Behringer’s owner has filed a lawsuit against Boss and parent company Roland over its use of polyphonic tuning technology in several of its amp modeling and multi-FX pedals.

The lawsuit is from Empower Tribe, which owns Behringer and TC Electronic, and claims Roland has produced a “knock off” of its patented polyphonic tuner.

As a result, Boss has removed the feature from many of its flagship devices, including the GT‑1000, GT‑1000CORE, GX‑100, and GX‑10.

The story was broken by YouTuber John Nathan Cordy, who was prompted to go down a series of rabbit holes when a fan bemoaned that the polyphonic tuner feature had been removed from one of their Boss pedals.

This removal has been confirmed to be related to the court case by Boss in a statement provided to Guitar World.

“As of March 2026, in light of pending litigation concerning certain aspects of polyphonic tuning functionality, we have decided to remove the polyphonic tuner function from the GT‑1000, GT‑1000CORE, GX‑100, and GX‑10,” the company says.

Legal documents can be found on CourtListener.com, with the first complaint issued October 9, 2025.

Empower Tribe claims that Boss has wrongly infringed on TC Electronic’s patented tuner, the PolyTune – in particular its ability to tune multiple strings simultaneously. The pedal was first launched in 2011 and today, the latest version sits atop Guitar World's list of the best tuners in the game.

“Although Roland [which owns Boss] has developed many patented products on its own,” the lawsuit documentation reads, “it decided that instead of creating a polyphonic tuner itself, it would simply knock off Empower's patented device instead.”

As Cordy notes, the PolyTune isn't the world's only polyphonic tuner, and the Boss pedals it formerly existed in weren't direct competitors; tuners were simply one feature among many. The Boss GX-10, for instance, offers 32 amp models, a monophonic tuner, a looper, and multiple effects. So the waters could be deemed a little murky here.

“[The] defendants have never sought or obtained a licence of the patent, and are not authorized to practice any claim of that patent,” the documentation also attests.

It also goes on to say that Empower Tribe had contacted Roland about “reaching an amicable solution,” but claims that Roland “denied infringement” and “refused to negotiate a potential settlement.” This month, Boss removed the polyphonic tuners from those devices, although the units still feature a monophonic tuner.

The lawsuit is steeped in irony, given Behringer has a reputation in the guitar gear community for making cheaper versions of iconic pedal designs – in 2006, Boss sued Behringer over its entire stompbox line, forcing the German firm to redesign its devices. Just last year, it launched a clone of the Boss CE-1.

Behringer was also recently the subject of a lawsuit by Klon Centaur creator Bill Finnegan, forcing the firm to make changes to its Klon copy in an apparent attempt to avoid legal repercussions.

Notably, the Klon versus Behringer case was ultimately dismissed, so we may see a similar outcome repeated in this instance, too.

My name is Daryl, and I'm an addict. A pedal addict, to be specific. I can't help but get inspired by new gear. There always seems to be a new song hidden within a new guitar, amp, or stompbox – and frankly, a pedal is the cheapest out of the three if you need an extra jolt of inspiration without buying a new Gibson Les Paul every time.

Over the past year, I've tried to keep my pedal obsession in check, but when Amazon's Spring Deal Days rolled around, all bets were off! If you’ve browsed the online retail giant lately, you know there are some jaw-dropping deals on pedals just begging to be snagged.

With all that said, I’ve compiled a list of the coolest deals I’ve found and some that are seriously tempting me – one more pedal can't hurt, right?

Boss has ushered in a new era for its compact effects pedal catalog by unveiling the PX-1 Plugout FX – a ‘convertible’ stompbox that lets players load up and play through a generous range of the firm’s legendary effects from one unit.

It’s an interesting move from Boss, whose collection of compact effects pedals is the stuff of guitar legend, from the OD-1 – deemed by many as one of the most important stompboxes of all time – to the CE-2, which took over the guitar world upon its release.

Indeed, over the years, John Frusciante, Steve Vai, Eric Clapton and Joe Satriani have been just some of the big-name players who have championed Boss’ affordable effects pedals, which have been used by beginners and pros alike.

Now, with the PX-1, guitarists can browse, upload, and play through many of those popular effects through the convenience of a single stompbox, which carries the same visual and functional layout of a standard compact Boss pedal.

“The PX-1 Plugout FX is an innovative hardware platform that captures the timeless Boss compact pedal experience in one versatile pedal,” Boss explains. “This convertible stomp holds multiple authentic effect recreations from the historic Boss lineup, providing endless fuel for every creative journey.

“With the PX-1 in your setup, exploring the vast and influential world of Boss compact pedals has never been easier.”

At its simplest level, the PX-1 looks to be for Boss what the HX One was for the Line 6 Helix ecosystem, and what the Plethora X1 was for TC Electronic.

It leverages newly developed algorithms – potentially the same ones used for the recently developed software plugin – which promise “the genuine sound and response of the pedal it’s based on”.

In practice, the PX-1 hooks up to an accompanying Boss Effects Loader app, through which 16 effects are available. Available effects include the OD-1 Over Drive, CE-2 Chorus, SD-1 Super Over Drive, DD-2 Digital Delay, CS-1 Compression Sustainer and more.

Eight of those can be loaded into the PX-1 itself, and can be accessed through the intuitive control layout, which comprises three multi-function button knobs that are used to navigate effects, tweak parameters, adjust settings and more.

Other appointments include a ‘Swap’ function to make switching between two effects easier, stereo inputs and outputs for wider rig assimilation, tap tempo and MIDI clock support for delays and a jack for either one or two expression pedals.

The PX-1 has been launched with a price tag of $250, including a free six-month subscription to Roland Cloud.

Additional paid-for effects will be added from January 2026, although they can be trialed for free.

For context, the TC Electronic Plethora X1 weighs in at $150 – markedly more affordable, though it doesn’t offer drive or distortion effects.

The HX One – arguably the PX-1’s closest competitor – is slightly dearer at $299, though offers an additional footswitch for ease of operation, as well as a much larger bank of effects (including reverbs).

Whatever the case, the PX-1 is still a statement launch, and with the full weight of Boss in its corner, it could prove to be a popular pedal for those who don’t want to pull the trigger on a standalone compact pedal and, for a slight premium, would rather get 16 of them in one ’box.

Head over to Boss to find out more.

What is it?

The TC Electronic Ditto 2 is the long-awaited sequel to TC Electronic’s ubiquitous little gray box and the king of compact looper pedals. Building on the success of the original - which is small, robust, and simple to use - the Ditto 2 aims to take all the best bits of the OG and make them even better.

TC Electronic’s Ditto looper pedal has been around since 2013. It’s perfect for those looking for something to stick at the end of their pedalboard, whether generating ideas for their bands, jamming with themselves, or creating loops and ambient sounds for live playing.

Nowadays, however, there’s a lot more competition in the category of loopers, with similarly budget-priced offerings from Boss, Electro-Harmonix, NUX, and Zoom all vying for space on our ‘boards. So, is Ditto 2 ready to continue TC's compact looper supremacy? Let’s find out…

Specs

• Launch price: $119 / £89 / €98
• Type: Looper pedal
• Controls: Loop level, mode switch
• Connectivity: 1 x 1/4" in, 1 x 1/4" out, USB-C
• Bypass: True/buffered
• Power: 9V DC power supply (sold separately), 100mA
• Dimensions: 50.8 x 42.9 x 92.9mm
• Weight: 0.42lbs (0.1kg),
• Contact: TC Electronic

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

Unpacking the Ditto 2 from its box, my first impressions are that it’s ridiculously lightweight, yet feels nice and robust in the hand. It’s a teeny-tiny thing with just a single knob and footswitch on the front fascia, and an LED to indicate what mode it’s in. Speaking of the footswitch, it has a much wider top than I’m used to seeing and depresses with a satisfying yet quiet click. I can already see it being handy when trying to quickly engage loops on stage.

Single 1/4-inch jacks for input and output provide your connectivity, and on the right-hand side of the pedal, we see some additional connectivity via USB-C. Using this connector, you can hook it up to your smartphone to adjust settings, and this functionality is available via Bluetooth too. A mode switch on the same panel lets you change between an original Ditto profile and a user-defined one.

Many guitarists bemoan any pedals without top jacks, and while it doesn’t bother me all that much, I’ve never been a fan of having the pedal power on the side. The natural way a pedalboard is laid out makes it a lot easier to have this at the top of the pedal, and although the power port itself isn’t an issue, accessing the additional switch on the side to change mode is fiddly.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★½

Plugging the Ditto 2 into the end of the drive portion of my pedalboard, I begin by simply trying to loop something to see what happens. Laying down a laid-back Leo Nocentelli-inspired funk lick, I hit the footswitch once I feel I have my rhythm, pressing again to complete the lick. It captures my loop perfectly and immediately plays it back.

The LED turns green to indicate playback mode, and adding some upstroked stabs to my original lick is as simple as pressing the button again, playing my part, then hitting it again to complete the overdub. While overdubbing, the LED switches to purple to help you differentiate what’s going on with the pedal—useful if you’re looping longer phrases.

It doesn’t take me long to start building in harmonized parts and additional embellishments—all without having to look at a smartphone app or dive into the manual. It’s a devilishly simple pedal, and it’s easy to see why the Ditto remains so popular over the years. The addition of ‘loop snap’ - whereby the pedal irons out any small chinks in your rhythm skills - is noticeable too; my loops feel immediately smooth, despite the fact that looping isn’t something I do often.

Alas, we live in an age where even our guitar pedals are slaved to our smartphones, so with the promise of some useful additional functions, I delete my initial riffage with a double stomp and hold of the footswitch and set about connecting my Pixel phone to the pedal.

To do so, I visit the Play Store and download the TC Electronic app. This takes me a little longer than I anticipate as I search for “Ditto 2” and come up with nothing. Once I surmise that the TC Electronic app is what I require, the actual connecting of my phone to the app is disturbingly quick. I simply put the pedal into pairing mode using the switch on the side, connect it via the Bluetooth menu on my phone, and the app instantly recognizes and connects to it.

Using the app allows you to change the way the pedal behaves without having to unhook it from your pedalboard to access that side switch. The default mode gives you classic Ditto behavior with overdubs aplenty, while a secondary ‘singletap looping’ mode is also unlocked.

Here, the pedal cycles through record, play, and then clear modes, which I can see being useful in a band format where you might only need a single additional part rather than endless overdubs. It also allows you to turn ‘loop snap’ off, should you want to delve into funny time signatures or just loop freely.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

While I stack loops with a clean setting on my amp, I find the sound quality to be fantastic, even when I hit the six or seven mark in terms of overdubs. Everything still sounds nicely balanced, giving me plenty of reassurance that the quality of loops stays intact no matter how many times I choose to overdub.

With a distortion or overdrive pedal engaged, it’s a different matter. This isn’t because of the pedal. Once you start stacking more harmonically rich content, you need to be cleverer with your sound selection, using different pickup selections and changing the gain pedal you use to record your loops.

Despite this, the Ditto 2 still handles distorted tones brilliantly, and again it’s only as I hit around five different distorted guitar lines that things start to get a little messy. This is more down to the fact that I run out of gain stages to utilize in the loop, hitting a natural limit in harmonic content from the number of guitars playing, than it is down to the audio quality of the pedal itself.

One of the key strengths of this pedal is a sort of auto-ducking when you start stacking loops, which is part of the reason it manages to sound so good even with a huge array of overdubs. That said, I do notice at times the pedal ducking a little harshly depending on what I feed it, particularly as I step on my notoriously loud octave pedal. It's a small thing, but at times, it can impact the quality of the looping.

Verdict

I was honestly surprised at just how easy it is to use the Ditto 2. Even if you’ve never used a looper before I’d wager it wouldn’t take most guitarists more than 5 minutes to get up and running with it. Its intuitiveness and simplicity are the core of its strengths, and from using it it’s easy to see why it remains one of the most popular looper pedals around.

The sound quality even when stacking lots of loops is superb, and the ‘loop snap’ function is a small but powerful tool that will massively improve the rhythmic quality of your looping. My only real gripe with the pedal is the position of the mode switch and power outlet, but even that is diminished as you can access this functionality through your phone.

Guitar World verdict: As far as single button loopers go, the TC Electronic Ditto 2 stakes its claim to take over from the OG Ditto with aplomb. It doesn’t do a huge amount different to the original, but the addition of the companion app and clever ‘loop snap’ function definitely make it a great looper for beginners or those who just need simple functionality for their practice regimen or live playing.

Also try

Hands-on videos

Guitar World

The Studio Rats

Pedal Platform

TC Electronic has launched the Ditto 2 – a “game-changing” evolution of what was already one of the world’s most popular loop pedals.

Much of the Ditto's appeal came from its single-knob simplicity and the fact it offered players infinite overdubs. After the line first launched in 2013, the Ditto+ later added loop sessions and the ability to import/export backing tracks and sessions, while the X2 improved its sound quality and delivered full stereo goodness.

So, what new tricks does the Ditto 2 bring to the party? Well, quite a lot, actually. It’s been 12 years since the Ditto’s initial launch, and competition has skyrocketed since. As such, it's having to fight to retain its looper crown.

A LoopSnap feature handily auto-corrects timing mistakes made by a player, which may pose a problem when delivering mind-boggling polyrhythmic insanity, but it could be a lifesaver if a guitarist is channeling their inner Ed Sheeran.

Its workflow has also been revitalized, proving two ways to loop. For traditionalists, the Ditto’s classic, no-nonsense methodology has been carried over – press once to record, again to play, again to overdub, and press and hold to clear the loop.

For those wanting a more customized experience, the all-new User Mode lets players change things up in a way that makes sense to them.

While it hasn’t taken a leaf out of the Ditto+’s book by adding a screen to the mix, it has still managed to overhaul its display while staying true to the original’s minimalist and pocket-sized powerhouse form. A bright, colorful, and color-coded LED is on hand to provide instant visual feedback.

Its sole footswitch is magnetic now, and has a much wider surface area, making “every press feel smooth and precise”. It isn’t, on the surface, wholly exciting, but it shows an attention to detail; TC Electronic wants this to feel like a premium and user-friendly pedal.

It is 2025 now, and it feels like a rite of passage for pedals to come with companion apps, and the Ditto 2 is no different. Settings such as the personalized User Mode can be adjusted, and the system’s firmware can be updated, via Bluetooth.

The pedal also boasts analog dry-through to keep an instrument's signal pristine and uncolored, and true bypass mode can be unlocked via the app.

TC Electronic hasn’t thrown the kitchen sink at the Ditto 2, but its upgrades are highly focused. The Ditto has already won the loop pedal wars for many, but in the face of growing competition, these tweaks might just bring it up to speed in a quirk-loaded market.

Last year alone saw some envelope-pushing drops. Zoom aimed straight for TC's crown with its compact but versatile MS-90LP+, and Mooer also had eyes on the throne with its slick, AI-powered machine, the GL100.

DigiTech upped its game with the high-definition audio of the JamMan Solo HD, with all three releases coming after Ed Sheeran flipped the market on its head with his own line of feature-packed loopers.

TC Electronic, though, is confident it still has the upper hand.

“The original Ditto looper set a new standard for simplicity and sound quality in looping,” it says. “Now, Ditto 2 refines that winning formula for an even smoother, more responsive experience – keeping you locked into the groove without missing a beat.”

The TC Electronic Ditto 2 is available now for $119.

Head to TC Electronic to learn more.

What is it?

Judging by the abundance of effects that the TC Electronic Plethora X1 TonePrint Loader makes available to guitarists, it is obvious that TC knows what it means to have a plethora.

Just the same, if having too much of a good thing brings you joy, then TC Electronic’s Plethora will bring much delight with its many desirable and stellar-sounding effects – each offering a wealth of options.

The Plethora X1 is basically a single-effect version of TC’s previous powerful and versatile Plethora X3 and X5 multi-effects units. The X1 provides the equivalent of 15 different TonePrint pedals that can be accessed one at a time, consisting of compression, delay, gate, modulation, pitch shift and reverb (but no overdrive/distortion) effects, each complete with a full range of adjustable parameters.

