MusicRadar Verdict
The Kernom Ridge Overdrive is a formidable addition to any guitarist's arsenal. Five drives combined with some ultra-flexible EQ controls means it can play a huge amount of different roles, and you get the unique addition of being able to sweep through different overdrive sounds via an expression pedal. For any guitar player who wants all the classic drive sounds along with some rarer recreations without buying multiple pedals, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Pros
- +
Delivers many classic overdrive circuits in a single pedal.
- +
Some of the best build quality I’ve encountered on a pedal.
- +
Really useful EQ section lets you sculpt a lot of different sounds.
Cons
- -
Small delay when using on/off footswitch.
- -
Very heavy for a stompbox.
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What is it?
With overdrive pedals being ten-a-penny these days, it’s a rare thing indeed when you come across one that does things a little differently. There are a lot of dual and multi-overdrive pedals available on the market, but the Kernom Ridge Overdrive manages to pack a full five different drive circuits into one unit, alongside the ability to seamlessly morph between them all.
It’s an enticing prospect, not least because it covers everything from transparent clean boost to Klon clone tones, to Tube Screamer mid-hump and higher gain tones that go all the way into fuzz territory. That you can morph between them in real time, rather than just clicking from preset to preset, makes it a heady prospect for those in search of tones hitherto untapped.
Specs
- Launch price: $299 | £299 | €299
- Type: Multi-overdrive pedal
- Controls: Mid, Mood, Volume, Post Tone, Pre Tone, Drive
- Features: 5mm thick aluminium casing
- Connectivity: Audio in, audio out, expression in, MIDI in, MIDI out
- Bypass: True Bypass (electromechanical relay switching)
- Power: 9V DC, 300mA power supply (not included)
- Dimensions: 11.2 cm deep x 16.4 cm wide x 5.2 cm tall (4.4 inches deep x 6.5 inches wide x 2 inches tall)
- Weight: 850g (1,8 lbs)
- Options: N/A
- Contact: Kernom
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★★
The Kernom Ridge takes the platitude of being built like a tank quite literally, with a quality of construction that suggests it could survive being run over by one too. It’s amongst the most robust feeling chassis' I’ve ever had my hands on when it comes to guitar pedals, thanks to a 5mm thick aluminium casing painted in a matte, arctic white.
The level of quality stretches to the knobs, which feel very solidly applied. There’s zero give when you push them around, and the feel of turning them is very solid, which makes applying incremental changes a breeze. It’s a similar story with the footswitches too, which feel well applied and offer a satisfying click when you press them.
The robust build does mean it weighs a fair amount though, coming in much heavier than the majority of other stompboxes on my pedalboard. The weight puts it into multi-effects territory, which makes sense as it’s multiple overdrive circuits in a single pedal. For most players though, I imagine the ruggedness of it will make it worth the extra weight on your pedalboard, as I can see very little chance of it breaking while on tour.
Usability
Usability rating: ★★★★½
The Kernom Ridge does things a little differently from your average overdrive pedal
The Kernom Ridge does things a little differently from your average overdrive pedal when it comes to sculpting tones. Some of its controls are pretty self-explanatory, like Volume, Mid, and Drive, but the others require a little more digging to find out how they work. I like that each of the more traditional controls has a detent to let you know its middle position.
The Pre Tone knob controls how your incoming signal hits the overdrive circuit, enabling you to get a more compressed or open sound depending on which position it's in. The Post Tone circuit meanwhile, allows you to shape the tone after the overdrive circuit for a thicker, fatter sound, or a brighter, more cutting one.
It’s the Mood knob that’s the real star of the show here though, allowing you to cycle through five stages of overdrive. Position one gives you a clean boost, while the second position delivers those transparent Klon tones. The middle position is for classic Tube Screamer mid-hump sounds, while position four delivers high-gain tones that are ideal for lead work. The fifth and final position is heading into Rat territory, giving you near-fuzz distortion sounds.
