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General Interest
Boost pedals explained – from overdrive-shapers to simple volume lifts
Ever feeling yourself needing a boost? And not the C-tier Cadbury’s chocolate bar? Boost pedals can really help make your rig performance-ready, adding a lot of dynamics to both your level of gain and your actual volume. But how to use them and what they ultimately do can be a little confusing – so let’s explore how they can fit in a rig, and some great options you can buy today.
So, what does a boost pedal do? While you may think this question has a stultifyingly self-evident answer, the reality is a little more complicated. In short, though, a boost does increase the level of your signal – that much, hopefully, you knew already. But there are lots of different ways in which different pedals achieve this signal increase, and lots of different ways to use the resulting sound, ranging from a totally linear uplift in level to a dirty, nasal, midrange spike.
The rest of your rig matters!
Other than the variation in circuitry, the other complicating factor in what a boost does is the rest of your rig. In short, it’s important to remember that a lot depends on your sonic goals and where you’re putting a boost within the larger context of your guitar, pedals and amplifier. The ideal type and placement of a boost depends on whether you want to push your gain a bit harder, shape the sound of a dirt pedal, or give yourself a clean volume lift for solos.
We’ve already explored headroom in more depth when looking at pedal platform amplifiers, but it’s worth a quick refresh here. If you increase signal into any amplifying device, there’s going to be a certain point where the output only gets more distorted rather than louder. Boost pedals will often mean you’re going to have to contend with your amp’s headroom. If your amp has run out of headroom, putting on a clean boost will not make it louder – it will just make it more distorted.
You can solve this by putting a boost in the effects loop, although get some earplugs in before you do that! And even then, you might still run out of power-amp headroom. This is also why pedal order is important more generally. If you put a boost before an overdrive or a distortion, you’re likely just going to make that pedal distort harder – if you place it after one and your amp has the headroom to handle it, then you’ll be able to get a cleaner level increase.
Both cases have their uses – putting a boost in front of a drive is conventionally done when the boost has its own shaping EQ character. For instance, a Rangemaster-style treble boost in front of a Big Muff compensates for the midrange scoop and reduces the amount of low-end being distorted for a tighter, more cutting sound. But if you want a simple volume increase for a solo, then it’s a better idea to put a cleaner boost after your distortions. But what makes a clean boost a clean boost?
Clean boosts
When people talk about clean boosts, this normally means two things – firstly, these pedals impart as little extra compression/distortion as possible, and any EQ controls are working with a flat, neat palette rather than shaping any extra “character”. These are the kinds of pedals that excel at simple volume increases for solos – but they can also be used to drive amp preamps and overdrive pedals harder. there are countless options out there, but here are just a few for a range of budgets:
MXR Micro Amp, Micro Amp+
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The MXR Micro amp is a great example of this style of boost. Its circuit is a simple op-amp, dialled in with enough headroom to give a big boost of signal without any extra clipping. The Micro Amp+ variant adds a clean, active two-band EQ for extra shaping.
Keeley Katana Mini
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The Keeley Katana Mini is a very clean and a very transparent boost pedal made with cascading FETs. There’s a huge range of volume available, and the full-sized Katana’s Pull Boost mode for a little bit of extra push has been integrated into the upper ranges of the volume knob here.
TC Electronic Spark and Spark MINI
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These two pedals are some of TC Electronic’s most well-regarded, up there with the Ditto as very long-standing, standard parts of the range that are great for guitarists on a bit of a budget. There’s nothing crazy going on circuit-wise – they’re just reliable, loud and clean, with the added bonus of an EQ control for the full-sized pedal.
Dirty boosts and character boosts
Here I’m collating some modern pedals that aim to add in a specific sonic character, while still avoiding being either ultra-linear, ultra-flat clean boosts. A lot of the time these take from the Rangemaster playbook (more on that in a moment) without exactly recreating the topology – that is, providing an all-important midrange kick to give you some extra oomph – while others are just a little too dirty to call clean, while still obviously being boosts rather than drives.
