DELAY- LPD PEDALS Rival Delay Ltd Ed ...classic analog delay at it's very, very best

$190.00 USD

 LPD PEDALS RIVAL DELAY LTD ED 

These go on sale today and Lawrence pedals are so good that fans of LPD will simply buy one site and sound unknown. 

It ain't no bull you don't have time to weigh it out.

The layout is simple. You get level, time and repeats. You get a very long 750ms. That is more than long enough for ambiance things. Turning off the switch does not kill the tail either.Dead killer pedal for a solo and when pulled back it is ideal to use to replace a reverb for the whole tune.

I play a metal stlye. I would never have it off.

CONCLUSION

I have five of Lawrence's pedals. Every one is a keeper.

Some of my pedals end up on Reverb the day after I bought them A few were replaced when Lawrence put out it's replacement. The damn things are all a total killer.

OVERDRIVE- ORIGIN RevivalDrive Hot Rod ...flawless!!!

 ORIGIN RIVIVALDRIVE HOT ROD 
All analog state of the art Plexi-in-a Box. This is their third pedal. The first can literally a take any tube amp and dial it in. The second was a compact model that was voiced as a Marshall Plexi. The next was a full size 'hot' version and this the one most of us have been waiting for. The Hot Compact!

CONCLUSION 

What's not to die for!!!

$400.00 USD  ouch!

                                       ...<>^ ...<>^ ...<>^    ducking out!

FUZZ- BISHOP Laugh It up Fuzzball ...nail it than leave it alone!!!

 BISHOP LAUGH IT UP  |  FUZZBALL 

$70.00 USD

In the early days of Fuzz pedals a one knob Fuzz was the norm. 

We know marvel at the sound of them.

As an avid collector of pedals I have learnt that a pedal that that produces one killer sound is worth it's weight in gold but another pedal with several usable and damn good sounds is eventually replaced. Who reading this is aiming for second best???

It sounds like an early Big Muff but without the harmonic detail eaten up by the Muff tone control it is crazy rich sounding with a biting attack that instantly jumps out the split second you hit a chord!

CONCLUSION

You can turn it up or turn it back but 

don't turn it down. Read on >>>

HEADS UP!!!

Keep this guys name in your head Jon Cohen of BISHOP PEDALS

Point to point high quality hand made pedals at give away prices??? 

Go figure once a few thousand subscribers meet Jon on a couple 

of upcoming live streams it will be game over to scoop up one of 

his pedals up. Trust me this is going to happen and very soon!!!

HEY! I hate to boast but you saw your first Jon Cohen pedal here. 😇

Actually I love to boast but you already new that! 

OVERDRIVE- GUP TECH DVD Dual Channel Distortion ....a Friedman clone??? Sort of

$140.00 USD

GUP DCD DUAL CHANNEL DISTORTION

Based off a Friedman? Perhaps but which one. LOL Well at any rate it deserves a listen.

It has medium gain channel and high gain channel with a basic Marshall Gourmet-amp-in-Box intention.

Both channels have a volume, 3 way EQ 

with presence and the very welcome

Tight which is usually a high pass filter.

It comes in 4 colors. Even pink:-) You get a lot of pedal for the price.

CONCLUSION

It is not state of the art but it blows away any of the budget stuff.

It even looks cool. I would love to see it in a smaller box or even be made into two pedals.

COMPRESSOR- BECOS FX Comp IQ Mini Pro ...the poor man's 'real' studio comp

BECOS IQ MINI PRO COMPRESSOR 

$200.00 USD

If you are looking for that perfect transparent Comp you probably checked out the Origin Cali76 Compact which is indeed a killer compressor. Unfortunately you had one look at the price and ran to your bedroom for a change of underwear.

BECOS are a small company in Bulgaria. Lets just say in small countries like Bulgaria they are more often than not economically challenged. So a few top engineering guitar playing graduates found if you want a good job ...invent it! There are things like killer OD's that a enthusiastic amateur with a great ear and lots of patience can design. BUT...when it comes to things like a studio grade compressor you have to really know your sh@t!

