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The best new guitar effects pedals of NAMM 2016

By Michael Astley-Brown, MusicRadar
( Total Guitar, Guitarist )
last updated 3 February 2020

Top stompboxes heading your way this year

Intro
Some of the stunning custom creations on the Z.Vex stand

Intro

While 2016 may not be remembered as the year of guitar effects pedal innovation, it will be heralded as the year of refinement: DigiTech expanded the 2015 best-in-show-winning Trio, Boss brought back a classic and Dunlop shrunk a load more stompers.

We’re seeing more high-end amp manufacturers – including Friedman, Morgan and Supro – wade into the pedal waters, too. Whatever the background, we can’t wait to get our hands on this lot this year…

Page 1 of 53
Page 1 of 53
Amptweaker compact pedals

Amptweaker compact pedals

Amptweaker has a bevy of quality – but bulky – stompboxes in its line, but for 2016, the company has trimmed them down with few sacrifices in functionality. Expect good things from the new Tight Metal, Tight Rock and Tight Drive.

Page 2 of 53
Page 2 of 53
Audio Sprockets ToneDexter

Audio Sprockets ToneDexter


The Kickstarter-funded ToneDexter promises no compromises on acoustic tone: its combined analogue and digital processing analyses the signal coming from acoustic pickups and delivers a realistic mic’d sound – we can’t wait to get our hands on this.

Page 3 of 53
Page 3 of 53
Boss VO-1 Vocoder

Boss VO-1 Vocoder

A combined guitar and vocal pedal, the VO-1 delivers classic vocoder tones, plus talk box and more contemporary sounds – just plug in a mic, a guitar and go.

Page 4 of 53
Page 4 of 53
Boss VB-2W Vibrato

Boss VB-2W Vibrato

Yep, it’s the return of the Graham Coxon-favoured classic, with an added Custom mode, plus expression pedal functionality.

Page 5 of 53
Page 5 of 53
Catalinbread CSIDMAN

Catalinbread CSIDMAN

Designed to induce stuttering and skipping via a digital circuit, the CSIDMAN promises to introduce a random element to your playing. It’s also an anagram of DISCMAN – cool, eh?

Page 6 of 53
Page 6 of 53
Decibel Eleven Time After Time

Decibel Eleven Time After Time

The Time After Time is a proper bucket brigade analogue delay with full digital control – that means 11 memory presets, tap tempo and full MIDI control.

Page 7 of 53
Page 7 of 53
DigiTech Trio+

DigiTech Trio+

DigiTech has listened to its customers and expanded its innovative Trio format, adding a loop function, additional presets with SD card storage, plus additional genres and an option to simplify its basslines.

Page 8 of 53
Page 8 of 53
DOD Looking Glass Overdrive

DOD Looking Glass Overdrive

This stunning-looking pedal is a collaboration with Shoe Pedals, and gives you natural amp-style class A FET drive, while its handy input buffer helps to dial in different guitars and pickups.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ZiCZB3N6c

Page 9 of 53
Page 9 of 53
Dunlop Cry Baby Bass Mini Wah

Dunlop Cry Baby Bass Mini Wah

After the runaway success of its Cry Baby Mini, Dunlop has expanded the format – the bass version offers the same external Q and volume controls and auto-return switching as its big brother, but cuts the size in half.

Page 10 of 53
Page 10 of 53
Dunlop John Petrucci Cry Baby Wah

Dunlop John Petrucci Cry Baby Wah

Based on the Dream Theater man’s rack wah settings, the JP CB features volume and Q knobs, plus a internal 6-band EQ to shape frequencies from 100Hz to 3.2KHz.

Page 11 of 53
Page 11 of 53
Dunlop Volume (X) Mini Pedal

Dunlop Volume (X) Mini Pedal

More shrinkage, this time with the Volume (X) volume and expression pedal – an additional aux output allows you to run a tuner off the (X), too.

Page 12 of 53
Page 12 of 53
Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run

Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run

EQD had a ton of new pedals at NAMM, but among the most intriguing was the Avalanche Run, a stereo digital delay and reverb, with tape delay, cavernous reverb and auto oscillation when you hold the tap footswitch.

