Hello everyone and welcome to my little corner of the world! My name is David Lee and my friends call me the Reverend. I earned that title because I have been preaching about “tone” for most of my adult life.

I have been playing the guitar for over 44 years now, and I have been in working bands for the past 35 years. I’d like to think I’ve learned quite alot about tone over the span of those years and it admittedly takes quite an effects pedal to surprise and please me after all this time.

The pedals and other gear that you see reviewed here are the cream of the crop and the ones that I have personally used (or still do) on the road.

There’s so much hype out there about guitar effects that I decided it was time to produce a viable resource for musicians to visit and hear from someone just like them - working it out in local clubs and venues - and making the most of every hard earned dollar to buy only those pedals that truly do live up to their claims.

Pedals that have been thoroughly road tested in real world live performance conditions to prove their road-worthiness - and that have been put through multiple setups of guitar and amplifier combinations and different places in the pedal chain that speak to their versatility and real world applications and expectations.

Tone is not a hobby for me - it is a way of life. A religion so to speak. I have spent hundreds of hours (and dollars) and many years studying the interactions of different effects and their specific personality traits and disorders - where they shine and where they fall short. Only the best of the best - by the very best Master Builders on the planet are reviewed here. Thanks for reading and welcome to my gear resource page - where only the best get in.

Rev

BLUES FOR BOBBIE
Where do I start... this has been a labor of love for over a year now - but some things don't always go as planned and despite a few bumps in the road - I finally found a builder -not just any builder -but Analogman Mike - to finish a concept I had way back when.. the important thing now is that it's finished and it holds a power greater than the sum of it's parts (Thanks Mike!) I also want to give a shout out to Kirk at Pedal Parts Plus for the beautiful paint and screening work on the pedal enclosures - thanks Kirk!

The serial number is the date my Brother Bobbie passed away.. the Chinese symbol is the symbol for HARMONY - to pay tribute to the beautiful harmonies my brother and I shared for over 40 years and (not showing up very well in this photo) is the Sun Lion placed on the top of the pedal by Mike Piera.

Let's get to the detail of what's inside this beautiful tribute effects pedal - from Right to Left:

The Analogman Comprossor (with internal sustain and attack controls) , the Overdrive part of Analogman's King of Tone, and a Clean Boost. Three pedals in one enclosure and the sweetest setup anyone could hope for. You can run each effect independently or all 3 at once or any combination of two effects. It's a Blues Pedal because that's what I wanted - and the lethal combination Mike has come up with here are absolutely perfect - tonewise and in functionality and this has to be heard to be believed. What a fantastic lethal threesome and what a wonderful way to dial in the Blues for Bobbie..

But make no mistake about it -this one can also easily cover a large genre of classic and southern rock voicings without flinching. And it will do the one thing I wanted it to do the most of all -sustain a wailing lead note for days until I lift my finger off the fret... this has brought out a creative wash of emotions and memories and music that I didn't know I could play - it's coming straight from the heart to my Brother Bob - I pray he can hear me up there.. Love to all that helped make a beautiful tribute come true..

Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a much larger photo of this one of a kind tribute pedal.

2006 PEDAL PICKS

Rev's January, February, March 2006 Pedal Picks!

MI Audio
Tube Zone
SubDecay Studios Flying Tomato Fuzz
Red Witch
Fuzz God
Digitech
Expression Factory
Hot Wire Audio
Boss FA-1 Clone
BjF
Baby Blue Overdrive
Frantone
The Sweet
Emma ReezaFRATzitz
Home Brew Electronics Psilocybe Phaser
Demeter Amplification Fuzzulator
Tone Factor Analogue Filter
Foxrox
Hot Silicon Fuzz

April 2006
Pedal Pick
Hot Wired Audio's
Fuzzwork Orange

May 2006
Pedal Pick
Skreddy Screwdriver

June 2006
Pedal Pick
Effectrode Tube Vibe

July 2006
Pedal Pick
Demeter
Double Drive

2005 PEDAL PICKS

January 2005 Pedal Pick
Toadworks John Bull

February 2005 Pedal Pick
Musician's Junkyard Screamer

March 2005 Pedal Pick
Pedalworx (BENT) Tonebender

April 2005 Pedal Pick
SIB EchoDrive

May 2005 Pedal Pick
Toadworks Lil Leo American Overdrive

June 2005 Pedal Pick
Analogmans BiChorus w/Deep Option

NO PEDAL PICK FOR JULY
Out of respect for our fallen Brother & Drummer Bob Stanley 1951-2005 R.I.P.

