What do a man that dresses like a bat, a clown prince, chickens, a mantis, and a spider have in common?

They are all awesome guitar accessories, allow me to ‘splain.

The awesome folks over at Keeley Electronics are in the middle of “Keeley Art Month” where each week, 5 artists contribute a limited edition print to their pedals, so imagine how excited I was to see a pair of familiar faces on the art for August 17th, by artist Jake Beeson.

You can choose from any of the 5 artists each week (the 18th was a certain King Of Monsters) and have the art on one of 5 pedals. Black Drop Fuzz, Classic Compressor 2.5, Germanium Treble Booster, 1962 Overdrive, or the Phase 24. But you have to hurry, each weeks batch goes on sale Friday and they are making ONLY 5 of each print.
The pedals are going for $179, so you better move fast. Check out what has been released already, and bookmark the Keeley Electronics site. (Thanks to Craighton over Keeley for being super nice) (Also, Christmas is only a few months away, I’ll take a B-stock Caverns or Mag-Echo, it’s worth a shot)

Guitar picks are something I have a very hard time changing. I have bought different picks over the years, but for I would say the last 15 years, I’ve stuck with my personal favorites the green Tortex picks from Jim Dunlop. At .88mm they are rigid enough to dig in hard, and I’m just used to them. Since I’m always trying new things lately while recording in my garage, I figured I would give Chicken Picks a shot. I ordered a pair of the BADAZZ picks ($12.95 for the pair) and, damn, money well spent. The picks, while a lot thicker than what I’m used to (2.0 & 2.5mm) don’t feel too thick. The bevelled edges help I think in that regard, but it’s the sound that surprised me the most. There is an immediate difference with these things. Single notes are more defined, palm-muting is a breeze, I found myself galloping all over my E and A strings (in a G-string) and when I got to some lead playing, I really had fun. With the gain cranked on my Orange Crush 35-RT I was easily coaxing pinch-harmonics out all over, tremolo picking was a breeze, and single notes sounded sweet as hell. Definitely worth the price, if you’ve been on the fence about them, don’t be. They make a difference.

And last but not least, the Mantis and the Spider. I went out to the garage yesterday and found a visitor waiting on my HARDLUCK KINGS Spider.

Take it easy, don’t forget to donate or share the link to the fundraiser for Lela Gwenn here.

-Kris