Great Eastern FX's Small Speaker Overdrive Perfects that Vintage Small Combo Amp Recorded Tone

While early amps often tended to be somewhat behemoth in nature with a comparably high output - there evolved a parallel line of small combo amps initially intended for small room and home playback but which latterly came to be used for close-mic’d recordings - by luminaries such as Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh and Steve Cropper. These diminutive amps were typically tweed covered combos with 6" or 8" speakers compared to the usual 10 and 12 inchers - indeed very much like the Fender Champ! They had a beautifully punchy and dynamic character quite distinct from their larger siblings - and especially so at close quarters.

The Small Speaker Overdrive (SSO) is an homage to that vintage close-mic’d recorded tone, where the Derek & the Dominos album and Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard were some of the key references for David Greeves in his work to replicate those tones.

David Greeves is a veteran Music Journalist, long-term contributor to Sound On Sound Magazine, and most famously the former editor of Guitar Buyer Magazine. He is well-known for his close attention to detail - the Small Speaker Overdrive is his first pedal design and production - hand-made at his studio / workshop just on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Controls - High, Low, Gain, Volume. Internal Q1 Bias Trimmer that David uses for initial pedal setup.

In the early stages of development, David’s key focus was in getting the absolute best dynamics and guitar volume cleanup from that circuit - so you could set the pedal once - and then easily manipulate it via your guitar’s controls. The SSO really has superb volume clean-up and very much reminds me of how I use my Boss BD-2. I set the full-fat tone, and then dial back the volume for the level of gain / prominence I need. On the SSO I typically have High and Low controls near maxed or between 3 and 5 o’c, and Gain and Level both at circa 1 to 2 o’clock. I then notch back the guitar volume for the right degree of output - it works brilliantly.

There is a knack to setting the ideal most versatile tonality - which I feel needs quite a bit of bass - for the tone to come through nice and even when dialled down. I typically set the gain just above the level I want, and then dial back the guitar volume a touch. If you get the calibration just right you can control a pretty significant span of gain with just your guitar volume. You also might want to make it just a touch brighter than ideal - and you can then dial that tone with your guitar tone control. Do note that the EQ controls are pretty sensitive and interactive - and you get more mid-boost by dialling both back. You need to be quite delicate on the controls sometimes to get the perfect harmonic output - which involves having all 4 controls pretty optimal.

Once David established the fundamental dynamics of the circuit - where to get that superb cleanup and dynamics meant that it had to be a somewhat fuzz / transistor design. He then spent several months benchmarking his circuit against various guitars and amps - to ensure ultimate reproducibility of that recorded small amp tone across most eventualities.

During the process of development, David had to adjust his component selection a number of times to ensure consistency of parts supply - which is particularly tricky within these current times. The final selection consisted of highest quality while relatively readily available components - including 2N3904, BC547B, and 62P MMBFJ201 MOSFET transistors. All parts are the highest quality available without needing to be rare vintage NOS types.

The work has largely been about getting the sound and dynamics just right so that using the pedal is entirely effortless and intuitive - and that you are largely able to set and forget - to deliver tones in the most easily controllable manner. David himself best describes his pedal as having a punchy, upper mid focus, earthy breakup and super sensitivity, with expressive playing dynamics.

There always seems to be something quite magical about pedals that have this high degree of dynamics and clean-up - where the pedal reacts so precisely to every pick attack and playing nuance. This is a very finely calibrated instrument which should find favour with all who encounter it.

I’ve of course picked up one for my own reference collection and I really love it’s full-frequency and warm tonality. There’s certainly plenty of range on each of those dials. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed.

I was also delighted to see David’s excellent included instructions card with suggested presets - almost as if he has read my piece on the Art of Pedal Manuals - and exactly as I would do it were I a proprietor of a pedal business!

The Small Speaker Overdrive is available right now from the Great Eastern FX Co. Webstore - it goes for £219 (inc VAT), and £182.50 for overseas customers (circa $250).