As seen in Guitar Girl Magazine Issue 18 Winter 2021 – Women in the Music Industry
Pigtronix pedals push the dialogue of guitar effects forward, and with the new Gamma Drive Analog Overdrive, they do just that! As a devoted fuzz, overdrive, and distortion pedal enthusiast/connoisseur, with my hand on my heart, I say that I like the Pigtronix Gamma Drive very much, and here’s why.
With the many variables for signal clipping (i.e., boosting your guitar signal to overload it so much that it essentially cuts its top and bottom), the Gamma Drive hits that coveted sweet spot with its gratifying breakup, sonic heat, and saturated signal. The crown jewels here are that the Gamma Drive uses a mix of germanium, LED, and silicon diodes for its clipping, and this is rare that an overdrive uses all three. Briefly, germanium diodes give you the organic warmth as is found in the most sought-after fuzz pedals, the LED (Light Emitting Diode) cleans up the most when the Gain control is dialed low but breathes fire when dialed high like you find in distortion pedals, and silicon diodes deliver the satisfying sizzle found in most overdrives.
With a mixture of all three, it acts almost like a clean boost with the Gain control dialed low, gives you that warm overdrive when dialed in the mids, and charges into wooly distortion fuzz territory when maxed out! To boot, the asymmetrical clipping gives you more of a tube amp-like sound. Part of its beauty is that it warms up a solid-state amp nicely, and in front of a tube amp, it really kicks it into super overdrive. But wait, there’s even more to like. The active 2-band EQ is a big deal as its independent Treble and Bass controls cut or boost its respective frequencies. Again, this feature is rare to find as most pedal tone controls use passive high and low pass filters. In addition, the On/Off Switch is True Bypass, so it doesn’t color or load down your signal when it’s off. This is another quality feature found on superior caliber pedals, and the Blue LED is just cool.
All these features together give you one sweet-sounding overdrive with superior signal integrity and note articulation. The Pigtronix Gamma Drive Analog Overdrive is a rare gem of overdrive, takes up little space on your pedalboard, and has all the crown jewels. Kick it into Gamma and drive!
Specs
- Model Name: Gamma Drive
- Function: Analog Overdrive with Active 2-Band EQ
- Type: Overdrive / Distortion
- On/Off Switch: True Bypass
- Voltage: 9VDC
- Current Draw: 100mA
- Input Impedance: 10M
- Output Impedance: 150 ohms
- Length: 3.75”
- Width: 1.5”
- Height: 1.75”
- Weight: 0.5 lbs
For more information and full specifications, visit pigtronix.com.
Price: $129.00