OVERDRIVE- Greer Amps Burning Goat...best low gain OD I've heard?

Greer Amps Burning Goat

If this OD was turned on and being played when I entered a room

you would be looking for an old beat up Fender Twin or similar. The pedal can come dangerously close to clone this clean sound.

Well the Burning Goat OD gives you this in a box so you can have it even at a low volume.

Very impressive.

Greer seem to specialize in this almost clean sound as they make 3 other pedals that go for a very similar type of sound.

The Light Speed, Relic and Tone Smuggler are voiced different ...and are progressively a bit dirtier but essentially they are the same idea. All are low gain to medium gain OD's.

I feel that Burning Goat which  has the second highest gain is the best of the lot. It is noticeably richer sounding even when the gain is close to off.

Light Speed is bit light weight. The Relic and the Tone smuggler are just a bit too dirty.

The sound based off of the 4558 opamp chip which is the guts of a Boss DS-1 Distortion. Obviously the gain is set much lighter then the Boss.
Greer likes to point out that this is not a Tube Screamer. The stores that sell it say it is. This is either a reasonable assumption or an easy way to communicate it's use.

Yes Greer is right it is not a Tube Screamer...but it is
dangerously close to the Paul Cochran Timmy.

Yes the colors have been an option..
At one point they represented a circuit change.
But now all Timmy's have the original design.

The Timmy has been a success with both the critics and the players when the Timmy arrived in the '90's.

Just about all the well known Pedal makers make a Timmy clone ...EH, Danelectro, Roc Box, Dod, Jan Ray, and  Love Pedal are just a few.  Yes ...there are a few China  jobbies too. lol

Just released is the Walrus Warhorse ...yet another Timmy!

Greer did not design the 'Goat' and they already had the Light Speed that I would think is there Timmy clone.They also had two other low gain OD's

So what's up?

The guy who designed the Burning Goat had a deal fall thru with another maker so Greer got offered the pedal.
Why did he buy it then? They design their own pedals.
What's more why are the parts encased in epoxy.
I think they could hear the critical difference. Remember the original Klon also had it's parts in epoxy. Alas no mater how close the various Klon style pedals are ...you can hear the difference. Subtle but ...Hey !!!

I look at this pedal as the first iPhone.... a Blackberry copy but very much improved. LOL
Hardly objective I know.

I have been looking for a pedal like this for a long time. At very low volumes a clean sound of any kind can sound scratchy and feeble. All other low gain Drives have a some smooth jazz like tone or they are fuzzy, fizzy or thin. The distortion in the 'Goat' starts with a defined attack of the note that gives the chords and notes a solid and brisk definition. At the same time there is great blanket of warmth around that inner sound. After many listening it occurred to me the warmth is very similar to the kind you get with a semi acoustic ...like a Gibson 335 or one of many Gretsch guitars.

As for my personal settings I leave volume at 10 o'clock (unity gain)
the gain on 11 o'clock and the tone at 9 o'clock.

Very subtle but very impressive.

CODA

So...after trying every other option...the Tube Screamers.. the Klon's then I tried the low gain part of the King of tone ....and next to the original Timmy.
Finally I have at least found 'one' low gain OD that I like.

There are many tunes I wrote that need a pedal like this... and so far it has been a frustration to play those tunes.

Fortunately I know the distributor . So I got my 'Goat' pedal in a day. lol

Scott Hager of Axe & You Will Receive ...his store is a gold mine of amazing hard to find pedals
the guy  knows more then all other online dealers put together no other store is so ahead of the curve then Scott's. In fact world wide and I mean world wide ...those that pride themselves in buying for sound over hype and popularity shop here. So check out the store!
I asked Scott to play my pedal before shipping it (even the best pedals can have a fault). When I took it out it was already set to 'the' sweet spot. How cool is that?

SO IS IT THE BEST TRANSPARENT OD ON THE PLANET???

Well maybe but it has some issues... It likes to work best with just a bit more gain then how
I want to use it.
It is a thing onto itself ..it definitely has it's own personality. A very identifiable sound.
Highly listenable.

I just ordered a Alek K Production Sunbeam Magic Drive. It is a wait and see. But on vid it definitely can give you that tube amp clean sound with just a hint of distortion. It has a Marshall JTM45 sound.
Or if you like a Bluesbreaker sound. So it is just a bit metallic...but definitely not strident ...like a fresh set of strings. The Exotic BB preamp OD comes to mind...but the Xotic is not even close to the rich harmonic sound of the Sunbeam. Yes I tried the Blues Breaker Xotic route too...but it had no warmth.

So check out the Sunbeam before you leave today. The two sounds are quite different. The Sunbeam is very, very amp like where as the Goat has synthetic approach...a real tube amp would not make this sound. After all people pay hundreds to get a real Klon ...and there is quite definitely no amp in the world with that sound. Do not get me wrong if a pedal sounds great I buy it ...after all I did buy the Goat.
Perhaps it is like a nice leather jacket on a hanger...that says BUY ME...but I found the cut and style did not fit ...after I tried it on.
So why not try on the Sunbeam before you leave.
Either pedal is great ...but one that fits you may not fit me.