August 2005 Pedal Pick
Foxrox Electronics Octron

September 2005 Pedal Pick
HBE Big D Distortion

October 2005 Pedal Pick
Barge Concepts BB-1

November 2005 Pedal Pick
Demeter Amplification FOD

December 2005 Pedal Pick
Foxrox Captain Coconut II

2004 PEDAL PICKS

January 2004 Pedal Pick
Hermida Audio's Mosferatu Series

February 2004 Pedal Pick
Robert Keeley's Fuzz Head

March 2004 Pedal Pick
Foxrox ZIM

April 2004 Pedal Pick
RGW Electronics Bad Bob Booster

May 2004 Pedal Pick
Bigtone Music Brewery's Classic OD+

June 2004 Pedal Pick
Red Witch Moon Phaser

July 2004 Pedal Pick(s)
Steve Webster's V-Stack Classic & BHM

August 2004 Pedal Pick
Monster Effects Swamp Thang Tremelo

September 2004 Pedal Pick
Pedalworx Texas Two Step

October 2004 Pedal Pick
Monkey FX Cheeky Monkey

November 2004 Pedal Pick
Fox Rox Paradox TZF Flanger

December 2004 Pedal Pick
Love Pedal's Karl Fuzz

 

2003 PEDAL PICKS

January 2003 Pedal Pick:
Joe Gagan/Nine Volt Nirvana's Dinosaur Fuzz

February 2003 Pedal Pick
Legendary Tones/Keeley
Time Machine Boost

March 2003 Pedal Pick
Mojo Vibe by SweetSound

April 2003 Pedal Pick
Mr. Squishy by Toadworks

May 2003 Pedal Pick
Keeley Java Boost

June 2003 Pedal Pick
Zinky True Grit

July 2003 Pedal Pick
Ibanez Tube King

August 2003 Pedal Pick
Bennett Music Labs Brown Sound

September 2003 Pedal Pick
Fireman FX Baron Boost

October 2003 Pedal Pick
Toadworks Death Rattle

November 2003 Pedal Pick
Geoffrey Teese
Wheels Of Fire Wah

December 2003 Pedal Pick
Love Pedal's Fab 50

2002 PEDAL PICK

December 2002 Pedal Pick:
Robert Keeley's Compressor

2008 PEDAL PICKS

January's Pedal Pick was the Teese RMC2 Custom Blue Edition!

February's Pedal Pick was
Visual Sounds Angry Fuzz!

March's Pedal Pick was Toadworks Texas Flood Overdrive!

April's Pedal Pick was
Fulltone's GT-500!

May's Pedal Pick Ibanez Flying Pan Reissue FP-777

As part of the recent Midwest Music & Gear Slut Event in Kansas City last Thursday & Friday, Robert Keeley & MrBluetone (John Richards) & myself visited the Musician's Friend Clearance Center (and another big store).

We also spent the night at the Quarterage Hotel - excellent security all around us - and saw Dave Weiner (from the Steve Vai band) and Rob Balducci in concert at the Grand Emporium -what a fantastic show - these guys are killer guitar players - I think most of the audience was made up of guitar players!

They treated Robert Keeley like a ROCK STAR and constantly heralded him from the stage. What a NIGHT OF PURE GUITAR!! A memorable night that I'll never ever forget! Thanks John, Charise & Robert - I love you all. Rev

From the Keeley Electronics website posted January 25, 2012:

"Chris Mahoney, head of the Keeley Custom Shop, has finished a dead on copy of the Mosrite FUZZrite! We have sold out of about half of them so contact [email protected] for pictures and more. They are $279.00 each and ship with a free T-shirt and Power Supply(9 VDC supply for use in US only). These have the original transistors, super high capacitors and vintage style carbon comp resistors. There is a Boost Mode that has been added, and was really makes this monster fuzz piece! The only other thing added to the design is an LED, Keeley blue of course! "

This just arrived today and I immediately headed to the studio for a full out let's rip this baby apart session. I used a 89 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar with a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo and gave myself a haircut! Whoa! Working solely from memory - this entry from the Keeley Custom Shop is dead on in the tonal variations I have in my head from having played through the original back in the sixties,

The former Battery ON/OFF switch has been replaced with a Boost switch that basically has the same effect that the Battery ON switch did which gives this recreation a full sweet fuzz wall of tone to die for. As well it seems to be a fuller bodied sounding effect than the original with the Boost ON which is a great improvement to my ears. With the Boost switch in the OFF position - there is no noticeable difference from the original. Raw, edgy, perfect fuzz which can easily re-create the original hits that were recorded with this pedal by so many bands I won't bother to list them all. Excellent dead on perfect re-creation from the Custom Shop!

Pictured below is a photo of the original.

This was a very limited edition that is no longer available which, is a shame because, this is one of the most daunting & delicious Fuzz pedals to ever come down the pike. The appearance alone gives me goosebumps but even more important here - are the emotional strains you can let loose once you engage this bad assed mo fo. This is where the term "tone to the bone" comes from. My rib cage was shaking like the time I was in L.A. and experienced my first earthquake. The difference is that you can turn this one off and on with a push of the footswitch.

This is a pedal you can go to war with and crush everything that gets in your path. That Gate control is there to throw open the gates of hell should you decide to do so. I prefer my gate to be full open. That having been said, every setting throughout the dials are sweet spots - it is impossible to get a bad voice out of the Holy Cross. Humbuckers, single coils, Fenders, Gibsons, and yes - even my D'Angelico EXL-1 sound killer with this tone machine. Perhaps a better name would have been the Unholy Cross :o) I love it I love it I love it. Thank you Robert Keeley & Crew from the House of Satan.. er, I mean the House of Blue Lights even though this particular pedal has a red one. Thanks for reading! Rev