These 5 new winning additions to the tiny Guyatone line were a huge hit with the fickle Geek staff. We had a month or so to test and re-test all of these units and were continually impressed by them whether it was in the studio or on stage. Before we unload all the praise at once, here's some details.

Guyatone's stompers are all housed in a stamped steel chassis. Despite their ultra-tiny size (2.75"W x 3.875"L x 1.5"H) these units are well thought out in terms of quality, design, sound. Easy access to the battery is made possible by unstrapping a fitted rubber seal that connects the upper housing to the unit's bottom metal plate. The rubber seal also doubles as a non slip surface to help keep the pedal steady on those slippery stages. The pedal's knobs are easy to dial in thanks to their slender and tall dimensions. Even the tiny flip switches that appear on a few of the Guyatone lineup are easy to reach. By far the nicest feature on all these Guyatone's is the smooth metal stomp switch. No more nasty pops and clicks with these smart fellows! The throw off the switch simply goes down to activate or deactivate the effect with very little effort or worry. All of the Geek Staff commented on the ease of use and wondered why more manufacturers don't employ this same switch? Anybody hearing this?

Guyatone OD2 Overdrive - The OD2 Overdrive is no-nonsense overdrive that's been highly touted by more than a few publications as a miniature tube screamer. While it's not a dead ringer for the heralded "Green One," it certainly has it's own unmistakable character and tone that won all of us over. It's not anywhere as tight and compressed as the TS9 but finds it's own voice and strength in being being a little more airy and open sounding while adding a bit more lowend punch. Overall, we enjoyed some of the OD2's more gentle drive settings. This lower range seemed to show off the warm amp-like subtleties of the OD2 much better than the harsher settings. The lack off a tone knob didn't bother us a bit at the lower settings but we felt like reaching for one when pushing the drive into the upper 75-100% range. A tiny bit of roll-off here to tame the slightly treble sound would have been nice. Despite this very slight complaint, the OD2 is a wonderfully refreshing pedal! It absolutely nails that barely broken up amp sound of an old Fender Bassman or Twin with no hint of that buzzy transistorized nonsense were are so used to hearing from some of the bigger boy's pedals. Whether or not it's will replace the TubeScreamer as the ultimate overdrive is not really the question, we are just thrilled to have a brand new flavor.

Guyatone ST2 Compressor - Compressor pedals are usually not the most popular effect due to the device's subtle nature. It's most often used to make small tweaks in sculpting a players overall sound and rarely stands out unless pushed into the extreme outer limits of squash. The Geek staff are compressor freaks! Aside from drawing up thousands of tiny pedals a month here at the Geek we love smashing guitar signals! Those clever Guyatone folks got it right on this one! We fell in love with it's tight clear tone and transparent punch right off the bat. In comparing the ST2 with a whole arsenal of compressors (Boss CS2, Boss CS3, Ibanez CP9, and an old Ross Compressor), we found the ST2 left our signal crisper more highly focused than the competition with none of the muddiness that the other pedals displayed at higher settings. One extra bonus is a direct switch that allows you to mix your direct sound with the effected sound in equal parts. This takes some of the edge off the effect by letting some of the original signal through making for a very smooth and natural feel.

Guyatone SV2 Slow Volume - This is Guyatone's take on the old discontinued Boss Slow Gear from the 80s. While I doubt you'll be pulling this out on every song or solo, it's a unique effect that's a ton of fun to play around with . The SV2 is basically a voltage-controlled volume pedal that can create smooth realistic swells, backwards simulation, and choppy rhythmic phrases. It's a pick sensitive effect that basically cuts your loudest signal and the releases the signal as the signal get quieter. This make take little bit of dialing in order for it to match your songs tempo and note selection but once your dialed there is all kinds of room for cool tricks and atmospheric expression. Chords and leads all take on a new dimension as long as you begin to play to the effect. We stacked a few distortion boxes in front of the SV2 and a delay behind it for all kinds of creepy space swells and waves of pulsing distortion. Great fun and well worth the cost even if it's only for a song or two!

Guyatone VT3 Vintage Tremelo - This full bodied tremelo is hands down one of the smoothest pedals we've tried out here at the Guitar Geek. It's a classic Fender tremelo in a box! Beyond that, there isn't much else to say besides It's extra warm, extra rich, and dialed in to that sweet spot you can only find on a vintage amplifier. This thing is absolutely stunning in terms of tone and we can't recommend it enough! Bravo Guyatone!

Guyatone FL3 Flanger - A nice refreshing take on an old classic. Aside from the rate and depth knobs Guyatone offers 3 different resonance sweeps that range from mellow to radical. We really dug the mellower settings. The FL3 creates a very warm and convincing chorus along with some slightly detuned vibrato sounds. The sweeps were gentle and gave our guitar sounds a nice and subtle ambience. The second sweep delved into the standard flanging that had a nice metallic ping to it. With a little tweaking were able to create some very funky filtered notch-like sounds that were almost vowel like. Only when you take the FL3 into the more extreme settings that it becomes very evident that this is no traditional sweep. The sweep is actually slower going up to the peak frequency and faster coming off which gives fairly uneven feel which is a very refreshing and interesting change from the sterility of most flangers. The crazy settings were a fun excursion into the realms of jet plane sounds and death rays sounds but this thing really shines in the more reserved ranges.