NuX Amp Academy Stomp – The Sleeper Hit of 2026?

Every now and then, something lands on the desk that doesn’t just feel like another incremental update—it feels like a bit of a statement. The Amp Academy Stomp might just be one of those.

On the surface, it looks like another compact amp modeller. Dig a little deeper though, and you realise there’s a lot going on here. So much so, in fact, that editing it on the unit itself almost feels like doing things the hard way—just use the app, trust me.

Power Amp Section – The Secret Sauce

Let’s start with what might be the most interesting feature: the power amp section.

This lets you mix and match different power amp types with different preamps—even combinations that don’t exist in the real world. Want a Fender-style preamp running into something a bit more British on the power side? Go for it.

Now, the differences aren’t night and day, but they’re just enough to matter. It adds another layer of tweakability that you don’t often see in units at this level.

Old School Inputs, New School Flexibility

One of the really nice touches carried over from previous NuX units is the amp input modelling.

High/low inputs on vintage Fender-style amps

Four-input Plexi setups with jumper options

It’s the kind of detail that doesn’t scream for attention, but once you start using it, you realise how much it adds to shaping your base tone.

Cab Sims – Where Things Get Seriously Impressive

The cab section is where this thing really starts flexing.

• You’re getting:
• Stereo cab sims as standard
• Independent level control per cab
• High and low cuts
• Panning for wide stereo spreads or tight blends
• Multiple mic options with 20 positions per cab

It’s properly in-depth without feeling overwhelming. You can go from subtle studio-style blending to massive, wide stereo tones without breaking a sweat.

And if that’s not enough? You’ve got a bunch of IR slots ready to load in your own favourites.

Noise Gates, Drives & The Essentials

When you start pushing gain, things can get messy—but NuX have thought about that too.

You’ve got two flavours of noise gate:

• A more traditional ISP-style gate
• A frequency-targeting option, similar to an EHX Hum Debugger approach

That second option is particularly handy for surgical clean-up without killing your tone.

On top of that, there’s a solid selection of drive pedals built in to push your amp tones further. Nothing too wild, but more than enough to cover your bases.

Reverbs & FX Loop – Keeping It Practical

Reverb-wise, it’s a nice, sensible selection including Spring, Plate,  Room,  and a surprisingly usable shimmer. They haven’t gone overboard here, which is what this unit is about. Amp sims at the core, everything else surrounding it to support that main feature. 

If you want more? That’s where the FX loop comes in—and crucially, you can move it around in the signal chain. Perfect if you want to drop in something like a TC Electronic Plethora X1, X3 or X5 for modulation duties and build out a full rig around the unit.

NAM Compatibility – And Yes, It Does the Thing

Now, here’s the bit people have been waiting for.

The Amp Academy Stomp supports NAM (Neural Amp Modelling)… and it lets you run those profiles alongside the stereo cab section.

It is impressive.

A lot of units at this level force you to choose between NAM and cab sims. Not here. You get both. It’s very much the next step on from what we saw with units like the Tiny Stomp—but pushed further into proper gig-ready territory.

Built for the Stage

Speaking of gigging, this isn’t just a studio toy.

The footswitching options really hammer that home:

• Assignable switches for effects
• Scene-based setups (verse, chorus, lead, etc.)
• Flexible control over your entire signal chain

It’s designed to be used live, not just tweaked at home.

A Bit of a Sleeping Giant?

The NuX Amp Academy Stomp feels like one of those releases that’s quietly slipped under the radar… for now.

It’s got:

• Deep amp and cab control
• Proper stereo flexibility
• NAM compatibility done right
• Genuine gigging potential

If something like the Tiny Stomp feels like the perfect home or studio companion, this is the next step up—a fully-fledged, gig-ready rig in a compact box.

NuX have been oddly quiet about just how capable this thing is. But give it time… once people catch on, this could very easily be one of the standout units of 2026.

Deep Dive with the Soran Tiny Stomp – More Than Just a Budget Modeller

After dropping the initial video on the Tiny Stomp, it felt only right to spend a bit more time with it. Not just a quick demo, but a proper sit-down, poke-around, “what actually is this thing capable of?” kind of session. 

Safe to say… there’s a lot going on under the hood.

First Impressions – it is more than just a nam player than can do cab sims at the same time.

The beauty of something like the Tiny Stomp is that it invites you to just explore. You can find yourself dialling in tones you wouldn't usually lean towards because that effect is there. One thing that was asked about time and time again in the comments was the looper. On the recent live stream, I had the tiny stomp on the floor and could activate the looper with my foot. For those wondering if the buttons are substantial enough, I did a few loops on the live stream and it worked perfectly well. I probably wouldn't trust it putting full weight on it, but whilst sitting down then you certainly can. We added some of the built in drums into the mix too and, surprisingly, they stood up really well. Not studio quality, by any stretch, but not soulless 90s midi drums either. It is definitely a win for me. 

Delay Section – Simple, But Covers Ground

Working through the delay options, you’ve got your usual suspects:

Digital (bright and cutting)

Modulated (a bit of that MXR Carbon Copy-style movement)

Tape (warmer, softer repeats)

Reverse (because chaos is sometimes necessary)

None of them are reinventing the wheel, but they all do a decent job. The modulated and tape delays in particular add a bit of character, especially when you start stacking them with gain.

Amp & Cab Pairing – Where It Gets Interesting

Switching over to a JCM800-style model, paired with a V30-loaded 4x12 cab, things start to feel very familiar—in a good way.

