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Cornell Overdrive Special
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 U.K.-based amp designer Denis Cornell has been churning out a line of
boutique amps for a few years now, but the dude knows stompboxes
too. As well he should, as Cornell worked for Arbiter in the ’60s on the
circuit for the original Fuzz Face. Cornell’s Overdrive Special ($430
retail/ $320 street) is a dual-channel pedal that offers separate Gain controls
for each channel, a global Output control and EQ mini-switch, and
an adjustable, footswitchable Boost function that can be used on either
channel for up to +15dB of juicy boost .
With my Telecaster running through a Fender Deluxe Reverb, Channel
One pounded the amp’s front-end with a merciless amount of output.
With the Gain control halfway up, and the Output barely halfway,
my normally twangy setup was singing like a bird with a musical distortion
that sounded more like a cranked amplifier than an overdrive
pedal. With humbuckers, the intense, cranked-amp-like crunch got bolder
and more badass, whether I was running through a small Fender combo
or through a 4x12 Marshall setup. I could even turn the Gain all the way
down, crank the Output for a brutal clean boost, and then use the Boost
control to kick the festivities up to a whole new level of touch-sensitive
grind and sustain. Very, very nice—a slew of different tones from a buttsimple
control set.
Channel Two sports a smoother midrange response and a tad more
gain. This channel in cahoots with The Boost feature is where I
encountered Fripp-like cartoonish sustain and more severe overthe-
top distortion. However, like Channel One, all of the tones are
über-dynamic, cleaning up beautifully when you roll back your guitar’s
volume. The EQ toggle is rather subtle as it shaves off some
high end when flipped to the right. For the most part I never messed
with it. If you dig the tone of your guitar and amp, the Overdrive Special
will only enhance them. That, my friends, is the sign of a killer pedal.
—Darrin Fox
KUDOS Ultra-Dynamic tones from subtle grind to over-the-top sustain
and a versatile feature set.
CONCERNS None.
CONTACT www.dc-developments.com
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