Iconic British string manufacturer Rotosound is proud to reveal a fresh redesign of its electric andacoustic guitar string packaging. The new look delivers a clean, modern feel while paying tribute tothe brand’s rich legacy of serving music’s rebels, rule-breakers, and pioneers. Rolling out thismonth with the Rotos product line, the updated packaging will appear across other lines in thecoming months.
At the heart of the redesign is a celebration of Rotosound’s storied heritage. Created in-houseusing the company’s own archives of catalogues, advertisements, and vintage string packs, the artwork draws directly from designs dating back to the 1960s. For example, the Jumbo King, TruBronze, and Super Bronze sets repurpose graphics directly from one of the company’s earliest string packs. The aesthetic also draws inspiration from the visual language of early British rock and punk — including album art from Decca Records and the use of bold typography — connecting the new look to a lineage that includes The Who, Pink Floyd, The Clash, and The Damned.
Function Meets Familiarity with a Splash of Color
One of the key goals behind the packaging refresh was to improve product differentiation.Previously, many Rotosound string sets shared a similar visual identity, making it hard to distinguish between different lines — for instance, a regular gauge nickel set like Roto Yellows and an acoustic Tru Bronze set. The new designs give each line a unique visual identity, making it easy for players to find exactly what they need at a glance.Despite the fresh appearance, brand familiarity has been carefully preserved. Longtime Rotosound users will recognize the brand logo, gauge information, and key descriptors in their familiar positions. The British flag still adorns each pack — now in a clearer, refined form —representing the company’s proud tradition of UK manufacturing since 1958. Still using airtight foil pouches — containing the strings, a silica gel sachet, and nothing else — Rotosound’s packaging remains one of the industry’s most eco-friendly, with 90% less packaging material than other packing methods.To further streamline the experience, gauge-specific colour coding now links sets across different lines. For example, all 10–46 gauge sets, regardless of series, share a yellow theme;9–42 sets are pink.
Notably, packaging for the acoustic sets now match the colour of the string material itself, allowing players to connect what's on the outside with what they’ll find inside.
Designed with Players in Mind
Rotosound consulted players and retailers to better understand what information was most valuable on the shelf. The result is a dedicated product information box, placed uniformly across the new packs, which makes it easier to compare materials, instruments, and tonal profiles.Short, descriptive summaries have been added to help players understand each line’s sonic characteristics, whether they’re chasing warmth, brightness, or vintage feel.
New endorsees have also been added to Rotosound’s impressive artist roster of legendary and contemporary acts — from Jimi Hendrix to Blur, AC/DC to Idles. Last but not least, a QR code on the back of each pack links to extended product details, recycling advice, and GPSR compliance information, giving players more insight — and more options — than ever before.
Rolling Out from the Factory to the World
The new packaging is shipping now, beginning with the Rotos line. Other sets — including BritishSteels, Jumbo King, Tru Bronze, and more — will update gradually as retailers replenish their stock. Players around the globe can expect to see both old and new designs side-by-side on the shelves of Rotosound’s dealers across the world during this transition period.
Our columnist Barry O’Neal of XAct Tone Solutions revisits compression. Now that you know what those knobs and switches do, it’s time to add some seasoning.
In my last column, we talked about compressor basics, so now you’re totally comfortable with all the compressor controls. You’ve cracked the code on what all those little knobs and switches do and now comes the real fun: figuring out how to actually use the thing.
Maybe more than any other effect, compression is a type of seasoning, and like salt, the line between tastefully enhanced and completely ruined can be a thin one.
Clean Tone Glue If you play clean, or even edge-of-breakup, compression might be the secret sauce you didn’t know you were missing. A compressor in front of your amp smooths out dynamics, helping every note ring with equal authority—great for funk rhythms, arpeggiated picking, and those bell-like Strat runs that just need a little more shimmer and staying power. Compression reins in dynamics, unifying your sound and gluing it together.
Country players have stuck with compression for decades. And not just any compression—often high ratios and fast attacks with liberal makeup gain to keep those percussive chicken-pickin’ runs present without being overwhelming.
Tightening Dirty Tones You might think compressors are only for clean tones, but they can actually bring order to the chaos of an overdriven rig. Place a compressor before a dirt pedal or amp and it can tame uneven pick attack, keeping the signal more consistent. While compression can help make up for a slightly undisciplined right hand, don’t stop those picking exercises cold turkey. Too much compression into distortion can flatten your dynamics.
Some players also run compressors after overdrive. It can be a more surgical application, less about sustain and more about volume consistency. Think like a mastering engineer, and subtly control the chirps and squawks that fast, articulate playing sometimes produces.
Sustained Leads Without SaturationWant sustain for days without drowning in distortion? Try compression. By squashing the initial transient and boosting the tail of the note, a compressor can keep a solo singing even at lower gain settings. Add in some delay and reverb and you’ve just entered the realm of David Gilmour. Origin Effects’ SlideRIG stacks two compressors in series to add obscene amounts of sustain without getting into Soldano levels of distortion.
“One of the keys to understanding compression is experimentation.”
Want a cheat code for expressive lead playing? Try a lower ratio with a low threshold and longer attack. The lower threshold will mask the compression effect. You’ll retain articulation while getting more sustain than your amp can usually muster on its own.
Rhythm Precision In the world of rhythm guitar, especially in funk, pop, or modern gospel, compression is your timing assistant. It helps keep chord stabs consistent in volume, enhancing the sense of groove. Fast attack and release times tighten up the transients, making you sound more locked-in. Don’t dismiss this use as a crutch for the weak. Instead, think of it as a finesse tool that allows the player to further clarify what good technique has created.