Where this unit actually punches above its weight is in the cab and mic options. You’re not just stuck with a static cab sound; you can tweak mic types and placement:

MD421 for a balanced punch

E906 for that upper mid bite

SM57 (because of course… it’s the benchmark)

It’s these little touches that make it feel less like a toy and more like a genuinely usable bit of kit.

Modulation – A Pleasant Surprise

Cheaper multi-FX units can be a bit hit-or-miss when it comes to modulation—but the Tiny Stomp actually holds its own. There’s a particular vibe-style effect in there that nails that slightly uneven, lopsided wobble you’d expect from vintage units.

It doesn’t feel overly clinical or perfectly symmetrical—it’s got a bit of character to it, which is exactly what you want.

The Weird Stuff – Hit and Miss (As Expected)

The pitch shifter, for example, is… fine for single notes. Start throwing chords at it and it begins to struggle a bit. That’s not exactly a shock at this price point. Remember, this thing comes in at less money than a stand alone pitch shifter tends to cost, it is all relative.

On the flip side, the fuzz models are actually better than expected. A lot of budget units tend to not really get the character of fuzz, with it being more of a bass-heavy distortion more than anything. Now, I'm not saying this is a perfect recreation of a vintage Fuzz Face, but absolutely usable in a pinch.

 Why This Thing Is So Fun

The Soran Tiny Stomp isn’t about perfection—it’s about possibility. It’s a compact, affordable unit that lets you:

Experiment with different amp and cab combinations

Explore effects without needing a full pedalboard

Get genuinely usable tones with minimal fuss

More importantly, it makes you want to play. You start off testing features and end up just jamming—which is always a good sign.

It might not replace your full rig, but as a grab-and-go creative tool, home practice and demo recording just stepped up the game. 

Revisiting the Boss OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion – Underrated or Underwhelming?

Today we’re giving the old OS-2 another crack at the whip. It’s long been labelled the runt of the Boss drive litter—but is that actually fair? Or has it just been misunderstood all these years?

On paper, this thing should be a bit of a winner. You’ve got two circuits in one box: an overdrive and a distortion, with the ability to blend between the two using the Colour control. That’s a pretty forward-thinking idea, especially considering when this pedal first dropped.

 The Overdrive Side – Perfectly Fine… Just Not Special

Let’s start with the overdrive side. If you’re familiar with classics like the Boss OD-3 OverDrive, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver or even the humble Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive, you’ll know Boss can absolutely nail this kind of circuit.

The OS-2… doesn’t quite reach those heights.

It’s not bad by any stretch. You can get some nice **low-gain grit and boost-style tones**, especially with the gain kept in check. In fact, it behaves best in that lower-to-mid gain range. Push it too far though, and things start to feel a bit noisy and a touch unrefined—particularly by modern standards.

There’s also that classic older Boss quirk: **the tone control sweet spot**. Sit in the wrong part of the sweep and things can get a bit fizzy or a bit dull. Find the middle ground, though, and it behaves itself nicely enough.

The USP – Blending OD and Distortion

Now, this is where things get interesting.

The OS-2 isn’t really about the individual circuits—it’s about how they interact. Boss clearly had a vision here, and you can see that Boss clearly saw potential in this idea with later pedals like the Boss JB-2 Angry Driver.

Set the Colour control right in the middle, and something quite cool happens. You get this tight, crunchy definition from the overdrive side, with a softer, mushier distortion layered underneath. It’s arguably the best sound in the pedal—the actual sweet spot where everything clicks.

The frustrating bit? It feels like the individual building blocks aren’t quite polished enough to fully realise that idea. It’s like a great concept that just needed a bit more refinement.

Pushing an Amp – Does It Redeem Itself?

You’d think a pedal like this might come alive when used as a boost into a driven amp—and to be fair, it does a decent job.

But again, it’s a crowded field. There are plenty of pedals that do this better, cleaner, and with more character. The OS-2 holds its own, but it doesn’t exactly stand out.

So… Is It Actually Any Good?

Here’s the honest take:

It’s not as bad as people say… but it’s also not exactly a hidden gem.

It lands somewhere in the middle as a perfectly usable, slightly unrefined drive pedal with an interesting core idea. There are players out there who absolutely swear by it—and for certain setups, I can believe it works brilliantly. But it often feels like they’re getting great tones in spite of the pedal rather than directly from it.

Final Thoughts

If you can grab a Boss OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion cheap on the used market, it’s definitely worth a punt. There’s enough in there to have a bit of fun with, especially if you lean into that blended sweet spot.

At full price though? Absolutely not.

You could easily look towards something like the Joyo King of Kings for less money. Ok, it doesn't do exactly what this does but you can get overdrive out of it, you can get distortion out of it and, more importantly, it sounds great in most settings.

The OS-2 isn’t a disaster. It’s just… a bit average. And in a world full of incredible drive pedals, “average” is sometimes the hardest thing to justify.

An exciting update in the world of NAM profiling...

 NAM Architecture 2 – A Big Step Forward for Amp Profiling?

Something pretty exciting has been happening in the world of Neural Amp Modelling, and I wanted to take a bit of time to talk through it properly. There’s a new update on the horizon called Architecture 2 (A2), and while it might sound like a fairly dry technical upgrade on the surface, the implications for guitar players could actually be huge.

Before we dive into what A2 actually is, it’s worth taking a quick step back and looking at where NAM came from in the first place.

A Quick Refresher: What is NAM?

Neural Amp Modelling (NAM) first started appearing around 2019 as a project under development. The idea behind it was fairly simple: create a system that could capture the sound of a real amplifier and turn it into a digital profile.

That concept itself wasn’t new. Companies like Kemper had already been doing it for years with things like the Profiler, and more recently the Quad Cortex had joined the party with its own capture technology.

