Video: Andy Martin's "The Five" Boutique Pedal Roundup

What’s better than Reverb's resident effects aficionado Andy Martin demoing a brand-new pedal from a unique, boutique builder? Andy demoing five brand-new pedals from five unique, boutique builders.

First up is the Vixen Germanium Boost by Sitek Guitar Electronics—a catch-all germanium boost, packed with a new-old-stock germanium transistor for those classic treble booster sounds—and the NuVision Tube Preamp by Lightning Boy Audio, which features a pair of NOS Nuvistor vacuum tubes promising to last 100 percent longer than the average 12AX7.

Sitek Vixen Germanium Booster

Lightning Boy Audio NuVision Tube Overdrive Preamp

Next up is the Seraph Chorus by Fromel Electronics—a brand long-known for its DIY amp and pedal mod kits. The Seraph deluxe is a stereo analog dimensional chorus, modeled after the Roland Dimension D. While the original took up two rack spaces, the Seraph gives you the character of the original in a pedalboard-friendly chassis.

Fromel Electronics Seraph Chorus

Gold Dust Pedal Co. Wood Face Fuzz

Lamp Electric MNTP OverFuzz

Rounding out Andy's demo video are the Gold Dust Pedal Co. Wood Face Fuzz and Lamp Electric's MNTP. The first is a silicon-based fuzz that can best be described as a cross between a Big Muff and a Fuzz Face, providing players with huge, defined, and sustained fuzz tones. Lastly, the MNTP by Lamp Electric is a super unique, hand-wired experimental fuzz that includes effects like a middle footswitch for self-oscillation and an arcade kill switch to the right for stuttering your sound like a percussive tremolo or dying amp.

Be sure to check out the full video above, and let us know which pedal was your favorite in the comments below.