Top 9 Overdrive Pedals Reviewed in 2013

Here is my personal list for my top 9 overdrive pedals reviewed between October 2012 – October 2013.  These are in no particular order. 🙂

Most of the music I play is blues influenced.  If you’re after higher gain pedals please check out another blog.

This is not a top 9 of all time – it’s just a top 9 from what I have reviewed in the last 12 months.  Why a top 9 instead of a top 10? Something different I guess 😉

Wampler Dual Fusion Pedal

The Wampler Dual Fusion made my top 9 list because it simply can cover any type of sounds from lower/transparent gain settings all the way through to ball tearing drive.  While it’s not the easiest pedal to work out right away due to the amount of options available with this pedal, once you get sound you like, it’s worth the tweaking time.  It’s strength is in the tone especially with single coil guitars, it can get fat, smooth and warm which is something a lot of regular overdrive pedals can’t do.  If you love the Wampler Ecstasy/Euphoria Pedal, you’ll love this! This pedal works great on both a clean and over-driven amplifier.  There’s a sound inside this pedal for just about anyone who loves nice tones.

Klon KTR Pedal

Simple, Epic & Awesome all packed into a little red box.  The Klon KTR is the newest version of the the Klon Centaur, while it’s quite different to previous versions there’s one thing this does better than any other pedal – it just adds more balls and rocking tone to an amplifier that is already clipping or is on the verge of clipping.  The Klon KTR pedal does not sound good on a clean amp, it’s all about pushing a slightly dirty signal and it does it in such a way where the amp actually sounds better with it on.   If you’re after a less than pristine smooth sound and want a bit of raunchiness and rocking grit, this is as good as it gets.

EWS Brute Drive Pedal

Think of the EWS Brute Drive pedal as a Klon with a Fat Boost but with one major advantage – it sounds awesome on a clean amp!
Check out Eric Gales, he swears by this pedal and while I mentioned it sounds great on a clean amp it does what the Klon does in terms of pushing an already overdriven signal and making it sound even better.  The amount of “extra boost” can be tailored inside the pedal which offers you an additional options for getting the sound you want.  This pedal has put my Fulltone Plimsoul into retirement.

Analogman King of Tone Pedal

The Analogman King of Tone is widely hyped on the internet (much like the Klon KTR) and there’s a reason for this – it’s awesome.  I didn’t know what to expect when I first tried this pedal but I was not disappointed it’s clearly one of the best USA Made overdrive pedals on the market offering two exceptional channels to use together or on their own.  You don’t lose any bottom end in your sound (much like the Wampler Dual Fusion pedal) and it just adds nice rich tone that will appeal to anyone playing blues, rock or roots music.  I read there is a 12-24 month wait on these pedals.  If you don’t want to wait in line, you don’t get one.  There’s a Prince of Tone which is more readily available because it’s made in Asia.

Lovepedal Kanji Eternity Pedal

This killer pedal is nothing like a regular Tubescreamer.  It has a much fuller, rounder sound which sounds more like an amp overdrive sound. It’s warm and round while sounding remarkably musicial.  The “glass” control adds in more nice tops without adding any weird high frequencies.  If you’re after a pedal that can go from transparent all the way to fat and thick lead tones in a simple, yet small package – give the Lovepdedal Kanji Eternity Pedal a shot on your pedalboard.  This is one of the nicest pedals I have used in years.

Joyo Sweetbaby Overdrive Pedal

The Joyo Sweetbaby overdrive pedal is the hidden gem of a market flooded with cheap pedals.  It’s well made, true bypass and simply sounds fantastic.  It doesn’t have a prominent mid-hump either so it sounds very natural and transparent like natural overdrive on your amplifier.  It also had us fooled on a blind test vs the Klon KTR pedal, it was that close! While it’s not got the high gain of the Klon, if you like subtle to medium gain settings this could be the pedal for you. It sounds fantastic on my Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb with both Humbucker and Single Coil Guitars.

Visual Sound Open Road Pedal

There’s one word that can explain this pedal “Toneful”.   The Open Road pedal by Visual Sound can either be used as a base tone for your other pedals essentially replacing the drive channel or it can be used with your volume control to give you anything from smooth rhythm tones all the way through to higher gain tones.  What makes the Open Road pedal awesome is the fact it sounds like the best drive channel you’ve ever heard for blues and should give you a great tone on any clean amp and you don’t lose any bottom end – it’s your amp sound + more good stuff!  Check these out if you get a chance.  They are “similar” to a plimsoul which I also have a shootout video between the two.  All in all, a very underrated pedal that a lot of people don’t seem to know about but it’s a clear winner for many people wanting amp like tones from a stomp box.

Dan Electro Fab Overdrive Pedal

The Dan Electro FAB Overdrive Pedal is a real winner for the price.  I picked this one up for something like $14.95 Australian Dollars and it’s a fat sounding pedal, similar to the Plimsoul Pedal but with a more rolled off high end which is really good for bridge pickup tones.  While the rolled off highs might bother some people, if you kicked it on just for bridge or out of phase position pickups it will really scream!  The only small downside is the build quality feels a little cheap but other than that it’s really good value for the price.

Wampler Ecstasy Overdrive Pedal

Think of this pedal as somewhat of the baby brother to the Wampler Dual Fusion at the top of this post.  It’s got a really thick sound, loads of additional top end if required and a particular “Wampler” sound that works best with Stratocasters and Telecasters to really thicken out the tones.  if you love smooth and fat tones, give it a try.  I always feel this sort of pedal works better on a dead clean amp, but that’s just my personal opinion.