BECOS make 4 compressors. All 4 can be patched into a recording board and even be used for vocals. That is damn impressive! Yes they are that good. They make a second stripped down Mini. It sounds as good but the Pro is not that hard to tweak and these days a few other pedals and a second guitar is usually a given so being to hit the bulls-eye dead on is worth a small effort.

CONCLUSION

Definitely one of the very best best transparent studio comp out there.

All have a 'sound'. No compressor is free of the kind term we use for pleasant distortion ...coloration. It is wise to try a few comps at a good shop and see just where the 'sound' of a few popular old style guitars comps based on the MXR Dyna Comp sound. Check out the Origin Cal76 if possible and see where your head is at

on their 'sound'.

If you have been there and got the T-shirt and no what you do not want to hear

than consider a BESCO.

CLICK TWICE

Just click a second time on the 

Watch on YouTube 

you will

get the video.

TREMVELOPE PHASER -PIGTRONIX Moon Pool ... 2 good pedals in one box and a free synth circus too

 PIGTRONIX MOON POOL TREMVELOPE-PHASER 

$180.00 USD

Pigtronix made a beautiful Optic circuit that has been part of both a tremolo and a killer compressor for years. Using optics to cycle a Phaser is a brilliant idea.

In short you can have the usual modulation or control the sweep like you are playing an auto-wah which is in synth talk called an envelope filter follower.

It is all very simple. You can choose one or both sounds to modulate in the ordinary way. You can run them both at different speeds. You can also choose one or both to create a Wah type of effect triggered by your touch. The effect follows any digging in or pulling back in your playing. It can be very expressive. 

CONCLUSION

It does a lot in a mini pedal for a more than reasonable price. Best of all just using as a conventional

phaser or tremolo you are not let down by a pedal that

seems to many as bit gimmicky because the tone is so

damn rich.

FUZZ- BARDIC AUDIO DEVICES Berzerker Fuzz ...a Green Russian Fuzz with a beep up

$120.00 USD

 BARDIC AUDIO DEVICES BERZERKER FUZZ 

It all started with the EH Russian made Big Muff. It has the basic level,gain and tone control. What id added is a mid control and an a LED diode for a choice of clipping besides the standard Muff silicon design. You choose between the two or have on both.

CONCLUSION

Like any pedal it is always about the sound. If a pedal has just one killer sound it has a place on your board if your music is made better with it. A dozen mediocre sounds that 

simply leave the sound teetering on the first rung of the Pro

ladder are pointless!

The original pedal was unusual because it was a medium gain

In my mind it is NOT a muff at all. it was successful because it had a very rich tone. It was best at the basic function in a tune of backing of the vocals with a lush but unobtrusive tone. The bullet proof choice in my book is the Analog Fox Green Muff It is made in St Petersburg walking distance from the original EH factory. Made by Petr Mogilevsky and uses more NOS parts than any competitors since what parts that are available are within hands reach. He has nailed the original sound!!!! I have had mine since 2017 with zero problems. It is a total keeper !!!

$95.00 USD

OVERDRIVE- TONEWAVE FX Bright ...a Tube screamer that thinks it's a Rat!!! NO!

$165.00 USD

TONEWAVE FX BRIGHT OD

This company makes 3 pedals and they are all Tube Screamers.
In short they use a jrc-4558 OpAmp to make the initial distortion and drive. The 'Preset' as an always on pedal to gently beef up the overall tone and presence the 'Caramel' to do the standard Tube screamer kind of thing and the 'Bright' that takes it into Metal territory. 

Like the good ol' Tube Screamer the voice is fixed and you have level and gain and a treble knob to leave open or pull it back to cut some highs.

CONCLUSION

Woah is this in your face or what! That said I insist you compare it with Svi Metal Zoid. The Zoid has a cool Steam Punk look and does the same thing ...maybe even better if you like even more gain. 

A good demo BUT ...Rodent ? I think he means a Rat?

the Rat has never had a Tube Screamer OpAmp of any kind.

It has a LM308 or OP07 which is a totally different and more

grainy sound.

