OVERDRIVE-SITEK Coaco OD/Distortion ...impressive on every level!!!! ...a short list contender!

 SITEK COACO OD/DISTORTION 

$145.00 USD

Sitek are the new kid on the block. They are from Poland, according to the site but the pedals are handmade in Cork Ireland. One of the most impressive things is to flip off the bottom plate and quite literally marvel at all the hand done soldering and wiring. No cheaping out on the parts either. They do a full line of pedals and have built up a great rep in parts of Europe but now they have popped up over here simply on merit alone.

They use both soft and hard clipping and both are voiced to great effect. I think a lot of guys who have preferred pedals from either camp will end up using both as the Caoco hard clipping has bite but is not harsh and soft clipping is warm and rich but not the mellow jazz fusion thing. There is a lot of gain so you can get both great medium gain thru some nice high gain sounds.

The old school graphics will be pushing some buttons west of Poland but they are pretty tame.

CONCLUSION
Well made, two nice nice Brit voicing's, lots of gain and very reasonably priced!
A winner!!!

FUZZ- WAMPLER Fuzztration Brian took all the cool fuzzes and borrowed the best idea for a versatile killer Fuzz

$199.00 USD

 WAMPLER Fuzztration Fuzz 
A do it all fuzz from one box???
Well if anyone can do it Brian Wampler can.
There are a zillion fuzz boxes out there. Some
makers do only Fuzz pedals. There are more Fuzz makers then Fuzz lovers.Yes, more then any other pedal.
Wonder why?? Well actually most fuzz pedals are very simple things to make ....yes you can add a lot of extras to reshape the sound after the fact.
So amateurs turn pro often turn a hobby into a living. Because they are simple making that just right cool one can be a matter of a lot and I mean a lot of trial and error.
I can imagine it is great fun for the most part. lol
Anyhow Brian is a very good engineer with a lot of experience so seeing everything new and old that's great and how it's made etc. I do not think he finds it overwhelming. He can use his imagination to great affect like anyone but nothing in the tech end will have him baffled. It was of course a lot of work to get all that working together in one box. The Fuzztratio is the result!

 CONCLUSION 
All the crazy sounds in this little beauty are musically usable not just a massive sludgy distorted fart sound that must never have to produce more then one note at a time!
Nice one!  ...it is on my short list!!!

OVERDRIVE LUNASTONE Wise Guy True OD ....I find LS usually overprice & under performing BUT!

$285.00 USD

 LUNASTONE WISE GUY TRUE OD 

I have usually been unimpressed with Luna Stone
They do everything right but the sound lol
That might be OK if the prices were much lower But!

There other pedals were basically just another
Tube Screamer with bells and whistles. This
very much closer to a real tube sound.

CONCLUSION

The general tone is quite good overall and I know many of you like the two channel thing. If you graduate to a switcher pedal in the future the two switches are a hassle or simply a waste of money. 

Two OD are much better ...even better if they are two different brands. One can be designed to be a great medium gain and another a high gain etc.

I digress ...my point is I think there are better choices. Give the XTC Atomic Overdrive Post a listen it blows this out of the water!!! At $250.00USD it is not much cheaper but in either case ...just listen to the sound. Great tone with a heavy low end if you need it and lots of sustain!

AMPLIFIER- Marshall JVM 410H ....Marshall's best amp ever?

 MARSHALL JVM 410 

What's not to like?
This is Marshall's Flag Ship!
It is a 4 channel all tube amp that tries to cover everything from a JTM 45 to a Plexi to a JCM800 and
on....
Tube amps are tube amps ...so perfect duplication is all but impossible. Still there is so much here if you can not find a great Marshall sound ...you are either not trying or not listening ...or both!!!! lol

$2600.00 USD

REVERB & DELAY -Seymour Duncan Dark Sun ...I hate two things in one box BUT ...this is killer!

