If you're like us on GT, you'll be constantly looking for 'the sound'. Well, away from the mainstream range, you might like to know about two great overdrive/distortion pedals I've found. They sound very smooth and dynamic and fit sonically in between older Marshalls and the revered (and mega rare and expensive) Dumble amps.
First up are the pedals from Toshihiko Tanabe, the Zenkudo and the Dumkudo. Neither is cheap (around £200 with postage from Japan) but they sound very, very good! The latter is a more recent version of the former, except it has a little more distortion on tap (good for single-coil fans). Both have four dials and (to my ears) are more rounded in tone (and thicker) than the Zendrive, a popular boutique overdrive pedal from America. If you're hunting for Larry Carlton and Eric Johnson tones, try these!
You can find out more about them here:
http://www.tanabe.tv/top/kudou/index-e.html
Another great pedal is the SOV-2 Stampede Overdrive (around 215€) which again is a smooth and thick distortion and favoured by players like Robben Ford. It may look simple (just three dials; level, drive and tone) but every setting is golden if you like shaping your playing with dynamically responsive overdrive. You can find out more here:
http://www.providence-effects.fr/crbst_18.html
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