Pedals Week 2026: In late 2021, I lugged my 39lbs tube amp to play a basement gig in East London in front of 50 people. Fast-forward to summer 2025, and I was playing in front of 30,000 people at Portman Road Stadium.
This time, I left my amp at home. The venue may have been 59,900% bigger, but my rig had gotten smaller – probably by about the same rate.
Why? Because I had stumbled upon a pedal I thought I’d never find: one that convinced me to ditch my tube amp.
I grew up believing in the gospel of the tubes. I couldn’t envisage my rig without one. I thought ‘tube amps just sound better’ was a fact.
Given my line of work, I was well aware of modelers and the players who used them. But I never considered making the switch.
That reluctance was exacerbated when, after being forced to use my HX Stomp as a modeler for a silent stage show, I was left feeling underwhelmed with my tone. It was an uncomfortable and sobering experience.
But between the basement gig and stadium show, I realized that something a bit more practical probably would be a good idea, especially with my gigging calendar filling up. Traveling with my amp and pedalboard became tedious.
I also began dreading soundchecks, having had some poor shows with bad mics and dodgy FOH systems. Tone anxiety and insecurity became a big issue for me, and I was losing confidence in my rig.
Convenience and consistency became my main concern. I wanted to be able to turn up to a venue and plug in knowing exactly what my tone was going to sound like.
It was around this time that I reviewed the Nano Cortex. Without mincing my words, I was staggered at how good it sounded out of the box. An all-in-one rig station with a load of digital amps, cabs and effects from a pint-sized package, it proved to be the tipping point for me, and a watershed moment for my guitar rig.
I didn’t think it would happen to me. But it gave me what I thought modelers inherently lacked: a dynamic, expressive tone that sounded and responded like a genuine tube amp. It was the same feeling I had when I played my Strat for the first time; it just felt right, like I’d found the missing piece of a puzzle.
My pre-conceived notions well and truly challenged, I took the Nano Cortex to its first rehearsal, hoping it could replicate that performance in the mix. Lo and behold, it excelled where my HX Stomp had fallen short, and, perhaps more importantly than just sounding good, it gave me a renewed feeling of confidence in my tone.
I knew that, whatever the venue, and whatever the occasion, my rig was going to sound largely exactly how I dialed it. I didn’t have to worry about mic placements, stage volume, how the amp would react in the room, or anything else. I could simply focus on playing.
After trialing it at a few smaller sets, I rebuilt my pedalboard around the Nano Cortex just in time for the biggest gig of my life.
The Nano Cortex was revelatory for me because I needed something quite specific: a hybrid amp pedal I could use alongside my existing pedalboard, which I didn’t want to ditch completely. Hence my reluctance to play a floorboard a la the Quad Cortex, Tone Master Pro or Helix. The Nano Cortex landed in my lap at the right time.
Ultimately, it proved to be a stellar pedal platform that not only sounded like my real amp, but responded to my pedals like an amp as well, giving me the confidence to further experiment with my sound and setup, and arguably making me a better player.
The Nano Cortex was small, light, looked the part, and its companion app was highly effective. It fit the bill.
I’m now at the point where I can turn up to a show at the drop of a hat, bring everything I need in one bag, and confidently play with a solid and consistent sound. That, to me, is far more important than the romanticism of “pushing air” through my amp on stage.
Since first making the move to the Nano Cortex, I’ve done two headline tours, and a number of support shows at venues such as London’s Roundhouse and Eventim Apollo. I haven’t gigged with an amp in nearly three years, and I don’t think I will again. The confidence I have in my rig has never been higher.
