We know what you’re thinking: the last thing the world needs right now is another overdrive pedal. We’ve got more than enough of those already, right? Perhaps, but with the Logan Transcend Drive, KMA Audio Machines thinks that it’s come up with something a bit different, and a bit special.
In development for more than a year, Logan is designed to offer flexible and versatile tone shaping while preserving the natural feel of the instrument you plug into it. And when you check out the specs, you’ll realise that it really does ‘Transcend’ what an overdrive pedal is usually capable of.
Whether you’re looking for a preamp - the high-headroom design runs up to 25dB - low/mid-gain drive or a resonant wah sound, Logan can deliver. What’s more, the carefully balanced gain structure means that the drive tone is supremely responsive, leaving you with plenty of room to express yourself.
The real fun begins, though, when you start playing with the 3-band active EQ, with Bass and Treble knobs enabling up to 15dB of cut and boost. As such, beefing up thin tones is as easy as ridding yourself of unwanted bass frequencies.
There’s also a flexible Mid-EQ section; you can set your mid frequency between 100Hz and 2.5kHz, then cut or boost this by up to 12dB. Can your current overdrive pedal do that?
This Mid-EQ can be turned on and off with its own dedicated footswitch, and you can choose to place it either before (Pre) or after (Post) the main gain stage. And, for even more control, you can control the Mid-EQ frequency with any common or garden expression pedal, leaving your hands free to play while your foot makes on-the-fly tonal changes.
If all of that still doesn’t sate your tweaking desires, we should tell you that a hole in the base plate hides another of Logan’s secrets. Through here, you’ll find an internal trim pot that enables you to set the Mid-EQ’s bandwidth. A counter-clockwise turn will broaden it, enabling smooth frequency sweeps, while a complete clockwise turn is your gateway to resonant sounds.
Better still, if you remove the base plate you’ll find another trim pot; use this to blend your overdriven signal and clean tone in any way you fancy. Whether you’re a guitarist, bassist, drummer, vocalist or keyboard player, Logan has you covered.
What’s more, despite being hand-built in Germany and offering boutique-level performance and styling, Logan costs just $219/£175/€189. Find out more - and learn what an overdrive pedal can really be capable of - on the KMA Audio Machines website.
