We crawled under the hood, got dirty, and dissected dozens of pieces of gear in 2021. Here are the 10 pieces of kit that resonated with you the most.
10. Epiphone Prophecy SG Review
Dave HunterThe guitars in Epiphone's new Prophecy Collection, which includes the Prophecy SG reviewed here, perform an impressive balancing act. They streamline the classic Gibson four-knob control array, trade PAF-derived pickups for Fishman Fluence units, and style the guitars in a manner that screams "rock" with an exclamation point. But for all the streamlining, these instruments are enormously flexible, and they retain important cosmetic touchstones that emphasize the family connection to parent company Gibson's most iconic designs. Epiphone also maintained balance when it comes to price. The Prophecy SG is a reasonable $899.
9. Dunlop Volume (X)8 Review
Charles SaufleyWhy review something so stupidly simple as a volume pedal, you ask? Well, as a player who has spent many years relying on one—both as creative tool and crutch (a little volume swell always sounds great when you've run out of ideas)—I can attest they are not all created equal. Not all of them can double as an expression pedal like the super-smooth Dunlop (X)8, either.
8. Harmony Comet Review
Charles SaufleyFollowers of current events might be astonished to learn that the internet isn't quite as effective at separating myth from fiction as its early advocates and creators promised. I was reminded of this state of affairs whilst sniffing out sentiments about vintage Harmony guitars and the complex, convoluted world of gold-foil pickups. Needless to say, there are a lot of strong opinions out there—from advocates that defend old Harmonys as underrated, to snobs who still consider them universally substandard, to the growing cult of gold-foil fanatics who sing their praises to the sky without even agreeing about what a gold-foil pickup is.
7. Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Badlander 50 Review
Dave HunterMesa/Boogie is both fond of reinvention and adept at it. Late last year, the Mesa/Boogie folks reimagined the Rectifier series amps, which became near-ubiquitous in metal and grunge circles in the wake of their 1992 release. The beastly Badlander 100 was the first of these new Rectifiers to hit the streets. It's now joined by the more modestly powered Rectifier Badlander 50—which is available as a head (reviewed here), 1x12 combo, or rackmount head—and can be powered by a pair of Brit-flavored EL34s or more-American-voiced 6L6s.
6. PRS Studio Review
Dave HunterEven among a stable of instruments known for their versatility, PRS's Studio model is arguably one of the company's most sonically and stylistically malleable instruments. Reintroduced to the U.S.-made Core lineup for 2021 after first appearing in 2011, this new Studio is hyper-flexible, configured with a distinctive humbucker set and modified switching that takes that versatility up a notch.
5. Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH-ST Review
Charles SaufleyIt's funny to think the Jaguar was once derided by alleged guitar experts and collectors. For all its quirks, a good Jag' is a beautiful playing guitar in just about any incarnation—thanks largely to its short scale and curvaceous shape. In a way, the Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH-ST distills that recipe to its essence.
4. Fender ’68 Custom Pro Reverb Review
Dave HunterFender's '68 Custom series won plenty of fans by resurrecting the stylish silver-panel amps of the late '60s and '70s and making some of those models into more modern gigging machines. One of the newest additions to the lineup is the '68 Custom Pro Reverb—an evolution of an amp that debuted as a black-panel model in 1965.
3. PRS HX 50 Review
Shawn HammondJust as PRS's 2012 HXDA was inspired by firsthand looks at one of slide legend Duane Allman's amps from his seminal AtFillmore East performance, the brand-new HX 50 is the result of Paul Reed Smith and PRS amp guru Doug Sewell getting extensive access to a Marshall head reportedly used by Jimi Hendrix during his iconic performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival.
2. Supro Delta King 8 Review
Nick MillevoiSince its 2014 revival, Supro has given fans of small, low-wattage combos plenty to talk about. This should come as no surprise. Tiny but ferocious amplifiers with the Supro logo have been on the scene since the early days of the electric guitar and landed on some of the most classic guitar records of all time. And the company's recent offerings have captured the sonic essence of those vintage models with a line of well-built, modern amps that look just as cool as they sound.