Three assignable parameter knobs allow adjustments on the fly – just like using a standard pedal – and users can download artist TonePrints or program their own TonePrints in greater detail using free desktop or mobile TonePrint Editor apps.

Usability & Build Quality

The Plethora X1 is housed in the same compact-size pedal enclosure as other TonePrint pedals like the Flashback 2 and Hall of Fame 2 and features the same four-knob control configuration.

It’s sturdy and roadworthy, with a high-quality no-click footswitch, and bulletproof side-mounted stereo ¼-inch input and output jacks. The rear panel houses a 9-volt/250mA minimum power input jack, recessed Connect switch for linking the pedal with a mobile device via Bluetooth and a USB C jack for downloading firmware updates or connecting the pedal to a desktop computer for editing functions.

The pedal’s knobs consist of three assignable parameter controls (A/B/C) and the Board Selector rotary switch with seven detented positions. A mini toggle switch allows users to scroll up or down through TonePrints (such as Hall, Plate, Room, etc. TonePrints for the Hall of Fame 2 Reverb pedal) or secondary footswitch functions accessed by also holding down the footswitch.

Navigating TonePrints, footswitch settings and parameters is fast, easy and intuitive, helped considerably by the color display that packs a ton of info into its small, brightly lit space.

Users can easily customize the performance/functionality of the footswitch. Bypass modes include latching (typical on/off function), momentary (effect is on only when footswitch is held down) and momentary + MASH (effect on when footswitch held down, selected parameter also responds to pressure upon footswitch).

Secondary footswitch modes include MASH (pressure upon footswitch adjusts parameter settings), A/B (toggles between A and B TonePrint slots to access all 15 TonePrints), Tap Tempo (for Flashback 2 delay, Vintage Echo and Pipeline Tap Tremolo effects only) and Ramp (for morphing between Viscous Vibe rate settings). Other settings like Kill-dry on/off and true/buffered bypass are accessible only via the TonePrint Editor app.

Usability and sounds

All of the 15 TonePrints in the Plethora X1 match the sound quality, performance and versatility of their standalone pedal counterparts 100 percent. The reverbs are every bit as lush and three-dimensional; the delays are crisp and organic; and the chorus, phaser, flanger, tremolo and vibe have the same character and depth.

All of the effects are highly useful on their own merits, although perhaps the Sentry Noise Gate seems a little underwhelming due to its “blue collar” tool functionality compared to the whiz-bang nature of things like the reverb and pitch shift/harmony effects. However, if you ever find yourself in a situation where a noise gate is essential, it’s nice to have this effect immediately on hand.

And that truly is the essence of the Plethora X1. It’s more of a chameleon-style effect that can be whatever you want it to be at a moment’s notice (as long as that isn’t overdrive or distortion). If you’re indecisive about the pedals you want in your rig or you may occasionally need a certain effect to temporarily spice up your sound, the Plethora X1 offers a cost-effective way to have it all.

The X1 even makes it easy to switch to a completely different effect in between songs. You could also consider it a demo for other TC TonePrint pedals that can help you decide which dedicated pedals might work best as permanent additions to your rig before you decide.

Verdict

The TC Electronic Plethora X1 provides a true plethora of effects – 15 different TonePrint effects, to be exact, which would cost over $2,000 if you bought each TonePrint pedal separately.

Guitar World verdict: If you’re on a budget but want to explore a full variety of high-quality effects or if you have ever-changing needs for your pedal rig, it offers a great way to get maximum bang for your buck in the effects department.

Specs

Launch price: $179/£159
Type: Multi-effects pedal (one effect at a time)
Controls: A, B, C Parameter control dials, 7-way board selector switch, 2-way toggle switch for loading factory TonePrints accessing secondary footswitch functions and bypass settings, MASH footswitch
Connectivity: 2x 1/4" inputs, 2x 1/4" outputs, Bluetooth, USB, standard pedal size 9 V center negative power input
Bypass: Switchable
Power: 9V DC, 250mA min
Dimensions (W x D x H): 72 x 122 x 50 mm.
Options: None
Contact: TC Electronic

Hands-on videos

TC Electronic

Sweetwater

The Studio Rats

• “Each provides the flavor of the amp they’re modeling. In some cases the range of sounds is extended”: TC Electronic AmpWorx Series review

NAMM 2025: TC Electronic has unveiled the Plethora X1 – the latest addition to its Plethora family of multi-effects pedals, which finds the firm going toe-to-toe once again with Line 6.

The Plethora range is one of the most popular and successful multi-effects lineups on the market. The flagship Plethora X5, for example, received a glowing 4.5 out of 5 star review from Guitarist when it first arrived, as did its sibling, the downsized Plethora X3, which arrived in 2022.

Now, the firm has streamlined its Plethora pedal once again in the form of a single footswitch stompbox that seemingly sets its sights on wrestling Line 6’s HX One for the title of the market’s go-to sole-switch multi-effects unit.

For some context, the Line 6 HX One arrived earlier this year to much fanfare. Upon its release, it made Helix-grade effects more affordable than ever before with a price tag of $299 and, again, promptly received a golden 4.5-star review from Guitarist.

In practice, it offered a huge range of Line 6’s Helix effects in a tiny form factor that could be squeezed into even the busiest of pedalboards.

With that in mind, TC Electronic’s Plethora X1 is a direct competitor to the HX One, offering a suite of the brand’s guitar effects, a seriously simple control layout, stereo inputs and outputs, and that compact form factor.

Through its interface, the Plethora X1 delivers 14 onboard effects, which are divided into two banks of seven ‘Boards’. The pedal comes pre-loaded with some high-profile TC effects, including Hall of Fame 2 Reverb, Flashback 2 Delay, Corona Chorus, Pipeline Tap Tremolo and more.

These can all be accessed through a selector control, and sculpted via three nondescript control knobs that are in charge of the various effects’ parameters. Furthermore, the Plethora X1 can be hooked up to the free TonePrint app via Bluetooth and USC-C, where users can upload more TonePrints (read: presets) as desired.

“The boards and slots are 100% flexible,” says TC Electronic. “If you want 14 different FlashBack 2 Delay TonePrints, simply upload them. The 1” LCD screen will help you keep track of what is loaded at any given time.”

For extra versatility, the true bypass switch serves five functions: a classic on/off, an A/B for switching between two effects, latching, momentary, and TC Electronic’s Mash effects.

Present on previous TC Electronics’, Mash opens “a whole new world of ways to manipulate your effects”, serving different functions depending on the effect. Effectively, it can provide everything from frozen delays to ramping modulation and more.

It looks like a pretty tidy bit of kit, and it will only get better, with TC Electronic promising regular firmware updates that will bring new boards, TonePrints and more.

At $179 from Sweetwater, it really does (at least on paper) represent serious value for money, especially when you consider the HX One costs more than $100 more at $299.

The HX One is more comprehensive (you can scroll through 250 Helix effects on the pedal) and has a second footswitch – but for a one-size-fits-all multi-effects pedal that delivers some classic reverb and delay algorithms, this more affordable approach is sure to win its own fanbase.

The Hall of Fame 2 on its own, for example, is only slightly cheaper at $159. It’s the same story for the Flashback Delay, which will also set you back $159. The Plethora X1 could be a very savvy investment indeed.

Head over to TC Electronic to find out more.

It’s a familiar part of the market now – the relatively compact, digitally modeled amp emulator pedal that sits on your pedalboard or your desktop and is equipped with enough facilities to fulfil a number of functions in live work, recording and practice.

Strymon may have kickstarted the trend with its Iridium, which has three onboard amp types, but it was soon followed by others with multiple built-in amps, and some that modeled one specific guitar amp such as those in Universal Audio’s UAFX range - including the recent Dumble-modelling Enigmatic '82.

TC Electronic’s AmpWorx range falls into that latter category of single-amp modeling, and the range is divided into three pedals in each the Vintage and Hi-Gain Series. It’s predominantly the Vintage Series that we’re taking a close look at here, plus the only Brit in the Hi-Gain Series, the JIMS 800 – a take on a more contemporary JCM800 Marshall amp, which sits alongside takes on a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Peavey 5150.

The three Vintage Series amps are based on models from 1965: the Combo Deluxe 65’ [strange use of the apostrophe, we know] is based on a black-panel Fender Deluxe Reverb, the DC30 recreates a Vox AC30 Top Boost, and the JIMS 45 – affectionately named, we assume, after Jim Marshall – is modeled on a Marshall JTM45.

TC Electronic says that in all cases every aspect of the original amp has been recreated in painstaking detail, right down to each component in the circuit. However, the company has added some custom modifications for more flexibility in dialling in tones.

While each pedal is based on an individual amp and has a different function for its six-knob/twin-footswitch control surface, there are some features common to all. The output jack, for example, allows the raw sound of the pedal to be sent to an amp’s effects loop return or to some other power amp and speaker setup.

Alternatively, you can just plug it into the front of your amp, although that would require a greater degree of tweaking. There’s also a DI output with speaker emulation that can see the pedal employed for direct recording, or connect to the sound system or to a FRFR speaker for a live show.

The speaker emulation, which consists of a single Celestion IR optimised for the pedal, also extends to a headphone output, allowing some silent practice.

Each pedal actually has two amp channels (Green for clean sounds, Red for a gainier sound) that are selected via its Channel footswitch. The default status, as shipped, is that the pedal is always active, but you can easily change the Channel footswitch function to Bypass for standard stompbox use (with the last selected channel).

With the exception of the Combo Deluxe 65’ model, which has footswitchable reverb, each pedal’s second footswitch brings in a boost. A rear‑panel Pre/Post toggle switch determines whether this operates before the amp for +12dB of gain boost, or after it for kicking up the volume by +4dB.

In Use

Checking out the pedals in a variety of scenarios proves them totally fit for purpose. Each provides the flavour of the amp they’re modelling, although in some cases the range of sounds is extended.

The Combo Deluxe 65’ features a Mid knob, which the original never had, but retains the clean and ‘edge of break-up’ sounds that make it a favoured pedal platform.

Meanwhile, the JIMS 45 adds flexibility via a tweaked tonestack and has a Treble bleed mod for sweeter high-mids. There’s also a Gain mod for a touch more level to the second gain stage, delivering an enhanced take on the higher gain Marshall rock sounds in contrast to the sparkly cleans and vintage Marshall drive of the JIMS 45.

Both the JIMS 45 and the DC30 have separate knobs for adjusting the gain of their Normal and Bright signal paths, offering the either/or option or juxtaposition of the two to zero in your preference for the amount of drive and its tonal content.

Although you only get a single IR for each pedal, they have been sympathetically chosen to mimic the real-world scenario and all do the job well.

The Combo Deluxe 65’ has a Celestion 12-inch G12M Creamback, and you also get those in a 4x12 cabinet configuration with the JIMS 45. The JIMS 800’s 4x12 cabinet is loaded with Celestion G12-65 speakers, and the DC30 gets the correct 2x12 Celestion Alnico Blue combo speaker simulation.

Recording into our DAW through the cab-sim output yields very positive results. And while some may wonder why the USB port hasn’t been set up to load different IRs, the answer is you can’t have everything at such a low price point and such a facility would be to the detriment of the ease of use.

Of course, if you’d like to use a different IR, you can record the other output of the pedal into your DAW and use any IR plugin – though you'd need an Ir loader pedal live. When using the amp pedals for headphone practice, the cab sims give you a fine playing sound, but the Combo Deluxe 65’ has the added bonus of nicely adjustable reverb to open up the ambiance.

If you’re going to use the pedals on stage, the footswitching facilities will be important. Internally, the Green and Red channels differ slightly, but they’re still two sides of the same coin and you can set them up accordingly to complement each other.

You can set different knob settings for each channel, and the pedal automatically stores those settings so they are recalled when switching. If a channel has the Boost active (or the Reverb for the Combo Deluxe 65’), that’s also remembered when channel switching, and in all cases the boosts add great flexibility.

Verdict

Straightforward and hands-on, this set of pedals has been carefully designed to deliver in live, practice and recording scenarios.

Look elsewhere if you’d like a variety of amp types in a compact pedal, but if you know what type of amp sound you want, then one of the AmpWorx series will provide you with a flexible workhorse at a very attractive price.

Specs

TC Electronic AmpWorx Combo Deluxe 65’

• PRICE: £129
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Preamp pedal with modelled amp sound and speaker emulation
• FEATURES: Buffered bypass, 2x channels, speaker-emulated DI and headphone outputs 
• CONTROLS: Reverb, Gain, Level, Bass, Middle, Treble, Reverb Tone, Bright switch, Reverb footswitch, Channel footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, Standard Output, Standard TRS DI output, 1/8” headphones output, USB
• POWER: 9V adaptor (not supplied) 300mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 112 (w) x 135 (d) x 50mm (h) 

TC Electronic AmpWorx Jims 45

• PRICE: £129
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Preamp pedal with modelled amp sound and speaker emulation
• FEATURES: Buffered bypass, 2x channels, speaker-emulated DI and headphone outputs 
• CONTROLS: Normal, High, Level, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Pre/Post switch, Boost footswitch, Channel footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, Standard Output, Standard TRS DI output, 1/8” headphones output, USB
• POWER: 9V adaptor (not supplied) 300mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 112 (w) x 135 (d) x 50mm (h)

TC Electronic AmpWorx DC30

• PRICE: £129
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Preamp pedal with modelled amp sound and speaker emulation
• FEATURES: Buffered bypass, 2x channels, speaker-emulated DI and headphone outputs
• CONTROLS: Normal, Brilliant, Level, Bass, Treble, Cut, Boost Gain, Pre/Post switch, Boost footswitch, Channel footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, Standard Output, Standard TRS DI output, 1/8” headphones output, USB
• POWER: 9V adaptor (not supplied) 300mA
• DIMENSIONS: 112 (w) x 135 (d) x 50mm (h)

TC Electronic AmpWorx JIMS 800

• PRICE: £129
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Preamp pedal with modelled amp sound and speaker emulation
• FEATURES: Buffered bypass, 2x channels, speaker-emulated DI and headphone outputs 
• CONTROLS: Gain, Boost, Level, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Pre/Post switch, Boost footswitch, Channel footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, Standard Output, Standard TRS DI output, 1/8” headphones output, USB
• POWER: 9V adaptor (not supplied) 300mA 
• DIMENSIONS: 112 (w) x 135 (d) x 50mm (h
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

The mid-’80s was a golden age for digital delay, thanks to the proliferation of pro- and studio-quality rack effects units from Eventide, Korg, Lexicon, Roland and Yamaha. For many guitarists, the best rack delay unit to emerge during this era was (and is) the TC Electronic 2290.

It had numerous advantages like its advanced modulation section and MIDI loop switching, but what truly made the 2290 so desirable even today nearly 40 years after its introduction in 1985 was its incredibly luscious, detailed and musical sound quality as well as its expressive, dynamic performance capabilities.

Original 2290 rack units have continuously fetched high prices on the used market, but in addition to its bulky size a major drawback is that it’s nearly impossible to service should any problems arise.

TC Electronic’s new TC 2290P Dynamic Digital Delay pedal provides a much more desirable alternative by offering the genuine classic sounds of the original 2290 in all their glory along with numerous modern additions and enhancements, all in a stage-worthy compact pedal format.

The 2290P’s control panel looks similar but not identical to the faceplate of a 2290 rack unit shrunk down to 8- x 2-inch dimensions, featuring Modulation, Pan/Dynamics, Delay, Feedback, Output and Preset sections with two- and four-digit numeric red LEDs and pushbuttons for selecting parameters.

A rotary Keyboard encoder knob replaces the numeric keypad used for entering parameter values. Users can also manage presets, set up MIDI control and change general settings using the dedicated 2290P desktop app for Mac and Windows computers.