The catch with those systems is that they’re tied to their own hardware. If you make a Kemper profile, you need a Kemper to use it. If you move to another platform later, those captures don’t necessarily follow you.

NAM approached the problem from the opposite direction.

It was built as an open-source platform, meaning the technology was free, the captures were shareable, and nobody was locked behind a hardware paywall. In theory, it made amp profiling far more accessible to everyday players.

The Early Limitation: Computers Only

The first practical NAM setups started appearing around 2022, but there was one big limitation.

You needed a computer.

NAM ran inside a DAW as a plugin, so it was brilliant for recording, but if you wanted to use it live you were essentially bringing a laptop rig with you. For some players that was fine, but it wasn’t exactly the most convenient setup.

The real shift came around 2024–2025, when companies started figuring out how to make NAM portable.

When NAM Hit the Pedalboard

That’s where units like the Valeton GP‑5 and the Sonicake Pocket Master came into the picture.

These little boxes suddenly made it possible to run NAM-style tones on a pedalboard-sized device. Instead of needing a laptop, you could throw one of these units in your gig bag and have access to amp captures wherever you wanted.

More recently we’ve also seen things like the Soran Tiny Stomp pushing that idea even further.

However, there was always a small compromise hiding behind the scenes.

The “NAM-ish” Workaround

Full NAM profiles are extremely CPU intensive. Running them at full quality requires quite a bit of processing power, which smaller and more affordable hardware simply doesn’t have.

So companies found a clever workaround.

When you import a NAM profile into devices like the GP-5 or the Pocket Master, the unit converts the file into a lighter internal format that the hardware can actually run.

The result is something that sounds incredibly good — more than good enough for most uses — but technically it’s not running the full-fat NAM profile that you would get inside a computer.

You’ll often see comments online from people pointing out that the bit-rate or fidelity isn’t identical to the DAW version. They’re technically right… but at the same time the tones coming out of these little units are already seriously impressive.

For a lot of players, it’s been the perfect introduction to NAM without needing to wrestle with a full computer setup.

Still, there has always been a lingering question in the background:

What if we could run full NAM profiles on smaller hardware?

Enter Architecture 2 (A2)

That’s where the new update comes in.

The NAM developers have been working on something called Architecture 2, often shortened to A2.

In their own words, A2 is designed to be “lighter, better, and slimmer.”

The big goal here is to reduce the processing demands of NAM without sacrificing the quality that made it so exciting in the first place.

If that works the way people hope it will, it could mean something pretty significant:

Full-quality NAM captures running on smaller, more affordable hardware.

In other words, the gap between studio NAM and portable NAM could start disappearing.

When Might We See It?

The early timeline mentioned March 2026, which is right about now. As of writing, the rollout hasn’t quite landed yet, so we may be running a little behind schedule.

That’s not unusual with projects like this.

Realistically, it wouldn’t be surprising if we start seeing A2-powered hardware sometime later in 2026, perhaps around the third or fourth quarter once manufacturers have had time to integrate the new system.

And if that happens, things could get very interesting very quickly.

Why This Could Be a Big Deal

If A2 delivers on its promise, we could potentially see:

Higher fidelity NAM captures on compact hardware

Less reliance on file conversion workarounds

Even more flexibility when combining amp captures with IR cabinet simulations

That would be a huge step forward for the entire ecosystem of budget modellers and portable profiling units.

For players who have been enjoying the convenience of things like the GP-5, Pocket Master, and Tiny Stomp, the next generation could offer the same portability but with even closer-to-the-real-thing tones.

The Bottom Line

Neural Amp Modelling has already come a long way in a fairly short space of time. What started as a computer-only experiment has quickly grown into a platform that’s appearing in pedalboard-sized gear that anyone can afford.

Architecture 2 looks like the next big step in that evolution.

If it works the way the developers hope, we could be heading towards a world where studio-quality amp captures fit inside tiny, affordable hardware units.

And honestly?

That’s a pretty exciting place for guitar gear to be heading.

The Soran Tiny Stomp impressed me, like REALLY impressed me...

The Soran Tiny Stomp – The Budget Modeller That Finally Fixed That Problem

If you follow the channel, you might have noticed something slightly unusual last week. Within the space of a few days we dropped three full videos and a stack of shorts all covering the Tiny Stomp from Soran Audio.

That wasn’t an accident.

I was excited. Properly excited.

This little box feels like a genuine step forward for the mini amp modeller / multi-FX world, especially at the super budget end of the market.

To explain why, we need to rewind about a year.

When NAM Went Portable

Around this time last year we covered the Sonicake Pocket Master, and that thing landed with a bit of a bang. The big deal at the time was that it brought NAM profiling to a portable unit.

Now NAM (Neural Amp Modeler) itself wasn’t new. It had already been around for a couple of years as a DAW-based tool, letting people capture and share amp profiles in a free open-source platform. The problem was that you pretty much needed to be sat at a computer to use it.

The Pocket Master changed that. Suddenly you could take NAM profiles out of the studio and onto a pedalboard.

Naturally, the floodgates opened.

We saw companies like Valeton jump in with things like the GP-5, and Sonicake themselves started rolling the tech across the Matribox range. Since then we’ve had more refined units aimed squarely at players who actually want to take these things out gigging.

But there’s been one persistent little annoyance.

The One Thing Everyone Wanted

Most of these budget NAM-capable units share the same limitation:

You can’t run NAM profiles and cab sims at the same time.

Whilst that might not be like a massive deal breaker, in practice it restricts what profiles you can use.

