Oh boy, guess what I got?

Pedal showed up today. I almost feel like I stole it. I found a really good deal on it on Reverb. I usually prefer to buy pedals used or open box. This one is used but in really good condition and it came with the box and all of the papers.

I plugged it in for 10 or 15 minutes to test it out. It definitely sounds different with a Fender circuit amp and a Marshall circuit amp. It also lets the character of each guitar shine though too. I ran Humbuckers, Single Coils and Narrowfields through it. You can really hear a difference in the pickups as well as the guitars overall. They did a good job with this one.

Thanks to the low budget enabler @WingerRules :)
 
Pedal showed up today. I almost feel like I stole it. I found a really good deal on it on Reverb. I usually prefer to buy pedals used or open box. This one is used but in really good condition and it came with the box and all of the papers.

I plugged it in for 10 or 15 minutes to test it out. It definitely sounds different with a Fender circuit amp and a Marshall circuit amp. It also lets the character of each guitar shine though too. I ran Humbuckers, Single Coils and Narrowfields through it. You can really hear a difference in the pickups as well as the guitars overall. They did a good job with this one.

Thanks to the low budget enabler @WingerRules :)
I’ve got more testing to do with it, but so far it’s a home run. The ability to move that mid boost around makes it do whatever you want, regardless of amp or guitar you’re using.
 
I’ve got more testing to do with it, but so far it’s a home run. The ability to move that mid boost around makes it do whatever you want, regardless of amp or guitar you’re using.
I agree. That voice control, mid control, is really a game changer. It made all the difference in the world when going from a Fender circuit to a Marshall circuit with single coils then switching to humbuckers. Now I am going to have to finish that Klon clone pedal I started building to compare the two.
 
I agree. That voice control, mid control, is really a game changer. It made all the difference in the world when going from a Fender circuit to a Marshall circuit with single coils then switching to humbuckers. Now I am going to have to finish that Klon clone pedal I started building to compare the two.
Yes, because you can take whatever tone you want for your rhythm tone, then add a mid boost anywhere you want. You want upper mid, JCM800 bark? Move it up high. You want juicy fat low mids? Dial it down. I had the voice knob between 9:00 and 10:00 with the Blistertone and it was fantastic tone, with just the right fat low mids note shape. Then I turned the bass down, voice and treble up, and made it bark like a boosted JCM800. Just smokin tones!
 
I’m going to need a show of hands for all of you who don’t have one of these. Then, once you have raised your hand, please contact your favorite dealer and get one. Immediately.

No, you don’t have too, but it is that good and if you’re still rocking tube amps, you NEED one of these!

That is not hyperbole. This pedal is seriously great! Tonight, I got to try it with the Bogner ATMA. It was EBMM Axis>Mary Cries>Boars Feet> ATMA> Zbest. I didn’t have a lot of time tonight but took about 35 minutes and rolled through some tones with the 70s and 80s voices and it can transform either, from what is already great tone, to something truly special. You can either dial the amp for rhythm and then dial the Boars Feet for leads, or you can dial in something killer for leads and roll off guitar volume for rhythm. In 70s and 80s voices both, it has the ability to just take something that’s already really good, and shape it into something magical. I know it has been 20 years… but the Bogner Ecstasy was the best amp I’d ever played or heard in person. Tonight, I was able to make that little ATMA (which already has all the Bogner DNA) sound almost exactly like some of the drool worthy tones I heard from the big boy. Just incredible…. I kept dialing the pedal and had all kinds of variations, but they all sounded phenomenal!

Then I clicked it to the clean channel, which I have dialed 2/3 of the way towards Tweed. I only played with it for a few minutes but was just as blown away by what it did. I took that clean base tone and had it sounding like a cranked up classic tweed amp. I was expecting to like what I heard but was almost shocked at how good it was.

I’m still in the honeymoon phase, and any other disclaimer you may want to add, but so far I’ve played it with 3 amps, and it was great with one and magical with the other 2. And, these are all initial tests, as more dialing etc could make them even better.

So far I’m simply blown away by this pedal and kicking my own butt for not getting it sooner. That said, for those keeping score at home, I’ve played it with the Blistertone, the HDRX 20 and the ATMA… and NOT The Mighty Archon. If it has the magic with that that it does with the Blistertone and ATMA, it could improve on what is already the best amp I’ve ever played or heard.

To Review: If you haven’t gone all digital and still rock tube amps, you need to get one of these right away! Seriously.
 
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The term "transparent overdrive" gets thrown around a lot. I have some pedals that were marketed that way. The term has been used by so many that when I see it in the advertisement or hear them say it in a video I already start to get skeptical. This pedal is honestly the most transparent drive pedal I have ever plugged into. You can really hear the differences when plugging it into different amps and using different guitars with it. They did an extremely good job with this pedal.