The rear panel is also more streamlined, providing stereo ¼-inch input and output jacks that can be switched to mono input/output plus an effects loop, an expression pedal jack, mini USB-C jack, 9-volt 250mA center negative power input and full-size MIDI In and Out/Thru jacks.

The pedal also includes three footswitches for scrolling up and down through presets, as well as engaging Learn and tap tempo functions that weren’t available on the original unit.

The control and rear panel may be slightly downsized compared to the original, but the range of numerous parameters has been increased. For example, the maximum delay time is now 9.9999 seconds compared to about 4 seconds for original units with the proper system software upgrades.

Delay subdivisions including dotted notes and triplets have also been added. The pedal stores 128 presets internally, and TC has loaded the unit with a full library of programs from the original unit plus new presets from artists and producers.

Offering only a single delay line, the 2290P may seem primitive compared to the multi-delay units common today, but its pristine sound quality still makes it quite attractive to delay aficionados.

Thanks to its sophisticated modulation section, the pedal can produce lush chorus and deep phase shift/flanging effects as well as tremolo/vibrato, panning, dynamic ducking and compression effects.

The texture of long sustaining delay tails is reverb-like and three-dimensional, and the delayed signals can be processed separately from the dry signal using effects patched into the pedal’s effects loop.

The luxurious sheen of the 2290P’s modulated delay effects reveals why the original 2290 has remained a permanent fixture in pro guitarists’ rigs and recording studio racks for four decades.

The sound quality and dynamic expressiveness results in an inherent musical je ne sais quoi about the 2290 that stands apart from most of today’s sophisticated delay units, which certainly sound very good but not quite as organic.

If owning a 2290 has been on your gear bucket list, rest assured that the 2290P ticks all the right boxes for a price that won’t wipe out your retirement fund.

Specs

• PRICE: $349
• TYPE: Digital delay pedal
• CONTROLS: Keyboard rotary encoder
• SWITCHES: (Modulation) Speed, Depth, Waveform, Select (Pan) Mod, Direct (Dyn) Mod, Reverse (Delay) Delay, Mod, Inv, Sub.D (Feedback) F.Back, Inv, Select (Output) Dly, Dir (Preset) Preset, Store (Rear Panel) Stereo In Out/Feedback Loop
• FOOTSWITCHES: A, B, Learn/Tap Tempo
• JACKS: Input Mono, Input Stereo/Return, Output Mono, Output Stereo/Send, Expression, USB-C, 9-Volt DC, MIDI In, MIDI Out/Thru
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

TC Electronic has debuted the 2290 P Dynamic Digital Delay pedal – a new-and-improved, modern reissue of the classic 2290 rack unit.

First introduced in the 1980s, said rack unit has an illustrious history, having made its way into both the studio and live rigs of some of music’s most prolific players, from Dream Theater and David Gilmour all the way to The Edge and Robben Ford.

Now, after being eternalized as a digital plugin a few years ago, the 2290 has been brought back once again, this time in a versatile, pedalboard-friendly format.

But while TC Electronic has sought to deliver a “faithful recreation” of its popular forebear, it’s also aimed to give the 2290 a modern update to make it suitable for a contemporary setting without compromising its “soul and characteristic sonic profile”.

On paper, the 2290 P Dynamic Digital Delay (described as “a legend reborn” by its maker) is a time-based effect generator that can generate chorus, flanger, tremolo, vibrato, phaser, panning, ducking and compression effects, alongside its delay offering of up to a whopping 9.999 seconds of delay time.

To deliver this array of effects – and to pay homage to the original unit – the pedal opts for a retro aesthetic with classic digital displays and control buttons, which in turn tap into the effects mentioned above. The effects can also be sculpted and sorted into any of the 128 onboard preset spaces.

Control-wise, there are three footswitches for triggering and bypassing effects, banking up or down the preset list, and tap tempo, as well as an assortment of retro buttons that are used to select parameters from the Modulation, Panning/Dynamic, Delay, Feedback, Output and Preset sections of the pedal. 

A larger Keyboard encoder can then be used to manipulate and adjust the chosen setting.

Some of the pedal’s more modern appointments include a new Learn feature on the Tap Tempo footswitch, full MIDI integration, and compatibility with a dedicated 2290 P app, through which players can adjust parameters.

Notably, that app also gives guitarists access to a library of presets inspired by the sounds of “the greatest artists and producers in music history”, as well as some imported directly from the flagship 2290 rack unit.

On the rear panel, the MIDI jacks are joined by stereo ins and outs with a dedicated stereo switch, as well as USB-C for firmware updates and computer use, and an expression pedal jack for off-the-cuff parameter changes.

Other appointments include an expanded range on the feedback and deep modulation filters, true or buffered bypass for engaging is disengaging effect trails, and easy access to specs that had previously been “hidden deep” within the original unit.

The 2290 P Dynamic Digital Delay is available now from retailers such as Sweetwater for $349.

Head over to TC Electronic to find out more.

Back in June, TC Electronic debuted its all-new Ampworx range with three affordable amp modeling/preamp guitar pedals that sought to provide authentic Fender, Marshall and Vox tones.

Now, the Danish effects specialist has issued an Ampworx expansion pack, which comprises three further stompboxes that set their sights on a trio of classic guitar amp sounds.

Notably, whereas the first Ampworx drop was dubbed the “Vintage Series”, this collection has been named the “High-Gain Series”. There are no prizes for guessing what kind of amp sounds that would entail.

TC Electronic certainly has chosen a strong lineup for its High-Gain collection, which is made up of the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier-inspired Dual Wreck, Marshall JCM800-esque JIMS800 and the original Peavey 5150 tribute, the 550.

As was the case before, each Ampworx pedal features a twin-channel design, optional Celestion cab sims and a host of controls that seek to deliver amp-faithful performances.

Another spec that wholly unites each High-Gain Ampworx pedals is the units’ topography: each has two footswitches – one of which engages the boost circuit – as well as a three-band EQ, master gain and volume knobs, and either Reso (550), Tight (Dual Wreck) or Boost (JIMS800) parameters.

Furthermore, similar to the Vintage Series Ampworx range, the three new units offer brand-specific aesthetics. That means the JIMS800 flaunts gold controls, the 550 flashes chickenhead versions and the Dual Wreck has robust chrome alternatives. A nice touch that will no doubt be appreciated by gear geeks.

Taking one pedal at a time, the 550 – said to be a recreation of EVH’s 1992 Peavey MK1 Script Logo 5150 – is fitted with a Celestion 4x12 G12M Heritage cab sim IR, and offers both Rhythm + Crunch and Lead channels for a suite of classic rock and heavy metal sounds.

It’s a similar story for the Dual Wreck, which instead opts for a Celestion 4x12 V30 cab sim in its quest to channel the spirit of the 1995-era Revision G Dual Rectifier.

The just leaves the JIMS800, with its Celestion 4x12 G12-65 IR and popular amp-appropriate internal mods, which include a treble bleed, tonestack tweaks and second stage gain mods.

When the first Ampworx drop arrived, players were particularly taken by the pedals’ price tags – at $149, they marked some of the most affordable amp modeler/preamp pedals on the market.

The High-Gain Series is no exception. Each new unit has once again arrived weighing in at $149 – a clear statement of intent from TC Electronic, which seems to be taking its excursion into the amp modeler market very seriously indeed.

It will be a welcome sign for players who are keen to dip their toes in the amp modeler waters but don’t wish to fully submerge themselves (or their wallets) in the likes of Blackstar’s $499 Amped 1 or Tech 21’s $249 SansAmps.

And, as noted before, what the TC Electronic Ampworx range lacks in features and configurability, it more than makes up for in price, purporting to be the perfect alternative for anyone looking for a simple, no-nonsense preamp pedal.

Plus, with the precedent now firmly set that the firm isn’t afraid to traverse various sounds and styles with its Ampworx family, there’s no telling where it could lead. It can't be long before a Dumble model arrives, surely...

To find out more, head over to TC Electronic.

Danish effects firm TC Electronic has debuted three new affordable amp modelling/preamp guitar pedals as part of a new range, dubbed Ampworx. 

The range includes the Combo Deluxe ’65, DC30 and JIMS45 – each of which has been carefully designed to emulate a vintage ’60s tube amp (namely a black panel Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Vox AC30 and a Marshall JTM45).

All of the Ampworx preamps feature a two channel design, Celestion IR cab sim, headphone output, USB connection and 1/4" DI output. They also share similar control formats, with a distinctive six-dial top panel (with three-band EQ) and two footswitches.

Moving between the pedals, the differences reflect the model emulated. So, the Fender-style Combo Deluxe ‘65 offers a built-in spring reverb effect, while the Plexi-style JIMS45 and Vox-aping DC30 both have boost circuits. These can be tweaked with a mini-toggle and dial positioned on the I/O panel.

The inclusion of brand-specific control knobs – gold for the JIMS45, chickenhead for the DC30 and witch’s hat for the Combo Deluxe ‘65 – is also highly appealing to our inner geek.

It’s a simple offering, but is actually exciting news for several reasons. Firstly, aside from a few forays into preamp territory with some bass pedals and the Impulse IR Loader, this appears to be TC Electronic’s first concerted step into amp modeling. 

The firm has a well-established reputation for offering high-quality digital effects in compact, highly usable pedal formats, so we’re very interested to see it has to offer on the amp side of things.

Secondly, as with the Impulse, the brand has again teamed up with the digital wing of legendary speaker brand Celestion on the IR cab-sims, which should prove second to none.

Thirdly – and, perhaps, most importantly during these challenging times – at $149 the price is highly tempting and accessible. 

Whether you’re after a backup amp, a fly rig option, or a simple preamp you can use as a pedal platform, the AmpWorx range looks like it could be both affordable and flexible enough for a huge range of guitarists.

We’ve seen plenty of preamp pedals hit the market in recent years, but if you compare it to something like Blackstar’s AMPED 1 at $499, or even Tech 21’s enduringly popular SansAmps (from $249), there is significant daylight between them and the Ampworx on price. 

Yes, TC Electronic’s offering may lack the features of those models, but could well prove ideal for anyone after a simpler option. Check out some of the tones available in the demos above and below.

Interestingly, we note this trio is pitched as the Ampworx ‘Vintage’ series – branding that suggests a wider range of Ampworx models could be in the pipeline.

Who knows when they will show, though – the Ampworx seems based on the firm’s SpectraDrive Bass preamp format and that arrived in 2018, so these first three have likely been a long time in development. 

“We spent years engineering these models, capturing everything we love about these amps,” comments TC Electronic Product Manager Michael Engl. “By putting each model into a precise ‘what you see is what you get’ package, we made it possible for you to grab an incredibly authentic and easy to use amp modeler.”

The TC Electronic Ampworx Vintage Series is available now for $149. For more information, head to TC Electronic.

Many would argue a pedalboard isn't complete until there's an octave pedal or pitch shifter pedal on it. It's probably no surprise that we're in that camp. If you don't want the expressive potential of a pitch shifter, then an octave pedal is perfect for extending the range of your instrument, changing its timbre and adding extra interest at key moments in songs.

Although there's a bit of crossover between octave pedals and pitch-shifting pedals, the list of users is immense. The advent of digital units saw pioneering users like Tom Morello, Johnny Greenwood and Matt Bellamy define their sound with them. In recent years they've been key to the sound of stadium-fillers like Royal Blood and The White Stripes, all the way down to underground math-rock bands like Cleft, Giraffes? Giraffes! and And So I Watch You From Afar.

Unless you're a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, you'll find a great use for an octave pedal. After all, analog octave pedals were used to excellent lysergic effect by Hendrix and Page, and even the Digitech Whammy, the modern pitch-shifting, harmonizing, octave workhorse, is nearly forty years old.

Bass players should check out our dedicated guide to the best octave pedals for bass.

Our top picks

Best overall

The Electro Harmonix Nano POG may be small but be warned, there are some massive guitar tones in this little box. Utilized by Johnny Greenwood, Joe Bonamassa, and Steven Wilson, this small-scale version of the POG is perfect for busy ‘boards.

You get both a low and high octave, so Royal Blood-style heavy riffing and Jack White-esque pitched-up solos are all within grasp. It also tracks remarkably well, dealing with complex chords to give you an organ-like tone, as well as blending well with other effects in your chain.

We’ve had one of these on our ‘board for years now, and it’s easily withstood the rigors of the constant gigging. The dry-out means it’s super-flexible in complex signal chains too, as well as allowing you to run a dual amp setup à la Royal Blood.

Best for pitch bends

The Digitech Whammy V is an icon of the guitar world and so much more than just an octave pedal. It’s a staple of guitar legends like Tom Morello and Matt Bellamy, both of whom utilized the expression pedal to great effect, adding wild swoops and dives to their riffs and solos.

The Whammy gives you two full octaves below and above your regular guitar sound, making it incredibly versatile. You can also use it as a harmonizer, adding in a fifth to beef up those riffs and solos, as well as utilizing more esoteric intervals like a third or a 7th.

It’s a big pedal, so you’ll need plenty of room to fit it on your board. But we found the expression pedal more than makes up for any sacrifices you’ll have to make for the sake of real estate, as it adds so much potential for creativity to your guitar playing.

Best budget

It’s crazy to think that for around the same cost as a three-pack of strings, you can also add a solid octaver to your pedalboard. Behringer’s Ultra Octaver is part of its line of budget ‘board boxes, delivering fat riffs and wailing leads for less.

Allegedly a clone of the Boss OC-3, the Ultra Octaver features two octave voices with individual controls to dial in each. It copes with single notes particularly well and will stretch to power chords dependent on the settings, but anything more complex than that can result in artifacts.

We’re not going to knock it for that though because for the money it does an incredible job of beefing up your guitar tone. A voice switch allows you to use it with both bass and guitar, adjusting the pedal’s response to suit the particular tonalities of each instrument.

Best for bass

There are some intriguing features in the Boss OC-5 Octave, so much so that many guitar players are replacing traditional favorites with one of these brown bad boys. The original Boss OC-2 was loved by guitar and bass players alike, and this iteration keeps all that was good about it whilst adding some extra versatility.

The OC-5 has two modes for you to play with, vintage and poly. Vintage mode recreates the mono sound of the original OC-2, which means it’s great for single note lines, but gets confused if you try and add chords into the mix. Switch to Poly and you get a more modern octave sound, tracking excellently no matter how complex your chords are.

One of the most interesting features of this pedal though is the range mode. Dependent on how you set the knob, the pedal will only add the octave to the lowest notes that you play, meaning you can keep things hefty when riffing hard, without having to add any notes to your chord stabs or lead work in the higher register.

Best for simplicity

If you’re the kind of player that breaks out in a sweat when you’re presented with too many knobs, then you’ll love the Earthquaker Devices Tentacle. It has zero knobs, just a footswitch, and a super cool graphic design so less time tweaking and more time rocking!

Taking the all-analog circuit from the popular EQD Hoof Reaper Fuzz, this pedal gives you all those classic octave sounds utilized by Hendrix and Page with a minimum of fuss. Think of the solo from ‘Purple Haze’ and that’s this pedal in a nutshell.

It also has a super cool momentary/latching dual switch. Press once to have the effect stay on, or hold your foot down on the switch, play, and then when you release it the effect will switch off. It may be simple but it certainly gets the job done.

Best for metal

TC Electronic’s Sub ‘N’ Up gives you a lot of options for the money, with three octave sounds and three modes for you to play around with. So if you’re looking for an octave pedal on a budget then this one ticks a lot of boxes.

With individual knobs for each octave effect, plus one for your dry signal you’ve got a lot of flexibility in dialing in your perfect tone. It track’s incredibly well too and even with the low thump of the two octave down setting, still manages to feel really musical with chords and arpeggios.

Three mode switches mean you can get that classic octave glitch sound if you want it, whilst the TonePrint mode enables you to download custom artist presets or even create your own signature sound. With this much versatility and this price point, the Sub ‘N’ Up makes a solid case for the best budget octave pedal.

Best octave fuzz

If you want a load of different sounds in a single octave pedal, then the MXR Poly Blue might just tickle your fancy. The original Blue Box was one of the earliest pedals MXR manufactured and has been a staple of their lineup since – but this pedal does so much more than the original.

