Kernom Ridge Overdrive

The Kernom Ridge Overdrive is a new pedal concept devised by a French upstart that aims at offering a comprehensive palette of overdrive tones through a six-knob device. Like some sort of multi-mode overdrive without… modes.

The central control here is the Mood knob, which is a continuous control that recreates an infinite number of different “clipping flavors:” symmetric, asymmetric, high headroom, very compressed, etc. This is based on an analog circuit that doesn’t use modeling or diodes.

Of the other five knobs, the Pre Tone and Post Tone catch our eye as somewhat unusual. The former, placed before the clipping stage, is said to change the way the pedal reacts to the guitar signal, while the latter is an extra gain stage placed after the clipping one. Needless to say, the Drive knob interacts with the Mood one to deliver the desired amount of overdrive. An extra Volume knob is your final output, while a Mid control lets you tweak crucial frequencies.

Here’s the spec sheet from the manufacturer’s website:

The Kernom Ridge overdrive is Midi compatible and has one onboard preset, with 128 of them accessible via Midi.

Here are the videos of it.

Kernom Ridge Overdrive, Builder’s Notes

One circuit. Infinite possibilities.

Analog morphing core is the name of a new and unique patented approach to electronic clipping circuits developed by kernom. An analog morphing core equipped device, like the ridge, controls the nonlinear elements of the clipping stage (traditionally diodes) by changing in real time their threshold, making them behave like a new kind of diode.

It allows musicians to have access to a virtually infinite number of clipping options: symmetric, asymmetric, high headroom, very compressed, etc. In a single analog circuit, controlled by the unique mood knob. Completely different from approaches such as modeling and switches between different diodes.

The result is an extremely versatile and unique analog circuit.

Kernom was born out of the desire to solve an impossible equation: to combine incredible characterful sounds with ultimate versatility.

Ridge is our answer.

A joyful to use overdrive pedal that will take you on the most exciting sound exploration of your life.

Chameleon eq trio.

Choose between ultimate transparency at any grit level with the three eq knobs at noon, or colour your sound using the powerful eq section.

Change the way the pedal reacts to your guitar with the pre knob, how it interacts with your amp with the post knob, how you cut through or blend in the mix with the mid knob.

Introduce your amp to its new limits.
Punish the front end of your amp like never before thanks to the 30v maximum output voltage of the ridge and experience extreme dynamics.

Blend your favorite flavors.
Connect your expression pedal to the ridge and explore new possibilities.

Adjust drive level, boost your mids, or blend two completely different tones together. The possibilities are endless.

Step on your favourite settings.
The ridge features an internal preset that can be used without the need to use an external device, accessible via the preset footswitch.

Rhythm and lead tone, clean and dirty, or any other combination: you have access to two sounds at any time. Simply hold the preset footswitch for 2 seconds and save the current position of the knobs for later use.

Recall up to 128 presets via midi.
The ridge is entirely midi compatible. You can plug an external midi switcher to the ridge via mini jack to save and recall up to 128 different presets and cover all your overdrive needs.

You can also connect the ridge to a third party controller (like the incredible erae touch from our friends at embodme) and change in real time its internal parameters to explore new ways to interact with overdrive.

Overdrive all your instruments.
You can use all your instruments with the ridge: guitar, but also bass, synths and vocals. This is made possible thanks to the pedal’s adaptive input gain. You can choose between instrument level or line level at any time to use the ridge on all your tracks.

Back to the drawing board.
The casing was inspired by the architectural design language of modernism. It has a strong personality, but remains easy to operate. Every detail on the ridge was a conscious decision. We started from a blank page to design an iconic product that would withstand the hardships of the road and decades of abuse.

Made in future.
Kernom aims at providing musicians with the most reliable and performant products possible.

Kernom products are manufactured in a state of the art factory in france that works on medical projects, a field where precision and reliability are of paramount importance.