Drive effects

This year’s champion dirt-dishers are a complex bunch…

FENDER PUGILIST DISTORTION £87

One of this year’s pleasant surprises was how Fender tore up the rule book on pedal design and built its new series of effects pedals almost from the ground up, adding boutique design touches, such as illuminated dials and a magnetically latched battery door, to very affordable pedals. For us, the Pugilist Distortion was the pick of the litter. There are two girthy drive voices on tap that you can run in series – or blend to taste, with discrete tone and gain controls for each drive stage – plus a bass boost switch that’ll help you fatten up single coils ready for slaughter. www.fender.com

THORPY FX THE DANE £249

There are plenty of dual-drive effects pedals out there, but designer Adrian Thorpe has kept The Dane dynamic and articulate across its full range of gain tones (see p116). You can switch to boost to do your fat cleans or go to the OD for toothy crunch, but, crucially, the pedal doesn’t lose composure when you engage both together. Judge’s commendations are also due to Free The Tone’s stunning Marshall-inspired Fire Mist overdrive, which just edges The Dane for clarity and articulation but comes at quite a cost, as well as LunaStone’s superb Carlton-esque Smooth Drive. www.thorpyfx.com

ORIGIN EFFECTS REVIVAL DRIVE CUSTOM £559

The Revival Drive Custom sets out to emulate every section of an amp’s circuitry, from the preamp and phase inverter to the power stage and rectification: its two ‘channels’ emulate the performance of valve- and silicon-rectified amps respectively, from saggy Tweed cleans to hardcharging Marshall-style leads. It’s surprisingly intuitive in use yet endlessly nuanced tonally, including a really interesting ‘ghost note’ feature, which adds a subtle overtone that’s a little eerie in its ability to evoke well-used vintage amps. www.origineffects.com