Re: BBE 427
I'm not a pedal person either. I have quite a few dist./OD/fuzz pedals at this point but don't use them much (other than my Fulldrive 2 in front of a pushed Vox.) I spent some quality time with six or seven though, along with the 427 to get a feel for it (using my Silverface Champ & 1x12" .)
The blurb on Guitar Center states the tone stack is modeled off a Big Muff or some-such. Many comments/reviews indicate people feel this is more like a fuzz, but I put it next to my Big Muff, and they sound *nothing* alike and overall I feel the 427 is solid in the distortion camp. It's less "fuzzy" than any other distortion I own (short of maybe the Fulltone Distortion Pro which you could argue is a trumped-up EQ pedal rather than distortion... Or a blanket simulator maybe?)
The 427's a pretty tight, full sounding pedal that seems a bit darker-flavored but has enough sensitivity in the tone knob. High end frequency response & harmonics are good. I was able to get it to sound a lot like my MXR Prime, but tighter, fuller and less hissy than the Prime and with quicker attack (The MXR Prime itself is a lot like a Boss DS1, but... Tighter, fuller and less hissy with quicker attack. I suppose I'm saying they're in the same family, minus a lot of the negatives people mod DS1s for.)
I still need to play with the knobs more, and try it with single coils. It isn't a terrifically loud pedal either, had the level fairly high up. My previous go-to distortion (when I use one) is a Danelectro Fab; quite a different pedal from the 427 , but overall not as natural and maybe more boxy than the BBE. Might be a honeymoon period but I think the 427 might have me using distortion more.
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