You get a full two octaves each way, and they all have their own knob so you add just the right amount of sound that you want. A dry knob allows you to mix in your original signal whilst the modulation knob gives you some extra warble, great for when you want your guitar to sound like an organ or a 12-string.

One of the best features is the built-in fuzz. It’s rich and intense, and when combined with the sub -2 knob puts you into blowing speaker's territory. The expression input adds a further creative tool to your arsenal, allowing you to control the rate of modulation, fade in octaves, or just switch the fuzz on and off.

Best mini octave

Despite being the smallest pedal on this list, the Mooer Pure Octave manages to fit in four octave voices whilst still keeping the price sub $/£100. For pure value for money, that makes it a hard one to beat.

This pedal excels in single-note tracking, making light work of bluesy lead guitar and chunky rock riffing. It tracks reasonably well with chords, but you’ll need to tweak settings and adjust your playing style in some instances to avoid glitching out here and there.

The large rotary knob in the center gives you all your octave options which can be a little disconcerting to read at first but helps keep the pedal footprint down to a minimum. There are two octave controls that handle the volume of both low voices and both high voices respectively, as well as a dry control to blend your original and octave voices to your taste.

Best tracking

The flagship EHX POG, POG 2 and now POG 3 are the gold standard in modern octave pedals. The POG 3 continues this, offering fine-grained control over the octaves, mix, and a slew of connectivity options. In doing so, the POG 3 keeps the best parts of its ancestors while turbo-charging the preset functionality.

Beyond that, there's control over the attack, a filter and even a detune that allows you to create doubler-like effects. The combination of these three means you can push the timbre of your guitar even further into synthesizer territory. These features are likely to be of equal interest to bass players, given their interest in classic units like the EHX Micro Synth.

The tracking is as good as ever and for power users it's even expandable with expression footswitches to allow it to operate as a dynamic pitch shifter.

FAQs

If you've not yet tried an octave pedal, then you're about to see why a pedal board can feel incomplete without one. Some players can't live without several, both to fatten up low-end for heavy riffs or to add sparkly upper octaves to leads. Having access to a wider range will sharpen your songwriting and sound-design chops, while the extra timbres could change your sonic palette for good.

Before rushing out to buy one, there are some key considerations. The first is whether it's analog or digital, the second is how it tracks, the third is what octave intervals are available, and the fourth is whether it has pitch shifting or additional modes. Finally, aside from the spec sheet, there's the matter of taste. Every pedal is voiced differently, and you'll have to try several to see what works for you.

How we test

At Guitar World, our team consists of seasoned musicians who have played and tested numerous guitar products, including countless octave pedals over the years. As avid guitar enthusiasts, we understand the importance of achieving the right sound and tone, and we rely on our extensive experience using these products in live performances, studio recordings, and rehearsals to identify the very best products in our guides.

When we evaluate guitar pedals, our first step is to assess the enclosure's quality, examining its sturdiness and durability. Since these are pedals that receive heavy use, we need to ensure they can withstand the wear and tear of repeated stomping and life on the road.

Next, we shift our attention to the moving parts, like footswitches, expression pedals, and knobs verifying that they're reliable and smooth to operate. Additionally, we evaluate their accessibility and layout, as many pedals feature a wealth of different controls. This test is critical since the last thing anyone wants is to struggle with their equipment while performing.

Once we've examined the pedals' physical attributes, we begin to assess them sonically, starting with the onboard presets. We listen closely to the sound that they're intended to create, rating them on their authenticity. Next, we test how user-friendly the interface is by creating our own sounds. We'll use them at home, in the practice room, and live to ensure we get a full understanding of how each piece of gear reacts in real-world scenarios.

Finally, if the pedal offers any additional features, such as an accompanying app, MIDI in/out, or FX loop, we will explore them to ensure we have evaluated every feature on the pedal.

Find out more about how we make our recommendations and how we test each of the products in our buyer's guides.

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The TC Electronic Plethora X5 is a flexible multi-effects unit that can store 127 presets, known as ‘pedalboards’, each with five individually footswitchable effects taken from TC’s TonePrint pedal range. The unit offers a great opportunity to add a range of effects to your rig, but may be on the large side for incorporation into smaller pedalboards. 

Now, though, there’s this compact version that, at 176.5mm (7") in width, will be a more practical proposition for many players. The X3 has all the effects of the X5, but you can only use three of them at a time rather than five. The other main differences are that it loses the send and return loop and has no provision for plugging in an expression pedal.

The X3 has 16 effects pedals available to assign to each of the three footswitches in any of the 127 onboard pedalboards. You can assign any pedal to each, so you could have multiple instances, such as three delay pedals, if desired.

Each pedal can be loaded with a TonePrint (basically an edited set of parameters) from those stored onboard – there are 75 slots per pedal housing TonePrints and you can load those slots with your own TonePrints created with the software editor, as well as the Artist or TC factory options. Beyond a loaded TonePrint, there are instant front-panel editing options available.

The lack of an expression pedal input may be seen as a drawback, but there are plenty of performance options via the pressure-sensitive MASH footswitches. Each footswitch can be held down to change a parameter for its assigned effect, such as maybe turning up the feedback of a delay. You can also set a footswitch up for tap tempo instead of a MASH effect.

Verdict

While the X3 loses some of the X5’s flexibility, the advantage gained is that it is a much smaller pedal that can sit nicely on your pedalboard. 

As such, it’s a great way to expand a ’board with a whole range of decent-sounding effects – a single unit with one power input, and effects in any order having the advantage over buying numerous single pedals. 

This could be all your modulation pedals in one place, all your delays/reverbs or whatever combinations work for you. Alternatively, just add a drive pedal to the X3 and you’ll have an utterly practical minimalist rig that you can take anywhere.  

Specs

• PRICE: $369 / £299
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Multi-effects pedal
• FEATURES: True Bypass, 127 onboard ‘pedalboards’, chromatic tuner, optional cab sim at the end of the chain, MASH performance options, looper
• EFFECTS: Helix Phaser, Viscous Vibe, Tape Deck Looper, Hall of Fame 2 Reverb, Flashback 2 Delay, Sub’n’Up Octaver, Brainwaves Pitch Shifter, Corona Chorus, Hypergravity Compressor, Mimiq Doubler, Vortex Flanger, Pipeline Tap Tremolo, Quintessence Harmony, Sentry NoiseGate, Shaker Vibrato, Alter Ego Vintage Echo
• CONTROLS: Effect, TonePrint, 3x Parameter, Play/Edit switch, Board switch, 3x Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard inputs (Mono & Stereo), standard outputs (Mono & Stereo), MIDI In, MIDI Thru, USB
• POWER: Supplied 9V DC adaptor 600mA
• DIMENSIONS: 172 (w) x 118 (d) x 54mm (h) 
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

When it comes to cabinet emulation, impulse responses (IRs) provide digital snapshots of a real speaker, mic’d up in a real space. Having IRs at the appropriate point in your signal chain enables you to send realistic sound to front-of-house or for recording.

TC’s Impulse IR Loader – a tiny pedal the same size of the company’s mini-pedals such as the Ditto looper – aims to simplify and facilitate that function. The pedal offers 25 built-in IRs alongside 74 empty slots for loading your own IRs of up to 200ms in length. It also has EQ in the form of low-shelf and high-frequency filters.

Operation is simple. There’s a knob for setting the overall output level and a pair of backwards and forwards buttons to scroll through and select the IRs. If you want to utilise some EQ, just press both buttons together. The left one will then give you the Low EQ, the right the High, with the central knob setting the amount of boost or cut. 

The footswitch has two modes, toggled between by holding it down – it can be set as a bypass switch or has an A/B mode to instantly toggle between two different IRs in real-time. 12 of the 25 onboard IRs are official Celestion speaker cab IRs covering a whole range of popular options from a single 10-inch speaker up to 4 x12s.

The next eight are TC Electronic Pedal Platform IRs, which include amp simulation and work really well in converting your pedalboard to a DI-ready guitar rig. On top of those are five pleasant-sounding acoustic guitar IRs, designed to transform brittle piezo pickup sounds to more of a mic’d acoustic tone for direct connection to a mixing desk/PA or for recording. 

We particularly liked the one that gave our battered old Yamaha some of the sonic flavour of a Martin D-28. While the set of 25 offers you plenty to work with straight out of the box, a USB connection to a computer lets you drag and drop files to the impulse response loader pedal using TC’s free dedicated IR organiser for PC and Mac.

Specs

• PRICE: $129 / £109
• ORIGIN: China 
• TYPE: Impulse response pedal 
• FEATURES: True Bypass 
• CONTROLS: Level, 2x Navigation buttons, footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output, USB
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor 100 mA (not supplied)
• DIMENSIONS: 50 (w) x 92 (d) x 50mm (h)
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

TC Electronic has unveiled a superlative reissue of first ever effects pedal, the SCF Gold, a new limited edition makeover befitting the Stereo Chorus Flanger’s pivotal status in the Danish effects company’s history.

The SCF Gold SE arrives in a refinished gold enclosure that looks so pristine and aureate and luxurious that maybe this is what was in the Pulp Fiction briefcase all along. Either way, we’d certainly want to clean our shoes before stepping on its footswitch. 

Spec-wise, everything is the same as the reissue, which means a lower noise floor than the original, with more headroom, improved dynamics, a brighter LED, and a more user-friendly setup with the SCF Gold taking a standard nine-volt pedalboard power supply, with jacks mounted on the top of the enclosure to maintain order on your 'board. Nice.

Under the hood the SCF Gold SE has the same great bucket-brigade device chorus pedal and flanger that made the original such a cult classic.

As the name suggests, the SCF Gold can be operated in mono or stereo. As the initials SCF do not suggest, there is also pitch modulation on offer alongside the top-billed chorus and flanger. All in all it is one versatile modulation unit. 

The effect types are selected via a three-way toggle switch, and controlled by dials for Speed, Width and Intensity, with a mini-knob for adjusting input gain.

The limited edition SCF Gold SE is available now, priced $179 / £149 street. See TC Electronic for more details. 

There was a time when the best chorus pedals were seen as dated, '80s-sounding effects, but they have gradually come back into fashion. It's an essential effect for psych bands, goth, and new wave, while tech metal bands obsessed with shoegaze can't avoid the pervasive use of subtle, or not-so-subtle, stereo chorus in that genre.

Elsewhere, art-metal giants like Deftones have been using the effect tastefully for years, while anybody exposed to studio production knows that it is useful for creating slight stereo movement on rhythm parts, or for creating double-tracking effects. With more and more guitarists also wearing a bedroom-producer hat, it's no surprise that the chorus pedals don’t cause the allergic reaction they once did.

I’ve always loved chorus; in fact, the Boss CE-5 was my first ever pedal. At one point, I had three chorus pedals on my ‘board. Excessive, right? Having worked in music retail for a decade, I can confidently endorse the Boss CE-2W Waza Craft as one of the best. It’s an era-defining sound, and it doesn’t get much better. The TC Electronic June-60 V2, on the other hand, is a simple, budget-friendly option that holds its own against pedals twice the price.

Whether you're looking for a complex modulation workhorse or something simple and compact to spice up a single passage of a song, there are lots of options on the market. If you want to learn more about chorus pedals, have a look at our FAQs section for more info.

Or, if you’re new to chorus pedals, my how to choose section is perfect for you, as I highlight key considerations to make before buying.

Best overall

Overview: The Boss CE-2 Chorus, and its predecessor the CE-1, along with the same effect built into the Roland Jazz Chorus amp, defined the sound of chorus during the late ’70s and ’80s. The CE-2W Waza Craft combines both of these legendary modulation pedals into one, delivering the CE-2 alongside the CE-1’s iconic chorus and vibrato modes.

Build: With the exception of a mini three-way toggle switch for selecting between CE-2, CE-1 chorus, and CE-1 vibrato modes, a second 1/4-inch output jack for stereo effects, and the Waza Craft logo on the footswitch, the CE-2W looks almost identical to the original CE-2. Of course, this is a Boss product, so the metal chassis is built like a tank and incredibly durable. A feature you’ll want on this premium Waza Craft model.

Features: The CE-2W offers three distinct modes, covering the classic CE-2 chorus, the deeper CE-1 chorus, and the CE-1 vibrato. The addition of a second output allows for stereo chorus and vibrato effects, expanding its usability beyond the original pedal’s capabilities.

Tone: Sound-wise, it’s one of the closest matches between an original and a reissue, delivering that unmistakable thick, lush, shimmering Boss chorus heard on countless classic recordings. The CE-2W may offer slightly clearer treble, but the overall character remains intact. The CE-1 chorus mode adds more depth and modulation, while the vibrato setting delivers a warm, musical warble without sounding overdone.

Best budget

Overview: The original June 60 was a bargain with great sounds and high-brow styling, now it's got a V2 with an extra mode, improved stereo outs, and an additional speed setting. Based on the chorus from Roland's legendary Juno 60 synthesizer, it works great on both guitar and bass.

Build: Like the original June 60, it has stereo output, albeit via a TRS jack output, which is more uncommon for guitar. Still, with a BBD chip at its heart, it's an all-analog vintage-voiced stereo chorus for not much more than the price of an unbranded micro pedal. In terms of size, the June 60 is rather large. The two wooden side panels do add a cool aesthetic, but they also add to the overall bulk.

Features: There are three new settings with the V2 - on the front panel, you can access Leslie-like rotating speaker sounds by pressing down both preset buttons. Internally, there's now also a pair of DIP switches that allow you to change the LFO speed between 'slow' and 'fast'. Although it's less exciting, there's also a DIP switch for guitar versus keys input level.

Tone: Taking inspiration from the Juno 60 chorus section, it’s no surprise that the June 60 V2 nails classic ’80s chorus tones. It delivers the signature sounds of the original and pairs beautifully with overdrive or fuzz pedals. Overall, this is a fantastic budget option that offers great value, style, and tone.

Best mini

Overview: For those short on space, the Ibanez Chorus Mini should whet your appetite for ’80s chorus tones, while leaving you plenty of room for more pedals. Whether you just want to dabble or you're a full-blown chorus addict, it's a great choice.

Build: It’s robustly built, with an all-metal enclosure that will handle regular stomping with ease. The footswitch is slightly tilted towards you, which can be handy if it’s placed on the top row of your pedalboard, although the small knobs may feel a little awkward for some.

Features: Despite having just three controls, the Chorus Mini is surprisingly versatile. It can cover everything from subtle thickening to more extreme modulation sounds, making it suitable for a wide range of styles. Plus, the three controls keep things simple. If you’re not a fan of complicated interfaces, this should be your go-to.

Tone: The Chorus Mini delivers classic ’80s chorus tones with ease. You can dial in deep, Seasick-style modulation, Leslie-like rotary effects, or keep things subtle to add a bit of depth and movement to your core tone. There really isn’t much to dislike here, particularly since it is pretty affordable too. Wins all around.

Best stereo

Overview: One of the most-requested reissues in Boss’s history, the DC-2W recreates the DC-2 Dimension C, which strikes the balance between a chorus and a 3D audio expander. Based on the unit used by SRV to thicken his guitar tone in the studio, this is a more subtle form of chorus that works great in stereo rigs.

Build: The Waza Craft series is created in Japan, and the DC-2W is as premium as it gets. The iconic four-button interface is housed in Boss’ classic metallic chassis, a design built to last a lifetime. There is something about the purple casing that fits the chorus effect perfectly, while the Waza Craft emblem provides the finishing touch to a beautiful aesthetic.

Features: You have the ability to select two buttons at once alongside the single-button options which gives you ten tones overall, so there's plenty to dig into here. This reissue also adds a model of Roland’s SDD-320 Dimension D rack effect, which lends its own flavor of spatial widening.

