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I spent about two hours playing with it after I got off of work today. I really dig this pedal. I'm a big fan of low gain, transparent overdrives. This is my 5th pedal that is in that vein. I like each of the ones I have for their unique characters. They all clean up well with the volume knob, but I find myself liking how the Soul Food cleans up better than the others. With the volume on the guitar about halfway down, it's a really nice "rock clean" as Lew has called it. It's right on the verge of being just a bit dirty, and using picking dynamics I can get it to break up just a smidge, or back off and get it a bit cleaner. I got some nice overdriven rhythm sounds around 75% on the guitar's volume. Push it to full and it made a nice singing lead tone.
Depending on the gig and what amp set up I was using, I could definitely see taking only the Soul Food and a Tremolo and Delay pedal. I can also see myself incorporating it into my multiple overdrive rig (I usually roll with at least 4, plus a clean boost). I liked putting it in front of my Mooer Hustle Drive. It still responded very well to the volume knob, but wouldn't go quite as clean. Rolled up it was a very thick, crunchy tone.
Most of my playing with it today was done through my g/f's '68 Bassman. I switched to the Mesa DC-5 for a while, and was pleasantly surprised. If you've ever played a DC-5, you know there's no way to tell what channel it's on without the footswitch plugged in. When I turned it on, apparently it was on channel 2. I was blown away by the sound it produced. It made my Telecaster sound like Warren Haynes playing an LP. So fat and thick. When I switched to the clean channel, it sounded good, and acted more or less like it had on the Bassman.
Overall, I was actually most pleased with the sound in front of channel 2 of the DC-5. I can get in the same ballpark with a clean amp with my Joyo Sweet Baby, but the Sweet Baby doesn't do what the Soul Food does to an overdriven amp. There is also a lot more gain on tap than the Sweet Baby.
I can see a lot of versatility here. I can see it being useful as an "always on" pedal, the way most people use a Klon, but I can also see it being used as a solo boost pedal when I'm using the Sweet Baby or the Hustle Drive for my rhythm sound, and lastly, I'll definitely be using it as a boost for the 2nd channel on whatever 2 channel amp I end up getting this summer.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to try it through my '62 Champ yet, since it blew a cap and needs to go to the amp hospital.
Depending on the gig and what amp set up I was using, I could definitely see taking only the Soul Food and a Tremolo and Delay pedal. I can also see myself incorporating it into my multiple overdrive rig (I usually roll with at least 4, plus a clean boost). I liked putting it in front of my Mooer Hustle Drive. It still responded very well to the volume knob, but wouldn't go quite as clean. Rolled up it was a very thick, crunchy tone.
Most of my playing with it today was done through my g/f's '68 Bassman. I switched to the Mesa DC-5 for a while, and was pleasantly surprised. If you've ever played a DC-5, you know there's no way to tell what channel it's on without the footswitch plugged in. When I turned it on, apparently it was on channel 2. I was blown away by the sound it produced. It made my Telecaster sound like Warren Haynes playing an LP. So fat and thick. When I switched to the clean channel, it sounded good, and acted more or less like it had on the Bassman.
Overall, I was actually most pleased with the sound in front of channel 2 of the DC-5. I can get in the same ballpark with a clean amp with my Joyo Sweet Baby, but the Sweet Baby doesn't do what the Soul Food does to an overdriven amp. There is also a lot more gain on tap than the Sweet Baby.
I can see a lot of versatility here. I can see it being useful as an "always on" pedal, the way most people use a Klon, but I can also see it being used as a solo boost pedal when I'm using the Sweet Baby or the Hustle Drive for my rhythm sound, and lastly, I'll definitely be using it as a boost for the 2nd channel on whatever 2 channel amp I end up getting this summer.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to try it through my '62 Champ yet, since it blew a cap and needs to go to the amp hospital.
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