Designed by Vermont-based builder Custom Tone, the Ethos Overdrive is the original, “deluxe-expensive” version of what became, after its release, a family of increasingly more streamlined pedals inspired by the tone of the uber-boutique Dumble amplifiers – aka D-Style Overdrives.
An extremely versatile and tweakable analog device, the Ethos features two separate channels of D-Style goodness, each with its own 3-band + Presence EQ section. Both can be set as Clean or Overdrive and toggled via separate footswitches. The circuit also features a Boost controlled by a separate footswitch, and a cab sim out.
The control scheme may be slightly daunting, but you can get an incredible variety of tones out of it, and the Dumble resemblance is as good as it gets.
Custom tone also provides some custom mods to the original design, like the TLE (aka Tighter Low End) or the HRM, featuring a finely tuned, 3-band post-EQ, inspired by the later models of the Dumble amps. There’s also one featuring an FX Loop between the two channels and the cab sim outputs.
The Custom Tone Ethos Overdrive is widely considered as one of the best D-Style overdrives, and it’s featured at the top of our article about he best pedals voiced after Dumble amps.
