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moosers
Published on 05/03/10 at 12:50
The Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer is a boutique overdrive pedal that I've used with electric guitar. I don't know how well this would work with other instruments, but of course like any pedal it can be used with anything that has 1/4" connections to plug into it. Homebrew advertises the Power Screamer as their flagship pedal - and for very good reason. The pedal requires standard nine volt power and has 1/4" connections for input and output. It isn't rack mountable in any form.
UTILIZATION
After playing with the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer for only a few minutes, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on using it. Of course it took a little bit longer to learn how to get all the different possible tones from it, but it's typical functions and basic parameters are easy to understand and manipulate. These parameters include gain, level, and tone, which are pretty standard for overdrive and distortion pedals. However, it also has a three way diode selector, which is basically different types of tone modes, two of which have built in compression and one of which is for a classic overdrive sound. This selector is huge as it bumps the versatility of the pedal up a whole lot. It also has two foot switches for boost and for engaging the effect. I don't believe that users will need a manual for this.
SOUND QUALITY
I really can't think of a bad thing to say about the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer in terms of tone quality. It just doesn't get that much better than this one. It's extremely full and crisp sounding, with a tone of room for control and versatility. I've used the pedal in the recording studio where I was the engineer and not the player. The guitarist was using a Gibson Les Paul Studio and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The result of the tracks was really an incredible thing, and to date are some of my proudest work in terms of guitar sound quality. It was really a mix of the player and the equipment involved, but the Power Screamer absolutely had a major roll in this.
OVERALL OPINION
I was honestly expecting the price of the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer to be much more than it is, but to my delight it really doesn't cost much. It's in another world from many overdrive pedals out there that are this price, lower, and higher. IT will of course conjure up comparisons to the Tube Screamer, but I honestly like this pedal better than your standard Tube Screamer. If you're looking for a versatile overdrive pedal at a price that is impossible to beat for the quality, go no further than the Power Screamer.
UTILIZATION
After playing with the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer for only a few minutes, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on using it. Of course it took a little bit longer to learn how to get all the different possible tones from it, but it's typical functions and basic parameters are easy to understand and manipulate. These parameters include gain, level, and tone, which are pretty standard for overdrive and distortion pedals. However, it also has a three way diode selector, which is basically different types of tone modes, two of which have built in compression and one of which is for a classic overdrive sound. This selector is huge as it bumps the versatility of the pedal up a whole lot. It also has two foot switches for boost and for engaging the effect. I don't believe that users will need a manual for this.
SOUND QUALITY
I really can't think of a bad thing to say about the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer in terms of tone quality. It just doesn't get that much better than this one. It's extremely full and crisp sounding, with a tone of room for control and versatility. I've used the pedal in the recording studio where I was the engineer and not the player. The guitarist was using a Gibson Les Paul Studio and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The result of the tracks was really an incredible thing, and to date are some of my proudest work in terms of guitar sound quality. It was really a mix of the player and the equipment involved, but the Power Screamer absolutely had a major roll in this.
OVERALL OPINION
I was honestly expecting the price of the Homebrew Electronics Power Screamer to be much more than it is, but to my delight it really doesn't cost much. It's in another world from many overdrive pedals out there that are this price, lower, and higher. IT will of course conjure up comparisons to the Tube Screamer, but I honestly like this pedal better than your standard Tube Screamer. If you're looking for a versatile overdrive pedal at a price that is impossible to beat for the quality, go no further than the Power Screamer.