EarthQuaker Arrows
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The EarthQuaker Devices Arrows is an awesome boost pedal with a great upper-midrange character – it’s cleaner and tighter than your typical Rangemaster-derived thing, and makes an absolutely excellent pairing with Big Muffs and/or gainy amplifiers to add some tightness and clarity for faster rhythm playing or soloing.
Electro-Harmonix Screaming Bird
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A modified version of the LPB-1, the EHX Screaming Bird features altered input and output capacitors to offer quite a harsh high-end boost. While in some rigs it can be a bit like jamming knitting needles into your ears, in the right context it’s fantastic – if you want to evoke a vintage Brian May-style sound with a lot of high end, it’s a great option when paired with the right amp.
ZVEX Super Hard On
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The ZVEX Super Hard On, despite its somewhat juvenile evocation of tumescence, is not messing about. It’s a JFET-based boost that offers frankly insane volume. It’s not totally clean, but it’s bright and punchy, and so loud the rest of your rig is unlikely to cleanly handle its absurd levels of output – in the best way possible. While it can be used to completely obliterate an amp’s front end, more subtle settings are also a great way to give life to a slightly dull set of pickups, thanks to that brightness.
JHS Haunting Mids
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The JHS Haunting Mids is part EQ pedal and part boost. The parametric midrange is really good for dialling in exactly what frequency you want to boost – making it a really powerful pre- or post-overdrive shaper.
Benson Germanium Boost
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The Benson Amps Germanium Boost is designed to be an ultra-clean take on the format – rather than the Rangemaster’s ragged, spitty sound, this pedal uses some interesting tech tricks to keep the headroom as high as it can be. It’s definitely a ‘boutique’ take on the format with a price tag to match, but it’s got some serious fidelity to match.
Rangemaster-style pedals
The Dallas Rangemaster was arguably the first boost pedal. It’s a similar circuit to an early fuzz, although uses only one transistor – and so that cascading gain structure that gives something like a Fuzz Face oodles of distortion is gone. However because of the design, and the ragged, slightly compressed sound of a single germanium transistor with little surrounding circuitry, it does still add a bit of grit by itself.
The main thing that makes a Rangemaster sing, though, is the midrange response. Despite being called a “treble booster”, it’s really giving you a big boost in the upper midrange – this sound is all over Tony Iommi’s early Black Sabbath work, and basically everything Brian May has ever done. Because of its old, germanium design and the fact the original isn’t technically made anymore, there are plenty of very pricey boutique clones out there. But here are some of the more accessible options:
Laney Black Country Customs TI Boost
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A signature pedal for none other than Tony Iommi from Laney’s own pedal brand, the Black Country Customs TI Boost adds a two-band EQ, a mids switch and separate volume and drive controls for a very tweakable take on the classic boost.
Catalinbread Naga Viper
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Like the TI Boost, the Catalinbread Naga Viper aims to update the Ragnemaster for a modern approach – here we’ve got silicon transistors for some more stability, as well as discrete volume and gain controls for dialling in treble-booster grit at more manageable output levels. There’s also a bass control for classic vintage thinness or a bit more doomy grunt.
Mythos Pedals Cestus
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The Mythos Cestus is one of the more accessible “authentic” takes on the pedal, with only one knob – but there is still a voice switch for a range of, well, frequency ranges. The germanium transistor is also out, replaced by a 2N2222A silicon transistor for a bit more consistency – and, rather than something loaded with an original OC44, it means this boutique treble-booster is relatively affordable.
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“Spinal Tap was getting ready for one of its shows. Paul McCartney was in another room rehearsing, and he happened to walk in one day”: Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner on the real-life encounter that inspired a scene in the highly anticipated sequel
One pedal to rule them all: Boss’s new PX-1 Plugout FX puts 16 classic effects at your feet
Boss has unveiled the PX-1 Plugout FX, a shapeshifting stompbox designed to put the company’s historic pedal catalogue at your feet. Launching with 16 faithfully modelled classics and the promise of more on the way, the PX-1 gives you the flexibility of a pedalboard without the sprawl.
