The 1987 overdrive by Italian boutique builder Nabla is a two-channel amp-in-a-box pedal designed to sound like a Plexi hot-rod pushed to the max. “Hot Rod” is a popular mod done to Marshall Plexi amps like the JTM45 or the 1989 Super Lead to make them sound more aggressive.
The two channels share a similar character, but “Eleven” – quite appropriately – offers more gain. The right footswitch alternates between them, engaging the Eleven knob setting when the 11 red led is on. When 11 is off the level is set by the Level knob.
A Tone knob and two toggle switches allows for some tone sculpting: the 3-position Tight toggle interacts with the Tone knob and sets the grain and definition of the pedal, allowing fine-tuning for single coil or humbuckers, while the 3-position Mids toggle control to set the level of MID frequencies:
1) up: humped mids, like 1987 V1. Born to stand out in the mix.
2) center: flat mids, for a more neutral tone, like the clean signal.
3) down: lightly scooped mids, to match with mid-heavy cabinets or amps, or to enter in metal territory.
Here’s the video of the Nabla 1987 v2, we added it to our list of Best Plexi-Style Overdrives.
This pedal is a tribute to the British saturation that has made the history of Rock. From the JTM45, to the 1959 Super Lead, to the 1987 that is the 50W Super Lead… amplifiers that were often pushed to the max and modified to have an even more aggressive character, mods that gave life to the concept of HI GAIN: all of this is “NABLA 1987”.
Two hot-rod channels for the purest Rock.
Both the “ON” and “11” channels behave like a dynamic single-channel amp, one more pushed than the other: with the guitar volume and the touch you can control and clean the saturation comfortably. This pedal also can “eat” other pedals placed on its input, just like an amplifier would do.
DRIVE: from semi-clean rich in harmonics, sensitive to touch, to the saturated crunch of many records, unmistakable and fun to play.
TIGHT: 3-position control to set the grain and definition of the pedal (or even to adapt it to a single coil or humbucker):
1) down: meaty and grainy both on the normal channel and on the ELEVEN channel.
2) center: defined and tight on both channels.
3) up: defined on the normal channel, meaty on the ELEVEN channel.
TONE: tone control used together with the TIGHT provides a very varied palette of sounds.
MIDS: 3-position control to set the level of MID frequencies, to match the pedal with your personal taste and preferred amplifier.
1) up: humped mids, like 1987 V1. Born to stand out in the mix.
2) center: flat mids, for a more neutral tone, like the clean signal.
3) down: lightly scooped mids, to match with mid-heavy cabinets or amps, or to enter in metal territory.
LEVEL and ELEVEN: independently control the volume of the two channels, for an always controllable effect.
