Re: Danelectro FAB overdrive pedal question
It's not really BS, they have just adapted the circuits to be made on small SMT boards with new components and MIC. Is the French Toast going to sound like a real Tone Machine, probably 70 - 80% there, and it definitely lacks the coolness factor, but it's cool still if that's your sound. In fact most (I didn't say all) pedals, even the boutique ones, are just variations on a few basic circuits that have been around for years. There are approximately 4679 versions of a Tube Screamer out there today (okay, I'm being sarcasitic, not sure how many versions of a TS but there are alot!). From what I understand the OCD is basically a Rat with FETs for the clipping diodes, granted there may be some minor changes to some components and I don't think he is using the buffers since he uses TB anyway, but he is quite the master of hype. That's not a cut, he builds great stuff, but he is very good at marketing it too.
But to carry it farther, the Rat, DS-1, and many others have a very similar topology, and that can be traced back to the Distortion+ or DOD Preamp 250 which are also almost identical, just without the tone controls and buffers. It pretty much boils down to component choices, hence the new market for taking "in circulation" pedals, changing a few components and saying "this is what they are supposed to sound like". Again, no cut on those guys, I wish I had thought of some of it.
I'm not trying to argue with you, you know pedals better than I do, I'm sure. Maybe I just have a more simplified view of things. I have built pedals in the past, and had some that outsold the Fulldrive back when it first came out, at least in our little corner of the world. It was just something I whipped up on lunch breaks. The funny thing is that one reviewer said it reminded him of a Marshall Guv'nor when it was more of a Dist+ knockoff.
