisfy his need for “something fast, something tight, and something specifically made for metal rhythm playing,” and so it only seems fair that that’s the benchmark the pedal is put up against.

When tracking fast, aggressively picked riffs, the pedal does its duties with aplomb, and it’s easy to forget that the guitar is actually pitched at times, given the speed of its response and how smooth it handles riffs. Even pinch harmonics squeal with clarity and aren’t smeared with weird glitches.

It’s a similar deal for chords; they don’t get too mushy; they don’t sound warped, and only when making more extreme shifts – +/-7 is where imperfections start to arise – are chords marred by a sense of artificiality. It’s all very impressive, and honestly, even in 2026, expecting an extreme pitch jump to be executed flawlessly feels unrealistic.

Solar forewarns players that “for Solos, some digital artifact is unavoidable and audible as in all pitch manipulators, but the tone remains faithful to the source.” This is very much the case, and, in a shootout with the Boss XS-100 and DigiTech Drop, playing the same Gojira-inspired aggressive metal riff through -2, -4, -8, and -12 shifts, the Solar wins out in terms of tone preservation. There is a minor signal loss and a little of the life sucked out of the Boss, while the DigiTech falls just behind that. The differences, I must add, aren’t night and day, but it’s clear that in moments like this, I am finding that Solar can walk as well as it talks.

However, the tone-sapping is avoided by compressing the pitched signal; it’s essentially trying to pep the signal back up after applying the effect. While that means it really does excel when playing heavy riffs, the compression is far more noticeable with clean tones. Here, the Boss is the outright winner, perhaps alluding to the fact that the Boss is meant to be a catch-all in terms of genres and styles, while this is an area that isn’t the Chug Capo’s strong suit. It adds a little too much grit to the clean tone for my liking, as it endeavors to prevent the signal from losing too much character.

As for solos, I’d go one step further than Solar’s advice. Where possible, disengage the effect and shift the pitch manually, perhaps only relying on it if there are open-string passages that are vital. It keeps things pure; the Chug Capo is meant to be a rhythm machine above all else.

Again, the differences between the three pedals are negligible, but if you’re reading this with very specific uses of the pedal in mind, they are really important aspects to consider. If, like I imagine I would, you need a pedal to go between D and C standard at the press of a button during a metal show, the Solar edges the Boss. And that surprised me, because the Boss is exceptional.

But for more universal applications, I fear Solar’s quest to make it the ultimate chugger means Boss takes the crown for its versatility. If metal rhythms aren’t your only usage, the Boss suddenly becomes way more viable.

It’s only around +/- 7, and beyond that I start to feel the pedal show its weaknesses, but that’s common across its competitors, too – it’s a big jump; there are always going to be side effects. For anything less, I’d happily use this over bringing an extra guitar to a gig, and the pitched tones are virtually indistinguishable from the non-pitched tones with regard to the cleanliness and purity of the effect in that first quartet of semitone shifts. To that end, the Solar can hold its head high. For one-track metal rhythm usage, this pedal will absolutely be a godsend for so many gigging riffers.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

The Chug Capo does exactly what it says on the tin when it comes to standing as a potential replacement for a second guitar for gigging metal bands. When shifting the signal by up to seven semitones, my tone doesn’t suffer; chords ring out fully, fast runs are tracked with ease. Even pinch harmonics remain clear and artifact-free.

But, ultimately, it’s a pedal designed for metal guitarists. For more universal uses, especially in lower-gain and clean settings, the Boss XS-100 beats it, but not by much.

The fact it only has one preset slot, and that the Mix dial – which turns it into an octaver – isn’t overly accessible on the fly, lets it down a little, but for metal guitar pitch shifts on the fly, I feel Solar’s big talk isn't hyperbole.

Guitar World’s verdict: Designed to be the ultimate pitch-shifting pedal for metal rhythm guitar playing, the Chug Capo aces the test with its shifts up to +/-7 semitones artifact-free, while also retaining the original tone and handling fast passages and chords comfortably. But it has also painted itself into a corner, away from high-gain settings; its inherent compression becomes apparent, and I feel that a few quality-of-life features have been overlooked. It isn’t the undisputed king, but it certainly deserves a place in the castle’s keep.

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Hands-on videos

Solar

Attila Voros

There is only one show in town if you want a hot-rodded T-style guitar with active EMGs, a satin-smooth neck carved from caramelized flame maple, 24 stainless steel frets and contemporary ergonomics visited upon body and fingerboard alike – and you want all of this and some change from 500 bucks.

You know it. We know it. Harley Benton knows it. This is the German budget gear brand’s USP, doing more, charging less, and that is great. But can its guitars excite us in the same way as, say, a Charvel?

Charvel’s Standard Series San Dimas Style 2 postmodern Supertele is both a clear rival to the Fusion T-II, and it has mojo behind its build – the pop-cultural cachet that comes with being at the epicenter of the high-performance electric guitar revolution in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s.

Harley Benton does not have that but what its newly refreshed Fusion-T II series does have is options and plenty of them. It overwhelms us with numbers, with 18 new models released this year alone in a cornucopia of solid-color, metallic and translucent finishes.

Have yours with the choice of a six-saddle Babicz Z Series hardtail bridge or a Babicz 2-point tremolo. Locking tuners come as standard.

We think of the T-style as a blue-collar tool, the quintessential workhorse, and yet some of these Fusion-T II models present themselves as bona fide peacocks, such as the Quilt Raspberry Burst model with its bougie maple veneer giving it the rarified airs of a boutique build.

It looks just as ostentatious in Quilt Dusk Glow, a model that really speaks to the LA hotrod inspiration at play with a mismatched pair of Tesla Opus humbuckers, one covered, one uncovered with zebra bobbins. It’s as though you put it in the shop and asked them to swap the bridge humbucker out. Oh, and while you were there you got some coil-taps too.

We don’t have any of this fancy pants stuff here. The Fusion-T II EMG MN HT SBK is the made-for-metal option – and was evidently named by a cat walking across the Harley Benton keyboard.

Resplendent in Satin Black with black hardware and loaded with a pair of EMG Custom Retroactive Hot 70 humbuckers at the neck and bridge, and a Babicz hardtail, plus it comes with a reverse headstock that is kinda metal but really makes us think of something Joe Perry would play.

Specs

• Launch price: $479 | £429 | €499
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Nyatoh
• Neck: Roasted Canadian flamed maple / Modern C profile (21mm thickness at 12th fret: 23mm at 12th
• Fingerboard: Roasted Canadian flamed maple, 12" to 16" compound radius
• Scale length: 25.5”/648mm
• Nut/width: Graphtech TUSQ XL / 42mm
• Frets: 24, Blacksmith stainless steel medium jumbo frets
• Hardware: Harley Benton-branded Jinho JN-07 locking tuners, Babicz Z-Series FCH-Fixed 6 hardtail bridge
• String spacing at bridge: 52.5mm
• Electrics: 2x EMG Custom Retroactive Hot 70 humbuckers (neck and bridge), 3-way pickup selector, volume, tone
• Weight: 7.15lb/3.25kg
• Options: The Fusion T-II series includes 18 models, with other options fitted with Tesla Opus-1 humbuckers at the neck and bridge and the choice of the Babicz Z-Series FCH-Fixed 6 hardtail or Babicz FCH 2-Point Special Z-Series C Full Contact Tremolo
• Left-handed options: Yes, Satin Black
• Finishes: Satin Black
• Cases: No
• Contact: Harley Benton / Thomann

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

It’s funny when we talk about T-styles and S-styles and all that jazz (topical, too, but let’s not go there). But no, it’s funny/weird because the shape tells us very little about the guitar itself.

I have this Harley Benton sitting alongside my Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster, which is very much in the style of the original Butterscotch blackguard… It’s just a big ol' slab o’ ash. The Harley Benton looks like it has more in common with a B-2 stealth bomber. They feel completely different. They sit differently in your lap.

Like the rest of the Fusion-T II series, this has a solid nyatoh body with heavy contouring in the cutaway and a generous amount of sculpting on the heel. All of which is not only a concession to player comfort but helps keep the weight down. This is a lightweight instrument at just over 7lbs.

The caramelized maple is nicely figured and well-fired to a deep reddish walnut. The neck joins the body with a four-bolt joint and a separate piece of roasted figured maple forms the fingerboard. It looks like a veneer on the headstock just to finish it off nicely.

Everything on this guitar is tidy, the fingerboard with its circle dot inlays on a figured piece of maple makes us think of high-end Ernie Ball Music Man designs such as the Sabre. The glow-in-the-dark fretmarkers along the side of the fingerboard is a welcome sight too.

The frets are smooth, their tangs disappearing into the fingerboard edges which has been left unbound. As per the fashion of high-performance electrics, the truss rod adjustment wheel is found at the top of the fingerboard.

The volume and tone controls are knurled metal and sit in recesses on the body’s top. The absence of a pickguard just adds to the minimalism. The Babicz bridge is a really tidy piece of kit. This and the quality tuners keeps things nice and steady. Tuning this up took no time at all – and it held its tune. What did take forever was trying to open the battery compartment on the back of the instrument. It’s either a footery contraption or I'm getting old. Both are probably true.