NAM captures can represent different stages of an amp signal:

• Just the preamp

• Preamp and power amp

• The full amp and cab together

Because these portable units couldn’t run cab sims alongside NAM, you were basically forced to use full-rig captures that already included the cabinet sound.

And to be fair, that’s workable. There are loads of great full rig captures floating around for free.

But it does limit your choices.

In the back of everyone’s mind there was always the same thought:

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could just run NAM and IRs together?”

Well… Now You Can

And that’s exactly what the Tiny Stomp does.

You can:

• Import NAM captures

• Import your own IR files

• Run them together at the same time

That means you can pair a pure amp capture with whatever cab IR you fancy. Or run NAM with the built-in cab sims, which are actually surprisingly good (and in-depth too).

You can even skip NAM entirely and run the built-in amp models with IRs if that suits the tone you’re chasing.

In other words, it finally delivers the flexibility people have been asking for since NAM first landed in portable units.

But Soran weren't content in just adding one bit of versatility, they said "hold my beer...."

A Signal Chain That Actually Makes Sense

Another thing that often crops up in these smaller modellers is static signal chains.

You get an amp block, a cab block, a couple of effects blocks… and most of them are locked in place. You might be able to shuffle a few things around, but generally the layout is fixed.

Soran clearly looked at that and thought:

“Why?”

On the Tiny Stomp you can move any block anywhere in the chain.

Seriously. Anywhere.

During one of the videos I even moved the cab block before the amp, which obviously makes absolutely no sense in the real world… but the point is it lets you do it.

Is it always useful? No.

Is it great for experimentation and creativity? Absolutely.

It’s Not a Helix (But It’s Not Trying to Be)

Now, to keep things realistic, this isn’t a full-blown modular playground like a Line 6 Helix or even something like the Sonicake Matribox II Pro.

Those units let you pile on multiple instances of effects until the processor gives up. Want eight phasers in your signal chain? Go wild.

The Tiny Stomp isn’t quite that level of flexible.

But here’s the thing.

It’s a sub-£100 modelling unit.

At that price point, the fact that it offers:

• NAM support

• IR loading

• NAM + IR simultaneously

• Fully movable signal blocks

is genuinely impressive.

Why We Made Three Videos About It

So yeah… when you put it all together, you can probably see why I got a bit carried away and ended up making three videos about this thing in one week.

The Tiny Stomp isn’t trying to compete with the big boys. What it’s doing instead is raising the bar for ultra-budget modellers.

If you want something with more footswitches and deeper gigging functionality, the Matribox II Pro is still probably the most versatile budget modeller out there.

But if you’re looking for maximum tonal flexibility for the smallest amount of money, the Tiny Stomp is pushing the category forward in a really interesting way.

/watch this space, Soran just moved the needle with this one.

A Blue Tube Screamer? It's £18? Ah, go on then...

This one’s going to be short and sweet.

The Shaevle Blue Tuber is, let’s not beat around the bush, a green overdrive in a blue overcoat. Three knobs. Volume, Tone, Gain. True bypass. All-analog circuit. If you’ve ever seen a Tube Screamer, you already know what this is trying to do.

And honestly? It does it.

This is a straight-up TS-style overdrive in exactly the way you’d expect. It’s got the mid-hump. It thickens up Strat single coils beautifully. It’ll do the low-gain, clean-ish solo boost thing. It’ll push the front end of a tube amp into that singing saturation (which is that tonal nirvana  I'm aiming for, at very least). And yes, it’ll tighten up heavier amp tones too — trimming the flubby low end and pushing those all-important mids back into the spotlight.

So far, so predictable.

The reason we’re even talking about this is the price. As of writing, it’s sitting at £18.55 on Amazon.

Now, ultra-budget pedals aren’t exactly rare these days. AliExpress and Temu are full of them. The problem is, you usually feel the compromises. Narrow sweet spots. Tone controls that are basically “bad, usable, worse.” Gain sweeps where 80% of the rotation is off-limits. They technically work, but they’re not refined.

The Shaevle is a bit different.

The tone control is actually well voiced. You can sweep it without fear. There’s usable ground across the range rather than one tiny magic notch. The gain range is solid too — from glistening, edge-of-breakup tones through to a proper classic crunch. It doesn’t feel like a one-trick box.

And on a completely superficial note, it’s reassuringly heavy. Does that mean anything? Probably not. But in my head, heavy pedals equal quality. Science may disagree.

This isn’t ground-breaking. It’s not innovative. It’s not going to change the overdrive landscape. What it is, is a genuinely solid Tube Screamer-style pedal for under £20.

For a beginner buying their first drive? Perfect.

For someone building a budget board? Easy win.

For a backup to throw in a gig bag? Why not.

Shaevle are quietly shaping up to be one to watch if they keep delivering this level of quality at these prices. Sometimes boring and done well is exactly what you want.

 This week we’re revisiting an old friend of the channel — the NUX Horseman. It’s popped up in its own demo, and in more Klon-style shootouts than I can remember at this point. There’s a reason for that.

It’s good. Really good.

A Budget Klon That Keeps Showing Up

The Horseman is NUX’s take on the legendary Klon Centaur circuit — that mythical mid-’90s dual overdrive that now costs the same as a small car if you want the real thing.

NUX have built the Horseman around the same core concept: transparent-ish drive, loads of headroom (thanks to an internal voltage converter pushing things up to 18V), and that slightly gritty, amp-like breakup that made the original so popular. You get the standard three controls — Gain, Treble, and Output — plus two modes: Gold and Silver.

Gold mode is your classic Centaur-style voicing. Silver mode gives you a bit more gain on tap — think of it as the hot-rodded version. Switching between them requires a long press of the footswitch, which isn’t the slickest system in the world, but you can access that without bending down to the pedal itself, so it works I guess.

