Barber ElectronicsBest in ClassBJFEBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossCKK ElectronicsCrowther AudioCustom TonesDemon PedalsDumble Style OverdriveFairfield CircuitryFeaturedFoxpedalFulltone EffectsGreer AmpsGreuter AudioHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJ RockettJHS PedalsJRADKlone and Transparent OverdriveKuro Custom AudioMenatoneMissing Link AudioNeunaberNordland ElectronicsOCD Style OverdriveODR Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochranePettyjohn ElectronicsRedbeard EffectsSnouse Electric CompanySpaceman EffectsThorpyFXTimmyTrue North PedalsTsakalis Audio WorksTubescreamer Style OverdriveTweed Style OverdriveWampler+-
So I last did one of these back in 2020 - meaning that these ’Best of Overdrive’ run-downs seem to be a circa biennial affair. We’ve upped the numbers to 32 this year, while they represent barely a quarter of the overdrives I have in my reference collection - so there are obviously a lot of honourable mentions listed below - before the Final Thoughts section.
These types of exercises are incredibly tricky to strike the right balance of generally considered classic overdrive pedals and ...
Best in ClassBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBrown Sound DistortionCarl MartinChase Bliss AudioCornerstone Music GearCrowther AudioDanelectroDistortionDriveDryBell EffectsDual-DriveDumble Style OverdriveFriedman EffectsHot Cake Style OverdriveJackson AudioJetter GearJHS PedalsKHDKKlone and Transparent OverdriveLawrence Petross DesignMarshall Style DistortionMenatoneMetal DistortionMidValleyFXMulti-DriveMXRNordland ElectronicsODR Style OverdriveOrigin EffectsOverdrivePedal PawnPettyjohn ElectronicsRainger FXShnobel ToneSitek Guitar ElectronicsThorpyFXTimmyTubescreamer Style OverdriveVox Style DistortionWalrus AudioWampler+-
And here is the first of the category overviews for the year - combining those Overdrive and Distortion pedals which sparked some interest for me. Note that there will be 4 of these types of articles - Overdrive & Distortion (this one), Fuzz, Delay and Reverb (exc. Reverb Workstation already covered), and Modulation + Pitch + Untility pedals. Before I then reveal my overall 25 or so favourite favourite pedals for the year in a Best-of-the-Best listing - with possibly some sneaky additions....
12 Degrees of SaturationAion ElectronicsAnalog.ManBarber ElectronicsBearfoot FXBJFEBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBO EffectsBogner AmplificationBoost and OverdriveBosscmatmodsCrowther AudioCustom TonesDanDrive PedalDecibelicsDemon PedalsDumble Style OverdriveFeaturedFoxpedalF-PedalsFree The ToneFulltone EffectsFunction F(X)Greer AmpsHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJ RockettJackson AudioJetter GearJHS PedalsJoyo EffectsKeeley EngineeringKlone and Transparent OverdriveKuro Custom AudioLovepedalMad Professor EffectsMenatoneMI EffectsMontreal AssemblyMooerMXRMythos PedalsNobelsNordland ElectronicsOCD Style OverdriveODR Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochranePedal DiggersPickdropperSarno Music SolutionsSnouse Electric CompanySpaceman EffectsThorpyFXTimmyTrue North PedalsTsakalis Audio WorksTubescreamer Style OverdriveTweed Style OverdriveVemuramVFE PedalsVick AudioWamplerWay Huge Effects+-
So this is one of most significant works in a while, and carries on the legacy of two of my most popular all-time articles on the 12 Degrees of Saturation - the Original that evolved in the early months of 2017, and the follow-up which materialised in September of 2018.
I obviously deal with a lot of reader inquiries pretty much on a daily basis, and one of the more popular lines of inquiry has been about overdrives. And while Josh Scott attests to the fact that there are only 5 core ...
Analog.ManAnasoundsBest in ClassBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossCrowther AudioCustom TonesDemon PedalsDumble Style OverdriveFoxpedalFulltone EffectsGreer AmpsHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJ RockettJackson AudioJHS PedalsJRADKlone and Transparent OverdriveMatthews EffectsMenatoneMythos PedalsOCD Style OverdriveODR Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochraneSnouse Electric CompanyThorpyFXTimmyTrue North PedalsTsakalis Audio WorksTubescreamer Style OverdriveTweed Style OverdriveWampler+-
I periodically do these category round-ups, typically triggered by a pedal launch or two, as is the case in this instance. This is my own preferred Overdrive selection - intentionally as broad as possible - with actually 12 categories of overdrives, but could still be an even longer listing, and I’ve had to make some very difficult choices for the final selection even though it is relatively numerous at 28 strong. I would have liked to have included one from my so called ’Harmonic Overdrive’ ...