The only thing, however, to catch the eye is the misalignment of the pickup pole pieces and strings. They align on the neck pickup, but it is especially noticeable that the low E, A and D strings do not at the bridge. Would Harley Benton have been better to go for the Hot 70 with the wider Floyd/Fender spacing of 52mm?

Maybe. But the plot thickens. These are Custom Hot 70s, where all the pole-pieces are black and fixed (a regular Hot 70 humbucker has one slug with plain pole pieces, one with adjustable screw pole pieces). Sonically, they are the same pickup but are evidently made to Harley Benton specs, perhaps to support mass production.

The body is routed for a regular-sized humbucker – it’s doubtful whether a Trembucker sizing would fit better. Now, this does not make any appreciable difference to the tone in this instance, but it does look strange.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

I’m no stickler for a guitar’s weight but at the same time you will get no complaints from me at a 7lb guitar, especially one that's built for zippy playing styles.

Upper fret access is superlative on this instrument. It’s strange how this sits on the lap. The Fusion-T II feels as though the 12th fret within easier reach than my Tele. This could be an illusion, or it could be subliminal design cues to encourage players to tear up the fingerboard.

With all of the Fender-owned shred, rock and metal brands (EVH Gear, Charvel and Jackson) all widely using the 12” to 16” compound radius fingerboard, we can probably call this the industry standard, and it’s hard not to like as the fingerboard flattens towards the summit of the neck. Many a player will find these fingerboard dimensions the Platonic ideal.

The best compliment I can pay this neck – heck, this guitar – is that it at times it reminded me a little of the Fender American Ultra II Tele, although that has a D profile neck with a bit more wood on the shoulders.

Maybe a buttery smooth satin finished neck with a crowd-pleasing shape and stainless steel frets is all your need for that hyper-luxurious sports guitar vibe.

Also, don't worry about this neck being one of those obscenely thin profiles where it's a bit like running in carbon-plated shoes and you start cramping up after three songs. There's comfort baked into the menu.

Finally, kudos to Babicz for designing a bridge with no scratchy grub screws to catch your hand when palm muting. Epicurus was right all along; it's the little things...

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

The thing with Harley Benton is that it sometimes all feels like it is all too good to be true. The prices, the specs, all that.

And so, as a skeptic, it is almost disappointing to test out the controls and find that they do their job, that the tone knob does indeed roll back some of that bridge pickup top-end, making those clean tones more palatable when playing solo – more Les Paul-esque than anything else. What were we saying about the shape of the guitar telling us very little? Yeah, that x100.

The middle position, both humbuckers in play, is a superb voicing for hot and crunchy, kinda woolly ‘70s rock sounds, with the active EMG pairing invoking the decade that gave them their name.

And here’s the thing. I must make a confession. The Fusion-T II’s 21st-century design, the matte black finish and athletic ergonomics, the prospect of being sonically steamrollered by the merciless power of active EMGs, was not overwhelmingly enticing – it's like you’d need to be guitar's very own Chuck Yaeger to fully test this instrument's capabilities. But five minutes was all it took to change my mind.

There’s something pre-mastered about the Hot 70 humbucker tone, that gives you that trademark EMG bloom and clarity when played clean. Those of us introduced to EMG by Metallica et al will be relieved to know that the neck humbucker with a Boss Waza Craft CE-2W Chorus and a short delay gives you those Hetfield-esque clean tones – thick, splashy, box-office stuff.

Those a little bored of that sound might then be genuinely excited that this guitar is way more than that. Okay, they’re too beefy to be properly skronky but there’s a nice trebly scratch to that bridge humbucker that’s fit for CCR chord work.

You can access much of the Dazed & Confused tone universe, the talky throatiness of Aerosmith and Foghat, by pumping up the gain and rolling back on the volume. Playing around with the tone pot will even unearth some pseudo-cocked wah sounds.

And then, say, when Friday night arrives, you can look forward to playing on 10 and working with all the harmonic volatility that a great high-output pickup gives you.

Personally, I can take or leave active pickups. A passionate yearning for them as a teenager has given way to this feeling that I'd rather someone put a battery in me, not my guitar. But the low-noise, high-output performance makes me happy to have them here.

You can be extreme on this. You can be a little more tucked in. You can absolutely nail that early ‘80s metal tone without too much effort. Even on this old Blackstar tube amp combo with a little chorus and Catalinbread tape echo emulation, it’s all there. Vivian Campbell, Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch eat yer heart out.

Verdict

That misalignment of polepieces and strings caused a minor existentialist panic that there was something fundamentally wrong with this picture. But there wasn’t. And there was, in truth, nothing really wrong with this picture at all; that an electric guitar under $500 can play and sound as this does – it’s remarkable.

We musicians can be a snobbish about brand recognition. We want to play what our heroes play. But a little time spent with a guitar like this changes the calculus, especially in an inflationary economic environment.

No matter how competitive the market for guitar gear has become, it is not exactly saturated with T-styles at this price point with top-tier pickups from a market-leading brand, with guitars that combine an ambitious spec with an effective execution. There’s no question that the closure of the Harley Benton Reverb store is a kick in the backside for players in the US but, even so, this EMG-equipped Fusion-T II could still present great value.

It’s not without drawbacks. There is only one finish option. You have to stick a battery in it. You’ll have to buy a gig bag or a case separately and the visual of that pickup alignment is hard to get by. But that’s like going on holiday for two weeks and complaining about a day of rain. Did you have fun? Yes. Would you go back? Also yes.

Guitar World verdict: Harley Benton beefs up the T-style but avoids the pitfall of muscle above all else, with an active pickup that balances power with dynamics. And it puts the ball in the court of more established brands, challenging them to follow suit and officially make roasted figured maple, stainless steel frets and EMGs, y’know, a thing on guitars at this price.

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Harley Benton

• "This could well be Harley Benton's most impressive electric guitar platform yet when it comes to value": Harley Benton ST-Modern HSS review

The multi-effects pedal market is the most stacked I’ve ever seen it, and now guitar players have yet another option to consider. The Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 isn’t like the more typical combined effects and amp simulators we see released these days; instead, it focuses on delivering the most pristine studio-level effects algorithms in a form factor that will fit on any pedalboard.

So why this, over a used H9 Max or the H90? Well, from the spec alone, the H9 Gen 2 blows the H9 Max right out of the water. Not only does it feature all of the algorithms from that most popular of multi-effects pedals, but it also has all the same effects found on the H90. It only runs one at a time, though. If you want the power of dual algorithms, you’ll need to fork out an additional $300 for the privilege of owning an H90.

The number of onboard presets has significantly increased over the H9 Max, so you can now save over 1,000 of your finest machinations. It’s got the same ARM processor as the H90 (and the H9000 studio rack unit), and the 6-character LED screen has been replaced with a 2.5-inch one. The micro-USB has been replaced with a modern USB-C, and there are now separate expression pedal and control jacks.

The H9 Gen 2 comes with a 12V, 1A power supply in the box, but you can run it at 9V, 400mA if you want to use your pedalboard power supply. It’s got stereo ins and outs, plus MIDI in and out/thru. It’s compatible with Gen 1 presets and has a spillover function, which solves one of the big issues with the original.

Specs

• Launch price: $599 | £599 | €694
• Type: Multi-effects pedal
• Controls: 4 knobs, 4 button pads for menu navigation, 2 programmable footswitches, 2 contextual LED buttons
• Features: 74 algorithms spanning the complete H90 and H9 Max libraries, 1,000+ factory presets, SIFT polyphonic pitch-shifting, built-in tuner, Select/Bank/Perform modes, full parameter control with no companion app required
• Connectivity: 2x 1/4" TS inputs, 2x 1/4" TS outputs, USB-C (Eventide Control app), 5-pin MIDI I/O, expression pedal input, aux switch input, Bluetooth (Mac/iPad, via Eventide Control)
• Bypass: Flexible wet/dry and pre/post routing; footswitches control preset/bypass
• Power: 9-12V DC, 300 mA @ 12V / 400 mA @ 9V, 12V 1A power supply (included)
• Dimensions: 133 x 127 x 69mm (5.25 x 5 x 2.7 inches)
• Weight: 0.6 kg (1.32 lbs)
• Options: Harmonizer+ Suite vocal processing available with Mixing Link (sold separately)
• Contact: Eventide

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Despite the high price and huge feature set, the Eventide H9 Gen 2 is tiny for a multi-effects pedal. It’s slightly narrower than two Boss pedals side by side, and shorter in height than the most popular of pedal enclosures. It weighs about the same as a single Boss stompbox and is wedge-shaped to provide a better angle for pressing the footswitches when it's ‘board-mounted.

The ins and outs are very close together, so if you’re planning on using all of the connectivity, make sure you’ve got some very slimline patch cables. I had to pull a couple of different options out of my box of spares to get two that would fit snugly enough together to utilize the H9 Gen 2 in a stereo configuration.