 SEYMOUR DUNCAN DARK SUN VERB/DELAY 


I have just acquired the Duncan Vice Grip compressor which is the killer of killer's. No shit I have many and have bought and sold many. 
OK I digress so just read the Vice Grip post. 

The video by Pete Thorn is so good I am getting out of the way. Just watch it. 

A short list contender for sure!

CONCLUSION
The audio quality of Duncan's pedals is a given
The actual dead cool thing about this unit is that it is easy to add ambient sounds to your tunes because although you can go to the totally crazy stuff with the Duncan you can stretch the standard usable stuff into a bit of the abstract without being forced to write parts to fit the box. If you write tunes and wish to communicate to an average audience the song must stand up on it's own without sci-fi special effects. Such guitar parts that constitute a good tune put thru this could well work. With many most of the ambient pedals it would mangle your tune into an audio turd!

OVERDRIVE-REVV G3 and REVV G4 comparison ...both great...both different

 REVV G3   &   REVV G4 

I do not have a serious Modern Metal pedal and after hearing them all ...I still keep coming back to the REVV. The thing about the REVV is it sounds amazing thru just about any combo and not too many players are schlepping around a full stack these days. I even use a Plexi head but I have it going thru a very small 12" open back cab LOL

Great!!! but now I gotta decide which one. My music is very 70's in so much it sounds great thru Marshall JTM 45 a Plexi or JCM800 pedals. A few of my songs have a chorus or bridge that is just simple power chords.
Do I go with the 3 because it still has
one foot in Marshall territory or with the
4 because it has much more drama?

CONCLUSION
One cool thing about both pedals is that REVV
have added a big boost bellow 60Htz to give
you the sound of a Marshall 4x12 1960s cabinet.

The Revv 4 has s fatter boost that is killer
but I like the exta tone and tighness of the
Revv 3.
Damn!!!

Check out the post REVV G's all of them

OVERDRIVE-XTS Atomic OD ...a Marshall OD pedal from 2012 that blows them all away ...NO SH@T!!! THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!!!

 XTS ATOMIC OD 

$250.00 USD

This pedal came out in 2012 and I reviewed it last fall.
It is the only OD that blew me away that I have not bought.
Why? Well I never have less then 20 OD at one time. Speaking about time ...there is also ...timing
We are all short on money from time to time ...if not flat out broke etc.
The main thing is I never can get this pedal out of my mind.

The damn thing is big and a little ugly. I think it is the
rectangle drawn around the mids switch and knob.
Add to that it ain't cheap either. In fact for guys reading this all over the world it could cost you with shipping and taxes the equivalent of $375.00 USD
Yes close enough to $400.00 to feel like it. lol

It is an early Marshall in a box. But damn it ...it's sooooo good. 
Part of that is due to getting rid of any 
annoying fizz.
Some of my OD have a bit too much ...but to be fair so does the 
real amp it copys lol.
Finally it ain't no one sound wonder. You can dial up anything from 
an early to a late model Plexi then with a couple turns on the knobs 
you get just as good JCM 800 sound. That sir ...is damn versatile!!!

I would have to put it beside 3 or 4 other 
pedals I own but I have a feeling that once 
compared it may well inch past them all.
In my book this will make it the best OD 
on the planet!

Sure it is rich and fat and balzy ...but so are others. 
The fact is the damn thing has that undefinable kind 
of charisma in it's sound. 
It is what makes players still buy an Ibanez Tube Screamer!!! 
Damn hard to just forget about once you hear it.

CONCLUSION
...no money! ...no room on my board even for a mini pedal 
...no reason to have it because my 23 OD's cover anything and 
   everything even if it takes all 23 to do that 
...so I did what I had to do.
I BOUGHT ONE!!!!

Love it but money really tight??? check out the Setek Coaco OD/Distortion POST and be amazed at what $145.00 USD will get you!

