The October Issue of Guitarist magazine includes an amazing review of the latest pedals from Digitech, the Hardwire Series of stomp-boxes. Most importantly 3 receive the Guitarist Choice award (for excellent, highly recommended buys), the TL-2 Metal Distortion, CM-2 Tube Overdrive and the RV-7 Stereo Reverb. The Guitarist Gold award (5 stars in all categories earns this rare award) is presented to the DL-8 Delay/Looper.

With HardWire, Digitech ushers in a new standard for pedal performance - and a new category: Extreme Performance Pedals. Created especially for experienced players who demand perfection, HardWire represents the first pedals that rock as hard as their users do. Everything about HardWire is designed for the performer and the performance, making them a leap ahead of traditional pedals. Boasting meticulous craftsmanship, superior technology and true innovation, HardWire gets every detail right. HardWire pedals feature true bypass and high voltage operation, as well as extra-rugged construction and a slew of innovative attributes designed to enhance live performance.

"Every Hardwire pedal comes with a chunky rubber attachment called a Stomplock. This fits snugly over the whole row of controls, meaning you'll never lose your favourite settings. Another couple of useful accessories are also included: a large pedalboard-ready Velcro pad and a luminous sticker which fits the footswitch".

"The bright, preset sound of the pedal in 'tight' mode is ideal for a wide range of metal sounds, whether your tastes lie in old-school NWOBHM, eighties thrash or a more modern seven string variety'.

"The 'loose' position on the voicing switch opens up a whole new world of grunge and stoner rock and these are our favourite sounds. Despite the generous amount of gain available, there's no issue with extraneous noise".

"Within a couple of minutes of plugging in, we know this is our favourite of the new hardwire distortion/overdrive pedals. It does some of the best TS808-alike tones we've heard, although the EQ controls allow for much more tonal variation".

"TS-style pedals often 'suffer' from a lack of bass response, but this really isn't a problem with the CM-2: however, the 'modified' mode is ideal for giving single-coil pickups a helping hand".

"If you need a range of standard blues and rock overdrive sounds, and don't mind a bit of between-song adjustment, the SC-2 could easily do a range of jobs for you. In 'crunch' mode, the tight, bright overdrive is quite Marshall-like, and ideally suited for rock rhythm or a milder blues lead sound".

"The sound quality of the Hardwire range is most evident here, where the reverbs have a clarity and detail not normally found in stomp-boxes. With the stereo ins and outs, the RV-7 isn't limited solely to guitar use-the sound quality is easily good enough for use in a compact home studio".

"Again, the sound quality is excellent, and the DL-8 is perfect for a player who needs a variety of delay effects without the complexity of a rack unit or multi-effects system. For live use, the footswitch can be used as a tap tempo switch, simply by holding it down for three seconds prior to setting the tempo. Using the looper function is equally user-friendly, simply hold down the pedal to record, release to play back the loop".

The final Guitarist verdict? "We've seen plenty of cool boutique stompboxes over the past few years, many of them with simply amazing sounds, but how many of player scan afford to pay those prices? The solid build quality here however, is an instant winner for gigging guitarists, the extra accessories are a nice touch and the prices are well within most people's budgets. Of course, none of this would mean a thing if the sounds weren't up to scratch, and there's a great range of top tones here...all of the pedals in the range are easily capable of taking on the competition, boutique or not".

All models are available now from £89 - £129 RRP. Also available now are the HT2 Hardwire Chromatic Tuner (£89 RRP) and the CR-7 Hardwire Stereo Chorus (£109 RRP).

To read the full review, pick up the October Issue (Issue 308) of Guitarist.

For more information go to www.soundtech.co.uk/digitech/hardwire