MusicRadar Verdict
A practical overdrive/distortion suitable for both guitar and studio applications.
Pros
- +
Versatile.
Cons
- -
Very few.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
There are many things about this overdrive that set it apart.
First, it works with a variety of instruments so has three selectable input levels and full stereo operation plus mono in/stereo out (besides standard mono), should you find a way to use that in your guitar chain.
It also has a Dry knob to blend in any amount of drive - useful for adding edge to a clean sound or keeping a certain amount of note clarity with a dirty sound.
The drive sound, based on three JFET gain stages, is amp-like from a touch of grit through to cranked stack, but you can go further with the ‘Boost’ footswitch, which engages an extra overdrive circuit to push the drive sounds harder, adding saturation and ultimately edging it into fuzz territory, all with active tone knobs delivering sonic shaping from mild to brutal.
“I remember thinking: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could ask Sting to sing that line?’ Suddenly someone said: ‘Sting’s here on holiday! He’s on the beach!’” How Mark Knopfler got lucky with Money For Nothing
“I got to jam with Stevie Wonder. Just me and him, one afternoon. We each had a keyboard and we were just trading riffs and jamming together and it was like, ‘Wow’”: Howard Jones talks vintage gear, his new piano album and that 1985 Grammys synth medley
“His studio was a temple to analogue, within which he made a point of always wearing a boiler suit”: 6 of the quirkiest producers who pushed recorded music further than ever before