FUZZ- CRAZY TUBE CIRCUITS Limelight ...NEW! Just released ...NOS transistors and a circuit that covers all the 60's Brit Fuzz classics

$215.00 USD

 CRAZY TUBE CIRCUITS LIMELIGHT FUZZ 
A Greek pedal maker with a good long solid history of quality pedals.
Their latest Fuzz has only been out since late January.
The Limelight is a 60' Brit Fuzz that covers a lot of pedals that it can cover beautifully. The 60's germanium transistors are new old stock.
A Fuzz works by depriving the transistor enough voltage so they distort. The lower the voltage does cause problem as it lowers the level going to the output. C.T.C. puts a good clean powerful preamp in the box to overcome all this. With higher voltage settings you get what sounds like a high gain OD.

CONCLUSION
So there are a lot of great and different sounds you can pull out of the Limelight. Impressive ...very impressive. If you are looking for a classic Brit Fuzz ...you can not do better unless you buy several :-)

OVERDRIVE- LAWRENCE PETROSS Eighty7 ...slight return ...it's time for you to move from second best to the best!!!

 LAWRENCE PETROSS LPD Eighty 7 OD 

$245.00 USD

So those that follow might even have read the Dec 3/16 review or the second on Feb17/19. This pedal has grown in demand slowly but steadily. A guy buys one, lets his friend try it. Later that day another pedal is sold.
The damn thing is not just a killer ...it is a killer that kills other
killers. Just check these two vids!!!
Reviewers are asking Lawrence for the pedal to review... he used to have to ask them!!!

This little box can eat a Friedman BE-OD for breakfast!
I am talking majorly fat and the biggest balz on the planet!!!

So why show up at your next gig with second best!
Now's the time to have the pedal that speaks for you!!!

I got word from Lawrence to thank you guys that have your order in.
Hey how about the rest of you guys? If you do not support guys like Lawrence one day if you want a new dirt pedal you will have to buy Electro-Harmonic's next new version of the Big Muff!!!

OVERDRIVE- NESTLER FX Blue Phantom OD ...the kid makes a touchdown!

 NESTLER FX BLUE PHANTOM OD 

$155.00 USD

Odd sort of company. Sold out of Reverb and have the Blue Phantom and another unit the Vinny OD that looks home made. There is not any stock of eitherf or sale???
The pedal is a mid to high gain OD with 4 way EQ. the usual treble and bass but there is both a low and high mid. a good idea. the overall tone can with this much EQ be as fat as want. The overall tone is very flexible you can set it for a classic huge Plexi but if pushed you can get some nasty but good raucous
sounds.

For a new company a great first offering. Unfortunately they show lot evidence that they may have called it quits.

OVERDRIVE- VELVET FX Thor OD ....Marshall Super Lead 100 !!! cheap too!!!

 VELVET FX THOR SUPER LEAD 100 OD 

$130.00 USD

From Greece comes yet another fledgling company.
This time we get a basic tone layout of volume, gain. a low end tone control and a bright switch.

It is not a subtle sound nor does it give you much more then one basic sound.

But hell it is a damn monster of a sound!!!
unfortunately in a monster of a box.
It is actually a very good clone of a Marshall 100 watt Super Lead. It does sound like the amp!!!!

Too bad they cannot shrink the damn box!!!

CONCLUSION
Well the box seems needlessly big and having the bright switch
on a knob to tame it as required would be a big but realistic improvement.
Evidently the bright circuit has been tamed recently as it really is over the top.
Even as is the damn thing just sounds good. Period!!! ...and the price is definitely a SBS.

OVERDRIVE- SIDE EFFECTS IL Mostro ...a versatile building blocks approach to an OD that worked!

$125.00 USD

 SIDE EFFECTS EL MOSTRO OD 

A small new gourmet pedal company in Greece gives us
this welcome offering. No short cuts in parts or build but
the price is damn low for what you get. These guys really want your business!
There are three approaches to designing an OD. You can
get a real amp and use whatever it takes to try and clone it or you can take the few basic transistor types etc, and experiment to find something that is personally pleasing.
Better still you can offer the user those basic elements to
choose from to create their own sound.
Side Effects has give you a full 6 knobs and lets 'you' create a sound.

