• Great dual-stage overdrive pedal...incredible value

  
  As reviewed by Jeff W on 2/22/2011

  The Afterburner is a dual-stage overdrive pedal designed by Mike Soldano, and as such, it's exactly what you would expect: a dual-stage Tube Screamer on steroids. The tonality is similar to that of a classic Tube Screamer, and it has that same type of upper-midrange snarl. However, whereas many Tube Screamer-type pedals tend to cut the low frequencies, the Afterburner leaves it more or less intact, allowing you to add a mid-boost without losing anything on the bottom end. At lower gain settings, it's more of a clean boost, with relatively little coloring of the sound. As you turn up the "Overdrive" knob, it takes on more of a Marshall/Soldano mid-boost character...so you can get anywhere from a slightly pushed clean to a downright raunchy snarl. The "Boost" knob is very similar to the Overdrive knob, both in function and tonality....so when you have the Overdrive on, engaging the boost simply adds that much more gain, whether you're just adding a bit more hair, or going to full-on shred. It's worth mentioning that engaging the boost feature will increase the amount of gain, but the effect on the overall volume level is relatively minimal......so if you're hoping for a noticeable jump in volume by just hitting the boost button for solos, you may be disappointed. The bottom line: like I said, it's a dual-stage Tube Screamer on steroids. It's not the most transparent pedal in the world, and when activated, it does add some of its own character to your sound. If you're looking for a pedal that doesn't color the sound at all...this ain't it. But if you're looking to add anything from a slight push to a wide-open Marshall/Soldano crunch, then you won't find a better pedal anywhere close to this price range.

  4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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• Great Overdrive for a great price!

  
  As reviewed by Dan on 2/15/2011

  The Jet City guys have a winner here. I replaced my Tube Screamer (that cost twice as much) and my DS-1 with just this one pedal! True bypass, tough metal construction, this thing is tough enough to survive the giging guitarist. The trick with this pedal is to dial in a lower gain tone. One just to give your sound that little "kick". Then crank the boost knob and kick the boost button to drive you tone over the edge. I use a single channel tube head, and this pedal makes it like a I have a 3 channel amp! I dial in a clean tone on the amp, kick in the pedal for a little grit, then kick the boost for the ROCK tone.

  3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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