@WingerRules I have the same feeling as you. I wish I had bought this pedal sooner. I think them marketing it as a transparent overdrive and the name of it turned me off. It was your early posts on it that pushed me past those things. I had a curiosity and the timing was good for a purchase. Then I found a deal I couldn't say no to. It all just came together and pretty quickly.
 
@WingerRules I have the same feeling as you. I wish I had bought this pedal sooner. I think them marketing it as a transparent overdrive and the name of it turned me off. It was your early posts on it that pushed me past those things. I had a curiosity and the timing was good for a purchase. Then I found a deal I couldn't say no to. It all just came together and pretty quickly.
I probably shouldn't have said I should have kicked my own butt for not buying it sooner, but yes, I wish I did. I have legit reasons for not buying it sooner though, and some, not so legit. I admit I was turned off by the name. But, while I can buy what I want and as long as it's not too extravagant, Mrs. WR will go along with it, I am trying to keep my discretionary purchases to a minimum these days, and use only or at least mainly discretionary funds. I'd have some money in the "gear fund" and buy a knife or two. Then I'd have it built back up and had a couple friends in need. Then I'd get it built back up and buy another knife... then it was so close I just figured I'd ask for it for Christmas. I also wasn't excited about $250 for an OD pedal. Trust me that the last one wouldn't be an issue now that I've heard it, although I also found a deal too good to pass up.

Further, I agree with your comment about it's transparency. Without getting too audiophile here, one thing that is commonly misconstrued about "transparency" is that it means flat frequency response. It doesn't. It means what you said... everything in the chain is very clearly presented. Every little change is clearly heard. And, this applies whether or not you're adding mids, bass, treble, and gain!

So what kills me with what I can do with this, is that I can find that spot on the voice knob that gives this gorgeous envelope shape to the lower mids, just making the notes pop out fat and juicy, but still have the ability to shape the bass and treble to further shape my overall tone. Then, I dial that up some and change that bloom spot in the mids to something higher and different, but still beautiful. I was so excited last night that honestly I'll probably spend another night or two with it going into the Bogner and see what else I can come up with. But boy, I can't wait to try it with the Archon!
 
I probably shouldn't have said I should have kicked my own butt for not buying it sooner, but yes, I wish I did. I have legit reasons for not buying it sooner though, and some, not so legit. I admit I was turned off by the name. But, while I can buy what I want and as long as it's not too extravagant, Mrs. WR will go along with it, I am trying to keep my discretionary purchases to a minimum these days, and use only or at least mainly discretionary funds. I'd have some money in the "gear fund" and buy a knife or two. Then I'd have it built back up and had a couple friends in need. Then I'd get it built back up and buy another knife... then it was so close I just figured I'd ask for it for Christmas. I also wasn't excited about $250 for an OD pedal. Trust me that the last one wouldn't be an issue now that I've heard it, although I also found a deal too good to pass up.

Further, I agree with your comment about it's transparency. Without getting too audiophile here, one thing that is commonly misconstrued about "transparency" is that it means flat frequency response. It doesn't. It means what you said... everything in the chain is very clearly presented. Every little change is clearly heard. And, this applies whether or not you're adding mids, bass, treble, and gain!

So what kills me with what I can do with this, is that I can find that spot on the voice knob that gives this gorgeous envelope shape to the lower mids, just making the notes pop out fat and juicy, but still have the ability to shape the bass and treble to further shape my overall tone. Then, I dial that up some and change that bloom spot in the mids to something higher and different, but still beautiful. I was so excited last night that honestly I'll probably spend another night or two with it going into the Bogner and see what else I can come up with. But boy, I can't wait to try it with the Archon!
I’d be curious what your thoughts on the Drybell Unit 67 would be. I bet you’d be pretty damn happy.
 
I’d be curious what your thoughts on the Drybell Unit 67 would be. I bet you’d be pretty damn happy.
I've heard great things about it, and some demo's sounded fantastic. Was a bit put off by price and then the PRS pedals came out before I snagged one and like the sheep I am, I've been buying them since. (I have been on a pretty restricted pedal quest in recent years, as the amps I have sound so great on their own and the few pedals I already have just kill with them. The Boars Feet has just taken that to a new level, so far).
 
Also noting... the Mary Cries and Boars Feet (Scuse me Flo, whats the pedal name de jur?) are so good, I'm already looking around at some honestly great pedals, and going "I don't need that any more. Or that. Or that... I can sell those three and buy a couple new speakers." You know how that goes... And I've always loved having a variety of pedals around, but TBH, there are some that just won't really get used now except for "I haven't played this one in a while, better put it on the board for a week."
 