The basic sound his a mid range American sounding. It reminds me of some of the Mesa Boogie type amps. It has nasty but nice ..raw near metallic like sound with plenty of balz!

Not bad for the bucks!!!
But check out the Post for the Sitek Cocao OD/Distortion 
for $145.00 USD they have a killer pedal!

OVERDRIVER- DOPHIX Purgatorio OD ...my god not another ts lol

$225.00 USD

 DOPHIX PURGATORIO OD 

Is it another Tube Screamer? It might well be but DOPHIX an Italian company have been around forever making a proverbial gourmet pedal or two with great attention to quality, parts, build and design.
Everything about this pedal suggests a Tube Screamer circuit. Sooner or later we pretty much all own a ts either via Ibanez or by one of hundreds and I 'mean' hundreds of OD makers doing a variation of one. I have four! One was even designed beeped up into a high gain pedal so I can be forgiven for not knowing what I have. Two I actually hate and are on Reverb. lol 
The big deal is the basic chip design as there are know numerous wannabes of the famous JRC4558D. Simple... the chip lets some of the clean signal leak through making the sound seem 'transparent'. The problem I find is that
too much dirt from their gain muddys the sound and with too
little the sustain is killed. I am only talking about a whole note of thick sustain too ...just enough that one note flows into the next without that micro second or two of dead silence or the very quick decay of the last note or chord you just played.
Often the pedals sound good on a vid because the tube amp that was used has a great clean sound and/or it is being played at high enough volumes to smooth out the pedals tone.
So far the best in my opinion is the Providence Red Rock OD. Providence addresses the problem by making 3 different ts style boxes. The Red Rock was deigned around the needs of a 50's Strat! It is meant to keep the chime. Damn hard to do!!! It was a good yardstick as it is at least bullet proof on a HB. It scores an 'A' plus on any single coil! Even so it sounds best backed off. Recently I discovered the Duncan Vise Grip compressor that seems to fix the fast decay problem. The Duncan is the exception as I have had and still have 7 other compressors. They are Keeley, Wampler, etc. The bigger the name the bigger the disappointment with most compressors.
The Purgatorio ...is this better?  I can not honestly say ...but it does sound damn good.

Dophix have taken the approach of not trying to reinvent the wheel. They have not paid any over attention to the basic ts pedals weaknesses. They simply tried to capture the original sound without any annoying artifacts caused by cheap parts and sloppy workmanship etc. That was what Keeley was all about when he started out 'Keeley' as a mod company.

In short the only 'fixed' what was broken.

OVERDRIVE- SERVUS PEDALE Glam Programmable Dist./Booster ...JCM800 & JCM900 voicings

 SEVUS PEDALE GLAM Programmable DIST/BOOSTER 

$245.00 USD

 A new German gourmet pedal maker kicks off with a Marshall style OD capturing the '80 & 90's sounds. YES it is all analog. Digital is used to store 6 presets of your own settings.
Handmade in and out quality is everywhere!
You have level, tone and gain that can be set at 3 different levels. Boost. A switch and LED ladder to read out and move over to another preset.

It aims at the Marshall JCM800 and JCM900 and does a damn good job of it.
It is the first to try for a JCM900 and the results are impressive.

For the price it  very competitive.

OVERDRIVE- JMB-EXPERIENCE Money For Nothing OD

$250.00 USD

 JMB-EXPERIENCE MONEY FOR NOTHING 

A French maker with an award or two for a great pedal.
The site has zero info on it's pedals. Yes it is in French but no sh@t there is not even a simple few words telling you what each knob does.
Yes it does the Mark Knopler thing but you can not make
a pedal with just one song. Knopler used a fixed Wah to get the sound. The overall voice is very early mid 60's Plexi sounding.
The mid knob is your fixed wah sound.
The basic Marshall sound of this pedal is more authentic then possibly exciting. BUT ...it would sound amazing
used for chord backing on the vocals on any song.

