Walrus Audio launches new-and-improved Iron Horse V3 distortion pedal

Walrus Audio Iron Horse V3
(Image credit: Walrus Audio)

Following the Eras high-gain distortion pedal – which was launched back in September – Walrus Audio has announced its latest dirt box, the Iron Horse V3.

Touted by the US-based company as a “thick, punchy, riffy and rowdy” take on a classic LM308 distortion circuit, the Iron Horse V3 is – as you'd probably guess – the third in the company's line of Iron Horse distortion pedals.

Where previous iterations of the Iron Horse feature a three-way toggle switch for flicking between clipping modes, the Iron Horse V3 features a new blend-style potentiometer knob, which allows the player to blend between higher-compression symmetrical silicon clipping on the left and lower-compression diode clipping on the right.

Walrus Audio notes: “Since the Si/LED knob is changing the internal gain and clipping style, the other controls will behave slightly differently as well. You will need to use the volume knob to adjust the overall output up or down depending on where you have the knob set.”

Other updates from previous Iron Horse versions include top-mounted jacks – ideal for maximum pedalboard real estate efficiency – a soft relay true bypass switch and a fixed volume drop-off when the distortion knob is at minimum.

Visually, the pedal features a gold-finished enclosure with black artwork designed by illustrator David Hüttner.

The Iron Horse is available now for $199. For more information, head to Walrus Audio.

Walrus Audio hasn't just been in the business of distortion pedals in 2021; back in May, the company launched the iguana-adorned Polychrome analog flanger.

Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.