gear giveaway

Transistor-based Overdrive

Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion

The Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion (listed at $249) sports a circuit Based on the company's Chimera 30 watt guitar amplifier (going for $1949), but substitutes FET transistors for the vacuum tubes. The result is an extremely amp-like and versatile clean boost/overdrive/fuzz pedal that imparts rich harmonics and a very musical EQ to your…Click on the title for more

Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion

Updated Pedal: October Audio Robotic Celebrity Head V3

An overdrive with fuzzy leanings inspired by an obscure single-transistor design of the '70s, the October Audio Robotic Celebrity Head bears a bizarre name referring to one of these creepy robotic busts of Elvis. Using Schottky type diodes in this 3rd version (instead of Germanium), this one-knob mini-pedal is very…Click on the title for more

Updated Pedal: October Audio Robotic Celebrity Head V3

Horrothia FX TEETH Discrete Low-Gain Overdrive

From the descriptions of its pedals, UK's Horrothia FX clearly devises its creations as tools for solving very specific sonic problems, coming from a distinct recording engineering angle. The company's discrete low-gain overdrive Teeth, a 9 transistor design, all analog design, using no IC opamps, was imagined as a necessary…Click on the title for more

Horrothia FX TEETH Discrete Low-Gain Overdrive

Spruce Effects The Arborist V2 Overdrive

California's Spruce Effects has been very active in 2020 with a new series of pedals called "Americana Series," but the Arborist is actually an evolution of one of their older designs - and, more precisely, the silicon side of their now discontinued Giganteum Drive. While the original version had three…Click on the title for more

Spruce Effects The Arborist V2 Overdrive

The 3 Best Overdrive Pedals per Type in 2023

Welcome to the most comprehensive article you'll find online about the best overdrive pedals on the market! Since "overdrive" is an umbrella term that includes several types of circuits with their own sonic character, we thought it would be best way to organize this guide by type - because comparing…Click on the title for more

The 3 Best Overdrive Pedals per Type in 2023

BOSS BD-2w Blues Driver Overdrive

A transistor-based overdrive, the Blues Driver (aka BD-2) is a tried and true classic and one of the best-selling overdrives in the world - in a pedal niche that's crowded like no other. The BOSS BD-2w is the Japanese builder's reissue of the original, part of the Waza Craft line…Click on the title for more

BOSS BD-2w Blues Driver Overdrive

Great Eastern FX Small Speaker Overdrive

The Small Speaker Overdrive is the first pedal of Cambridge, UK based Great Eastern FX. It's a stompbox that cleverly offers something that goes against the hype of "fat" overdrives delivering the tone of big amps, the premise being that it's common knowledge that some of the best-sounding guitar parts…Click on the title for more

Great Eastern FX Small Speaker Overdrive

New Pedal: Craftros Trident Overdrive

The Craftros Trident is a high-end, solidly built transistor-based drive made in Japan that delivers amp-like tones from low to high gain - there aren't any diodes in the circuit. The company is relatively new and currently has three dirt boxes on its roster. The controls are pretty straightforward, with the…Click on the title for more

New Pedal: Craftros Trident Overdrive

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

The most popular pedal in the transistor-based overdrive category, the BOSS BD-2 Blues Driver features a circuit consisting of cascading gain stages, delivering natural and responsive dynamics. It famously delivers a creamy and crunchy drive tone that's perfect for blues-rock tones and it's more transparent than the - also extremely…Click on the title for more

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

Spun Loud Effects Litigator Overdrive

We've been talking about the "Beano Tone" a few weeks ago in relation to this pedal, the warm yet edgy sound that became the signature of Eric Clapton early sound when he was playing with the Blues Breakers. The Spun Loud Effects Litigator Overdrive gives us another opportunity to check…Click on the title for more

Spun Loud Effects Litigator Overdrive

Caroline The Blues overdrive

Launched on April 1st by Caroline Guitar Co as a pretend joke, The Blues is a Dallas Rangemaster evolution presented as a gentler cousin to the company's Hawaiian Pizza transistor fuzz-drive. If the Pizza is 30% drive, 70% fuzz, then this is more like 80% drive, 20% fuzz. The toggle…Click on the title for more

Caroline The Blues overdrive

Dophix Michelangelo Overdrive Plus

One of the best aspects of our Stompbox Exhibits is that they allow us to get acquainted with new and often "emerging" boutique pedal brands. At our recent Montreal event Sonic Circuit (co-organized with MUTEK), we hosted a board by Italian builder Dophix, a company that echoes its country's artistic…Click on the title for more

Dophix Michelangelo Overdrive Plus