The base is made out of metal and devoid of rubber feet, so you can mount it straight to your pedalboard. The front fascia is hard plastic, and all of the knobs feel firmly mounted to it. The three smaller knobs provide a firm, smooth travel and are all pressable, while the large encoder is stepped, and can also be pressed down when menu-diving.

The four buttons provide a quiet operation, but are firm in feel when pushed down. Overall, the unit feels very robust, but the contextual LED lights that double as buttons feel a bit flimsy. They move around in their housing a bit, and don’t take much force to press in.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★½

Plugging the H9 Gen 2 into my Universal Audio audio interface with my trusty Telecaster at the other end, I find navigating the unit is fairly easy on the surface. The large knob changes presets, with a click to confirm my selection. The three knobs below the screen have parameters already dedicated to them, while in the default mode the left footswitch changes to the next preset while the right footswitch engages or disengages the effect.

The rest of it is a lot harder to decipher without having to dive into the manual. I can work out how to change the three settings already assigned to the knobs, but I can’t fathom how to move to the secondary pages. The LED switch above the left footswitch also works to engage the effect, while the right-hand one only seems to change color with no discernible effect to my ear.

I cave and head for the manual, which enlightens me to a lot of additional, and useful, functionality. It turns out the right LED switch changes the direction of preset change, so you can move up through the numbers when red, or back down when it's blue. ‘Params’ is what I was looking for to dive deeper into settings changes, while global settings and tempo can be accessed via dual presses of the top section of four buttons.

Hitting the Perform button allows you to change what the footswitches do, whether that’s assignments such as tap tempo, momentary/latching operation, as well as ‘HotSwitches’, which allow for multiple parameter changes at the same time. You can dial in timings, effects changes, mix amounts, pretty much anything you like. I’m not sure I’d want to do this with the hardware controls, to be totally honest.

For me, I’d much rather do this through the Eventide Control app. Dialing in my sound here before taking it to the rehearsal room and making some final tweaks alongside my band worked much better for me. For studio users, you’ll probably just want to keep it hooked up to your laptop for quicker changes.

I did find one issue with this, though. It was quite noisy with my guitar because there was some noise issues happening with the pedal going to the interface, the interface connected to my laptop, and the pedal being connected to my laptop all at the same time. It was definitely bordering on unusable for me, especially for clean sounds. Thankfully, there’s a fix in the works for this, as the pedal will get Bluetooth connectivity in a future update, so you can run the companion app alongside all of your regular gear.

The Eventide Control app is really intuitive, though. You can quickly set a tempo for each preset and create fresh banks (called ‘lists’) of user presets. It even asks you if you want to save changes before you click on another preset, a godsend when I’d spent half an hour tweaking without committing my changes to the pedal's memory.

The depth on offer really is something. There are far too many options to go into here, but things like the ability to set LFO rates from 1/64th notes all the way to a full 16 bars is absolutely amazing. Effects can be tweaked to the nth degree, making it not only great for guitarists who like to deep dive, but super useful for studio users who need that level of control for the mix.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

There are more sounds packed into the Eventide H9 Gen 2 than I could possibly fit into the constraints of this review. I’ve put together some audio samples for you at the end of this section if you want to hear what it’s capable of for yourself. For now, I’ll just go through some of my favorite sounds that I encountered as part of the stock presets during my testing.

I start with the H910 algorithm, a recreation of a very famous studio rack unit. It’s a subtle sound, one that’s more noticeable when I switch it off. My tone suddenly sounds anaemic with the effect bypassed. This is the sound that was famously used by Eddie Van Halen in rack form, and I can see why as I play my favorite licks through it. They sound fuller and fatter than ever.

It’s similar to the famous MicroPitch algorithm, which uses multiple, slightly offset tunings to make it sound like more than one guitar playing together. Again, it can be subtle depending on how it's used, but it’s incredibly effective. If you’re the only guitarist in your band, it’s a great way to massively thicken up your sound in a way that doesn’t drastically affect your core tone.

Next up is the algorithm that’s so popular it got its own pedal, the Blackhole reverb. With moody open chords, it adds a spiralling, seemingly endless space that somehow never completely consumes your tone. It’s addictive for lead work and maintains remarkable clarity even when you start getting into more complex runs and chord work.

Moving on, I start to get into pitch effects with the Polyphony algorithm. It’s set to fifths by default and tracks remarkably well no matter what I play. Chords hold up spectacularly well, as does bending, with the pitch tracking staying incredibly accurate. I thought I caught it out at one point, but it turned out one of my strings had slightly detuned during some aggressive bending.

Alongside the more out-there stuff, there’s a selection of overdrives which feel like a waste with the power of this pedal, to be honest. But there are also great fuzz tones, flangers, phasers, room reverbs, delays, all of which are delivered in superb quality. It’s a one-stop shop for effects of all kinds, with the ability to work in pretty much any genre you can think of.

Verdict

I like that the Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 bucks the recent trend in multi-effects pedals and doesn’t try to be a do-it-all unit. It’s a multi-effect in the truest sense, providing supreme-quality effect tones without the added complication of amp and cab simulation. It does that job stupendously well, too, with some of the best effects algorithms I’ve come across.

Is it easy to use? Kind of. Switching presets and using the pedal on a face level is self-explanatory enough. If you want to get the most out of it, you’ll need to dive into the manual and be prepared to spend some time experimenting. Do this, and you will be greatly rewarded for your patience.

It’s not cheap, but it’s my honest opinion that the quality of the sounds makes it worth the entry price. Power users will want to spend more for the H90. These effect algorithms are so good that for some it would be a shame to only be able to use one at a time. Those who live a simpler tone life will absolutely get their money’s worth here.

Guitar World verdict: Packing some of the very best effects algorithms into a pedalboard-friendly format, the Eventide H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 is an absolute triumph. I’ve tested a lot of multi-effects units over the past few years, and the sounds here are absolutely the cream of the crop. It requires deep diving and knob twiddling to get the most out of it, but the level of customization on offer is huge, and it’s a pedal that can play in pretty much any genre you can think of.

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loopop (Ziv Eliraz)

Andertons

Mitch Gallagher

For a long time, Gretsch meant rock ’n’ roll in its ’50s leathers – twang on steroids. But lately the company has broadened its offer, and one of the main tools used to do that is its Electromatic range.

The name ‘Electromatic’ derives from the first electric guitars and amps the company ever sold, back in 1939. But the name was resurrected in 1998 for a range of affordable instruments that offered an easier entry point to the brand than its premium Japanese-built models.

Another useful thing about the Electromatic range, from Gretsch’s perspective, is its malleability. Gretsch offers Electromatics with P-90s and a variety of pickups that offer a more contemporary drive than the traditional Filter’Trons.

All this helps them get the attention of guitarists who wouldn’t normally reach for a Gretsch guitar, including the increasing number of players who use baritone electrics for girthy high-gain riffs and evocative, brooding cleans.

Indeed, Gretsch now offers two baritones in the Electromatic range – an Electromatic Jet Baritone with a 755.65mm (29.75”) scale length and this double-cut CVT Baritone with its more hand-friendly 685.8mm (27”) scale.

The engine room of this CVT Baritone is a pair of Sphera Twin Six humbuckers with 12 adjustable poles, evoking Gretsch’s famous Filter’Tron humbuckers. Built around a pair of Alnico 6 magnets, the idea behind the Twin Six is to ‘bridge the tonal gap between modern Alnico 5 clarity and vintage Alnico 2 warmth’.

Featuring a solid mahogany body with bevelled edges, our review guitar is finished in a smoky Bristol Fog sunburst – the only finish option available for this model.

The body appears to be three-piece, although the dark sunburst obscures some of the top, making it hard to confirm. The 22-fret neck is made of maple, though it’s covered by black gloss paint so we’ll have to take Gretsch’s word on that. The fretboard is bound rosewood.

The CVT Baritone also sports a pair of Twin Six humbuckers – except these have Alnico 5 magnets and not Alnico 6, as found in the Premier Jet, so we might expect a more conventionally brightish, mid-forward sound here. It has a trick or two up its sleeve in terms of electronics, too.

There’s a treble bleed on the master volume so the sound doesn’t get muddy when you turn it down, plus it features a pull-push pot that engages a coil-split on the neck pickup. Meanwhile, the single tone control has a pull-push pot that operates a coil split for the bridge pickup.

Specs

• PRICE: $599 | £599 | €589
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Double cutaway solidbody baritone electric
• BODY: Solid mahogany
• NECK: Maple with painted headstock, with Performance ‘C’ profile
• SCALE LENGTH: 685.8mm (27”)
• NUT/WIDTH: GraphTech NuBone/ 40mm
• FINGERBOARD: Bound rosewood. 241.3mm (12”) radius.
• FRETS: 22 nickel silver, medium jumbo
• HARDWARE: Nickel-finish Adjusto-Matic bridge, three-ply black/white/black acrylic pickguard, knurled plain top metal knobs
• TUNERS: Die-cast sealed
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 55mm
• ELECTRICS: Two Twin Six humbuckers. Master volume with treble-bleed, push/pull for coil splitting neck pickup, master tone with push/pull for coil splitting bridge pickup. Treble bleed circuit.
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.8/8.4
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISH: Bristol Fog (as reviewed)
• CONTACT: Gretsch

Build quality, usability and sounds

The CVT Baritone’s world is brooding, low chords, and melodies with drama and grandeur.

