Some pedals seem to fall out of their creators’ heads and onto the production line, but others take their sweet time in being complete.  That’s the case with the Jetter Gain Stage Red Overdrive.  It took more than a year of experimentation and testing before this little pedal was declared finished.  It’s a natural, boutique amp overdrive pedal that is very tightly focused.  The Stage Red has nice low end response and string articulation, and it can send through complex chords in a distinct, clear way so that every note can be heard.  There’s enough overdrive here for guitars like vintage Strats but yet the pedal scales back the gain so that it doesn’t distort sounds from humbuckers.  The compression, too, is very natural sounded, and it doesn’t flatten out your tones or make them boom out of control.

Players who are looking for a pedal that will provide thick, creamy tones without any distortion or making them too dark will enjoy the Stage Red.  The hard/soft switch allows players to change up the Presence levels, both of which have slightly different overdrive sounds.  One level is bright and clear while the other is very warm and rich.  The pedal also features true bypass and provides some amazing Carlton and Ford tones.  It retails for $209.

Video Results For Jetter Gain Stage Red Overdrive

Frantone Electronics first opened in 1994 under the direction of Fran, a young woman with a dream of making cool pedals that were all hand-built.  While Frantone products were certainly popular during the first year, it wasn’t until their website opened in 1995 that Frantone became a world-wide name.  All of their pedals are designed by Fran, and they’re manufactured completely in the US.  One of the things that makes Frantone Electronics so unique is that Fran does everything in-house, from designing to machining the cast aluminum cases to doing the silk screening and painting.  Everything is done by hand with care and precision.

Frantone manufactures a number of different effects pedals.  The Glacier, for example, is a small and easy to use ring modulator that has a huge tonal range while still providing high fidelity.  It features a Y select switch that allows players to select between one of three different waveforms, changing the oscillation of the tone.

Another cool pedal is the Bassweet.  It features everything that the popular Frantone Sweet pedal has except it provides expanded bass contour and more controllability.

The Hep Cat Daddy-O pedal is based on the Hep Cat, the overdrive that started it all.  It’s known for its very bright grind and its transparent tone.  While it was once hard to get your hands on one of these pedals, now it’s not.  The Hep Cat Daddy-O features everything that made the original Hep Cat great plus a bit more!

These are just a few of the amazing pedals that Frantone Electronics produces.  If you’re looking for a pedal that has been handcrafted by someone who loves her work, you want one of Frantone Electronics’ amazing products. (more...)

The T-Rex Diabolic Gristle Tone Manipulator (the DGTM for short) is one of the newer pedals from T-Rex.  Released in 2010, the pedal was first debuted at the Winter NAMM 2009 show, and it was met with tremendous response.  The DGTM is designed to be more than just a standard overdrive.  It’s got a bit more punch to it, punch that was designed by guitarist Greg Koch.  This pedal provides many features players, especially those who admire Koch’s music, want.

The T-Rex DGTM can provide players with a subtle boost for songs that need a light touch, but for those that really need to roar, the overdrive can be kicked up a notch to produce lush overdriven chords.  When you need your sound to be more transparent, you can turn the distortion way down.  When you need to make it crunchy, just rotate the knob upwards.  The device also has a flavor switch that lets you go from the classic, chunky overdrive to a more modern sound that’s somewhat more compressed.  This allows the DGTM to function almost as two different overdrives.  In addition to the flavor switch and the distortion (gristle) knob, the device also has controls for tone and gravy (their term for volume).  The T-Rex Diabolic Gristle Tone Manipulator retails for $199. (more...)

Radial Engineering is top quality audio equipment outfit based in in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company first began back in 1991 as the Canadian distributor for Jensen Audio Transformers and Mogami cable.  The next year, they reformed as JP Cabletek Electronics, and they started using the Radial name for their house brand cables.  Later, in 1996, the Radial brand launched the JDI direct box, and today, there are more than 50 different products marketed under the Radial, Forest Audio, and Tonebone brand names.  In 2006, the company officially became Radial Engineering.  They have a huge staff of more than 50 employees and work out of a 25,000 square-foot facility, giving them the ability to manufacture many different great products.

Under the Radial brand, the company offers their J-class products.  This line of boxes, splitters, and re-ampers are some of the best in the world.  Then there’s the Pro series, which is designed to balance performance with price.  The HotShot series, on the other hand, is innovative and built to last for years. (more...)

If you are someone who is looking to get the most out of your overdrive pedal, then you will want to consider using the Maxon TOD-9 True Tube Overdrive pedal.  This is because it is designed with the best military specification subminiature tube at its core.  Because this technology was once considered outdated when submarines stopped being used so widely at the end of the Second World War, there is a large quantity of this product that is ready for use.  The manufacturers of the Maxon TOD-9 True Tube Overdrive realized the potential that the subminiature tubes had on the sound quality of a pedal and they decided to use these tubes as a base component of the sound that was produced by their product.

The Maxon TOD-9 True Tube Overdrive has harnessed the power of these subminiature vacuum tubes to create a truly unique pedal that combines solid distortion with the tube stage.  The benefit of this is that the pedal works in a way that completely enhances the player’s performance, creating a balance that is truly interactive with the guitar and the artist.  If you utilize this pedal to the maximum then you will be able to increase your performance and this will work to make your music even better.  The dials are simply laid out and can be used by anyone with a basic understanding of how they operate. (more...)

Maxon has made a number of great overdrive pedals in their Vintage Overdrive Pro Pedal series, and the VOP-9 is yet another one of them.  This overdrive pedal combines both overdrive and clean boost into one device.  It uses a dual pot to mix the saturated and clean tones together to make a less compressed and more transparent sound.  It also features true bypass switching so you can let your signal shine through if you want.

The VOP-9 is actually an upgraded version of the OD820, a pedal that Maxon introduced in the 90s but that was largely overlooked.  However, at the time, few saw the benefits and power of the pedal, and it was mostly ignored as simply being an overpriced version of the OD808.  However, the VOP-9 is more than just a renamed OD820.  While the pedal does run the entire circuit at 18 volts, just like the OD820, it now comes in one of Maxon’s nearly indestructible 9-series chassis.  The pedal is also capable of operating at 9 volts by activating an internal DIP switch.  The VOP-9 also makes use of the same op-amp that allowed the OD820 to operate so quietly, and the negative feedback loop clipping diode is the same as well.  The Maxon VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro Pedal costs
$200.

(more...)