Back in 2019 I became aware of the NuX brand of pedals. Maybe it was actually the end of 2018. It was whenever they announced that they were making a Klone. At that time, I was on a kick to try just about every pedal of that variety that I could find, especially the cheap ones. I already had several, and had my favorites (which are still my favorites today), but NuX announced their Horseman. It caught my interest because, knowing there were two types of Klons (the gold and silver), but not really knowing what the difference in them was, NuX was apparently making a klone that could be changed from one type to the other just by holding the switch down long.

So, shortly after it was announced, I placed my order for it. It was supposed to ship in like 2 months. After nearly 3, I got a notice that shipping had been delayed, but it was still coming. After waiting a total of about 4 months, I finally got it in hand. I excitedly pulled it out and put it in my chain to test out.

I was underwhelmed on all counts.

Granted, I'm not a huge Klon fan, I think in the right places, it is a standout pedal. Yes, I am one of those folks that Josh Scott hates because I like it at the front of all my drives on an amp that is just beginning to get some hair. Set the volume to push the amp and the drive at about 9 o'clock, and I think, on the right amp, that is one of those guitar tones that people chase. Sorry, not sorry, Mr JHS.

The NuX Horseman just didn't do much for me. It quickly got put in the closet and forgotten. A few months later, I pulled it out and tested it against some of the klones I had at the time. It didn't do very well. In fact, it went back in the closet, and was one of the first pedals I grabbed in the great gear purge of 2020.

On a sort of related note, in that same gear purge, I got rid of a Vertex Steel String Clean Drive. I had never really bonded with it, so it got sold. I'll come back to this in a sec.

So, earlier this year, I kept getting those targeted adds for the NuX Ace of Tone. I was completely unfamiliar with it. Turns out it is a double pedal with their Morning Star on one side and their Tubeman on the other. Two things caught my eye about it. First, it has a switch so that you can change the signal so it routes to the side that you want it to hit first. So it can go left to right or right to left. Second, the MS side is supposed to be their Blues Breaker circuit, and the TM side is a TS-type circuit. A good TS of some sort has been on my board since I first started buying pedals. The first OD pedal I bought was a TS-copy, but I didn't know it at the time. 

Neeways, it was the BB side that I really wanted to try. I had heard a couple of guys talking about those along with the legendary King of Tone just before I started seeing the ads. I had never tried a BB-type that I knew of, and only knew that the KoT was talked about in the same hushed tones as the original Klons. Since, this had the circuit that I wanted to try as well as the circuit I always used and I could route it through either side first, I figured the worst that could happen would be for me to buy it, and then flip it because it sucked.

I had some Amazon gift credit, so I grabbed it there on the cheap. Got it the next day, plugged it in, and it has held a spot on my Affordaboard since. I prefer it routed right to left (BB -> TS). Honestly, I'm not super impressed with the TS side. It's just missing something that every other TS-type I've got (and kept) has. But I forgive that because the BB side sounds really good to me. It has a little thing on it called Shine-mode that pushes the treble, and, with that on, the pedal just sounds super good to me.

Then, back during the fall, I was talking to someone about trying to get that Robben Ford sound, and they told me that a lot of it was because he was using a Dumble amp. I don't ever see me getting a Dumble. Even if I am ever in a position to afford one, I don't think I could rationalize it. So I decided to try a D-type pedal. When I googled those, I saw the NuX Steel Singer. Since I had been liking the Ace of Tone so much, I decided to check them out. I found one on Reverb for $25 that looked in good shape, so I got it.

When it came in, I thought it looked an awful lot like that Vertex I had never liked. So, I immediately discounted it because I never really liked the Vertex. Although, in retrospect, I may not've given it a fair shake. I plugged the pedal in and started playing around with it. I immediately dug it! Kind of like this klones I have always had at the front of my ODs, I leave the gain really low and was using it to just push the amp. I like it better than any of my sub-$100 klones enough that it ended up taking that space on my Affordaboard.