Page 13 of 53
Page 13 of 53
Electro-Harmonix Lester-G and Lester-K

Electro-Harmonix Lester-G and Lester-K

This pair of leslie sims had us very impressed when we gave them a listen at the EHX stand – the G features a built-in compressor for guitarists to enhance the rotary effect, while the K is a stripped-down version aimed at keyboard players.

Page 14 of 53
Page 14 of 53
Electro-Harmonix Soul POG

Electro-Harmonix Soul POG

The Soul POG combines two of EHX’s most popular effects: the Soul Food overdrive and Nano POG pitch-shifter – the two can be reordered, while an effects loop allows you to add more pedals to the chain.

Page 15 of 53
Page 15 of 53
Free The Tone Tri Avatar

Free The Tone Tri Avatar

A typically involved creation from the Japanese builder, the Tri Avatar offers four signal paths for three chorus sounds and one dry signal – stereo operation and a combination of analogue and digital processing promise a chorus pedal like no other.

Page 16 of 53
Page 16 of 53
Friedman Amplification pedals

Friedman Amplification pedals

As well as a new signature amp for Mastodon man Bill Kelliher, Friedman was showing off four new pedals: the valve-equipped Me-Drive and Fuzz Fiend, plus the more compact BE-OD and Sir-Compre. These will sound rather wonderful; of that we’re sure…

Page 17 of 53
Page 17 of 53
Henretta Engineering Heisenberg

Henretta Engineering Heisenberg

Milking the Breaking Bad craze for all it’s worth, Henretta’s Heisenberg is an intriguing parallel drive, mixing Mr White’s clean sound with Pinkman’s dirtier boost.

Page 18 of 53
Page 18 of 53
Ibanez Mini pedals

Ibanez Mini pedals

The Tube Screamer Mini was a huge success, and we can’t wait to get our hands on the latest classy-looking trio from the Japanese guitar giant: the classic Analog Delay, Chorus and Super Metal all get the shrinking treatment

Of particular note is the Super Metal’s stacked knobs – now, that’s space efficient.

Page 19 of 53
Page 19 of 53
Keeley Workstations

Keeley Workstations

2016 looks set to be a monster year for Keeley, with four multi-function pedals, which combine existing pedals – first up is the Tone Workstation (Compressor, Red Dirt, 1962 Overdrive, Katana Clean Boost).

Mod Workstation fuses the 1962 Overdrive, Oxblood Overdrive plus eight modulation effects, including chorus, harmonic tremolo, flanger and rotary.

The Super Mod Workstation focuses on modulation exclusively, serving up double tracking, phase, rotary, chorus, reverb, delay, tremolo, auto filter and more.

Finally, the Delay Workstation features two delay and reverb engines, with eight sounds apiece – tap tempo rounds of the feature set.

Page 20 of 53
Page 20 of 53
More Keeley!

More Keeley!

Also on the way is the Compressor Mini, which comes in at a cool $99 and features a blend control and treble boost.

The Gold Star Reverb offers three studio-grade reverbs, which promise Wall of Sound-style effects.

The 30ms V2 updates the 30ms Double Tracker with dual outputs for mixed signal operation.

Finally, the Seafoam Plus provides unmodulated chorus and three modes, each with a dedicated bass mode.

Page 21 of 53
Page 21 of 53
Mooer Mini Wahs/Expressions

Mooer Mini Wahs/Expressions

We can expect three new mini wahs and expression pedals from Mooer this year, each with pull-out feet supports – the Lemwah delivers a smooth, mellow wah tone for funk and blues.

As you might expect, the Leveline gives full control over your volume, with no signal loss.

The oddly named Redkid aims to replicate talking, vocal effects – this will not be your ordinary wah.

Page 22 of 53
Page 22 of 53
Mooer Mooergan

Mooer Mooergan

A strong contender for pedal pun of the show, the Mooergan gives you a choice of three different organ sounds, plus dry, organ and mod controls – could this give EHX’s B9 a run for its money?

