Origin Effects Completes the Set with its New RD Compact Hot Rot Edition

I’m a huge fan of Origin Effects’ RevivalDRIVE series, and have the original Custom edition with footswitch - for sure a big ticket item at £679 combined - though not quite as pricey as the CBA Automatone Preamp MKII. I acquired a unit very early on - and published one of the first in-depth guides to calibrating the device - around mid May 2018.

Next came the RevivalDrive Compact which arrived in August of 2019, I even did a mockup of how I though it should be configured. And was a little disappointed that the device lost some of the things from the original which made it so special - including the Mids, and Ghost Note. Simon Keats explained to me how there just wasn’t room within the compact enclosure to include those additional circuit elements that I proposed. I since quite warmed to the unit, and had been considering its acquisition until the very moment the Compact Hot Rod arrived!

For Winter NAMM 2020 Origin Effects introduced the RevivalDRIVE Hot Rod Edition - a considerably beefed up version from the original, with quite a bit more gain and aggression. This was priced even higher and started from £585, and seems to have been discontinued in the wake of this new RevivalDRIVE Compact Hot Rod.

The Compact Hot Rod has the same controls and price as the previous compact, namely - Output, Highs, Gain, Blend, Lows, More|Presence, Post Drive EQ - P/Amp/EQ1/EQ1, and EQ Adjust. I had actually been considering getting the full-fat Hot Rod Edition, but think that I may get more use out of the Hot Rod Compact as I can slot it in more easily in different places along the pedal-chain.

The RD Compact Hot Rod is available right now from the Origin Effects Webstore, and leading resellers. I will certainly be looking to acquire one at some stage this year!