You can’t play all your old, familiar clichés – there are no bluesy bends on the stiff strings of a baritone – so you have to ‘say something’ and take the melody somewhere. It feels like a guitar for writers, rather than noodlers, and it’s all the more satisfying for it.

Reverb, delay and drive all pair powerfully with the CVT – though we found ourselves using the coil-splits more often than the full humbucker sounds for added clarity.

The action is comfortable and that shorter scale means it’s not a struggle to reach or fret notes. It’s a really intriguing and rather addictive experience, bridging the gap between bass and guitar.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: The Baritone is a truly intriguing proposition – for under $600 it does something quite special: it opens up a new sound-world, new paths of expression for the uninitiated. And it does so comfortably, effectively and affordably.

Hands-on videos

Guitarist

Gretsch

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• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Thorn Soundlabs is a relatively new pedal company formed in Nashville, USA. Its mission, it says, is to “redefine effects pedals with tools that inspire sonic exploration, not just sonic replication”.

We have six of the current Flex range of nine pedals here for review, the Flex in the name standing for flexible with the understanding that each pedal offers a wide range of variation within and maybe beyond its allotted task.

Drive, distortion and fuzz are respectively taken care of by the Bad Cash, Silver Spurs and Black Swamp, while The FreaQ provides boost with EQ functionality, and Steam is a compressor. The Tremonator is the sole modulation pedal in the bunch, offering tremolo with tap tempo.

Construction is reassuringly solid, and the pedals all run from a standard nine-volt adapter (no batteries), with four of them also taking an 18-volt supply for extra headroom.

A quick glance and one thing that’s apparent is that some of the pedals have controls with names that are not standard – most notably Damping and Headroom.

The Damping knob, found on the three dirt pedals and the boost, adjusts a variable filter that reduces the low-frequency content before the signal enters the overdrive circuit, working brilliantly for getting rid of any flub and tightening up your sound.

The Headroom knob is designed to adjust the clipping threshold of the output stage on the drive and distortion pedals, working in conjunction with the drive/gain knob to turn up the wick.

Specs

Thorn Soundlabs Bad Cash

• PRICE: $189 | £147 | €161
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Drive pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Drive, Damping, Headroom, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Symmetry O/I switch, Class A/AB switch, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor 18mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h) 

Thorn Soundlabs Silver Spurs

• PRICE: $189 | £156 | €169
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Distortion pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Gain, Damping, Headroom, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor 18mA
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h)

Thorn Soundlabs Black Swamp

• PRICE: $199 | £164 | €189
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Fuzz pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Gain, Damping, Mid Freq, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Character S/N/H switch, Hard Clip O/I switch, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor 24mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h)

Thorn Soundlabs The FreaQ

• PRICE: $149 | £121 | €139
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Double Stage Booster pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass, Freq and Boost switching
• CONTROLS: Damping, Gain, Boost, Freq, Freq footswitch, Boost/Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V-18V DC adaptor 18mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h)

Thorn Soundlabs Steam

• PRICE: $204 | £164 | €189
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Compressor pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Threshold, Amount, Attack, Release, Detail, Output, Auto/Manual switch, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor 29mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h) 

Thorn Soundlabs Tremonator

• PRICE: $244 | £199 | €198
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Tremolo pedal
• FEATURES: True bypass, Tap Tempo
• CONTROLS: Symmetry, Mix, Volume, Rate, Multiplier, Sine/Square Wave switch, Tap Tempo footswitch, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output, external tap tempo (3.5mm jack)
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor 28mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 94 (w) x 120 (d) x 51mm (h) 
• CONTACT: Thorn Soundlabs

Build quality, usability and sounds

Bad Cash is an overdrive with a wide range of tone shaping available from its amp-like tone stack array of Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence knobs, as well as the aforementioned Damping and Headroom controls.

There are two clipping options available; symmetrical is the smoothest option, with asymmetrical delivering an edgier sound. There’s also a similar choice of output distortion characteristics with Class A or AB on offer, so a total of four nuanced voice combinations. With a wide clean to dirty range, this is one flexible drive pedal that should pair with any amp.

Silver Spurs has a similar set of controls to the Bad Cash but operates in a higher gain range. The aim here is classic British amp sound, which the pedal does with aplomb, spitting out aggressive raunch and heavier saturation.

Incidentally, there’s one more drive pedal that we couldn’t fit into this review and that’s the Magma, which is described as a Metal Distortion.

The last of the dirt pedals is the Black Swamp fuzz, although we’d say it’s as much a distortion as a fuzz in the same way that a Big Muff can be.

With a choice of Smooth, Normal or Hot for the fuzz character, as well as the options of soft or hard clipping, all shaped by the usual Damping, Bass and Treble knobs, there’s no mistaking the versatility available.

But the kicker here is the extra layer of detailed tone sculpture provided by the semi-parametric midrange EQ, which offers boost or cut anywhere between 310Hz and 2kHz.

The FreaQ, described as a Double Stage Booster, has a Boost footswitch that activates the first boost stage where the sound is only affected by the Damping and Boost knobs.

It starts from unity gain, so has plenty on tap, yet it also adds a subtle but sweet amount of top-end that can combine with the reduced lows from the Damping knob for added tonal enhancement.

The second Freq footswitch only works if the Boost footswitch is already engaged and adds the Gain and Freq controls into the mix to give you a targeted boost where a frequency between 200Hz and 3.4kHz can be cut or boosted by the Gain knobs. This is a really functional pedal that works equally well as an always-on tone conditioner or something to be kicked in as needed.

First port of call on the Steam compressor has to be the Auto/Manual switch to choose between automatic attack and release timing (which is really well dialled in), or use of the Attack and Release knobs for your preferred settings, especially in sculpting the transients. A Threshold knob sets the level at which compression starts and an Amount knob sets the intensity of compression.

But the secret weapon here is the Detail knob, ostensibly designed to restore the brightness perceived to have been lost due to compression and in reality a great tone enhancer to focus your top-end with up to +15dB of gain in the upper mid/treble frequency bands. Steam provides a practical compression toolbox with plenty of output for a boost, too.

Finally, the Tremonator provides a choice of decent-sounding sine or square-wave tremolo that can be further shaped by the Symmetry knob, which will dial in lopsided waveforms in either direction.

The tremolo is added to the dry sound by a Mix knob that runs from 100 per cent dry to 100 per cent wet – think of this as your depth control – while speed is set by the Rate knob.

Alternatively, you can set the speed via the Tap Tempo footswitch, which means you can sync to a drummer on the fly. A Multiplier knob multiplies any tempo inputted by either method.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Some US pedals can get a bit pricey, but the ‘Designed in the USA/Made in China’ concept here keeps these units more reasonable. They’re neither budget pedals nor overly expensive.

The Bad Cash and Silver Spurs have a solid flexibility with tonal shaping options that set them apart from many other dirt pedals. Likewise, the Black Swamp benefits from the tonal focusing of its semi-parametric midrange.

Flexibility is again the name of the game with the FreaQ, offering plenty of gain on tap and tonally targeted, too, while Steam pretty much does everything you’d want from a guitar compressor (apart from the parallel compression that a dry mix knob would add).

Guitar World verdict: Considering its higher price, the Tremonator isn’t such a bargain as the rest, but overall this is a range of pedals endowed with thoughtfully considered features that would make them practical additions to a signal chain.

Hands-on videos

Thorn Soundlabs

Thomann

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The history of the Epiphone El Dorado might seem a little convoluted, but bear with us while we offer a thumbnail sketch of this model’s past.

Originally made in Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory in Michigan, the El Dorado was introduced into the USA catalogue in 1963, its square-shouldered dreadnought shape and large 412.7mm (16.25 inch) body width mimicking Gibson’s own recently released Hummingbird and Dove acoustics.

It was dropped from the USA line at the beginning of the 1970s, when Epiphone manufacture was switched to Japan, and was subsequently built at the Matsumoku factory. Here it became known as the FT-350 and enjoyed a few cosmetic changes while keeping its large dread credentials.

It was a Japanese El Dorado that became the soulful, genre-straddling guitar virtuoso Marcus King’s first guitar. And in honour of this, Epiphone has released a time-limited, made-in-China edition that sits just underneath that all-important £1k price point.

Casting a casual eye over the Epi El Dorado we have in front of us, it doesn’t exactly scream ‘signature guitar’. But then the eye is drawn to the outline of Marcus’s home state of South Carolina in mother-of-pearl on one side of the bridge and Tennessee’s Tri-Star emblem on the other.

