More new pedals for Twinfan, and a review...

[Twinfan]

In the never ending quest for tone and simplicity, I ordered some new pedals last week built by a company called Tonerider:  http://www.tonerider.com/effects/effects_main.html

Here's my thoughts on them:



British Distortion - £62

My favourite pedal for Marshall-flavoured high-gain tones is the original '80s Marshall Guv'nor.  Lots of mids and some edgy bite give it that cranked Plexi/JCM800 vibe.  The British Distortion has now taken that #1 spot.  There are a lot of similarities with the Guv'nor, but the BD-1 has more presence, more gain, and sounds more 'hi-fi' as it's very clear and transparent.  There's a nice chunk to the tone, and it's great for heavy rock/early metal.  Plus like all the Tonerider pedals it has true bypass switching, which the Guv'nor does not.  This will turn your clean valve amp into a rock monster!  Very highly recommended.  This may go on my pedalboard if my newly acquired Cornell Overdrive Special won't handle the high gain that some of our Doppelganger tracks require.



SuperLush Chorus - £67

This is clearly based on the old Boss CE-2 pedal.  It's very swooshy and deep sounding, and quite a bit clearer than my current favourite - the MXR Stereo Chorus.  I don't need the stereo capabilities or the complex adjustablility of the MXR when playing live, and the MXR requires a non-9v power supply, so the SC-1 is now on gigging pedalboard.  Analog Chorus pedals tonally blow away anything digital, and the SuperLush is one of the best.  Especially as it has true bypass switching, unlike the original old Boss pedals.  Everyone should own one of these.



American Overdrive - £59

This is obviously based on the classic Ibanez Tubescreamer, but to my ears it has a bit more gain and a bit more output level.  It reminds me a lot of my Maxon OD-9 and Xotic BB Pre-amp, giving a warm and smooth overdrive.  The major winning point for the AO-1 though is in the price, as it's at least £40 cheaper than the 'boutique' TS-types, yet it easily sounds as good as them.  Perfect for ZZ Top and SRV Texas raunch, and late '60s/early '70s blues rock.


Overall, the Tonerider pedals offer superb tones along with fantastic value for money.  AS some of you will know, I'm a complete GAS-aholic and tone hound, and I truly mean it when I say these are SERIOUSLY nice pedals.  Really well built and a complete bargain for the price.  I can't recommend them enough!

[Dazza1004]

cool review, I am tempted by the distortion, I have a maxon 808 and an MI crunch box (your old one I think) on my board and they are pretty similar.

[_tom_]

Very interested in trying the distortion just to see what its like. I'm getting a bit sick of the "stiffness" that the Laneys own overdrive/distortion has so I'm looking into having it set as a sort of crunchy clean amp with some pedals in front..

i had a Guvnor plus with my old fender and liked it so I'll proably like that Tonerider.

[Twinfan]

The BD-1 will be a bit more open sounding than the Crunch Box.  Some like the more compressed CB tone, whereas I like things a bit more transparent......

[_tom_]

Does it sound similar to those clips on their site? I think that sounds pretty damn good especially for the money :)

[Twinfan]

I think it'll depend on your amp and how you play as to how it sounds.  It cetainly has the character of those clips for sure!

[Adam.M]

The BD-1 HighGain1 clip reminds me of Paul Gilbert...

Sooooo how much are they paying you for such a well done write up? ;)

I am, though, seriously interested in them...

Tell me, what happens when you have the Overdrive running into the Distortion? Wall of nasty noise or does it actually work?

[JDC]

hey twinfan, any idea how the american over drive compares to the maxon and the bb preamp for tight metal boosting? I might be looking for a TS type pedal soon (I was thinking of getting a maxon but I ain't done my research yet)

is the bb preamp a TS type pedal or something else?

[MrBump]

Good review.

Is that the same Tone Rider that makes pickups?

[Ian Price]

Wow - they are cheap. Been on the lookout for a Chorus but always put off by the 'clean' digital sound. I may take a closer look at one of these!

[Twinfan]

Yep, it's the same Tonerider that also makes pickups.

They're paying me nothing for the review!  Just passing on good products to you all  :)

JDC - the BB Preamp is more of a saturator than a tight booster, if that makes sense?  I've not used a TS for tight boosting but the American Overdrive would work as well as the Maxon would as they sound very similar.

[mikeluke]

So, will you be selling your Guv'nor? Acid test of how good the Tonerider is...

[JDC]

Yep, it's the same Tonerider that also makes pickups.

They're paying me nothing for the review!  Just passing on good products to you all  :)

JDC - the BB Preamp is more of a saturator than a tight booster, if that makes sense?  I've not used a TS for tight boosting but the American Overdrive would work as well as the Maxon would as they sound very similar.

thanks, so which one has the highest volume output and the least noise between the maxon or the tonerider

[Twinfan]

So, will you be selling your Guv'nor? Acid test of how good the Tonerider is...

I still like the Guv'nor, so I'll be hanging onto it.  I may put a smaller 'backup' pedalboard together for the not-quite-number-one pedals to go on  ;)

thanks, so which one has the highest volume output and the least noise between the maxon or the tonerider

I'd say the Tonerider has a touch more output, but there's not a lot in it.  Noise levels are the same (i.e. none to speak of)  They're both true bypass and have a similar tone.  The Tonerider is cheaper, and if I didn't already have the Maxon I'd hang on to it.

If you want to buy my Tonerider, I'll knock a fiver off the new price?  I don't need two near-identical Tubescreamers...

[dave_mc]

Is that the same Tone Rider that makes pickups?

i was going to ask that too :lol:

nice reviews there, dave, they sound nice, and sound like good prices. Where are they made, are they hand-wired etc.? EDIT: checking the website, they appear to be, but it doesn't exactly make it too clear...

I picked up an HBE big D distortion a while back, so I don't need a distortion... that chorus sounds pretty cool though, and good value for analogue...