OVERDRIVE- CHOCOLATE ELECTRONICS Chocolate Drive ...impossible not to like!

 CHOCOLATE ELECTRONICS CHOCOLATE DRIVE 

$370.00 USD ?

Whoa! One second in and I'm sold. Chocolate Electronics is in fact Tetsuro Horino from Japan.
He handmakes every pedal. This OD really 'is' something different.
This pedal is super fat. It is harmonically one of the richest sounds I've ever heard.
It assertive but not a bit aggressive. The mids are huge right across the spectrum with a very full bass.
The sound has a light as air quality. Every note comes at you like a huge puff of smoke.

A simple set up of treble, bass, drive and volume.

I see this as an alternative to the many transparent pedals for vocal accompaniment. It is stellar
for big chords backing anything. It is NOT
for blistering solo work. Not what you have or use this I am sure of.
This would be an amazing second pedal for anyone.
Absolutely impossible not to like!

It sounds good on both hummies and single coil PU's
It does a great job of not masking the Strats natural tone. If you have single coils this is hard to resist!

It does sound a fair bit like T. Jaunerig Gristle King first introduced in 2006 which is still made and is $229.00.
This King has endless knobs and switches so it is a big pedal that needs a lot of real estate.
The Gristle King is not as dense and likes a bit of help with some break up on a nice amp.

The Choc. OD is unusually versatile. It is musical left anywhere on the sweep of the gain knob.

NOTE: seek out a direct from Japan store. 
In the west WD Music is the only source and they want $370.00 USD ...yes you read that right!!!!!
A Japanese site called World Shopping 
had a used one for $182.00 USA 
New it should be about $225.00 USD

You note I said 'had one'
I will give you a Hands on asap ...mine is shipped.




JUNE11/18
HANDS ON

Well I just got it. I had it up and going in a couple of minutes.
With the generic every thing at 12 o'clock setting the very first thing I noticed is the damn thing sustains big time ...I set the level on unity and hit another note. No difference that sustain was as good.
So the overall tone is indeed very rich sounding. changing the gain or EQ in any way really changes the sound. I truly think I could get 3 or 4 sounds out of it and in a blindfold test you could be told that each sound was different pedal.  Guys with very different styles could easily find a good sound. I would say it runs from hard rock to fusion ...just dial in your tone.
Unlike most pedals some of the best sounds are with the gain way down under 12 o'clock. having the treble just left or right with the bass pulled back gives you some incredible mid tones. Subtle changes in this area can make a great sound a killer sound.
It sounds so good with the gain turned all the way down some guys will use it for their always on clean sound!
Anyhow I was trying it with my little generic trashy practise amp. I virtually got it out of a dumpster. LOL So on the weekend at practise I will try it with my whole rig and then come back here and do a Part 2.
I got to make sure this is not a 'too good to be true' pedal. LOL