Then, last week, I was thinking I wanted to try a cheap Marshall in a box. Saw one of the NuX Plexi Crunch pedals on Reverb for $20 and grabbed it. I don't have a Marshall to judge it against, but it sounds about like I expected it to sound. It'll probably get traded off at some point, but I'll hang on to it for a while.

Now they're advertising that Queen of Tone. It's a BB-circuit and their klone. Granted, I didn't like their stand-alone klone, I may give the dual pedal a shot. Just because. I haven't decided though. I got the Ace of Tone brand new for $110, but they're asking $200 for the Queen of Tone. I could get the two individual pedals for $120, so why would I want to spend an extra $80 just for them to be in the same box. If they drop the price to the price of the Ace of Tone, I may grab one.

That's been my NuX journey since I first heard about them. Some of their stuff has been extremely average, and some of their stuff I have really liked. You'll see the Steel Singer and Ace of Tone both on my Affordaboard below.

What budget-minded pedals have you tried that surprised you? Was it a good surprise or a bad one? Did any of them stay on your board? Let me know in the comments.

I've been buying pedals lately. Not that I need another pedal of any variety. It's just fun. Truth is, I'm about at that point that I need to put some up for sale or go trade them in or something because I'm running out of space. But maybe I'll sell some later. First I need to rant about a couple of things.

First. Reverb sellers I'm looking at you. If you're firm in your price, then say that in the listing, and turn the Make an Offer button off. I try not to lowball anyone. It irritates me when folks do that to me, and, if I wish folks wouldn't do it to me, then I shouldn't do it to them. It's the whole "do unto others" thing. If the Make an Offer button is there, I will typically click it and offer anywhere from 5% to 15% less than they're asking. Or, if they're charging shipping, I might go as high as offering  whatever the price is minus the shipping. And most folks are cool. They may not be interested in taking my offer, but they'll counter and throw me a bone, and give me a few bucks off. In my mind, that's how the game is played.

Lately, however, I've had several items that I've been interested in. The Make an Offer button is there and available, so I'll do my usual offering a little less. If you make an offer, Reverb gives 24 hours for you to reply before it expires.

Quick note: when I make an offer, I always make sure to check the box that, if they'll accept my offer, I'll buy the item.

So, back to the 24 hour expiration time frame. My experience has been that most folks that I've bought from have responded within just a few minutes. In each of the instances recently, the quickest response was one from last night that took 13 hours for me to get a response. And when I get the responses lately, it has been something along the lines of "my price is fair and firm. The price is $XX." 

Fair enough. You're not interested in dealing. I've sold stuff like that, but, when I did, I turned off the dang Offer button. And, in each of the instances recently, it took long enough for the seller to respond that I found what I think was a better deal. So, as soon as I got the Declined notice, I pulled the trigger on the other. Also, had the seller countered and just given me a few bucks off, I would've bought it from them despite finding the better deal. Also, also, it's been kind of vindicating to watching these recent items that I made the offers to the "fair and firm" sellers and got shot down. Every one of them is still for sale on Reverb. If they'd been cool and knocked even a couple bucks off the price and they would've sold their item. Instead, they're still waiting to sell them. Some of these could've sold last night and some could've sold a couple of months ago. And that's their prerogative. So if they're happy about it, then so am I.

Second thing is this. At least make an attempt to be objectively honest about the condition of what you're selling. I know that you think what you're selling is A+ condition and should command top dollar, but that may not actually be the case.

For instance, there is a pedal that I was looking at recently that said it was in Very Good condition. According to Reverb's grading verbiage says "Very Good items may show a few slight marks or scratches but are fully functional and in overall great shape." For your frame of reference, this pedal was a Boss pedal. You know what a Boss pedal looks like. Now here is my realistic description of this "very good" pedal.