$130.00 USD

OVERDRIVE- LANDSCAPE AUDIO Brutal Distortion ...impressive!

 LANDSCAPE AUDIO BRUTAL DISTORTION 

Another pedal maker from Brazil. It is one of 

$60.00 USD

dozens of pedal makers across South America. Most seem to not be interested in an international market. They often sell to only stores in a small region and there sites are not in English. Occasionally some small company in the States imports them but they seem to never end up in even one of the big online sellers like Rogue or Prymaxe that get in International and smaller brands.

This is too bad because many of these brands have either very good pedals at low prices or have beyond killer pedals in the $200 to $300 price range.

One thing I love is that many use very cool custom made enclosures. Landscape for example have a cool vintage look.

The brutal is a Metal Distortion pedal. It has the usual volume, treble, bass and level and mid control to scoop the mids.

CONCLUSION

It is definitely in a range of pedals that have taken the Boss Metal pedals to the next level. As a basic Metal pedal it is very impressive. It is broadly based as it is not genre specific. It is not for example a Doom, Djent or even the perfect  'chuggers' pedal. For anyone that uses a broad base of pedals or perhaps is more of a Marshall-in-a-Box guy but would like to add something a bit broader more into the 21st century sounds this would be ideal.

OVERDRIVE- DIAMOND Cornerstone OD ...Strat heaven!!!

 DIAMOND CORNERSTONE OD 

If it's not broke don't fix it. This pedal has been with

us unchanged for 9 years. There are a lot of great OD's especially Marshalls. They have always been primarily JTM/Bluesbreakers or even more so JCM/Plexi pedals. Lately a few excellent JCM 800 pedals have become favourites but no one but Diamond has given us a Marshall Super Bass. It is the only 200 watt amp Marshall made. It is the favourite of Ritchie Blackmore and Richard Fortus.

The big deal of the Super Bass is not just the volume of the amp but the headroom. You get a huge sound but without losing the attack of your notes. The key here is letting you control the compression and gain from the power amp as opposed to the preamp. Diamond has done a killer job. One key thing is it uses a 'charge pump' that increases the 9v input up to 18v. On a Strat you get a huge sound even when you set the pedal to a sound that is just a hair 

shy of crunch for those Hendrix cleans and SRV chimey sounds. You get a huge sound with incredible breadth.

The layout is unique. You address the gain from both an input that acts as the pre on an amp and a 2nd that acts as the power amp. Both balance out how much gain you get. The voicing is fixed to nail the actual amp. There is no struggling with the tone controls to nail a sweet spot. There is a mid control to add any amount of fat. A bright switch is primarily there for humbuckers but if your rig is too dark or if you need more chime on a Strat you are not fussing with a treble knob that adds the highs but thins out your sound.

CONCLUSION

If you have a great Marshall OD already ...great. I have several representing all the Marshall amp models. BIG but! This is the best I have heard with a Strat ...the chime just pops thru at any setting.

HANDS ON
So I got one. I have been using the Jon Cusack ...Cusack Screamer. It is a Tube Screamer with an added asymmetrical dirt circuit to give you a SRV going thru a 

Fender Super Reverb sound. With a reasonable bit of volume on a tube amp the sound is killer. Big But! At really low volumes it is definitely a bit thin. But set the

Cornerstone up as a low gain OD and WTF!!! You get that SRV thru a Stack sound!!!

OVERDIVE- FOWL SOUND Flannel Overdriver ...different ...a wall of sound even at low gain

$165.00 USD

 FOWL SOUND FLANNEL OVERDRIVER 
This is their new pedal and the first run ran out in a day. The layout is Gain and Level. The Tone control activate 2 pots at one time. Dead center is an equal amount of lows, highs and mids. Moving it clockwise from the center boosts the highs but at the same time it cuts the lows. Conversely the highs are cut as you move it counter clockwise and at the same time it is boosting the lows. tHe switch gives you a choice of Zener, LED, or Silicon diodes. You get soft transparent like clipping, heavy distortion or heavy tight distortion. The mid control kicks of the low mids for huge sound. Brought down low scoops the sound.

