OVERDRIVE- SUPRO DRIVE .....innovative

Supro 1305 Drive    

A little history will help in getting an overview of this pedal. 

Supo during the 50's made entry level amps to meet the growing market of a youth wishing to emulate a new music. Rock and Roll.

By the 60's they were slowly loosing market share to Japan and eventually went bust.

In today's world the funky character especially of their distortion has created a new demand.

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Keep in mind Supro would have loved to produce a distortion free amp at the time. Distortion was not a selling feature. A clean crisp tone with lots a headroom was the sign of a good amp. 

In short the amp was considered by the pro's of it's day cheap crap...but by today's standards has a nice very funky distorted tone,

They used a highly underpowered transformer that because it had no headroom would easily distort and 'sag'.
It is this 'sag' that is unique to Supro. A lucky accident. But hell...who cares...it sounds cool.

The reissues capture the sound but they are damned expensive.

I find it crazy that you can buy a Mesa Boogie for the same price!
You pay for the Mercedes and they give you a Chev !!!  LOL

In fact considering they are modestly constructed and lack any versatility they are overpriced. They are a one trick pony. In a few years you will want better ...and the fad at present will die. The resale value will tank.

SUPRO DRIVE

Current Price $219.00 USD

Consider a big part of the Supro name right now has a lot to do with fashion. Retro is cool!

They could have sold just about any overdrive with the Supro name.

So credit where it is due. They spent 3 years getting a real transformer to capture the unique 'sag' of the Supro.

I am fairly sure they are first in using a transformer to give a natural tube amp saturation.
It does a great job.When the fashion changes...you can still have your funky pedal and probably a nice tube amp (which I hope will not be a Supro) Get a tube amp that has a great clean sound that can be used with any OD. Including perhaps the Supro Drive
.

It is, if nothing unique, I had to kick out my Tube Screamer
to get it on my board.

Nearly every OD when I get it either takes me some time to get something good out of it. Or I find I can't and sell it. The Supro did it's magic the minute I plugged it in. I bought it for a bit of a change of sound from my Marshalls. I thought maybe one song in a set. WOW this is no second place pedal!
It has got a rich luscious tone and the response to my touch is the best of any pedal I have tried.

Check it out!

I have had this pedal for about 6 months.During that time I acquired a Tele. WOW!!! A match made in heaven.Jimmy Page recorded the first 3 Zep albums with a Tele and a small Supro amp.Now I now why.If you are a Tele player and want an OD...this is not only it...It could be the only OD you will ever need.

Ever wonder why the old amps looked like they do?

Simple...you need to build an amp into some kind of box...and make it portable but reasonably light and strong.

 Answer? A suitcase.



The amps looked like the suitcases of the 20's, 30's and 40's. Smaller cut outs for the speakers offered more strength and protection. They even had a handle.
I suspect many prototypes were actually suitcases. I also suspect small startup companies ordered modified suit cases from the suitcase manufacturers rather then set up a shop to build their own.

OVERDRIVE- The BOGNER BURNLEY DISTORTION .....currently very hot....but

THE BOGNER BURNLEY OD

Hardly a new kid on the block is Bogner. The guy who does some very nice channel distortions.
They are analog clones of his own amplifiers. I owned one for a short time. What I hated is that it only sounded great by increasing the volume a lot higher then unity gain. If I switched from it to any other pedal my volume on that pedal nose dived. Totally impractical. 

The new Bogner pedals are more conventional...smaller and have their own voicing. There own voicing being very much in the Marshall JCM 800 camp. They are not Bogner amp sound alikes.

What sets them apart is not new but new to the average consumer
If you are trying to get a great tube sound...a FET transistor is the usual substitute. 
But tube amps all have a massive and necessary transformer! Pedals do not! 
At least 99 percent do not.

The Supro Drive being the only one I know of.

So they not only have a transformer but they got the very old master of small transformer design Rupert Neve to design it. Not that I believe a great young designer could not do as well...but having the Porsche of transformers does wonders with sales. Guys like me are supposed to be impressed and let you know. LOL 
Well it's all great fun for the industry..and a nice buzz for old Rupert...so I have no problem with it.

Current Price $230.00USD

Current Price $219.00 USD

The Burnley ... reminds me a lot of the JHS At.
The voicing is similar...but since they are both in JCM 800 territory there no end of comparisons.
The  Burnley however is fatter with a smoother creamy sound and with more headroom and sustain .  Bogner has also borrowed the tight feature from Amptweaker.

What is cool about it is it gets that overkill sound without that annoying harsh crackle of  someone crushing a beer can on every note you play that you get with all boost features.  I really hate boosts that use a harsh crackling distortion. This is usually done by having 2 gain stages in the pedal with one using a nasty clipping diode.
My guess is that the transformer smooths this out so you get the bite without the crackle.