Reverend Six Gun HPP Review
Dave HunterThe silhouette of the new Six Gun HPP is, at this point, a familiar shape—and arguably a classic. It's the foundation for many different Reverend models and clearly a versatile platform for evolution and experimentation. The updated pickup configuration and other new features of Reverend's offset workhorse make the $1,099 Korea-built Six Gun an impressive performer for the price.
An easy-to-use multi-head octave echo with solid foundational delay tones and weirdness on tap.
Deceptively deep but easy to use. Great for every day delay tones and deep freakouts.
Glitch and warp settings could get same-y over time.
$209
SolidGoldFX EM-III Multi-Head Octave Echo
solidgoldfx.com
The EM-III from SolidGoldFX starts with a foundation of warm, analog-like digital delay and builds a bevy of functionality on top. It's a powerful pedal, and thanks to a simple and well-considered set of controls, it's intuitive and practical too.
The basic delay sound is easily controlled via time, repeat, and level controls, while flutter and color knobs allow users to tweak modulation and tone settings. Switching the center toggle to the left selects up to three delay heads; switching to the right activates the pedal's octave-down setting. With these controls, it's easy to access solid, foundational delay tones or head for totally twisted, but controlled, sonic space.
The self-oscillation and tape-snap sounds should be considered a requirement for any "Maggot Brain" cover you have in the works.
The EM-III's secret personality is unleashed by holding down the bypass and tap switches, which have secondary functionality for glitch and warp respectively. The self-oscillation and tape-snap sounds contained in these switches can be as weird or as subtle as you want, depending on how long you hold them down, and should be considered a requirement for any "Maggot Brain" cover you have in the works. The EM-III is a heavy hitter with a heart of gold, tons of personality, and all the warbly bliss you can imagine.
SolidGoldFX EM-III Multi-Head Octave Echo Demo - First Look
Affordable modulated analog delay in miniature.
An excellent sounding and affordable passport to the universe of modulated analog delay that also respects tradition.
Micro size is a blessing and, for some, perhaps a small curse.
$179
Pigtronix Constellator
pigtronix.com
Despite the spacey name, the Constellator isn't the most out-of-this-world contraption made by Pigtronix. For that prize, I would submit the Mothership 2 Analog Synthesizer, which is raving madness in a box. Madness is relative though, and the Constellator is possessed with a more warm-hearted insanity. And while this analog delay does playfully cross the line into modulation in two ways, it has more of a star- (or maybe shoe-) gazing vibe that's warm and old-school in tone, but looks beyond the orbit of conventional delay.
Little Dreamer
Modulated delay isn't new, of course, but it's harder to find in a stompbox this compact and affordable. The Constellator is tucked into a small, solid metal box that measures 1 1/2" x 1 3/4" x 3 3/4" and offers a maximum delay time of 600 ms. It's got your basic 1/4" in-and-out-mono jack set and requires a 9V DC barrel-type power supply. Needless to say, there is zero space for a battery option. There are four dials atop the Constellator: time, mix, mod, and repeats. The additional control is a push button just below those dials marked "feel"—a subtly vibey little function we'll get to in a bit.
When I investigate a new analog delay, I always pull out one of my favorite dinosaurs for comparison: the Analog Delay MXR made between 1976 and 1984. The MXR's characterful nature is, in part, ascribed to the use of MN3005 bucket brigade delay chips, the same chip at the heart of this Pigtronix stomp. The Constellator's time, mix, and repeat dials correspond with the big green MXR's delay, mix, and regen. And tonally, the little Pigtronix compares extremely well, providing the same warmth and richness as the MXR. With the repeats cranked, the Constellator also produces the familiar oscillating feedback trails that I love and prize for their Forbidden Planet quality.
All Mod, No Cons
Per usual, I plugged guitars with single-coil, humbucking, and gold-foil pickups into the Constellator, and used my Carr Vincent amp with the EQ straight up. I was extremely impressed with this little device's big embrace.