Unfortunately it is a very big pedal. the price is the going rate used by all the competition.

FUZZ- ORION EFFECTS Motor Fuzz ...all the heavy balz we love a Fuzz for but tight too!!!

 ORION EFFECTS DELUXE MOTOR FUZZ 

$295.00 USD

Orion are a German pedal gourmet company making well thought out products with both a quality build and parts.
A high gain Fuzz that has a thick heavy buzz but is unusually tight.
A very defined sound that unlike many Fuzz boxes is both distinct and musical.
Many Fuzz pedals are only good for single lines of 2 note power chords played grindingly slow.

It voiced with germanium transistors. You can toggle between take no prisoners Motor sound or a deeper rounder sound.

OVERDRIVE- ENGL-AMPS Straight to Hell ...Metal? YES!

$150.00 USD

 ENGL-AMPS STRAIGHT TO HELL 

Surprise another amp maker does a pedal. ENGL do make
Metal amps but this is not voiced to imitate one of them.

But at $150.00 USD ...maybe?

It covers all the basses very well. Unfortunately it is otherwise bland
when compared with for example the REVV G3 and REVV G4.

For those trying to learn and/or using smaller combo amps it would work OK. Of corse so would the REVV. For my money the REVV
are bullet proof for pedal guys.

REVERB- SOURCE AUDIO True Spring ...simply the best!!!

$230.00 USD

 SOURCE AUDIO TRUE SPRING REVERB 
A great reverb is a really good asset for your sound. many players still love a good spring reverb, Accutronics has long held the title of number one for decades due to Fender always using them.

In this day and age digital reverbs can for a reasonable price give you a really excellent array of sounds but in spite of that many players who play country, or blues or in general Americana want a spring. Part of the sound is actually undesirable artifacts created
by such an crude device as what is several screen door style springs to run a signal through. So to make a digital copy I expect a lot of detailed modelling is involved.

The true Spring also doubles as one of the very best tremolo units.
Which to me is a bit nuts because since a spring reverb is an always on device so you can not use it both ways.

$70.00 USD

CONCLUSION
I do not do anything bordering on the classic Americana style of music. Like Dave Gilmour I prefer a plate reverb. Nux do the Nux NRV-2 Oceanic Reverb. They use a studio quality DSP in this unit. Like the TC Electronic pedals you can download many sounds. It comes just perfect with a plate reverb. Perfect for an always on sound. It is a mini pedal that is beautifully made too. 
Best of all it is only $70.00 USD.

EQ- DANELECTRO Fish & Chips EQ ...cheap,cheerful & tacky but sounds great because it is an MXR

$30.00 USD
New

 DANELECTRO FISH & CHIPS EQ 

With my new Duncan compressor I can solo on my Strat PU without bumping it up with a low gain OD. It does however need a touch of highs to bring out the chime in the Strat PU and just a small bump of upper mids.
I already have 2 EQ's on the board I could tweak when I need that ...a Fender/Mooer and a Boss but they are always on EQ's set for all the pedals in their particular loops.
I do not want to be pizzing around with them between songs in bad stage light etc.

The Dano is new but NOS. You can still get one new and at blow out prices. Used they can go for $20.00 USD

Yes they are plastic but sonically they are dead clean and quiet. They are simply a clone of an MXR 6 band in a funny box. lol The quality of the sound of the MXR is well known given so I have no issue with the sonics.
I use a switcher so my foot does not touch the pedal and velcro keeps it safe on the board so the plastic case is simply not an issue.
If you do not have an EQ this your chance to grab one. They are like compressors if you do not think you need one it is because you don't own one.

FUZZ- DEFECTS Tacked Fuzz ...3 separate gain knobs! Whoa! & WOW!

