GAS PEDAL

piebaldpython

Blues Junior

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
Pretty impressive pedal.
And they did one thing that impresses me ... THEY PUT THE IN/OUT/9V JACKS ON TOP OF THE PEDAL WHERE THEY BELONG! That goes a LONG WAYS when trying to squeeze pedals onto a small board!

Lots of great sounds in that thing! Great for messing around recording and what-not, but not so much on a board meant for live playing. Why do I say that? Because on a live performance board most everyone sets each pedal to do ONE THING ... one stomp, one thing, tweaking not allowed unless between songs and QUICKLY. So, in that context, it doesn't matter if a pedal will do 15 things, you will only use 1 of them. The big advantage I see in pedals like this is that if you're looking for one great "Tube Screamer" OD, you will pretty much be guaranteed to find it in the Dunes (which is why I have it on my board). This pedal is like that.

It also has the ability to mix in as much of your clean signal with as much OD as you like, any ratio, either way. This is hugely important in a primary OD pedal. This is why my J Rockett Dude pedal is my main allways-on pedal.

Unfortunately it is a sort of expensive pedal at nearly $200.00, otherwise I could see having three of these on a board for three different types of OD at quick disposal.

 
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piebaldpython

Blues Junior
Playing live could be problematic as you noted unless you want to change every couple of songs. It's good for bedroom guitarists who are sitting at their computer station with maybe only a pedal or 3 hooked up and within arm's reach to change the dials.

I just love the "dry", "mix" or "blend" knob that are on a few pedals. I saw an interview with Nashville recording ace Brent Mason where he talked about "blend" knobs and how great they are to tweak your sound.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I just love the "dry", "mix" or "blend" knob that are on a few pedals. I saw an interview with Nashville recording ace Brent Mason where he talked about "blend" knobs and how great they are to tweak your sound.
That's why I love my J Rockett Dude pedal so much and why it is my primary "always on" pedal. It isn't a multi-voice pedal like this one, it is a "Dumble" pedal. But all Dumble amps were based on a Fender Twin circuit, and that Twin sound is my primary "signature tone", so the Dude is right up my alley. It offers gobs of overdrive, contrary to a Twin. But that overdrive is with a knob called "Ratio", and as you rotate it clockwise it mixes more and more overdrive in with your clean signal ... so you never lose that clean foundation which is also right up my alley.

I use it to establish my basic foundation tone, then stack it with other pedals for the Tubescreamer and Marshall things. My years playing on the road taught me that your tone will change room to room, club to club, sometimes drastically. One night you're in a club with hard, reflective surfaces on the floor, walls and ceiling, the next night in a club with carpeting on the walls and floors except the dance floor. And the acoustics in a club will change as it fills up with people ... people act like an acoustic sponge ... sort of like trying to play into a mattress. So being able to easily adjust your fundamental foundation tone is important.

 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I swear, I was just taking a look at The Dude on Reverb.com to see if that $199 price was right.............and then I saw a mint one for $130 shipped! How could I not give it a new home?
You are going to LOVE that pedal once you figure it out.



Right off the bat you are going to find that it is a LOUD pedal and that you don't want the Level knob turned up much at all. If you want to use it for a boost, it will boost you over the moon. Next thing is the black pointer knobs on its black body make the knob positions hard to see. Don't know why on earth they did that. I found some small white chicken head knobs and gave mine a face-lift.

IMG_0584.JPG
Does that look funky 50's or what?

If you want the best Marshall sound on earth, get yourself an inexpensive, diminutive little HoTone Golden Touch and feed it into your Dude! Yowzer!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hotone-Sky...drive-Effect-Pedal-Golden-Touch-/383521212700
 
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piebaldpython

Blues Junior
That HotOne looks like a cool pedal. I pretty much have that Marshally-sound covered with the Xotic SL Drive, Barber Direct Drive and Joyo Ironman Blue Rain.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
That HotOne looks like a cool pedal. I pretty much have that Marshally-sound covered with the Xotic SL Drive, Barber Direct Drive and Joyo Ironman Blue Rain.
The reason I have that little HoTone on my compact pedal board is because directly under it is my 1 Spot, velcroed to the board on its side. It struck me that I could mount one of these little HoTone pedals on top of the 1 Spot and gain another pedal without sacrificing a bit of space. So i did exactly that. I had never heard of the Golden Touch, the HoTone OD pedals you usually see are the Blues and Grass pedals. I found the Golden Touch, took a chance on it, and the little rascal blew me away. I had the Blues one, but I already had that base fully covered on the board.

I have learned to really respect HoTone products. All of their little pedals I have tried have been outstanding, and I have their mini Volume/Wah pedal and love that to death, built like a tank, very smooth, great sound.

I love Xotic effects too, and have the SL Drive, but find that I just can't use it without a noise gate ... the thing is way over the top. Their EP Booster is a pedal that I consider indispensable and essential. It is the last pedal in my chain, set to very low gain (about 9 o'clock) just to add warmth to everything. And I run it on 18V.
 
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