S
Skarekrough
Guest
Every so often I go through my pedals and grab one that's been gathering dust and chuck it in line with an amp. The basic idea is that if it's gathering dust then it isn't getting played...and in my house if it isn't getting played then there needs to be a damned good reason for it or it's got to go!
So, I had some time and I snapped up my Wasabi Overdrive.
Some of you may remember Wasabi from a few years ago. They were Danelectro's attempt at a botique pedal. They did a decent job at the features and the botique pricepoint. But in the end they flopped miserably and the $100 plus Overdrives got blown-out at Guitar Center for $30 a peice. On the Fender Forum there was a near stampede over them and IIRC someone was hoarding more than a few they thought so highly of them.
I snapped one up from Bostons GC and I remember liking it with my Fender HotRod Deluxe. I didn't like it so much that it became my #1 but I did think to keep it around. I know at least once or twice I went and put it through its paces and was kind of dissapointed.
Today was "sink or swim" and I grabbed it and put it into my Trace Elliot Velocette.
The Wasabi's a funny pedal...it has tailfins and looks like an old Cadillac...it also has more features than a new Escalade. It's true-bypass, has not only the expected overdrive but another boost on top of that which you can set for 5db or 10db, four different OD EQ's as well as a flat EQ, a mix for how much of it you want in there, the ability to just add the 5 or 10 db boost without the overdrive AND a selector for single-coils and humbuckers.
So, I put it in line and started playing with my new Epi Dot Studio. Now, I tend to be a vintage guy and go with vintage pickups. The Epi Dot Studio's got some hotter pickups, but not so much that I lose that 335 vibe.
...apparently this pedal loves...nay...lusts after higher output pickups. In udner ten minutes I found three of the EQ settings as usable for different things with a very minimum of tweaking. And from experience I know that when I start taking the Drive down a bit there's usually a few gems to be found.
The cool part....the Velocette as Gearjonser will tell you, has a bit of what i call a Plexi complex. It REALLY wants to sound like a Plexi, and if you let it, it gets very close to dead-on depending on my ears and the day. But when I start throwing Overdrives at it, the tone tends to get totally lost.
Through almost all of the tweaks I was able to reign it in to make it sound like there was that Plexi underneath it. Too friggin' cool!!!!
So, it is with this in mind that I will commit overdrive blasphemy and amend my previous listing of my Top Three Overdrives by removing the Keeley-modded TS-9 and add the Wasabi Overdrive.
The Keeley does what it does exceptionally well....but I'm looking at this thing and thinking that I could very well play a three set night with JUST this pedal and get enough different sounds out of it and keep it interesting...
So, I had some time and I snapped up my Wasabi Overdrive.
Some of you may remember Wasabi from a few years ago. They were Danelectro's attempt at a botique pedal. They did a decent job at the features and the botique pricepoint. But in the end they flopped miserably and the $100 plus Overdrives got blown-out at Guitar Center for $30 a peice. On the Fender Forum there was a near stampede over them and IIRC someone was hoarding more than a few they thought so highly of them.
I snapped one up from Bostons GC and I remember liking it with my Fender HotRod Deluxe. I didn't like it so much that it became my #1 but I did think to keep it around. I know at least once or twice I went and put it through its paces and was kind of dissapointed.
Today was "sink or swim" and I grabbed it and put it into my Trace Elliot Velocette.
The Wasabi's a funny pedal...it has tailfins and looks like an old Cadillac...it also has more features than a new Escalade. It's true-bypass, has not only the expected overdrive but another boost on top of that which you can set for 5db or 10db, four different OD EQ's as well as a flat EQ, a mix for how much of it you want in there, the ability to just add the 5 or 10 db boost without the overdrive AND a selector for single-coils and humbuckers.
So, I put it in line and started playing with my new Epi Dot Studio. Now, I tend to be a vintage guy and go with vintage pickups. The Epi Dot Studio's got some hotter pickups, but not so much that I lose that 335 vibe.
...apparently this pedal loves...nay...lusts after higher output pickups. In udner ten minutes I found three of the EQ settings as usable for different things with a very minimum of tweaking. And from experience I know that when I start taking the Drive down a bit there's usually a few gems to be found.
The cool part....the Velocette as Gearjonser will tell you, has a bit of what i call a Plexi complex. It REALLY wants to sound like a Plexi, and if you let it, it gets very close to dead-on depending on my ears and the day. But when I start throwing Overdrives at it, the tone tends to get totally lost.
Through almost all of the tweaks I was able to reign it in to make it sound like there was that Plexi underneath it. Too friggin' cool!!!!
So, it is with this in mind that I will commit overdrive blasphemy and amend my previous listing of my Top Three Overdrives by removing the Keeley-modded TS-9 and add the Wasabi Overdrive.
The Keeley does what it does exceptionally well....but I'm looking at this thing and thinking that I could very well play a three set night with JUST this pedal and get enough different sounds out of it and keep it interesting...