The bottom of this pedal was missing the sticker. That's ok, but, in it's place was all this sticky looking white residue that looked like somebody had put duct tape on the bottom, let it sit for a year or two, and then pulled it off. The top of the pedal wasn't much better. The face plate was scratched in several places, and it had been stomped enough that you could mostly make out the Boss logo on the pedal. Then there were the sides. Oh the sides. Somebody had decided to write on the pedal. By scratching into the paint. So the pedal had their credo down the side of it in such a way that the only way to repair it would be to sandblast the case and repaint it. And they were calling this thing in Very Good condition.

I'm sure the pedal worked fine. Truth is, one of the reasons I saw it was because it was from a store that I have bought from in the past. Did I mention that it wasn't an individual selling this pedal? It was a flippin' store! That's one reason I don't buy used from GC online. My experience has been that you can buy something online from them that is listed as Excellent condition, and it is anything but excellent. Reverb is turning into the same kind of free for all it seems. The difference in Reverb and GC is that Reverb will generally have multiple pics that you can look at and judge a more accurate condition of it. GC you're lucky to get one out of focus pic where you're left to the mercies and judgement of whatever disinterested employee posted the listing. 

So to recap, if you sell used gear, here are two thing that will make you more successful in life. If you're not interested in entertaining offers, turn that button off. If you don't, don't be so condescending when you let someone know that you think your gear is worth what you're asking. Truth is, it probably is, but that means there are almost always better deals out there. Second, at least make an attempt at being objective about your gear. I know you've used it and think it should really be prices like an original Klon, but it's still used gear. If it's beat to heck, it's not in mint condition.

That is all. Go forth and buy some gear.

Put together a small board this evening.  5 pedals that I'm already thinking I'm going to swap at least a couple of them out tomorrow.   If for no other reason, I wanted to use my Lovepedal Kalamazoo sorta-copy (my Tone City Durple), but it's got a side mounted power port, and I'm having trouble getting it plugged in.  So I'm probably going to stick a Rat copy on it.  Which isn't even close to the same pedal.  But the power jack is on the top and the input/output jacks are on the side where they should be.

That got me to thinking.  So here are some musings on pedals.  And boards.

• I tend to overthink putting a board together.  It all looks good tonight, but the next morning I know there will be at least one or two that get swapped out.
• I am beginning to hate, loathe, and utterly despise those pedals that have the power plug on the side.
  • Not to pick on them because some of them sound great, but my experience seems to be that it's the more budget friendly pedals that use the side power thing.  There are exceptions to this (looking at you Lovepedal).
• I'm, also, beginning to dislike pedals with their input and output jacks on the top where the power should plug in.  Pedal makers, please quit using top mounted jacks.  If you don't have the right cable, you can't plug the power in.
• Since I saw one for the first time like 5 years ago, I have been working to only use non-velcro attachments to the pedal board whenever possible.  Zip ties generally work, but can fit awkwardly sometimes.  I really like those rail boards, but I can't put anything that doesn't have a square side on them.  I may be about to come full circle and go back to using velcro again.
• I'm always excited to get a new board to try out until I try it out.  That's when I see that the board that was such a good idea has a feature or two that the manufacturer either didn't consider or over which they just threw up their hands, said "screw it," and sold it anyways.
  • The board I got tonight does this.  It came with handles that you can attach if you want, but, if you do, you effectively cannot put anything within a few inches of the left side (or you can't plug your guitar in) or the the right side (or you can't plug anything in to go to your amp).  So I guess I won't be using the handles on it.  Or I have to find first and last pedals on the board that have top mounted jacks.  See my previous comment about top mounted jacks. 
• I still want to try one of those boards (or make one) where the input and output for the board plug into the side of the board and not a pedal.  That strikes me as a good idea.  That way, if you wanted, you could put the first pedal in your chain in the middle.  Or where ever you want because it doesn't have to go on an end somewhere.
• The verdict is still out on manufacturers that no longer have battery compartments.  I totally get it for mini-pedals.  There's no room for  a battery in those.  But I'm still of the mind that a full size pedal should have that option...even if I'm not using it.
• I love my OneSpot.  I've actually got a couple of them.  I just wish I knew what to do with all that extra wire when I'm only powering like 3 pedals with it.

