FAVORITE OVERDRIVE
OR DISTORTION
FEATURE
Random Device
Thermonuclear Drive,
Phil Douglas
“The Thermonuclear Drive from
Random Device is my Swiss
Army-knife pedal. It is an over-
drive/boost that sounds great
with both my tube and solid-
state amps. It has a built-in loop
to run other effects through—I
like to plug my old Big Muff
into the loop as it doesn’t have
true bypass and the OD on
the Thermonuclear added to it
makes it sound amazing—or you
can use the loop without the
overdrive or use it as an AB box.
One thing I would like to see in
other overdrive pedals is it has
a switch on it that reduces the
voltage, giving it that great half-dead-battery-in-your-overdrive
sound without having to use a
half-dead battery. It’s one of my
favorite gigging pedals, and I
always get comments on it, just
’cause it looks so damn cool!”
BlueAim Neodrive, John Evosovic “Impossible to pick just one, but this left field entry is definitely a favorite. Seems similar to a Zendrive in some respects, but definitely has its own vibe. The Middle control, always a useful though usually neglected feature, has the nice sonic effect of sounding as though the speaker cab is being moved forward when turning clockwise.”
Penfar FX
Fat Foot,
Jim Woods
Visual Sound Open Road,
Tre Sheppard
“I’ve liked the Visual Sound stuff for many years and I’ve literally toured
around the globe with VS pedals, but they really went to a new special place
in my heart when this yellow beauty made its entrance. It has loads of touch
sensitivity and a wonderfully amp-like drive sound, and it doesn’t compress
and hump the mids like the green perennial favorite. I like the Open Road so
much that it’s kicked off several much more expensive, wait-listed, boutique,
and esoteric pedals from my live board”