Since 1977, Boss compact pedals have been a fixture underfoot, with over 140 different models produced and more than 19 million sold. From the workhorse DS-1 Distortion to the elusive Slow Gear, these little enclosures have defined the sound of countless records. Now, the PX-1 condenses that legacy into a single unit – one that’s expandable via the Boss Effect Loader app for iOS and Android.
- READ MORE: BOSS’s RT-2 Rotary Ensemble pedal offers classic rotary speaker sounds in a compact footprint
Backed by newly developed BOSS algorithms, each effect in the PX-1 delivers the genuine sound and response of the pedal it’s based on. Every detail is modeled with stunning accuracy, thanks to a powerful DSP engine dedicated to recreating the sound of a single effect at a time. The control layout stays familiar too: we’ve got the classic Boss knob interface along with an onboard display for current parameters and internal settings so you can dial in tones quickly.
Credit: Boss
Connectivity is equally future-proofed. The PX-1 offers external control with one or two footswitches or an expression pedal. A handy Swap function lets you flip between two effects on the fly, while almost any parameter can be assigned for real-time tweaks mid-performance. Stereo I/O provides flexible connectivity and enhanced sound for models with stereo operation, while tap tempo and MIDI clock support are provided for time-based effects.
At launch, players get 16 effects, including eight permanently installed “1” models and eight that can be loaded into the pedal’s eight user memories:
- OD-1 Over Drive
- SP-1 Spectrum
- PH-1 Phaser
- SG-1 Slow Gear
- CS-1 Compression Sustainer
- TW-1 T Wah
- SD-1 SUPER OverDrive
- DS-1 Distortion
- CE-2 Chorus
- BF-2 Flanger
- PN-2 Tremolo/Pan
- OC-2 Octave
- PS-2 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay
- VB-2 Vibrato
- DD-2 Digital Delay
- DF-2 SUPER Feedbacker & Distortion
Roland has also sweetened the deal with a six-month Roland Cloud Ultimate membership. That unlocks not only the PX-1 effects in plug-in form, but also heavy-hitters like the JC-120 Jazz Chorus and RE-201 Space Echo.
Priced at $249.99, the Boss PX-1 Plugout FX ships this September. The company also plans to expanding the library of effects on offer through the companion app, with the first new tranche due in January 2026 – these pedals can be auditioned for free, and then can be purchased for $9.99 each.
Learn more at Boss.
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“Tony Iommi didn’t want a song by another guitarist on a Sabbath record.I never saw the money. But hearing Dio perform my song was unforgettable”: Jimi Bell may have lost out to Zakk Wylde in his Ozzy Osbourne audition, but he has no regrets
16 BOSS Pedals In One
“Your guitar playing was on point”: 10-year-old guitar prodigy backed by Kiko Loureiro nails Joan Jett classic during America’s Got Talent quarter final
“My father, a brilliant musician, didn’t believe in me”: Pete Townshend attributes his guitar-smashing antics to feelings of rejection from his father
Pete Townshend has long been synonymous with the violent poetry of smashing guitars on stage. But in a new interview, the Who guitarist suggests the act was perhaps less about spectacle than resentment – specifically, the sting of a father who didn’t believe he was “worthy of a decent instrument”.
“I was a geeky young kid with a big nose who wanted to be an artist or a journalist, not play in a rock band,” says Townshend in a recent chat with the New York Times. “My father, a brilliant musician, didn’t believe in me and allowed my grandmother to buy me a [expletive] old guitar that I couldn’t play.”
“Some of my guitar-smashing antics probably started because it had become a symbol for me of the way my father had not considered me worthy of a decent instrument.”
The admission also sets the tone for the rest of the conversation, where Townshend’s candor stretches beyond family wounds and into the very business of rock and roll. Asked if pop music itself is a swindle, the guitarist replies: “The swindle starts when you become a property and don’t belong to your fans anymore.”
