It's purely coincidental (unlike their forthcoming album collaboration (opens in new tab)) but both Eric Gales (opens in new tab) and Joe Bonamassa (opens in new tab) have new signature overdrive pedals (opens in new tab) out, with MXR and Way Huge, respectively.
Bonamassa's is actually more than an overdrive but we'll get to that after the MXR Raw Dawg – Eric Gales signature mini overdrive pedal. It's not his first signature pedal as he had a limited sold out run of the Brute Drive with EWS (opens in new tab) that Gales had on his pedalboard (opens in new tab) when we did this rig tour (opens in new tab) with him in 2017. Availability here will be much wider and this pedal is also coming in at a relatively accessible £127.99 in the UK.
The MXR Raw Dawg Overdrive (Raw Dawg is also the name of Gales' signature head with DV) features a custom designed circuit based around 'classic OD pedals' – as usual the specific inspirations aren't named but this take balances out the mid range frequencies and up the gain "for a more open and natural sound when cranked".
It's a reassuringly simple control layout too; three controls with Output, Tone and Drive.
The new Way Huge Penny Saver Royale only has four, despite housing two independent effects. One is the familiar Overrated Special Overdrive (opens in new tab) that was released as a standalone in 2016. Designer Jeorge Tripps (opens in new tab) modded his Green Rhino design for Bonamassa with a more pronounced midrange (noticing a theme here?) and also added a 500Hz knob that to offer a boost or cut around the low-mid frequency.
5 overdrive pedals guitar players need to try (opens in new tab)
On the Penny Saver Royale ($299 from JBonammasa.com (opens in new tab)) it's joined by modulation – specifically the Blue Hippo Chorus with a custom delay time tailored for Mr B. See the big man demo it above – it sounds great, but what doesn't when Bonamassa is playing it?
More info at Way Huge (opens in new tab) but the Raw Dawg is yet to be listed on the Jim Dunlop site (opens in new tab)with the current MXR catalogue.