Tone: The DC-2W provides a relatively subtle effect via its four push-buttons but can make any signal sound bigger and richer – especially in stereo. It really widens the spread of your sound through two amps, resulting in a thicker, enriched tone. If you’ve liked the sonic effect and tonal thickening – but not the warble – of traditional chorus pedals, the DC-2W could well be the best choice for you.

Best for bass

Overview: Chorus is a really popular effect on bass guitar, great to use as a thickener or just to add some movement to your tone. The MXR M83 Bass Chorus Deluxe is a great choice for bassists, delivering awesome chorus tones without clouding your core tone.

Build: Housed in a neat blue metallic chassis, the M83 feels reassuringly well-built. MXR pedals have always been solid in my experience, and the slightly higher price tag is reflected in the overall quality here. There are five control knobs, which is more than most, so it can feel a little cramped, but everything remains easy enough to see at a glance.

Features: The flanger mode is really useful, giving you an additional tone option should you need it. You can also access a stereo mode via an internal dip switch located inside the pedal. I found the crossover button to be a little too powerful, killing the sound of the pedal and while it may be a little too subtle for some, for the majority of bassists it'll be just the ticket.

Tones: The variety of controls means you can dial in a huge array of sounds, whether you like your choruses subtle or hitting that full-on warble. All the while it never overpowers your overall sound, instead giving it a nice movement that enhances without going overboard. This level of control and depth comes courtesy of its all-analog bucket-brigade design.

Best features

Overview: The Mako M1 was a complex but deep pedal, with studio-grade sounds crammed into a compact chassis. To this, the MKII edition sees updated rotary and filter algorithms, as well as a new flanger mode.

Build: On the front panel, there's the welcome addition of a 2" OLED display to aid user navigation and control. The main drawback is that despite the screen it's a dense pedal, especially for its size. Without it, it would be almost impossible to navigate, but even so, it's tricky. It's got the feature set of a physically much larger pedal, like a Strymon or BOSS 500 series but a smaller form factor. This saves space but at the slight cost of usability.

Features: Though it's not much larger than a standard-size BOSS pedal, it's got almost every modulation option you could want covered, from chorus to phasers, tremolo, vibrato, rotary pedals, and filters. Each option has three patches, and the sound quality is excellent. Crucially for a pedal of this complexity, it's also stereo, making it not only a one-stop shop for chorus but also for stereo modulation in general.

Tones: Although this is a smorgasbord of modulation effects, Walrus Audio hasn’t dropped the ball on sound quality. There are many breathtaking sounds and the tones on tap are truly wonderful; it’s quite easy to get lost in its wealth of luscious modulated tones. It is a pedal that will keep on giving after hours of use, each time you cycle through the options, something new will take you by surprise.

Also consider

For us, the above pedals should have pretty much every guitarists chorus needs in hand. That said, we do appreciate there's no one size fits all solution, so here are some more great suggestions for you to look at.

How to choose a chorus pedal

Having worked in a guitar store for the best part of 10 years, I’ve helped many players select their first chorus pedal. Here are a few key considerations I would always suggest they think about. By doing so, all the bases are covered, leaving you with a clearer idea of which chorus pedal to go for.

Intensity
Firstly, think about how intense you want your chorus to sound. One of the biggest differences between chorus pedals is how intense or subtle they sound. Pedals like the Boss DC-2W Dimension C or Super Chorus CH-1 are actually on the subtler side, despite the latter offering controls for depth and rate. On the other hand, if you want a bombastic, in-your-face warble, something like the Electro-Harmonix Neo Clone will suit you better.

By considering how you’d like your chorus to sound, it will help you narrow down the options between intense and subtle.

Controls
Next, are you a pedal tweaker who likes having more control over parameters, or is a simple user interface preferred for ease of use? A pedal like the TC Electronic June-60 V2 has two modes, that’s it. This may be ideal if you don’t want to be overwhelmed, but if you want control over depth, rate, and intensity, then it won’t be suitable. Advanced pedals like the Eventide TriceraChorus are much more hands-on, with controls over rate, envelopes, and pitch. There is no right or wrong here, but think about how you typically like to use pedals.

Analog or Digital
Finally, consider whether you want an analog or digital chorus pedal. Analog chorus pedals, typically using bucket-brigade circuitry, are known for their warm, organic, and slightly darker tones. They tend to sit nicely in a mix and are often favoured by players chasing those classic ’70s and ’80s sounds.

Digital chorus pedals, on the other hand, are usually cleaner and more precise. They often come packed with extra features, stereo outputs, and greater control over your sound. If you want versatility and modern functionality, digital may be the way to go, whereas analog is perfect if you’re after simplicity and vintage character.

Again, there’s no right or wrong choice here, it all comes down to the type of sound and feel you prefer.

FAQs

Glossary

Analog: This type of chorus pedal uses analog circuitry internally to create its chorus tones. Most famously, it is Bucket Brigade Device chips that create a rich, warm chorus in analog pedals.

BBD (Bucket Brigade Device): This is a famous type of analog chip that was traditionally used in chorus and other modulation pedals. Although the pedal’s entire circuitry has an effect, these chips were praised for producing a warm, modulated tone.

Buffered Bypass: A buffered bypass keeps an active buffer in your signal path even when your pedal is turned off. Essentially, it converts high-impedance to low-impedance signals to prevent tone suck, a high-frequency loss that sometimes occurs over long cable runs.

Chorus: A classic modulation effect that splits your signal in two, leaving one part ‘dry’ while slightly delaying the other. By using an LFO to subtly wobble the pitch of that delayed signal before blending them back together.

Depth: This is a control found on a chorus pedal that controls how dramatic the wobble is. In other words, how far the modulated signal moves from the original pitch.

Digital: A type of chorus pedal circuitry that utilizes digital signal processing instead of analog chips. This is a more modern option than analog chips and provides more versatility within the pedal.

DIP Switch: A type of switch found on modulation pedals that will instantly change the character of the tone. Not all pedals have one but they can be a handy feature for instant tonal shifts.

Dry Signal: This refers to your unaltered, unprocessed guitar signal, before it hits any effects or amplifiers. Ultimately, it is the direct tone coming straight from the pickups.

Flanger: A type of modulation effect similar to chorus, but has a shorter delay time, producing a more metallic, swooping sound.

LFO (Low-Frequency Oscillator): This is the circuit in a chorus pedal that creates a repeating wave to modulate the delay time of the duplicated signal. As the delay time is constantly shifting, it causes subtle pitch changes up and down, creating the recognizable ‘wobble’ sound of a chorus pedal.

Modulation: This is the category of effects that add movement and depth to your guitar signal by changing parameters like delay, pitch or volume. The most recognizable modulation effects are chorus, flanger and phaser.

Rate (Speed): This is the setting on a chorus pedal that controls how fast the pitch wobbles, think of it as the speed of the shimmer.

Stereo Spread. A term used to describe the separation of audio channels into a dry side and a wet side. The wet side of this spread is the modulated signal, while the dry is your normal guitar tone, unaffected. It creates a wide sound palette.

True Bypass: Opposite of buffered bypass, true bypass removes the pedal’s circuit from your signal chain when switched off, helping preserve your guitar’s natural tone. However, in longer signal chains, some high-end loss can still occur due to cable length.

Wet Signal: This refers to your guitar signal after it has been processed by an effect, in this case chorus. It is the opposite of a dry signal, which remains unaffected.

How we test

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar-related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best chorus pedals available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best chorus pedals on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

Why you can trust us

Guitar World boasts over 44 years of expertise and stands as the ultimate authority on all things related to guitars. The magazine and website feature expertly written gear round-ups and top-quality, authoritative reviews penned by a team of highly experienced industry professionals.

Guitar World's inaugural print issue hit the shelves in July 1980, and ever since, it has been captivating players and enthusiasts with engaging lessons, insightful interviews with the most prominent guitar heroes, and priceless buying advice for newbie players.

Furthermore, GuitarWorld.com continues this legacy online and serves as the hub of the world's foremost authorities on guitar playing. The site not only hosts content from Guitar World but also showcases articles from respected publications such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Guitar Techniques, and Bass Player. With a reach extending to 3.8 million players each month, GuitarWorld.com is a go-to destination for guitar fanatics globally.

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In 2020, TC Electronic threw its hat into the multi-effects market by unleashing the impressively configured Plethora X5.

Now, in a bid to rival smaller units of the same nature, the Danish company – which isn't attending NAMM 2022 – has debuted a downsized, pedalboard-friendly iteration of its celebrated pedal: the Plethora X3.

As the name would suggest, the compact Plethora unit features only three configurable switches, though retains much of the X5’s feature set and even introduces some fresh extras. 

Thus, the X3 lets users curate, save and switch between up to 127 individual 'pedalboards', which can be created using TC Electronic’s comprehensive TonePrint pedal range.

The selected TonePrint pedals can then be finely tuned via TC Electronic’s Bluetooth TonePrint app – which lets users import a wealth of additional sounds and grants access to numerous parameters – and by using the three assignable control knobs that sit above the screen.

Available effects from the TonePrint range include the Helix Phaser, Viscous Vibe, Hall of Fame 2 Reverb, Flashback 2 Delay, Hypergravity Compressor, Vortex Flanger, Corona Chorus and many more.

Two other knobs – Effect and TonePrint – are in charge of the larger functions. It’s all pretty self-explanatory: while Effect dials in the specific effect, TonePrint scrolls through a specific TonePrint.

A final Play/Edit mode toggle keeps sound-sculpting and performance activities separate, with the X3 saving any off-the-cuff changes you make as you go.

Elsewhere, the multi-effects unit offers a Tape Deck looper – offering 80 seconds in mono or 40 seconds in stereo – and introduces a UniTune chromatic tuner, which is accessed by holding down the TonePrint knob while in Play mode. 

Eight onboard cabinet simulations are also available, and can be added to the end of the signal chain for going straight into PA systems and audio interfaces.

Other notable functions include the preset-navigating toggle switch, which lets you move up and down between your saved effect combos, and pedal-swapping powers that let you easily configure your 'board by changing the pedal order.

And, unlike the X5 – whose signal chain ran from left to right – the direction of the ‘boards‘ flow can be customized to whatever you desire.

Again, TC Electronic’s MASH expression feature is available. By holding down any of the unit’s three footswitches, they can also double as expression pedals, and aim to give the user a more dynamic control over the chosen effect.

In essence, the X3 operates almost exactly the same as the Plethora X5, though, obviously, with two fewer footswitches.

The Plethora X3 is available now for $309.

To find out more, visit TC Electronic.

TC Electronic is a well-established company with products covering studio and guitar, but the company started out in 1976 with just a single effects pedal – the Stereo Chorus Flanger (SCF), which has now been made available as the SCF Gold to celebrate its 45th anniversary.

While the new pedal pays tribute to the original, it takes advantage of more modern technology, notably a new op-amp in the preamp stage, a standard nine-volt DC power socket replacing the hardwired transformer, and a larger, more easily seen LED. While it may boast more headroom, improved low-frequency response and a wider dynamic range, it is said to stay true to the original sound, still incorporating the essential Bucket Brigade Device circuit design.

What the pedal offers is a triumvirate of effects – chorus, flanger and pitch modulation – selected by a front-panel toggle switch and delivered in either mono or stereo from a mono input. 

You get adjustable modulation speed from one sweep every 10 seconds to 10 sweeps a second, and a Width knob to determine how wide the sweep is. An Intensity knob differs in its function depending on the selected mode. 

In addition, there’s a small Input Gain knob that sets the gain for the whole pedal – bypassed and engaged – so you can’t set it to bring in a kicked-in boost, but it does give you extra gain in your overall chain.

The chorus here has plenty of range, with the Intensity knob controlling the wet/dry balance and determining whether you want a subtle or strong chorus effect. At about 3 on the dial, it matched our vintage Boss CE-2 pretty closely.

It’s great in mono, but it offers a lovely spaciousness if you can use it in stereo. The flanging sound is equally rich. The Intensity knob adjusts the regeneration, adding emphasis by ramping up the hollow metallic flavour. 

When in Pitch Modulation mode, you can actually access a combination of chorus and pitch vibrato, which can come across like a rotary speaker effect. The Intensity knob determines the blend of the two effects, offering plenty of hybrid modulation to explore.

Specs

• PRICE: $/£149
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Stereo chorus, pitch modulator and flanger pedal
• FEATURES: Buffered bypass
• CONTROLS: Speed, Width, Intensity, Mode switch (Chorus/Pitch Modulation/Flanger), Input Gain, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard outputs L (mono) & R
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor 150ma (not supplied)
• DIMENSIONS: 95 (w) x 124 (d) x 49mm (h)
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

The TC Electronic Infinite Sample Sustainer is a pedal that captures a small snapshot of your playing – be that a single note, doublestop or chord – and then sustains it so you can use the result as a musical bed to play over.

The concept isn’t exactly a new one, but TC’s team of designers has tried to make it as accessible as possible while providing a set of features for a versatile experience and a wide range of sound variation. 

There’s plenty available from the front panel as shipped, but as the pedal employs TC’s TonePrint technology – “a unique signature preset of an effect” – the options expand massively if you hook it up to the TonePrint app where you can access TC’s range of Factory and Artist TonePrints or opt to create your own.

In Use

To use the pedal, you simply play your note or chord and hit the footswitch, and the pedal will then sample a portion of the sound and seamlessly loop it so it plays indefinitely. Best results are obtained by hitting the footswitch during the stable, sustained portion of what you played, and it’s easy to get the hang of this. 

The footswitch can be set for latching or momentary. If you set it to momentary, your sampled section will be active as long as your foot is on the switch. If it’s latching, a double-tap on the switch is needed to stop the sample section from playing and clear the memory, while a single press is used to add more sample layers.

There are seven modes available via the FX Type rotary switch. For the first three (L1, L2 and L3) you can keep adding layers, but each time you do that the oldest layer will disappear. L1 sustains a single sample that will be replaced by another one with a single footswitch press, while L2 and L3 let you stack samples. L2 allows for two layers to be sustained; L3 supports three layers. 

Infinite mode lets you stack layers ad infinitum, but newer layers can take preference with older layers reduced in volume for each new recording by a damping value you can set via the TonePrint app. The remaining three modes accessed by the rotary switch are for specific TonePrint settings (TP1, TP2 and TP3) that you can store in the pedal. 

There are other factors that determine the nature of the sustained sample. The Fade In and Decay knobs vary the envelope from instantaneous start and stop of the sustained sample with footswitch action to slow fade-ins and fade-outs of up to one second. There’s also an external effects loop, meaning you can add other pedals to contribute to the sustained sound, perhaps to add distortion or delay.

The pedal also has an internal reverb processor based on the Hall Of Fame pedal, plus a toggle-switched choice of whether the sound is dry or has reverb applied to it. 

If you’re using TonePrints, there’s a huge opportunity for editing, including adding modulation to the sustained portion (flanging, vibrato and chorus are available), fine-tuning reverb and EQ settings, and options for functions such as always-on reverb for the direct sound so it blends nicely with the sustained sound – something TC has usefully included as the default setting for TP1.

At its most basic, you could simply use the pedal to sample a chord to practise over, but its full potential is realised in the huge ambient soundscape pads you can create both by stacking up layers and taking full advantage of the reverb engine and modulation block. 

These give you a really interesting foundation to improvise over, but you can also use the pedal simply for textural pads in a band performance, taking over a traditional keyboard player’s role by using the dry-kill function and swelling in a new chord on each change – the factory setting for TP3, as shipped, has this auto-swell theme. 

Other creative uses of the pedal include setting momentary footswitching, adjusting the Decay and Level just right, and bringing it in as an extra layer underneath long sustained notes for extra interest and emphasis.

Specs

• PRICE: $/£149
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Sustainer pedal
• FEATURES: Selectable True or Buffered Bypass, latching or momentary footswitch action, software editing
• CONTROLS: Decay, Level, Fade In, FX Type, Dry/Verb switch, Latch/Momentary switch, footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output, standard send, standard return, USB
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor
  100mA (not supplied)
• DIMENSIONS: 72 (w) x 120 (d) x 50mm (h)
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

TC Electronic has unveiled the Impulse IR Loader, a mini pedal that aims to simplify the process of integrating cab sims into your pedalboard.

