Located on the left of the unit, the
Hairball’s overdrive controls offer an
interesting twist on the standard TS-808-
style control set. Timbre adds gain to the
circuit with an emphasis on high-mid
and high frequencies. With a Gibson SG
out in front of the Hairball, the guitar
remained punchy and dynamic, but I
was able to access a more screaming ’80s
shred tone as I bumped the Timbre. At
lower settings, the Timbre control lends
an edgy and percussive spank, reminiscent of SRV—especially when using a
guitar with lower pickup output, like a
Stratocaster. In this range, the unit also
imparts a slightly compressed, clean tone.
The Tone control enabled me to
brighten and darken the Hairball within
a really wide and useful range. At its
darkest setting, the Hairball’s Tone control would work for jazz cats. At its maximum the tone is more than sufficiently
bright for just about any hard rock
tone—making pick attack delightfully
pronounced. One downside of the classic TS-808 design is a noticeable drop in
low end. But the modified tone stack on
the Hairball addresses that shortcoming.
The Level control puts a lot more
gain at hand than you’d get in a TS-808,
which makes this a great pedal for big-amp players that like working with pedals to kick in a more searing sound.
Right Side, Boost
With its own footswitch and indicator LED, the boost circuit sits to the
right of the overdrive. The most critical
function on the Boost circuit is the Full
Range/Treble Boost switch. Set to Full
Range, the switch produces little or no
tonal coloration and enables you to use
the pedal as a clean boost. But a switch
to Treble Boost produces a seemingly
endless supply of bite. At its maximum
setting, the Boost circuit produces an
overwhelming + 28 dB for blasting your
amp’s preamp tubes—an experiment
I very willingly undertook with the
Gibson SG and my trusty non-master
volume 1969 Fender Super Bassman.
Even at the Bassman’s lowest volumes,
the Hairball made the preamp sing
with super-potent clean tone. And as
expected, when I increased the Boost
setting, the already soaked preamp
