OBNE releases Flat Light Textural Flange Shifter

Building effects around a foundation of flanging, the Flat Light is the latest in the Old Blood Noise Endeavors pedal line. From pitch shifting flanger to highly resonant metallic sounds to reverb-like delays and recognizable swooshes, the Flat Light will induce motion to your sound no matter where it sits in your signal path.

The Flat Light features:

Three modes of flanger: Detune (shimmering pitch shift), Resonate (highly resonant multiflange), and Echo (reverb-like delay)
Four controls to shape the sound: Rate to set rate, Depth to set depth, Shift to affect the something extra, and Mix to go from 100% dry to 100% wet
A Tilt footswitch to momentarily maximize Rate or Shift controls
Expression jack for external control of Rate or Shift parameters
Internal trimpot to control output level
Relay bypass switching and standard 9VDC center negative power

The Flat Light is available now at Old Blood Noise Endeavors for $199.

MXR introduces Sugar Drive (it's a klone)

It's a mini-klone. It's $119. It looks really cheesy. Alternatively, it looks kinda cool. For more info, visit MXR.

The MXR Sugar Drive provides a diverse range of clear and transparent overdrive tones, from sauced up boosting to blown-tube distortion. It’s based on a rare overdrive pedal that has acquired a mythical reputation among fanatical tone-seekers thanks to its unique circuit design.

The key elements of that circuit design are the Drive control and something called a charge pump. First, the Drive control on this pedal doesn’t just increase the intensity of the overdrive pedal. It starts with your clean signal and then blends it with the overdrive effect as you turn it up, replicating the smooth transition of an amplifier going from clean to dirty. The charge pump increases overall headroom, which opens everything up nicely.

Of course, we had to put the MXR touch on this circuit. If you’re all about true bypass, then you’re in luck—this pedal uses it by default. The original used buffered bypass, though, and we know there’s a lot of players out there who don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken. They’re in luck, too—just flick the Buffer switch on the side of the pedal to enable buffered bypassing.

With a simple three-knob setup and an MXR mini housing, this is the go-to overdrive to have on your pedalboard. It’s versatile and it saves space, and unlike the original pedals it’s based on, it won’t cost you thousands of dollars.

Fender unveils new pedals at NAMM

These, I believe, are Fender's first pedals since the unexceptional Competition Series pedals and certainly look more inspired than their predecessors.

Pugilist Distortion - MSRP: $99.99
A dual gain-stage distortion with a switch-activated bass boost.

Level Set Buffer - MSRP: $99.99
It's pretty feature-rich for a dedicated buffer pedal, if only because buffer pedals generally don't feature anything other than the buffer. Along with level and hi-frequency filter knobs, the footswitch allows you to mute the signal.

The Bends Compressor - MSRP: $129.99
Maybe it's named after the Radiohead album. Maybe it's named after decompression sickness.

Marine Layer Reverb - MSRP: 149.99
The oddest name from a set of oddly-named pedals. At its price point, it'll have heavy competition with the TC Hall of Fame, DigiTech Polara, BOSS RV6, et al.

Mirror Image Delay - MSRP: $149.99
Like the Marine Layer Reverb, this one will have a lot of competition in the $150 range.

Santa Ana Overdrive - MSRP: $199.99
Some good tone-shaping potential here with two different voices, a 3-band EQ and optional boost.

Alexander unveils Colour Theory Step Sequencer

For more info, visit Alexander.

The Colour Theory. Each step in its sequence is a new pathway to adventure, each new colour is part of a palette of mystery. Every moment brings a new surprise, as the patterns cycle and interact. The Colour Theory combines a versatile eight-step sequencer with a powerful effects processor, creating rhythmic combinations seldom heard outside of a rack of synths. It’s small but mighty, utilizing our Neo Series technology in a completely new way.

ProCo unveils Rat Tail Distortion cable

It's a Rat pedal.. in a cable. Instead of three knobs, users can select from three preset positions. The Rat Tail comes in three different lengths - 10 feet, 18 feet and 25 feet. For more info, visit ProCo.

RAT Tail Distortion cable

Distortion effect circuitry built into the connector
Same clipping Diodes using in Vintage RAT Distortion pedals
2 Ranges of distortion, selectable right on the connector
(Position 1 is True ByPass)