Besides a handy onboard screen, the pedal is notable for a number of neat features, not least the inclusion of 25 impulse responses, including 12 from renowned British speaker co Celestion, as well as space for up to 99 IRs overall.

Intriguingly, TC Electronic also notes the inclusion of Pedal Platform IRs, which include both amp and cab impulse responses, allowing players to DI straight from their pedalboard.

As well as regular true bypass switching, the pedal’s footswitch can be used to A/B between two different IRs – a logical addition given most players are likely to leave the stompbox on at all times.

Acoustic players haven’t been left out, either, as several acoustic guitar IRs are also included, promising to take piezo pickups from “dull to full”.

Impulse responses are loaded via a mini-USB port on the side of the unit, while settings are navigated using a single knob and two push-buttons.

“To get all of our users off to a great start, we teamed up with the most prestigious guitar speaker manufacturer in the industry: Celestion,” says Paul Robert Scott, TC product manager.

“They’ve already meticulously created accurate and natural-sounding IRs of their most popular speaker models. So, we’re proud to announce that the Impulse IR Loader comes pre-loaded with 12 of the finest, official Celestion digital IRs – hand-picked from what we believe to be the best IR on the market.

“Furthermore, we succeeded in making the Impulse IR Loader capable of supporting IRs of up to 200ms, which allows for unparalleled accuracy and detail when cab, amp and acoustic IRs resemble the real deal.”

We have to hand it to TC: early indicators point towards the Impulse succeeding in its goal of simplifying IR loading, all while offering smart features that set it apart from the competition.

The Impulse is available now for $129. For more information, head to TC Electronic.

TC has been on something of a roll lately, issuing the Bucket Brigade Analog Delay and Infinite Sample Sustainer in 2022 so far.

TC Electronic has unveiled its latest delay pedal: the modulation-equipped Bucket Brigade Analog Delay.

The aptly named – and surprisingly affordable – pedal promises to pair vintage-style delay tones with contemporary versatility thanks to the bucket brigade circuit and onboard modulation effect.

Vowing to deliver articulate delay sounds and warm-sounding reproductions, the compact unit features a genuine analog BBD design that offers up to 600ms of delay time.

In operation, TC Electronic’s Bucket Brigade sports a standard Volume knob, as well as controls for Depth, Delay and Feedback. Delay is responsible for dialing up the, well, delay time – remember, there’s 600ms to play with – while the Feedback parameter determines how many repeats are heard.

According to TC Electronic, a fully cranked Feedback knob will send the Bucket Brigade into wild self-oscillation.

These two are joined by an on/off Modulation toggle switch, which – as you can probably guess – engages the pedal’s modulation circuit. The effect only alters the sound of the delay repeats, leaving your guitar’s tone untouched.

Elsewhere, the Depth control works in tandem with the toggle switch to adjust the levels of overall modulation. It remains dormant when the Modulation switch is inactive.

A true bypass on/off footswitch completes the external control panel, though further tweaks can be made via an internal trimpot, which can be used to adjust the modulation speed.

Said Paul Robert Scott, TC Electronic Product Manager, “We wanted to craft a high quality wall-to-wall all analog design with the sole purpose of putting an incredibly flexible analog delay in the hands of capable guitarists everywhere.”

The Bucket Brigade Analog Delay is available now for $69.

To find out more, head over to TC Electronic.

It’s the brand’s second release of the year, and follows the reverb-loaded Infinite Sample Sustainer.

TC Electronic has unveiled the Infinite Sample Sustainer – a pedalboard-friendly stompbox that promises powerful soundscape-producing capabilities.

Equipped with a relatively streamlined control layout that boasts Decay, Level and Fade In knobs, the sampler features a comprehensive reverb engine and modulation block, as well as a built-in FX loop.

Further controls include two toggle switches that flick between Latching and Momentary modes, and Dry and Reverb voices, while an FX Type knob is tasked with navigating the seven onboard effect options.

Said to be suitable for endless sustain or swelling chord stacks, the Infinite Sample Sustainer promises lush boutique reverb tones thanks to its proprietary algorithm – the same reverb algorithm employed in the brand's Hall of Fame pedal.

Other features include TonePrint compatibility and preset-saving powers, meaning users can browse the TonePrint app to curate or discover sustainer sounds that can in turn be sent directly to the pedal.

Up to three TonePrints can be stored on the Infinite Sample Sustainer at one time.

Said Paul Robert Scott, TC Electronic Product Manager, “I am very excited about our first sustainer pedal ever, which opens creative spaces ready for exploration and experimentation. 

“Imagine the sounds you could create if you had infinite time on your hands,” he mused. “Well, we can’t give you infinite time, unfortunately, but we’re very happy to offer endless amounts of sustained layers right at the tips of your toes."

The Infinite Sample Sustainer is available to preorder now for $149. For more info, head over to TC Electronic.

It follows the release of the Stereo Chorus Flanger Gold, which celebrated the 45th anniversary of TC Electronic’s first-ever effect pedal.

TC Electronic is revisiting its roots with the celebratory Stereo Chorus Flanger Gold, which pays tribute to the brand’s first-ever pedal, the Stereo Chorus Flanger (SCF).

The newly refined SCF Gold celebrates the 45th anniversary of the brand’s premiere pedal –  which was originally launched by founder Kim Rishøj in 1976 – and promises to rejuvenate the original template by introducing a set of “very small but crucial upgrades”.

At first glance, it’s identical to the flagship SCF – save the gold text, natch. In terms of controls, there is a single bypass footswitch, as well as three control knobs for Speed, Width and Intensity. Sandwiched between them is a Mode switch, which flicks between Chorus, Pitch Modulation and Flanger.

Other appointments include the true-to-original mono/stereo output jacks, as well as Ex. Bypass and Input connections.

Fans of the original will no doubt be familiar with its feature set. Speed and Width are responsible for dictating the degree of the chosen effect, while Intensity can be used to fine-tune specific sounds depending on what mode you’re in.

In Chorus mode, Intensity determines the notching depth of the effect, while in Pitch Modulation and Flanger mode the parameter controls the amount of pitch shift and signal regeneration, respectively.

“In one way it was an easy task, as there was actually very little to improve,” said Paul Robert Scott, Product Manager. “But in reality, of course, it was also a challenge. It was a fine balance between paying tribute and staying true, while upgrading specific aspects where new technologies made it possible to do so.”

How about those upgrades, then? Well, according Scott, the SCF Gold has been refined in order to make it more compatible with modern pedalboards thanks to a new 9V DC power socket that replaces a hardwire transformer.

In terms of performance, a new op amp has been introduced in the preamp stage in a bid to create greater headroom, improved low frequency response and a wider dynamic range.

The SCF Gold has also been treated to a larger, more powerful LFO LED – which sits above the Mode switch – that aims to make it easier for users to see at a glance whether the pedal is engaged.

“But in every other aspect,” Scott continued, “we stay true to the original – from the adjustable input gain to the fundamental Bucket Brigade Device circuit design, and of course it has the same amazing stereo spread and unreal signal to noise ratio that earned the SCF its nickname: The Sound of Silence."

The SCF Gold will be available for $199. To find out more, visit TC Electronic.

Whatever type of music you play, whatever kind of guitar you dig, there’s one piece of gear that’s an absolute essential: a guitar tuner. And one of this year’s best Black Friday guitar deals was on one of the best clip-on guitar tuners on the market, TC Electronic’s superb UniTune Clip. 

Over at Sweetwater, you’ll find $19 has disappeared from the UniTune Clip’s price tag, taking it down from $29 to just $9.99. Best part is, even though it's not technically Black Friday anymore, the discount will stand through Cyber Weekend and Cyber Monday.

When you’re picking a clip-on tuner, there are two considerations that should be top of your agenda: accuracy and visibility – and the UniTune Clip delivers on both.

Based on TC Electronic’s class-leading tuning technology, the UniTune Clip boasts 105 – yep, 105 – high-powered LEDs that form an adaptive display, easily viewable in any lighting condition. From daytime festival slots to dingy bar stages, you’ll be able to see exactly how far you need to twist that tuning peg.

It’s packing some serious specs under the hood, too, with ±0.5-cent accuracy in the chromatic mode, and ±0.02-cent accuracy in strobe mode – that’s accurate enough to set your intonation to. What’s more, it works with any guitar, bass or ukulele – electric, acoustic or otherwise.

A stainless steel clip means you’ll have no problem clipping this bad boy onto whatever headstock you desire, and you’ll get 18 hours of battery life from one of those teeny round CR2032 batteries.

Basically, the UniTune Clip is an awesome clip-on tuner, and this is a knockout deal. Hit up Sweetwater to grab it, and pay a visit to our guide to the best Sweetwater Black Friday deals for killer bargains that've outlived the day they're named for.

After revealing the most sought-after electric guitars of the year, online gear marketplace Reverb has now announced the top 10 best-selling effects pedals of 2021.

As was the case with the guitar list, Reverb has determined the rankings based on actual number of items sold, rather than total price of items sold. Furthermore, pedal releases that were exclusive to Reverb – such as the Way Huge Beer/Effect – have not been included.

Upon initial inspection, tried-and-true pedals once again occupy the top spots for overall best-selling pedals. The Keeley Compressor Plus compressor pedal, TC Electronic Ditto looper pedal and, surprisingly, Line 6 HX Stomp make up the top three, with the Boss DS-1 distortion pedal and Hologram Electronics Microcosm completing the top five.

There are no surprises in the five to 10 spots either, which are occupied by the Pro Co Rat 2, MXR M169 Carbon Copy, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, Strymon Iridium and Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive.

It’s also worth noting that 12th place EarthQuaker Devices Devices Plumes is hot on the heels of Ibanez’s TS9 Tube Screamer, which, as noted by Reverb, inspired its creation.

Electro-Harmonix's 13th-placed Op Amp Big Muff Reissue then precedes the battle of the tuners, which sees the TC Electronic PolyTune 3 edge out the Boss TU-3.

The final five spots are reserved for the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah GCB-95, Keeley Caverns Delay Reverb V2, JHS Morning Glory V4, Boss GE-7 Graphic EQ and DigiTech Drop.

The full list can be found below.

1. Keeley Compressor Plus
2. TC Electronic Ditto Looper
3. Line 6 HX Stomp
4. Boss DS-1 Distortion
5. Hologram Electronics Microcosm
6. ProCo Rat 2
7. MXR M169 Carbon Copy
8. Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
9. Strymon Iridium
10. Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
11. Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer
12. EarthQuaker Devices Plumes
13. Electro-Harmonix Op-Amp Big Muff Reissue
14. TC Electronic Polytune 3
15. Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
16. Dunlop Cry Baby Wah GCB-95
17. Keeley Caverns Delay Reverb V2
18. JHS Morning Glory V4
19. Boss GE-7 Graphic EQ
20. Digitech Drop

As for the new-for-2021 rankings, it’s EarthQuaker Devices that has made the most noise this year. The brand’s Astral Destiny octave reverb pedal claims top spot, while its recently released Hizumitas fuzz sustainer – which only dropped a fortnight ago – amazingly takes up position in second.

A double-helping of Walrus Audio pedals – the Mako R1 stereo reverb and Mako ACS1 amp/cab simulator – follow in third and fourth spots, respectively, with Way Huge’s Dune-inspired Atreides Analog Weirding Module completing the top five.

JHS Pedals’ nine-voice PackRat overdrive arrives in sixth spot, with Boss’s much-hyped HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza Craft coming in at seventh – a spot ahead of the brand’s 40th Anniversary SD-1 Super Overdrive.

Universal Audio's first-ever hardware effects pedals, which were released earlier this year, round off the list, with the Starlight Echo Station and Golden Reverberator coming in at ninth and 10th, respectively.

The full list of new-for-2021 pedals can be found below.

1. EarthQuaker Devices Astral Destiny
2. EarthQuaker Devices Hizumitas (Standard Release Only)
3. Walrus Audio Mako R1
4. Walrus Audio Mako ACS1
5. Way Huge Atreides Analog Weirding Module
6. JHS PackRat
7. Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza Craft
8. Boss SD-1 40th Anniversary Super Overdrive
9. Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station
10. Universal Audio Golden Reverberator

For more information, head over to Reverb.

The affordability of single button looper pedals may be irresistible, but it's almost inevitable you will outgrow them. Granted, you might not have a choice on a cramped pedalboard. Alternatively, if you're only planning on bedroom or studio use, you might get away with it. That said, most gigging players are running two-button loopers with a dedicated stop control, at the very least. As far as they go, the TC Electronic Ditto X2 is one of the most successful. Released as an improvement on their compact Ditto looper, it is bombproof in terms of both build and usability.

Sound quality is excellent, thanks to hardware optimised for high headroom and 24-bit ADA conversion. The pedal is also true bypass and analogue through. Then again, with loop pedals at the end of a chain, bypass isn't normally an issue unless there's some serious noise in the power line. Other two-button loopers at around this price point also offer sound effects, but the Ditto's are particularly easy to use. Even if you're not a shoegazing space cadet, you're likely to play around with them, and they may well make their way onto a track. 

• Explore our pick of the best cheap looper pedals 

Using them does flip the function of the stop button, however, so factoring that into any live use is essential. As you'd expect at this price, and without a screen, the Ditto isn't quantizing. This can be a strength - for example if you want to play polyrhythms or switch time signatures without reconfiguring the loop setup. The Ditto has five minutes of loop time available, and infinite overdubs. The loops will get muddy by the time you've got three or four running though, unless you're careful about the register each overdub uses. The fact the Ditto is full stereo is also useful, especially if you're using it at the end of your board, after stereo delays or modulation.

There's a host of extra features too, though you might not use all of them. High on the list is import/export via USB to Mac and PC, useful if you're using the Ditto as a riff writing tool. Nice to have but less useful is the bank of backing tracks that you can load, and then control via the Ditto. In all honesty, however, unless this is the main reason you're buying the Ditto, this is a feature you're unlikely to use often. The greatest strength of two-button loopers like the Ditto is that they support spontaneous playing and experimentation, whether that's writing or in the heat of the moment live.

TC Electronic Ditto X2 review: Verdict

The Ditto X2 may be light on bells-and-whistles, but it's got everything where it counts. As a stage looper, there are few options as foolproof or straightforward. With its additional FX modes, you get access to useful tools for studio experimentation or live weirdness. Elsewhere, USB loading means it can be used to trigger a sample if needed. 

TC Electronic Ditto X2 review: Specifications

• Price: $169/£119
• Bypass: True
• Sockets: Stereo In/Out, Power
• Footswitches: 2
• Dedicated stop control?: Yes
• Additional FX: Reverse, 1/2 speed, Stop A/D/A conversion: 24bit
• Contact: TC Electronic  

TC Electronic has announced a sequel to its June-60 chorus pedal, which promises a wealth of upgrades over the original.

While the June-60 V2 is still an all-analog BBD design based on the legendary chorus circuit from Roland’s Juno-60 synth, it’s had a complete internal overhaul.

Chief among the new additions is a pair of internal DIP switches, which offer additional control over the LFO speed for each of the front-panel presets.

In addition, a third preset – accessed by pressing both preset buttons together – now offers its own altogether speedier LFO, mimicking Leslie-style tones.

Other tweaks include an internal DIP switch for guitar/keys input level, plus an improved stereo output, enhanced by doubling up on several components for a more immersive spread.

The June-60 Chorus V2 is available now for $59. Head over to TC Electronic for more info.

TC Electronic has teamed up with legendary virtuoso Paul Gilbert for a signature edition of its MojoMojo overdrive pedal.

Boasting a fresh new paint job – the original sports a burgundy enclosure whilst this version dons purple – the MojoMojo Paul Gilbert Overdrive is designed to reproduce the same tone that the fusion maestro uses on his own personal MojoMojo pedal, but swaps out its Voice switch for a brand-new Eleven toggle.