My pedal board.  Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I said earlier today to some online friends that I prefer to go straight to the amp.  I do.  Sort of.  I usually play at the casa, and to get that nice driven amp sound, I've got to make the neighbors mad.  Or use an OD pedal of some sort.  I, also, really like the sound of a univibe.  I've leaned towards that sound ever since I figured out what it was.  So, at the casa where I usually play, I guess I actually like a couple of pedals in front of the amp.

But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy picking up pedals and playing with them.  It does mean, however, that I have a whole lot of pedals in the closet that I played with a couple of days and then toss them on the shelf knowing that they're there if I ever decide to use them.

Anyways, I had put a a real board together a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday was looking down at it yesterday and realized that, I have a heck of a lot of pedals in the closet that I either never got dialed in real well or that I found a single sound that I liked and never played with beyond that.  So I decided to do something.  I pulled that board apart, put all those same ol' same ol' pedals back in the closet, and pull out some of the ones that I hardly use and see if I could come to like them better.  So here's the chain in order.  We'll see how long it stays out like this.

Boss Tuner:  It's the tuner I always use, and I only have 1 tuner, so it's on whatever board I'm using.

Fulltone Dejavibe:  Did I mention that I like univibes?  I bought this one back in the spring, and it has been out ever since.  It may've been the only pedal on the the floor, but I haven't put it up since I bought it.  At the moment, it's my favorite univibe.

Amazon Basics Compressor:  Bought this one a year ago.  Used it for a few minutes and put it in the closet.  I've never been a huge compression user, but have figured out that there seem to be 2 types of compressors.  I'm not sure how to describe either sound, but I know them when I hear them.  One I really like.  One I really don't.  This is the second type.  I pulled it out just to try to see if I could find a sound I like in it.  If I can't, it's probably going to go to my Reverb shop.

Boss Blues Driver:  Not really going to say anything about this pedal.  I know I like it.  It's got some great sounds in it.  I just don't use it that often because I have other OD pedals that I like better.  I put this one on mostly because I hardly use it.  But I know it's got some nice tones in it, so at least I'll have a pedal on the board that I know I like if I get frustrated with the others.

Boss DynaDrive:  I bought this one a good while back because it seemed to be the pedal du jour for the youtube channels and everyone was talking about how good it was.  So I was curious enough to pick one up.  I was very underwhelmed!  To my ear, it was just kind of an average OD.  Nothing stood out about it.  By my own admission, I really didn't give this one a fair shake.  I only played around with it for maybe an afternoon; it was that underwhelming.  When I did my big gear purge last fall, I'm not really sure why I kept it, but I did.  It's just sat in the closet since then.  If I can't find some nice tones in it this time around, it's another that will probably end up on my Reverb.

EHX Hot Wax.  This one I liked when I got it.  After I got it a few months ago, I dialed in a sound that I liked on both sides, but tossed it into the closet after about a week.  Wasn't because it was a bad pedal.  It was more just because it wasn't one of my usual pedals.  It has some nice sounds in it, just not the ones I would typically use.

EHX B9 Organ:  This is another one that I know I like.  I just don't pull it out often because it is a very niche pedal.  I think it's a LOT of fun though.

Boss Tremolo:  I picked this one up a week ago.  This one is out, not because I never use it, but more because I want to get it dialed in.  Behind a univibe sound, a tremolo is probably my fave no OD pedal.  If my amp had a tremolo, I'd probably have it on all the time.

Danelectro reverb:  I bought this one several years ago.  It has an actual spring in it (that's why it's so big).  It's a one trick pony, spring reverb.  It's fun to play around with, but not a reverb I would really use on the regular or if I was playing out.  It even has that kick pad on it so you can kick it and make the internal spring rattle.  This one does ok, but it's another that I don't think I ever really got dialed in, and, because it only has one sound in it, I've never really looked at it as a really useful pedal.  Seriously, one sound.  You know how even an OD pedal has different levels of gain that make it sound different depending on how it's set?  This one is the exact same sound just in varying volume levels.