“You belong to record companies, to promoters, to managers. The audience worships you for what you’ve done years before. They’re not interested in anything new. For Roger and I, it’s difficult to do anything other than feel like we’re a Who tribute band.”
Still, Townshend says he hopes to keep working with Roger Daltrey in some capacity, even if the Who as an entity winds down. “If he doesn’t want to do a Who album, I’d love to write songs for him for a solo project.”
That possibility hangs over the band’s farewell tour, which is set to conclude on 28 September at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Garden Arena. Beyond that, the future of the Who, Townshend admits, is “in Roger’s hands.”
“I’m 80, I don’t like being away from my family, my studios, my dogs and my friends. I’m not looking to spend the next five years of my life waiting to [expletive] drop dead on the stage,” he says. “The end of the tour could give Roger and I permission never to call each other again. I hope that doesn’t happen.”
The post “My father, a brilliant musician, didn’t believe in me”: Pete Townshend attributes his guitar-smashing antics to feelings of rejection from his father appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“The timeless Boss experience in one versatile pedal”: Boss crams 16 beloved effects into the convertible PX-1 Plugout FX – a multi-FX that looks like the one of the firm’s standard compact pedals
“It has been years of unprofessional behaviour from people above us”: Cradle of Filth guitarist is the latest to quit band over “low pay” and “psychopathic” contract
Cradle Of Filth guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda has quit the band, citing “low pay”, high stress and “years of unprofessional behaviour from people above us”. His wife, keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff, also announced her departure mid-tour, alleging “dishonest” and “manipulative” management practices and “psychopathic” contracts.
Šmerda, who joined Cradle in 2014, initially said he would finish the group’s current tour before leaving, but frontman Dani Filth later announced that the musician had been fired with immediate effect. He also dismissed Šmerda’s comments as an attempt “to illegally defame and derail the band”.
The split escalated quickly after Šmerda and Federoff – who had both announced their decisions within days of each other – began sharing details about life inside the band. In his statement, Šmerda said, “We simply do not feel like Cradle can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it. Among other reasons it is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt for a while like this band actually prioritising/caring about members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision.”
Federoff, who joined in 2022, claimed management were “dishonest” and “manipulative” and alleged they attempted to withhold advance payments for the group’s new album. The keyboardist also said she was branded “cancer” and a “dead horse” and threatened with termination when she challenged them.
“Our lawyer called it the most psychopathic contract a session musician could ever be handed,” Federoff wrote alongside screenshots of her contract, noting that she and Šmerda refused to sign.
She also broke down their earnings, saying the couple made around “£150/day currently and £25K a year roughly in this band.” The pay, combined with the stress and alleged hostility, had left them disillusioned.
Please read the statement from Marek Ashok Smerda too.This is our final account of what’s happened and why.*edit* We make 150/day currently and 25K a year roughly in this band, to clarify the math.
Posted by Zoe Marie Federoff on Tuesday, August 26, 2025
“[Filth] might not get his hands dirty, but in the end, he directs them,” Federoff said. “The atmosphere he creates is threatening and abusive, and he constantly exploits us for very low wages, yet always demands exclusivity to Cradle’s schedule. It is madness to keep people locked in poverty for the ego of one person.”
Meanwhile, Dani Filth has hit back at the accusations against the band’s management, calling them “completely unjust and unfounded.” He added that while the rest of Cradle were “taken aback” by the couple’s departure, they would continue touring as planned.
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The riff lord’s tone lives again: Gibson revives its first signature pickup, the Tony Iommi signature humbucker
The sound that helped define heavy metal is back. Gibson has revived the Tony Iommi Signature Humbucker, the brand’s very first signature pickup from the late 1990s, putting the Black Sabbath legend’s searing tone back within reach.
Few guitarists have left as indelible a mark on heavy music as Tony Iommi. More than just spark a genre, his pioneering riffs with Sabbath set the blueprint for metal that countless bands still chase today.
Originally released in the late ‘90s as Gibson’s first-ever signature pickup, the Tony Iommi Humbucker quickly became a cult favorite. Originals are now scarce, but the new reissue brings it back to the masses – all for the price of $229.
