Strymon unveils the BigSky pedal, featuring twelve studio-quality reverb effects produced via SHARC DSP. Related Feature:Looper Pedals The twelve reverb effects include Room, Hall, Plate, Spring, Swell, Bloom, Cloud, Chorale, Shimmer, Magneto, Nonlinear and Reflections. Although it is just one stompbox, BigSky is actually a multi-effect pedal that focuses on providing quality reverb effects. At the core of this unit is a powerful DSP (digital sound processor) called SHARC, this allows for high-quality emulations and in-depth tone shaping. The digital signal is then brought back to the analog domain through the pedal’s analog input and output circuitry. Each of the twelve reverb effects have controllable parameters for tone shaping. The pedal provides 7 knobs to get this done, featuring controls for Decay, Tone, Pre-Delay, Mix, Param1, Param2 and Mod. Param1 and Param2 knobs are fully assignable to whatever parameter you prefer. The functionality of these knobs change depending on the type of reverb you are using. Here are the different reverb effects and their descriptions: Room: A tweakable room reverb effect that gives you small room ambiances to larger night club acoustics Hall: Concert and Arena size reverbs with diffused reflections and slower-building density Plate: Fast building emulation of plate

EarthQuaker Devices introduces the Levitation reverb, a tribute to the Levitation music festival in Austin. Related Feature:Top 10 Guitar Effects This new reverb pedal is based on the company’s Ghost Echo pedal, tweaked to pay tribute to Austin’s psychedelic rock heritage by providing reverb drenched tones inspired by classic psych rock. This reverb pedal is described as vintage voiced, inspired by the sounds of old reverb devices like dirty sixties chambers, classic spring, and plate reverbs. To achieve this, the company modified the Ghost Echo pedal and changed some of its controls to better emphasize parameters that are important for psychedelic rock players. Instead of the attack and dwell controls, the new Levitation reverb pedal features more knobs that give you control over tone, decay and atmosphere and it comes with a toggle switch for adjusting length. Tone lets you emphasize either the low or higher frequencies of the reverberated signal. All the way counter clockwise reduces all low end content to make a brighter reverb, turning counter clockwise allows more low end to pass through resulting in a fuller reverberated tone. Decay lets you adjust the length of the reverb decay, clockwise increases the length, while rotating the knob

Electro-Harmonix introduces Turnip Greens, a multi-effect pedal that combines overdrive and reverb in one package. Related Feature:EHX Soul Food To create this stompbox, the company combined two of their popular pedals, the Soul Food Overdrive and Holy Grial Max Reverb. They also added routing features for more control over the pairing of the two effects. The non-intrusive nature of reverb makes it a great pair for the sonic transformation that the overdrive brings, this is one of the reasons why Amplifier manufacturers have been combining overdrive with reverb for years. So it is only natural that pedal manufacturers will follow suit, the latest of which is Electro-Harmonix with the new Turnip Greens. Sitting in the the overdrive section of Turnip Greens is the actual circuit of their Soul Food pedal. Out of their many dirt pedals, they chose this recently released overdrive because of its success in the market. To give you a short background, Soul Food is actually built by EHX to mimic the super-expensive Klon Centaur, of which they introduced some their own twists. Carrying the features of a centaur was only half of the story, because Turnip Greens carries the company’s beefed up reverb effect. You can

Ernie Ball announces the worldwide availability of the Most Valuable Pedal (MVP), an active volume pedal with 20dB Boost. Related Feature:ErnieBall MusicMan Armada This pedal is designed to be flexible enough to handle both guitars and basses, and it will work with both active and passive pickup systems. Ernie Ball chose an interesting name for this pedal, but a good volume pedal can indeed by your most valuable pedal. The seemingly simple but effective additions to this volume pedal give me the impression that it can live up to its name and that gigging musicians actually had a say with its design. Routing flexibility is one of the first things that the MVP is designed to bring to the table, since it works with both active and passive pickups you can use it with anything from acoustic-electric to modern guitars and basses with active pickup. Thanks to its active electronics, the MVP can also be placed anywhere on your pedalboard chain, be it at the end for complete control or at the start of your effects route to use it for tone coloration. The pedal provides two useful controls that lets you customize the range of sweepable volume. The first