I’m not just trying to bump my own thread, but to update whenever I have more updates to my journey with the pedal.

Tonight I want back and revisited the HDRX20. But tonight, I plugged it into the Zbest. I only played the Axis tonight. Results:

With no pedals on, it sounded as expected. Very vintage type sound. Very good for that, but “that” is not necessarily my cup of tea. My amp settings: Bass gain at noon, treble gain dimed. Master at 9:30-10:00. Bass at 9:00 (yes, even with bass gain at half, it’s still a bassy amp, especially with the Zbest on the floor). Mids at noon, treble at 2:00, bright and mid shift on. Again, by itself, nice vintage tone.

Then I turned on the magic bullet (which, by the way, is what they SHOULD have named this pedal!). It immediately becomes “holy crap” good. I didn’t touch the amp, but really gave the pedal a workout. I had the output about 9:30 so a boost in volume. The voice knob I ran from all the way down to all the way up, but 80% of the time it was between 9:00 and 3:00. B at 9:00 (again, cutting more bass when adding gain) treble everywhere from 9:00 to 3:00.

This pedal transforms this amp into something I’d simply LOVE to play. If this was my only amp, by itself, it wouldn’t stay long. But I’ve had it sounding great with other pedals I have. But with this thing…. A different level. I can transform this dark, bassy vintage sounding amp into a fire breathing JCM 800 tone EASILY! Voice from noon t0 3:00, treble from noon to 3:00 (both depending on just how much upper mids and treble cut and push you want) and bass at 9:00… to no more than 10:00. This amp was breathing fire! I was completely happy with the gain knob at 10:00 but at noon it was just SMOKIN!

As recently as last week, I was considering selling the HDRX. I’m not saying I won’t, because after hearing the Blistertone and ATMA with the “magic bullet” I just didn’t see a need for the HDRX, and that’s not even having tried it yet with the Mighty Archon. After tonight, I can honestly say that I would be completely happy if the HDRX 20 was my only amp, as long as I had the Magic Bullet with it. For me, my uses and the tones and gain levels I prefer, it transforms the HDRX into something I love. EVEN IF it ends up being odd man out, with this pedal, it would have kept me happy for many years.

I’ve been in the pedal game for years. I’ve tried, built, modified and used a lot of pedals over the years. When it comes to overdrives, I’ve never heard one that sounds as good as this one, and can do as many shades of colors and all sound GREAT as this one. I know my opinions don’t carry a lot of weight, but you owe it to yourself to try one of these as soon as possible. This pedal is absolutely fantastic.
 
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I ran across a YouTube video sort of comparing the “hoarse fleas” to a Boss Blues Driver. The seemed to cover a lot of the same ground from light boost, to OD to damn near fuzz. I kinda want to trade my Blurs Driver for the “hoarse fleas”. But I already have the BD-2w. I don’t want to make room on my board for another pedal, so one in means one out. Anybody have both and care to comment?
 
I ran across a YouTube video sort of comparing the “hoarse fleas” to a Boss Blues Driver. The seemed to cover a lot of the same ground from light boost, to OD to damn near fuzz. I kinda want to trade my Blurs Driver for the “hoarse fleas”. But I already have the BD-2w. I don’t want to make room on my board for another pedal, so one in means one out. Anybody have both and care to comment?
You just gave me an idea. I have the Keeley Super AT mod. That is a modded blues driver circuit. I should put that next to this thing and see what the similarities are. Now that you mentioned this pedal I do remember some similarities of the two. However, the tone controls are going to be different. The AT only has 1 tone knob so it is not nearly as flexible.
 
I ran across a YouTube video sort of comparing the “hoarse fleas” to a Boss Blues Driver. The seemed to cover a lot of the same ground from light boost, to OD to damn near fuzz. I kinda want to trade my Blurs Driver for the “hoarse fleas”. But I already have the BD-2w. I don’t want to make room on my board for another pedal, so one in means one out. Anybody have both and care to comment?
No, but I had a Keely modded Blues Driver back in the day. It was a great pedal, but nowhere near as flexible as the PRS.
 
You just gave me an idea. I have the Keeley Super AT mod. That is a modded blues driver circuit. I should put that next to this thing and see what the similarities are. Now that you mentioned this pedal I do remember some similarities of the two. However, the tone controls are going to be different. The AT only has 1 tone knob so it is not nearly as flexible.
Exactly. The "voice" knob is a huge advantage in flexibility. Separate B and T controls is another. The character of the gain is also more amp like.
 
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