Lovepedal Eternity Burst

Overview

The Lovepedal Eternity "Burst" overdrive pedal is one of many discontinued editions that Lovepedal has released over the years. The Burst overdrive in particular is one of the more notable models and is somewhat elusive, appearing occasionally on sites like eBay and other secondhand markets. Lovepedal has gained much of their popularity from high-quality, boutique overdrive pedals, and the Eternity Burst is no exception.

Hand-built in Ohio, the Burst overdrive features 3 knob controls: Volume, Gain, and Treble Cut (or "Glass" as it is labeled). The pedal is very "touch sensitive" and musical, allowing the guitar player to dig in for more grit, or back off for less of it. The controls are built to handle one extreme to the next: the gain can be set from a subtle boost to an all-out clipping distortion; the treble cut can take the tone from warm and fuzzy to bright and chimey; and the volume goes completely from 0 to 100. This pedal covers a wide array of tone, contained in a very simple box.

My Experience

There are few times this pedal is not on when I'm playing electric guitar. This is not because I don't like playing clean, but rather because I can clean up my sound by adjusting the guitar volume or backing off my guitar strings. Some describe this pedal as transparent, but I would disagree. I think the Burst overdrive adds a certain distinct character and fullness to my guitar signal, and I prefer to leave it on for that reason. Specifically, this pedal has a great tone for classic rock and blues, but paired with delays and reverbs it can take the sound to a whole new level. It makes ambient soundscapes sound huge (especially for me, because my guitar has low-output single coil pickups). On its own, it adds just the right amount of crunch for guitar solos, and rhythm sounds too.

Pros and Cons

The Burst overdrive is well built and the controls are very easy to figure out. It is powered by a 9V adapter or a 9V battery, although I prefer the power adaptor. Like many boutique, hand-built effects, you have to unscrew the entire back plate of the unit to replace the 9V battery, so it is much more convenient to use the AC adaptor option. Another important thing to note is the the pedal may need replacement "IC chips" from time to time that snap in and snap out of the pedal circuit. My Burst drive actually "died" on me once, but when I replaced the chip, all was well with the world.

Bottom-Line

Like any overdrive pedal, my opinions about the Lovepedal Eternity Burst are highly subjective. As I have said before, the Burst overdrive is not a transparent pedal. It will noticeably change the character of your sound, but if it's the right sound for you, then you may never want to turn it off.