Page 23 of 53
Page 23 of 53
Mooer Reverie Reverb

Mooer Reverie Reverb

The second reverb to join Mooer’s double line is the Reverie, with five reverb types and five modulations with which to effect them – this could be rather interesting.

Page 24 of 53
Page 24 of 53
Mooer Eight Hands

Mooer Eight Hands

Chen Lei of Tang Dynasty gets his own signature drive pedal here, which offers plenty of flexibility via boost/modern/vintage buttons.

Page 25 of 53
Page 25 of 53
Mooer Reverie Chorus

Mooer Reverie Chorus

Five chorus effects, 10 effect modes… this is one fully stocked chorus, all right.

Page 26 of 53
Page 26 of 53
Morgan pedals

Morgan pedals

We have very little info on these retro-looking stompers, but we do know that they’re labelled Fuzz, OD MK II and NXT 275 – availability is still up in the air. They’re bound to ooze vintage charm, though.

Page 27 of 53
Page 27 of 53
MXR Reverb

MXR Reverb

Can you believe that this is MXR’s first ever Reverb pedal? The veteran company doesn’t do things by halves, mind, and six reverb types and high-voltage headroom make this a contender to be reckoned with – there’s even an Epic setting.

Page 28 of 53
Page 28 of 53
MXR Studio Compressor

MXR Studio Compressor

The latest in a long line of MXR compressors, the Studio Compressor boasts constant headroom technology for clean performance, as well as a natty gain-reduction status meter for visual feedback.

Page 29 of 53
Page 29 of 53
Neunaber Immerse Reverberator

Neunaber Immerse Reverberator

Could this be the ultimate reverb? Modes include wet, hall, plate and spring reverbs, two shimmers, wet and echo, and wet and detune.

Five controls, a high-quality buffered bypass and analogue dry signal round off the impressive spec.

Page 30 of 53
Page 30 of 53
nuX Octave Loop

nuX Octave Loop

Great idea, this: a looper with built-in -1 octave button to create basslines to play over. There’s also a fade out option.

Page 31 of 53
Page 31 of 53
Orange Amp Detonator

Orange Amp Detonator

The world’s smallest active amp ABY switcher, the Amp Detonator hopes to make running multiple amps easy and quiet – you’d expect nothing less from Orange.

Page 32 of 53
Page 32 of 53
Orange Two Stroke

Orange Two Stroke

A boost with an active dual-parametric EQ and up to 12dB of output , the Two Stroke allows you to reshape the tone of your guitar’s pickups, not to mention your amp.

Page 33 of 53
Page 33 of 53
Rainger FX Freakbass Alpha

Rainger FX Freakbass Alpha

The Freakbass Alpha is a downsized version of Rainger’s Dr Freakenstein Bass. It boasts real-time overtone control via the included Igor pressure-sensitive controller, more low-end, a mix button and an internal passive/active switch.

Page 34 of 53
Page 34 of 53
Rowin mini pedals

Rowin mini pedals

Not much info on these yet, but the Chinese brand looks set to take 2016 by storm with theis good-looking updated range.

Page 35 of 53
Page 35 of 53
Rowin R3 Looper

Rowin R3 Looper

We also liked the look of this looper design, which packs the usual rec/play/overdub/undo functions, as well as a bunch of effects for manipulating your loops.

Page 36 of 53
Page 36 of 53
Rowin Time Maker

Rowin Time Maker

Another good-looking double pedal from the Chinese manufacturer: we’re intrigued to hear how this one sounds.

Page 37 of 53
Page 37 of 53
Seymour Duncan Catalina Chorus

Seymour Duncan Catalina Chorus

SD is touting this as a ‘dynamic chorus’: you can set it up to respond to your picking intensity, so you can just add chorus to decaying chords, or hard stabs. Great idea for anyone who still thinks chorus is exclusive to the 80s.

Page 38 of 53
Page 38 of 53
Seymour Duncan Palladium

Seymour Duncan Palladium

Three gain stages and a fully functioned EQ means SD are dubbing this “the first stompbox that actually captures the feel and responsiveness of a high gain tube amp”.