Boss looper:  This one is always on the floor too.  I don't count it because all it does is repeat what I put into it.  It doesn't really change the tone at all.  It's a great practice tool as well as one that that's just a lot of fun to riff into and then play over.

I'm guessing this iteration doesn't last more than a couple of weeks.  If for no other reason, I've been on a Rat kick lately, and been buying those type pedals when I see them for a good price.  I didn't put one on this board because I know I like that sound, I just need to dial those pedals in.  

...for several months now.

​Here's something I posted on my favorite guitar forum back in January.  Realized I had never posted it here, so figured I'd do that today, along with some of my updated thoughts on it.
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Used the last of my Reverb credit over the holidays, and ordered a pedal I had been eyeing since the summer...the Danelectro The Breakdown. It's supposed to be their take on the Univox UD50 only without the treadle part of the pedal. I've had it since the weekend and been playing around with it. Here're my initial thoughts on it.

I really like the 2-knob simplicity of it. Volume and Break-up. Volume is just that, volume. The Break-up is the gain knob except that, rather than being a rheostat kind of knob that smoothly transitions around the dial, it has 6 clickable spots. The first one doesn't do a whole lot to my ear. Settings 2 and 3 I've read would work as the always-on settings. Settings 4-6 can get pretty gnarly.

Jumping back to the Volume knob real quick, one of the things that I like about it is that it doesn't seem to have much affect on the gain. On some pedals I've used, if you want to retain the drive/fuzz when you turn the volume down, you have to turn the gain up. On this pedal, volume is just volume. It doesn't seem to do anything to the gain. So, if you have the right amount of fuzz clicked in at 3 and then turn the pedal down, the volume will drop accordingly, but the gain doesn't change; the fuzz remains.

I really like the 3 and 6 settings. I don't ever see this as being an always-on pedal even on the lower settings. Maybe I would if I was big into garage rock, but it doesn't really fit that bill for blues. I like 3 because it gives that loose, starting to fuzz sound on the low end, but doesn't really do a whole lot on the higher strings. 3 is almost perfect if you're wanting to play some fuzzy power chords. Starts getting pretty fuzzy on the low end, but the highs only get a little crackle. At 5, and especially 6, it gets that full on Hendrix Purple Haze fuzz.

They've been advertising this as an overdrive pedal (they released a fuzz pedal in conjunction with it called the Eisenhower), but to my ear it's more of a fuzz pedal without the octave. I make the distinction because, to my ear, OD is usually pretty tight, and fuzz can get kind of loose and floppy. This one leans much more to the floppy side.

Overall impression so far: I like the simplicity of it. I like that the volume doesn't seem to affect the gain at all; it just makes it louder or quieter. I like that the gain settings are clickable. For instance, I know I like the 3 setting. If the pedal gets changed, I don't have to try to find that perfect spot on the dial anymore. I just click back to 3 and voila. Easy peasy lemon lawn chairs.

Definitely not going to be a pedal for everybody I don't think. I ordered it thinking it would be another OD pedal (since that's how it was advertised), and was pleasantly surprised when I started playing it and thought it sounded more like a fuzz since I've recently been looking to buy another fuzz pedal. To my ear, it can do the Hendrix thing pretty well on 5 and 6. On the higher settings, I could also hear it being used for that garage rock, Detroit Cobras, Black Keys kind of thing.

As always, my ears aren't yours so you may hear something completely different than I do with this pedal. YMM-definitely-V.
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After having had it and using it for the last few months, here are my more recent thoughts on it.  

I'm still convinced it's closer to a fuzz sound than an overdrive.  The lower settings (1-3) are a bit OD-ish, but the higher settings (4-6) get really fuzzy. 

I still, very much, like the fact that the volume will affect the volume and not the level of fuzz.  I'm not sure that I've got another pedal that does this quite as noticeably.  You get the amount of drive/fuzz that you want, and you just tweak the volume button to turn it up or down.  No need to adjust the volume knob and then find that perfect level on the gain side again.  It's also a very responsive pedal.  You dig in, and it digs in.  You lay back a bit, and it lays back with you.