As TC Electronic's Paul Robert Scott explains: “Paul always uses the same settings on his MojoMojo, which meant there was no need for the additional Voice switch found on the original version.

“Instead, we went for an Eleven switch that engages a massive gain boost for even more drive and attack, taking it to, well, eleven! On top of that, you can add stepped-up circuit board voltage that increases both headroom and dynamics significantly.”

Despite its new look and features, the MojoMojo bears TC Electronic's usual functional hallmarks, including true bypass functionality and easy battery compartment access.

There's no word on price or availability just yet, but for more information, head over to TC Electronic.

Of course, this isn't Paul Gilbert's first signature overdrive pedal – last year, he partnered with JHS Pedals for the amp-like PG-14.

Today also marks the release of Gilbert's 16th solo album, Werewolves of Portland, on which he played every instrument.

TC Electronic have had a stellar 2021 to date, unveiling the new high-gain Magus Pro distortion pedal and downsized Skysurfer Mini reverb pedal thus far. Now, the pedal powerhouse has revealed a brand-new overdrive offering, the Zeus Drive.

Powered by a pair of 1N34A Germanium diodes, the Klon clone-y Zeus Drive boasts a dual concentric gain control, which progressively blends overdrive into the incoming clean signal whilst simultaneously increasing clipping. This results in what TC calls a “crystal-clear, amp-like touch and response”.

Other controls include a standard Volume, Treble – which allows the player to dial in high-frequency content without thinning the lows – and a FAT switch, which increases bass frequencies and fattens up the low-end.

Internally, the pedal steps up the player's 9V DC voltage for an increase in dynamic range, and there's also a DIP switch, which flicks between true bypass and high-quality discreet buffered bypass.

Housed in a compact chassis, the Zeus Drive also sports top-mounted jacks for preservation of pedalboard real estate. 

Says TC Electronic: "Zeus Drive has arrived direct from the heavens. With its highly sought-after overdrive boost circuit, this golden chalice among overdrive pedals has a luxurious warm tone and quite an astonishing dynamic response, injecting the nectar of the Gods directly into your guitar sound."

The Zeus Drive is available now for $59. For more information, head to TC Electronic.

TC Electronic has announced a brand-new high-gain distortion pedal, the Magus Pro.

Chief among its features is an LM308 op-amp – as found in the most prized examples of the Pro Co Rat – which is known for generating smoother-sounding distortion due to its slow slew rate. 

The company explains: “By keeping the slew rate slow, harsh unwanted harmonic overtones and interference are eliminated, leaving you with a smooth layer of pure distortion whilst cranking the gain.”

The stompbox also boasts three Rat-like operating modes: Classic, Turbo and Fat. Classic takes the player “to a world of oldskool, high gain, punchy mids and a gripping tight bottom end”, Turbo engages LED clipping diodes for greater headroom and less saturation, and Fat offers a low-end boost whilst re-shaping the upper mids. 

Its control layout is otherwise pretty simple, with volume and gain knobs and a high-cut filter.

TC Electronic also touts the pedals “effortless and lasting sustain”, suggesting it could be used as a solo boost due to its even harmonic resonance.

Other features include true bypass switching, a compact chassis and top-mounted jacks for conservation of pedalboard real estate.

The Magus Pro is available now for $59. For more information, head over to TC Electronic.

TC Electronic has announced the Skysurfer Mini, a downsized version of its Skysurfer reverb pedal.

A “premium, yet affordable, reverb solution”, the unit boasts three studio-grade reverb voices – Spring, Plate and Hall – switchable via a three-way toggle on its front face.

Spring aims to recreate the “drip and splash” of spring reverbs found in vintage tube amps, Plate mimics classic studio reverbs and Hall covers sounds from “earthy and organic to full-on interstellar spaceflight”.

Along with its Reverb level and Mix knobs, the Skysurfer Mini also boasts a Tone pot, which allows players to tailor the reverb's decay to suit the pedal's input.

Other features include top-mounted jacks – which allow for flush pedalboard mounting – and true bypass switching.

Painting a rather vivid sonic picture of what the pedal is capable of, TC Electronic invites players to “skim effortlessly across a deep-blue, churning ocean; swim in a cavernous grotto; or soar through the ambient spray of the surf...”

For more information on the Skysurfer Mini, head to TC Electronic.

We’d all likely agree that there are few things better than getting together with friends or a band and jamming away. But these days we’re all spending more time than ever at home. And while playing guitar on your own might not provide the same rush as being onstage or in a studio, with all the great gear available nowadays it’s just as easy to get the full-band vibe from the comfort of your bedroom.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a primer on some killer products that will help make playing solo a full-on, full-band-like blast. From amps to pedals to drum machines and beyond (we’ll assume you already have the guitar) here are some key items – and let’s save software for another time – to get you started without breaking the bank.

There’s no better place to begin than with your amp, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better sounding, more compact and downright fun model than Positive Grid’s Spark. 

The 40-watt practice combo took the guitar amp world by storm in 2020, with overall sales surpassing 100,1000 units. And it’s no wonder why – with 30 amp models to choose from (running the gamut from sparkly clean to crushing gain), 40 varied effects and innovative and genuinely useful features such as Smart Jam and Auto Chord, the intelligent amp allow for practicing and playing millions of songs, and you’ll sound great doing it, too.

You probably want to be sure you’re playing in tune while you’re rocking out through your Spark, and so we suggest picking up the Roadie 3, a stylish and simple tuner that you can attach right to your headstock. 

Don’t be fooled by its small size – the powerful unit boasts a motor that can reach speeds of 120 RPM. There’s also next-gen vibration detection, 100+ built-in tunings and the possibility to create your own custom ones, as well as a vibrating metronome mode, a large, full-color LCD screen for easy viewing and more. Roadie 3 will even wind your new string to tension then tune it up, all in one smooth step. A little wonder, indeed. 

Now that you’ve got your guitar plugged in, tuned up and ready to go, why not create your own backing tracks to jam along to? To this end, look no further than the Aeros Loop Studio by Singular Sound, which offers the ability to craft up to an amazing 36 unique loops per song, with unlimited overdubs.

The looper, arguably the most powerful on the market, also boasts a built-in mixer and flexible I/O for onboard mixing of multiple instruments or audio sources, as well as four built-in footswitches, a built-in scroll wheel for hands-free mixing, a touch-enabled screen with color coded cues and waveforms, MIDI functionality to sync with your other gear and much, much more.

Furthermore, the pedal offers up to 48 hours of recording time, and constantly updates via Bluetooth and WiFi with new functionality.

Want to add some drums to your jam? The Aeros Loop Studio also connects seamlessly to The BeatBuddy, one of Singular Sound’s other innovative pedals. The BeatBuddy is one of the most realistic-sounding – and also ridiculously easy to use – drum machines on the market.

Essentially a drum machine in a pedal – just stomp on it to add fills, transitions and outros to your rhythms – the BeatBuddy sports studio-quality 24-bit sound with true stereo audio, as well as beats in more than 200 styles and 24 diverse genres, via 10 unique drum sets. And you can do it all hands-free, no programming necessary.

Other features include multi-velocity sampling, non-quantized playback and varied rhythms for an ultra-realistic sound. Furthermore, the BeatBuddy is expandable with premium library content for even more musical styles and drum set sounds, and like the Loop Station, boasts MIDI functionality to sync with your other gear.

While there are plenty of products that allow you to record your riffs and ideas on the fly (including that ever-present smartphone), a fun and easy tool is TC Electronic’s WireTap pedal. 

The super-compact, true-bypass stompbox makes it possible to capture song ideas as you play, with the ability to record up to eight hours’ worth of 24-bit 44.1khz CD quality files, which can then be downloaded to a computer via the onboard mini USB socket.

Best of all, like Aeros’ Loop Studio and BeatBuddy, it offers hands-free operation. To start recording, stomp on the footswitch. To stop, hit it again. Done.

Finally, it’s important to note that with all the playing you might be doing, things might get, um, loud. So we’ll end by suggesting a cool set of cans that not only offer crystal-clear sound, but look great to boot: Vox’s VH-Q1 Smart Noise Cancelling Headphones.

The brand-new design from the legendary amp maker features internal and external microphones that make them an excellent tool for guitar, picking up and isolating frequencies from your instrument or amp. You can even feed in an audio source and blend it against what you play – perfect for rehearsing or jamming to backing tracks.

And that’s not all – the VH-Q1 also supports voice assistant services and comes with a rechargeable battery that lasts 36 hours. What’s more, they’re outfitted in classic Vox black and gold, making it feel as if you’re wearing an AC-30 on your head. 

You’ll never want – or need – to leave your house again.

TC Electronic unveiled its Plethora X5 TonePrint Pedalboard earlier this year, and at the time we called it “the multi-effects pedal you’ve been waiting for.”

Indeed, with five separate effects sections containing every TonePrint pedal TC has released, as well as the ability to create up to 127 separate “pedalboards,” the Plethora is, well, exactly what its name implies.

Now, there’s even more Plethora goodness on offer, as TC has released a Firmware 1.2 update – its biggest yet – with a host of features and upgrades requested by customers and fans.

Update highlights include new Helix Phaser and Viscous Vibe (including ramp footswitch control) pedals, a Tape Deck Looper with record and playback of 80 seconds in mono and 40 seconds in stereo and a Hot Knobz function that allows users to assign the knobs to control any effect parameters on their board for real-time tweaking in PLAY mode.

Additionally, there’s nine new cab SIMS, adjustable MIDI channel functionality, expanded MIDI CC controls and optional dual footswitches, as well as bug fixes, optimizations and performance improvements.

Best of all, the Firmware 1.2 update is free, and available for download now.

To get started, head to TC Electronic.

Because you should always tune in style, TC Electronic has unveiled the UniTune Clip Noir, a limited-edition version of its UniTune Clip clip-on guitar tuner in a sleek black finish with red buttons.

The new tuner features a bright LED display and multiple modes – its “light-speed” chromatic tuning has an instant readout that boasts a bright needle display to an accuracy of ± 0.05 cent, while strobe tuning displays to an incredible ± 0.02 cent of tuning accuracy.

The UniTune Clip Noir features a sturdy stainless-steel clip with a tight industrial-grade spring and extra-grippy rubber pads for no-slip placement on the guitar’s headstock.

And did we mention it comes in beautiful black?

For more information, head over to TC Electronic.

Reverb.com has released its list of the site’s top-selling effect pedals of 2020, with EarthQuaker Devices’ Sunn O))) Life Pedal V2 named the Best-Selling New for 2020, and TC Electronic’s Ditto Looper taking top honors as Best-Selling Overall.

The Ditto Looper was followed by several tried-and-true mainstays, including the Boss DS-1 Distortion and the TC Hall of Fame Reverb.

On the new pedal side, the Sunn O))) Life Pedal V2 was joined in the Top 5 by Chase Bliss Audio’s Blooper, JHS’s Legend Series Bender 1973 London Fuzz and Supreme 1972 Japan Fuzz and MXR’s CSP027 Timmy Overdrive.

The rankings were based on total number of orders on Reverb for the year. The overall list of best-sellers reflects all sales inclusive of both new and used gear, while the rankings for the new releases are for brand-new sales, in an effort to highlight the models' initial popularity.

Reverb also points out that, as has been the case in past years, pedals that are released earlier in the year around NAMM have an advantage over newer releases that don't have as much time to rack up sales.

Additionally, the site writes, “Some might be perplexed by the lack of the iconic Dunlop Cry Baby Wah or EHX Big Muff on this list. In both cases (and lots of others) this is due to the fact that sales for these pedals are spread out across dozens of different individual models currently produced by each company. Were they taken in aggregate, both would probably ranking in the top ten.”

Boss was named the Top Pedal Brand by Order Volume – Used and Top Pedal Brand by Dollars Transacted. Electro-Harmonix, meanwhile, took top honors in the Top Pedal Brand by Order Volume – New category.

Reverb’s effect pedal lists will be followed by year-end posts covering amps, microphones, synths and drum machines.

For more information, head to Reverb.com.

TC Electronic’s Flashback Mini Delay may look straightforward, but it’s a deceptively versatile mini pedal – and it’s now available for just $99 from Sweetwater for a limited time.

The Flashback Mini Delay utilizes TC’s TonePrint technology, which allows you to beam custom sounds to the pedal via a smartphone app or PC/Mac.

So, while the pedal itself has controls for delay, feedback and FX level, the potential is limitless, especially when combined with TC Electronic’s TonePrint Editor app, which allows you to go as deep as you like with hidden parameters to create your own custom delay sounds.

So, all things considered, $99 – $19 off the regular price – is a bit of a bargain for the range of sounds on offer.

It’s available for a limited time only over at Sweetwater, so don’t – sorry about this – delay.

With Amazon Prime Day rapidly approaching, we're expecting some more killer deals like this. Bookmark our Prime Day guitar deals page for all the latest news and bargains.

Robben Ford says that he’s been getting a lot of questions about his pedalboard lately, and so the electric guitar great decided to do something about it, putting together a video tour of his impressive range of effects (the ’52 Gold Top in his hands isn’t too shabby, either).

“It hasn’t changed very much in quite some time,” Ford says of his board. “In fact, I might say it hasn’t changed at all, other than the addition of the [Fulltone] Deja Vibe, which I started using maybe a year ago.”

As for what else is on his 'board? The most important pedals, in his estimation, are the TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb – “because my amps don’t have reverb” – and the Strymon TimeLine Multidimensional Delay. “I’ve found that the TimeLine is the absolute best-sounding foot-pedal delay you can have,” Ford says.

From there, Ford demonstrates his Electro-Harmonix POG (“It sounds kind of like steel drum”), his Vertex Boost (“it can have a little bit of a bite on top”) and his Hermida Audio Zendrive, which, he says “is still to me the most ‘together sounding’ overdrive. You get to hear all the notes, the full spectrum of the signal.”

Finally, his board is rounded out by a TC Electronic PolyTune, as well as a footswitch to activate overdrive and boost on his Dumble amp – and we all know how much Ford likes Dumble amps.

“That’s basically it,” Ford says. “Sorry I don’t have a more interesting pedalboard.”

Trust us, Robben, you have nothing to apologize for.

TC Electronic has announced the Ditto+ Looper, which expands the company’s best-selling mini looper pedal with a host of new features.

Chief among those is that nifty hi-res color display, as well as the ability to store and recall up to 99 loop sessions, plus import and export tracks.

That means you can store and recall drum loops, or entire tracks for live performance (when we’re allowed to play live again, natch) - and there’s room for up to 60 minutes of 24-bit uncompressed audio.

A new Extend Loop Mode, meanwhile, allows you to record longer overdubs on top of shorter loops by stacking the short ones side by side. Neat.

Finally, Auto Cue means you can press the footswitch any time near the end of your loop, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not quite dead-on the beat: your loop will still be in sync.

UK price is £99, with US TBC, but suffice to say, we’re excited. Head over to TC Electronic for more info.

• Best cheap looper pedals: essential budget loopers for your ‘board

Following in the footsteps of its larger X4 and standard-sized siblings, TC Electronic’s mini pedal versions of the Flashback delay and Hall Of Fame reverb pedals were revamped to ‘2’ status at the tail end of 2019 bringing in a new level of expressive parameter control – all carried out via the new MASH pressure-sensitive footswitch. 

The two pedals still have the same extremely pedalboard-friendly footprint as their predecessors with offset jacks but now feature an extra LED that lights up more intensely as you increase pressure on that footswitch. The HOF also goes from a single knob to a three-knob control setup matching the Flashback.

Both single-sound pedals, the Flashback 2 offers the sound of a tape delay as shipped, while the HOF 2 comes configured as a hall reverb. The beauty of them, though, is that you can load them with any sound that you want (all of the different variations found in the larger versions of each pedal) courtesy of TC’s TonePrint software editor and librarian facility.

This is accessed either via USB connection to a computer or via a mobile device, and you can simply load a new sound into a pedal by using your mobile phone to beam it directly into your guitar’s pickups. All the standard reverb and delay sounds are there as well as the more esoteric, such as shimmer reverb and polyphonic octave delays.

