Black Cat Pedals are back! Founded in Texas by Fred Bonte in 1993, the original line was built up until late 2007. The company has been revamped and, using Fred’s original designs, is offering up several new generation Black Cat stomps to the masses. The new line has received a ’super-boutique makeover’, featuring high-quality components and PCBs, top-notch build quality with consistent production, eye-catching graphics and deluxe packaging. Black Cat Pedals are still individually hand-wired and made in the USA. The new line currently includes the OD-1, Super Fuzz, OD-Fuzz and Bass Octave Fuzz. Prices range between $150 and $225.

FuzzHugger(fx) has taken up the mantle of leader of the pack after a licensing agreement with Mellowtone has prompted the resurrection of the Wolf Computer fuzz. Discontinued by Mellowtone earlier this year, FuzzHugger(fx) licensed the stomp design, and has worked closely with Mellowtone on everything from graphics, to layout, to a professionally printed circuit board, to make the user-favorite pedal available again! The pedal is a snarly, crunchy triple silicon fuzz that delivers a huge range of tones: classic fuzz, overdrives, synthy textures, self-arpeggiation, glitching, and more! The new Wolf Computer is available now and priced at $135.00.

While there was plenty of physical product to test drive at the Nashville Amp Expo this past weekend, there was an equal amount of whispers on the wind about new goodies just around the corner. Whatever do I mean? Well, without getting specific… there is one former dirt merchant, currently working for a large amp maker, that will be joining an up and coming pedal house in a matter of days. Murmurs of new pedals coming from that company include an Arion-inspired chorus and a delay that’s bound to raise eyebrows. Another dirt dweller is looking hard at issuing an anniversary version of his most popular pedal with lots of additional goodies tossed into the mix. I’m interested!

Neunaber Technology has dropped curtain on a new reverb stomp – the WET, which the company boasts achieves sonic perfection, simplicity of use, and consistently reliable performance. The pedal feature two knob controls – Mix controls the level of reverb and Depth controls decay time (length of reverb tail) and also changes the tone, from a little splashy (full counterclockwise) to slightly mellow (full clockwise). WET also features an internal FX Loop switch that allows you to toggle between series (normal) or parallel (wet signal only) effects loops. Sound clips of the WET are available at Neunaber’s website. The pedal itself is available now for $199.

The fine folks at Hip Kitty Products have green lit the production of a compressor/drive pedal the company showed off at the recent Nashville Amp Show. The as-yet-unnamed pedal got rave reviews from the crowd at the show and top kitty and designer Neal Logdahl told What’s That Dude Play? that the pedal will go into production soon. Having sampled the stomp myself, I can say that it is offers a growling drive tone that aches to drive rhythm parts to hard rocking tunes. The company gave away the prototype pedal via a drawing at the show. Though I didn’t win, I am looking forward to getting my hands on one of these beauties for a future review on the site.

How about a few more pics from the Nashville Amp Expo? Included in this one are some people shots, like former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell – now of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – wailing through a pair of Sommatone combo amps and Reason Amps’ Obeid Khan rocking a tele through the new Bambino combo. Then there are a couple of guitar pics highlighting offerings from Crow Hill and an awesome one-off short-scale bass from Trillium. How about a Trace Acoustic amp that hasn’t hit the market yet? The lone pedal pic? Those are a couple of stomps – a boost and a fuzz – that Jimmy Somma built for himself. See ‘em all… after the jump!

As the first Nashville Amp Expo winds down, WTDP? wanted to bring a taste of the event to all that could not make the journey to Music City. Yesterday, we posted an exhausive pedal gallery highlighting some of the cool stomps around the show. Today, we took on the amps… and man, there were a ton of cool tone machines here. Highlights for me included the new Reason Bambino – a killer versitale 8-watter for under eight bills, the artistry of both Ark and Trillium Amps – always awesome on the eyes and ears… and the power and punch of Reeves, Quidley, Swamp Works and many more. Take of brief photo tour of what the show had to offer after the jump!

Sure, it’s an amp show, but the first-ever Nashville Amp Expo has a ton of pedals around too! Highlights from the Creation Audio Labs-sponsored show include new offerings from Hip Kitty – an as yet unnamed compresso-drive, Reinhardt Amps new Rat-inspired Willard pedal and Paul Cochrane (of Tim and Timmy fame) hanging out and building Timmys on location! Of course there are loads of amps too, and we’ll get a gallery of them up sometime tomorrow, but for now enjoy a quick gallery of the stomps on display – and some for sale – at the show… after the jump!

Brian Wampler is offering up a new, limited edition overdrive – the Underdog – in order to help raise money for a sick friend. All profits from the sale of these 100 pink pedals will go towards the medical expenses of the friend, Ivy East, who has breast cancer. The pedal itself is a clone of an old Nobles circuit that is no longer made. The Wampler version includes switching to add in serious ‘fatness’ – something that will cut right through if you need that. It also is much more responsive than the original circuit, according to the builder. The EQ is said to be more variable than the original as well. The pedal sells for $189. Check out the demo video after the jump!

Overdrives are a dime a dozen these days. With so much selection out there right now… from the boutiques to the big boys… it can be a little intimidating. Do you go for a re-work of an existing circuit like the fabled TS-808, or do you take a leap of faith and latch on to something a bit more unique hoping to get what you’re after there? One cool thing about the new Way Huge Electronics Pork Loin – and savvy to boot – is that the word ‘overdrive’ appears nowhere in the pedal’s name. Instead the stomp is billed as a ‘Soft Clip Injection’, which sounds more pornographic than polyphonic. WTDP? takes a look at the new ‘SCI’ to determine if it is indeed a sexy stud or noisy dud.

Dunlop has unleashed its MXR M-116 Fullbore Metal distortion pedal on the masses this month. The stomp ‘turbo-charges’ your guitar signal with lethal amounts of ultra high gain combined with a built-in Noise Gate to knock out the noise associated with extreme gain levels. The gate also adds definition and tightness to syncopated metal riffs. Extensive EQ controls, with Bass, Mid, sweepable Mid-Freq and Treble knobs let you sculpt your tone with precision. The additional Scoop switch provides an instant high and low frequency boost that will rumble the room while also adding clarity. The pedal carries a price tag of around $100.

Eric at Mellowtone has a couple of new offerings for the gassing masses, including a compact version of his popular Wolf Computer fuzz. The new Mini Wolf CPU offers many of the same sounds in a smaller, more affordable package, according to the builder. With a simpler control set – just two knobs – you can still dial in tons of gated and octave skipping glitch fuzz tones. The Level knob controls volume output, while the Adjust knob controls texture of the fuzz, and the attack and depth of octave arpeggiation. Mellowtone also has a new version of its High Five drive/boost pedal now available. The new version is a rework of the original circuit with an additional gain stage.