I still like the 6-click knob.  You can't get anything between the clicks if you want it, but the simplicity of finding the the right amount of fuzziness really appeals to me.  There's no wide range from which to choose.  6 options.  You either find one that you want or you don't.  And you you do so quickly.

Since I'm mostly a bedroom player, I generally run a couple of ODs on my board.  I keep a klone of some sort on it as a clean boost kind of pedal that's almost always on, and then a TS of some sort for that extra push to make it stand out during a solo.  I had initially envisioned this Danelectro pedal as one that would be a different type of boost pedal to run as an always on kind of thing.  The more I play it, this is not that pedal.  This is a pedal that has a great sound and would work as a good boost or drive, but isn't one that I'm going to leave on all the time. 

As much as I like a couple of the settings on it, it's not a pedal that is going to be on my board and stay there all the time.  It definitely has it's place, and is one that, honestly, is still giving me some inspiration and being used regularly, but it's also one that I pull out for a week or so to get a particular fuzziness to my tone, but then goes back on the shelf for a week or two.  I think, when I've used it, it's almost exclusively been on either click 3 or click 6.

All in all, I think it's a great pedal.  I've enjoyed playing with it enough that I really want to try out Danelectro's new 3699 Fuzz.  If that one's as good as The Breakdown, it'll be a great pedal for the cash.

So the other day I decided to pull out my Klon-type pedals, do some side by side comparisons, and see if my thoughts on them had changed at all.  I figured this would be a good time to do this because I just got the NuX Horseman that I had ordered back in April, and was playing with it to see how I liked it.  So, here they are in my order of preference.

Before I go into the pedals, I should also mention that I always use the Klones in the same way.  With the amp just at the edge of breaking up, I'll have the gain on the pedal set minimally, the treble set in the middle, and the volume set a couple of clicks above unity so that it's pushing the amp a bit.  So it's more like a clean boost I guess.  This is where I believe these pedals really shine.