$185.00 USD

 DEFECTS TACKED FUZZ 

Defects are the new kid on the block from the Czech Republic.
Start with some American classics and then go crazy!!!lol
goofy names like Varp is just your tone control and
Texture does the octave up thing but also acts as a gate.
It has a 3 stage gain but it lets you interrupt the 3 with control over them separately. Excellent idea as it really changes both the tone and the gain through there interter actions.
Great pedal for a new company. They have 7 more mostly Fuzz pedals. I will have to check them out!

OVERDRIVE- SPACEMAN Polaris Resonant OD ...Ltd. Edition ...or NOT?

$320.00 USD to
$400.00 USD

 SPACEMAN POLARIS RESONANT OVERDRIVE 

Spaceman are a strange gourmet pedal maker that usually offer a few pedals at one time. They constantly reintroduce older pedals as limited editions. Sometime improved ...but often NOT. lol
The 'new' old pedal comes with 7 cosmetic choices the ultimate being a chrome one. It gets an ultimate price tag too.

The 4 knobs and 2 switches are all about EQ. It has a 2-pole resonant filter that is a major part of changing and tweaking the sound. They say themselves that the 6 controls are all about tone shaping. It is basically a very neutral medium gain OD with a lot of tone shaping.
You can sweep the filter with a expression pedal which is another odd feature that I am sure for most players will rapidly become a yawn.
This OD that is a tweakers delight. It is definitely not 'voiced' to sound like a brand of amp but rather a neutral sound to be carved into one or anything you like.

CONCLUSION
I find it lacks character. Yes you can make some off the wall quacks with it but they have less then a limited use for the average player. 
It is definitely not an 'OH WOW!' pedal. To me that is too bad because the best I have found are both. Yes you can get several stunningly rich sounding OD that have it all!
The Sunrise Lab HVO  takes an esoteric approach too ....but you get a clone of a Marshall Super Lead 100 watt Plexi ...the difference between it and the real amp is barely detectable
and even that took me several listens!
So guys look around at this price there is the HVO and many others to choose from.
.
If you really like their concept check out a Dr. Scientist 'The Elements' At $225.00 USD ya just can not overlook it. You can dial up some off the wall things but if you need to make that club crowd stand up and take notice it can do that too.

OVERDRIVE: NUNOMO LLC Limbo Overdrive... form your own dead cool

 NUNOMO LC LIMBO DRIVE 

A Fuzz is the simplest dirt pedal with a raw square wave creating the distortion. The dirt from a tube has a wave with a much rounder shape. Most of the most desirable dirt sounds are a bit of both.
Nunomo have designed an OD pedal that gives you a  knob for both types of signals and lets you blend both. 
They wisely designed it with enough limitations to let you change both signals within musical levels. The result is a pedal that sounds damn good with them set at noon but cutting or boosting them allows you tweak the sound to fit your rig and your taste.

The size can be an issue but the look is very upmarket yet the price is the bottom rung of the serious pro ladder.

CONCLUSION
This pedal and a Fender rig are made for each other. If you are a LP with a Marshall guy it can go either way. With my project of getting 66 pedals to fit on the two linked boards I have under construction it will be a wait and see.

OVERDRIVE- WROUGHT IRON EFFECTS Orcrist ...low gain, transparent OD with one sweet tone!

 WROUGHT IRON EFFECTS ORCRIST OD 

$225.00 USD

From Japan comes a low gain OD with a full sweet tone.

I am not too sure about the graphics. Hallmark cards has done better. lol
OK,OK a groaner for sure.
The layout is Tone, Volume, Gain and Bite. The Bite is
usually called a boost but it really does add a bit of bite.
A switch on the end of the pedal switches the pedal to 18v
this usually for headroom but in this case I find it defeats
the smooth tone and pleasant compression. Grit is not the forte of the pedal.