CONCLUSION

No matter how you set your controls it creates a wall of sound. 

This is very unique when you use the Zener diode for lower gain. 

It create a synth like pad like a kind of faux String section. 

Depending on your music this alone could be very cool.

FUZZ- ELECTRO HARMONIX Ripped Speaker Fuzz ...NEW ...but is it improved?

 ELECTRO HARMONIX RIPPED SPEAKER FUZZ 

$100.00 USD

Whether planned or found by accident but the there has been a myth that cutting a speaker with a razor blade or otherwise tearing a speaker cone and diming an amp will give you the sound imitated in this case by messing with the bias on a transistor which happened by usually starving voltage to a transistor. 

It is probably this pedal started life as a Muff circuit

You can easily see that we have the usual volume, tone and Fuzz/gain knob but the knob labeled 'Rip' is simply a BIAS control.

CONCLUSION

It does what it is meant to do and certainly has its appeal. I find it a bit thin when the effect does its best feature. You can kill the highs and really fatten it up but it goes into blend of mud and signal deterioration so you get unusable sputters. Different? Yes ...but good?

Buy their E-H Big Muff Op-Amp Fuzz.

FUZZ- CALINE CP-504 M-Fuzz ...just buy one! ...Cheap Big Muff

 CALINE CP-504 M-FUZZ 

$40.00 USD

I spent years playing a Big Muff rams head. I got it brand new as it had just come out and over night if you didn't get one then WTF was wrong with you!!!

I did not feel deprived from having a great sound ...hell I had a great sound and I new it. Over the years like all my contemporaries I moved on to the 'next big deal'. Know I have a healthy mix of classics and cutting edge. I do not have a Muff. With 82 pedals I certainly have no trouble finding a great sound for a tune and I am too picky to grab a second rate Muff clone and something good will cost me a hundred bucks.

BIG but! The'M' is is a serious knock off!

CONCLUSION

It is a no-brainer. Gotta have!!!!

So I got one. It surpassed my expectations.

It does all the classic Rock things and

stacked on a Marshall OD takes it into 80's 

Hard Rock and Metal.

It is more Big Muff than all the other cheap clones

and better than most of the gourmet clones as well.

At $40.00 USD why not?

                                          ^

                                    Starting at 4:00 

                          a half a minute is given to the

                         M-Fuzz but it is all I need to tell

                                     Caline nailed it!

OVERDRIVE- MAXON OD820 Pro ...the ultimate Tube screamer ???

MAXON OD820 PRO OD

$200.00 USD

Maxon invented the Tube Screamer so over the years they have introduced and then dropped many 'new and improved' models. The OD820 has definitely been their biggest seller since the ts. Big but! If you pop open the bottom ...surprise, surprise!!! The damn thing is a beefed up Klon!!! To be fair they did start with the Tube Screamer circuit but put in the Klon's mids and then added a blend of clean signal. It works!!! You still get the simplicity with the controls. A few tweaks and you get a very decent tone.

CONCLUSION

Not much to add. It is very good low to mid OD. Extremely popular with players whose music has a  a Blues, Americana or Outlaw Country vibe.

AFTER                                                                 BEFORE

OVERDRIVE- CALINE Jaguar Classic High gain Distortion... speaker shaking lows!!!

$40.00 USD

 CALINE JAGUAR DISTORTION

It is a one size fits all take on every gourmet Metal Stack from 90's right up to today's Doom to Modern Metal pedals.

The layout comprise of Low, Mid. Highs, Volume. Bias and Gain.

The pumping lows with their speaker 'thump' are a major bonus and even a bit of this is seldom an option on OD's in any price range.  The BIAS is a treat. You can add nasty rasp or go for a smoother tone.

CONCLUSION

It is impressive. Release date is May 2021.

OVERDRIVE- WHEEBO JVM Drive Ltd.Ed ...best Marshall-in-a-Box on the planet???

 WHEEBO JVM DRIVE LTD ED 

Eike Huntzen from Hanover Germany 'is' Wheebo. One expects that he might eventually one day make the perfect Marshall pedal because he makes 14 pedals and 13 are Marshalls.