1. Klon KTR - I paid $300 for it new back in like 2015.  It's the botttom left, red pedal.  I was actually surprised that this one made the #1 spot.  In the past, I always said that it wasn't as good as the some of the copies.  According to Bill Finnegan, this one is supposed to sound just like the Centaurs.  I've never had a Centaur to demo, but when I pulled this one out of the closet the other day, it sounded good.  Really good.  Good enough, in fact, that I think I finally understand the mythos surrounding the original Klons and why so many have sought to create Klones.  I, also, think this may've been the first time I've played the pedal that I didn't go into it with some sort of preconceived bias against it since it's the one that "set the standard" and I could add up the cost of the 4 lesser priced Klones I have and still not have cover the cost of this one. 
   This is a very smooth sounding OD.  It retains the warmth of the amp without really coloring the tone.  This really is what the Klones should aspire to be.
2. Tone Bakery Creme Brulee - I paid $100 for this one a year or so ago.  It's the pale, not really white or yellow pedal in the bottom right.  As far as copies go, this one pretty much nailed it.  It became my go-to klone as soon as I bought it back in 2018.  One of a very small handful of pedals that I've bought, plugged in at the house, and was pretty much taken back by the tones I immediately heard in it.  To my ear, this one will come closer to the KTR sound than any of the others.
3. EHX Soul Food - I paid $60 for this one the day that I saw they were available.  It's the top left pedal that's kind of pale yellow inside the silver pedal-case border.  I had heard rumor maybe 6 years ago that EHX was going to start making a klone and selling it for less than $100.  I didn't pre-order this pedal, but I did order it the day that I looked at the Sweetwater website and saw that it said In Stock.  Until I got the Creme Brulee, it was my go-to klone.  It sounds really good.  I'm not sure that I can put my finger on what the Tone Bakery and Klon pedals have that the EHX is missing, but, played back to back, it's like it has the sound without the sparkle or something.  Still a great sounding pedal, and, if I played out a bunch, this might be the one I used just because you can get it cheaply at any Guitar Center in the country.  The KTR and Creme Brulee aren't as easy to come by.
4. Wampler Tumnus - I pre-ordered this one direct from Wampler for $220 I think.  It's the gold color mini-pedal in the middle on the bottom.  This one hurts me to be listed at the #4 spot for a couple of reasons.  First, I'm a HUGE Narnia fan, so the fact that it's called the Tumnus makes me want to default it to the #1 spot.  Second, I've had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Brian about some things on like 4 different occasions (not trying to name drop here - by my own admission, I don't know the guy and he'd be like "snarf who?" if you mentioned my name to him), and he seems like a stand-up, genuinely nice guy.  I like a LOT of what he does within the pedal community, and am a big fan of him, his company, and the pedals that he makes.  I think his take on the Klon is very similar to the Soul Food.  Only with a touch less sparkle.  Maybe I just got a Monday morning  example of the Tumnus and all the others are outstanding, I don't know.   I really want this one to be so much better than it is.
   I feel like I should quantify the sparkle comment I've made real quick since I've now used it about 2 of the 4 pedals.  Several years ago I would eat at Popeye's fried chicken place up the street from my office about once a week.  I like their spicy chicken strips.  One day I got back to the office, and noticed they had dropped a little packet of something simply called "Sparkle" into my bag.  being curious, I opened it up, saw that it was spices of some sort, and sprinkled it on my chicken.  It was A.Ma.Zing.  I still have no idea what was in that packet, but every time I went through that drive thru from then on, I made sure to request a packet of Sparkle.  All the way up until the day that the lady apologized and told me they no longer carried it.  I still don't know what it was (and changed jobs so haven't been back to Popeyes in years), I just know that it made a pretty good fast food meal transform into something that made me want to lick the inside of the box good.
5. NuX Horseman - I pre-ordered this one and paid $65 for it.  It's the gold colored mini-pedal in the middle on the top.  It's ok.  Notice I didn't say it was good.  I heard about this back the first of this year, and it caught my eye that it has the 2 different Klone-modes to it...gold and silver versions.  So I had to get one and try it out.  Next to the other pedals, it pales pretty quickly.  It's not super smooth, but it's also not really harsh.  At least the gold-mode isn't really harsh.  To my ear, the silver-mode starts to get into that territory.  I don't know that I'll ever use it in silver-mode because of that.  I also got this one because I had been seeing a LOT of NuX stuff on the market lately, and I was really curious about it.  I figured that, since this would be a pedal I'd be interested in, I'd grab it, and use it kind of as my gauge for the rest of the brand.  If this one is any indication, I won't be getting much from them.  It's an overdrive.  In a crowded room where half the folks are drunk and the other half wish they were, it probably sounds as good as the others.  In an environment where you can use a bit of a discerning ear, it's an extremely average pedal.
6. Caline Pegasus - I paid $30 for this one about 6 months ago.  Top right pedal that's brown.  I will occasionally buy the cheap, Chinese pedal copies because sometimes they will surprise you and be a really good sounding pedal.  Sometimes.  This was not one of those times.  To my ear, this one is just a harsh sounding overdrive.  It's a klone that doesn't do the klone thing particularly well.  Truth is, it's harsh enough that, when compared to any of the top 3 pedals in this list, I'm not sure how they manage to call it a klone.  I haven't been able to find those smooth, sweet, transparent tones in it.  Can't say a lot good about the sound of this pedal, but the graphic on the front of a winged centaur (not a pegasus as named, but rather half-centaur, half-pegasus...a pegataur or centasus maybe?) was worth the price of admission.

What are your thoughts?  Tried any good Klon-type pedals that just really stood out to you?  I've heard really good things about the J Rockett Archer, but haven't gotten my hands on one of those yet.  I've also heard there are some really good ones from back before the recent onslaught...the Aluminum Falcon, the JHS copy that they no longer make, the MXR Sugar Drive (although I think this one may be one of the recent ones), and others.  Some day I'll have to make it a point to pick some of these up and give them a shot as well.