A very careful listen shows there is a lot of detail in the sound and small changes in moving the knobs make alot of
difference in different subtleties in the sound.

It is not my 'thing' but I really admire anything this well done.

FLANGER- MR. BLACK Shepard's End Infinite Flanger ...stunning idea!!!

 MR BLACK SHEPARD'S END INFINITE FLANGER 


The  original Flanger effect was created by using 2 tape recorders with same thing recorded on both with one just running a bit ahead of the second. Then by  putting your thumb on the edge of outside flange of the one in front you physically slow it down so when the other catches up it causes a flanged sound.

That's right kids. It was a bit hit and miss and most notable did not have a cycling modulation. In short it did not go sweep,sweep.sweep by setting up the cycle with knob for the tempo of those sweeps.
Mr. Black has made a pedal that imitates the 'real' flange sound.
In a normal Flanger one of two signals moves forward leaving the fixed dry signal in tact then it sweeps back into phase and goes again. If you delay the dry signal when the signal returns to where it started and it ends at zero which is normal start of being in phase. 
 So it heads back out but for moment there is not any effect going on until it catches up to the delayed signal and starts to flange. It physically is just the reverse of how the tape works. With tape the one signal is slowed down and with the box the opposite signal catches up. With the box the flanged signal coming back to zero then leaving again will catch up to that delayed dry signal. 
In short with tape the signal out front is slowed down but with the box it is the signal returning from zero is catching up. The results are the same.
Unfortunately the signal that returns from zero to the delayed signal is going to take a moment. During that moment there isn't any flanging going on.
So a bit of regular flanging can be added to mask the drop out. 

He calls the effect a 'barberpole' through-zero flanger.
It will do the conventional flanger thing too. You can also blend the two.

Go to 24:59 for the demo. They use the Tunnelworm which is virtually the same pedal. The Shepard is the 4th version from Mr Black and all 4 have a different name. lol

OVERDRIVE- KING TONE GUITAR The Duelist ...not 'JUST' another Tube Screamer or Bluesbreaker

$350.00USD

 KING TONE GUITAR THE DUELIST 

Two of the classic pedals the Ibanez Tube Screamer 808 and Marshall's Blues Breaker are the blue prints of the King Tone pedal. In most cases I find that this has been done so many hundreds and I 'mean' hundreds of times that it literally makes me yawn.
But this pedal really is quite different. Totally, totally impressive.

I will let Jesse Davey the inventor who started the company in 1999 walk you through this one.

CONCLUSION
I can not see what guitar he is playing BUT I do not have to. It's a Strat. The pedal is fat, full and the 'glass' feature screams Strat, Strat, Strat! Damn impressive and as tube amp sounding as you can get!
One of the most transparent sounds I have ever head!!! Add to that the variety of distinctly different sound you can get is damn long!
The f__king pedal is single coil heaven!!!

GREAT MINES THINK A LIKE (Apr. 16/19)
So eight days after I post this review and the Pedal Guys discover the Duelist! lol

OVERDRIVE DR. Z ...Z Drive ...turn a one channel amp into 3 ??? Well maybe?

 DR Z Z DRIVE 

 Not a totally new idea but the execution is. The pedal has a very good 3 way EQ and two channels. A Germanium on the left and a Mosfet on the right.
They recommend you start by setting up your amps clean sound just how you like and then setting the EQ to match the amp.
You then add enough drive with the Left Green channel to add just the right crunch with the germanium channel seating the level up perhaps a bit over the clean sound. You then go to the red Mosfet channel and set up the hot channel for solo work. This works well with an old style amp like many Fenders very well.

The idea being that each stage is voice to work with the EQ and to set it up to make the amp sound like it has 3 channels built into the amp itself. The idea being a smooth consistency in the tone.
The alternative is perhaps have a clean Fender amp that suddenly sounds like a Marshall etc.

A novel idea that some will love. It could work in a blues gig very well.
The build is very good as Dr Z amps teamed up with Earthquaker Devices to design and make these pedals.