Inside the pickup lies a unique mix of ceramic and Alnico 2 magnets along with custom windings, delivering all the rumble you need while maintaining crystal clarity. Fully wax-potted and epoxied, the humbucker is built to resist unwanted feedback, while its 4-conductor wiring allows for series, parallel, and split coil operation.
“I’m really excited that Gibson’s bringing back my signature humbucker; they were getting pretty hard to find!” says Iommi. “This pickup came about after a lot of time spent in Nashville, just experimenting with different setups to get that perfect tone and sustain from my favorite guitars.”
“We had to make sure it worked with my light gauge strings and low tunings, but still pack a punch, and the result has got some serious output. They’re on my signature guitars too, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out.”
Gibson CEO and President Cesar Gueikian adds, “I’d personally installed these on one of my Gibson guitars 15 years ago, and I was blown away with the distinct Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath sound I was able to get out of them. They have such a great, clean look with the unique pickup cover, and we are excited to bring the Riff Lord’s signature humbucker back as we continue to pay tribute to Tony.”
The Tony Iommi Signature Humbucker is available now at the Gibson Pickup Shop.
Learn more at Gibson.
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“It suffered a broken headstock, was completely refinished, refretted and had P-90s replaced with humbuckers”: Untangling the history of Jeff Beck’s Oxblood Les Paul, the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at auction
“Not a hair out of place... A faultless, well-tuned and well-voiced working guitar”: Manson MD-3 Mikey Demus review
The Beths Pick Their Five Most Honest Guitar Records Of All Time
It takes effort to sound alive – the kind of sweat-broiled effort that’s laced throughout the Beths’ new record, Straight Line Was a Lie. Here, in the New Zealand band’s latest collection of seemingly weightless, effortless power-pop jams, you will find bare-bones honesty, both sonically and thematically, driven by real grit, graft, and intent.
While writing, guitarist-vocalist Liz Stokes pulled apart her process in the face of anxiety, medication and chronic illness, delving into life experiences that had previously been balanced on a shelf by turning to mechanical processes, whether that was clacking out pages on a typewriter, reading books on the craft, or boarding a flight from Auckland to Los Angeles in search of synapse-firing stimulation.
“It was really useful to be making something,” she says. “When I was struggling to make music, it was nice to be pulling something out of my brain and putting stuff in: books and movies and shows to feed the machine. Maybe you can’t get it to spit out what you want it to spit out, but you can hopefully spit out something else.”
Straight Line Was a Lie is home to songs that turn over living in a body that’s out to stymie you – Stokes discovered that she had Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition that leads to hyperthyroidism – alongside reflections upon the complexity of her relationship with her mother and analysis of the way she navigates the world in comparison to the way she’d actually like to do it.
Every step of the way, these knotty, heavy emotional beats are carried by the sort of daring melodic work that has made the Beths such a unique proposition in indie-rock. But, more so than in the past, there’s also a keen appreciation for woody textures and a spotlight that’s always seeking out moments of chemistry and camaraderie.
Image: Press
While much of the record was made at guitarist-producer Jonathan Pearce’s studio in central Auckland, the band also decamped to the “winterless north” of New Zealand for a retreat that sounds pastoral and restorative. They surfed and hung out. “It was a real cheat code,” Pearce says. “I think getting everyone out of the city and making a record full time, it kind of gives you your twenties back.”
Stokes’ push for candour found a reflective surface in Pearce’s desire to stage a record that felt similarly documentarian. It isn’t an accident that you can hear the air moving as Tristan Deck’s kick drum sparks No Joy – a song about becoming washed out by antidepressants – into life, while Roundabout’s jangle feels like it’s only getting to you after it’s done a lap of the place. “Without wanting to get too intense about it, I do have the belief that these days you have to really work to put the space and the human beings in the recording,” he says.
