Electro Harmonix

TOTAL GUITAR FEBRUARY 2020
O
verdrives are as overdone
as they are classic, with
every circuit modded,
improved, redesigned
and re-imagined almost to
death. By ‘overdrive’, we’re
primarily speaking of pedals
that use soft clipping and
volume gain to achieve their
tone, with the most legendary
example being the Ibanez
Tubescreamer. With so many
diff erent possibilities in
tone-shaping and clipping
available within the framework
of an op-amp amplifi cation
circuit, it’s perhaps inevitable
that most new releases are
minor tweaks of what has come
before. Nevertheless, there’s
still lot of innovation possible,
particularly when builders bring
a wholly novel circuit to market.
Here, we’ve picked a few recent
releases that are hopefully
a little out of the ordinary,
to see if they stack up.
OVERDRIVE ROUND-UP
104
M
uch has been made of Snake Oil’s
connection with Rob Chapman, while
their kitschy art and names scream
fad - but what do they sound like? Well,
The Very Thing is a Tubescreamer-like
boost, which excels when driving our
Marshall-voiced open-ended 5W valve amp
into saturation. The drive range on the pedal
itself is somewhat limited, but it does clean up
well. Popping the back off , we fi nd a well-
known variant of Jack Orman’s stripped-back
Tubescreamer circuit, already the basis for
several boutique drives. If you’ve got a decent
tube amp already, then this is a solid option.
T
he full-fat Revival Drive, with its
myriad of options, had us somewhat
bamboozled when we fi rst encountered
it, so this simplifi ed version is music to our
ears. Although we still needed the manual, it
wasn’t as hard to get started and the tones are
out of this world. Admittedly, subtle sounds
aren’t usually our thing, but this pedal is
incredibly impressive in terms of its
versatility. The presence control allows for
a wide range of articulation, while the blend
control keeps the gain level manageable at
all times. That said, there isn’t all that
much gain on off er, full-stop.
Snake Oil Effects
The Very Thing
TUBESCREAMER-ESQUE
Origin Effects Revival
Drive Compact
THE REVIVAL, REVIVED
£315
TH
E G
AS
S
T
A
T
I
O
N
£149
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
TGR328.gear_pedals.indd 104 07/01/2020 12:29