It’s a shame the Mood knob doesn’t have a detent to tell you where the exact sound of the circuit is, as it would allow you to make better use of the in-between positions. The markings around the knob do a good job of visually telling you what the type of sound is though, with a graphic that gets progressively busier the further you turn the knob, separated by markers to let you know where a new sound begins.
You get two footswitches that allow you to turn the pedal on and off, and recall a single saved preset. You could theoretically save a preset, then set the pedal to a tone with the preset switch off to make two different sounds to use live, but further presets require the use of MIDI to access.
I do notice during initial testing that there’s an ever-so-slight delay when using the on/off footswitch, which is a little annoying if you want to quickly change from clean to driven sounds. It’s a small bit of latency that can be accounted for, so it doesn’t make the pedal unusable, but it’s enough that I do notice it when trying to quickly change from a clean to a driven sound.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★½
Sitting down with the pedal I plug it straight into my Orange Rocker 32 tube amp, with a humbucker-equipped Gretsch semi-hollow at the other end to see what sounds I can get out of it. I start with all the knobs at the mid position, apart from the Mood knob, which I set at the far left position.
Here, the pedal delivers the classic boost experience, pushing the clean channel of my amp into a very pleasing touch of drive. Turning the master volume knob down on my guitar means I can go from clean to lightly driven, and all the while it doesn’t touch the overall tonality of my amplifier.
Changing to the next sound I’m straight into Klon territory, this time a very classic rock-sounding crunch with the Drive knob at the midway point. I can still get a clean sound by rolling back the volume knob, but with the volume all out, it’s great for classic-inspired open chords and single-note licks.
The difference between the Klon and Tube Screamer sound is a lot more subtle than I expect though. I can hear a very slight difference moving the Mood knob between the two, the Tube Screamer position being a bit fuller-sounding as that mid-hump comes into play, but it’s not a drastic change going between the two.
Moving on to position four, the change is pretty dramatic this time. We’re into high-gain now, and I can really hear the low end starting to fill out in this setting. I can now chug power chords and the leads really ring out, especially as I add more of the Drive setting. It manages to sound wonderfully articulate though, even with the Drive knob cranked to the maximum.
Finally I get to mode five, which is well beyond overdrive and delivers the harder clipping of distortion. With the Drive knob in the middle position, I get a lovely Rat-esque sound that’s super saturated, yet still clear-sounding when you play full chords. Cranking the Drive knob gets you into those almost fuzz-type sounds with a little spit to its snarl.
During all of my sound testing I find the Pre and Post Tone EQs do a fairly subtle job of changing the tonality, which still allows the core drive sound to shine through. They’re more of an overall tone shaper rather than handling any particular aspect of the frequency spectrum, with fuller, warmer sounds tending to be at the lower positions, while the higher values add brightness and clarity.
Verdict
Having reviewed a couple of other Kernom pedals, they’ve never failed to impress me with their ingenuity. It’s a very radical approach to a very, very crowded marketplace, and the Ridge does something different, which makes it genuinely worthy of praise. The Mood knob is a really cool invention, and its ability to sweep through different drive sounds makes dialing in your perfect level of saturation easy and intuitive.
It’s a very radical approach to a very, very crowded marketplace
It is rather large and heavy though, which might put some players off. I also found that for live playing, the slight lag of switching the pedal on or off could interfere with the flow of some guitar players. These are slight criticisms on an otherwise singular overdrive pedal that currently has very few pedals to directly compete with it.
MusicRadar verdict: The Kernom Ridge Overdrive is a formidable addition to any guitarist's arsenal. Five drives combined with some ultra-flexible EQ controls means it can play a huge amount of different roles, and you get the unique addition of being able to sweep through different overdrive sounds via an expression pedal. For any guitar player who wants all the classic drive sounds along with some rarer recreations without buying multiple pedals, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | One of the most solidly built pedals I've ever had my hands (and feet) on | ★★★★★ |
Usability | Really easy to start crafting sounds, but a slight latency when switching it on or off | ★★★★½ |
Sounds | Delivers a huge variety of classic overdrive sounds | ★★★★½ |
Overall | An overdrive pedal that does something genuinely different from everything else | ★★★★½ |
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