“Music libraries, let alone AI, are getting so good. If you can’t hear people shuffling around in the room, the specific room that the performance is happening in, then it could be anything. “It could be anywhere. On previous albums, we’ve pursued that power-pop sensation that the music is happening right at the very front of the speaker. There’s nothing behind it, it’s right there in front of you. This one, it felt like there was lots more space. We really went looking for it.”
A core element of the record’s make up is Stokes’ Martin 00-15M, one of two “fancy new guitars” that became go-tos while in the studio, reflecting a greater interest in pensive pieces that play like the title track from 2020’s Jump Rope Gazers with the dream-pop dialled down in favour of something more plainly spoken. “I had always hated playing acoustic guitar because it was really hard,” she says with a laugh. “You have to be very clean and you can hear your fingers, which is a pro and a con, right? You can really hear the humanity in it.”
Image: Frances Carter
The other fancy new guitar was made for Stokes by Elliott Trent, the Poole-based luthier who’s also assembled instruments for Wet Leg’s Hester Chambers and California folkie Madison Cunningham. He contacted Stokes through the Beths’ Discord and was, initially, filed away as probable spam. “No one’s out here offering free guitars,” Stokes says. “That’s crazy. But Jon was like, ‘I think you should talk to him, he’s trying to help us.’”
Stokes eventually went with Trent’s M2 model, which arrived with two sets of pickups – mini humbuckers and hand-wound P90s. The original plan was to run with one of each, mirroring the G&L Fallout that had underpinned earlier Beths records, but both humbuckers are still in place. “They just sounded so good,” she says. “He makes all the hardware,” Pearce adds. “He’s not just finishing a body and sticking parts on it. He’s doing beautiful work.”
Pearce’s ‘78 Goldtop Les Paul Deluxe, meanwhile, continues to be foundational to his sound, which, as always, veers from nimble leads to sparky, fuzz-corrupted soloing. “It just shits on other guitars,” he says. “But I did get a Burns Double Six, a ‘60s one, and it slays. It’s got the Tri-Sonic pickups. It was in really rough shape, covered in mould and with a hugely bent neck. The guy who sold it to me said, ‘I think my brother played it in his punk band in the 1980s.’ That is a ridiculous story, right? What kind of punk band plays a 12 string from the 1960s? That is a band that I wish I could hear.”
The task of bringing it back from the brink fell to David Parker, whom Pearce describes as “the genius who sets up all our guitars here in New Zealand.” Parker had to get creative given the state of the Double Six and some of the more esoteric aspects of its engineering, including making his own key to adjust a truss rod that had been assumed to be pushing up daisies. “I completely stripped it down, cleaned it, and then I sent it to David,” Pearce continues. “Somehow, the truss rod was still working, it was just all the way backed off. He could straighten the neck over time. He made a new bridge for it, and it’s awesome. It’s all over Metal and Till My Heart Stops and has inspired a lot of parts.”
Next up, in the spirit of keeping things transparent, Stokes picks five records that speak to her as being particularly honest. They come from her peers in New Zealand’s indie scene and generational writers who have shaped the tastes of millions of listeners, but she was struck by one detail in making her selections. “I feel like in trying to assess other people for their authenticity or something, it makes you look for a brain that’s similar to yours,” she says. “I’ve been like, ‘Well, maybe when people are singing about being happy, they are just lying because obviously everybody is a ball of anxiety.’ I just can’t relate to that.”
The Goon Sax – We’re Not Talking (2018)
“I guess you can hear that the songwriting feels very earnest, and it’s extremely early twenties. It’s like being inside the brain of somebody that age. I feel like I thought half those thoughts and felt all those feelings. Hearing them stated so plainly, that would be a really scary thing to do. It feels like a very brave album to put out there.”
Pickle Darling – Bigness (2019)
“They’re an artist from New Zealand. All of their albums are great but Bigness is the first one I heard from them. It has extremely bedroomy, home recording vibes. It’s very lo-fi but I find Lukas [Mayo] always plays really interesting little guitar parts – the melodies really flow over each other in a way that I find really addictive. The lyrics feel a little bit stream of consciousness and the way that they string ideas together is a little bit collagey, I think. All these little thoughts feel very real, and they feel very unstudied because of that.”