$300.00 USD

The layout includes Level, an active 3 way EQ and gain. The input controls the level coming into the pedal but also boost the bass. A switch gives you a choice of where you want you want your mids boosted at.

CONCLUSION

The tone is all there. Add to that an incredible girth to the sound.Even the classic Marshall stack cabinet 'thump' is factored into the tone. Handmade with the est parts does push you into parting with the bigbucks. BUT? WTF!!!

OVERDRIVE- J ROCKETT Tim Pierce OD ... no need to tame the beast ...this one is domesticated

J ROCKETT TIM PIERCE OD

$250.00 USD

A signature pedal for a session player who quite literally played on a thousand pop records because of his ability to come up with innovative parts that should have made him a co-writer on every tune. At the same time he had the ability to understate and never cause what he played to distract from the vocalist. 

He wanted a pedal that could be a versatile OD but he separately wanted to bring in the voicing of his favorite amplifier the Naylor SD 60 which uses Tung-sol 5881 tubes which is high gain version of the classic 6L6. It robs more than it's share of the transformers output and create a lot of sag and saturation.

The pedal has two circuits that allows you to go from a very open sound to a classic old Marshall coughing it's guts out. lol

CONCLUSION

This is not for players like me that like a pedal where I have to pull back tight on the reigns to keep it from going out of control. My hand is in the shape of pretzel just to keep every string I am not playing in control. If your fingering requires you to make the teacher of a classical music proud this is your pedal.

This is NOT the pedal for Phil X. Definitely an alternative for a 'Dumble' style pedal.

OVERDRIVE- SHOE PEDALS Saviour Machine ...medium gain transparent OD ...so organic it may sprout roots!

 SHOE PEDALS SAVIOUR MACHINE

$185.00 USD

This ain't your grandpa's Tube Screamer. Yes it has noticeable transparent qualities but it is very rich and sumptuous.There is no shiny gloss on this pedal. It has the kind of sound you feel you may find on a very early 50's low powered tube amp.

It is the kind of OD you can lay in behind the vocals all night and if you want you can get busy without the singer telling you to tame it down. It lays right in the mix. Like all the shoe pedals you get incredible detail in the tone. The layout has volume, gain, treble and a bass 

cut with a switch for adding that just right compression and sustain or you can go for a lot of wide open headroom.

Every detail is point to point hand wired. It is a work of art.

CONCLUSION

Shoe pedals do not give you an adrenaline rush. I have very few of those that stay on my board. They are like a drug that the high is great but the pain when you crash is scary. 

Just like all Shoe pedals the longer you have it the more attached you get. 

They are the pedal equivalent of great old guitars still killing it 50 years later.

This is the real deal. 50's style handmade

pedals take skill, patience and hours of time.

Think about it ...others charge a lot more 

for surface mount builds ...that take minutes not 

hours to make.

OVERDRIVE TYPES- Noninverting OpAmps, MOSFETS and JFETs ...the Big 3 ...which is your sound?

OVERDRIVE TYPES

NON INVERTING OpAmps

These pedals create Symmetrical Distortion. These pedals are popular for low gain and transparent sounds as they boost the 'even order harmonics which are tightly related to the notes and chords going through them. A Fuzz is all about odd order harmonics which are the harmonics which are less musically related. In an acoustic guitar they add character but are very subdued. So pedals made with these OpAmps are more natural sounding but not at all tube amp sounding. Basically we are talking about a Tube Screamer and the beefed hundreds of super tweaked variations.

MOSFETS

They are very tube like, and like a tube the more you stack one on the other in a row the more dirt you create. Like tubes they create a mix of odd and even order harmonics so they create asymmetrical distortion.

JFETS

They are the same as MOSFETS except when hit hard they gasp and rasp a bit. Where as the MOSFETS are more warm and sweet the JFETS are a bit angry and in your face.

SUMMARY

Non Inverting OpAmps are virtually Tube Screamers. 