One of the keys to understanding compression is experimentation. Don’t be afraid to twist knobs. In fact, get used to over-twisting knobs, turning them past the useful setting and to the extremes where the effect is overdone and beyond good taste. Note the timbre changes at that extreme setting, lock into them, and try to stay locked in as you roll the control down to a more reasonable level. This type of ear training can help you identify what the compressor can do for you and how each knob can be manipulated to arrive at subtle squish while avoiding the super squashed.
Compression is one of those effects that, when dialed in just right, makes everything feel easier at your fingertips and more polished in your ear. The trick is knowing what you want before you start turning knobs. A compressor affords you so much control, it’s easy to get in the weeds if you rush headlong into adjustments.
Need more sustain? Tame a spiky tone? Control volume swings? Add some glue? A compressor can do all that and more, but only if you take a moment to move from seeing it as a mystery box and start using it like the tool it is. Get comfortable experimenting, and remember: If you’re not sure it’s on, but everything just sounds better, it’s probably working.
Supercool Pedals has unveiled the tenth pedal in their lineup: the Triniphase – a bold, all-analog phase shifter inspired by the technical legacy and cassette-futurism aesthetic of a golden TV age.
The Triniphase is a thoughtful and calculated approach to a classic and revered modulation effect, offering complex and organic analog phase modulation with a unique and intuitive control scheme.
The Triniphase offers expertly crafted replications of some of the most sought after vintage and modern sweeping phase effects, but what sets the Triniphase apart from its peers are the tactile controls of the RGB buttons that invite users to mix colors and sounds to spawn new and complex pitch and phase modulation adventures.
The Triniphase highlights include:
Unique sounds including classic phase sweeps, rotary-style univibe oscillation, formant-like voice effects, manic vibratos, and more
4-stage and 8-stage phase effects (via RED/DEPTH switch)
RESO knob for aggressive or subtle feedback control of phasing effect
RATE knob for a wide control of phasing effects from subtle sweeps to near self-oscillation
All-analog signal path and control
Eye-catching nostalgic design inspired by the legacy of the Sony Trinitron
True Bypass switching with standard 9v center negative power supply
Designed and assembled in Canada
The Triniphase is the 10th installment in the Supercool pedals lineup with a street price of $219 USD, and is available for purchase with worldwide shipping through www.SupercoolPedals.com as well as in select independent retailers.
Fat envelope and wah sounds are made even wilder with the help of an expansive octave effect that can be used in tandem or independently from the filter.
For those that haven’t delved too deeply into the subject or the sounds, envelope filters can seem a little loaded, stylistically speaking. Used well, they add bounce, joy, or even menace to a guitar or bass. Used wrong, they sound horribly corny. Used unconventionally, though, they can radically reshape guitar tones in surprising ways. Leveraging how they reshape tone with picking dynamics, for instance, is a great way to bust out of a box. They also pair well with distortion, fuzz, delays, modulation, and more (though if you aren’t willing to dig for gold in these combinations the results can confound at first).
Tsakalis Phonkify X FINAL VIDEO
The Tsakalis Phonkify X, an evolution of the original Tsakalis Phonkify, is, in part, a great envelope filter for the way it smooths the path to the outer edges of the effect’s potential. It’s got great range, which is enhanced by effective mix, gain, frequency, and Q controls. Using those controls together in the right combinations also makes the Phonkify X sound fat where other envelope filters can sound narrow, thin, and not terribly nuanced. (An internal voltage doubler that increases headroom is another contributing factor.) And with an octave section that can span corpulent and piercing regions of the sound spectrum—and be used independently or with the filter—the Phonkify X is a trove of powerful, odd, and uncommon guitar sounds, and a true provocateur for those in a rut.
Clarity, Body, and Brawn
One of the Phonkify X’s great strengths is the extra mass and air in its range and how easy it is to find it. As far as envelope filters—which can be counterintuitive to many players the first time out—go, the Phonkify X is very forgiving and responsive. The same qualities make it a great pair for radical or merely fattened fuzz and drive tones. Sixties-type germanium fuzzes coax fiery Hendrix- and Ron Ashton-isms that you can also utilize in traditional sweeping wah fashion if you add an expression pedal to the mix. It also sounds amazing upstream from a dark smoky overdrive that can blunt the sharpest filter edges while adding ballast and attitude.The octave effect is great on its own, too, not least because you move between deep octave-down settings and reedy high tones.
The Verdict
The latter can be a bit cloying and full of digital artifacts in some applications, but when the low octave content is used to temper that tendency, or dial it out entirely, you can summon very organic, complex, and rich tones that can be made rumbling and earth shaking with distortion or drive, or reshape the pedal’s filtered tones if you add it back in the mix. (An additional switch also enables you to situate the octave before or after the filter.). Together, these two effects that blend so seamlessly are a formidable combo.
PG contributor Tom Butwin features the all-new Hotone Verbera. The dual-engine reverb pedal blends IR realism with algorithmic creativity and adds the ability to clone your favorite reverb effects.
Ever imagined your sound echoing through a sold-out stadium? Or reverberating off the metallic walls of a NASA spacecraft hangar? What if your guitar fell into a cosmic white hole… or drifted through the vaulted ceilings of a centuries-old cathedral?
Welcome to Verbera — where imagination meets reality. This is not your typical software convolution plugin. Verbera is a standalone, hardware-based convolution reverb pedal — with Instant IR loading, stunning tweakability, and boundless sonic range. Whether you’re recreating iconic spaces, vintage hardware, or crafting otherworldly reverbs never heard before, Verbera gives musicians and engineers a powerful new tool for both live and studio setups.