You can also toggle between true bypass and buffered bypass on startup. Yes, it involves a bit of button-holding and LED colour interpretation, but it’s nice to have the choice — especially since the Klon buffer is half the magic for some players.

Blind Tests and Big Praise

A few years back, my good friend and partner in crime, Lee did a blind Klon shootout over on Tonepedia. We’re talking everything from an incredibly affordable Mosky Silver Horse all the way up to an actual Klon Centaur. There were some serious contenders in there too — KTR, J Rockett Archer, the usual well-respected names.

Blindfold on. No bias. Just tones doing the talking.

The comments about the NUX were along the lines of, “If that’s not the Klon itself, it’s probably the KTR.”

Lee came away from that video with a new found respect for NuX and it's easy to understand why.

And considering the price difference between a Horseman and an original Centaur… well, you don’t need me to finish that sentence.

The Klon Thing (And Why I’ve Changed My Mind)

Now, I’ve said before that I’m not the biggest Klon fan. I play a lot of Strats, a lot of single coils, and those guitars often benefit from something that fills out the mids a bit more aggressively. A Tube Screamer does that. A Klon… not so much.

But over time, I’ve come to appreciate what the Klon circuit actually does well.

It’s subtle. It adds that “amp just starting to break up” grit. It doesn’t smother your tone — it enhances it. Push the gain and you start getting that upper-mid bite, not unlike a Boss Blues Driver.

Where it really comes alive, though, is into a driven amp. Take a crunchy British-style rhythm tone and hit it with a Klon-style boost and suddenly you’re squarely in classic rock territory. Tightened low end, singing top end, more sustain and a tone that growls.

That’s the sweet spot.

And the Horseman does that convincingly.

More Than Just a Clone

On the technical side, NUX have gone with Schottky diodes for the clipping stage (since the original germanium parts are incredibly hard to find consistently these days), and they’ve built in their own voltage converter circuit to get that higher headroom feel. Whether you care about the internal topology or not, the important thing is that it behaves like a proper Klon-style circuit should.

It can do clean boost duties brilliantly — low gain, high output, push your amp harder. Or you can dial in more drive and let the pedal do the clipping itself. It’s flexible without being complicated.

And in typical NUX fashion, it’s compact, solidly built, and sensibly priced. I've said it once and I'll say it again, NuX give you absolutely loads for your money with their stuff. They are never lacking in features, nor does the tone come second.

So… Is It Worth It?

If you’re chasing a Klon-style overdrive and don’t fancy remortgaging the house, you could do a lot worse than the Horseman. In fact, you’d struggle to do much better in this price bracket.

It’s featured on the channel multiple times for a reason. It holds its own in blind tests. It sounds right. It feels right. And it captures that elusive “transparent but better” thing that made the original so famous in the first place.

If a Klon is on your wish list, the Horseman deserves a serious look.

Want one of your own? Consider using my affiliate link:
https://thmn.to/thoprod/497299?offid=1&affid=2735

 This week’s video was a proper budget scrap: three “analog-style” delays, all chasing that bucket brigade vibe, all under sensible money, and all bringing something slightly different to the table.

If you’ve ever looked at real vintage analogue delays and then quietly closed the tab when you saw the price, this is for you.

The Contenders

We put the Joyo Analog Delay, the Mooer Ana Echo, and the TC Electronic Bucket Brigade head-to-head. On paper they all live in a similar space — warm repeats, darker voicing, classic feel — but under the hood they’re doing things a little differently.

And that’s where it gets interesting.

Joyo Analog Delay – The Sensible All-Rounder

Let’s get this out of the way first: the Joyo isn’t a “true” bucket brigade delay. It uses a PT2399 chip with filtering to get that darker, analog-style sound rather than a genuine BBD chip.

Does that matter? Not really.

It sounds good. Really good, actually — especially for the money. It tops out around 440ms, which is plenty for most practical uses, and it covers a lot of ground. Slap-back? No problem. Subtle doubling? Easy. Slightly more ambient textures? Absolutely doable.

If I had to label it, this is probably the best all-rounder of the three. It doesn’t have the strongest personality, but it also doesn’t have many weak spots. And it’s often the cheapest of the lot, which makes it very easy to recommend if you just want “a good analog-ish delay” without overthinking it.

Mooer Ana Echo – Vintage Vibes on a Budget

The Mooer Ana Echo is the purist’s choice here. It runs a genuine MN3205 bucket brigade chip and is very deliberately inspired by the Boss DM-2 — right down to the slightly backwards-feeling control layout.

If you’ve used a DM-2 before, you’ll know what I mean.

This one tops out at around 300ms, so it’s the shortest delay time of the three. It doesn’t really excel at slap-back tones — it can do them, but it’s not where it shines. Where it does shine is in those washy, ambient, slightly murky repeats that almost become part of your core tone.

It adds character. It softens the edges. It feels vintage in the best way.

And considering what a real vintage DM-2 goes for these days — or even the Waza reissue — the Mooer is a bargain by comparison.

If you want warmth and vibe over versatility, this is probably the one that’ll grab you.

TC Electronic Bucket Brigade – Crisp, Modern Analog

Then we’ve got the TC Electronic Bucket Brigade. This one uses a modern Cool Audio BBD chip — the same family of chips you’ll find in a lot of modern analogue designs (and yes, in plenty of Behringer-owned circuits too).

The big headline here is 600ms of delay time — the longest of the three. If you're after longer, luxurious repeats, then look no further.

The repeats are noticeably crisper and more defined than the other two. Because of that clarity, this one absolutely excels at shorter slap-back tones. It blends beautifully with your dry signal without turning to mush.

