Carl Martin revs up Panama overdrive pedal
High-gain modded Plexi tones ahoy


Carl Martin has announced the Panama overdrive pedal, which aims to capture the sound of hot-rodded Plexi tones, as you may have guessed from the pedal’s EVH-referencing moniker.
Besides the usual gain, level and tone controls, the 'British Hot Modded OD' packs a damping knob to allow for tighter or looser bass response.
Based on the sheer amount of gain available (as heard in Pete Thorn’s demo below), we’d say this was more of a distortion pedal than an overdrive. Hot Modded OD, indeed.
The whole thing is packaged in Carl Martin’s anodised enclosure and features an internal DC/DC converter to run at 12V from a 9V power supply.
The Panama is available now for $199 - see Carl Martin for more info.
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