The controls had more range than my beloved MXR and performed flawlessly in traditional applications. The Constellator handles slapback duties like a champ. With more modulation, the repeats took on a sweet vibrating sound— imagine Scotty Moore's Echosonic with a slight hangover, and you'll get the idea. Spacier emissions were equally pleasing, and with time, mix, repeat, and mod controls at 3, 3, noon, and noon respectively, the Pigtronix moved into Magnatone turf and got dizzier as the mod dial went up. But I really enjoyed the more extreme settings, where notes seemed to warp and degrade as they hung and faded in the air. Punching in the feel button made this sound even weirder. The feel function is essentially a chorus, but it really accents the colors and degradation in the repeat trails, sounding, at times, like analog tape that has been stretched. Even so, clarity and definition remain in every picked or echoed note. This truly is a lovely sounding pedal.
There are a few snakes in the garden. The dials are quite tiny, and close enough to each other that I can just slip my thumb between them, which means adjustments on the fly require focus. There are grooves in the sides of each dial to make gripping them easier, but those of us with big paws may still be slightly challenged to make precise adjustments. Also, the feel button is so close to the mod and repeat dials that I accidentally popped it on with my big-ass thumb several times while making adjustments.
The Verdict
The Pigtronix Constellator is a mighty mite of an analog delay, with warm sounds that equal much pricier pedals. And the mod and feel controls take tones into infinity and beyond. But while its small size is an asset for the pedalboard space-challenged, that's also a slight issue for those of us who buy our gloves at Thornton Melon's Tall & Fat Stores. If that issue isn't a problem for you, the Constellator could become a valued tool for drawing your own map of the sonic stars.
The foremost pedal for Nordic metal nastiness returns, more potent than ever.
A clever re-working of a classic metal-toned distortion, with enhanced versatility.
Arguably less versatile than Boss would like us to think.
$179
Boss HM-2W Waza Craft Heavy Metal
boss.info
It's comforting that Boss pedals haven't changed their basic look and format since the late '70s. For all the boutique marvels that have come and gone, opening a Boss box still instills a sense of reliability. Boss pedals aren't just comfortingly familiar and bulletproof, though. Many Boss circuits are groundbreaking, timeless classics that deliver distinctive sonic results. And there's a strong sense of classicism about the HM-2w Waza Craft Heavy Metal pedal, a revamped reissue of the popular distortion originally manufactured from 1983 to 1991.
The original HM-2 accidentally came to define the aggressive chainsaw grind of Swedish death metal. It also offered more traditional cranked-stack-in-a-box tones suitable for mellower metal (yeah, "mellow" is relative) and heavy rock. The new HM-2w Waza Craft excels at both, and is more potent, to boot.
Boss HM-2W Waza Craft Heavy Metal Review by premierguitar
Waza Up
On the HM-2w, the classic Boss recessed control panel is home to four knobs for distortion, a "color mix" EQ section with high and low knobs, and a master output level. Waza Craft updates enter the picture in the form of a small slide switch on the crown that selects between original voicing (S, for standard) and a custom tuning (C) that's tighter and more aggressive. The pedal has a lower noise floor and 3 dB more output than the original, as well as an improved buffer when bypassed. Like the original, it also looks just plain mean.
Pedal to the Metal
The original HM-2 Heavy Metal was among the first pedals to wear the amp-in-a-box mantle. Don't let that loose classification fool you, though. The HM-2w Waza Craft is a full-blooded distortion pedal. You wouldn't exactly call it "tube-y." But scooped sizzle and doomy buzz saw harmonic saturation? It has loads of that on tap. The reduced noise helps explore those textures with a lot more confidence, too.
The "C" mode adds some gain, saturation, and punch, with just a little more push in the mids and some added upper-mid/treble bite.
While Boss claims the HM-2w Waza Craft is capable of lower-gain tones—a little classic rock or vintage metal, perhaps—the pedal's priorities are clearly more metal-aligned. Crank all four knobs and you'll feel your amp blazing and sounding joyously evil in the process. To say the HM-2w pushes a front end is an understatement. Generally, the pedal's voice is predisposed toward a scooped EQ profile, but the color mix knobs, while not super rangy, are effective at dialing in some variations.
The "S" mode does a great job of copping the original tones. The "C" mode, meanwhile, adds gain, saturation, and punch, with just a little more push in the mids and some added upper-mid/treble bite. I'd call it contemporary rather than more aggressive. But it proved to be my favorite mode in a pedal that offers many cool, super-fun paths to metal mayhem.