Page 39 of 53
Page 39 of 53
Stone Deaf Warp Drive & Kilptonite

Stone Deaf Warp Drive & Kilptonite

One of many new Stone Deaf releases, the Warp Drive claims to articulate high gain like a proper high-gain amp, with parametric EQ control over the full frequency range, from 35Hz to 6kHz, plus a built-in noise gate.

The Kliptonite, on the other hand, is a dual fuzz and overdrive pedal with Mirror Mix control that adjusts the mix of the two sounds from 50/50, 75/25 or 25/75, and can be flipped over using the footswitch.

Page 40 of 53
Page 40 of 53
Stone Deaf PDF-1

Stone Deaf PDF-1

The successor to Stone Deaf's flagship PDF-1 parametric equalizer, the PDF-2 lowers the noise floor and adds an adjustable gain knob and dual footswitch for clean and dirty channels, plus expression input controls.

Page 41 of 53
Page 41 of 53
Stone Deaf Syncopy & Tremotron

Stone Deaf Syncopy & Tremotron

An analogue delay and tremolo with digital control, both pedals offer four presets, plus expression and MIDI options.

Page 42 of 53
Page 42 of 53
Strymon Zuma and Ojai

Strymon Zuma and Ojai

This year, Strymon brought a pair of good-looking power supplies, which provide optically isolated feedback and advanced multi-stage filtering – these should be very quiet, indeed.

Page 43 of 53
Page 43 of 53
Supro pedals

Supro pedals

Fuzz, Drive and Boost from the revived US amp brand – no info yet, but these are bound to be ace.

Page 44 of 53
Page 44 of 53
T-Rex Replicator

T-Rex Replicator

Now properly available, the Replicator makes usable, easy-to-maintain and great-sounding tape delay a reality, thanks to T-Rex’s new proprietary tape format. Plus, it looks cool as anything.

Page 45 of 53
Page 45 of 53
TC Electronic SpectraComp

TC Electronic SpectraComp

Multiband bass compression from a tiny pedal? TC will deliver it this year.

Page 46 of 53
Page 46 of 53
Way Huge Green Rhino Overdrive MKIV

Way Huge Green Rhino Overdrive MKIV

Shrinking the Green Rhino to a smaller size, the MKIV still packs a classic switch to nail the original’s tones, plus 100Hz and 500Hz controls for shaping mids and lows.

Page 47 of 53
Page 47 of 53
Way Huge Overrated Special

Way Huge Overrated Special

With a name and font that offers a wink and a nod to a certain mythical amp, the Overrated Special was designed for Joe Bonamassa, offered a pronounced midrange and 500Hz control for cutting or boosting low-end.

Page 48 of 53
Page 48 of 53
Way Huge Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz MKIIS

Way Huge Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz MKIIS

The same jumbo fuzz tones from a smaller enclosure, the latest Swollen Pickle goes from crunch to high gain, with scoop, crunch, voice and clip controls.

Page 49 of 53
Page 49 of 53
Xvive Dynarock

Xvive Dynarock

Another Thomas Blug-designed distortion pedal designed to mimic real amps – this high-gainer should be good.

Page 50 of 53
Page 50 of 53
Xvive Sweet Leo

Xvive Sweet Leo

As well as possessing one of our favourite pedal enclosures of the show, the Sweet Leo has a class A-style high-end for shimmering drive.

Page 51 of 53
Page 51 of 53
Zoom G5n

Zoom G5n

This looks like Zoom’s answer to Line 6’s Helix, with 68 newly assembled DSP effects, plus “10 of the most faithful and realistic amp/cabinet emulators [Zoom] have ever created”. We have high hopes for this one…

Page 52 of 53
Page 52 of 53
Z.Vex Candela Vibrophase

Z.Vex Candela Vibrophase

The talk of the show was Z.Vex’s bonkers Candela Vibrophase, the world’s first candle-powered guitar effects pedal. Zachary Vex explains the device’s workings in the video below.

Page 53 of 53
Page 53 of 53
Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

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