On top of that, you get modulation on the repeats. Subtle wobble at shorter settings, lovely movement at longer ones. That feature alone pushes it into MXR Carbon Copy territory — just without the Carbon Copy price tag.

If you want analogue feel but with a bit more modern usability, this is a very strong option.

So… Which One?

Honestly? You’re not getting a bad pedal out of this bunch.

They all cover that bucket brigade flavour in their own way, but they each lean in a slightly different direction:

• Joyo – most versatile and budget-friendly.
• Mooer – warm, vintage, characterful.
• TC Electronic – clearer repeats, longer delay time, added modulation.

Delay is one of those effects that can be as subtle or as dramatic as you want it to be. It can sit there doing gentle doubling, it can add a bit of reverb-like space, or it can become part of the rhythmic identity of what you’re playing.

The best one here isn’t about specs — it’s about which personality fits your playing.

And at these prices, the real danger is convincing yourself you only need one.

Consider using the affiliate link if you would like to buy one:
TC Bucket Brigade
https://thmn.to/thoprod/530567?offid=1&affid=2735

 This week we’re stepping slightly outside the usual budget territory, but trust me, this one earns its place. The Wampler Ego 76 Mini is Brian Wampler’s take on the legendary 1176 Peak Limiter — a compressor that has been absolutely baked into the sound of recorded music for decades. If you’ve ever loved the feel of a studio guitar track without really knowing why, chances are an 1176 was involved somewhere along the way.

Now, before anyone panics, this isn’t Wampler trying to turn your pedalboard into Abbey Road. The Ego 76 Mini takes the idea of the 1176 — that fast, punchy, characterful FET compression — and translates it into something that actually makes sense for guitarists.

At its core, this is a proper studio-style compressor in pedal form. You’ve got level, compression and a parallel clean blend, which is already a massive tick in my book. On top of that, there are attack and release switches, giving you access to those classic 1176-style response times without needing a degree in audio engineering. It’s clever, because you get all of the best attack and release settings without having to understand what attack and release actually mean.

The real magic of this pedal is how flexible it is in a guitar rig. You can absolutely stick it at the front of your chain and use it like a traditional guitar compressor. It’ll do the squishy Dynacomp-style thing if that’s your bag — country snap, funk rhythm, tightening up clean tones — all very much there. But it doesn’t stop at squash.

Dial things back a bit and the Ego 76 turns into something much more refined. There’s a lovely sparkle and polish you can add to clean tones without killing your dynamics, and that parallel blend control paired with the compression control is where the real magic happens. Being able to mix your dry signal back in means you get the benefits of compression without losing the feel of your playing, which is exactly how compression is used in the studio.

Where this pedal really surprised me, though, was further down the signal chain. Stick it after a drive or two and it becomes more of a glue pedal than a traditional compressor. It evens things out, adds sustain, and just makes everything feel a bit more “finished”. It’s that subtle, almost invisible thing that you don’t really notice until you turn it off… and then immediately turn it back on again.

Yes, it’s more expensive than what we usually cover. No, it isn’t a cheap impulse buy. But unlike a lot of boutique compressors, this doesn’t feel like a one-trick pony or a studio novelty shoehorned onto a pedalboard. It genuinely works in multiple positions, across multiple styles, and rewards a bit of experimentation.

If you’ve ever struggled with compressors feeling either too squashed or too boring, the Ego 76 Mini might be the one that finally clicks. It’s studio compression made usable, musical, and — most importantly — fun. And honestly? That makes it pretty easy to justify the extra spend.

If you'd like one of your own, consider using my affiliate link:
https://thmn.to/thoprod/626634?offid=1&affid=2735

Sonicake Smart Box – From Proof of Concept to Proper Gigging Tool

The Sonicake Pocket Master was one of those pedals (well, FX unit maybe?) in 2025. The kind that quietly landed, didn’t look like much, but then completely changed the guitar landscape. It was one of the first genuinely affordable ways for everyday players to dip their toes into Neural Amp Modelling on the go, and once people realised what it could do, it absolutely took off. Small, unassuming, and way more capable than it had any right to be.

The Smart Box is very much the next step in that journey. If the Pocket Master proved the concept, the Smart Box feels like Sonicake taking that idea seriously and asking, “Right… how do we actually make this usable outside the bedroom?”

The most obvious upgrade hits you straight away: footswitches. Two of them, no less. This might sound like a small thing, but it absolutely isn’t. The Pocket Master relied on those little rubber buttons, which were fine for desk use but always felt like it prohibited live use. The Smart Box fixes that in one move. Suddenly, this feels like something you could actually put on the floor without fear.

It’s hard not to draw comparisons with the Valeton GP-50 here. Both companies seem to be circling the same idea at the same time: take a compact NAM-capable unit and make it genuinely stage-friendly. With proper footswitches, LED rings, tap tempo, and control switching, the Smart Box immediately feels more confident in that role. You can still pair it with something like the M-Vave Chocolate Plus if you want to go even further, but you don’t have to anymore.

The front panel layout is another big win. Instead of burying everything in menus, Sonicake have added dedicated buttons for each block in the signal chain — amp, cab, delay, reverb, EQ, and so on. Editing patches directly on the unit is now much quicker and far more intuitive. The Pocket Master wasn’t hard to use, but this feels friendlier again, especially for players who don’t want to spend half an hour scrolling through menus. Even the most technophobic guitarist should be able to build a usable patch without getting nervous.