(Note: 2 gain stages in one pedal  is the same as 2 pedals each with only one gain ...stacked so that one pedal overdrives the second. The Joyo Deluxe Crunch is a cheap 2 gain stage pedal which gives it a lot of versatility).

So what we have is a very good JCM 800 Marshall that gives you the option to be punishingly overdriven until it hits the WOW! wall.
In this case a double WOW !!!

This ain't no middle age friendly Dumble Overdrive.
It is a pedal that never looses good tone...but can keep up with the best Metal pedal.

$50 bucks more gets you a nifty
$2.00 piece of wood glued on top

TIME TO GIVE THE BURNLEY A LISTEN.

If you love it I do not blame you. If it is your main OD/DISTORTION....no problem the thing can
 shred with the very, very best !!!!

                                                                                 


  

IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT BE IMPRESSED 

A REAL WORLD TEST

I decided to take a chance on the Burnley. Sound familiar?
I am always on the search for the ultimate dirt box to solo on. I have lots of overdrives for everything else. This will be my fourth try...in other words each box so far has been better but not perfect
We all want great tone and a fat sound...but that has not been my complaint.
The thing I am looking for is a pedal that when I hold a long note it swells and heads for some screaming overtones. With enough volume almost any pedal can do that.
But ...can it do it playing about 5 watts thru a small practice amp?

It definitely sounds as good as the first video
But in my opinion not as good as the JHS At which is old school
..without the much toted transformer.
It is actually a bit fuller then the JHS and the sustain is quite good.
As for that lift off into the clouds it is much better then average.

Are there better OD/distortion's out there...no but there are choices as good as.

If you see yourself heading to this pedal  do yourself a favour and compare it with the
Friedman BE-OD first,
.

NEWCOMERS GUIDE....find the cheap stuff quick

IF you are new...do not let the posts of the cream of the cream pedals confuse you. With months of research all the really great  super cheap pedals are 98 percent covered. To keep things easy for you the other 2 percent get added to the original Post as they arrive.  Go to ....So lets Buy an Overdrive...a very ...very old post....and you will find pedals from that day to today. The months old reviews are updated when I find out something more about a pedal. Prices go up and down and are kept up to date. So...if you like the idea of an amazing Delay for $23 or a fantastic Overdrive for $25....then plough in it is all here.

The Best of the best are here to compare the cheapies too. We all love to dream!!! Many players will treat themselves to at least one gourmet pedal. If you do...you want the choice of the best...I think there are never more then 4 or five choices in each category. You do not want to miss a good one...worst yet buy a 'me too' pedal. A pedal made by a good brand that is a poor copy of the very best of another brand. At 2 or 300 hundred dollars that is a painful mistake.

ALL THE CHEAPIES ARE LABELLED BY THE TYPE OF PEDAL FOLLOWED BY SDS

REVERB-SBS
OVERDRIVE-SBS
WHATEVER-SBS

OVERDRIVE- MENATONE'S THE KING. Dead accurate Marshall voicing...and a raw and very different overall tone

MENATONE ...THE KING.

Menatone have been producing Marshall based overdrives since 1996. The most notable has been the King of the Brits. Menatone remind me of Analog Man ...both make handmade pedals and have a cult like following. Both take a very individual approach.

So...what's so different about Menatone. The most notable for me is that all the popular Marshall type OD's are obvious trying to create some kind of tube sound...and in the pedal world a transistor replaces the actual tube. The closet transistor to a tube sound is a FET.  I have no complaints but I have always suspected they are what give the pedals sound an overall gloss to the sound. Think of it this way. A tube amp being a painting...and a pedal that cloned that being that same painting but with a piece of glass over it. This is not a criticism...just an observation. So what impressed me is the Menatone 'King" sound does not have glass over it.
There is something slightly surreal about it.  It is like a waxwork figure that suddenly comes to life.
Menotone has a kind of rawness you hear from a real amp without FX of any kind in an average sounding small room. I can not imagine anything more 'real' then this pedal. I am sure if recorded in a band situation it would fool us all.
Some of my most exciting pedals are really a take on a bombastic overkill, overproduced recording of a good tube amp. I do love them for that. LOL

BUT THIS IS NOT A THEATRICAL SOUND.... IT IS THE REAL DEAL !!!

Current Price $199.00 USD

Years of making Marshall OD's from the JTM45 thru all the Plexi's to JMC800's and  cherry picking the best as individual boxes have now all been put in one pedal ...and Brian Mena has done a stellar job of pulling it off.

