Catalinbread releases the Topanga Spring Reverb, a stompbox based on vintage outboard spring reverb units. Related Feature:Catalinbread Echorec This pedal is designed to reproduce the surf guitar sound and other reverb-laden tones that outboard tube reverb units helped popularize in the sixties. Outboard tube reverb units are known for sounding organic and dynamic, often times considered as big feeling musical instruments unto themselves. An important difference that outboard reverb units have compared to those bundled with amps is that they are run in front of the amp, adding more intensity and subtly distorting the reverb signal. Now Catalinbread took the advantages of these bulky reverb units and packed it into a compact stompbox. The Catalinbread Topanga Spring Reverb pedal is specifically based on the Fender 6G15 outboard spring reverb unit. According to the brand, “The Topanga is the product of many years of listening and playing old units and months of fine tuning.” They also add that they “captured all the drip, flutter, cluck, clang, and splash of the original tubes and springs unit in a small pedal format”. Like the original outboard unit, the new Topanga pedal comes with a Dwell knob that controls how hard the springs were

JHS introduces the new Panther Cub Delay, featuring eight Bucket Brigade chips with up to 1.1 seconds of delay time. Related Feature:New Clip-on Tuners from Kinsman It is based on the Panther Analog Delay, having the same capabilities and adding a few improvements – all while having a smaller overall size. JHS describes the pedal as their most complicated pedal to date, carrying modern features while retaining 100% analog circuitry. Here is what they had to say: “We are proud to bring to you the Panther Cub. True Bucket Brigade delay that has the tone and options to cover any style, any use, and any player.” At the core of this stompbox are eight 3208 Bucket Brigade chips, assembled in Kansas City, USA to produce analog quality delay that go up to 1.1 seconds. The use of bucket brigade chips are favored because of its classic sound, it has less high frequencies than digital delay but adds more depth and warmth to the delay sound. The resulting effect sounds less harsh and is easier to fit into recordings. Traditional delay controls are provided including dedicated knobs for Mix, Speed, Depth and Feedback. JHS then took it a step further by

JHS unveils the Emperor pedal, a multi-voiced chorus and vibrato effect pedal in one, with tap tempo. Related Feature:JHS Panther Cub Delay Pedal This pedal offers versatile modulation options, from analog chorus to pitch vibrato with rotary speaker emulation, waveform selection and modern true bypass with buffered bypass option. According to the company, the new JHS Emperor is built using the same topology as vintage Arion SCH-1 chorus pedals. The SCH-1 were Japan-made chorus pedals that started out as cheap alternatives to other big name brands. However It ended up being on the pedalboards of professionals! Many players stand by the claim that old Arion SCH-1 chorus pedals are organic sounding and that they are great at emulating the rotating speaker Leslie effect. Now JHS has incorporated the topology of this vintage pedal into the JHS Emperor, and pairs it with a 3207 bucket brigade chipset. The company says that, “The end result allows you to have a host of vintage modulation tones at your disposal with the amenities and modern flair that only we can offer. From vintage Boss VB-2, CE-2, CE-1, as well as the legendary and rare SCH-1, the Emperor lets you explore true analog modulation at

JHS introduce the Twin Twelve, a pedal that reproduces the preamp and overdrive tones of the Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve Amplifier. Related Feature:JHS Emperor Chorus/Vibrato Pedal This pedal is meant to faithfully capture and replicate the tones found on the humble amp that started small yet ended up being used by big name guitarists and professionals. So what separates the Twin Twelve from the ocean of overdrive pedals available in the market? According to its designer, this pedal gives out a unique classic tone that closely resembles the Silvertone 1484, and behaves much like an old tube amp. They were able to achieve this by utilizing multiple transistor stages that discretely operates to take the place of the original tubes. Each of these transistor stages are said to be meticulously hand-tuned to achieve the ideal voltage that helps the pedal recreate the valve tone of the original amplifier. JHS Pedals provided the back story behind the pedal, “In 1963 Silvertone* introduced the 60 Watt Model 1484 guitar amplifier. Originally a student model amplifier, the 1484 has since become legendary, hard to find, and coveted by some of the biggest names in music. From the time of its debut in the

JHS Pedals & Keeley Electronics joined forces to create the Steak N Eggs, a 2-in-1 compressor and overdrive effect pedal. Related Feature:Best Overdrive Pedals This pedal combines a modified Keeley Compressor and JHS Morning Glory overdrive with independent controls, and packed inside a two footswitch stompbox. Much like how steak and eggs pair nicely, the overdrive and compression effect on this pedal are tweaked to work well together as pair, and is only available in this unit. While the two effects are based on existing pedals, they come with distinct features that separate them from their regular pedal counterpart, ensuring that you are getting truly unique versions of the two effects. The left section of the pedal houses a modded version of the JHS Morning Glory circuit, featuring a new high-gain modification. They added more gain while retaining the quality of the original circuit, as requested by many players. It features an entirely re-thought and rebuilt gain structure that is different from overdrive effect found on the 2012 limited run “State Line” stompbox. In addition to the gain switch, there is also a brightness cut toggle via an internal DIP switch. Here is what JHS had to say about the

JHS introduces the Crayon pedal, a stripped down version of the Colour Box, with the same direct-to-console fuzz. Related Feature:JHS Muffuletta Distortion/Fuzz This is a dirt box inspired by the popular Beatles tune “Revolution 1”, but this one is made more compact, guitarist friendly and with more sonic versatility. Like its bigger brother, the Crayon pedal mimics the piercing fuzz tone that was employed by the Beatles on “Revolution 1”, which is the slower but equally rocking arrangement of their popular song as heard on their White Album. It is said that Harrison and Lennon’s guitar signal were routed to two microphone preamps in series, both of which were overloaded to just below the point where the mixing console would overheat. The result is what we heard on the track, a biting fuzz sound that has become as memorable as the song itself. This “direct to console” distortion sound inspired the JHS Colour Box which was released in May of 2014. As expected some guitarists wanted a simpler dirt box style version without the 3 band EQ, or XLR connectivity, and this prompted the company to design and produce the Crayon pedal. Instead of being a studio-preamp like the original

Keeley Electronics is now shipping the Katana Blues Drive, featuring active tone controls and “layered” overdrive. Related Feature:Keeley Magnetic Echo This pedal is based on the company’s popular Katana Boost pedal, with some modifications for improved overdrive tones at lower volume levels. According to the company, this pedal is designed to capture the touch sensitivity and dynamics of tube overdrive while allowing the full tonal range of your guitar signal to pass through. To achieve this, they have taken the JFET stages of the Katana Boost pedal and mixed it with a special overdrive circuit that showcases the company’s experience with overdrive pedal modifications. Said to be 13 years in the making, Keeley Electronics combined their experience, expertise and customer feedback to build the Katana Blues Drive. They describe the pedal has having rich, thick and transparent tone. The pedal is equipped with basic controls for adjusting the output level and drive, allowing for tones from slightly dirty to medium-gain. The description speaks of a special overdrive circuit that creates “layers” of overdrive, but not much else was explained about it. Two “Active” tone shaping knobs are also provided for improved control over the highs and lows frequencies. Check out