I don't use my pedal board as often as I could these days.  Truth is that I often find myself just running straight into the amp I'm using.  That means that sometimes I get a pretty clean tone, especially at the house, because you can't really turn up loud enough to get good overdrive on some amps.  However, I do use it occasionally.  Used it last weekend in fact.  Ran my guitar through the board and then straight to my mixer to do some recording.

Now the board itself is pretty small.  I saw some of those ads for the Holeyboards that Chemistry Design Werks makes, and really liked them.  So, being the cheap dude that I can be sometimes, I headed down to the local Home Depot and picked up a couple of 2'x4'x3/4" boards.  The first board I made was about 18"x36".  Painted it surf green, and then loaded it down with pedals.  That one lasted until the first time I moved it.  That's when I realized that it was just too big and unwieldy.  That's when I made the next one.  Didn't paint it or anything, it's just a piece of raw wood.  This second one is about 10"x15" and seems to be about the perfect size for what I need.  Like the Holeyboards, I've got it drilled up so that the pedals attach with zip ties.  Unlike the Holeyboards, I don't have room for a power supply on it so I use a TrueTone One Spot with it.

I actually had disassembled it for about 6 months, but recently put a board back together for what I wanted.  Here's the path.  Guitar > TU2 tuner > Wampler Tumnus > TS9 TubeScreamer > GarageTone Axle Grease Delay > Danelectro Big Spender Spinning Speaker > Mooer Acoustikar > whatever amp I happen to be using.  Now here's why.

I've got the TU2 tuner for a couple of reasons.  First, everyone seems to be using a Snark or some other clip on tuner.  I do too.  But, when you're playing out, sometimes the clip-on is a bit awkward, and, the tuner, when turned on, will immediately silence the guitar.  Who hasn't been in a situation when you wanted to be able to do that for some reason.  In my head, between the guitar volume and the pedal, that solves that problem.  Plus, it tunes accurately and is bright enough that you can see it in most cases.

From there, signal goes to the the Tumnus.  It's pretty much an always-on pedal.  I use it as that magical boost.  In my head, it just makes whatever amp I'm using sound a bit better as it hits it a little harder and adds a bit of sparkle (how's that for a one of those meaningless guitar player adjectives).  Like I said, it's almost always on.  At the moment, it's the Tumnus because I'm a huge Chronicles of Narnia fan, but it just as often is my Soul Food.  To my ear, using them as just a boost, they do about the same thing.

From there, it's into the Tube Screamer.  I use a TS9 just because it was the least expensive Tube Screamer that the store had when I bought.  I kind of like the Tube Screamer sound...mid boost and all.  I use it to get a little overdrive when I'm not quite getting as much as I want.  It doesn't really add a lot of drive.  It mostly just pushes the amp a bit more.

From that, it goes to the Axle Grease delay.  These were made by Virtual Sound (now Truetone) several years ago.  The GarageTone pedals were budget-priced and great pedals for the money.  For a simple delay (I have it set for just a touch of slapback), this pedal is the best bang for the buck (imho).  I wish they hadn't discontinued this line.

Then to the Danelectro Spinning Speaker.  It's supposed to do the Leslie thing.  Mrs Snarf got it for me for Christmas, and it's been a ton of fun.  It replaced the tremolo pedal I had been using.  This is another one of those pedals that, bang for the buck, you just have to try.  It's a great little pedal.

From there, to the Mooer Acoustikar.  This pedal does a good job of simulating an acoustic.  I've got it set on the piezo setting rather than the unplugged acoustic sound just because, in a worship setting especially, you're always plugged in using the piezo.  Got this one used off of Reverb, and, for what I paid, it does the job well.

Now there are a whole bunch of other pedals in the closet, but these are the ones that currently make me happy.  The others will eventually get rotated out I'm sure.  Just not at the moment.  Maybe I'll do a more thorough review of the pedals later.

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