Flip the guitar over and just above the neck volute it’s possible to make out Mr King’s signature in gold. All very subtle touches, devoid of any unnecessary flash. We like it. Meanwhile, if you were wondering about the somewhat ‘mod art’ pickguard, this apparently is modelled after the one on Marcus King’s original ’70s guitar.

Perusing the El Dorado’s spec, we find a spruce top, unspecified as to which exact type, but Sitka would be very high on the list of suspects as it’s a fairly common timber to find on Chinese-made instruments. In any case, it looks very fit for purpose and the Antique Natural gloss finish sets it off a treat and offers a subtle helping of vintage chic along the way.

The guitar’s back and sides are rosewood (again, no precise designation, but we suspect Indian) but the finish hasn’t done the grain pattern any favours on our example as it’s barely visible. A shame, because rosewood can be a beautiful wood to look at.

But, of course, results may vary from guitar to guitar and so on other models it might be more apparent. The neck is mahogany, with a rosewood ’board, festooned with real mother-of-pearl block inlays.

From what we’ve seen so far, the fixtures and fittings on the El Dorado reach far beyond its modest retail price, especially when we mention that the guitar comes in a very attractive black hard guitar case, itself embossed with Marcus’s signature in gold.

Elsewhere, we find bone used for both the 43mm nut and compensated saddle, plus Epiphone’s own Kluson-alike Deluxe tuners with metal buttons and a headstock shape that once again doffs its cap to Marcus King’s original Japanese-made model. There’s also an onboard pickup in the form of an LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC, with the controls tucked away out of sight at the top of the soundhole.

Overall, it’s an attractive package, especially if you’re a fan of larger dreadnought guitars. And if you’re curious as to what it sounds like, so were we…

Specs

• Price: $999 | £949 | €1,099 (inc hard case)
• Origin: China
• Type: Square-shouldered dreadnought
• Top: Spruce
• Back/Sides: Rosewood
• Max Rim Depth: 124mm
• Max Body Width: 407mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 629mm (24.75 inches) 
• Tuners: Epiphone Deluxe
• Nut/Width: Bone/43mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Rosewood with compensated bone saddle/55mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.49/5.5
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Antique Natural gloss poly
• Contact: Epiphone

Build quality, usability and sounds

Turning the guitar over in our hands, there are no badly polished frets to contend with, and no sharp edges as we run our fingers along the neck, so we can assume that Epi’s Chinese-based quality-control department is well up to speed.

There were a couple of ‘pings’ from the nut when we were tuning the guitar, but these soon disappeared after a while and afterwards the Epi held its tuning well throughout the time we spent with it.

The neck is what Epiphone refers to as a “rounded C” and feels slightly chunkier than a ’60s Strat but is far from being unwieldy. We did notice that the guitar feels weightier than we would have expected. At approximately 2.49kg (5.5lb) it’s certainly a lapful, but that’s far from a deal-breaker.

Experimenting with a few campfire chords, we found a full and strident voice – if you’ve ever picked up and strummed, say, a Gibson Hummingbird, then you’ll know what we mean. There’s quite a reserve of power to the dynamic range and the guitar remained perfectly musical from a whisper to a roar.

We tried some fingerstyle as well and the El Dorado gave a very good account of itself here, too. If we were being hypercritical, we’d say that there are a few notes around the F# in the lower register that don’t ring out quite as stridently as the rest, but these weren’t dead spots as such, and possibly merely a foible with this particular instrument.

It’s always difficult to look into the future and foretell how an acoustic guitar will develop given the passage of time. But, from what we hear today, there’s every chance that the El Dorado could turn out to be quite an investment.

We tried it through the acoustic channel of our handy Boss Katana-50 EX and hit our first hurdle as the battery that comes with the guitar was flat. This has happened often in the past – and it’s really nobody’s fault – and we always have an emergency battery standing by just for this sort of eventuality.

It did remind us what a faff it is to slacken off all the strings and wrestle with the little Velcroed pouch attached to the neckplate, though. But all the detuning and retuning got rid of those ‘pinging’ strings we mentioned earlier and so the journey was worthwhile.

What we heard before we retrieved our precious Duracell was what we expected. The LR Baggs does a very good job of enhancing the natural sound of the guitar and setting a sound we enjoyed was quick and trouble free.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

What can we say? A perfectly capable-sounding dreadnought with a bit of history and collectability thrown in for good measure, for under a grand?

The Marcus King El Dorado easily hits the benchmark that Epiphone has set for itself over the last few years in that it’s a nicely built, well-equipped guitar with a set of very capable sounds that compares well with instruments costing at least twice as much.

Furthermore, despite the fact Epiphone isn’t saying exactly what ‘time-limited edition’ means in this context, it’s got to be factored in that it could very well hold its value and even sport the sort of second-hand premium that signature models sometimes attract in the future.

Guitar World verdict: If you ever find yourself in the market for a fully equipped and stage-ready dreadnought then the Epiphone Marcus King El Dorado should definitely feature on your shopping list.

Hands-on videos

Marcus King

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• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

If you've been in the market for a budget or mid-priced bass at any point in the last few years, you can't fail to have noticed Korean brand Sire.

Built in a dedicated factory in Indonesia, these instruments have absolutely snowballed in popularity of late. Reviews speak to the quality and playability on offer for very reasonable prices - but this isn't all.

Lending the company serious credence is the endorsement of legendary American session bassist Marcus Miller. Known as a long-time Fender Jazz Bass user, with a high-end signature model of his own, Miller's 2015 switch to this lower-priced upstart brand was noteworthy indeed.

But his confidence in Sire is such that his name is on every single bass the company puts out, whether modeled on a Jazz, Precision, StingRay or otherwise.

Let's zoom in on the Jazz Bass-inspired ‘V’ range, though, given that these are Miller's current stage instruments. Interestingly, he doesn't even use the highest-end model, favouring the mid-tier V7.

It'll be interesting to see how much of the appeal survives further down the range, for today, I'm investigating the cheapest model available – the V1. It comes in at a disruptively low $329; compared to Squier, for example, this undercuts all but the lowest-end Affinity basses.

Specs

• Price: $329 £299 | €319
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Four-string passive bass guitar
• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Hard maple, C-shape
• Fingerboard material/radius: Rosewood, 9.5”
• Scale length: 34”/864mm
• Nut/width: Bone, 38mm
• Frets: 20, medium
• Hardware: Sire Basic 4-saddle bridge, Sire Basic open-gear tuners, chrome finish
• String spacing at bridge: 20mm
• Electrics: Sire Basic J pickups, Volume (bridge pickup), Volume (neck pickup), Tone
• Weight: 7.5lb/3.4kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Tide Pool (as reviewed), Antique White, Tobacco Sunburst, Black. (Black scratchplate with all finishes)
• Case: Not included - Sire gig bag available
• Contact: Sire

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

If you're expecting a sad slab of plywood with an orange-peel finish and mile-high action for that money, you simply won't believe what you're getting here.

This V1 is in a great color - called ‘Tide Pool’, it's close to Fender's classic Lake Placid Blue. The body shape is a close analog of a traditional Jazz, although with slightly more snub-nosed cutaways and Sire's rather bland-looking headstock.

I'd also swap the black scratchplate for white or mint-green, but it works with the dark rosewood fretboard; in itself, the latter is now a bit of a spec-sheet boast on a cheaper instrument, as most rivals slum it with lower-cost rosewood alternatives.

The body wood is quoted as mahogany - an unorthodox choice for a Jazz, but it contributes to a very manageable overall weight and good on-strap balance. And let's not beat around the bush: that Edgeless neck is remarkable.

The profile itself is fairly slim, and the nut is the usual Jazz Bass 38mm – but the heavily rolled edges and the smooth satin finish elevate it to a plane far beyond anything else you'll find for this price – or indeed, for several times this price.

Without a hint of exaggeration, this is the kind of neck profile, and the kind of superb playability, that calls to mind a modern American-built Fender – and not an entry-level one, either. It’s staggering to think that a $329 bass can be so addictively fantastic to play - I can’t rule out witchcraft being involved.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

The body wood is quoted as mahogany – an unorthodox choice for a Jazz, but it contributes to a very manageable overall weight and good on-strap balance. And let's not beat around the bush: that Edgeless neck is remarkable.

The profile itself is fairly slim, and the nut is the usual Jazz Bass 38mm – but the heavily rolled edges and the smooth satin finish elevate it to a plane far beyond anything else you'll find for this price – or indeed, for several times this price.

Without a hint of exaggeration, this is the kind of neck profile, and the kind of superb playability, that calls to mind a modern American-built Fender – and not an entry-level one, either.

It’s staggering to think that a $329 bass can be so addictively fantastic to play - I can’t rule out witchcraft being involved.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★½☆

In terms of pickups and electrics, though, the V1 doesn't play any fancy tricks - it's purely a conventional J-style configuration. The pickups themselves are Sire's ‘Basic J’ set - the lowest rung on the electronic ladder, only appearing on the V1. So, are they as perfunctory and uninspiring as that rather matter-of-fact name might lead you to believe?