Hans Pucket – No Drama (2022)
“This is a friend’s band from New Zealand. Oliver Devlin is the main songwriter. I fell in love with their first EP Jalapeño when I heard it on Bandcamp, and I was like, ‘Who is this? They’re from Wellington? Dammit!’ I’ve put down No Drama, which is their most recent album. They have a song called Kiss The Moon, which I’ve talked to Ollie about. I think it’s very brave to write about domesticity, that’s something that feels very honest. And because it’s more specific and less generic, it hits home very closely. It’s like being inside of a relationship in a very real way.”
Rilo Kiley – The Execution of All Things (2002)
“Jenny Lewis is one of my all time favourite songwriters and musicians. She’s been so influential on an entire generation of millennial women, and younger. The best example on that album is A Better Son/Daughter, which I think is this iconic song. It’s so raw, and it’s extremely honest. Anything that is dealing with the relationship with your parents feels like hallowed ground. We saw them play at Just Like Heaven and I was bawling the entire time. Hearing everybody screaming, ‘Sometimes when you’re on, you’re really fucking on,’ was really great.”
Tiny Ruins – Ceremony (2023)
“It’s a beautiful record all the way through. It’s a slow burn. You keep coming back to it because there’s something about it – the feeling of it just pulls you in. It’s quite a quiet record. Hollie [Fullbrook] has a real way with words and melodies. It can feel cryptic, or like it says not a lot, but it creates a whole world. There’s a lyric that I really like from a song called Earthly Things. The line is just, ‘The weather’s been so wild this week.’ It’s a thing that you would say, put in a really beautiful song.”
The Beths’ Straight Line Was A Lie is out on August 29 through Anti-.
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“These are weird niche instruments, but they are so inspiring”: Misha Mansoor has got another custom shop Jackson Surfcaster – and we could be creeping towards a potential signature run release
GEAR Finds: Stompboxes
Discover the magic of tone with the latest pedals! From the versatile Brothers AM to the warm Keeley Manis Overdrive, each offers unique sonic possibilities. Ready to elevate your sound? Dive into the Eventide H90's powerhouse effects or the compact CHO-mini's rich chorus. Which pedal will inspire your next masterpiece?
CHASE BLISS Brothers AM
A faithful tribute to the Analog Man King of Tone, the Brothers AM offers dual multi‑mode gain channels—boost, overdrive, or distortion—with intuitive controls, live tweakability, and four onboard custom presets. It adds a bonus treble‑booster circuit inspired by the Beano Boost, giving you extra bite and clarity. Fully MIDI, expression, and CV‑controllable, this pedal lets you save tones and stack effects while preserving the warm, transparent character of the original.
$399 street
KEELEY Manis Overdrive
The Keeley MANIS Overdrive is a bold evolution of the mythical transparent drive, blending NOS germanium transistors and diodes for unmatched warmth, compression, and grit. With switchable voicings and dynamic touch response, it’s a tone-sculpting weapon built for players who demand both clarity and rich harmonic character in one pedal.
$199 street
EVENTIDE H90 Harmonizer
Eventide’s flagship H90 Harmonizer is a powerhouse multi-effects pedal. It features 70 effect algorithms, including reverb, delay, pitch shifting, modulation, and distortion, plus hundreds of curated programs. With comprehensive I/O and flexible routing, the H90 is built to be the heart of your rig, on stage or in the studio.
$899 street
NUX Amp Academy Stomp
The Amp Academy Stomp is the latest in amp modeling from NUX. Included are several legacy amps, effects, Bluetooth with an app, workflow features, and more. Most importantly, the Amp Academy Stomp includes Image, which loads NAM profiles into the Amp Academy Stomp and, with black-box algorithms, accurately reproduces the dynamics and responsiveness of any amp profile loaded into the pedal.
