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mooseherman
Published on 06/08/09 at 16:36
This overdrive pedal is designed to replicate the sound of vintage tube amps. It basically functions simply as an overdrive pedal, nothing more. It can't be edited through a Mac or PC, it's not rackable. It's an analog pedal that uses a 1/4" input and output.
UTILIZATION
Like the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, this pedal only has three knobs. Unlike the Big Muff, it isn't really fuzzy or crunchy. The three knobs control level, tone, and gain. It's really easy to manipulate the sound of this pedal since there are only three knobs. The manual doesn't really say anything that the user can't figure out on his or her own.
SOUND QUALITY
I definitely liked the sound of this pedal. It's got a rich, warm, twangy tone that emulates the classic amps, like the Vox AC30. It's smooth and dynamic, which is what you want in overdrive (not necessarily for a distortion pedal). It sounds great with my Fender Twin amp when I use my Strat. It also sounds good on a Fender Deville on both the clean and distorted settings. When you really crank the gain, it can get really annoying and grating. I tend to avoid doing that as much as possible. It's not my favorite pedal but sometimes it works really well for what I'm trying to do.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the smoothness of the tone particularly. I don't really like the lack of versatility; I tend to get enough kick from my amps anyway, so I don't really need this pedal necessarily. It's good for someone who has a newer amp that doesn't replicate the sounds of the 60s very well. I think it was a good addition to my collection, but I would only recommend to someone in very specific situations. In the long run you're better off getting a better amp, like an AC30 or a Fender Twin. That would remove the need for overdrive of this type.
UTILIZATION
Like the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, this pedal only has three knobs. Unlike the Big Muff, it isn't really fuzzy or crunchy. The three knobs control level, tone, and gain. It's really easy to manipulate the sound of this pedal since there are only three knobs. The manual doesn't really say anything that the user can't figure out on his or her own.
SOUND QUALITY
I definitely liked the sound of this pedal. It's got a rich, warm, twangy tone that emulates the classic amps, like the Vox AC30. It's smooth and dynamic, which is what you want in overdrive (not necessarily for a distortion pedal). It sounds great with my Fender Twin amp when I use my Strat. It also sounds good on a Fender Deville on both the clean and distorted settings. When you really crank the gain, it can get really annoying and grating. I tend to avoid doing that as much as possible. It's not my favorite pedal but sometimes it works really well for what I'm trying to do.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the smoothness of the tone particularly. I don't really like the lack of versatility; I tend to get enough kick from my amps anyway, so I don't really need this pedal necessarily. It's good for someone who has a newer amp that doesn't replicate the sounds of the 60s very well. I think it was a good addition to my collection, but I would only recommend to someone in very specific situations. In the long run you're better off getting a better amp, like an AC30 or a Fender Twin. That would remove the need for overdrive of this type.