In the last few years pedals keep popping up that have ripped off his basic voicing design. No they are not cheaper because of it. It simply needs great parts to pull off. The cheapest I found was a certain Japanese company. The best they can do is save you $10.00 USD. So this pedal is a great way to give them all the finger. LOL  Yes..for $10.00 USD more you get the "best of" all the Menatones pedals...not just a knock off of one of them.

BUT HOW DOES IT SOUND?

You can get a convincing Rolling Stone bottom heavy chunky distortion right up to a classic 70,s Metal and beyond that to a modern tight sounding Metal. This pedal has nailed the basic sounds that it was designed to do. I do not know of any (even the best) that have nailed the gutsy clean/dirty Stones sound

What makes it easy to get accurate distinct voices is how the drive and gain knob work. If you set the drive low ...the gain reacts with less crunch ...but with the correct balance of the two. For example if you are trying for an early Plexi 100 watt amp. The drive is set low but the gain now reacts to the natural gain which that kind of amp being emulated has. So ...you then get a Hendrix 'The Wind Cries Mary' sound or a very 'Stones' like sound
.
The 3 way EQ then sets up your sound to perfection.
It does not end there either...pull off the back and you have even more control! A trim pot to zero in a 60''s thru 70's voicing....and a modern /vintage switch.

I think a lot of Marshall OD's are really giving you a Marshall plus Boss SD-1 sound because hundreds of classic recordings were made with that combination...nice ...but not accurate. I have these pedals and some are my essential tools. BUT...I would love to get a pedal with the correct voicing too. The King can do this.

The most impressive thing is something one does not generally buy a Marshall pedal for.
A dead accurate clean sound with the sound of the amp just before it breaks up.
Think about it... this sound is the root sound of a real amp.
If this can be done dead on. The distorted sounds are based off a real amp...not someone's imagination.
.
This pedal is really an accomplishment ...

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Current Price $199.00 USD

What a great novelty is it's name

The King.

meaning The King (period) lol

Inside the pedal is a switch that allows you to go from a classic sound to a modern overkill...I have mine modern. There is a small trim type pot to move between a 60's to 70's sound. I like the 60's
I find this best for a Rythm/Lead sound. Cuts like a knife and is a very controllable sound that gives you good sustain but tight enough for playing fast passages.

 Menatone is a one man show. Brian Mena...He loves what he does ...he is some what of a perfectionist....and  getting rich is a very low priority. 
He makes 11 pedals...but it appears all but 2 take a 3 week wait if you order them.
in fact since ordering mine he seems to have zero inventory of any of his pedals .lol

The site is called ...Menatone Pedals and Pipes....yup Pipes
Tobacco pipes...you naughty boy....not those...but tobacco pipes.
now...if I want a Lear Jet...I do not tend to go to a bath tub site...lol

I might add ... if you want a pipe ..apparently he has no inventory of those either.  lol

Ok...ya gotta love this guy.

DISTORTION: ....METAL DISTORTION at it's best for the least !!!

AMPTWEAKER

Jame Brown spent years and years either hot rodding or designing and building amps.
.......does the 5150 sound familiar,

Working for Peavey... EVH and countless others, The ultimate Metal amp ...was born.
the 5150 !!!
One day he decided he could do the same for pedals as he had accomplished with amps so out of this Amptweaker was created..

AMPTWEAKER TIGHT METAL PRO

Nothing has been overlooked on this pedal...it even has 3 effects loops and a noise gate...it is built like a tank. Even as complex as it is...all the functions are intuitive and easy to use.

Current Price $320.00 USD

.
..check out the vids...it is much easier to get an overview of the multitude of functions and how to use them when you can see the pedal having each knob and switch moved and tweaked.It would be a bit of a challenge to only be able to read about the functions.


So...interesting at the very least....yes?
Or even mind blowing.
If you still think you have heard better...Try Putting anything else beside this pedal you will find that this pedal is noticeable fatter...much fatter. If it isn't...they make the
Fat Metal Pro model of this pedal...lol

They make the ST a smaller version but it makes some compromises.

NICE PEDALS

Wow...but the price!!!!!   DOUBLE AND and triple f@cking  OUCH !!!

to the rescue............ 

AMPTWEAKER TIGHT METAL JR

Can Amptweaker make an even smaller cheaper version with nothing important missing? 

Functions on the pro that would be accessed by a knob or normally could be be abandoned have been dialed into their sweet spot and put on a small switch. This has been done very,very well..I have the Big Rock Pro and the Plexi switch nails it. ....Yes....They made changes without compromises.

Why not let the man himself explain.

