Suede·Social·Issue No. 19The archive·2026 · JUN01—The archiveEverything we've written.Hot takes, reversals, buyers' guides, and the occasional half-finished thought.Jason Colapietro13 piecesJohnny Suede22 piecesEST. 2026Suede Editorial Board0 piecesFig. 01Published articlesgear review · 8 min readNo. 01Fender Is Right.The most copied guitar company in history is not winning by nostalgia. It is winning because the original decisions still solve real problems.Jason Colapietrogear review · 10 min readNo. 02The four amps every working guitarist should know intimately.Not own. Know. There's a difference. These four cover 90 percent of what walks into a gig.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 7 min readNo. 03The case for never owning a guitar wireless system.I've tried six. They were all worse than a cable. Here's why I think they always will be.Jason Colapietrogear review · 9 min readNo. 04What to look for in a used Twin Reverb.There are about four good ones for every fifteen on Reverb. Here's how to tell them apart.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 8 min readNo. 05I've changed my mind about TS-style overdrives.I called them mid-humped, boring, and overrated. I've been wrong for about a decade.Jason Colapietrorig diary · 6 min readNo. 06The five-minute tone fix that changed my rig.It cost nothing. It was the difference between a rig I tolerated and a rig I loved.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 7 min readNo. 07How to A/B pedals without lying to yourself.Almost every comparison video on YouTube is wrong, and almost every comparison you do in a guitar store is worse.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 8 min readNo. 08Single-coil vs. humbucker: a pragmatist's view.I owned a Les Paul for nine years. I sold it for a Telecaster and never looked back.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 7 min readNo. 09Why your fuzz pedal sucks (and how to fix it).It's not the pedal. It's the buffer in front of it, and the volume knob you're not using.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 9 min readNo. 10The six pedalboard mistakes I see at every gig.I've been the guy in the basement watching openers tear down. These keep happening.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 8 min readNo. 11The five things tone snobs are wrong about.I have been a tone snob. I am pushing back on the version of me from 2015.Johnny Suedegear review · 11 min readNo. 12Eventide H9 vs. Strymon Volante: a comparison ten years too late.I bought the H9 in 2014 and the Volante in 2018. Here is what I actually use them for in 2026.Johnny Suedegear review · 10 min readNo. 13Friedman, Diezel, Bogner: which high-gain head is for you.Three amps, three different ideas of what high-gain even means.Johnny Suederig diary · 8 min readNo. 14What I learned modding a Tube Screamer for six months.I rebuilt a TS-9 four times. The pedal got better. I got worse.Johnny Suedegear review · 8 min readNo. 15AC30 hand-wired or reissue: which one is actually for you.After three of them in five years, I have an answer that will annoy both camps.Johnny Suedehot takes · 9 min readNo. 16Why the BigSky is overrated (and what to buy instead).The BigSky is a fine pedal. It is not the pedal you think it is.Johnny Suedehot takes · 8 min readNo. 17Five tone myths I used to believe.I was wrong about most of these for at least a decade. Some of you still are.Johnny Suederig diary · 7 min readNo. 18Pedals I keep meaning to sell (and why I don't).Five pedals I have listed on Reverb at least once and pulled down before anyone wrote.Johnny Suedehot takes · 10 min readNo. 19The most overrated pedals of the boutique era.A short, partial, deliberately unkind list of pedals that got more credit than they earned.Johnny Suedegear review · 9 min readNo. 20What the Klon Centaur actually does (and doesn't do).After twenty years of $5,000 listings and Discord theology, the pedal itself is almost a relief.Johnny Suederig diary · 8 min readNo. 21Why I sold my Helix and went back to a pedalboard.Two years with a digital rig that did everything I asked. I still hated it.Jason Colapietrohot takes · 9 min readNo. 22The 7 best and the 7 worst EarthQuaker Devices pedals.Akron's most prolific boutique builder. Every catalog has a few unrepeatable masterpieces and a few pedals that needed another round of revisions. EQD has both.Top pickEarthQuaker Devices Avalanche Run V2Sells firstEarthQuaker Devices Special CrankerJohnny Suedehot takes · 7 min readNo. 23The 5 best and the 5 worst Boss Waza Craft pedals.Boss's premium line takes the classics and polishes them. Sometimes the polish is the point. Sometimes the original was already the point.Top pickBoss BD-2W Blues DriverSells firstBoss SD-1W Super OverdriveJason Colapietrohot takes · 10 min readNo. 24The 8 best and the 8 worst Strymon pedals.Strymon is the company everyone tries to copy and almost nobody manages. The catalogue is mostly hits, which makes the misses interesting. Here's the line.Top pickStrymon BigSkySells firstStrymon CompadreJohnny Suedehot takes · 8 min readNo. 25The 6 best and the 6 worst Chase Bliss pedals.Joel Korte's catalogue is the audiophile shelf of the pedal world. There's a version of the company that gets called Goyard for guitarists. Half the catalogue earns the price. The other half is real estate on the shelf.Top pickChase Bliss Audio Mood MKIISells firstChase Bliss Audio Wombtone MKIIJohnny Suedehot takes · 9 min readNo. 26The 7 best and the 7 worst JHS pedals.Josh Scott's company has put out something like a hundred boxes. Most are great. Some are filler. Here's where I think the line is.Top pickJHS Pedals Morning Glory V4Sells firstJHS Pedals Cheese BallJason Colapietro