The Aegis by Tonetuga effects is a dual overdrive designed to be the ideal dirt box, or, as the builder puts it, “the true swiss army knife of tone capable of low, medium, and high gain, order switchable and with a simple and easy to work control layout.”
The two channels have different voicings and their routing order can be switched. The right side, named “Color” has a brighter, more defined bluesy tone with slightly hollowed mids and a chewy tone, while the left side, named “White,” has a more amp-like voicing, with a tube-like warmth, better dynamics and a pleasing overdrive.
Each channel has four controls for Volume, Gain, Bass and Treble.
Aegis (EE-Jiss) has been a long-time side project of mine. The goal was to create my idea of the perfect dirt pedal. The true swiss army knife of tone capable of low, medium, and high gain, order switchable and with a simple and easy to work control layout. Not designed specifically for a single style or genre, but extremely usable across the entire spectrum.
Order Switch arrows show the direction the signal flows.
? = White into Color (This will produce more of an increase in volume as opposed to an increase in gain, as though you are increasing all of the characteristics of the White Side to 11 across the board)
? = Color into White (This will produce much higher gain combination that has more compression and allows tons of sustain)
Color Side (Right)
The Color Side has a spongey, chewy, overall tone that is lightly hollowed out in the mids with accentuated highs. Definitely the more “bluesy” of the two sides, the Color Side gives out loud and defined notes. The treble control will kick you in the mouth with how crisp it can get. Don’t be afraid to dial in some of the bass control to round out the whole experience. Season to taste, this will improve literally anything you add it to. Add it to a clean amp as the primary source of your dirt that will make your amp a blues dream or stack it into a dirty amp to send it screaming into outer space.
White Side (Left)
Producing a big, wide, and round amp-like sound, the White Side produces a very pleasing overdriven sound reminiscent of an overdriven tube amplifier. At lower to mid gain settings the White Side is extremely dynamic, giving life to both chords and single note work. It will not over color your amp but instead add an appealing depth to your existing tone. At mid to high gain settings, the White Side produces a smooth and dynamic overdrive, not quite reaching distortion territory, but allowing your Amp to push more air and really get your pant legs flapping with a fantastic crunch. The two band EQ is extremely versatile, using both controls in combination will yield a variety of organic, loud, and harmonically rich tones. This thing does a great job of cleanup so be sure to experiment with your guitars volume knob at all settings!