Mosfets and J-Fets are the various amp-in-a-Box pedals. All the hot big selling Overdrives are one of these.

OVERDRIVE- CORNERSTONE Gladio SC Preamp ...NEW!!!! this is not the Double!!!! ......it's a best of Dumble!!!

CORNERSTONE GLADIO SC PREAMP 

$335.00 USD

The first Gladio is the Double Preamp. Pricy but killer Dumble pedal. Most guys prefered side one of it so now you can get that in this the SC (single channel) pedal. The Double is still available. On the Double you have Robben Ford sound on CH1 and the Eric Johnson on CH2.

The new one takes Ch1 and adds a switch to boost the comp and you have a 'clean' control that blends in cleaner tones. Unlike other pedals the 'clean' does not sit on top of the dirt and sound fake. It blends. The two new features put you into SRV territory.

CONCLUSION

I am not a Dumble guy. I am a SRV guy. The big Gladio is a great pedal but for most of us this is the one that nails it. 

This pedal has split the arrow on the bullseye! Yep ...this is the William Tell model !!!

OVERDRIVE- ROCKTRON ZOMBIE RECTIFIED ...gain, gain, gain & more ga!n !!!

ROCKTRON ZOMBIE RECTIFIED DISTORTION

$50.00 to
$120.00 USD

These guys have been around for at least 30 years. They started with noise reduction pedals and racks and moved into pedals. Like most makers some pedals were killer and others were merely OK. They were always built like a tank and sold for Boss like prices. In around 2017 all but their noise reduction systems disappeared. Not unexpected a few new pedals hang around in shops and used ones pop up too. The controls give you level, bass, treble & gain. Another control gives you a selection of 

4 voiced gain stages.

CONCLUSION

The name suggests it is meant to be a Mesa Dual Rectifier-a-Box. It isn't. 

Oddly enough it has a similar vibe to ENGL's flagship amp the ENGL Savage 120 MK II. It is dark, compressed and angry.

It is what it is a flat out Metal pedal. With so much gain it is not going to work

out for the guy that hasn't any chugging  and muting technique. It is not as the cliche goes for the 'faint of heart'

HEADS UP

Why did the Zombie get a bad rap?

It goes back to the 70's when a few young bands in London UK sprung up on the local scene playing small clubs with their stacks wide open.

The NME a very popular tabloid weekly music paper coined the name Heavy Metal as a put down. The term stuck with Journalists even in the 2000's when pedals like this came out. In short it is not that this is a bad Metal pedal but that Metal is bad so a pedal for it has to be sh@t. The same thing happened to the Boss HM-2 and the Metal Zone. 

These days there as you know Metal players with virtuoso techniques so Metal has become respectable. lol

HANDS ON

I find it just a bit weak in the lows. It takes a bit of tweaking to get the mids with a nice even and rich sound.

It is a little buzzy. The only thing I like better is the Klirrton Oh My Goat Preamp.

But at $370.00 USD plus shipping and tax if it gets caught in the radar.

FUZZ- MOZZTRONICS MF-1 Baconizer Mosfet Fuzz ...what the Fuzz are they talking about???

MOZZTRONICS MF-1 BACONIZER

$160.00 USD

This is a Mosfet based Fuzz. Very confusing as the only thing new about this pedal is instead of calling it a high gain OD or even a Distortion pedal they call it a Fuzz. 

A marketing idea? ...Call it a Fuzz and you have reinvented the wheel. 

The layout is Sissle, Phat and Heat. I assume we are talking about volume, gain and a mid boost.

CONCLUSION

Ok ...that said it is in today's terms a medium to high gain OD. Or not? 

OK to the basics ..is it a good dirt pedal?

I would not compare it to a Fuzz from the start but to a

high gain OD. I quite like it. The price is in the low end of most of its competitors. So it is worth a listen ...maybe two.

FUZZ- CORNELL AMPLIFIERS Legacy Fuzz... they invented the Fuzz Face ...is this yet another milestone?

