“You may just want to leave it on all the time”: ThorpyFX Electric Lightning review

Thorpy creates a tube-powered drive and boost pedal for Welsh powerhouse Chris Buck

ThorpyFX Electric Lightning Chris Buck signature overdrive
(Image: © Future / Neil Godwin)

Guitar World Verdict

Breaking the £400 barrier, Thorpy’s Electric Lightning represents a sizable investment, but it's a very flexible pedal that's perfectly suited for pairing with just about any clean amp to deliver all the drive sounds you’ll need.

Pros

  • +

    Usual solid ThorpyFX build quality.

  • +

    Compact for a twin-footswitch pedal.

  • +

    Wide range of boost and drive tones.

  • +

    Touch‑responsive.

Cons

  • -

    Some may find the 12-volt power inconvenient.

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Anyone who watches Chris Buck’s always entertaining Friday Fretworks videos on his YouTube channel will have already heard this ThorpyFX pedal, as it’s been on his pedalboard for quite some time now, albeit in disguised form, making it the subject of much speculation. Now revealed as the Electric Lightning, it is, in fact, the Cardinal Black guitarist’s signature pedal. 

The brief for the pedal was to create an overdrive with an independent clean boost so that Buck had a one-box solution to deliver his own sound, no matter what backline he had access to. 

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