One of the most informative YouTube channels I’ve found recently is the ProGuitarShop.com channel. As you can see from the photo left and in more detail here, ProGuitarShop.com have created a studio setup for a consistent video and audio recording environment in order give an accurate representation of the products that they review. They have already uploaded 236 reviews and counting, so far focussing on effects pedals but there are going to be Amp and Guitar reviews down the line too. It is quite amazing just how many similar products are on the market so ProGuitarShop.com have set up a few reviews where they compare similar stomp boxes to help you decide which is the one for you.

There is a reason for them investing so much time in recording their reviews, editing them and uploading to a YouTube channel, they sell these products on their website ProGuitarShop.com and they have a huge range probably the biggest I’ve seen on the web. So why not head over and check out their range, careful though you know you can always use a new stomp box!!

ProGuitarShop.com on YouTube.

Back in December the Snarling Dogs Spinslide featured on Guitar Noize, an innovative approach to solving a problem many people have with slides, what to do with it when you aren’t using it! Anyway if you didn’t see that post check it out here. I thought it was time to revisit Snarling Dogs’ website to check for any new products and was reminded of something I have been meaning to mention for a while. You can already see from the photo what I’m talking about, it is (and this is the full title) ‘The Super Bawl Whine-O-Wah “addicted to wah”’ Wah Wah! Now the most obvious thing that caught my attention was the fantastic design, whoever thought to make the pedal foot shaped was a comedy genius but this pedal is no joke, far from it. This particular model gives you a choice of 12 different wahs! I’ll hand over to Snarling Dogs for the exact description:

”Take your pick of our three basic wah sounds, WHITE ROOM (thick and Creamy), VOODOO (Midrange growl) or SHAFT (sharp and funky). Add our TWINDUCTOR BEEF BOOST to shift the frequency ranges on those three sounds to give you three entirely different wahs. Next use our HORMONE CONTROL to play the six sounds in the TESTOSTERONE (hi power) or ESTROGEN (low power) modes. That’s six sounds in each mode giving you a total of 12 different wah sounds in one wah pedal. Adjust the volume of the wah with the pre-amp volume control or even add a bit of overdrive.”

Now how many pedals do you see with a “Hormone Control”?! The Wah also has a true mechanical hard bypass switch to make sure that your signal remains untouched when you don’t need the Wah. I’m actually thinking about getting a new Wah Wah at the moment seeing as the only Wah I’ve ever owned was given to me 20 years ago and has a bit of a feedback problem so this might be just the ticket!

The Super Bawl Wine-O-Wah is available for $119 on the major US shops.

Boss recently announced their new SL-20 Slicer pedal at the 2008 Frankfurt music show, Musikmesse so I thought I would check out the demo videos. First of all the heading on the pedal homepage is “Instant Audio Adrenaline” and I can’t help but wonder if it is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Roger Linn’s Adrenalinn? Now what this pedal does is only a small fraction of what the ArenaLinn III does but I thought the arpeggiated sequences seemed very reminiscent. The SL-20 has fifty rhythmic patterns are onboard, with adjustable note attack and duration, plus harmonic slice effects, play the sliced sounds in realtime while capturing them with Loop Record.

”An internal tap-tempo feature is included, as well as the ability to sync to external MIDI clock. Sound characteristics of the SL-20 such as attack, duration, effect level, and direct level can be controlled by the onboard knobs or from an external Expression pedal.”

To really understand what this pedal is about check out the Demos page and watch a few of the quicktime videos, it will make a lot more sense once you see it being used.

Sticking with the military theme from yesterday I thought it would be a good time to feature the HomeBrew Electronics FMJ. HomeBrew Electronics are a boutique effects and valve amp producer which means each pedal is hand crafted using quality components. Each pedal has true bypass switching, durable powder coat finishes in die-cast metal enclosures. These pedals are built to last. The pedals are seperated into 3 categories, Overdrive/Distortion, Preamps/Boosters and Real time effects. The FMJ is a high gain Distortion unit with attitude, just check out the audio example. The FMJ creates a tube style overdrive and aside from the Gain, Output and Tone controls there is also a Boost switch to increase the amount of distortion.

The price of this stomp box is $199, and while you are checking that out make sure you check out the Preamp/Boosters too, these are some great sounding units!

Despite the questionable theme of these pedals (might be an issue for a touring band trying to get through customs!) Landmine Pedal Co’s pedals have a couple of great sounding products. Pictured left is the LD-1 distortion there are few audio demos available here and a video demo here on YouTube.

The LD-1 costs $139 and is completely Analogue. Eric Kirkland from Guitar World had this to say: ”...the distinct and offsetting textures of tubelike distortion and chainsaw fuzz really tweaked my ear.”

I love the fact that the only description for the controls on this effects pedal are Good vs Evil, it is actually a distortion pedal if you hadn’t already guessed by Alpha Omega Vintage Guitar Effects. The actual description is as follows:

“very saturated distortion pedal based on the 1978 ProCo Rat circuit. The circuit has been modified with an added overdrive selection that will please any tube screamer lover. We even give you a Big Boost selection for added volume as a clean or slightly overdriven boost pedal. This pedal is hand built and hand finished. It features True Bypass switching, an internal 9v power supply and an external 9v input, Super bright red on/off Led, only top shelf components and awesome tone.”

The pedals have a very cool retro look and there is a little flash player on the right hand side of their blog where you can preview the Big Delta vintage fuzz, it sounds pretty cool.