Morley introduces the M2 Series, featuring two new active wah-wahs and three new passive expression pedals. Related Feature:Best Volume Pedals The two active wah pedals include the M2 Wah and M2 Wah Volume. The series also introduces three expression pedals that operate without the need for power adapters or batteries, the M2 Passive Volume, M2 Passive Stereo Volume, and M2 Passive Voltage Control. Since the brand is well known for their Wah pedals, it is only expected that the M2 series feature this effect. The M2 Wah ($140) features vintage-voiced wah effect with true tone buffer to maintain instrument tone and level. Other features include LED indicator and a quick clip battery door. The 2-in-1 pedal M2 Wah Volume ($165) has the same features as the M2 Wah, but with added volume control functionality. According to Morley’s representative, they have been getting a lot of requests for passive pedals. They understood the advantages that came with passive circuitry, most notable of which is the convenience of not requiring power. And so they came up with new expression pedals that feature passive circuitry. The M2 Passive Volume ($90) works without need for power. It features a smooth linear taper that works

Electro-Harmonix introduces three new members of the The Next Step series – Expression, Pan and Volume pedal – featuring zero moving parts. These pedals follow the same smooth rocking chassis of the Electro-Harmonix Crying Tone Wah, providing virtually maintenance free operation. Although these pedals may look and feel awkward, innovative concepts that actually work are always a welcome find. While it is hard to let go of tried and tested designs, we find it interesting to feature impressive new products that go beyond the conventional. The Next Step series from Electro-Harmonix is one such example, utilizing a seemingly simple design to reduce maintenance and virtually eliminate wear and tear. There are no potentiometers in these pedals, nor do they employ optics or magnetism. Instead EHX opted for a very simple solution, borrowed from the humble design of a rocking chair. The pedals have a chassis with a unique shape that lets you “rock” the pedals as you would a regular rocking chair, allowing you to change parameters with ease and without any moving parts. Although you get maintenance free and silent operation, it does come with some drawbacks inherent to its unique design. The biggest issue is probably pedalboard integration.

The Morley PVO+ is a straightforward volume pedal that works as intended and features a minimum volume control option. Although it doesn’t have special features, its smooth taper and reliable operation makes it one of the most recommended volume pedals today. If you think that looking for a good volume pedal was simple, you will be surprised by the myriad of options available, and how each one comes with certain advantages and weaknesses. After trying multiple pedals, many have found that the humble PVO+ brings the most advantages while having the least problems, and we completely agree. Talking about advantages, this pedal is well known for its good audio taper. The volume changes consistently as you rock the pedal back and forth, which translates into better control and more expressive volume changes during performances. Some control over the taper range is also provided in the form of a switchable minimum volume control. When engaged, the volume pedal follows the minimum volume knob setting, which essentially gives you an alternative volume pedal within a volume pedal. The Morley PVO+ is very easy to operate, everything is plug and play, and even the battery compartment is easily accessible. Another strength of this

Jim Dunlop introduces the Volume X Mini Pedal, a compact and feature packed version of their popular volume pedal. Related Feature:Best Volume Pedals This release is a follow up to the successful release of the Cry Baby Mini Wah, giving you realtime control over your volume without taking too much space, and without compromising durability and functionality. Pedalboard space is quickly becoming a scarce resource among musicians, so manufacturers have been trying their best to provide smaller and smaller pedals. As expected, big name pedal builder Jim Dunlop is aware of this need, producing compact versions of their popular guitar effects pedals, and the Volume X Mini is the latest to come out from their miniaturized line of pedal lineup. If like me, you’re familiar with traditional wah and volume pedals, the first thing that comes to mind when implementing them is how to get the their bulky profile to fit into our pedalboards and gig bags. The Volume X Mini is designed to change this impression by showing that you can have real-time foot control over your volume without having to hog too much pedalboard space. Dunlop promises that the DVP4 Volume (X) Mini Pedal can do everything that