OctaKing's Burstphonic PAF pedal chases a specific 1959 Les Paul, not a generic vintage tone
The analog pedal is voiced to Joe Bonamassa's 'Holy Grail' 1959 Les Paul and a Gary Moore-style 'Greeny' tone, with switches for pickup type and an out-of-phase mode.
Sep 28, 2026
Credit: OctaKing Labs (via source)
OctaKing Labs showed the Burstphonic PAF at Guitar Summit 2026, a fully analog pedal built around a custom op-amp and transformer stage rather than a conventional gain circuit. The company designed it to mimic the harmonic behavior of a specific late-1950s Gibson Les Paul, citing Joe Bonamassa's "Holy Grail" 1959 Standard and a Gary Moore-style "Greeny" voice as reference points, and added humbucker/single-coil and "LP/Strat" toggles so the circuit adapts to whatever guitar is feeding it.
Rather than emulating an amplifier, the Burstphonic tries to move pickup character itself into a pedal — Level, Bass, Sparkle and PAF controls shape harmonic bloom and touch response, with a dedicated out-of-phase mode for a hollow, Peter Green-style midrange. It's a limited run of 500 units, a reminder that the decades-old chase for "that PAF sound" is still producing genuinely new circuit ideas rather than just amp-in-a-box clones.
Credit: Peter Honoré (Danish Pete) (via source)
Why it matters
It reframes the chase for vintage PAF pickup tone as a signal-processing problem, giving players a reversible alternative to modifying or replacing valuable pickups.
From Guitar News to Guitar Progress
Discover it here. Learn how it works. Practice it until it's yours.
Today's focus in Practice: Technique — Clean hands. Clear sound.
Related
Fender Refreshes Its American Professional Flagship Series With V-Mod III Pickups
The 10-model update spans Stratocaster, Telecaster, offset and bass families, pairing revised electronics with new bridge and control details.
Oct 14, 2026
Walrus Audio Rebuilds Lore and Fable as Stereo MKII Ambient Pedals
Both $349.99 pedals add stereo processing, MIDI, expression control and 127 MIDI-accessible presets to their multi-algorithm soundscape designs.
Oct 14, 2026
Jade Electric Adds Clean Blend and Two-Band EQ to the Blackboard Outlaw Overdrive
The $175 Bakersfield-built pedal is designed to retain pick attack while moving from a clean push to a more forceful overdrive.
Oct 14, 2026
Sonic Research and MXR Bring the M400 Turbo Tuner to Wider Distribution
The true-strobe pedal combines ±0.02-cent accuracy, a switchable buffer and USB programmability in a compact $149.99 enclosure.
Oct 14, 2026