$299 street
NOBELS CHO-mini
The pocket-sized and feature-packed CHO-mini pedal delivers an outstanding selection of chorus tones at a budget-friendly price. With a selection of three curated and timeless chorus effects, the CHO-mini delivers a wealth of sonic possibilities in mono or spacious stereo imaging. Includes tap-tempo, true or buffered bypass, metal housing. Available from Osiamo.
$99 street
FUHRMAN Echoes
The Fuhrmann Echoes pedal is a versatile delay unit, offering digital, modulated, and analog modes. It provides clear, modulated, or degrading (analog-like) delay repetitions, adjustable with a low-pass-filter control. Featuring tap tempo and two rhythmic subdivisions, this compact pedal delivers up when one delay is not enough.
$180 street
NOISE ENGINEERING Batverb
Batverb is the stereo reverb that dreams are made of. Less of a room simulator and more of a tail-generating pedal, Batverb is an instrument in its own right. Batverb sings in any signal chain, with dedicated controls for suboctaves and overtones, saturation, ducking behavior, and more.
$499 street
HOTONE Ampero II
The Ampero II is the latest addition to the Ampero series, a second-generation multi-effects processor that brilliantly combines the iconic stage control of the original Ampero with the power of a new triple-core digital audio processing platform. Plus, a larger, sharper 5-inch dynamic touchscreen and newly designed system UI for smoother, and more intuitive interaction. All while maintaining the compact and lightweight design of the Ampero Series.
$599 street
FUHRMAN Stellar Stereo Reverb
The Fuhrmann Stellar Stereo Reverb pedal delivers a broad range of reverbs, from short early reflections to long, floating tails. Users can seamlessly transition between nine stored reverb scenes with no noticeable delay. Intuitive controls allow for precise adjustments, making it a powerful and user-friendly addition for diverse sonic needs.
$250 street
MR. BLACK DoubleTracker Stereo
The DoubleTracker Stereo delivers lush, organic stereo doubling with adjustable delay, pitch, and spread. Featuring dual isolated paths, intuitive controls, and unique SYNC/COMP modes, it adds depth and dimension to any instrument—perfect for guitar, bass, keys, vocals, and studio work. It’s not chorus. It’s Double Tracking.
$279 street
ROCK N ROLL RELICS Stinger Overdrive
The Rock N Roll Relics Stinger overdrive has all the mojo of classic, yellow drive pedals, but with tonal refinements to bring it to the modern age. We use NOS construction, as you’ll come to expect with the Stinger Series, which gives it that authentic, ear-pleasing tone we all want.
$289 street
“It’s like walking in to a Walmart to see Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads politely sharing Hendrix riffs”: Underrated guitar hero Danny Gatton to be honored with release of first new album in nearly 20 years
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"Somebody stole it from the hotel. Then Gibson made another one, and somebody stole that as well! I couldn't believe it": Tony Iommi on the time two of his prized early Gibson SGs went missing
EMG Pickups Announces All New E-Series Bass Pickups
EMG Pickups introduces the all-new E-Series lineof active bass pickups. Featuring the commonly used slim soapbar cap design, the E-Series pickups unlock a multitude of bass models for simple, drop-in EMG upgrades.
Unlike any other EMG design, the E-Series pickups feature wide aperture coils withceramic magnets. This potent combination delivers powerful low end while retaining thecutting articulation that the modern bass player requires. Designed with versatility inmind, the E-Series can excel in a wide range of genres and play styles and areavailable in 4, 5, and 6 string sizes. Just like all EMG active pickups, the E-Series arefree from hum and buzz and include solderless wiring kits for DIY installation.
For further tonal shaping, the E-Series pickups are compatible with EMG’s wide rangeof bass EQ’s and accessories, so the possibilities are virtually endless.Unlock the potential of your bass with the EMG E-Series pickups.
Individual E-Series pickups start at $109.00, with sets starting at $209.00.
EMG E4W
https://www.emgpickups.com/bass/e-series/4-string-e-series.html
EMG E5W
https://www.emgpickups.com/bass/e-series/5-string-e-series.html
EMG E6W
https://www.emgpickups.com/bass/e-series/6-string-e-series.html
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