CONCLUSION
i couldn't care less if my clean is one sound and my dirt sounds are another. If they blend or contrast in the right way  ...yes. I even like different parts in a song to have very different sounds.
I only care if the pedal has a great dirt sound. I quite like it's aggressive biting tone. I would never want it on all my tunes but then that's why a I have and use 22 OD's.
I only do original material often to many people who never have heard my tunes. You only get one chance for a first impression so I do whatever it takes to present and put my music across.
But in either case the pedal sounds quite good.

THE 3 MOST DESIRABLE OD's ON THE PLANET !!!

 SURPRISE SOUND LAB HVO 

$280.00 USD

Kim Hardee a devote player who designed and built tube based amps and gadgets loved to play a small 5 watt tube amp he had built and sold. It gave him an excellent clean sound that he could enjoy night and day without disturbing his family or his neighbors.
Like most of us he loved the sound of a full Marshall stack knocking out euphoric walls of sound.
He ...like all of us headed for the much loved OD pedals we all enjoy.
BUT!!! He found they just didn't cut it. Being a guy making tube amps he concluded that it was not just tubes that make the difference. A tube amp uses a lot more voltage in it's preamp to give it headroom and headroom means a much greater amount of dynamic range and transient response. 
The touch of your pick is immediate and without any mud. Light and shade in your playing is transferred from your hand to the speaker with every nuance intact.
So he thought that if he made a preamp with the high voltage of a real tube amp in his dirt pedal he would be half way there. It took a long time and a second version to get it right. In a blindfold test of the HVO against the King of amps the the Marshall Plexi ... 100 watt Super Lead the difference is negligible.
Having played mine for several months daily I certainly agree.
In short if this is the best OD on the planet for authentic sound.

I have 2 posts on the HVO ...check them both out.


 DAWNER PRINCE RED ROX DISTORTION 

$220.00 USD

So why in hell's name could I come up with a second killer distortion after what I said about the HVO???
It is really quite simple. Pretty much all of us were blown out of the water by one or more recorded tunes by someone playing a killer dirt sound!!! We soon identified the sound as the sound of great tube amp and an amazing guitar. Perhaps even a Les Paul or a Fender Strat going through a Marshall stack. The problem is we dismissed the EQ and compression and mic used to get that sound in the studio!

Well guys designing OD's have not dismissed that!!! Every big selling OD has been an 'impression' of a great tube amp not the real thing at all.
Hell they damn well do sound great! There are many, many to choose from so why the Red Rox?
Simple ...it is as good as them in general but it has ...hands down the very best sustain even at 'bedroom' volumes.
Yes ...check out the post. There is a lot of evidence to support my choice.


XTS ATOMIC OD

$250.00 USD

You just can not get a bad sound out of this OD.
It has a 3 way active EQ with a mids selector each tuned to a different classic sweet spot.
The sound is warm and very, very rich. The gain goes from medium to high gain ...even it is contolled to never go past what is going on with a JCM800

Getting a convincing Plexi sound is a given but like I said you can push it into JCM800 territory.

This pedal is both exciting and comforting. If I were to recommend a great OD not knowing anything about a person's music and playing ability etc. this would be it.


CONCLUSION
Every year we get a whole new choice of OD's. This is my choice for MAY| 2019.
It could change. 
I think the HBO is on firm ground ...it is authentic & the box is huge. Others can make pedals that are smaller and cheaper and they need not worry about any amplifier comparison if they can get a hyped but cool sound. 
If you play loud enough ...like 30 watts or more ...then natural feed back can give you sustain. I have many loved OD's that I use more then the Red Rox ...but it is killer for shredding because if used with 30 watts it can go from long sustain to never never land!
For many of you the prices of these are quite high. Keep in mind though both your guitar and 
amp are probably more expensive ...yet a good OD is usually one third of your sound so if it costs one third it can certainly be justified.




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