Danish pedal builder Carl Martin has a solid reputation for Marshall-style overdrives – as you can see from our article on Plexy-Style pedals, their old PlexiTone is among the most beloved in that niche.
The builder’s new Panama Drive adds to the three typical controls (Gain, Level and Tone) a Damping knob that tightens the low end, allowing, when necessary, the achievement of a less flabby, more focused tone.
You can experience this Plexi tone tightness in the videos below.
Picture yourself on stage, in the middle of a set, going for that classic vintage 80’s over-driven guitar sound…..vintage you say? Yes! Remember that classic 80’s overdrive is almost 40 years old! Anyway, every time you crank up the OD, your tone gets a bit spongy and woofy…you know what I mean. If only you had a way to….wait….you have the brand new Panama Overdrive pedal from that mysterious Carl Martin dude, and it comes with a Damping control. You switch over to the Panama, crank the Gain, increase the damping and your distortion becomes even more aggressive, more cutting and clear…just like….well you know. Decrease the damping, and your distortion becomes deeper, thicker with more bass dynamics. In other words you have an amazing overdrive pedal that you can customize on the fly! And…it’s analog!
The new Carl Martin Panama Overdrive, cool anodized case and that awesome Carl Martin DC/DC converter circuitry which allows the pedal to run with +-12V internally (this means better parts and better sound). Check it out yourself, Gain Level and Tone controls along with the new Damping control, head mounted input/outputs and 9V DC input which requires a regular 9V 100mA external power supply and the new small footprint. Bigger sound, bigger tone, all analog, all Carl Martin!