Ambient EffectsAnalog DelayAnarchy AudioBig Muff Style FuzzBitcrushing and Lo-FiBlues Driver Style OverdriveBondi EffectsBoostBoost and OverdriveBrown Sound DistortionChorus and VibratoCompressorCrowther AudioDelayDelay WorkstationDigital DelayDigital ReverbDistortionDouble TrackingDriveDual-DriveEchoverbEffects Pedal MakersEnvelope Filter and Auto WahExpressionFlux EffectsFuzzFuzz Face Style FuzzFuzz-Drive and FuzzstortionGated and Velcro FuzzGermanium FuzzHot Cake Style OverdriveKlone and Transparent OverdriveLastgasp Art LaboratoriesLightning Wave EffectsLo-Fi DelayLoop-SwitcherMarshall Style DistortionMC SystemsMetal DistortionMI EffectsMidnight AmplificationModulationMulti-DriveOCD Style OverdriveOctave FuzzOpAmp FuzzOscillating FuzzOverdrivePepers' PedalsPhaserPitchPoly EffectsRed Witch EffectsReverbReverb WorkstationSelah EffectsShimmer ReverbSilicon FuzzSpacey ReverbSplitter and Frequency SplitterTape DelayTone Bender Style FuzzTremoloTube OverdriveTubescreamer Style OverdriveUni-Vibe and VibeUtilityVolumeWah and Fixed Wah+-
Australia and New Zealand together have a fair few brands of international repute, and I for one certainly have a number of pedals of Australian origin in my collection. Foremost amongst those is Michael Ibrahim’s eponymous MI Audio / MI Effects - from which range past and present - I have 7 to date - with a couple more on the ’nice-to-have’ wishlist. Of the ones I have 2 are permanent features in my pedal-chain - the Super Crunch Box V2 (my Brown Sound pedal of choice) and ...
Analog.ManAnasoundsBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossCrowther AudioCustom TonesDemon PedalsDumble Style OverdriveFoxpedalFulltone EffectsGreer AmpsHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJ RockettJHS PedalsJRADKlone and Transparent OverdriveMenatoneOCD Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochraneSide EffectsSnouse Electric CompanyThorpyFXTimmyTrue North PedalsTsakalis Audio WorksTubescreamer Style OverdriveWampler+-
For this particular selection I tried to get in as diverse number of types, along with all the usual favourites - every year I have readers asking me why I left this one or that one out - so this year is the time for including Menatone in the selection. Obviously between years some pedals rise in prominence while others fall - my intentions are always to provide as broad a selection as possible while still covering all my own personal favourites.
There are a few new entrants since 2018...
Analog.ManBlues Breaker Style OverdriveBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBossCrowther AudioCustom TonesDistortionDriveDumble Style OverdriveFoxpedalFulltone EffectsGreer AmpsHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJ RockettJHS PedalsJRADKeeley EngineeringKlone and Transparent OverdriveMad Professor EffectsMI EffectsMojo Hand FXMythos PedalsNobelsOCD Style OverdriveODR Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochraneRockBoxSide EffectsTimmyTubescreamer Style OverdriveWampler+-
As an update to last year’s piece, and in line with my slightly tighter real estate now (39 pedals), I have decided to go all out on compact format pedals on this occasion. As a subset of my ’12 Degrees of Saturation’ we are dealing with stages 2 to 6 in essence, which largely covers 6 families of overdrives in order of how I set their gain level (increasing amounts) - ’Klon’ type, ’Tubescreamer’, ’Dumble’, ’Blues Driver’, &rsquo...
Boost and OverdriveCrowther AudioDanelectroDistortionDOD EffectsDriveElectro-HarmonixFulltone EffectsHamstead SoundworksHot Cake Style OverdriveJoyo EffectsMojo Hand FXMooerMulti-DriveMXROCD Style OverdriveOverdriveVick Audio+-
I will make lots of disclaimers and provisos at the start of this piece. To my mind there are actually relatively few proper quality intended OCD clones - the Joyo Ultimate Drive, Mojo Hand FX Rook, Mooer Hustle Drive and Vick Audio Tree of Life amongst them. The rest here all have significant overlap and share certain aspects of the OCD tone although not necessarily the whole frequency range / a direct correlation.
When I acquired the Hamstead Odyssey Intergalactic Driver shortly ...
Analog.ManBlues Driver Style OverdriveBoostBoost and OverdriveBuffalo FXBuild Your Own CloneBYOCCrowther AudioCustom TonesDumble Style OverdriveElectro-HarmonixFoxpedalFree The ToneFulltone EffectsHot Cake Style OverdriveIbanezJ RockettJHS PedalsJRADKlone and Transparent OverdriveLovepedalMooerNobelsOCD Style OverdriveODR Style OverdriveOverdrivePaul CochraneTimmyTubescreamer Style OverdriveVan WeeldenWampler+-
This is probably the most hotly contested area of guitar pedalology - which is the ’best’ overdrive pedal you should get - should it be a mid-bump Tube Screamer type, or a more neutral so-called ’Transparent’ version, and should you go with something closer to the original inspiration or something which evens out and tackles its inherent flaws and weaknesses. The guitar world is a strange place - full of staunch traditionalists who persists with ancient tropes despite ...