Well, no – it's just as worthy a Jazz Bass sound as most others you'll find for this budget. With my preferred Acoustic 360 and Gallien-Krueger clean tones dialled-in on my Line 6 HX Stomp, and both pickups on full, it's the characteristic scooped midrange – a little darker and more subdued than some rivals.

But my favourite Jazz Bass tones come from rolling back the neck pickup a little, to bring out the chime of the bridge pickup; the Sire is no exception. Now, there’s a crisp growl with more upper mids and a nice, rounded top end which takes well to a pick and a more overdriven signal.

It’s still not the punchiest or the most characterful, but it’s solid and gets the job done. The V1 would certainly fly higher with a slightly hotter and more vibrant set of pickups, though - the overall quality of the instrument, particularly that brilliant neck, warrants it.

Verdict

All things considered, the Sire V1 is quite an achievement. It sits at a price point that undercuts any equivalent Squier, but offers playability that should give Fender serious pause for thought - that neck genuinely compares well to American-built models over five times the price.

It’s not quite as sexy-looking as some rivals, and the sound is more functional than inspirational but, in many ways, the measure of a good instrument is in how often you pick it up, even for a quick unplugged noodle – and I’ve been doing so constantly with the V1, each time marvelling at how such a fantastic-feeling bass is available for so little cash.

For sheer playing comfort, I’d venture there’s simply nothing to touch it at this price.

Guitar World verdict: For a relatively new brand, Sire has developed some serious market presence - and on the strength of even this entry-level V1, it’s no mere hype. This bass holds its own against similarly-priced rivals for build quality and sound, but possesses an almighty trump card in its stunning playability.

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Well, it’s fair to say if you’re into boutique pedals in 2026 you aren't exactly short on options. There are more choices than ever, whether you’re chasing a fuzz that could level a city block, a dreamy atmospheric delay, or a mythical harmonically rich overdrive. The tricky part isn’t finding something cool, it’s actually getting your hands on it. With the most hyped boutique builders, waitlists can stretch for months, sometimes years, and worse yet, there’s typically an eye-watering price attached.

That’s where the Warm Audio Dirty Boy Jr. Overdrive comes in. As you probably know, Warm Audio has built a serious reputation for making pro-level versions of classic gear, from iconic stompboxes to microphones and studio outboard units. Its latest pedal, the Dirty Boy Jr. Overdrive, aims to capture the magic of the beloved Dirty Boy Preamp in a more pedalboard-friendly, affordable package.

Dirty Boy has been in the pedal game since the 80s, but by the early 2000s it had solidified itself as one of the most sought-after boutique brands, with Neal Schon, Phil X, John Frusciante, and Tom DeLonge each having one of its pedals on their boards.

The Dirty Boy Jr. is a pure analog overdrive pedal built for dynamic, amp-like grit. The controls are pretty simple, with just Volume, Gain, and Tone, plus a Variac dial which simulates reduced voltage to the circuit, and in turn introduces sag, compression, and voltage-starved fuzz characteristics to the drive sound.

Now, while the Jr. can be used as a traditional overdrive pedal into the front end of your favorite tube amp, it also includes a handy emulated out. Danny Gomez developed the proprietary T.A.E. (Tube Amp Emulation) technology, voiced after a closed-back 4x12 Greenback cabinet, and you can send it directly to the PA for live shows or to your audio interface for recording.

As you’d expect, the pedal runs on your standard 9V power supply and is true bypass. The entire thing is housed in a rugged, all-metal enclosure with the iconic, sparse homemade look of the original.

Specs

• Launch price: $169 | £169 | €189
• Type: Preamp/overdrive
• Controls: Gain, Tone, Volume, and Variac
• Features: Overdrive circuit based on the Dirty Boy Preamp and emulated out with T.A.E. (Tube Amp Emulation)
• Connectivity: 1 x 1/4" input jack, 1 x 1/4" preamp output jack and 1 x 1/4" emulated cabinet output
• Bypass: True Bypass
• Power: 9V
• Dimensions: 122 mm x 51 mm x 65 mm (W x D x H)
• Weight: 0.6 lbs
• Options: N/A
• Contact: Warm Audio

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★★

So, first things first, the pedal’s enclosure feels reassuringly solid. Admittedly, there’s very little to go wrong here. However, the limited controls feel smooth and well-made.

The chassis is a weighty, all-metal affair, and the pedal’s graphics are understated and basic. Of course, this is a deliberate callback to the original Dirty Boy aesthetic, and I must say, I like the scrappy DIY style.

Yes, it’s plain, and maybe a little boring when compared to the wild graphics on some modern pedals, but it is functional, and those clear labels are easy to read, even under dim stage lights.

As you'd expect, the footswitch has a positive, tactile click, and the jacks and power input are firmly mounted, with no wobble.

All told, this is a very well-made pedal indeed, not that I’d expect anything less from the folks at Warm Audio.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★★

This pedal is pretty much as simple as it gets. The straightforward three-knob layout of Volume, Gain, and Tone means I can land on usable sounds in seconds. I’m happy to see there's no learning curve or labyrinth of secondary functions to contend with – just plug in, set the levels, and play.

That said, the Variac dial is the wild card here, turning this from an average three-knob overdrive into something else entirely. At maximum, the pedal is punchy and open, delivering classic, amp-like drive tones. Start rolling the Variac back, and you introduce that saggy, compressed feel that mimics a voltage-starved amp.

Switching between using the pedal in front of an amp or sending it direct is seamless, thanks to the extra emulated output. There’s no menu-diving, IR loading, or annoying software to download. I just plug straight into my interface and instantly get a convincing 4x12 cab sound.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

Okay, I am well aware that “amp-like” is an overused cliché when describing pedals, but honestly, I can’t think of a better way to convey how this pedal sounds. This is a truly touch-responsive, dynamic pedal that reacts like a good amplifier.

For testing, I’m starting off with a Gibson Firebird into a Vox AC30 on the Normal channel, set as clean as possible with just a touch of verb. I’m using the pedal as a standard overdrive.

Starting with the gain low and the Variac wide open, the sound is clear and punchy with just enough hair on the notes. To me, it sounds like the natural sound of my beloved Vox amp, just pushed a little harder. There’s extra sustain, and an organic quality to the distortion.

As the gain makes its way past 12 O’Clock, we get more saturation and a fuller sound overall. This becomes a fantastic classic rock-type drive. What I like about this pedal is how much it responds to volume changes. By simply turning down my guitar's volume, I can get it to clean up naturally.

Max-out the gain, and things start to get a little too fizzy for my tastes. Yes, the tone is more than usable, but it’s not as smooth as the previous settings. However, it did start to smooth out when I dialed back the tone to tame some of the harsh top-end.

Moving on to the Variac dial, I must say this is fun to play around with. As I said before, with the control on max, it’s the sound of the pedal wide open, but as you turn it down, you introduce lower-voltage sounds.

Around 3 o’clock, it is less noticeable tonally, but you can definitely feel the difference. It’s more spongy, and there’s a touch of that amp-like sag there. Moving the dial toward 12 o’clock, things turn more fuzz-like, with a spitty distortion that is now way rougher around the edges. Turning the control almost all the way down, it sounds like a lo-fi broken fuzz – like a sound you’d get out of the ZVex Fuzz Factory.

That is only half of the story, as the Dirty Boy Jr. Overdrive features an emulated output. To test this, I ran the emulated out into my Positive Grid Spark Live Cab, which is an FRFR speaker. The emulation here is pretty classic, opting for a typical 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion Greenbacks.

It sounds pretty good. It's warm, wide, and has the nice midrange punch you’d hope for from the real deal. I’d have no problem popping this pedal at the end of my pedalboard chain and using it as my “amp” for a live gig. It just sounds exactly as it should, and you can’t say fairer than that.

Verdict

Without its extra features, this Warm Audio and Dirty Boy collaboration would have yielded a seriously usable three-knob overdrive, but throw in the Variac control and a very good all-analog emulated out, and you have a characterful drive pedal that’s as versatile as it is fun to play.

At a price point well within reach for most working musicians, this is a great opportunity to snag a boutique-quality overdrive for a fraction of the original's cost. Honestly, whether you’re after classic rock crunch, amp-style breakup, or wild, voltage-starved fuzzy-edged distortion, this pedal will get you there with very little fuss.

Guitar World’s verdict: Warm Audio’s collaboration with Dirty Boy has not only honored the legacy of the original but made it accessible for a new generation of players. If you’re looking for a flexible, inspiring overdrive that punches well above its weight, the Dirty Boy Jr. deserves a spot on your board.

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Warm Audio

intheblues

• Best pedal amps: top preamps, power amps, and amp modelers

With the reinvigorated DOD brand comes the opportunity to improve upon classic designs from their past.

The Drag is a new analog delay pedal designed by the minds behind the Rubberneck, a cult classic pedal that is still sought-after today.

