Amid the chaos of October’s CMJ Music Marathon in NYC, The Deli magazine and Main Drag Music joined forces to present the Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit, a public event that brought together some of the planet’s finest pedal manufacturers, who showed off their wired wares and new innovations at Main Drag’s lovely Williamsburg showroom.
Afterneath Board
One of several boards featuring multiple builders, this collection brought together some of today’s most exciting spatial effects, topped off by EarthQuaker Devices’ gloriously odd Afterneath.
Analog Man Board
One of the event’s top draws was a seminar by Analog Man honcho “Analog” Mike Piera. The Analog Man board sported the company’s impressive range of vintage-inspired fuzzes and drives, as well as a new, mini-sized Beano Boost for those seeking vintage treble booster tones in a smaller footprint.
Big Ear NYC Board
Big Ear NYC helped represent the local contingent at the Brooklyn Stompbox Expo. Their Chaka Octave Fuzz was a particularly exciting pedal with all of the fun of classic octave fuzzes without pesky bass loss, thanks to the use of LED clipping diodes, which preserve the signal’s low end.
Black Cat Board
Housed in an orange wah enclosure, the Monster K-Fuzz by Black Cat Pedals is the unholy fusion of the company’s K-Fuzz and Mona Wah, and the result is as fun as it is inspiring. Wooly, funky, and orange—what else do you need?
Brian Cook
Russian Circles bassist Brian Cook (formerly of Botch) picked up a small box version of Fuzzrocious Pedals’ Rat King distortion.
Cusack Board
The Cusack Effects board was arguably the most colorful on display at the Brooklyn Stompbox Expo.
DOD Board
DOD showcased a board loaded with rebooted and refreshed versions of the effects that put the company on the map nearly 40 years ago.
Fuzzrocious Zuul
A star of the Fuzzrocious table was the Zuul pedal, etched with the visage of Dr. Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters. The effect is described as an oscillator that mixes a clean and dirty signal for unique drive voicings.
Fuzzrocious Main Board
Joining the outrageous fuzz and dirt generators on the Fuzzrocious board was a bright pink newcomer designed for the band Young Widows. Called the Afterlife, it’s an oscillating reverb with a second output to access a totally wet signal. It also boasts some interesting switching tricks that unite the wet and dry signals.
Greer Board
Nick Greer’s pedals showed up in Brooklyn with fresh graphics to match the sonic potency that has made pedals like the killer Ghetto Stomp OD a sleeper favorite for years.
JMJ Fuzz
The Diabolik fuzz by Malekko Heavy Industries, designed for A-list bass gun Justin Meldal-Johnsen, packs a punch of extremely musical fuzz in a very usable package.
Korg Nuvibe
The Korg Nuvibe flexed its unprecedented control over classic Uni-Vibe sounds, including wave shaping and a footswitch to toggle between chorus and vibrato tones.
Main Ace Board
New Jersey fuzz mongers Main Ace FX had some unique stompboxes on hand. The Eraserhead houses a pair of bespoke, stackable fuzz circuits in single enclosures with ridiculously cool etching.
MC Systems
Australia’s MC Systems showed off a range of effects featuring a proprietary velocity dynamic foot switch (V-Switch) that allows users to access secondary functions depending on how aggressively they stomp the switch.
MC Systems Drive
MC Systems’ Dynamic Drive is a versatile distortion, thanks to its unique switching system.
Mitch Colby
Mitch Colby, the man behind Colby Amps and the recently rebooted classic Park lineup, demoed a fabulous-sounding Park 45.
Outlaw Mini Board
Outlaw Effects had the cutest board of all, though these nano boxes all packed a wallop when it came to tones and functionality.
Randall Board
Randall Amplifiers’ board included the Facepunch boost and the RGOD—a 2-channel, FET-based drive with a full EQ section and gobs of gain.
Schaffer Replica
One of the most talked-about effects was the Schaffer Replica, a sound-shaping unit based on the first wireless system ever made, which was used by some of the biggest names of the ’70s, even in the studio.
Strymon Board
The DSP wizards at Strymon sent the new Deco, a veritable Swiss army knife of mid-century tape delay sounds with onboard saturation and chorusing effects that mimic the most primordial of tape echo units. This box was the talk of the show.
Walrus Audio
Walrus Audio’s lineup of innovative and inspiring tools was a major hit.
Amid the chaos of October’s CMJ Music Marathon in NYC, The Deli magazine and Main Drag Music joined forces to present the Brooklyn Stompbox Expo, a public event that brought together some of the planet’s finest pedal manufacturers, who showed off their wired wares and new innovations at Main Drag’s lovely Williamsburg showroom.
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