5 Best Pedals Of 2017

Happy 2018 everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to look back at the previous year and recognize some of the best things to happen to guitar pedals in 2017. This isn't everything that was great, nor is in any particular order. These are just the five pedal of last year that stand out the most. Starting with:

BOSS RV-500

Boss expanded their line of 500 series effects. In a somewhat predictable manner, Boss added to the well-received DD-500 with an equally impressive Reverb unit. BOSS loyalist have been long-suffering devotees to a brand that took its time to catch up, but many feel like the 500 series is BOSS's answer to Eventide and Strymon. Not only do BOSS fans have an answer to the huge do-everything-delays, but so do those that can't bring themselves to throw down the big bucks. At $350 these delays look like a bargain.

TC ElectronicFlashback II

2017 seemed like the year everyone was stepping up their delay game. TC was no different. Many love the Flashback delay, and for good reason. TC Electronic's Tone Print features are massive. How do you improve upon a pedal that you can update endlessly via a cable plugged into your computer? More functionality. Somehow TC crammed, even more, features into their Flashback II. The Smash feature is, for the most part, unprecedented. Now you can have an expression pedal built into your compact pedal. The Flashback II is a solid win.

Wampler Deluxe Tumnus

Wampler stepped up their game with the Deluxe Tumnus. Despite its recent release, it has taken over pedalboard everywhere. I follow tons of guitarist and guitar pages and it seems like nearly all the boards posted on the internet in the last few months have a Deluxe Tumnus on them. The Klone Wars may be over. Many guitarists want more out of their light overdrives, and the Deluxe Tumnus delivers.

EHX Green Russian OD

For the last few years, EHX has been the go-to place when looking for inexpensive pedals that deliver (especially if those pedals have a striking resemblance to another, rather iconic, pedal). Stopping short of making a re-issue, EHX opted to release a clone of an EHX classic. The Green Russian Big Muff is a copy of the Russian made Big Muff Pi. This isn't an original idea, but it's cool to see EHX reaching back to their roots. It doesn't hurt that it is inexpensive and compact.

MXR Carbin Copy Deluxe

I'll be honest. I've never really seen what was so special about the carbon copy. Analog delays are nice, but I've always like the expanded capabilities of digital delays. Not until I owned a Carbon Copy did I understand that it has a sound all of its own. The worst thing you can say about that pedal is that it is limited. The Carbon Copy does away with that complaint. The Deluxe is an improvement on the original in every way. This is a textbook example of how you update a fantastic original.

Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Flashback 2 Delay And Looper

TC Electronic has been hard at work lately. You'd be hard up to name a pedal producer that has put out more new product than TC Electronic. Just a few months ago, they release a entire line of 'value' pedals. Now, they are issuing an update to the Flashback Delay. The Flashback 2 makes some changes to the acclaimed original. So, whats changed? Lets take a look...

Double Down

If you are familiar with the TC line of effects, then you are probably familiar with their "Tone Print" editor. This allows you to edit functions that may not be available manually. Not only that, but you can save your custom setting on the "Tone Print" setting. The Flashback 2 has taken away some of the settings to make room for two more custom, Tone Print setting on the mode selector switch. What you wont see on the front of the Flashback 2 is LoFi, Ping Pong, and Slapback. These features are probably still available via the Tone Print editor, but not available manually.

Tapping That

I neat feature that in included in the Flashback 2 is the ability to set the tap tempo with your guitar. After triggering the pedal to 'listen' to your guitar, the pedal with sync itself to the rhythm of you right hand. For those that have trouble setting a steady rhythm with your foot, this could be your answer. It also allow for you to set the rhythm on the fly without an addition tap switch pedal, so its a space saver as well. You can use a normal tap tempo pedal, but to do that you need to use one side of the stereo input, so it can only be used in mono. You may ask, "Why not just use to switch on the Flashback to set tap tempo like a regular delay?" Well, the foot switch on this pedal has other things to do...

Smashing

New to the Flashback 2 is the Mash function. This basically turns your foot switch into an expression pedal. Listening to demonstrations of the function, it's clear that the effects you can create with this feature very interesting. Being able to summon self osculation sound in real time while you can continue playing is very impressive considering you can do all this with a single compact pedal. What might be even more interesting is that you can combined the Mash function with the shimmer effect to be the envy of all you shoegazing friends.

Conclusion

This update brings a well loved delay up to date with the addition of shimmer. While the Mash function is innovative, its usability may be limited. BOSS have done similar functions with the Space Echo and Giga-delay, but the option to customize the function of Mash is at least novel. I believe that TC Electronic has done an excellent job at updating one of their best pedals.