The Rubberneck expanded the palette of what was possible with a bucket-brigade delay (BBD), with its novel time-stretching features. The Drag packs a lot of the same punch as the Rubberneck, while adding new modes into the mix.

Specs

• Price: $219.99 | £199
• Type: Bucket Brigade Device analog delay pedal
• Controls: Time, Level, Feedback, Filter, Curve Tails, Drift, Friction
• Features: Delay and time stretching
• Connectivity: Input, Output, Power, FS3X jack
• Bypass: True and Buffered/Tails (switchable)
• Power: 9V DC centre-negative 120mA
• Dimensions: 121 x 71 x 38 mm
• Weight: 10.58oz/0.30kg
• Contact: Digitech

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

The Drag is a good-looking pedal. It's sturdy as you'd expect, and the artwork is a nice, cyberpunk-ish nod to classic Manga film Akira. It comes with a complementary magnetic front plate that can be stuck to a DigiTech FS3X footswitch, so that their designs match.

There are also some automotive-themed screwdrivers, plectrums and stickers as case candy, continuing DOD's commitment to adding some fun to proceedings as it did with the Badder Monkey.

To my eye, there is an accident waiting to happen with the pedal, however. Either side of the footswitch are two mini knobs. Now, only time can tell whether or not these will break, but it's enough to make me wary.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

The biggest strength of the Drag also reveals its biggest issue. The DOD Rubberneck was a feature-rich, double-width enclosure, with three large pots, two dual-mode pots, two small pots, and two toggles on the front plate, as well as two footswitches.

The Drag, meanwhile, attempts to cram the same functionality, and more, into a single footswitch compact pedal. For the player, this means a great deal of poking around on the front panel, and the need for an expansion footswitch to get the most out of it. As a result of this complexity, it failed my 'can this be used without looking at the manual' test pretty fast.

In the end, it's a minor complaint, since at least the FS3X isn't too expensive at around $60, but needing the pedalboard real estate to use it is a big drawback. This takes the footprint of the two up to around the same size as a flagship digital multi-delay like a Boss or Strymon.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

At its core, the DOD Drag is an excellent-sounding analogue delay. Depending on where you are in the world, its base price point might be competitive enough to purchase the Drag as a BBD delay, full-stop. Additionally, less space-cadet features like modulation are then just a bonus.

As a BBD delay, it's got a dark, rich voicing, which means I prefer bridge pickups so that it will cut through the mix. Combined with its modulation features, it has the ability to be used in more of a textural way, much like a tape echo.

However much I enjoy setting it up like a Roland Space Echo, then calling it a day, it's the additional features that make it stand out from the competition. Of these, the tape stop effect is the most fun, although admittedly it is an effect that's easy to replicate on record or in a DAW.

The pitch bouncing of the original Rubberneck also returns, but if you've got an EHX Pitch Fork, Boss Shifter or Whammy, then it's less controllable than those options. Where it is superior is in its unique, warm timbre.

Across all the additional modes, the best part is the unexpected. These BBD chips are being pushed to their limits and beyond, and sometimes the results are unusual or glitchy. Paired with a gated fuzz and whammy in front, the results can be incredibly fun.

Verdict

The DOD Drag is a great-sounding, solidly built pedal that is nevertheless held back by two things.

First, the complexity of its interface, and second, the need for a better way to interact with the depth of its functionality. If those two things aren't a deal-breaker for you, then you should definitely check it out.

Guitar World verdict: All in all, the Drag deserves credit for being an unusual pedal that is trying to do something new. The sounds within are solid at their core and fun, bordering on thrilling at the extreme. The only issue is figuring the pedal out – luckily for the Drag, trial and error is pretty rewarding.

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DigiTech

• Best delay pedals

If you've been paying any attention at all, you've probably heard of Sleep Token by now. Masked, robed, and still about as anonymous as it’s possible to stay while also being big enough to headline Wembley.

Their music is a curious brew – full of contemporary pop and R&B influence, along with lilting piano and crushing metalcore breakdowns in equal measure.

While a lot of the lore hinges on frontman and creative driving force Vessel, the instrumentalists of Sleep Token (cryptically numbered II, III and IV) are all highly accomplished, and combine to create a massive, theatrical presence on stage.

The band's growing fame, reach, and mystique are all desirable things as far as instrument manufacturers are concerned, and in recent years both bassist III and guitarist IV have begun working with Charvel and Jackson, respectively - historically intertwined metal/shred-focused brands both now owned by Fender.

There's buzz online every time III is spotted with a new custom bass guitar from Charvel; it was only a matter of time before a mass-production version came along. And, as they say, behold – because here it is.

Specs

• Price: $1,599 | £1,399 | €1,649
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Five-string active multi-scale bass guitar
• Body: Poplar
• Neck: Caramelised maple
• Fingerboard material/radius: Caramelised maple, 12-16” compound radius
• Scale length: Multi-scale, 34.4” to 35.5” (874mm to 902mm)
• Nut/width: Phenolic, 45.72mm
• Frets: 24, jumbo
• Hardware: Black - Charvel Single String bridge, Hipshot Ultralite tuners
• String spacing at bridge: 18mm
• Electrics: Fishman Fluence Bass Soapbar set, red. Volume (pull for coil split), Blend, concentric Bass/Treble, 3-way pickup voicing selector
• Weight: 8.6lb/3.9kg
• Left-handed options: None
• Finishes: Black (as reviewed)
• Case: Charvel Deluxe Bass Gig Bag included
• Contact: Charvel

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The historic gear nerd in me was excited to see that the glossy black, poplar body of the III bass recalls the long-dormant Charvel Model 1 bass shape, similar to other current San Dimas basses but more slab-like, with sharper edges and thicker, rounded horns.

That’s where the nostalgia stops, though.

To cope with Sleep Token's monstrously low tunings, this is a five-string and, significantly, it's Charvel's first ever multi-scale bass. The caramelized maple neck and fretboard are adorned with custom inlays, most notably the large question mark at the 12th fret. That, combined with the bright red Fishman Fluence pickup set, creates a pretty specific look which might be a turn-off for non-Sleep Token fans.

There's little to complain about in terms of build or finishing, however; it's very nicely made, and resonant, with excellent fretwork and neck fit.

The only issue I spotted was a small finish flaw on the edge of the truss rod channel, at the neck heel. That’s one more flaw than you’d want for your $1,599, arguably, but it’s still a nit-pick at best.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

The setup from the box is excellent, with a low action and no hint of fret buzz anywhere. The fanned frets might be intimidating to newcomers but really, it requires only a few minutes to kick your brain into sync with it.

At 34.4” to 35.5”, the fan isn’t as extreme as you’d find on a five-string Dingwall or similar. What also helps no end is the fact that the bass’s neck is absolutely wonderful to play.

As legions of guitarists from the early ‘80s to the present day will tell you, fantastic-feeling necks are a Charvel speciality, and this is no exception.

It’s among the most comfortable five-string necks I’ve ever played, at any price; finished in an immaculate, silky satin and boasting a very slim profile that’s still rounded enough to offer good support, it practically disappears under the hand.

Poplar tends to be a fairly lightweight wood, and indeed the Charvel is a very comfortable weight, with ergonomics that should be a good fit for the majority of players. All the better for throwing around onstage.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

As a number of modern metal bassists will already be able to tell you, the Fishman Fluence Bass Soapbar pickup set is a bit of a game-changer - with a three-way voicing switch and a coil-split, you get a hell of a lot of options before even messing with the pickup blend control.

So despite the very artist-specific looks, this Charvel can give you a large palette of sounds, from a classic, mid-focused soapbar humbucker to a very scooped sound that’s geared towards slap and aggressive pick playing.

Some of the best sounds are found with the volume knob pulled up, providing a split-coil setting that emulates Jazz Bass pickup spacing. This, combined with a tight overdriven sound and a controlled picking approach, yields some really fantastic, growling metal tones that have a strong bass presence while retaining superb top-end definition (fresh strings are certainly a part of this, remember).

It also means plenty of versatility for cleaner sounds – this Charvel could be a great studio tool, even if the visuals seek to pigeonhole it as a metal bass.

Throughout all my explorations, I barely need to touch the concentric Bass/Treble active EQ, a sign that the fundamental tone does exactly what it should.

Verdict

For all Sleep Token’s popularity, the III Signature bass paints itself into a visual corner. Unless your love for them trumps all other considerations, you might think twice about bringing such an obvious ‘Token’ of your affection onto the stage with your own band.

What’s beyond argument, though, is that this instrument plays like an absolute dream; the neck engenders such playing comfort that you just fly up and down the fretboard without a care in the world.

Meanwhile, the Fishman Fluence pickups are every bit as good as the hype would have you believe. The aggressive metal tones speak for themselves, but one might not expect the degree of versatility on offer outside of this. Given the mid-range price, it’s a serious feature set and the execution is near flawless. As ‘offerings’ from the Sleep Token camp go, this is one that you should certainly consider.