The Verdict
Built like a Boss and packed with distortion power, the HM-2w Waza Craft does a great job re-creating the original Heavy Metal's chainsaw grind and, somehow, adds muscle and headroom for extended modern metal hijinks. The HM-2w has a strong personality, and some shoppers might want to gauge how retro and transformed they want their amp distortion and associated dynamics to be. But if you're on board, the HM-2w delivers a breed of proto-metal distortion that's in a league of its own.
Pre-digital delay emulations are full of quirky character.
Superb warts-and-all retro delay sounds. Great variation and tweakability within each model. Desktop and mobile apps for editing via USB and Bluetooth.
No real time modulation. Power supply not included.
$399
Universal Audio Starlight Echo Station
uaudio.com
Universal Audio excels at wart-and-all models of vintage audio effects. True to form, their Starlight Echo Station replicates three pre-digital delay effects in all their wonderful wartiness. Its algorithms derive from the tape-based Maestro Echoplex, the bucket-brigade Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, and the Cooper Time Cube, an obscure effect that generates echoes via (no joke!) a length of rubber hose. There's also a modern digital delay.
Delay of the Land
Each algorithm has three variations, selectable via toggle. A color knob adds additional variations, while another knob introduces tape wobble or other modulation effects. Starlight stores one sound in memory, so you can toggle between the current front-panel setting and the saved effect. There's a tap-tempo footswitch. With its dual effect processors, Starlight provides true stereo sound and seamless spillover when switching algorithms.
Tape EP-III
This mode resurrects the Maestro Echoplex tape delay. The brightest, cleanest setting is based on the EP-4, the "studio" Echoplex that added a compressor and bass and treble controls to the signal path. The B and C algorithms derive from better known EP-3, one with a slightly worn tape and motor, and one with even greater wear and tear.
The EP-4 settings are perfect for clear, articulate delays with subtle analog coloration. The B and C settings display the treble loss and playback glitches of a well-loved EP-3. UA didn't just slap on a low-pass filter and a pitch LFO here though. This really sounds like a geriatric machine. The modulation knob adds simulated wow/flutter, while the color knob sets tape input level. In other words, you can overdrive the modeled preamp.
Analog DMM
This effect mimics Electro-Harmonix's Deluxe Memory Man with its bucket-brigade delay chip. Nowadays this technology's limitations are its chief appeal. The wet signal lacks treble, and fidelity decreases with each echo repeat. These soft, lo-fi delays sit discretely behind your dry signal, evaporating before they outstay their welcome.
Starlight nails this quirky color, especially the idiosyncratic distortion. The modulation knob clones the original's chorus and vibrato effects. Again, the color knob drives the input level for additional distortion. It's a stellar simulation, full of warmth and weirdness.
UA didn't just slap on a low-pass filter and a pitch LFO here though—this really sounds like a geriatric machine.
Precision Delay
This straightforward digital delay generates crisp, non-degrading echoes. Here the color knob is a low-pass or high-pass filter that darkens the echoes or rolls off the bottom end. Meanwhile, the modulation control adds chorus or flange, simultaneously controlling mix, depth, rate, and feedback. Slight delay-time tweaks uncover cool new colors.
Cooper Time Cube
This obscure "garden hose delay" has acquired a cult following. The original could only generate 30ms of delay. That's too short for a perceptible echo—it was simply an early doubling effect. UA's emulation adds greater delay times, feedback, and tempo sync. (The original Cube would have required a half-mile of hose to generate Starlight's longest delays.)
The core tone isn't as freaky as you might expect. The wet signal is a smaller, filtered version of the dry signal that rarely overpowers it, especially if you nix some treble. There's no modulation here — instead, you get bass and treble filters. These discrete echo tones suit many musical contexts, however.
The Verdict
The Starlight Echo Station convincingly conjures tape and bucket-brigade delays in all their anarchic glory. I'd consider buying it if it only included the Echoplex or Memory Man simulations. The digital and garden-hose delays are welcome extras. Starlight has a "Goldilocks" interface: lots of tonal options without excessive complexity. It occupies the same price category as fine delays from Strymon, Eventide, and others. But if you cherish the weird, warped aspects of pre-digital delays, Starlight may be your best option.