I was initially interested because it was a transistor-based overdrive (and not a fuzz). I know EAE and Benson both create great things, but this was my first foray with EAE drives (I've had a Benson fuzz).

First, the Benson Germanium Boost. This thing is subtle at most settings and, I did discover, sounds better at either the very beginning of your drive chain or the very end. By itself at most settings, it just adds a little sweetener to your tone, but if you push it, it really gives you some extra 'oomph.'

Second, the Halberd. After about an hour, my only real thought was 'How did it take me this long to get one of these.' John at EAE really is a wizard. This thing is versatile enough by itself to cover most drive settings you could need. I was able to finagle a lot of great sounds out of it. It goes from low-mid gain all the way to searing gain. But, when you push it with the Germanium Boost it just sounds *savage.* The best way I could describe the halberd, which I hear is based on a console preamp, is that it goes from a somewhat tame pushed drive all the way to blown out tweed sounding drive. The controls are real interactive so it takes you a minute to really dial it in, but when you do, it sounds really, really good.

Last, what does it sound like combined? I hate using words like this, but it's a good, 'greasy' classic rock sound. It feels real good under your fingers and sounds great too.

My big question is always this: If something happened to my board tomorrow, would this be a pedal I'd replace? My answer is absolutely. I could gorilla glue this thing to my gig board without second thought.

Really beautiful sounding delay pedal. It took me a bit of time to get the hang of the controls for this pedal. You will most definitely need to read the manual because the functions for some of the controls vary depending on which delay you have engaged. Once you figure it out though, this pedal delivers the best delay sounds I've heard. Really clear and 3-dimensional, even in mono. And because of the level of control you have over the sound, you can get a barely noticeable, but wide and expansive delay or a huge, trippy delay. Basically, there is no delay sound you can't get from this pedal, and every one of them sounds great. As always, Sound Shoppe did a such an excellent job with the shipping time, packaging, and product quality. I ordered gear from a couple of other shops not long ago (I won't name them though), and the difference between those experiences and this one is night and day. I'll definitely be checking this site before any others for future gear purchases.

This pedal really exceeded my expectations. I thought it would just be a good MIAB pedal, but it's so versatile! The high and normal gain knobs almost serve as a main eq section along with changing the gain levels, leaving the bass, middle, and treble knobs for more precise fine-tuning of eq. It's hard to explain without playing it. What really surprised me though is the feel. It really feels like playing through a tube amp with the bounce it provides. You can set it to fairly transparent to really thick and overdriven. I've even started using it in place of the saturation side of my Strymon Deco as a more transparent thickener, that does a better job of retaining dynamics. I think this pedal will likely become the heart of my pedalboard because of how versatile it is and how great it sounds. Highly recommended. The one thing to be aware of though, is that it isn't as gainy as I was expecting from the demos, so know that going into the purchase. But running it into my Empress Effects Heavy Menace gives me all the gain I need with the added thickness of the Citadel, so it's a great combo.

As for Sound Shoppe NYC, they've been great to work with! Very responsive to any concerns, great customer service, and fast shipping! I love the personalized card with the purchase. It's a small detail that says a lot about the importance they place on bringing real excellence and quality to their business. I ordered from the west coast, and will definitely be buying from them again because of the great service alone. Glad I found this shop.

If you dig tremolo, you owe it to yourself to try the Dawner Prince Starla. This thing is terrific. The build is great, the sound is great, the options are nearly endless, and it's really good looking. Big thanks to Sound Shoppe for carrying this builder...very impressive.

What can I say that hasn't already be said on the internet? This is a terrific pedal. R*T style pedal to my ears but sweeter and there are two in one pedal. Set one for overdrive and one for a heavy distortion. Have a clean amp and you basically have a 3 channel amp! Get a Mudhoney II. I don't think you will be disappointed.

The ezhi&aka BROMDIHYDROCHLORPHENYLBENZODIAZEPINE (‘BROM’) has turned out to be the fuzz pedal I’ve been searching for my entire life. The combination of the noise/fuzz mix and noise/fuzz frequency controls lets me dial in that raw, out-of-control feedback-laden sound I’ve always associated with The Jesus & Mary Chain—without having to throw myself on top of my Twin Reverb with my ES-330. Alexey (ezhi&aka) is a truly unique and brilliantly creative builder whose work feels like art as much as gear. I’m also grateful to Sound Shoppe NYC for consistently making rare, remarkable pedals like this accessible and for always treating me right. I’m eagerly awaiting the restock of the Running for 78, and it’s a great feeling knowing I can trust Sound Shoppe to come through once again.

Most amazing pedal!
The clean tones outta here are incredible. So happy with this purchase!

The only compressor pedal that had all the features I was looking for - a few usable ratios, sidechain HPF, tone tilt [that's still transparent], good metering, and parallel blend. Easy to use if you're used to 1176-style compression. One could argue a threshold and output gain control would be easier to use on a pedal than input/output on a fixed threshold. But it doesn't hold the pedal back from doing everything I need in a first tone stage.

Musical, emotional, gorgeous — this is an extraordinary pedal. I don’t even really utilize heavy repeats, and am way more of a set and forget guy than a knob twirler, but this has already become an indispensable tool. Fascinatingly versatile, endlessly absorbing. Not easy to find, not inexpensive, worth the trouble and the cost. Some things just have the magic. This does. Do yourself this favor. You’ll be grateful.

Not only one of the best reverbs out there, but one of the best modulation and tape warbles I've ever played. Everything Ezhi & Aka puts out is amazing.

Sound Shoppe you guys are amazing! Thank you for the super fast shipping as I was so excited to try this pedal. The tone on this pedal is incredible! Sounds just like playing thru a quality tube amp. Love it!

I recently had to give up my full tone bass drive and had been searching around for a replacement, found out about this Italian handmade clone and decided to give it a shot. Honestly I like this more, smaller footprint on the board and I believe the boost/holy F is more effective than the OG. Sounds like an SVT swan song before the power tubes give out . I’m running into an ls2 and a fuzz war in the B loop to blend in fuzz while keeping the incredible tone from the BFD. Sound shoppe was the right choice to buy from and if they get it back in stock you should get this pedal.

Where to even begin. The most surprising thing is that the manual for this pedal is only 12 pages, but the pedal itself is insanely deep, sort of like how an elektron box is easy to learn but hard to master. There is 8 included presets and slots 9-32 are empty for you to make your own presets. Along with a good few sound engines, and other effects built in. If you can think of something to tweak, it is tweakable. You are even able to sequence when and how the effects go move which is very powerful when wanting to get evolving textures in your sound. My personal favorite sound engine that I mess with is the ring modulator as I have a bit of a bias towards those, however overall this is a very insanely deep pedal for everything from lofi, to glitch, to heavily experimental and distorted and evolving tones. There is not enough words within this review that can be able to cover everything, I even made a video that was almost a half hour and it barley scratched the surface. Like I said, this is a simple pedal on the surface as it is only a 12 page manual, but the longer you play with it the more you find and the more tricks and sounds can be crafted from this. I personally highly recommend this pedal for someone looking for a heavy glitch, modulated, lofi, or experimental type music playing. But me personally I am very industrial/experimental/dark synth based so the glitchy evolving textures help give that darker crunch to my tone. Just be prepared to take some time with it to enjoy learning the pedal, and let the pedal give you some fun in return.

The mix knob and three voices push this pedal to the top of the pile. Who knew there's so much to discover in low to mid gain tone topography.
Special.

Lovely old school crazy looper