(OD- 2+, CB- 3 and HD- 3), all in a small
package, making them easier to fit onto an already overcrowded pedalboard. The bat- tery compartment can be entered through Micro Effect Series Pedals
the bottom of the pedal by removing a
rubber gasket that holds the bottom metal
plate to the body. The gasket has a groove
on the inside that you must position over
. 5
the lip created by the union of the main
body and the bottom plate – it’s no easy
feat, but the gasket does double as an
appropriate friction device to keep the
pedals from slipping around.
others in its class, such as the ubiquitous
Tube Screamer.
There’s no doubt that there are deeper
overdrives available, but the sounds generated by the OD- 2+ are respectable and
definitely worth checking out.
Buy If: you need a simple boost that won’t
discolor your sound
Skip If: you need inordinate amounts of
clean headroom
Don’t be deceived by the compactness of
these pedals, which roughly resemble the
size of a deck of Uno cards, as they pack
quite the punch. Let’s take a closer look
to see if any of these effects have a place
on your rig.
OD- 2+ Overdrive
This pedal produces some classic tube-like
sounds, reminiscent of the pre-hair band
days when
you could
add a bit
of distor-
tion to
your sound
without
completely
killing the
tone of
that lovely
Les Paul
you spent
a fortune
on. This pedal also proves to be more ver-
satile than its predecessor, the OD- 2, with
an upgraded Hi Cut/Hi Boost Tone control
and 3-way Overdrive Mode switch, which
essentially packs three pedals into one
already compact unit.
The first setting, Shallow, serves up a
versatile range of sounds, moving from a
somewhat clean boost to a rough crunch.
This setting will not overpower any of your
gear’s tonal qualities, but rather add a bit
of grit and sustain. Moving the switch to
the second position, Middle, will drive the
OD- 2+ a little harder, resulting in a throatier bite. If that’s still not enough for you,
the last setting, Deep, produces the most
saturated sounds, although the distortion levels here are still a little tamer than
.0
Buy If: you are looking for a reasonably
smooth, rich overdrive in a compact box
Skip If: you’re jonesing for a Tube Screamer
CB- 3 Cool Booster
The Cool Booster does exactly what you’d
expect it to do, providing up to 18 dB of
boost without much coloration of the original signal. It can also be used to distort
an input signal by applying gain with the
Boost knob. If you turn the Level knob to
its maximum while keeping the Boost knob
at zero, you’ll get a clean boost with a fair
amount of headroom. Setting the Boost
knob at lower settings will give you even
more clean volume without altering your
signal; move the knob into the higher ranges and you’ll start to hear distortion creeping in at the edges. A careful coordination
of the two knobs will enable you to push
enough transparent gain through your amp
to generate subtle, yet pleasant distortion
on the clean channel or jetison you into
soloing range on an already-smoking amp.
If you’re looking for a milder overdrive,
something to give you a little bump in
volume
without
changing
the tone
you’ve
got, this is
a simple
solution
that won’t
put you in
the poor
house.
HD- 3 Hot Drive
The HD- 3 provides an edgy, hot distortion
with the potential for mimicking a nice
Marshall stack, albeit with no ability to
adjust the
amount of
dirt present.
The Tone
control and
3-way Mode
switch (
representing
three different peak
frequency
settings for
its High Cut
Filter) are all
that are available for sonic shaping. The
first setting, M1, is what I consider to be
the core sound of the pedal – a silky yet
bright overdriven sound. The second setting, M2, adds some higher frequencies
for a brighter sound with more bite, while
the third setting, M3, cuts some of those
highs for a deeper and darker tone.
This pedal has the marbles to take a small
combo and turn it into a virtual stack, but
I did have a few minor bones to pick with
it. Rather than cutting some of the higher
frequencies to accentuate the lower tones,
it would have been nice to actually boost
the lower frequencies to avoid some of
the fogginess in the M3 setting. Also, the
inability to control the pedal’s gain may
be a deal-breaker for some, but overall,
the Hot Drive has the potential to fall into
that rare “fell in love from the moment
we met” category for some players. If you
plug into this box and get that feeling,
rest assured that it was meant to be.
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