//

gear giveaway

OVERDRIVE PEDALS

2024 Best Plexi Pedals & Marshall-Style Distortions: a Buyer’s Guide

(Almost) everyone familiar with the electric guitar loves the sound of a cranked Marshall amp. From Eric Clapton and Angus Young to Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, Plexi amp and their later, higher gain reincarnations from the JCM series have been used by many guitar players over the years…... Click for more

2024 Best Plexi Pedals & Marshall-Style Distortions: a Buyer’s Guide

Volta 1987 PRO Hot Rod Plexi Drive

The Volta 1987 PRO is the "deluxe" version of the company's 1987 overdrive, a hand made dual Plexi-style pedal (read, it sounds like a Marshall Plexi amp) by an emerging Italian builder that has turned heads and years in the last few years. As specified in the "subtitle" the pedal…... Click for more

Volta 1987 PRO Hot Rod Plexi Drive

Formula B Fuzz Rangers

Hand building their pedals in the small town of Todi in the beautiful region of Umbria (Italy), Formula B specializes in anything related to gain, in stompbox format. Their brand new Fuzz Rangers was born from an interaction with the company's user base that was asking for a pedal that…... Click for more

Formula B Fuzz Rangers

New Pedal: Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive

The Mythos NV-9 Pro Overdrive is a Tube Screamer variant that doesn't reinvent the green overdrive's tone but expands its range through two push buttons: Lows and Clip. The circuit delivers an authentic TS tone when both buttons are in the up position. The Lows switch pushes up the lower frequencies,…... Click for more

New Pedal: Mythos NV-9 Pro 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 for more

Benson Amps Preamp Overdrive/Distortion

Most overdrive and distortion pedals are based on pre-existing circuits if not downright clones of stompboxes that have stood the test of time. That can't be said for the JHS Hard Drive, a high gain distortion publicized by the brand as their first attempt "at a full-blown and respectable modern…... Click for more

JHS Hard Drive

New Pedal: J. Rockett Blue Note Select Overdrive

JRAD reliably churns out quality pedals in the most compact and sturdy builds on the market. A low-gain overdrive, the J Rockett Blue Note is considered by many as the company's take on the Blues Breaker circuit, although the company has been challenging that assumption. This "Select" model is in…... Click for more

New Pedal: J. Rockett Blue Note Select Overdrive

Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force Drive

The Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force (CSOF) is an all-analog, discrete overdrive pedal, that forgoes opamps or diode clipping relying entirely on cascading transistor gain stages to deliver a versatile and uniquely textured overdrive. The most interesting control of this pedal is the bias switch, which delivers vintage pushed…... Click for more

Black Mass Ceremonial Show of Force Drive

Keeley MkIII Driver

The Keeley MkIII Driver (briefly known as the "Muse Driver") is an overdrive pedal that furthers the builder's collaboration with guitarist Andy Timmons, already involved in the design of the Halo delay and the Super AT Mod overdrive. The MkIII merges a three-control blues driver circuit with two switches for…... Click for more

Keeley MkIII Driver

ThorpyFX The W.O.P.R. Muff + Treblebooster

Guru pedal designer Adrian Thorpy of ThorpyFx has a page on his company's website dedicated to his "Special Projects," gathering all the brand's one-offs, special runs, or Charity donation devices. The WOPR is a pedal created for a friend that wanted to have a (Triangle Muff-style) Thorpy Fallout Cloud and…... Click for more

ThorpyFX The W.O.P.R. Muff + Treblebooster

Decibelics The Reverend XX

Handmade in Spain, the Decibelics The Reverend XX is a dual version of the company's ZZ Top inspired single channel distortion pedal. Its circuit is based off the vintage Bixonic Expandora, a RAT mutation known for being one of the first dirt boxes able to deliver all sorts of saturated…... Click for more

Decibelics The Reverend XX

NUX Steel Singer Drive

The most affordable Dumble-style pedal out there (street price is just under $50!), the NUX Steel Singer is an analog overdrive that recreates the tone of less popular of the two Dumble amps (the Steel String Singer) at a tiny fraction of the cost. Expect smooth high end and the…... Click for more

NUX Steel Singer Drive