Internally, there are some meaningful upgrades too. The effects list has grown a lot. Where the Pocket Master gave you one or two flavours of each modulation, the Smart Box gives you proper choice — including some more adventurous options. There’s a clear nod here towards ambient and shoegaze players, with textures and effects that go well beyond the usual budget multi-FX safe zone. It really feels like Sonicake are pushing the boundaries of what “affordable” gear is supposed to sound like.

Now, we do need to talk about the NAM situation, because this is still the elephant in the room. Like most compact NAM players at the moment, once you engage NAM profiling, the internal cab sim is bypassed. That means you’re either using full rig NAM profiles (amp and cab together) or running an external cab solution. The Smart Box sticks with this limitation, which is a little disappointing — simultaneous amp and cab modelling would’ve been a genuine leap forward.

That said, it’s not a dealbreaker. There are loads of excellent full rig NAM profiles available for free on Tone3000, and realistically, most users are going to find plenty of sounds that work for them without much hassle. It’s just one of those “we’re not quite there yet” moments for NAM tech at this price point.

Feature-wise, the Smart Box is absolutely stacked. You’ve got over 130 effects, up to nine blocks running at once, 100 presets, drum rhythms, a looper, tuner, metronome, stereo outputs, USB audio interface with re-amping, OTG support for phones, wired and wireless MIDI, expression pedal input, headphones out… and it’ll even run on its internal battery for a few hours if you need it to. It’s one of those pedals where you keep discovering another feature you didn’t realise was there.

Crucially, it still comes in under £100. That’s the headline for me. Yes, it’s not the bold technological leap some of us were hoping for, but it is a clear step towards being a proper gigging unit. More usable, more intuitive, more flexible — and still very affordable.

If Sonicake keep refining this platform, especially on the NAM side of things, this could end up being something really special. As it stands, the Smart Box feels like a confident evolution rather than a flashy reinvention — and honestly, that’s probably exactly what most players actually need.

NUX A/B ROLL – A Looper… and Quite a Bit More Than That

You can't be everything to everyone
At first glance, the NUX A/B ROLL looks like one of those pedals where the design brief was “how many features can we cram into one enclosure before someone tells us to stop?”. Looper, sub-octave, IR loader, auto-recording, OTG audio… on paper it feels like NuX pulled a handful of ideas out of a hat and decided to make it work.

Surprisingly, it mostly does.

Let’s start with the core of the pedal: the looper. This is a no-nonsense, very functional looping engine. Think original Ditto rather than some sprawling, multi-track workstation. One footswitch handles record, overdub, stop and erase duties, and once you get the muscle memory down it’s quick and intuitive. No fancy tricks, no menu diving — just hit record and get on with it. It gives you up to six minutes of loop time with unlimited overdubs, which is more than enough for practice, writing, or building up simple arrangements.

Where things start to get more interesting is the built-in IR loader. NuX have included a selection of cab sims covering the usual bases — small 1x12 combo-style cabs through to big 4x12s that are clearly aimed at higher-gain sounds. Annoyingly, they don’t actually tell you what any of them are in the marketing, but the important part is that they sound perfectly usable. More importantly, you’re not locked into them. Using the desktop editor, you can load your own IRs and tailor each one further with adjustable high and low cuts. At this price point, that’s a really nice touch.

Then there’s the sub-octave control. On its own, it feels like an odd inclusion. But when you look at it in the context of looping, it suddenly makes a lot more sense. Adding a subtle sub octave underneath a loop can really help fill things out, especially if you’re building layers with a single guitar. It pushes things away from “guitar noodling over a loop” and more towards something that feels like a full arrangement.

The real clue as to who this pedal is aimed at, though, is the OTG functionality. Being able to plug this straight into a phone and record or live stream without any additional interface gear suddenly reframes the whole pedal. This is content creation in a box. Bedroom players, younger guitarists, people experimenting with short-form videos, live streams, or quick demo ideas — this thing makes a lot of sense there.

With traditional live opportunities becoming harder to come by, especially for newer players, tools like this are starting to fill that gap. It’s a way to practise, perform, record and share without needing a full rig, a computer, and a desk full of cables.

At around £80, it’s also very easy to justify. That’s roughly the cost of a decent looper or a basic IR loader on its own. Getting both of those, plus a sub octave and direct-to-phone recording, in one compact pedal feels like pretty solid value.

It’s not trying to be everything for everyone, but for the players it’s clearly aimed at, the A/B ROLL is a surprisingly clever bit of kit. A little weird, sure — but in a way that actually works.

One Overdrive that covers so much ground

Thorn Soundlab Bad Cash - Lots going on under the hood
Overdrive pedals are funny things. We all say we want simple, but then spend half our lives stacking two or three drives together trying to cover different jobs. Clean boost here, mid-push there, something a bit more aggressive when things need to get spicy. The Thorn Soundlabs Bad Cash feels like it was designed by someone who got bored of doing exactly that.

This is a seriously versatile drive pedal. On paper, it might look like overkill – loads of knobs, switches, and a footprint that’s closer to “two pedals pretending to be one” – but once you actually start using it, it all makes a lot of sense.

At lower gain settings, the Bad Cash works beautifully as a clean-ish boost. You can add a bit of thickness and presence without really changing the core character of your amp. Push things a little further and it starts to live very comfortably in Tube Screamer territory, giving you that familiar mid push that works so well with single coils and driven amps. With a bit of a tweak of the EQ, you can turn that mid-focused overdrive tone into a more transparent Klon style drive - like I say, versatility on tap.

Crank it further and it’s perfectly happy heading into more aggressive OCD-style gain. It never gets fizzy or undefined, and thanks to the amount of EQ control on tap, it’s surprisingly easy to keep it sitting where you want in a mix. This is very much a “one pedal, many jobs” kind of drive.