CORNELL AMPLIFIERS LEGACY FUZZ

It is of note that Cornell were involved with the design of the Arbiter Fuzz Face and in 1999 they brought out their own killer version that alas died out when the old germanium became impossible enough to get to fill the orders. In Oct 2020 they however released the Legacy. It definitely has shades of the 60's but it also

has a voice that makes it work as a modern OD.

$350.00 USD

   

CONCLUSION

Not too much to say. It is good sounding Fuzz but it has no outstanding feature like a fat tone, or a real bite or long sustain. It is hard to make ignore the price tag. There are several small makers that charge much less with a Fuzz that I feel is as good and as many that offer a pricey Fuzz that does much more or has some unique character.

OVERDRIVE/PRE- ACLAM GUITARS Windmiller Pramp ...unusually effective low gain OD.

 ACLAM GUITARS WINDMILLER PREAMP 

In 1967 the only dirt pedals were Fuzz pedals this was long before any actual OD existed it was discovered that if you used the Grampian Reverb meant for vocals as a reverb for guitar it may not be a great for reverb but cranked it made a killer OD. Townsend used one.

 

$335.00

Aclam are famous for nailing pre's there first Dr. Robert. It was by cloning the one from the the Vox UL730 from the first Vox transistor amps that the beatles used on their early recordings. This Pre won the company many 'Best Of' awards when it came out.

This is only the company's third pedal and even it was 'crowd sourced' for money to bring it out. The company is all about getting a pedal 'perfect' to the original which is not easy. Others will make knockoffs that will sound great but this is the 'Klon' not the 'Me Too'.

CONCLUSION

Like all Aclam's efforts this pedal is not just unique but sounds both unique and pleasing. It will do well enough to keep the company going but most players are looking to imitate tones that others have laid down recordings that are in styles they find pleasing.In short ..."Cool ...but not for me" :-)

OVERDRIVE- POGO PEDALS Zen Ray ...DUMBLEd for a 3rd time! The Zen Drive is back

$200.00 USD

POGO PEDALS  ZEN RAY OD

The Zen Drive was all about getting Robben Ford's recorded sound simply by listening to it over and over to the recordings. 

Hermida gave Robben a pedal and found that Robben was using the Pedal as his Fly Rig as he went from city to city where the booker of the gig supplied him with a Fender amp and he got his sound from the pedal. The word got out and overnight Hermida were spending day and night hand making just this one pedal. They went to Love Pedal and had them take over making the pedal by licencing it. Eventually Hermida closed shop but  Love Pedals carried on making the pedal. Years went by and Love Pedals two partners had a falling out. So 2 years have passed and still nothing was sorted out. The point is there are no more Zen Drives.

In Dec. 2019 Pogo brought out the Zen Ray. Need I say more? 

Hermida

Love Pedal

CONCLUSION

Prices for the Hermida are as high as $800 and for the Love Pedal as low as  $225. Keep in mind that Love Pedal has not formally shut shop but there hasn't been any Zen Drives on offer for about a year. I think the cheaper used prices for the Love Pedal will double overnite ...and soon.

OVERDRIVE- LITTLE BEAR G3 Valve Tube OD... a rather admirable little box

LITTLE BEAR G3 VALVE TUBE OD 

$55.00 USD

There are a few budget minded tube pre/OD's and all of them crap. There are only a few good ones and they are ALL expensive. The G3 is a big exception.

With any tube gear you are dealing with high voltages that even when off stay in the capacitors for awhile. Not too cool if you get zapped and can cause fires if the build is not to the correct spec. A good look at the circuit is impressive and the

pedal has been around for 5 years.

The layout is simple with volume, tone and gain.

Having tried a few tube dives I am impressed that there is tone and even more because it works really well.

CONCLUSION

Tube OD's are impressive because we think we are buying the gain channel out of a tube amp. However they are much simpler and basically have one tone that you may find drives you nuts because it is impossible to tune it in to your taste or even your rig. This is a very impressive OD.

TUBES?

The pedal comes with a 6N4-J 

which is a military grade tube.

A good tube but not easily available.

Fortunately you can swap it out

for a 12AX7 which is typical

for most amps. Fender and Marshall

being the obvious examples.