There are loads of editable parameters for each effect including a dedicated page for setting the parameters adjusted with the MASH switch, featuring a useful graphical display allowing mapping of the selected effect’s response to your foot pressure (note: you can select tap tempo rather than MASH for the Flashback 2).

That MASH feature is great for an extra layer of onstage expression, enabling the likes of spiraling your delay repeats off into feedback or bringing in modulation to your reverb trail, or just providing an alternative to the main effect while held down.

Verdict 

The undoubted bonus here is that even without the MASH feature, these pedals would still be solid purchases for anyone wanting delay or reverb in a small package – they’re practical while still being extremely versatile, as long as you don’t mind embracing a little hi-tech.

Specs

• PRICE: $94.95 / £79
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Reverb pedal
• FEATURES: Selectable true or buffered bypass, MASH footswitch for real-time parameter control, TonePrint editing
• CONTROLS: Decay, Tone, Level, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 30mA
• DIMENSIONS: 55 (w) x 93 (d) x 50mm (h)

• PRICE: £79 / $94.95
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Delay pedal
• FEATURES: Selectable true or buffered bypass, MASH footswitch for real-time parameter control, TonePrint editing
• CONTROLS: Delay, Feedback, Level, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output, USB
• POWER: 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 30mA
• DIMENSIONS: 55 (w) x 93 (d) x 50mm (h)
• CONTACT: TC Electronic

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Now discontinued and accordingly expensive, the POG was originally the affordable, non-rack polyphonic octave pedal. 

Pitch-shifting units like the Whammy had been around for some time, although their sometimes erratic tracking and alien warble wasn’t suited for all players. Moreover, they weren’t polyphonic, meaning that you couldn’t play chords without getting a mashed, bitcrushed version out the other side.

Meanwhile, in the octaver camp, there had been analogue octavers, like the MXR Blue Box, around for decades, though digital units had the same issue as the Whammy - an artificial-sounding tone, monophonic-only operation, and often lacklustre tracking. Moreover, having more than one active harmony, was limited to rack gear.

The POG blew all of this out of the water when it was introduced in 2005, offering highly granular control over several octave modes, a less ‘artificial’ sounding pitch shift, and a wealth of tone-shaping options centred around an excellent core tone. 

Known users included Joe Satriani and Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and probably the only thing that stopped it being a runaway success, as opposed to the cult success it became, was its large form-factor, taking up the same slab-size enclosure of many old-school EHX pedals like the Memory Man

Even today, the original pedal stands up, though there are plenty of options should you want an updated model. EHX themselves redesigned the pedal in the form of the POG2, while the compact Micro and Nano versions were arguably the runaway successes that the POG line had been driving towards.

Three great alternatives to the EHX POG

Classic tones

You might recall TC Electronic teasing a do-everything multi-effects pedal back in September - before everything suddenly went quiet. But now, finally, the fruits of the Danish co’s labor have revealed themselves in the form of the Plethora X5 TonePrint Pedalboard.

Spanning five separate effects sections - each with its own pressure-sensitive MASH footswitch - the Plethora X5 contains every TonePrint pedal TC has released thus far, spanning compression to pitch-shifting, delay, reverb and every modulation under the sun.

Up to 127 separate ‘pedalboards’ can be created, each with five pedals, with the ability to store up to 75 TonePrints for each effect.

Any effect can be loaded in any pedal slot in any order, and TC has generously included an FX loop, which can also be moved anywhere in the chain, allowing you to run the Plethora’s effects before or after your own drive pedals.

As you may have noted, each pedal features just a single knob - instead, the majority of editing is done via a Bluetooth connection to TC’s TonePrint app.

Other features include stereo inputs and outputs, plus a cab sim with British-style voicing, while TC is promising a host of feature updates throughout the Plethora’s lifespan.

The Plethora’s pedalboard-friendly size and ability to serve as an addition to a complement of drive pedals could see it win a place in the rigs of many players - it certainly takes the fight to Line 6, Boss, Zoom, et al.

We’ll find out whether that’s true when it lands later this year for around $399. See TC Electronic for more info.

Building on the success of its BG250-115 combo, Denmark’s TC Electronic brings out three new models: a 1x12, 2x10, and 2x8, all BG250-powered, and featuring TC’s awesome Tone Print effect technology.

The super-lightweight 250-watt amps boast flexible tone shaping and convenient features that make them ideal woodshedding tools—but the effect capabilities help this diminutive trio stand out in the crowd. We checked out two of the models, the 1x12 BG250-112 and the 2x8 BG250-208.

The BG250 power plant is a Class D amp with a basic control layout. The 112 is a closed system, with the 12" driver taking the head’s full power, while the 208 allows connecting an external 8-ohm cab, for a minimum 4-ohm load. The BG series features what TC calls Dynamic Tone Contouring, which assigns different frequencies to boost and cut with the 3-way EQ.

The bass control cuts up to 24dB at 80Hz and boosts up to 15dB at 100Hz. The mid control is set for –24dB at 500Hz and +15dB at 800Hz, while treble on the 112 model gives you –24dB at 1.8kHz and +15dB at 2.5kHz. treble is slightly different on the 208 model, cutting up to 24dB at 1.4kHz.

The BG208 incorporates the minuscule BG250H head into a vertical 2x8 cab, while the other BG models have an expanded version of the amp built into larger cabs. The smaller BG provides a gain switch for active/passive instruments, and only one Tone Print control, while the larger amp offers a dedicated gain knob and two Tone Print controls. Although two distinct Tone Prints can be stored, you can only use one at a time.

Both amps feature a built-in tuner that can handle the range of a typical 6-string bass, a pre/post-EQ balanced line out via the xlr jack, mute switch, a ⅛" stereo aux input for iPods and such, and a speaker-defeating ⅛" stereo headphone-out jack for silent practicing. There is a USB port so you can connect the BG250 to a computer for loading and editing Tone Prints, and a footswitch pedal input for remote control of the mute and Tone Print functions. The front-ported cabs are loaded with TC custom drivers and covered with black Tolex, and are surprisingly lightweight.

Cranking up the pair at home, I was impressed with the range of sounds available from what seemed to be a fairly basic EQ section. Obviously the Danes put a lot of thought into the frequency centers; going from ultra-modern slap tones to burnished thump was a piece of cake (or perhaps Danish?). Naturally the 112 has more bottom than its little bro, but connecting an 8-ohm cab to the 208’s extension jack gave the mini-me a powerful punch.

But keep your expectations reasonable: While well suited for practice, recording, and low-volume rehearsals and gigs, these amps are not going to stand up to the demands of loud rock music. The built-in compression saves you the trouble of buying a new amp every time you push it to the limit, but it is audibly present when you drive the amp loud.

However, at a living-room rehearsal with a five-piece rock band (at gentlemen’s volume), the tiny BG250-208 held its own— giving my passive P-Bass enough oomph to keep the boys in line with a warm, vintage vibe. For one of the harder-edged tunes, I swapped out the default TC Chorus effect Tone Print and loaded up some Tube Drive.

The free Tone Print iPhone app beamed the effect to the amp without a hitch, and the syrupy chorus gave way to a gritty saturated tone. In addition to spending time with these combos, I have been using several TC Tone Print Enabled pedals for roughly one year, and the Tone Print app has proven consistently reliable.

The larger cabinet of the 112 model kicks up the sound pressure level a few notches, producing gig-worthy volume for an acoustic-based act in a small venue. The BG250 line also includes 1x15 and 2x10 configurations, and while largely uniform, TC has tweaked the EQ center frequencies for each model ever so slightly to better match the response of the speakers and cabinet design.

Specs

Street BG250-208, $500; BG250-112, $350
Inputs ¼" instrument, stereo ⅛" aux, USB, footswitch
Outputs ¼" stereo headphone, xlr balanced line out with pre/post EQ, external-speaker jack on BG250-208
Controls Gain, Bass Middle, Treble, Tone Print, Master, Mute
Tuner Built in, always active
Power 250 watts rms @ 4Ω
Speakers BG250-112, TC custom 12" driver, TC custom tweeter; BG250-208, two TC custom 8" drivers
Dimensions BG250-112, 18” x 14.8” x 21.3”; BG250-208, 11.5” x 12.6” x 18.3”
Weight BG250-112, 35 lbs; BG250-208, 26 lbs
Made in China

TC Electronic has introduced two new tiny tone boxes, the Flashback 2 Mini Delay and Hall of Fame 2 Mini Reverb.

In addition to their smaller sizes, both mini effect pedals also include pressure-sensitive MASH footswitches for real-time effect modification, TC’s TonePrint technology and selectable true or transparent buffered bypass.

Additionally, the HOF 2 Mini Reverb offers up room, cathedral and a new shimmer reverb, as well as algorithms ported from TC’s System 6000 processor.

The Flashback 2 Mini Delay, meanwhile, boasts selectable internal tap tempo and ultra-realistic tape, analog and digital delays, as well as a new crystal delay that employs the polyphonic octaver engine from TC’s Sub 'n' Up for “otherworldly” tones.

Furthermore, TC suggests that the Flashback 2 Mini can be converted into a dedicated chorus or flanger via some creative use of the TonePrint app.

For more information on both new pedals, head to TC Electronic.

Last week, we presented Reverb.com’s list of the site’s best-selling guitar amps of 2019. Now, the digital gear marketplace has revealed another year-end best-of, this one focusing on the site’s top-selling effect pedals, both overall and for stompboxes new for 2019 (and as regular readers of this site are well aware, there were a lot – and we mean a lot – of pedals released over the past 12 months).

In the best-selling overall category TC Electronic ruled the roost, with the company’s Hall of Fame Reverb and Ditto Looper taking first and second place. Other high-rankers included the Fulltone OCD, MXR Carbon Copy and Keeley Compressor.

Best-selling pedals overall

1. TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb
2. TC Electronic Ditto Looper
3. Fulltone OCD
4. MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay
5. Keeley Compressor Plus
6. Strymon TimeLine Delay
7. Electro-Harmonix Canyon
8. TC Electronic Flashback Delay & Looper
9. Boss DS-1 Distortion
10. Strymon Big Sky Reverb
11. Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
12. Electro-Harmonix Soul Food Transparent Overdrive
13. Dunlop DVP4 Volume X Mini
14. Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 Reverb
15. Paul Cochrane Timmy Overdrive

On the new for 2019 side, Walrus Audio’s Slo multi-texture reverb took top honors, while Chase Bliss Audio’s MOOD micro-looper/delay (which was recently released in a special Reverb 'blacked out' version) came in second. 

The top five was filled out by Electro-Harmonix’s Attack Decay, EarthQuaker Devices’ Plumes and another EHX offering, the Bass Mono Synth.

Best-selling new-for-2019 pedals

1. Walrus Audio Slö
2. Chase Bliss Audio Mood
3. Electro-Harmonix Attack Decay
4. EarthQuaker Devices Plumes
5. Electro-Harmonix Bass Mono Synth
6. Strymon Volante Magnetic Echo Machine
7. Keeley Fuzz Bender
8. MXR DD25 Green Day Dookie Drive
9. EarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things
10. Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
11. JHS Clover Preamp
12. Walrus Audio Lillian Multi-Stage Analog Phaser
13. Electro-Harmonix Guitar Mono Synth
14. Old Blood Noise Endeavors Rever
15. TC Electronic June 60 Chorus

And because there are just so, so many pedals both new and old out there in the, um, guitar world, Reverb also took it upon themselves to break down the top-selling units in six effect categories: Overdrive, fuzz, delay, reverb, chorus and compression.

To check out all the top sellers, head over to Reverb.com.

As Paul Gilbert continues to go from strength to strength, with new album Behold Electric Guitar showcasing his increasingly refined chops, it appears his pedalboard is undergoing an overhaul, as a signature JHS Pedals overdrive is apparently in the works.

On a recent Instagram post highlighting Gilbert’s session with fellow Ibanez endorsee Martin Miller, fan Josh Myers asked what amp the Mr Big guitarist was using, only for Gilbert to go one further and detail his entire signal chain, letting the stompbox cat out of the bag.

“I used a Marshall 1959HW head,” he revealed. “I ran it clean, using the second channel. For distortion, I used three pedals, in this order: JHS Bonsai (on sometimes), JHS prototype signature pedal (on most of the time), and an Xotic Effects AC Booster (on all the time).”

Last month, the Mr Big guitarist dropped a snap of his pedalboard on the 'gram, featuring a mystery six-knobbed black stompbox.

Guitarists are already speculating it’s a replacement for Gilbert’s old fave, the TC Electronic MojoMojo overdrive pedal.

Of course, Gilbert is no stranger to signature pedals, having previously collaborated with Ibanez on the Airplane Flanger and Homebrew on the Detox EQ - with his other secret weapon being, of course, Yamaha's tiny THR5 desktop amp.

You can hear Gilbert’s rig - including that killer-sounding new pedal - in action as he trades licks with Martin Miller in the red-hot Superstition cover below.

Is it us, or has Gilbert’s tone and phrasing never been better? We can’t wait to see what he cooks up with Josh Scott...

In TC Electronic’s pantheon of classic effects, the 2290 surely ranks among the upper echelons, and although models of its crystalline digital repeats have appeared in the company’s Flashback delay pedals, it looks as if the firm is finally readying a standalone pedal version.

TC Electronic recently posted images of two potential designs for a 2290 dynamic digital delay, complete with push-buttons, as per the original - one even has a keyboard for entering delay times.

Don’t get too excited, however, as the company commented that the device is “still in the ideas phase” - TC is just collecting feedback right now. Curses...

Of course, that’s not the only exciting pedal release the company has in the works, having teased a TonePrint Pedalboard just last week.

TC Electronic has updated its popular Flashback 2 x4 Delay with a wealth of new and cool features. First up is the addition of three pressure-sensitive MASH footswitches, which allow the user to toggle instantly between delay sounds for real-time modification. Each footswitch holds a delay preset and the ability to control three parameters at once by varying foot pressure on the switch.

There’s also Crystal, Analog and Tape algorithms, six TonePrint slots and the ability to load six presets using the preset bank switch.

And like the original 2 x4, the new iteration comes decked out with a Subdivision knob with 11 tempo settings, dedicated tap tempo switch, analog-dry-through to maintain integrity of analog dry signal path when delay is on, 40-second looper and expression pedal and MIDI inputs, among other features.

For more information on the Flashback 2 x4 Delay, head to TC Electronic. 

Paul Gilbert recently got together with “Lars,” a representative from TC Electronic, to talk pedals in what appears—just maybe—to be a new video show from the company.

“I’ve heard that you guys do something called ‘Build a Pedalboard,’ Gilbert says at the beginning of the clip. “This is like a series.”

“It is now,” Lars replies.

Over the course of the next 20 minutes, Gilbert runs through his favorite pedals, as well as some new TC Electronic stompboxes, and imparts wisdom about his “philosophy on the order that they go in and just how I use [them].”

You can check out the incredibly entertaining video, which also includes some impressive playing from Gilbert—above.

Additionally, TC Electronic is giving away the pedalboard, which Gilbert will also autograph, in a new contest. Entrants must subscribe to TC Electronic and Gilbert’s respective YouTube channels, and then send an email to giveaway@tcelectronic.com with their YouTube user ID. The competition closes Thursday, June 20.

• These are the 10 best pedalboards right now

TC Electronic has announced two new PolyTune pedals, the 3 Mini and the 3 Noir.

Both pedals come in new smaller footprints (with the Noir essentially a dark-hued version of the 3 Mini), and feature a choice of polyphonic, chromatic or strobe tuning modes.

There’s also a 108-LED display, a built-in Bonafide Buffer to keep tone crisp through long cables and large pedal boards, and two dipswitches mounted on the side of the pedals to choose between buffered and true bypass.

Furthermore, both pedals add in a new “always-on” mode for tuning when you’re not muted or playing.

For more information on the PolyTune 3 Mini and PolyTune 3 Noir, head over to tcelectronic.com.