.
Even if you do not play metal this little wonder is a dream. Sometimes a solo really needs some meat on the bones. Or...I use a few Fuzz boxes which sound great on some tunes but that can get tiresome and a huge Metal sound gives me effective second  choice. I love it for that
.
If a modern metal sound isn't your thing just click on the 'Fat' switch and you get a classic  80's JCM 800 sound when it was being slammed by a Boss DS-1. The sound was so popular it was on countless records. New players listening to those records at the time thought it was just the Marshall putting out this sound.Oops! lol
Still a sound used by many players in many styles. If it ain't broke...don't fix it!


The width is 2.7 inches.
So it fits nicely on a crowed board.

Current Price $160.00 USD

...a very nice discount considering it has the same sound as the Pro

I hope you checked out the video...from 'THAT PEDAL SHOW' with an excellent player Rabea Massaad comparing some of the best METAL pedals. Note it was the Amptweaker that was his top choice.
...and since the 'Junior' has the same sound....mmmm

Well I found it convincing ...My 'junior' pedal is on it's way.

THE REASON WHY AMPTWEAKER PRODUCTS ARE SO DAMN GOOD IS THAT IT RIDICULOUSLY EASY FOR A GUY LIKE ME OR YOU TO WRITE TO MR. BROWN AND SUGGEST CHANGES IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW PEDALS.

 HE LISTENS !!!

THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT AMPTWEAKER DISTORTIONS IS THAT THEY SOUND AMAZING EVEN IF YOUR GUITAR AND AMP HAVE CHALLENGING LIMITATIONS.....or are crap  LOL

...after hearing how good the JR. pedals sound ....if I new this before ...I would not have got the 
Big Rock Pro. 

The fat switch on the Jr. gives you a very convincing 80's Marshall JCM 800 Brown sound.  It is impossible not to love the versatility of this pedal. I feel the "tight' switch ties up a modern metal sound in a bow. But of equal quality is the JMC 800 Brown sound. It makes me feel that I have scored two super quality pedals in just one tiny box. A real keeper!!!

LOOPERS.....how does $32.00 USD sound???

LOOPERS

Popular music for hundreds if not thousands of years has been all about simple singable tunes.

In rock we now have virtuoso players knocking off triplicates at blazing speeds...BUT underneath all that is a simple tune...maybe even a single cord or riff.

So what could be more obvious in this golden age of digital but to make the 'LOOPER' pedal.

A simple looper pedal allows the player to record a few minutes or less a of some of music that can then with the tap of a switch keep playing over and over again until another click of the switch turns it off

On a basic model...the controls are usually simple...a switch that turns it on to either record or play ...and to turn it off or even erase the recording and a knob to change the volume.

TC ELECTRONIC DITTO 

This the Looper that put Loopers on the map. It is the iPhone of Loopers. Not an original idea but a very user friendly affordable pedal. So successful that the company even lowered the price to insure the competition would have a very hard time taking away 'market share'.

PRICE
$94.00 USD

AMMOON  AP-09 NANO LOOP

This is some what of a mystery pedal. Joyo manufacturer the Ammon product. This is simply a rebranded Joyo Ironman Looper. But the puzzle is ...they do not have a Looper in that line.
The case size is clearly Nano...(that's 3 regular size guitar picks running lengthwise)
 It is a Joyo Ironman case but the little clear plastic plexi lid is not added.

The standard Joyo product is usually a clone ...a damn good accurate ...same as ...clone.
If necessary they will uses Japanese and German parts to make it. We are talking about a quality product. I have 2 of there OD,s sitting on my board beside Gourmet OD's and they are equal in every way except price.

Current Price $32.00 USD

Unfortunately the Joyo Digital Reverb and Delay ...do not publish their specs to use for a comparison. We have only their reputation and the fact that digital chips to use for this function have a half decent spec even if they are the cheapest. The fact that they love to 'clone' would suggest to me that the obvious place to start sits inside the Ditto...LOL 

Unfortunately the loop time is
10 minutes...the Ditto is 5
so maybe it is not a clone?? 

YES...there is a vid. Shame on you...if you laugh all the way through 

It's a few months since I wrote this and we now have second video.
Better too. Not in english but...we get to hear it. 
The playback sounds the same as the live sound. A good sign. 
BUT we are not listening with high end recording or playback
I expect high end loss. Still...this thing looks very useable.

- a new demo Jan 2017

it says Rowan ...but Rowan gets their pedals from Mooer

and this is not a Mooer looper...there are other vids of Rowan/Mooer Loopers.

so this is still a mystery?

Well...I have a Ditto...at $94.00 USD ...not a big splurge.

BUT...at $34.00 USD...and the nano size ...what the F.  you have nothing to loose ...having to sell it later should be easy...and you are bound to get your money back.