A big part of that flexibility comes from the controls Thorn have built into this thing. The 3-band EQ (or 4, if you count the Presence) is a massive help, especially if you swap guitars or amps regularly. You’re not stuck fighting a fixed voicing – you can actually dial the pedal to suit your rig rather than the other way around.

Then there are the Damping and Headroom controls, which are kind of Thorn Soundlabs’ secret sauce. Damping lets you tighten or loosen the low end of the driven signal, which is invaluable if you’re running higher gain or a darker amp. Headroom controls how hard the pedal pushes into overdrive and even beyond, which makes it feel incredibly dynamic under the fingers. It’s one of those pedals that rewards picking dynamics rather than flattening everything into the same level of crunch.

There are also a couple of toggle switches to change the drive character and voicing, which just adds even more shades to an already very broad palette. None of it feels redundant – it all actually does something useful.

It’s also worth mentioning that this pedal really comes alive at 18V. You can run it at 9V without any issues, but bumping the voltage gives you more headroom, more openness, and a bit more breathing room in the feel. If you’re into touch-sensitive drives that respond like an amp rather than a box of clipping diodes, this is very much in that camp.

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. This isn’t a sub-£100 pedal, which is usually where this channel lives. But honestly? It’s pretty easy to justify the extra spend. When you consider how much ground it covers – from clean boost, through TS and Klon flavours, right up to proper crunchy overdrive – it covers a fair few roles and in a very convincing way too.

It’s big, it’s bold, it looks like it escaped from a 1960s sci-fi B-movie, and it absolutely does not try to be subtle. But if you want one overdrive that can adapt to pretty much any situation you throw at it, the Bad Cash is a really compelling option.

Less “another overdrive”, more “why do I even need three of these anymore?”. 

Valeton GP50 – an improvement or unprovement?

Last year, Valeton released the GP5 and, although there was  a little buzz around it when it first released, it turned into one of the most interesting budget pedals of the year. Not because it did loads of new and innovative things, but because it brought amp profiling technology to a genuinely affordable price point.

Fast forward a little and Valeton are back with the GP50. At first glance, it looks like a fairly minor update – almost too minor to justify a whole new product. After spending some proper time with it though, it becomes very clear why this version exists, and for some players, it’s going to matter more than they might expect.

A Quick Recap: Why the GP5 Mattered

At the heart of the GP50 is the same core concept that made the GP5 such a success: Neural Amp Modeling. NAM is often compared to Kemper-style profiling, and while that comparison holds up in principle, the real story is that NAM is open-source and community-driven.

That means a constantly expanding pool of amp captures – everything from clean combos to fully driven rigs – shared freely by users who are actively pushing the technology forward. For players who’ve been curious about profiling but put off by price, complexity, or commitment, this is an incredibly accessible entry point.

Like the GP5, the GP50 converts NAM files into Valeton’s own Snap Tone format. You’ll see people online argue about fidelity loss, but in practical terms, the experience is the same: load profiles, play guitar, enjoy convincing amp tones that respond properly to dynamics and picking.

The Not-So-Secret Limitation of the GP5

The GP5 proved the idea worked, but it also revealed its own limitations pretty quickly. The biggest one was obvious: a single footswitch.

In a bedroom or studio, that’s manageable. On a rehearsal floor or stage, it becomes awkward. Scrolling in one direction through patches, choosing between a tuner or effect switching, and having to bend down if you overshoot a sound all start to feel like unnecessary friction.

You could solve this with external MIDI controllers, but that slightly defeats the purpose of having a compact, affordable all-in-one unit.

The GP50 exists because of that problem.

Enter the GP50: Same Brain, Better Body

Rather than chasing higher processing power or more features, Valeton focused on usability. The addition of a second footswitch might sound minor, but it fundamentally changes how the unit feels to play.

Patch navigation instantly becomes more intuitive. Effect switching becomes genuinely practical. You can set up a base tone and then build variations around it without feeling boxed in. Suddenly, the GP platform feels far more at home in live situations without needing additional hardware.

There’s also a dedicated tuner access now, which removes the annoying trade-off GP5 users had to make. It’s one of those changes you barely notice once it’s there – and immediately miss when it isn’t.

Small Changes That Make a Big Difference

The GP50 also includes an internal battery, which won’t matter to everyone, but makes a lot of sense for travel, casual practice, or even avoiding noisy household power. It’s not a headline feature, but it’s thoughtful.

There’s a built-in looper too. Personally, loopers aren’t something I reach for often, but for quick jams or sketching ideas, it’s a useful inclusion rather than a gimmick. It’s short, simple, and exactly what you’d expect at this size and price.

Crucially, Valeton have also left plenty of room to grow. Dedicated expression and footswitch inputs mean the GP50 can expand with your setup rather than boxing you into a fixed workflow.

So… Is It Worth Upgrading?

If you already own a GP5 and you’ve built a setup around it – especially if you’re using MIDI control – the GP50 isn’t a mandatory upgrade. The core tones are the same, and the sound quality hasn’t changed.

If you don’t own either yet, the GP50 is the one to buy. It feels like the version Valeton would have released in the first place if they’d known how popular and capable the platform was going to be.

For the relatively small jump in price, you get a unit that’s simply easier to live with, easier to use, and far better suited to real-world playing.

What's really up

The GP5 was a proof of concept.

The GP50 is from concept to actual usable tool.

Valeton didn’t chase hype here – they listened, refined, and improved the experience where it mattered most. If affordable profiling is something you’re curious about, the GP50 makes a strong case for itself without pretending to be something it isn’t.

And honestly? That’s exactly why it works.