Guitar World verdict: Sleep Token’s meteoric rise to stardom made signature instruments fairly inevitable, but Charvel has taken the brief seriously and created a bass that brings an awful lot to the table. Yes, the looks are polarizing, but the playing experience and sonics will be anything but.

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Jackson x Charvel x Sleep Token

Guitar World

• Best Jackson guitars: Our pick of high-performance Jackson guitars for all budgets

Despite never showing his face or speaking publicly, Sleep Token’s IV is amongst the most searched metal guitarists of the past few years. The Roman numeral-ordered quartet is arguably the biggest band in metal right now, so it was only a matter of time before IV got a signature guitar. The Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Sleep Token IV Monarkh SC is the resultant offering, and if the popularity of the band is anything to go by, it could end up being one of the most popular metal guitars ever made.

With the band hell-bent on maintaining anonymity, details of his sound were scarce until a few years ago, when Sleep Token’s guitar tech revealed all the gory details. IV’s signature model comes from the lineage of that Jackson guitars Custom Shop Monarkh, which certainly turned my head when it was announced back in late 2023. That was an 8-string guitar, though, whereas this is a Bass IV.

There are likely some players who will be disappointed this isn’t the same 8-string IV has been wielding on tour for the past few years, but this guitar isn’t as far away from that as it looks at first glance. Both carry a 30-inch scale length, featuring a girthy .084 low E. The Monarkh archtop single-cut body is the same, along with that distinctive ‘Pale Moon’ ebony fretboard. Both models also feature luminlay side dots and an EverTune bridge for stability on the low strings.

Dual Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic humbuckers are a less modern choice than you might expect, being Fishman’s more affordable Fluence with a more vintage-voiced tone. It’s got a single push-pull volume knob which accesses the additional voices on the Fishman, and a classic 3-way toggle selector.

The fretboard has a compound radius, moving from 12 to 16 inches as you get nearer the body. It features 22 jumbo, stainless steel frets with pearloid teardrop inlays, topped by a composite phenolic nut with a 42.86mm nut width. Atop the neck is the 3x3 headstock with a set of Jackson locking tuners.

Specs

• Launch price: $2,299 | £1,949 | €2,299
• Made: Korea
• Type: Bass VI
• Body: Mahogany with maple cap and quilt maple veneer
• Neck: 3-piece caramelized maple, set-neck
• Fingerboard: Pale moon ebony, dot inlays, 12" to 16" compound radius (304.8mm to 406.4mm)
• Scale length: 30" (762mm)
• Nut/width: Phenolic, 42.86mm (1.6875")
• Frets: 22, jumbo, stainless steel
• Hardware: Jackson sealed die-cast locking tuners, EverTune F6 model with custom saddles
• String spacing at bridge: 50.5mm
• Electrics: Fishman Fluence Open Core COC-BB1 (bridge), Fishman Fluence Open Core COC-NB1 (neck), 3-position toggle switch, volume (push/pull)
• Weight: 7.9lbs/3.6kg
• Left-handed options: N/A
• Finishes: Transparent Black Burst only
• Cases: Jackson gig bag included
• Contact: Jackson

Guitar World video demo

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

I'm disappointed with the guitar case the IV Monarkh comes in. Eagerly opening the box, I'm expecting a signature model of such an image-focused band might contain some unique easter eggs or details on its case, but alas, it’s just a standard Jackson gig bag. It doesn’t fit the guitar very well, and considering the cost, I’d have expected at least one of those semi-hard foam cases like the Christian Andreu Rhoads came in.

The guitar itself looks phenomenal. It’s a real stunner with the dark, quilted maple top, but that Pale Moon ebony fretboard is the star of the show. It’s a unique color combination, looking like an almost white maple with near-black ebony streaks across it. The look is natural, from the Diospyros malabarica species often called black and white ebony, and its use means no two fretboards of this model will be the same.

The sharp-eyed will note there’s no Sleep Token logo at the 12th fret, as we see on IV’s Custom Shop 8-string, which again is a little disappointing. Perhaps the cost of the fretboard outweighed that of adding in the additional work to spec a custom inlay of such complexity. For super fans this might be a loss, but for those who just want a drop-tuned metal guitar, it could absolutely be a plus that there’s no obvious ST branding on it, apart from the ‘IV’ on the headstock.

Inspecting the guitar closely, I can find no obvious issues with the build, nor the aesthetic. Everything feels robustly applied, and it's an exquisitely finished instrument. There's a belly cut on the back of the body, as well as a slight carve on the cutaway to aid upper fret access.

One odd choice is that there’s an unsightly block of black gloss that partially covers the neck from the heel. Perhaps done to cover up the neck joint, it’s not on the Custom Shop model and feels a little odd terminating diagonally across the maple neck just shy of the 15th fret.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★☆

Sitting down to play, my first impression is that it’s impressively playable considering the huge scale and behemoth string gauge (D’Addario® EXL156 Bass VI Nickel Plated Steel .024-.084). All the strings are wound for this monstrous set, yet I find the string tension to be relatively low. I can fret barre chords on it, and bending the strings is absolutely achievable once you set the EverTune to the correct mode.

It’s not super shreddable, purely because of the thickness of the strings. With a bit of practice, I can let rip on it a bit, and adapting my right-hand technique for things like sweeps is possible, but it feels weird initially. This is where those prog metal players might have preferred an 8-string versus the Bass VI we have here.

The body is quite small, and with the huge scale, I find it a little awkward to play sitting down at my desk. The upper frets feel quite far away, and I find myself stretching to reach them while balancing the guitar on my right leg. I’m 5’ 9”, distinctly average height, so if you’re smaller than me, you’ll definitely want to get this on a guitar strap for more comfortable playing.

I find my hands getting tired at the end of a few playing sessions due to the monster size, especially when trying to play more technical metal. It’s absolutely gigantic in feel, and it’s been a while since I last used an extended-range guitar. There’s a definitive adoption phase needed when switching from a normal-scale guitar to this instrument, so be prepared for some warming up before your hands and arms adjust.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

As IV is a Quad Cortex user, it makes sense to test it with some of the Neural DSP plugin suites. While there’s not much info on exactly what amp models IV is using, I opt to use Gojira X and Nolly X, both of which are designed for modern metal tones. But from my initial playing using one of my own presets, I find there’s a lot of work needed to tame that low E string.

It’s very unruly out of the box, so I start with a high-pass filter on the way in to help tame the low end. Next I need to mess with the amp controls, particularly the resonance control on the 5150-inspired amp sim. It’s still a bit much, though, so my last adjustment is to lower the bass side of the humbucker a touch. It helps a lot, and I’m able to get a much tighter, modern metal tone out of it.

If you like heavy music, then this guitar can do it all with the right adjustments. Switching to the neck position is perfect for sludgy doom power chords, whereas the bridge position is ideal if you want to play djent-style tones or more prog metal-inspired stuff. My final fix is to pinch a Gruv Gear fret wrap from my own baritone and place it behind the nut to tame some of the extraneous noise.

It’s still not quite as precise for heavy tones as some players might want, and that’s because the pickups themselves are more vintage-voiced. Jackson has opted to fit the Fishman Fluence Open Core Classic pickups rather than the Modern ones, which makes it more versatile overall, but may not satisfy those looking for that super compressed, modern djent tone.

Due to this, it sounds surprisingly good played clean. I'm really impressed at how well-behaved it is through lower-gain presets and totally clean ones. It turns standard chord progressions into really ominous-sounding passages, and I wonder if part of the thinking here with the Classic Fluence was to prioritize flexibility over the often more sterile-sounding modern-voiced Fishmans. It can certainly handle those softer, cleaner Sleep Token moments.

Each pickup has two voices: a modern active and modern passive. Pulling the volume knob up activates the passive mode, which sounds a bit more open and has a more treble response versus the very midrangey active mode. It's not a huge difference between the two, and the single-coil voice isn't wired in on this guitar, which would've given it a more definitive secondary voice.

Verdict

Despite being the signature guitar for Sleep Token, I think the Jackson IV Monarkh can handle pretty much any modern metal duty. Whether you want Periphery-style djent tones or Loathe-type super-drop tuning, it’s a stable platform for chugging once you make a few adjustments to your signal chain and the guitar itself.

It's surprised me with its versatility, too. It’s not quite as good for low-tuned clean stuff as a baritone, but it’s playable enough to do open and barre chords, and you can get some lovely sounds out of it with the clean channel of your amp alongside some reverb and delay.

For a certain portion of the metal community, however, the gauge of the strings will make it too tough for some playing styles. If you're looking for a shred guitar that's tuned super low, this doesn't provide the slinky playability of an 8- or 7-string guitar, so prog metal aficionados may want to look elsewhere.

Guitar World verdict: If you love drop-tuned metal and want to focus on riffs rather than shredding, the Jackson Signature Sleep Token IV Monarkh is a great alternative to a 7- or 8-string guitar. The pickup choice is flexible enough for djent riffs as it is cowboy chords, and the looks are distinctive enough to make it appealing to ST fans without putting off the wider metal community, who perhaps aren’t so obsessive about the band.

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Jackson and Charvel